Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.
Fiona: How would you sum up your aspirations as a writer of adult erotica?
Mmm, let’s start with a statement of literary intent… (that sounds rather egotistical really 😊).
My entire aim (apart from myrapture of writing) is to take my reader and immerse them in a world that could almost be, that almost is, that could be around the corner; and terrorise them with their own obsessions. Take their dreams and fetishes and drive them over the high cliff of their dreams by the force of my imagination.
Now that you have given us a glimpse of your intent, let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?
I am 57 years old and still believe that asking a woman her age is a faux-pas! My name, ooh!My pen name is Miss Irene Clearmont! Actually, there is a history behind this name because I have stolen the name of the chief character of my first ever novel. It appealed to me because in many ways my evil fictional character and myself have a few things in common and I just felt that it ‘clicked’ as a name. I decided from the beginning that a ‘pen name’ was appropriate and what better way of creating a name than to use one that is so well worn in my own fiction? I hope that she doesn’t mind, her revenge would be terrible…
Writing intense female-domination erotica makes a reveal of my ‘real’ name somewhatperilous, so I shall conceal that in the shadows!
Fiona: Where are you from?
I was brought up in the oft-forgotten town of Middlesbrough in the North East of England. The least erotic and romantic place on Earth.
Fiona: A little about yourself (ie, your education, family life, etc.).
I finished my education in Middlesbrough and then moved away. Soon I found that London did not amuse me, so I went to the continent in 1990 and never returned to live and work in the UK. I have worked and lived in places as diverse as Switzerland, Poland, Turkey, Moldova, Spain and Germany as well as other besides in the last 20 years. Now I speak Italian (well) and German (fluently) as well as English and I can swear like a Russian Cossack. Presently I am in the south of Spain enjoying the sunshine… I have a long-suffering partner, (who also occasionally edits my writing) and a daughter whom I have dragged from one place to the next.
Fiona: Tell us your latest news.
Where to begin?
I write in bouts of intensive scribbling. At the moment, I am working on the fourth of a five-part series that follows a young man who is possessed by one female after another. De Sade’s ‘Justine’ being a model for the plot. Meanwhile I have other projects on the run at the moment, two novels and some shorter stories…
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing and what inspired you to write your first book?
I began writing erotic fiction in around 1998/9. I was a newcomer to the Internet and discovered ASSTR, a huge amorphous site chocked full of erotica of everycategory. My response was to see if I could write and so, I wrote two novels between 1999 and 2003, but just did not know what to do with them. It was not until 2011 that I ventured to put them on the Internet and almost immediately got a response from a publisher! They would not publish already-released novels and so I had to write something new. The result was a novel based on the turns of cards in a Tarot reading! So, if you like, 2011 was the actual start of my writing ‘career’. The inspiration was born of frustration; I wrote what I figured that I would want to read!
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I suppose, a year or so into my renewed attempts at writing. If I had to put a date on it, it would be when I wrote my own website in around 2012, a year after my first commercial novel was published.
Fiona: How do you come up with titles?
Titles are a never-ending source of problems for both writer and publisher. IMHO there are sort of three ways to go. For instance, a title that shows exactly what the book is about. In my case that might be ‘The Wife With A Whip’ or ‘The Dominant Wife’. This has the advantage that the reader can easily identify the contents. The second option is to use a title that is perhaps suggestive, but the genre is not clear. An example would be, ‘Female Principals’, that catches the eye but needs closer inspection. A third possibility is a double entendre or a brand-new word like ‘Girlfiend’, a title that I have actually used,obscure, but a neat word-play. I have tended to the second and third methods. This is because I want my writing to stand as a little more literary, this is a conceit of mine…
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?
