Stepping outside my comfort zone

I had an interesting experience last week and it was too good not to share. As you know, I am using my blog to connect authors with potential readers. When I submitted my last article to Writer2Writer, I mentioned to the editor, Cheryl Wright that I would love to interview her for my blog. She has a new release coming out in November. She agreed and went one step further by sending my contact information along to her publisher, telling her I was looking to interview authors.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from Laurie Sanders, editor of Black Velvet Seductions. Their "erotic romance is so hot, you'll need a fan"...or so their tagline says.

Now, I'm not opposed to erotica. It's not a genre I've written, but I don't purposely avoid it. Like all genres, it has a market and loyal readers, and who am I to say what another person should write about. Yet, it took me three days to get back to Sanders.

My original instinct was--cool! I've never interviewed an author of this genre before and the closest thing I've probably read to it was out of a 1980's issue of Hustler. Then thoughts started drifting in about possible repercussions. What if someone from my church checked out my blog that week? Would I feel comfortable with the questions they might ask me? How about my family, would they start an intervention and suggest I seek professional help to heal my addiction to sex? Would my neighbors start pulling their children back towards the house as I drive by?

I stewed on it a couple days before I contacted two very wise writing chums. The first one told me it would be "...an opportunity to show that a writer and their stories can be separated. That we write characters, not ourselves onto the pages." The other reminded me that "they are on the same 'journey' as all writers. They still deal with rejection, doubts, etc."

It was enough to send my own doubts flying out of my mind and return me to my gut instinct which said, "Cool!"

No matter what genre we focus on--we are all writers. We are real people who spend their lives entertaining others with our storytelling abilities. We share a special connection to each other because no one else in the world but another writer knows exactly what it's like. Yeah, your sister in Toledo might humor your attempt at becoming a published author, but only another writer can appreciate how damn hard it is to make it happen.

So, I am pleased to announce that you can look forward to interviews with four authors who have been published by Black Velvet Seductions, starting in July. And, if Laurie Sanders and I can settle on a date, she will provide writers with an idea of what it's like to sit on the other side of the desk.

I really can't wait!

Cheryl