♥ Thank you so much for taking the time to join us - we are so very delighted to have you! For those readers who have yet to encounter your work, can you give us a brief introduction?
Thank you for having me (wink, wink)! Rather than just toss out my boilerplate bio (which you can see on my site if you’re interested), I’ll just hit some of the highpoints and say that I’ve written quite a few stories in a wide range of genres (science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc) but I’m mostly known as an erotica writer -- with stories in Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, and so forth. I’ve also edited bunches of anthologies -- including The Mammoth Book of Future Cops and The Mammoth Book of Tales Of The Road (with my pal Maxim Jakubowski), and the Best SM Erotica series.
I’ve also written six novels, such as the queer vampire books Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys, the erotic cyberpunk Painted Doll, the science fiction/queer/noir Finger’s Breadth, the erotic romance Brushes, and the pretty damned weird Me2.
Then there’s a bunch of collections, like the queer ones (Dirty Words, Filthy Boys, Bodywork); the science fiction ones (Bachelor Machine and Skin Effect), the non-fiction ones (How To Write And Sell Erotica and Welcome to Weirdsville), and others.
And (takes a deep breath) I’m a regular contributor to Future Of Sex (“providing insights into the fascinating topic of the future of human sex and sexuality”), and have also been a non-fiction columnist for a lot of other sites and magazines.
What’s extremely cool is that many of my collections and novels are out in dual editions: the great folks at Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions doing the ebooks and print-on-demand and the fantastic Wordwooze doing the audiobooks!
♥ If it’s not too personal of a question, where does lifestyle experience end and vicarious fantasy begin within your fiction?
Not at all: ask anything you want! As far as writing and personal experience goes I’m kind of a queer duck -- even though I’m not actually gay. By that I mean that I don’t typically add a lot of personal details into my work, though some does leak in now and again. But what I do try to do is put in the emotional realism around sex. That’s a large part of why I’ve had as much success as I’ve had writing outside my own orientation and sexual interests: because I focus on the commonalities and less on the differences.
I mean I haven’t had queer sex, and I’m not equipped for lesbian play, but I do know what desire, arousal, hope, embarrassment, joy, disappointment, and love feels like. Details might not make it into my work but all of that and more I always try to put in.
I consider it a huge compliment that people presume that I’m gay, even though I’m very clear that I’m not. I have to say that the queer community has been … well, let me say that every day I feel blessed and honored to have received so much support, love, and kindness.
♥ On that note, is there a personal fetish or a fantasy that you have yet to explore in your fiction?
Hopefully not sounding too mercenary, but most of the time my projects are dictated by the marketplace. Not that I don’t love what I do -- far from it -- but when a publisher or editor asks for something my usual response is “when do you want it?”
That being said, I just began -- and by that I mean the first chapter -- a special project. The most amazing thing in my life has been belonging, body and soul and beyond, to an amazing Owner. What I want to try to do is explore that being property means to me: to really get down into the emotional, philosophical and sexual depths of it. It’s been interesting, writing about something so incredibly personal when for so long I’ve always kind of kept degree of distance from my work, but I know the result will be truly remarkable.
♥ Hmm, I like the sound of that. You have been published for a couple of years now, with several stories available. What was it that prompted you to begin writing?
I’ve always been creative. My mom was an interior decorator and my father was an engineer, so some of it may have come with that. I remember discovering the joy of books and stories in the fourth grade or so -- and tried my hand at my first story almost immediately after.
But it wasn’t until high school that I really lept into it. To be honest, I’m not too sure why it hit so hard as it did, but I tried -- for many, many years -- to write a story a week. None of them were any good, but I do think that I at least got plenty of really bad writing out of my system.
Oddly, I never tried my hand at erotica. A lot of horror, mysteries, and tons of science fiction but I didn't try my hand at sex writing until I took a class in it from Lisa Palac, who was the editor of a magazine called Future Sex. She bought my first story and, about a year later, Susie Bright picked it for Best American Erotica 1994. No dummy, I concentrated on erotica and soon had sold quite a few stories, which led to editing anthologies. The rest, to use the cliche, is history.
If there’s a lesson here it’s don’t give up. From high school to my first published story was about ten years of trial and error -- mostly error. But since then I’ve had an absolute blast -- and can’t wait to see what opportunities and projects may rise on the horizon.
♥ With reader reviews so crucial to generating exposure, what are some of the weirdest or most wonderful reactions you’ve had from readers?
There’s been a few of both, believe me. I try not to focus on the negative ones -- writing can be depressing enough as it is -- but I do find myself giggling at some of the crazier ones. My favorites of those are the reviews that slam an erotic book because the reviewer wasn’t turned on. Seriously?