In the first couple of years I consciously sought a writing style. I wrote a heap of shorter tales that experimented with style and content. Historical, letter collections, esoteric, mystical, thriller, speech-only as well as what one might call straight narrative. (all of these are on Miss Irene’s website – see below) As I wrote, an individual style shaped up. Similar writing style to the works of Farnol, Jack Vance, Austen, Romance and thriller. Somewhat! I try to write literate fiction that engages at various levels. Assevere erotica, as plot and character-driven fiction as well as having twists that can cause the reader to be thoroughly unsettled. Characters can come and go as well as alter under pressure, twists of fate and circumstances shape the action and nothing follows a well-worn groove! I suppose that ‘organic’ might describe my style. The challenge is to have plenty of erotic moments and strong plotting that does not distract from that sexual content, yet drives it to the next level. I want my readers to be thrilled by the sex and yet at the end realise that they have read a novel and not a litany of physical contact!
Fiona: have you any pet hates in other’s writing styles?
So much female domination erotica is like a laundry list, a gathering of onomatopoeic words like THWACK and OUCH. I shudder when I see it in print and have discovered that the mental immersion of the character, the thoughts and needs eloquently fill these lazy ‘work-arounds’ and leave the reader inside the minds of the characters.
Fiona: How much of the booksare realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
If I had lived through even ten per cent of my novels I would beconsumed! I do take experiences that I have had, places that I have been to, situations that I have confronted and use them in my plots. ‘Realism’ is the world that I create, the logic that characters have in the confines in which they are set. So, I would say that there is a lot of me in my writing, but the actual events are mostly fictional. I have written a couple of tales that are a little autobiographical, but usually they wander from the actual events that happened and into far deeper waters!
Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?
I have travelled a great deal, mostly in Europe and North America. Worked and lived there, learned the languages and lived the culture of those places. Research is mainly detail, for instance, I wrote a WW2 tale where a German submariner is cast up in the British Isles and falls in with a woman that exploits his vulnerability. The details of weapons, historical dress and so on as well as the history of the war (to make the final shocking twist) had to be researched, but the plot itself did not need research!
Fiona: Who designed the covers?
My books have two species of cover! Those created by the publisher and those that I create myself! Over the years, my cover design has developed into a strong style and layout. Bear in mind that anything too ‘sexual’ will be turned down by the major retail outlets, so they have to be suggestive rather than overt. I feel that doing my own cover design lends the books a ‘look’ that belongs to me like a brand and really enjoy creating them.
Fiona: Is there a message in your novels that you want readers to grasp?
There is no exact message. I just want my readers to enjoy the fact that erotica can be a solid read as well as enjoyment of the sexual aspects of the writing. I have written around 30+ novels and collections now, as well as heaps of shorter tales. Some have a message, some not, but all of them instruct the reader in female superiority!
Fiona: Are there any authors that have grasped your interest? Who is your favourite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?
It might seem strange, but I read almostno fiction in the genre which I have chosen to write! I am friends with a few other authors in my genre, whose work I read and often admire. But the likes of Clare Penne write so differently from my own style, that I could never hope to emulate them. My favourite authors are well outside the bounds of my chosen writing genre… Jack Vance (Fantasy), Orwell (Social Fictional Comment), Sylvia Day (Romance), Gary Jennings (Historical), Umberto Eco (Historical/Thriller) and John Grisham (Thriller) as examples. Almost always, the authors that I like best are specialists in conversational prose, I like elegant and revealing…
Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.
I would say that there are two people (apart from my partner) who have given me the energy and resolution to write more and more. One is my publisher who was also my editor who has unfailingly done all he could to accommodate my rather obstinate insistence to be a control freak. The other is C.H. who is an editor that knows my writing almost better than I do and unfailingly helps me out of painting myself continually into corners, especially when characters from other novels make an appearance in the latest work.
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
I do earn a little money from writing, but in my tiny niche there is little chance that I could give up my ‘day job’ and write to make a living. It is something that I would love to do as a primary source of income, but at the moment it is a ‘calling’ and not a career.
Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
There are always regrets… Once the book is published, often a re-read brings great ideas to mind, but I simply put them down in my notes and use the idea in a succeeding piece of writing.
Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
As a test of my plotting skill, I decided to write a compact series! It follows the course of a young man who falls into a different sexual trap at each episode. A sort of male version of De-Sade’s novel, ‘Justine’. (I don’t like hisgraceless prose!) What I learned is that a commitment to writing succeeding parts was far more arduous than I had imagined! I normally write by whim, choosing a plot from my notes, dropping and picking up the work as it inspires me. Meeting what amounts to a schedule has thrown me a little! It demands more rigour than my normal approach.
