|
« « Previous Post | Next Post » »
By Sonya Smith  Lori Bryant-Woolridge (Photo credit: Marshall Norstein) Even though writer and sensuality coach Lori Bryant-Woolridge doesn’t consider herself a romance writer, her three best-selling novels can all be placed in subgenres of the romance novel market. Most recently, Bryant-Woolridge is editor of the erotic anthology, Can’t Help the Way That I Feel. Erotica is also considered a subgenre of the romance category, and as such, it fits the romance reader demographic quite nicely. According to the Romance Writers of America website, the median age of romance readers is 44.9 years. Of the 29 million (as of 2008) regular readers, most of them are women between the ages of 31 to 49. And out of those 29 million regular readers, 9.5 percent are men. Can’t Help the Way That I Feel is comprised of a sexy set of 11 short stories and three “to be continued” interactive stories that center on women of “a certain age” exploring, discovering, giving in to their sexuality. Recently, Bryant-Woolridge sat down with CityFlight.com and shared some of her insights about writing. CityFlight.com: Although your novels could be put in the romance genre, they seem to take the romance genre to a different level. What motivates the topics you cover in your novels? What do you hope a reader will walk away with? Lori Bryant-Woolridge: I don’t really consider myself a romance writer, though all of my stories do have strong romantic components to them. I like to write about love because it is such an intriguing and often confusing part of our human journey, as is sex. I am a teacher at heart, and believe that fiction is one of the great self help vehicles women have at our disposal. I like to explore interesting, difficult to answer questions such as, does the quality of one’s intent make a lie any less a lie (Read Between the Lies)? Or where does friendship end and infidelity begin (Hitts & Mrs.)? Or what does being sexy really mean, and how does a woman learn to define and tap into her own sexiness (Weapons of Mass Seduction)? My stories all center around a question or issue about life and love that has captured my imagination, and I explore that question by placing memorable and relatable characters in fun, sexy, page-turning situations.  Hitts & Mrs. Unlike most romance novels, my main characters are rarely in search of a man, but are in some way lost and searching for their authentic selves and individual truths. Once they find themselves, the men usually follow (just like in real life, I do believe!). What I hope women will take away from my books is the feeling that they have been enlightened and entertained and that men do not complete us, but rather add to our existing fabulosity. CF: Your current anthology, Can’t Help the Way That I Feel, seems focused on the experiences of ‘women of a certain age’. What might male readers and women who are not of that certain age expect to enjoy? LB-W): We do promote Can’t Help the Way That I Feel as erotic literature for ‘women of a certain age’ (40 plus), as it fills a unique niche in the very popular erotica genre. But truly the stories are geared towards any sexy, thinking man or woman who enjoys a certain elegance and sophistication to his/her erotic side, both between the covers of a book and in their bed. I also think it’s fantastic for younger women to see their older sisters living and loving their own sexual truths. Sexy knows no age and if you can get that in your head early on in your sexual life, in your later years you will not be questioning your sexual relevance, but rather reveling in your sexual life! CF: After 15 years in television broadcast business, why did you decide to pursue writing romance novels? LB-W: Like I said earlier, I don’t really consider myself a romance writer, but I’ve always been a writer. I began my television career right out of college but always scribbled on the side, trying to find my natural writing niche. I wrote TV scripts, won an Emmy award, had a concept for a sitcom optioned and turned into a pilot, but my pen never quite felt at home. Then I got an idea for a character, a smart but illiterate supermodel, and began writing her story. Many years later, I finished Read Between the Lies. I found an agent, and it was published by Doubleday in 1999, and that’s when my career as a novelist began.  Read Between the Lies CF: Your novels explore the worlds of diverse and multicultural characters. Has this made getting your work accepted by publishing houses difficult? How have readers responded to the ethnic make up of your characters? LB-W: Absolutely it has made things more difficult! Publishers have never really known what to do with me, which is why I’ve been thrown into so many different genres—romance, chick lit, commercial literature. Cover art has been the toughest because it’s never truly representative of the work within, but rather the genre they believe I should be in; usually whatever is hot at the time. Readers are so much more together because, unlike publishing sales and marketing teams, they live in the real world. They live and work with all kinds and colors of people. What readers demand is that characters be interesting and compelling no matter what color. And that’s fair. Even