Purple Light Nights – Olivia Gaines

Welcome to another edition of Purple Night Lights, a place to spotlight writers of erotica. We will have intimate conversations about sex, love and writing about it. Today our guest is Olivia Gaines, author of ‘Oregon Trails’. Let’s do this.

LL: How did you get into writing erotic tales?

OG: It was an accident actually. I saw an image of a half-naked woman with a man nibbling on her and thought, hmm, that looks like some sh*t that would happen on a drunken outing in Vegas.

I sat down, had my son create me a cover, and Two Nights in Vegas was born. Readers loved it so much, that I had to test if they were enjoying the writing or the sex, so I wrote Being Mrs. Blakemore, took out all the sex, and gave a good story.

Now I combine the two, a good, sexy, panty wetting steamy story about a man and woman finding their way to love.

LL: Do you put a little of yourself in your characters?

© Creativecommonsstockphotos Dreamstime Stock Photos(9) OG: No. Each character is their own person. I write each as an individual, and they are real people to me, so no. There is no me in my characters. However, if I were to be one, I would be a bad ass like Eduardo Delgado. He would be a male version of me.

LL: How do you do your research?

OG: I research everything. I research the history of town, it’s neighborhoods, professions, trade conferences, nuances, snakes; you name it. It also helps that I work in a library.

LL: Tell us about ‘Oregon Trails’ and who or what inspired you to write it?

OG: My Modern Mail Order Brides cover the 50 states. It started as kind of a joke. I played with the idea of writing a mail order bride series and decided to make it modern. I give the women the money and the men a trade. The men live off the grid and the land and the women have climbed the ladder and really just want to get back to a simpler life.

Oregon Trails takes a man with a digestive disorder who wants to save the planet and paired him with an internet savvy woman who lived her life in the spotlight. Kalinda had her own story to tell as well as Paul.

I think they paired well as a contrast to two very different families. Loving families, but very different.

LL: Do you ever get negative or unwanted attention because of the genre you have chosen? How do you deal with it?

OG: I write under a pen so my freaky stays under the covers.

LL: Who is the one writer that has influenced you the most in the genre and what is your favorite work by them?

OG: Believe it or not, I do not read erotica.

I love Julie Garwood’s storytelling style and the humor of Janet Evanovich.

I fell in love with The Lion’s Lady by Garwood. The heroine in the bushes eating the leaves still make me chuckle. To the Nines by Evanovich, with the baby foot hanging out her cooter and the big black man passing out…I laughed so hard I peed myself. I love those kind of feel good stories.

A story should make you feel good at the end. I don’t want to read a story and be depressed when I’m done. I hate that!

LL: What is your take on how many sex scenes to include in a novel? Can there be too many?

OG: Yes. Yes. Yes. I read one book that opened with a ménage, then the couple was going at it in the vestibule of a church. If your characters are screwing that much then you are writing porn.

To me, and this is just my opinion, if you are writing sexy to just write about sexing, then go for it. However, when you are focused on the craft of storytelling, those sexual encounters should lead the couple somewhere. It doesn’t have to be a relationship, but at least give them some form of enlightenment in their own behaviors.

LL: What is your ultimate goal for your writing?

OG: To connect. To understand. To be understood.

I want to tell the stories of black women who have lived good lives. Not every black woman is a walking tragedy or a victim of some sexual abuse. Yes, those are also our stories, but there are wonderful stories of everyday lives, where people fall in love, have kids and go on about their lives.

I think, and again, just my opinion, that we have been let down so much, that we have forgotten how good it feels to love and be loved. I write to remind us that out there, some man is waiting to make a believer out of you.

LL: What is your favorite sex position to write about in your novels?

OG: I don’t know. It depends on the couple. Some people work best at the missionary, with the woman relishing in the feel of the man’s weight upon her. Whereas, some women love a good old fashion d*ck ride.

LL: Are you a fan of toys?

OG: I am writing my first scene where the couple will use some. Let’s see how this one plays out and I will tell you whether or not I am a fan.

LL: What is your favorite sub-genre of erotica to read?

OG: Again, I don’t read erotica. I don’t quite understand paranormal. I have no desire to f*ck a ghost or a dead guy who lives off the blood from my inner thighs or the swollen engorged vaginal lips.

I don’t want to screw a guy who every 3^rd Friday, shifts into a bear with a big wiener. Or a wolf. Or an alligator. That shit is not sexy to me. I don’t want to be spanked. Tied up. Gagged or call some man Daddy as he plays with my bung hole with his tongue. That is just nasty.

LL: When does the kink go too far in your opinion?

OG: When a dead guy sticks his tongue in your bung hole is right up there on my list. Or someone poops on you. What the hell man? Or pees on you.

LL: Describe your writing process?

OG: I am a plotter. I have a master file that I write down everything. I know the characters, the basic settings, and I go from there. I write first thing in the morning, or either later in the afternoon. Depends on the deadline, but most days, I am at my kitchen table, banging it out. Three to five thousand words a day. Every day.

LL: What’s next on the agenda for you?

OG: I don’t know. I will not lie and say something like, I am going to make USA Today and the New York Times Best Seller’s list. That would be nice. Right now, my plan is to craft some amazing stories about love and living a good life. That’s all I have right now, but I’m good with that.

Bonus Question

LL: Have you ever been so turned on by a scene you are writing that you needed to stop writing to take care of business?

OG: The couch moving scene in Thursday’s in Savannah. Hell the 5:30 am scene in Thursdays in Savannah. Jesse was putting it down in that book. Whew!!!!