Fiona: If your bookswere made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
Four years ago, I entered a competition run by a major porn studio for scripts. I wrote three full scripts (all on my website) which failed to reach the shooting stage. I did win a small prize though! I suspect that I have only written one book that ever even has a chance of becoming celluloid. This is ‘Succubus’, a historical/modern fantasy involving a female ‘vampiric’ character who gains eternal youth from sexually draining the men that she lures into her grasp. My choice for the lead would be Salma Hayek! The second choice would be Patricia Velasquez who plays Ankh Su Namun in ‘The Mummy’.
Fiona: Any advice for other writers?
Practice! It is the only way of improving. Follow your own course and beobstinate, be self-confident. An author who writes what she would enjoy reading herself, is an author who writes for a larger audience than she can imagine.
Fiona: What book are you reading now?
Nonfiction, funnily enough! The Ancestor’s Tale (Dawkins) is my current read. Just read-and-put-down was the Heliconia Trilogy by Brian W. Aldiss.
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
After ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’? 😊I think that it was ‘Swallows and Amazons’ by Ransome (!) and ‘The Hobbit’ by Tolkien. I remember being told-off for reading ‘after bedtime’ and the book was ‘Viking Dawn’ by Treece. As a child, I consumed all of my parents’ books and read from Laclos to Conrad until, by the age of sixteen I started to head for WH Smiths (a book shop) and spend all of my pocket money on books!
Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?
My grown-up daughter makes me laugh and cry as well as proud, music can make me tearful and word-play jokes make me laugh. Slapstick leaves me cold, love brings me tomerriment!
Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?
I would love to meet Livia, the wife of the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar and who was much of the driving force of his life. A woman who moved in a paternal culture, but nevertheless imposed her will on those around her with intelligence and strength. Dangerous and deviouspotency. Unfortunately, my Classical Latin is a little weak, so I would not have much to say.
Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?
If history is a hobby, then yes. My writing consumes my spare hours and the only other ‘hobby’ that I have is incessant travel and good food.
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
American: The Closer, Dexter, anything with Di Niro as well as a bundle of Drama.
British: Documentaries (Attenborough!) drama and a few series, mostly thrillers and character dramas.
Fiona: Favourite foods, colours, music?
My favourite food is Italian in direction. Having lived near Lake Como in Italy took my palate by storm! My favourite colour is a little more difficult, but I prefer dark. So, crimson, navy blue would be my choices. It is easier for me to say what music I do not like! Jazz, rap and house, Irene is sovery old-fashioned!
Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?
Since I do not write to make a living, that will never happen! I am not at the mercy of anything but my own need to get on paper everything that tickles my fancy.
Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?
My pen-name! At last I could reveal my real side! It is a close secret.
Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?
About five or six years ago I created a website. With no advertising, graphic content or other distractions, it contains around 300,000+ words of fiction to be downloaded without cost as well as a description of all of my commercial works. The creation of the website has been a chore and a joy and I never cease to be amazed at how much I have written. Readers who wish to know what I am about should head for mypersonal haven of female-led erotica:
Or, head to my Facebook page, Amazon author-page and Goodreads author-page to seek enlightenment. My blog is spread by an RSS feed from my website to other places like Goodreads and Amazon.
I can be contacted at:
And I usually reply to those who have a sensible subject of conversation. Sometimes at length!
My current offer is a collection of extracts from novels, some complete short stories and other ephemera (around novel length) that allows a reader to decide if they like my writing. This can be downloaded cost-free at:
www.missireneclearmont.com/offer.php
All I can offer is a momentary literary diversion into a world of sexual fantasy and fetish-obsession, but I would like to think that it will leave an indelible, fearfulsearing kiss on every reader, making them come back for more.
Amazon Authors page https://www.amazon.com/Miss-Irene-Clearmont/e/B00IP4OZ5O/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1504540215&sr=1-2-ent
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