Interview with Chanel Ashby

Published 2015-03-16.
What do you read for pleasure?
I love reading erotica - surprise, surprise - but my tastes in fiction are all over the place. For a quick escape, I love James Patterson, all of the Alex Cross books are good. Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series is a lot of fun and so much better than the show. Occasionally, I will reread a classic, although there are so many that I still have to get to that I should be reading new ones. The Hunchback of Notre Dame has the most intense, romantic dialogue I've ever read. Lady Chatterly's Lover, Lolita and the Story of O are all favorites and really introduced a lot of the topics that we write erotica about today.
Describe your desk
My desk is everywhere. My laptop and I move from couch to desk to bed to patio, weather permitting. When I am writing, I need to be comfortable but not too distracted. Squirrel!
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up and still live in the Chicago area. Living in the frozen tundra has influenced my reading because what else could possibly be better on a cold, blustery day than curling up with a good book? Perhaps if I lived somewhere much nicer, I would have become an outdoorsy person. Scary.
What's the story behind your latest book?
My most recent book, "Taking Chelsea" is part of the Taking Her series. Taking Her is a series that I will continually be coming back to and includes "Taking Ashley" as well. These are taboo stories with older men and younger women and the temptation that surrounds them.

I've always been fascinated with that dynamic and as a young woman, had more than one "May/December" affairs. The recent ban on incest and pseudo-incest is something that I think is a slippery slope, it is fiction after all. Working within the new parameters, it's still a theme that I want to visit and a fantasy that I enjoy.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Writing erotica is especially fun because I get the opportunity to share deeply intimate thoughts with total strangers. That is kind of amazing when you think about it. Erotica is usually the stuff that we don't even feel comfortable talking about with our friends, sometimes not even our partners and here someone is laying it out on the table and exposing it for anyone to read.

I think it's important that erotic writers have a voice and a platform - it gives everyone the ability to not only dive in to a fantasy, but to identify with the idea that others, probably a LOT of others, have the same kinks and desires as you and I.
What are you working on next?
I am working on a new sissy series. A sexy, young Alpha male just graduated from college and is about to start his career. This young man has a secret that is about to be exposed by his boss - the real Alpha male in this equation. What happens when a stud is broken for the first time, love or total dominance? Maybe both.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
When I am not writing, I am cooking or reading or otherwise indulging in something that is probably fattening and fun.
What is your writing process?
I think that when you write, you have no idea where your next idea may come from. It can be in part of a conversation, it could be when you were wishing that the movie took a different turn. I think it's always important to ask yourself, what if this happened? I am continually jotting down ideas and then it's just a question of whether or not it still interests me later.
How do you approach cover design?
I have no artistic skill or technical knowledge. I use a graphic artist for my cover designs and she is a lifesaver.
What are your favorite erotica genres to read?
I love the first time. I love taboo erotica, first time escapades between a young girl and an Alpha male in her life make for very sexy reading. The power dynamics, the forbidden aspects, who is seducing who? Once she has been bedded, what happens then? The man of the house has just showed the brat who is boss, or maybe she did.

Some of the same dynamics are in play with sissy stories and forced feminization and I have to admit that I'm a sucker for a cute boy in panties.
What about censorship and erotica?
There are some rules that I understand, hey necrophilia and whatnot are a cultural no-no and I have no problem with abiding by those guidelines. I do think that when censorship starts to affect what is and is not allowed in fiction that we're on a slippery slope. I believe that it's important for readers and writers alike to have the ability to indulge in fantasy. It is, after all, just someone's imagination.
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