What it's like writing erotica for a living

"I want you, I want to feel your hands roaming every inch of my skin. I want to know what you taste like at your core," he murmured into her ear, his voice was husky and low. Every inch of her body melted into him. Fire burned between her legs and she could almost feel him, could almost imagine the weight of him on top of her as his cock slid in.

Sexy right? Well I hope so.

I write erotica for a living so what is a day in my life like? Well I spend most of it in bed (and not in the way you're thinking). I work from home so I get up around 7am and just sit in my pyjamas typing on my laptop. Trying to find the perfect sexy combination of words that'll turn most women to jelly.

I also watch a lot of porn... for work, I promise! When normal people get writers block they go for a walk, or make a sandwich. I put porn on to help me think. How is he fucking her? What do her moans sound like? What positions are they in? How does her face look?

I really doubt the stars in those particular movies were expecting to be the inspiration of novels and articles.

Before you ask, I do know that sex in porn and sex in real life are quite different, but porn is over-the-top enough to spark most people's imagination. As a writer, that is exactly what you need. People need to be able to read your work and see it like a movie in their minds.

They do say that a writer's search history is actually rather terrifying. Mine is very different to most, if you write crime or horror you probably find yourself googling "how long does it take to bleed out?", "If someone had their leg sawed off, how quickly would they die?" or from one of my previous experimental novels "If someone lost their penis, would they die quickly?". Don't ask.

Me? I get to google "Best sex clubs in the world?", "Sexiest hotels", "Local orgies". And you don't even want to know the things I have done in the name of research.

Okay, you probably do and I can't keep a secret to save my life. I've been to swingers clubs, sex clubs, strip clubs. My partner and I got this new workout karma sutra and we spent most of our night in hysterics trying to get into the positions.

I have actually recently dislocated my hip in the name of research (not on purpose obviously, as a repetitive strain injury). Luckily I can work from home.

I live a very glamorous lifestyle.

To say that I have had a lot of fun at work would probably be an understatement. I do remember though, my first ever erotic novel, I was that nervous and unsure I googled advice on how to write sex scenes. I stumbled across something from a famous author telling me to drink a glass of wine and start thinking about what turned me on.

Once you are actually aroused it is much easier to write about it. So, I sat quite tentatively and started just jotting things down.

Seven years later and I have never looked back. My work life and my private life have both massively improved because of that one time I decided to step out of my comfort zone. Definitely do the things that scare you a little bit, they might just be the things that make the rest of your life interesting.