Writing erotica

People start writing erotica for all sorts of reasons. Some come to the genre as fully-fledged authors of non-erotic fiction who decide to add more spice to their tales. Others just like the idea of creating a sexy story as a turn-on for their readers (and for themselves).

In my own case, I began writing erotica to relieve the intense boredom of convalescing at home after a long illness. That was in late summer of 2004, a few weeks after I returned to the UK to live with my sister Trish. I didn't have much prior experience of writing, except for a couple of months as a rather hapless freelance journalist, but I felt I was up for the challenge. It was Trish who actually nudged me into it, asking me to be chief proof-reader for her sexy stories about elves, orcs, dwarves and heroic warrior women. I enjoyed the task, and found it quite easy. Sitting up in bed, with a red felt-tip in my hand, I happily trawled through heaps of handwritten drafts, some of which went back fifteen years or more.

Then, one day, Trish suggested I should write some erotica of my own. She handed me the rough outline of a story she had been planning to write for a lesbian fiction website. I accepted the assignment and spent a lot of time on it. The result was Train Ride, a kinky little tale of female bi-curiosity, lesbian seduction and soft cotton panties. It was published  on the site and immediately received positive feedback from readers. Buoyed by this encouragement I decided to continue, so when Trish asked me to finish one of her fantasy tales (set in an imaginary Tolkienesque world) I was happy to do it. The storyline existed only as a rough draft but I rather liked it: a young female warrior seduces a sexually frustrated older woman in a roadside inn. I finished it in two days, gave it the title A Different Kind Of Meat, and presented it to Trish, who published it online alongside her own stories. Flushed with enthusiasm I carried on writing, and proof-reading, and putting stories on the web, even after I got well enough to take on a part-time job.

I decided at the outset to write fiction with exclusively lesbian themes. It's no coincidence that the default setting of my sexuality had been moving from 'bi' to 'gay' for several years, since the late 1990s. My most recent intimate relationship before my illness had been with a woman and I felt a deep yearning to stay on the same path, in both my writing and my personal life. My sister wanted me to broaden my horizons to include hetero fiction, but the genre held no real attraction for me, even though I had enough practical experience to describe in detail what goes on between a man and a woman. I did write a few stories with male/female sex scenes but these were specific assignments for a 'custom erotica' service where the reader defines the storyline.

Both Trish and I stopped writing at around the same time, five years ago, when our day jobs and other commitments left little time for anything else. We now no longer live together, nor are we even on the same continent. When we met up a few months ago, at a family occasion in Turkey, we discussed the possibility of publishing our stories in e-book format. This was how the Polly Patkin website started, taking its name from one of the more polite nicknames bestowed on me by my girlfriend, who calls me 'Polly Patkin' whenever I have a clueless, brainless moment. The site was originally to be called 'Lazy Lucy', a nickname I've had since childhood, but I'm not as lazy as I used to be (whatever anyone else might say!) so I ditched the idea.

Since setting up the website and beginning the long task of re-formatting our stories I've started writing erotic fiction again, in a small way, to see if I can still do it. It feels slow at the moment but if I get something finished I'll announce it here. I'm slightly rusty, like the Tin Man after the rain got into his joints. My girlfriend, who at 35 is six years my junior, assures me that an hour or two of creative writing is good therapy for a 40-something woman. 'You need to keep your mind active at your age,' she says, with a smirk and a sly wink. The trouble is, I'm not sure she's joking!