But my favorites, aside from some of the good ones I’ve been blessed to receive (thank You, Sally!) are the more … well, tender ones. One time I participated in a public erotica reading and for some reason I chose to read a first person lesbian story. Halfway through the reading I began to feel really awkward -- but afterwards a sweet couple approached me with tears in their eyes and said that my story had really touched them.
The other time is more silly than anything else, but it does make me laugh. A bit of background: while I’m usually “M.Christian” pretty much everywhere now and again a publisher will ask me to change my name. Maybe I have more than one story in a book or they feel, for some reason, that my name doesn’t fit what I write. In any case, I was at a party and while chatting with someone writing came up, and then we realized that we both had stories in the same magazine. When I told him mine he blinked several times and confessed “I masturbated to that story!” That there’d never been any doubt in his mine that the story wasn’t written by a woman. Like i said: I do giggle about that.
Then there’s what happened with one of my publishers. This is many years ago, when I was first getting some of my queer collections out into the world. I had a really nice relationship with an editor at a gay publishing house. One day he asked a mutual friend we had in common: “What kind of men does Chris like?” My friend answered: “Women.”
I thought that this editor knew I was straight, and thinking that he might have thought I’d lied to him -- or led him on -- was devastating. I immediately got on the phone with him and after we’d both cried several times we told each other that, gay or straight, we loved each other.
♥ Having explored a number of different publishers and publishing models, what attracted you to the shelves of Wordwooze Publishing?
I’ve always secretly hoped that someday I’d be able to have audiobook editions of my work, so when Wordwooze approached me I jumped-for-joy. So far they’ve put out fantastic adaptations of several of my collections, including Bachelor Machine, Lesbian Erotica, Skin Effect, and the novels Painted Doll, Bionic Lover, and Finger’s Breadth. They are also working on other collections and novels that folks will be able to hear soon.
Speaking of, if anyone wants to review some of these audiobooks (or any of my books) just shoot me an email through my site.
♥ Finally, looking towards a brighter, more fantastic 2017, what can readers look forward to seeing from you next?
I’m still having a blast being a writer for Future Of Sex -- with usually one or two pieces going up per week. I just finished a special new science fiction anthology project, called Five To The Future with Ernest Hogan, Arthur Byron Cover, Cynthia Ward, and Emily Devenport. I’m also working on three new novels: one with my great pal R. Greco, a surreal horror/science fiction one called Blue, and the exploration of BDSM I already mentioned.
Beyond that I’m having fun, working hard, trying to stay positive in this crazy world, looking forward to creating fun books and stories, and -- most of all -- living each day for my special Owner.
My social media and such:
My site: www.mchristian.com
Twitter: @mchristianzobop
Tumblr: http://rude-mechanicals.tumblr.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdot.christian & https://www.facebook.com/zobopmchristian
♥ Thanks again for taking the time to join us, and please do let me know when your Owner story is out!
I’ve also written six novels, such as the queer vampire books Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys, the erotic cyberpunk Painted Doll, the science fiction/queer/noir Finger’s Breadth, the erotic romance Brushes, and the pretty damned weird Me2.
Then there’s a bunch of collections, like the queer ones (Dirty Words, Filthy Boys, Bodywork); the science fiction ones (Bachelor Machine and Skin Effect), the non-fiction ones (How To Write And Sell Erotica and Welcome to Weirdsville), and others.
And (takes a deep breath) I’m a regular contributor to Future Of Sex (“providing insights into the fascinating topic of the future of human sex and sexuality”), and have also been a non-fiction columnist for a lot of other sites and magazines.
What’s extremely cool is that many of my collections and novels are out in dual editions: the great folks at Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions doing the ebooks and print-on-demand and the fantastic Wordwooze doing the audiobooks!
♥ If it’s not too personal of a question, where does lifestyle experience end and vicarious fantasy begin within your fiction?
Not at all: ask anything you want! As far as writing and personal experience goes I’m kind of a queer duck -- even though I’m not actually gay. By that I mean that I don’t typically add a lot of personal details into my work, though some does leak in now and again. But what I do try to do is put in the emotional realism around sex. That’s a large part of why I’ve had as much success as I’ve had writing outside my own orientation and sexual interests: because I focus on the commonalities and less on the differences.
I mean I haven’t had queer sex, and I’m not equipped for lesbian play, but I do know what desire, arousal, hope, embarrassment, joy, disappointment, and love feels like. Details might not make it into my work but all of that and more I always try to put in.
