The Delicious Torment

The Delicious Torment

The Delicious Torment is the second in my series of meta-novels (following Dark Secret Love). The title comes from a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: “So thou art to me a delicious torment…” My goal when writing this tale—and truly this is my goal for all of my BDSM erotica— is to show a happy side.

 

Even when dealing with kink, discipline, and bondage, I strive to express the decadent beauty found in the powerful relationships between dominants and submissives. The Delicious Torment takes readers further into the story of Jack and Samantha, and introduces an important character, Alex, who is Jack’s right-hand man in more ways than might initially be expected.

 

You have been hailed the best BDSM writer of today, so how does this make you feel?

 

Delighted! Elated! (And other assorted verbs ending in “ed.”) One of my favourite quotations of all time comes from the supremely talented actress Holland Taylor, who proclaimed, “Overnight!” when she won an Emmy award (after having been in the entertainment business for forty years). I’ve been here at my desk with my head down writing for two decades. I’m supremely grateful and seriously pleased that readers enjoy my words.

 

 

Please tell us a bit about the character of Samantha?

 

Samantha is yours truly in disguise. I put a lot of myself into my characters when I write. But this girl—well, if you don’t like her, then you and I probably wouldn’t get along. She’s naïve, independent, worried, sleep-deprived, insatiable, creative, curious, inked, impatient, caffeinated, and submissive. In Dark Secret Love, she was searching (as much for herself as for the perfect Dom). In The Delicious Torment she is wrapping her mind around the concept of engaging in a 24/7 relationship. Although, as I like to say, what relationship isn’t 24/7?

 

 

When did your interest in explicit novels begin?

 

I devour books. But for the longest time, I refused to pay attention to genre or labels. From the pulp crime novels I adore (The Maltese Falcon, The Long Goodbye) to Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Getting It Right, to the memoirs that adorn my night table (Wrecking Crew, Just Kids, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit), and the books I reread obsessively (City Primeval, The Lone Pilgrim, Written on the Body), my stack of treasured tomes represents a patchwork of desires. That said; romance never called out longingly to me. I want to know what’s going on. (That’s my main fetish.) I like to discover what people are thinking, doing, eating, and saying, what’s in their medicine cabinets, what type of laundry detergent they prefer—and since I’m into kink, this leads to craving the honesty that explicit novels provide. There is no fade-to-black here, unless someone slides a blindfold into place.

 

 

Who are your favourite authors now?

 

The problem with lists is that you always end up leaving out people that you adore. But here are a few of my favourites. Quick aside: I’m a bit alphabet obsessed (just check out A is for Amour, B is for Bondage, C is for Coeds…) and so I thought I’d try to fit one writer in for every letter of the alphabet. (And I almost succeeded.) I’ve been lucky enough to work with all of these stellar writers and editors—some new to me, some not so new:

 

John Albert, Violet Blue, Heidi Champa, Andrea Dale, Justine Elyot, Tamsin Flowers, Shanna Germain, A.M. Hartnett, Tahira Iqbal, Georgia E. Jones, D.L. King, Kristina Lloyd, Sommer Marsden, Delilah Night, Kathryn O’Halloran, Emilie Paris, Sadey Quinn, Thomas S. Roche, Donna George Storey, Tristan Taormino, Mia Underwood, Sophia Valenti, Kristina Wright, Xan West (I cheated!),Y, Cora Zane.

 

Give me a few more letters, and I’ll fill them up quickly.

 

Please can you tell us about your role as an editor?

 

Editing is such a voyeuristic treat for me. I land on a theme and ask authors to pen works that fit the topic. Then I reap the erotic rewards. I’ve edited books on bondage, office encounters, leather, jealousy, schoolgirl skirts, torn clothing, food, birthdays, kink, summer time, anal… Over the years, I’ve edited collections for Harlequin, Masquerade, Plume and Cleis Press (50 for Cleis and counting). I consider myself extremely lucky to have worked with many of the brightest luminaries in the business.

 

How much does this fuel your own work?

 

Basically, editing saves me. I am a workaholic and an insomniac—two great tastes that go great together—but I can’t write all the time. Editing provides me with something to focus on while my own projects gently simmer.

 

You were called the ‘trollop with the laptop’, so what was your reaction when you found out?

 

Isn’t that so cool? A journalist at the East Bay Examiner compared me to Anthony Trollope:

 

Tyler cultivates the image of a trollop with a laptop -- "a shy girl with a dirty mind." But in her work habits, she more closely resembles Anthony Trollope, the 19th-century novelist who cranked out 250 words every fifteen minutes.

 

Ever since, I’ve been tempted to have the words permanently scrawled somewhere on my body.

 

 

What is next for you?

 

Book #3 in my “story of submission” series! I can’t tell you how over-the-moon I am to have completed edits on this one. This third book is a love letter to spankophiles everywhere. So bend over and get ready to read!

 

Alison Tyler has been called a “literary siren” (by Good Vibrations), “erotica’s own Superwoman” by The East Bay Express, and “the good bad girl” by GLBT books. Find her 24/7 at alisontyler.blogspot.com and follower on twitter: @alisontyler

 

 

 


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