Sometimes I feel really sorry for my eighty-five year old mother. She’s so proud of my success and afraid to tell her friends exactly what it is I write. The funny thing is, it’s not the fact my stories are erotic romances…no, what bothers her is that the characters can shift from human to animal and back again.
It’s just not natural!
On that note, we were at a family gathering awhile back and my older brother started teasing me about being the “family porn queen.” Much to my surprise, my mother jumped to my defense.
“Have you read her books?” she asked.
“No, are you kidding!”
Big brothers are all the same, even when they’re 62 and you’re 56. What surprised me more than Dave’s flip comment was my mother’s answer.
“Then shut up.”
We all did…shut up, that is, and stared at Mom. Now that she had our attention, she explained herself. “Don’t criticize something you’ve never read. I wish we’d had stories with explicit sex available when I was young,” she said. “We knew nothing about sex and no one would tell us. Books like your sister’s are empowering. They show women taking control of their lives and enjoying their sexuality.”
Needless to say, that got a conversation going. It also led to a phone call from my brother a couple weeks later. “It’s got a plot,” he said, obviously shocked. Well, du-oh. He’d bought a copy of STARQUEST and said he couldn’t put it down, which, of course, I relayed to my mother. We got a good laugh out of it, but what she said has stayed with me.
Our stories are empowering. My female characters in the WOLF TALES series from Kensington Aphrodisia have complete control in their lives, from their reproductive status to the mates they choose. They truly are the alpha bitches in their packs and their men love them for their strength and intelligence.
It makes me feel good to know the message resonates with woman of all ages. I doubt Mom will ever read WOLF TALES, but it’s really gratifying to know she appreciates what I do for a living, even if she can’t brag about it to her friends!