I consider it a huge compliment that people presume that I’m gay, even though I’m very clear that I’m not. I have to say that the queer community has been … well, let me say that every day I feel blessed and honored to have received so much support, love, and kindness.
♥ On that note, is there a personal fetish or a fantasy that you have yet to explore in your fiction?
Hopefully not sounding too mercenary, but most of the time my projects are dictated by the marketplace. Not that I don’t love what I do -- far from it -- but when a publisher or editor asks for something my usual response is “when do you want it?”
That being said, I just began -- and by that I mean the first chapter -- a special project. The most amazing thing in my life has been belonging, body and soul and beyond, to an amazing Owner. What I want to try to do is explore that being property means to me: to really get down into the emotional, philosophical and sexual depths of it. It’s been interesting, writing about something so incredibly personal when for so long I’ve always kind of kept degree of distance from my work, but I know the result will be truly remarkable.
♥ Hmm, I like the sound of that. You have been published for a couple of years now, with several stories available. What was it that prompted you to begin writing?
But it wasn’t until high school that I really lept into it. To be honest, I’m not too sure why it hit so hard as it did, but I tried -- for many, many years -- to write a story a week. None of them were any good, but I do think that I at least got plenty of really bad writing out of my system.
Oddly, I never tried my hand at erotica. A lot of horror, mysteries, and tons of science fiction but I didn't try my hand at sex writing until I took a class in it from Lisa Palac, who was the editor of a magazine called Future Sex. She bought my first story and, about a year later, Susie Bright picked it for Best American Erotica 1994. No dummy, I concentrated on erotica and soon had sold quite a few stories, which led to editing anthologies. The rest, to use the cliche, is history.
If there’s a lesson here it’s don’t give up. From high school to my first published story was about ten years of trial and error -- mostly error. But since then I’ve had an absolute blast -- and can’t wait to see what opportunities and projects may rise on the horizon.
♥ With reader reviews so crucial to generating exposure, what are some of the weirdest or most wonderful reactions you’ve had from readers?
There’s been a few of both, believe me. I try not to focus on the negative ones -- writing can be depressing enough as it is -- but I do find myself giggling at some of the crazier ones. My favorites of those are the reviews that slam an erotic book because the reviewer wasn’t turned on. Seriously?
But my favorites, aside from some of the good ones I’ve been blessed to receive (thank You, Sally!) are the more … well, tender ones. One time I participated in a public erotica reading and for some reason I chose to read a first person lesbian story. Halfway through the reading I began to feel really awkward -- but afterwards a sweet couple approached me with tears in their eyes and said that my story had really touched them.
The other time is more silly than anything else, but it does make me laugh. A bit of background: while I’m usually “M.Christian” pretty much everywhere now and again a publisher will ask me to change my name. Maybe I have more than one story in a book or they feel, for some reason, that my name doesn’t fit what I write. In any case, I was at a party and while chatting with someone writing came up, and then we realized that we both had stories in the same magazine. When I told him mine he blinked several times and confessed “I masturbated to that story!” That there’d never been any doubt in his mine that the story wasn’t written by a woman. Like i said: I do giggle about that.
Then there’s what happened with one of my publishers. This is many years ago, when I was first getting some of my queer collections out into the world. I had a really nice relationship with an editor at a gay publishing house. One day he asked a mutual friend we had in common: “What kind of men does Chris like?” My friend answered: “Women.”
I thought that this editor knew I was straight, and thinking that he might have thought I’d lied to him -- or led him on -- was devastating. I immediately got on the phone with him and after we’d both cried several times we told each other that, gay or straight, we loved each other.
♥ Having explored a number of different publishers and publishing models, what attracted you to the shelves of Wordwooze Publishing?
Speaking of, if anyone wants to review some of these audiobooks (or any of my books) just shoot me an email through my site.
♥ Finally, looking towards a brighter, more fantastic 2017, what can readers look forward to seeing from you next?
I’m still having a blast being a writer for Future Of Sex -- with usually one or two pieces going up per week. I just finished a special new science fiction anthology project, called Five To The Future with Ernest Hogan, Arthur Byron Cover, Cynthia Ward, and Emily Devenport. I’m also working on three new novels: one with my great pal R. Greco, a surreal horror/science fiction one called Blue, and the exploration of BDSM I already mentioned.
Beyond that I’m having fun, working hard, trying to stay positive in this crazy world, looking forward to creating fun books and stories, and -- most of all -- living each day for my special Owner.
My social media and such:
My site: www.mchristian.com
Twitter: @mchristianzobop
Tumblr: http://rude-mechanicals.tumblr.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdot.christian & https://www.facebook.com/zobopmchristian
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