One of the questions that haunts people who write sex for a living is whether we’re working from our own personal experience. Generally, the answer is no. Though I’ve participated in some of the sex acts I describe, none of the people in my stories is me, and most particularly I’m no Domme. I’m not the sub in those stories either. I’m both and neither, which I think holds true for a lot of us erotica writers in almost every story we write.
But Richard’s Mistress—the character in the story by that name in this collection—is perhaps who I’d like to be, if I could be that confident of my allure, of my absolute sway over a man. Richard’s Mistress was one of the first erotica stories I ever wrote and the very first that, when I came back to it many, many years later, I was still proud of.
Which leads to the story of how I accidentally acquired this pen name.
I first used it on Craig’s List. The name Tanya came to mind and for some reason I wanted two first names, I forget why. Some game I was playing, no doubt. Gmail addresses were free, and I had several, used in rotation for various deviant purposes.
Craig’s List (the Casual Encounters section, most particularly) was a place where I could pretend to be who I wasn’t. By email, I had all the time I needed to craft a creative scenario, plus the physical safety to pull it off with confidence. I could be poised, in control, the Domme of their dreams. I could be Richard’s Mistress. I could even be Richard.
When I transitioned from role playing (borderline catfishing) to writing stories (much healthier, at least for me), I took my Gmail address over to Literotica and posted free stories under the name Tanya Chris. When I eventually started publishing, well, I already had an identity. Hardly a following, but a name, a persona. In fact, in the original version of Richard’s Mistress, the mistress’s name was Tanya.
Because She Said So features three stories I wrote back in those Literotica days (including the very popular Over the Edge, which I tried hard to make more than just a paper fantasy) and two newer ones. The two newer ones have a dollop more real-world power as opposed to just sexual power because my world view has shifted in the intervening years. Women in charge in the bedroom, cool. Women in charge in the boardroom, vital.
Now, for fun, you can read the one remaining “story” I have up on Literotica, which is actually a how-to for men who want to pick up women using the Casual Encounters section on Craig’s List. Since Craig’s List has taken down their Casual Encounters section, thanks to SESTA/FOSTA, it’s pretty useless for its intended purpose but it does have a humorous sidebar on how to take a good dick pic. A Guy’s Guide to Casual Encounters