On the joys of writing naked - #sensuality #pansexual #polyamory @insistentwinter

By Dierdre Winter (Guest Blogger)

I love my job, but when I come home, I am wound up with adrenaline, my mind tangled with the issues of the day. I need release.

My favorite ritual of the day is undressing in front of the full length mirror in my bedroom. I pull my blouse loose from my pencil skirt, my fingers scrambling over the buttons; with every button I undo, I feel more and more liberated from the rigid confines of my professional life. As I unzip my skirt and let it fall to the floor, a second self emerges. I consider my body, now clad only in black sheer and lace, and I feel a growing sense of peace. I no longer have to be in charge, I am free to whimper and moan, to quiver and shudder, to fall back helpless onto the bed.

I unclasp my bra and throw it to the ground, soothing the harsh red lines marked on my skin. I peel off my stockings and toss my thong into the laundry with my toe. Release is coming, my body can feel it with every fiber of its being.

But, I like to stretch it out, make an evening of it. I love to feel it build in my body like a tidal wave until every piece of my body is involved. I love it when I can feel the pressure in my toes, in my ear lobes and everywhere in between. I love to bring myself just to the edge before pulling away even when my soul cries out hungrily.

I throw a robe loosely over my shoulders, not bothering to tie it up. As I wait for the water to boil for my tea, I can barely resist sliding a hand down my smooth skin to soothe the throbbing want pulsing through my veins. But, I must hold off. I need this energy for writing.

I have always been a writer, but it wasn’t until I found erotica that I found a consistent eagerness to write. I make my fantasies come to life, developing the characters and the situations by translating them from fragmentary images into stories I can imagine happening in real life. Although the physical act of sex is an important part of my writing, I find it becomes more erotic when I can recognize the characters as people who could very well be my co-workers, my neighbors, my fellow shoppers at the grocery store. In other words, I want the sex to flow from the story.

Because my fantasies tend to include open and uninhibited sexuality that transcends traditional gender and societal roles, my stories tend to take on that characteristic as well. Like my fantasies, my writing features pansexual and polyamorous relationships. I enjoy the complexity and the possibility of these relationships.

I am attracted to writing about women who are waiting for something exciting to happen in their lives. In many ways, I can relate. I spend many of my nights waiting, wondering who will step out from the shadows and make my fantasies into reality.

I recently completed my first novel called Lost and Found. It is about Dr. Grace Jones, a professor of Archeology suffering through the icy cold winters that come with working at the University of Minnesota. On top of the bothersome cold, she can no longer deny that her life is lacking the adventure it once had. As she's preparing for another Friday night alone, she gets an email from her mentor, Michael Hill, asking her to meet him in Guatemala where he believes he's found a treasure that will set the world of Archeology on its head. When Grace arrives at the camp, she is welcomed by Nick, Graham, and Susanna who make up the rest of Michael's team. As they chase the find of a lifetime, Grace must face her past, her fears, and her demons. Blazing hot days lead into steamy, sultry nights as the group searches the Guatemalan volcanoes for a long buried Mayan treasure.

Heat was the inspiration that started the whole story. I wanted to tell a story bathed in the unrelenting power of the sun. I wanted my characters to be sweaty and desperate to get out of their clothes. I wanted my main character to come from the cold and thaw out in the heat, shedding her protective clothing as well as her inhibitions. With that central idea in place, the details of the story began to emerge.

I had such fun writing this novel that immediately began on my second, which I hope to publish next year. It is about a woman, Lila, who moves to a small town to be a live-in nurse for an old man. For years, she’s been struggling with the death of her husband and the difficulty of raising her young son alone. Much like Grace, Lila is reborn and renewed by her experiences. She makes connections, sexually and emotionally, with the people she meets there, finding kindred spirits in the most unlikely places.

In all my work, I try to remember that erotica is literature and I spend as much time on the themes, the characters, and the stories as I do on the sex.

About the Author

Dierdre Winter is a first time novelist happily learning and working through all it takes to be a writer. She is also a teacher, a fitness fanatic, a dog owner, and an artist. She lives alone, near enough to Toronto to enjoy the city, but far enough away that she can have a backyard and a little house to herself. She can be found on twitter, and all over the internet @insistentwinter.

Her first novel is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited and can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Found-Pansexual-Polyamorous-Adventure-ebook/dp/B07XVRTQ2R/