This week I’m away on a writing retreat. I started doing these last year with friends from my writing group. We rent a cottage (house, really) somewhere preferably in the middle of nowhere and we all work on our novels. Last year we were in the Lake District, and this year we’re in Dorset.
Of course you don’t need a writing retreat to write, and some of them can be very expensive. What I like about me and my friends is that we’re content to all pitch in with the cooking and washing up. We split the rent of the house between us and we each have a room with an en-suite bathroom and lots of space to write in the house. Because we tend to go in the winter, the cottages aren’t as expensive, so it’s an affordable way to do a retreat.
This year, I’m actually working on editing my new smutty novel. My friends know me by my real name and until this week, they were unaware of my pen name under which I write erotica. Up until fairly recently, I wouldn’t have confessed I write erotica at all, let alone let them know my pen name, but I no longer care. We’re all adults, and if they are shocked by my writing, then so be it. I know it’s not for everyone. But I wanted to be free to edit my erotica without being ashamed of what I’m working on. And they have been lovely and supportive, as well as teasing me, of course.
What I love about a writing retreat is that it gives me uninterrupted writing or editing time. Life often gets in the way of my writing, and that is especially true for writing erotica. I like to write on the train during my commute as I don’t have internet access and I usually can get a lot of words done. However, writing erotica on a busy train isn’t always practical. Equally, writing it at home where the kids can walk up to me and read over my shoulders is also not ideal. And then there’s the small issue of getting all hot and bothered while writing erotica.
At the retreat I don’t have to worry about anyone inadvertently reading over my shoulder. My friends have been warned, so if they read snippets of my writing, I don’t care. If I get too hot and bothered, I can retreat to my bedroom to take care of things. And I don’t have to worry about life interrupting me.
It’s great to be editing my latest erotic novel. It’s been far too long since I published a novel. I just checked my Amazon author page and the latest novel came out two years ago!! I’ve since written stories for Medium and Literotica, some of which are as long as a full length novel, but I haven’t had anything out on Amazon for two years. Which is strange, considering how much I love writing erotica.
So I’m sorry that you, my lovely readers, have had to wait so long for another book from me. I hope you will like this one. I have enjoyed writing it and I’m really enjoying making the story the best it can be. It will be a prequel to The Insatiable Jane Travers, so if you’ve enjoyed that one, you’re in luck! This novel—for which I still don’t have a title yet!—will follow the story of Rachel and how she came to host her famous sex parties. It’ll be fun, exciting and very sexy. So stay tuned!