Desiree Holt, a 76-year-old grandmother from Texas who calls herself the world’s most sex-crazed senior citizen, has more than 130 BDSM novels under her belt. She speaks with SHAlINI SAKSENA about how she started a new career at 69 and her pick of must-read erotica. Excerpts from the interview:
You are considered the world’s oldest author of erotic romance. How does the title sit with youIJ
I love it. Not everyone can start a new career at age 69 and not only enjoy it but have success at it too. My late husband encouraged me to spread my wings. He knew this was something I really wanted and he loved seeing the surprise on people’s faces when they put the face and age together. I hope it inspires people of my generation everywhere to try something new, different and exciting.
How difficult or easy is it to turn on the reader by just reading the printIJ
I think it’s not so easy. I’m first and foremost a reader myself so I try to keep in mind the things that make a book appeal to me. Things like an opening hook, character development or an engaging plot. You really have to be sure your words flow. Sometimes, when I sit down to write, it just falls out of my head on to the keyboard, sometimes I have to work and rework it.
You have been writing on erotica for years. Yet it has gained popularity only now. WhyIJ
Everyone is aware of the phenomenon of the Fifty Shades trilogy. It evolved from a fan fiction rewrite of the Twilight trilogy into a fan fiction series called Master of the Universe. There was a readymade audience when El James kicked it into the BDSM genre. People who never read erotic romance or even thought about it, read these books because they wanted to see what she had done with her rewrite. It introduced them to a genre that has been sadly misunderstood. I think more authors are taking time to explain exactly what erotic romance (a romance with tasteful hot graphic sex and a happy ever after ending) and erotica (same thing only with a happy for now or maybe a happy later on) really are. It’s definitely not porn.
Is it that people don’t mind coming out in the open and saying they are reading eroticaIJ
That’s part of it. With the explosion of digital publishing and eReaders, people can read whatever they want in a public place and no one has any idea what’s open on their reader. Today, women are becoming more empowered sexually and realising they can come out of the sexual closet, so to speak.
How much credit would go to El James in making erotica so popularIJ
We have to give the woman her due. She found a platform — fan fiction — where she could build an audience. She wrote Master Of The Universe using the characters from the wildly popular Twilight series so she already drew people in. Readers found the introduction of the erotic genre into the books more interesting than they thought, so a lot of them were turned on to it.
Do you think that a reason for this popularity could be that the readers imagine themselves in place of the charactersIJ
That’s one of the things I hope for when I write my stories. I try to create heroines that women can identify with and heroes that women drool over. I write character-driven stories and the plot evolves from the relationship between characters. The sex is never gratuitous. It’s always a natural extension of that evolution of their relationship. I try to craft the scenes so that a woman reading it will say to herself: “Wow! I want to be her.”
What’s the reason behind erotica exciting peopleIJ
It’s only natural that reading about sex in any from will excite people to some level. The better it’s written the more likely that is to happen. I actually have a lot of men who read my books and follow me on Twitter and Facebook and tell me they read scenes aloud with their partner/spouse and find it adds spice to their sex lives.
What does your family (including grandchildren) think of your booksIJ
I have three children and they are all proud of me. They encourage me and often accompany me to book signings and other events. They are my best promoters and aren’t afraid to tell people what I write. But they don’t read it.
Do you think that only women love romanceIJ What about menIJ
A lot of men who read my books and follow me. And it’s not just for the sex in my books. I’ve had a lot of emails to tell me I helped them better understand relationships and relate better to their spouse/partner/significant other. That I opened their eyes to things they’d never realised before. Makes me feel really good.
Five erotic romances you would recommend to a reader who is unfamiliar with BDSM sub-genre.
Almost anything by Joey Hill, especially Mirror of My Soul, The Ice Queen and Natural law. The anthology Bond to the Billionaire which gives the reader a view of BDSM by six different authors. And my own Rodeo Heat, which is still one of my favourite books.