Brent Aden

I grew up in some rough neighborhoods; then things changed. As a teenager, I went off to prep school, where I learned to write well. Thank goodness, because when I was at MIT, writing had nothing to do with the educational experience. My career has been in technology, as an entrepreneur, manager, and executive. For decades, all I wrote were business plans, proposals, and manuals.

A few years ago, frustrated with the way BDSM is depicted in most books, I started writing Summer Hire, to share with my life partner. She is also a busy executive and found it hard to unwind from the stress. Reading the latest chapter of Melissa and Erik’s story was a great way for her to leave the ordinary world behind, step through that looking glass in Erik’s closet, and enjoy playtime.

About a year after I started writing this story, the first book of 50 Shades of Grey was published, which has helped BDSM become a bit more mainstream. Unfortunately, most of the new BDSM books that flowed out of this movement seemed worse, at least from my point of view, than what had come before.

I have always hated the sort of romance novels, erotic or not, where some mysterious, powerful male swoops into our heroine’s life, taking control of everything. Lovestruck, she gives up her independence, so she can tend to his emotional needs, which are enormous since all these men seem to be emotional cripples. Some BDSM novels compound this problem by featuring male protagonists who are flat-out abusive.

I wanted to write a story that was rooted within this genre, and yet had characters who felt real to me. Even if Melissa and Erik share a sub/dom sexuality, they deeply believe that a relationship between partners is based equality and respect. They know the real world is distinct from the sexual fantasies that they enjoy bringing to life.

I also wanted to write a story that celebrates sexuality as a joyful, positive experience. The main characters in Summer Hire are playful and bold. They are not afraid to try new things. Even if they decide afterward that it’s not something worth doing again, they don’t regret having tried it.

After years of writing this story on and off, in bits of time stolen from the rest of my life, my partner encouraged me to think about publishing Summer Hire. I first put up some chapters at literotica.com, and was surprised by the strength of the positive feedback. Now, I have created a web site to host the story at www.brentaden.com (I am a geek, after all). I have also put the story on Smashwords and it will soon be available through many more outlets.

Website: http://brentaden.com