I’m an independent author of gay D/s romance fiction, a unique branch of M/M erotica.
D/s stands for domestic domination and submission. It is not BDSM though it incorporates some similar components, such as elements of control, domination and submission between the protagonists. My stories focus on consensual power exchange in a domestic setting rather than on explicit sexually driven play scenarios, though that's not to say that there is no element of sensuality. The discipline or potential for discipline provides the erotic undercurrent to my stories, which also tend to have a strong emotional core.
Not everyone understands or 'gets' the discipline kink and that's fine. I don't 'get' prawn cocktail flavour crisps, but I uphold the right of people to eat them should their taste buds be wired that way. :)
In D/s romance fiction, plot isn’t neccessarily the most important aspect. If you're looking for a complex thriller or a murder mystery then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. The focal point is the discipline and how and why it comes about…the act of discipline and its description is the erotic core of the story, it replaces sex scenes in many ways, though of course that doesn’t mean that sex scenes are excluded altogether.
My fiction might be seen as an updated and pro-gay adjunct to the kind of romance novels that were popular in the pre-feminist era...tales of fiesty ladies and alpha males, only the fiesty lady has been supplanted by a fiesty laddy. ;-)
The point missed by the feminists who damned such works at that time and had them culled from library shelves was that a lot of women, and indeed a lot of gay men, enjoy fantasising about being swept off their feet and over the knee of an alpha male who naturally had a heart of gold beneath his masculine and stern exterior. It was all rather sweet and innocent erotica at a time when sensuality and sexuality were not as overtly expressed as they are now. Far from liberating women, feminism, in that particular context, further suppressed female sexuality by making women with a submissive aspect and submissive desires feel guilty about it (men with a submissive aspect already felt guilty because submissivness was considered to be a 'weak' female trait)
Having an interest in domination, submission and discipline is not perverse, it isn’t wrong.
Being a consensual submissive, male or female, is not the same as being a victim, far from it.
It’s an integral and highly potent aspect of many people’s sexual and emotional identity. They can no more help it than having say blue or brown eyes, it's part of their natural genetic coding.
Almost all human interactions have some Alpha/beta elements to them, some of us just need to explore and express that element in more depth.
The reasons why people are fascinated by power exchange relationships and the degree to which they choose to practice them are as diverse as the individual’s concerned. For many couples discipline is an aspect of intimacy, it enhances and strenthens their relationship. It serves emotional and psychological needs as well as physical. In other words, the craving for discipline is multi layered and is much more than just a prelude to sexual activity.
As well as being the vehicle by which I express my interest in power exchange practices, my stories are about relationships and love. They're often thought provoking and observant of the human condition and above all they're entertaining.
I also write poetry and am endeavouring to write more conventional literary fiction with a view to writing the gay equivalent of Gone With The Wind (and yes I do realise that I'm in line with about a billion other writers with the same ambition) ;-)
