Just Joan E Lloyd

Just Joan E Lloyd

An ENE interview with author Joan E Lloyd

Joan E Lloyd is the author of six novels, five self-help books and two anthologies in the genres of sexuality, relationship and erotica: Nice Couples Do, 52 Saturday Nights, Bedtime Stories for Lovers, Come Play With Me, Midnight Butterfly, Now and Forever, Velvet Whispers, Black Satin, The Love Flower, The Pleasures of Jessicalynn and Slow Dancing.

ENE: Why do you write?

JEL: That's really quite simple. I love it. I love writing erotica and knowing that someone somewhere is enjoying what I write - enjoyment in every form!!!

ENE: When did you start writing? What did you write?

JEL: Actually I began in about 1987 with two very bad novels - neither will ever see the inside of publishing and that's a blessing to anyone who might have read them. They were truly awful. Then I wrote my first real book, one that was finally titled Nice Couples Do. It was based on the idea the erotica can be used to enhance sexual communication and was filled with both advice and illustrative erotic stories. Once it was done, I found an agent through a lucky series of network contacts. She sent the book to an editor at Warner Books who found the book that was hidden inside all the words. Both my agent and my editor are still with me 11 years later - thought 6 novels, 2 books of short stories and 5 books of relationship self-help.

ENE: Who are your favorite authors of fiction?

JEL: I read great quantities of fiction, much of it romance. I love Amanda Quick, Elizabeth Lowell, Johanna Lindsey, Bertrice Small, Jude Devereaux, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jayne Ann Krentz and on and on... I probably read 3 books a week.

ENE: What stimulates your muse?

JEL: I have a great relationship with Ed and the things we enjoy usually find their way into my books. Great sex stimulates writing about great sex. I also have a very active web site at www.joanelloyd.com and the letters from my visitors, and their questions and comments stimulate my urge to write as well.

ENE: Do you ever get writer's block? How do you deal with it?

JEL: I seldom get writer's block per se. Sometimes I have to stop what I'm working on and let it cook in my brain for a while. When this happens I usually discover that there was something in what I was writing that didn't work just right and I need time for my subconscious to work it through. I write great quantities of short stories so while I'm in 'hiatus' from a major project I try to write some of those instead.

ENE: Is erotica porn?

JEL: That's a question of semantics. For me, erotica involves two (or more) people, all giving and receiving pleasure. Porn, to me, is one sided with little pleasure. Porn is more "insert tab A into slot B and do something" in some unusual situation.

ENE: Do you allow others to read your work while it is being written?

JEL: Ed is my editor and he reads parts of what I write as it's being written. Otherwise no, I don't. And I don't talk about it either. I find that the more I talk about a story line, the more my enthusiasm for it is dissipated. I want that enthusiasm on the page.

ENE: What advice would you give romance and erotica fiction writers
about getting published?

JEL: I have a few bits of 'wisdom.' Write for the love of it so that if you get published it's a bonus, not the reason behind it. If you enjoy your work, your writing will show that and will be that much better. Also, read like a writer. As I already said, I read alot, and as I read I try to sift out why I enjoy (or don't enjoy) what I'm reading and then incorporate those ideas into my writing. For example, is there too much description, or too little. What about the character makes him or her believable, or fun. What words or phrases really work, and which don't.

ENE: Here are some questions from our readers. When did you start writing erotica?

JEL: I began, as I said above, in 1989, and I haven't run out of ideas yet - and that still amazes me. Look for Bedtime Stories for Lovers II, available in September through the Literary Guild/Doubleday/Venus Book Clubs.

ENE: What inspires you to write?

JEL: I love the idea that somewhere a couple is reading what I write and might be having great sex because of it.

ENE: How would you characterize your style of writing?

JEL: Phew - style? That seems to say that I understand about writing, and I don't. I just write as I think and my readers seem to enjoy it.

ENE: Are your characters based a bit on people you have met or come
across?

JEL: My novels usually feature a woman in her thirties who, f or one reason or another, discovers the joy of great sex. Those characters are all me, who discovered good sex in my thirties, after a long marriage and two kids. And, by the way, I'm still learning (evil grin).

ENE: Do you do any research [for your novels]?

JEL: No. I hate the idea of spending time in libraries or on the net. That's why I write contemporary novels set in my home area. Nothing annoys me more that reading a novel with inaccuracies and they are so difficult to avoid unless you're really familiar with the locale and the people of the area and age group.

ENE: Do you use a word processor? Pen or pencil? Dictation?

JEL: I use Word Perfect. I've actually submitted my last three novels on disk, along with a paper manuscript. That made the job of typesetting easier for my publisher.

ENE: How do you write? Do you just sit down and write till dry and then
go back and revise? Or do you write a whole lot and then redraft?

JEL: When I write I am usually only writing down what my characters are doing in my head. The scene(s) have often been twirling in my head for days, or even weeks, before I write. I do some editing as I go along, during that actual writing down. Sometimes, to get back into a scene, I go back and edit the last few pages then continue. Most editing comes last, after the whole thing is finished. If I were being completely honest, I would also have to admit that sometimes something changes halfway through the book and I have to go back and fix the previous chapters because I like the new version better.

ENE: Do you live what you write?

JEL: Yes!!!

ENE: How did you sell your first novel? Did you send out query letters,
outlines and sample chapters or complete manuscripts? Did you go
through an agent? If so, how did you manage to snag one? Or did you
get an agent after you had an offer for your manuscript?

JEL: Actually my first sale was nonfiction, to Warner Books. The head of Carroll & Graf, a smaller publisher, took me to lunch in about 1992 and wondered whether I wanted to write a novel and I confessed that I didn't know anything about plotting and the technical side of novel writing. He gave me a few suggestions and asked me to consider it. It took only three months to write Black Satin, my first novel. He published that, and the five that have followed.

Visit Joan E Lloyd's website for more information about her books and up coming events.



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* Black Satin, The Pleasures of JessicaLynn and Slow Dancing are out of print. They are, however, still available through the Literary Guild, Doubleday and Venus Book Clubs. Bedtime Stories for Lovers II will be out in September through Literary Guild, Doubleday and Venus Book Clubs.

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