Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Let’s see, what to say about myself? I grew up in California and thought I’d be a painter or an artist or something. I’ve always appreciated erotic art. There’s something about the way society seems to find sex and sexuality somehow deviant and yet finds violence and death and murder completely acceptable.
I live in the middle of the Paul Bunyan forest in northern Minnesota now and I spend most of my time writing. I’ve written four or five novels, though Untested Waters is the first I’ve found acceptable enough to publish. I’ve also written several dozen short stories. There are several available on Amazon. I am also working on a sequel to Untested Waters and additional entries to the Heather Taylor serial of short stories.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
It’s called Untested Waters. I don’t know exactly what inspired it. I’m drawn to deviance. Not because I am excited by or aroused by the deviance, but because I want to understand it. If you can understand a thing, then it’s easier to fix it. Correct it. Make it better. I’ve been fascinated with the notion of dubious consent for a while, and Dillon (the antagonist of Untested Waters) reminds me of someone I knew once.
He’s a photographer who uses his profession and skill to “seduce” his subjects. I’m fascinated by the idea of what drives this guy to seduce, convince, or trick his subjects into sleeping with him. But I didn’t want to tell this story from his perspective because I didn’t want to glorify that type of behavior. I wanted him to have some comeuppance.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual? I don’t know. What is unusual to someone else is probably just normal for me.
I write in the morning. Not first thing in the morning. First it’s breakfast, coffee, and bathroom time. Then it’s writing. I wear headphones and listen to a binaural like BrainFM. I write for four hours a day until the novel is done, then I spend that same time editing.
I also spend several hours conducting research on what is popular in the world of erotica. Visiting video and photo galleries, reading books, etc. It’s good to know what people want.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk and Robin Hobb. I think they’ve both influenced both my writing style and content. I’m also a fan of Selena Kitt.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the sequel to Untested Waters, the next book featuring Natalie Waters.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t know. This is my first foray into book promotion, so Awesome Gang is the first site I’ve visited and used. Everything else has just been word of mouth.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write.
I had such a hard time tuning out all the noise of the gurus and writer-cum-teachers on the interwebs telling you what you “have” to do to write a book, sell a book, publicize a book.
Don’t feel like you have to do all the things. You really don’t.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I took a class from Becca Syme called Write Better-Faster. In this class, we used psychometric analysis to help me understand how to write and publish in a way that works best for who I am and not for who others are. The takeaway from this class was basically, “Focus on what works for you and forget all the FOMO generated by what all those others say you HAVE to do.”
What are you reading now?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing and more publishing. It’s all about getting more work out, now.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palanhiuk
Snuff by Chuck Palanhiuk
The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Author Websites and Profiles
Bethany Fine Website
Bethany Fine Amazon Profile
Bethany Fine’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account