BDSM Bedtime Stories Season Two Episode Twenty-Three ~ Lynn Kelling

Forgive Us by Lynn Kelling.  Sirly Eric is narrating the sexy excerpt.  After listening, read on to the author interview with Lynn Kelling.

La Crimson Femme:  I see you started out writing fanfiction.  Which one was your most popular? 

Lynn Kelling: Looking Glass was the story which established me in the Supernatural fandom’s fanfiction community. It featured both the characters from the show and the actors who played them, interacting with each other. It was a fun concept to play with. As an author, the idea of being able to meet and interact with my characters in real life is really fascinating.

La Crimson Femme:  Did fanfiction get you started into publishing?  If so, how?

Lynn Kelling: It did get me started. I began writing fanfiction as a young working mother with a brutal schedule and little daily contact with adults. It was a way to stay sane and have a creative outlet where I could share the admittedly raunchy stories in my head with people who had similar interests. It was a great way to explore a lot of ideas really quickly, to see what works, what doesn’t and what people respond to.

My publisher heard of my fanfiction and knew it had gained popularity. I was sent an invitation to submit an original story to them because of the promise seen in the pieces of writing I’d posted online. That invitation really gave me the needed push to transition into the world of publishing.

La Crimson Femme:  Wow!  The publisher contacted you?  That is awesome!  Let's talk a little bit about you.  I see you have several tattoos, I've heard that they are addictive.  Once you have one done, you want another.  Is this the same for you?  If so, why is it so addictive?

Lynn Kelling: Oh, they’re absolutely addictive for me, for a few reasons. The pain varies greatly depending on where you’re getting the tattoo and what kind of coverage you’re talking about – for example, the tiny tattoo on the inside of my wrist hurt much more than the half-sleeve which took 14 hours and three sittings – but I enjoy the sensation of the needles moving over the skin. It’s like a really hard scratch and I actually start to miss the thrill that comes with that unique sensation. Plus, it’s pain with a payoff. My tattoo artist was pretty hot, so to have a gorgeous guy marking you, provoking this really intense feeling that can last for hours at a time, only to result in a one-of-a-kind piece of permanent body art is irresistible. How can you not go back for more of that? Another thing that always pulls me back is how it is also an act of defiance and control over your own body. It’s the ultimate form of self-expression. Not often in life are you able to do something that’s forever.

La Crimson Femme:  Hmm, I keep debating on a tattoo.  I can't decide what I want and then I worry about finding a right tattoo artist.  I'm very interested in experiencing the pain of it.  But this interview is about you, not me.  ^_^  How did you meet Jack?  What made you guys decide to do a cross over story?

Lynn Kelling: I am utterly humbled to be working with Jack L. Pyke. She’s absolutely brilliant. I initially met Jack through her work. My publisher recommended her novel, Don’t… to me. I was an instant fan of the humor, heat, characterization, and action in her writing. When the idea for our shared world project, titled The Society of Masters, was presented to the both of us, we were quick to sign on.

The concept behind it is that her series, beginning with Don’t…, and my Deliver Us series take place in the same world, on the same timeline. Actually, most of my novels take place in the same universe. You’ll often find characters from one book mentioned or appearing in another. They’re like fun little Easter eggs for the readers to discover. Combining my world with Jack’s world just really opens up so many possibilities. For instance, we’ve established a seriously hot and heavy history between one of her guys and one of mine, which impacts absolutely everything in all stories going forward.

Doing this crossover has allowed me to take characters I love, who fascinate me and turn me on, and play with them on my turf. Luckily for me, Jack was more than willing to let me have our characters get completely hardcore with each other in Forgive Us, and I can’t wait to see what she does with Gabriel, Darrek and Trace when they visit the UK in her forthcoming novel, Gray Matters.

La Crimson Femme:  Mmmm, hardcore!  I love that.  I can't wait to learn more about that new book!  What are some of the hardships when collaborating with another author?