Can’t Help The Way That I Feel was a difficult sell because, while editors at the big publishers liked the concept of targeting ‘women of a certain age’, the sales people didn’t think there was a viable market. I really believed in the concept and brought it to Cleis Press here in the Bay Area. They not only understood the idea, but celebrated it, and I am so pleased they did because folks are really loving it! CF: What has been the most challenging aspect of your work? LB-W: Honestly, the most challenging aspect is not the writing of the books, but staying engaged in real life while I am writing them. You’re creating these characters in your head and their world and problems consume you, sometimes to the detriment of other aspects of your life. Early in my career, I made a decision not to publish a book a year so I could grow my family. That did cost me in terms of the speedy, upward growth of my career, but I have great kids so it was well worth it. Now they are nearly grown and all the words that I have been holding in are rushing out. I have three books due this year! This is all so exciting but the business has changed a great deal in the almost dozen years that I’ve been in it. It’s definitely a more challenging time to be an author right now. CF: What have you most enjoyed when crafting your novels? LB-W: I love finding out where the characters are going to take me, and what lessons they will learn and then teach to me. The absolute BEST part is when I meet readers and they tell me how much they’ve enjoyed my work, and how it in some way changed them. That’s when I know I am working my passion well. CF: What is Stiletto University? LB-W: Stiletto U was founded in response to workshop and personal coaching requests following the release of my novel, Weapons of Mass Seduction. Stiletto U is a virtual university dedicated to teaching women the power and pleasure of sensuous living. Society is great at teaching women how to be good at what they do. My job as a sensuality coach is to help teach them to be good at who they are. Using the Stiletto U curriculum, a comprehensive, nine-week program, we put women in touch with their sensual core and help them feel more confident, charming and sexy in their own skin. We also offer, Sexitude, a mind and body workout designed to give women the courage to match their sensual thoughts with their sexual actions.  Weapons of Mass Seduction CF: What advice do you have for people interested in writing romance or erotic fiction? LB-W: First, begin by believing. You’ve got to believe in your voice and vision as an author before you can convince any agent, editor or reader that you belong in this business. Secondly, don’t worry about getting published, worry about writing the best book you can. Worry about your craft and technique. Worry about how to put your unique stamp on an already existing genre. Worry about your characters and plot. There is plenty of time to be concerned about agents and editors AFTER the book is written. In terms of erotica, all the above applies, but also be just as concerned about your story and plot as you are about how hot and sexy it is. Also, avoid the trap of writing clichéd sex, which is so easy to do. Make the effort to work your words so your erotica feels fresh as well as titillating. The hardest thing about writing erotica, especially the first time, is pushing away any embarrassment and personal judgments so you can write with a sexy honesty that stands out from the crowd. CF: What’s next for you? LB-W: Right now I am finishing up Stiletto U: Lessons to Unleash the Confident, Sexy, Sensual You. At the center of the book will be the nine-week Stiletto U program, plus other articles of interest and interviews with Stiletto U alumni. We’ll also be building an online campus. I am so excited about this project because it will expand the reach of Stiletto U as we set out to make the world a more beautiful place one sexy woman at a time! It will be in bookstores in the spring of 2011. I’m also working on a three book erotica series for Simon and Schuster, under a yet to be announced pen name. The first book of the series, The I.O.U. will be released in February 2011. Lori Bryant-Woolridge will read “Dare to Be Tempted” from the Can’t Help the Way That I Feel anthology at Marcus Books in San Francisco on Thursday, June 10, at 12 noon, and at Marcus Books in Oakland on Friday, June 11 at 6:30 p.m. Anthology contributing writers Toi James and Teddy Bell will also read at Marcus Books. On Thursday, June 10 at 6:30 p.m., Bryant-Woolridge will present her Unleash the Sensual You workshop at Good Vibrations in Berkeley. The workshop and the readings are free. Purchase Can’t Help the Way That I Feel and Bryant-Woolridge’s other books online at Amazon.com, from other online book retailers, or from Marcus Books. Visit the Can’t Help the Way That I Feel blog for more information on the anthology’s contributing writers. The site also has links to some interesting resources that may entice you to give in to temptation.
Can’t Help the Way That I Feel: Sultry Stories of African American Love, Lust, and Fantasy CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
|
| What's going on around the Bay Area? Check out events created just for you! |
|
|
| |