Here’s an interview with Caroline Stephens.

Take it away, Caroline…

• How did you start writing erotica?

I admit it – I started in fanfiction.  Wrote my first general story in the Due South fandom. Then I found some slash stories by accident, read a few, and thought what the hell, let’s have a go.  After a few years of writing in a couple of fandoms, I decided to create my own characters and attempt to get published.  It was a big step and my finger waivered over the “send button” for days!

• What’s your favourite published work of yours and why?

Pendragon’s Legacy, mainly because I love the “Arthur legend” and really wanted to do a story combining a modern day detective meeting Merlin and fighting evil Knights of the Round Table.  However, Riding Drag is a very close second because it’s my first western and I love cowboys.

• What was your ideal career when you were a child?

I wanted to be a teacher.  Haven’t done that, but done lots of other stuff including Operations Manager for a wild animal park!  May be there’s even a story there.

• Where do you draw your inspiration from?

No one particular place or person.  An idea usually pops into my head and I run with it, and see where the characters take me.  My notepad is full of scribbled ideas that need to be made into stories.

• What’s the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

Not really a writing tip, but one for catching your mistakes!  Read the sentence backwards.  Sounds weird, but it really works and helps you find the little words you’ve missed out or mis-spelled.

• If you get writer’s block when you’re writing, how do you get around it?

Banging my head on the desk didn’t work so now I walk away and do something else.  Polish, cook or go out into the garden and potter for a bit.  I find myself working stuff out in my head, and usually when I drift back to the computer, I am ready to go again.

• Who is your favourite characters from one of your stories and why?

It’s really difficult to choose. I like them all for different reasons. But if I had to choose, it’s a toss up between Dean Ryder from Pendragon’s Legacy, or Ryan Michaels from Cover Art.  They are different ends of the spectrum – Dean is confident and sure of himself whereas Ryan is shy and unsure of himself, but despite all their faults and insecurities, they both get/have their happy ending with a man who likes them for who they are.

• What are you working on at the moment?

I have three ideas at the moment bubbling under the surface and in pieces on the computer.  I just can’t quite decide which one to concentrate on first – a battle with long dead Egyptian god, a confident trapeze artist and a shy clown with a secret, or an adventure on the Iditarod trail.

• What’s your biggest writing achievement and why?

I definitely have to say getting my first novella published. The switch from fanfiction to my own characters and settings was a challenge, but I was pretty pleased that I managed and lived through the whole experience.  And of course, every time another story is accepted, I get stupidly excited!