THE SEX FILES: Talking Dirty with writer M. Christian

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If you don’t know the name M. Christian, then you’re really not reading enough, now are you? The San Francisco-based scribe is a writer, anthologist, editor, blog-ist in contemporary genre fiction, with a heavy emphasis on cross-genre dirty stories and anything else you can name. I got lucky enough to catch up with the gregarious Mr. C. during one of his usual busy writing days.

In your bio you’re listed as an anthologist, writer, editor . . . which are
you first and foremost?

Oh, I’m very definitely a writer. While I like to edit anthologies, because it’s fun to play with weird and wild themes, I’m first and foremost a writer. I find myself dreaming and thinking in stories, dialogue, narration . . . I’ve got it bad, man!

How did you get into writing dirty stuff?

Pretty much by accident: I tried to get published for close to ten years – starting first in high school – but couldn’t sell a damned thing. But then one day I tried my hand at smut and (snaps fingers) it sort of took off from there.

The landscape of publishing is obviously changing; Kindle’s, the daily closing of respected long-standing newspapers, the proliferation of ebooks. Is erotica immune?

Oh, erotica is far from immune: it’s changed and continue to change – and I think it’s a good thing. Yeah, the big houses are falling, big advances are all but gone, but a dozen smaller houses have popped up, publishers who do all kinds of things the big guys couldn’t: be more focused, more willing to take risks.

What’s your advice to any beginning writer who feels a twinge of guilt about writing slightly bawdy stuff, but still does it anyway?

Try! I didn’t know I’d be any good at smut until I tried it and now I actually — believe it or not — have something like a following. A writer who does the same thing, over and over, not only limits their markets, where they can sell their work, but they also limit themselves creatively, and can become stale.

What’s on the immediate horizon for you? I know you maintain a few blog spots and are involved in a whole bunch of current projects.

I have three blogs: my own site www.meinekleinefabrik.blogspot.com, and a blog full of strange and fun sexy stuff at www.frequentlyfelt.blogspot.com. Writing-wise I just finished a new novel, which should be out in six or so months, have a few new collections of short stories, reprints of many of my older novels and collections.

Ralph Greco, Jr.

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