Interview with Michelle Houston
about her writing career

Added July 14, 2007

In the Library Reviews and Lisa Lambrecht welcome Michelle Houston!

Lisa: Why Erotica instead of another genre? Are you willing to venture into other genres?

Michelle: I don't know that is an unwillingness to write in other genres, as much as it is a love of writing in the erotica/erotic romance genre. I love what I write, and while I like to read other genres, I really don't see myself dabbling in them.

I don't know why erotica appeals to me as much as it does. It just does. LOL

Lisa: You've written a few paranormal/fantasy erotic pieces in addition to contemporary. Which is your favorite to write and why?

Michelle: I actually prefer to write paranormal and fantasy more than contemporary, as it allows for more freedom. The bonds of reality and what is considered possible can be shifted, and anything the mind can imagine can be explored.

Lisa: I've noticed that all of your stories are short stories; will there be a full time novel in your future?

Michelle: I have started writing longer works, around the 12K mark. But for right now, I really don't see myself going much beyond that. I'm just not ready to attempt a full on novel, and I don't know when or even if, I ever will be.

Lisa: Your short stories included many different pairings (eg: male/female, female/female, male/male). Was this an attempt to reach a broader audience or to show the world that love/sex crosses all boundaries?

Michelle: Actually, I'm bisexual. So it started with the male/female and female/female pairings. Then I ventured into male/female/female threesomes and slowly expanded. Since, like a lot of woman, I find the idea of two guys together hot, I gave male/male and male/female/male a try. Now I am comfortable writing any of them.

Lisa: Have you found people are more open/honest about reading/enjoying erotica than when you first started writing?

Michelle: Not really. I know that some probably are more accepting of it, but I also know that I can't crow with pride to co-workers and family about my accomplishments. There is still a societal stigma attached to "smut" writers, as erotica writers are called by many. Many people I have found are unable, or unwilling, to differentiate between porn and erotica. And frankly, I see nothing wrong with either.

There are the exceptions though, those that know the difference and can appreciate one if not the other - and they are the ones that I write for.

It does make me smile to see that the big boys of publishing are slowly coming around. Harlequin has its Blaze line, Kensington its Aphrodisia line, and several others, and they are all more erotic romance.

Lisa: Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? (eg: your motivation, inspiration, certain music playing while you write.)

Michelle: For a long while, I used to have to have complete silence. Now, because of the noise in the background, I am comfortable writing with headphones on listening to basically anything be Genesis or about half of what Journey put out. I also listen to a lot of Enigma when I write. Some times I will even listen to some Gregorian chants, as their voices are so magical and soothing.

Lisa: Is there a story driving you insane to be written?

Michelle: Oh yeah. I've tried writing it multiple times, and have never finished it. One of my first loves when I found romances, was the paranormal ones where a woman has "visions" of a crime and goes to the hunky cop. I always wondered what if the cop was the ones suffering the visions. What kind of a woman could handle that - not only that he's a cop, but that he is also tormented day in and day out by the crimes he witnesses and is unable to stop.

Lisa: How long on average does it take you to write a story from beginning to end?

Michelle: I have had stories take less than an hour and longer than a year to write. It just depends on if I get stalled out, if I have to stop, or if I just don't really feel the mood at the time. I keep a Works In Progress folder, and when I am itching to write, but have nothing really in mind to work on, I randomly open a story in it and see if I can get it to go anywhere.

Lisa: I know it must be tough and frustrating to get stories published. How do you go about the process of finding the right publisher for your stories?

Michelle: Trial and error. A LOT of bugging my friends asking question after question about how the pubs they are with have been treating them. I join lists for authors I like, and lurk. : ) A lot of times, if they have something really good happen with their pub, they will mention it. And I pay attention.

I read the submissions pages for those that I am thinking about monthly, to make sure they haven't changed what they are wanting.

But it all comes back around to trial and error. Some of the pubs that have appeared to be the best have ended up shafting their authors. Others that are not so well known have boomed, and yet remained true to good contact with their authors.

Lisa: Do you have any advice to aspiring writers?

Michelle: Write what you love and then worry about finding it a home. Almost all authors have an orphan story or two, which probably will never find a good home. But if you don't write what you love to write, it becomes a job, and then it looses its spark. And you start phoning stories in, which readers pick up on.

Lisa: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Michelle: I don't remember. I have always had a pad of paper and pens, telling my little tales. But it was always a hobby, and I admit, it still is. I don't want to be a full time writer, with deadlines and contracts for stories I haven't even thought of yet. I can't handle that kind of pressure. But that's just me.

