Erotica writer Penelope Friday explains how she feels the genre came to choose her
Penelope Friday
Penelope Friday has had features published by magazines Disability Now, The New Writer and Jane Austen’s Regency World. She is also a fiction writer specialising in erotica, teen fiction and science fiction. In January 2009 she had an historical lesbian novella, Loving My Lady, published. She also had a romantic novel published in May 2008.
What made you become a writer?
I am one of these terribly unoriginal people who wanted to be a writer from being a child. Actually, I think my first ambition was to be a mountain climber, but failing that…! I was nine, I think, when I finished my first ‘book’ (an extremely derivative tale about a girl and her horse). I occasionally come across the precious ‘manuscript’ which was a labour of love at the time and took me months to write.
Unfortunately for my poor family, it did not put me off the entire idea of writing as a career - they were presented with each story as I wrote it, and I’m afraid they still are.
Did you receive any formal training?
Well, I’ve got a degree in English and Drama. I did a playwriting course in my final year of university – ironically, about the only genre I’ve not been published in is plays! But I’m sure the practise I got writing for prompts helped, and I’m probably better at dialogue than at long descriptive passages, which is something I’ve got from the playwriting.
How did you find your first writing job?
A friend emailed me a link to Xcite books, who were a fairly new publishing company at the time and were looking for erotic stories between 2,000 and 4,000 words. She knew I’d written erotica in the past (fanfiction, so nothing intended for publication) and she suggested I tried my hand at original erotic fiction.
I’d had a couple of novels rejected at that point, and some poetry, so I wasn’t entirely convinced that I’d be a success. But Xcite accepted the first story I sent them, and the boost I got from that acceptance encouraged me really to go for it in terms of sending my writing out. These days I start looking edgily at my submissions list when I have less than twenty queries under consideration.
One of the rejected novels, incidentally, was later published – though I had to do a lot of editing – which just shows you should not necessarily give up if you get a rejection slip through the post or email!
Do you specialise in a particular genre? If so, why did you pick that genre?
Most of my acceptances – about half, in fact, of what I’ve had published – is erotica. It’s not entirely me having picked it as the other way around: I’ve found it considerably easier to get erotica published than other forms of fiction. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’m better at writing it, because there are fewer people trying to get published in that genre, or some other reason.
But I’ve also had a few science fiction stories published, regularly write articles, and am also involved with a new website which is due to start up later this year – thedisabilitysite.co.uk, for which I’m going to be writing a monthly column.
Where are we likely to see your work?
I’ve had ten stories accepted by Xcite, but I really do write for all sorts of places. I write a lot of disability articles - and disability issues quite often creep into my fiction; I’ve been disabled for 16 years or so, so it’s an issue close to my heart.
I’m also fascinated by the Regency period: my novella Loving My Lady, a lesbian historical set in the Regency period, was published in January this year, and I’ve written articles for Jane Austen’s Regency World as well as one on historical research for The New Writer.
What are the biggest challenges of the job?
I think the realisation that you have to tailor your writing to what people are looking for rather than whatever you fancy writing. I have written stories which have had rejection after rejection – yet in my opinion, they’re better than others that have been accepted first time out.
I’ve learnt not to take it as a slight on my writing, but to realise that people are looking for something specific. It’s also a challenge dealing with the times where nobody seems to want anything you write, which is then often followed by two people wanting articles ‘preferably yesterday’…
What are the biggest perks?
I’m still at the stage of being really thrilled when people accept my stories or articles, and the idea that people like my writing enough to actually pay me money for it! But the fact that I can write in my own time is also really important for me.
I have a small son, and I’m also chronically disabled with ME/CFIDS so a job that I can tailor around the times that I’m not asleep or trying to wrangle a pre-schooler is just what I need.
How do you adapt your style to suit different publications?
To be honest, when it comes to fiction, I don’t: I adapt my market. I write erotica more than other types of fiction because I know it sells, so to that degree I have adapted to a style of writing which frankly was not what was in my mind when I was a nine year old would-be writer!
But I’m lucky enough that my style of erotic writing reliably sells, and although I could (so I’m told) make considerably more money writing graphic pornography, I’m not prepared to do so. I wouldn’t enjoy it – and I probably wouldn’t be very good at it anyway.
Other styles of fiction (I’ve written teen stories and sci fi, among others) jump up at me and insist on being written; I then have to look around and wonder where on earth would accept stories.
Articles are a different matter: a lot of the time, I’ve emailed a query, and when the editor gets back to me, s/he tells me what it is s/he’s looking for. Or if I’ve sent an article (and actually, this has happened occasionally with fiction as well), they come back to me and say that they want more references, or a bit more explanation, or a little less information on x.
It’s a case of not being precious about my writing, and accepting that the editor knows what works best within their publication.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Probably the publication of my novella, Loving My Lady – not only because I believe it’s one of the best things I’ve written (which I’m sure I shouldn’t say), but because it made me realise that although I might write all sorts of things,
Regency lesbian stories is where my heart lies. Also, it got some good reviews, which is always ego boosting!
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Read the writers’ guidelines from anywhere you want to write for and stick to them like glue. If you’re going to be rejected, let it be because the story/article is just not quite what the editor is looking for – never because you’ve pissed them off by failing to follow instructions.
The one way in which you can immediately help your chances of getting published (and getting published again) is to do precisely what you’re asked. Given a brilliant but flakey writer or a good and reliable one, editors will usually go for reliability. It’s not the most exciting advice ever, but I can guarantee it works.
What are you working on now?
Apart from writing articles and short stories, which is my bread-and-butter type writing, my major project is a full length historical lesbian novel. I’ve got about 20,000 words written but I’m expecting it to be at least 60,000 so I’ve got some way to go.
I keep running into problems of historical accuracy (Napoleon escaped from Elba at a particularly inconvenient time for the plot of the novel!) and having to put parts on hold until I find out more information. But whenever I get time to sit down with it, I fall in love with my characters all over again, which is a good feeling.
For more visit visit www.myspace.com/penelopefriday
To read Penelope’s tips on maintaining your motivation, visit http://essentialwriters.com/how-to/maintain-your-motivation
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