Mercy Loomis

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and I sit down to discuss submission, erotica, and the anthology Please Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission. You can find the interview at the anthology's blogsite.

How did you come up with the idea for your story “The Sub Fairy” in Please, Sir?

I wanted to do a story about more recreational D/s, about how a vanilla couple might get into it or incorporate it in their lives. And I really love that Halloween costume and I wanted to do something more with it than just wear it, hehe.

Was it a challenging story or did the writing come easily?

Figuring out how to frame the story was hard, but once I knew where I was going the rest came pretty easily.

Do you have a favorite sentence or paragraph from your story?

I didn’t understand the appeal, I truly didn’t, but after months of muttering “I don’t know why I like this, but I do,” I accepted it without question.” That, in a nutshell, has been my experience, and hearing it from other people has always made me feel better. I wanted to pass on that “oh good, I’m not the only one” feeling.

I decided that “Risk and Reward” is an applicable theme for Please,
Sir. Does this theme resonate with you for your story?

I think it does. The narrator takes a bit of a risk bringing up the subject, even though it’s not explicitly stated. She doesn’t know how her husband is going to react, and it can be scary rocking the boat in an established relationship, when you have a lot to lose.

Is this story similar to or different from the other erotica you’ve written?

Both. I write a lot of different erotica. I think it’s thematically closest to my story “When in Rome,” in that both stories deal with first or early experiences in D/s and with the risk of altering an established relationship.

What do you think makes an erotica story successful?

For erotica specifically, the heat has to be to purpose. Regardless of how explicit you get (some stories call for very, some call for hardly at all), the sex has to be important to the story.

Do you have any advice for budding erotica writers?

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your writing. Write a lot. If you don’t practice you won’t improve. Listen to your inner critic above all others – a lot of people will not get your work, so take outside opinion with that in mind. Pay attention to the possibilities that are all around you every day.
Ask “what if?” a lot! Love what you do.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a couple of short stories and a novella, and trying to decide what novel I want to work on next.