I knew I wanted to get published when hubby mentioned to me, shouldn't you see if you can do something with this? LOL I had wanted to share my stories, but was always afraid to try. He gave me the courage to submit my works, and when I got rejections, he kept me going until I started getting acceptances.

Lisa: Does your family support you being an author of erotica?

Michelle: My husband definitely does. In fact we did a marathon editing session a few weeks ago, when I had a hard edit. He helped me see what the editor was asking for, and how to bring forth the best the story could be.

My daughter is too young to know what I write, but she supports me writing. She can manage almost a half hour of quietly playing in her room when I am pecking away at the keyboard. LOL And she always comes out with a story of her own for mommy to read.

Lisa: I know most people have very busy schedules these days. How do you juggle life and writing?

Michelle: Between work, home life, and college it's hard to find time to write. But my husband and daughter help, giving me quiet time to study and to write. I take a notebook with me, and when I have a break between classes, I sit down and jot some scenes down sometimes. Work is the hardest time for me though - I can't just stop working to jot something down. So I have to try and remember it until my break, or until I go home for the night.

But I juggle it all as best I can, and understand that I am only human and I can only do so much. Sometimes writing has to take a backseat to the rest of my life.

Lisa: Who are some of your favorite authors?

Michelle: Let's see ... in no particular order ... Alison Tyler, Angela Knight, Nalini Singh, Christine Feehan, D Musgrave, Nina Bangs, Michele Bardsley, C J Barry, Jude Mason, Suzanne Brockmann, Tess Gerritsen, Katie MacAlister, Patti O'Shea, Linnea Sinclair, Catherine Spangler, Jamie Hill, Robin D Owens, Stephanie Rowe, Lynsay Sands, j R Ward, Patricia Waddell, Eileen Wilks, Rebecca York, MaryJanice Davidson, Elizabeth Guest, Vickie Taylor, and Kay Hooper just to name a few.

Lisa: What is your favorite book?

Michelle: I have so many cherished books, so many favorites that it is hard to pick just one.

I do have a book that I LOVED when I first started reading romances and the beat up out of print book has stayed on my shelves since, through many purgings as my reading tastes have changed: Desert Rogue by Suzanne Simmons.

What is especially wonderful for me now that I have moved on to loving paranormal romances, is that Suzanne Simmons has taken the pen name of the heroine from Desert Rogue to write paranormal romances under. So I am looking forward to what Elizabeth Guest (mentioned above) has in store for me in the coming years.

Lisa: I know sometimes the whole writing process (writing, getting published, and advertising) can be quite stressful. What do you enjoy doing to relieve that stress?

Michelle: There is relief from it? Between college with its tests, term papers, etc, being a wife and mother, and the whole joys of publication I honestly stay stressed. More from college than anything else though. It's just something I have learned to deal with, and when I can I try to take a nice bubble bath, or a soothing slow walk, or I curl up with a book and just read for a few hours.

Lisa: Lastly, What are you currently working on? When can we look forward to your next new release?

Michelle: Oh, I have LOTS of stuff coming out in the next few months, and I am always working on a few story ideas.

In July there is 'Unleashed': the best of my short stories from Renaissance E Books, 'Kinky Girls Do': a mini collection of BDSM erotica from Phaze, and my story 'Nine Ball, Corner Pocket' in the G Is For Games volume of the Erotic Alphabet Series edited by Alison Tyler and published by Cleis Press.

In August I have a story called 'The Life Not Lived' in the anthology 413 Remembrance Lane: Diary of a House, which is coming out from Phaze. It was a blast to work with all the other writers to take an idea I had and bring it all to such vivid life.

September is going to be busy, with my longest work yet, a 14K erotic romance called 'Diggin' Up Bones', coming out from Phaze; my short story 'Peeping Tom, Dick and Harriett' in the Hide and Seek anthology edited by Alison Tyler and published by Cleis Press; and 8 poems of mine in the Phaze In Verse anthology from Phaze.

'Laws of Nature', my indirect sequel to my June release 'Unnatural Bonds' in the Summer Solstice Scorchers anthology, will be coming out in Samhain Scorchers in October. Both anthologies are from Whiskey Creek Press - Torrid. I'll also have a story in the anthology Naughty Or Nice, edited by Alison Tyler, called 'Jingle All The Way'. The anthology will also be coming out from Cleis Press.

And in December is my duet of Greco-Roman myths called 'Fated To Be'. It's the last of my 2007 Phaze titles.

I have blurbs and excerpts, and other goodies on my website at www.eroticpen.net.

Thanks Lisa, for a wonderful interview.

Lisa: Thank you, Michelle.

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