Public Relations: Reviews & Interviews > Featured Author, June 2006, Fresh Off the Vine, Torquere Press' Newsletter Interview

Interview Transcript:

Rob: Tonight I'm very pleased to have Jodi Payne with me. Jodi has had short stories featured in Chance Encounters and Fresh Starts, and is the co-author (along with Chris Owen) of Deviations: Submission. Jodi is also the author of the upcoming June Birthstone, String of Pearls. Welcome Jodi!

Jodi: Thanks Rob!

Rob: So, since you're relatively new to our readers, I'll start easy. Tell me why you write gay and lesbian fiction, specifically erotica.

Jodi: I write because I love it, mostly. I'm most interested in gay and lesbian fiction because that's my community. Queer people are the people I see and talk to and meet most often. As for why I write erotica, well it started out that I was tired of not finding lesbian erotica that got my motor running and I decided I was going to try writing the kind of stories that I wanted to read for myself. So the women came first. And then I had a friend who wanted me to write him a snippet of gay erotica, and I was really nervous about it, but I found I really enjoyed writing the men, too. It started as a hobby and it's now more of an obsession. Plus, I've never been shy about my own desires so it's easy for me to write.

Rob: So how does that lead into the type of erotica you write with Chris Owen. The Deviations stuff. Is BDSM something you're curious about in real life, or is it just fun to play with?

Jodi: Are you asking me if I'm a Mistress, Rob? Are you available?

Rob: *wiggles* Always ready to try someone... er, something new.

Jodi: *laughs* Good. We'll talk off the record later, honey. Seriously though, my partner and I experiment with all kinds of things, but I wouldn't call anything we've done true BDSM. Maybe some Dom/sub stuff, but we leave the serious tools to the people who use them well. Chris and I... well Chris is like a fountain. You throw in a penny wishing for rain and you get a flood. We were both curious, bounced a few ideas around, Chris came back with a few hundred words of Tobias, with whom I was instantly in love, and there was no stopping after that. We'd planned one novel and we got four.

Rob: Four! Wow. Our readers will be thrilled, as I know they loved Submission. I hear they're coming out in print as well. Is that exciting?

Jodi: I am thrilled. It was such a huge compliment when the press asked us if we'd be interested. We just love those characters so much, and to be able to have them physically in our hot little hands has me over the moon. Submission comes out in August, I think. So exciting.

Rob: Woo. So that's a great segue into new releases. Tell me a little bit about the pearl birthstone story.

Jodi: Oh, it's a sweet story. It's about a series of people who, through of one circumstance or another, and spanning about 70 or 80 years, find themselves in possession of one particular strand of pearls. It starts during World War II and ends present day.

Rob: Oh, that sounds great, and fairly different from what we've seen in previous Birthstones. Did you have a favorite among the owners of the pearls?

Jodi: Well yes, the original owner of the pearls, Anna May, was the character that first came to me and she has a complicated story. And also Will, the young Drag Queen that buys her pearls at an estate sale. It's really their story, and the people in between are more of a journey through time.

Rob: I can't wait to read it! Tell us what else you have coming up. I know you have a story running on Turn of the Screw right now, too.

Jodi: Rough Draft, another one with Chris Owen, is a series of letters between lovers on separate coasts. We're being interviews for the new Turn of the Screw Bonus feature in August and we're writing a short smutty bit of Paul and Gray's backstory for that as well. Those boys are a heartbreak a minute.

Rob: Chris is certainly known for the angst. How does that affect you, in the co-writing? What is it you bring to that pairing that you think is unique to you?

Jodi: Hm... exposition, I guess? Chris is great with the plot points and the dialogue, but I tended to fill in the details, set the scenes, that kind of thing. We're both character driven writers, but I love the atmospheric stuff, too, and I think that's where I really make a contribution to the partnership. *laughs* Which means I have to take the blame for a lot of the length of that series, I guess. I kept saying, 'this bit feels a little rushed to me'.

Rob: That's the joy of co-writing, though. You both bring something to it, and it becomes more than one author could bring to it. Okay, almost done so we can leave and talk whips over a drink. But it's my custom to ask something silly at the end. So what's your favorite kind of pie?

Jodi: Humble? *laughs* Key lime. But it has to be done right. Good Key lime pie isn't green and it isn't thick and heavy. It's not so tart that you might just as well be sucking on a lemon. And it has to be served with some whipped cream and a nice hot latte. *grins* That can be your first assignment, boy.

Rob: Yes, mistress! *laughs* It's been a joy to have you, Jodi. Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to keep us posted on what you have coming up later on!

Jodi: I will! Thanks for having me, Rob.

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