Lynn Kelling: A big part of it is learning to trust yourself and your instincts when someone you respect is putting their faith in you, trusting that you’ll treat their creations with care and accuracy. I want to do Jack’s characters justice, so it’s definitely a process that requires openness to input and feedback. There’s a lot more work that goes into everything because the story has to work on so many levels.

In some ways, my experience with fanfiction has helped me. With fanfic, you’re taking established characters and crafting your own interpretation of them. You need to capture their essence, keep them recognizable, but use them in new ways. It’s been the same thing with writing Jack, Jan and Gray from Don’t…. They already exist, so there are specific ways they need to act, speak and live within the story.

La Crimson Femme:  Ah, I definitely see how fanfiction can help with collaboration.  I never thought of it that way.  Interesting.  So, I see you studied to be a ballerina.  In fact, you list that come from a family of professional ballerinas.  Do you use anything from that world into your stories?

Lynn Kelling: Ballet influences my writing in a lot of non-literal ways. The pressure to conform, to be perfect, has always fed the rebellious part of my personality and I think that infuses a lot of my characters, too. I haven’t yet written ballet into a story, but I’ve always had a profound weakness for male ballet dancers. I’d love to incorporate one into a story one day, with the right inspiration.

Ballet is, essentially, the body as an instrument of the mind and the will. It’s physical expression of emotion in the purest form. Isolation of muscles or movement, and focus of bodily control, all play into sex as much as they do dance. It helps with writing love scenes, and especially BDSM scenes, when you’re used to breaking things down to the point of perfectionism or obsession. When you’re in the ballet studio, you’re dressed in clothes that hide nothing, with a terrifyingly intense teacher scrutinizing every muscle from the angle of your head to the shape of your fingers to the straightness of your back. There are plenty of parallels there between dancer and instructor, and Master and slave. It’s about total control, total awareness, always. But the familiarity of certain positions can also give comfort, relieve anxiety and help you self-soothe. No matter how many years pass, that yearning to get lost in the dance never completely goes away.

La Crimson Femme:  Wow. That sounds intense.  Annabel Joseph writes ballet dancers in her new series.  She's also a dancer and a submissive.  Hmmm, now I'm going to look at every ballerina in a different light when I go to the Ballet.  You write a lot of M/m.  Will you branch out to other sexual mixes?  If so, which?  If no, why?

Lynn Kelling: Yes! Three of the main characters in Forgive Us are in an M/M/F triad. The two men have a Dom/sub relationship. The male sub and the female character are married, though she also acts as his Domme. It was a lot of fun to write both a Dom and a Domme in scenes with a male submissive. There’s a straightforward M/F love scene in Forgive Us, as well.

All of the books in the Deliver Us series contain either M/M/M or M/M/M/M sex scenes. My forthcoming series My Brother’s Lover tells the story of a male foursome, which includes twincest. I’ve written a fair amount of bisexual characters, too. I have another novel coming out in the next few months, titled Song of the Lonesome Cowboy. It’s also part of The Society of Masters shared world project. The main character in that story is a male, bisexual, celebrity country singer with a fetish for prostitutes of all genders. In that story he’s paired with male, female, and transgender lovers.

I think it’s fair to say that I’ll try any kind of pairing if the story is right for it. So far, my inspiration has always led me away from relationships which are exclusively M/F, but you never know what the next story might bring.

La Crimson Femme:  If you would top someone, what would you like to do?  And why?

Lynn Kelling: Well, all you need to do to find out the answer to that is read my books! I wouldn’t write a BDSM scene that didn’t turn me on or intrigue me in some way. I definitely live vicariously through my characters. Since there’s a lot more freedom in a fictional setting, you can go a lot farther than the practicality of real life might let you.

La Crimson Femme:  *Scribbles down note to self - imagine Lynn in some of the scenes giving commands*  Mmm.  Well, thank you for sitting down with us to share a bit of yourself with us.  Everyone, check out Ms. Kelling's upcoming books!