Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have always been interested in writing. I became interested in erotic fiction during my teen years (puberty probably inspired this interest). I am especially interested in GLBT fiction, preferring short stories, generally, to novels, although I have read several of the latter works as well. One of my author’s biographical sketches describes me and my work fairly well:
A post-genderist, I write erotic fiction as a means of exploring and understanding human sexuality in general and my own masochistic autogynephilia in particular. I view sex not as a dynamic of love, but as an expression of dominance and submission between individuals engaged in behavior that is basically selfish and sadomasochistic.
Sex, I believe, is about power, not love, although it may sometimes include affection and compassion. It is predicated upon pleasure, so heterosexuality, despite its focus upon reproduction, is only one of several ways by which individuals may express the psychodynamics of their dominant-submissive, sadomasochistic struggle for power. Other forms of sex, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, or otherwise, are, like heterosexual intercourse, more or less pleasurable and, therefore, authentic.
My own taste favors homosexual anal intercourse, because this act represents the true nature of human sexuality most clearly, as predicated not upon either love or reproduction, but upon the pleasure that derives from the interplay of sadomasochistic dominance and submission, which often takes so-called perverted forms, including spanking. Reproductive (penile-vaginal) sex is, in other words, only one of a variety of equally authentic means of giving and receiving sexual pleasure. It is no better than any other sexual activity and may, in fact, be less satisfying, for some individuals, than alternative ways of experiencing sexual pleasure.
I prefer writing about transsexual or homosexual characters to writing about straight characters, because the appearance of transsexual and homosexual characters in erotic fiction shows that heterosexuals are not essential or even primary, but merely alternative, sex partners. My fiction, like my essays, are based upon these assumptions and beliefs. In this sense, I am a philosophical as well as an erotic author. In addition, I believe that gender, unlike sex, is socially constructed and learned–a fiction that is maintained collectively for social and political purposes. I believe that all human beings are emotionally and, to some degree, physically bisexual. Social conditioning has merely persuaded many that gender is as innate and genetic as sex. In fact, it is not, as my stories and essays seek to suggest.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Bottoms Up: An Erotic Reader, Volume XIII: Wildest Things. It’s a sequel to “Wilder Things,” which, in turn, is a sequel to “Wild Things.” Each story has its own inspiration, but many had their origins in personal experiences or news items that, in some cases, are only vaguely and indirectly related to the stories’ plots, while a few are more directly and concretely related.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to spend too much time at the keyboard, but, no, I don’t really have any unusual writing habits.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Many, a few of whom are Thomas Mann, Jean Genet, Andre Gide, Edmund White, Anais Nin, John Rechy, Gordon Merrick, Xaviera Hollander, several anonymous Victorian writers, the Marquis de Sade, and Poppy Z. Brite. Larry Niven’s essay, “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex,” Benjamin Franklin’s “Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress,” and Mark Twain’s “Some Thoughts on the Science of Onanism” have inspired my humorous erotic essays.
What are you working on now?
My current project, just finished, is “Wildest Things,” a sequel to “Wilder Things,” which is itself a sequel to “Wild Things,” Volumes VII and VIII, respectively, of my Bottoms Up: An Erotic Reader series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Hands down, it’s been Twitter.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I find one way of generating plots is to use philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s method of combining thesis and antithesis to arrive at a transcendent synthesis. I use this method frequently myself. Use a dramatic, rather than expository, approach whenever possible (“show, don’t tell”) is also sound advice. Also, make sure the incidents of the plot are all related through cause and effect.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Probably “show, don’t tell” and “causally relate plot points.”
What are you reading now?
At the moment, I am between books. The last I read was “Parole Officer’s Bitch” by Yamila Abraham, which I found excellent, overall.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m thinking maybe a novel.
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?
Erotic books? “Death in Venice” (Thomas Mann), “Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue” (The Marquis de Sade), and Edmund White’s trilogy “A Boy’s Own Story,” “The Beautiful Room Is Empty,” and “The Farewell Symphony”–hey, a trilogy counts as a single work, right?
Author Websites and Profiles
Cal Y. Pygia Amazon Profile
Cal Y. Pygia’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account