IRIDESCENCE BLOG TOUR - June 18, 2007

Five Questions from Jolie du Pre, editor of Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica, for Teresa Noelle Roberts, author of “Special Delivery.”

1. Why do you write erotica?
My pat answer to this question is because it’s the most fun I can have with my clothes on. Writing about sex for a living is a hoot, except on the bad days when the words seem to be stuck on a loading dock in Topeka awaiting shipment to my brain. (I think every writer has those days.)
To answer more seriously, sexuality is a huge part of human nature and how individuals handle sexuality and relationships, whether it’s a marriage or a one-night fling, reveals character in interesting ways. Sexy stories are fun, but they can also explore facets of character it's hard to reveal in a less explicit story.


2. What do you like best about lesbian erotica?
I’m a bisexual woman who’s very happily married to a man and spends a lot of time in male company. Lesbian erotica gives me a chance to dwell on women’s bodies, women’s minds, women’s energy, and all the delicious, sensual things women can do together. It’s a nice balance.


3. What is the theme of your story “Special Delivery” in Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of
Lesbian Erotica?
Seeing beyond your fantasies and preconceptions to a person. My narrator—like many of us—is attracted to a certain look, a certain type of woman who seems exotic and mysterious. At the same time, she’s nervous to pursue the object of her desire because she’s white and suspects there’s something a little racist about her fantasies. In the end, she finds her way from fantasy to reality and finds that the real woman is far more interesting and sexy than the mystery figure of her erotic fantasies.

4. Name some other books where we can find your work.
It’s a long list that includes Best Women’s Erotica 2004, 2005 and 2007; Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2007; Secret Slaves: Erotic Stories of Bondage; Sexiest Soles: Erotic Stories about Feet and Shoes; Ultimate Undies: Erotic Stories about Underwear and Lingerie; The Mammoth Book of New Lesbian Erotica 2008; The Good Parts: Pure Lesbian Erotica—and that’s just a small selection of just the lesbian erotica. I also write a lot of heterosexual stories and a few m/m ones just for variety. And if that’s not enough, I also write with a co-author (Andrea Dale/Dayle A. Dermatis—she’s also featured in Iridescence) under the name Sophie Mouette. We’ve had a great deal of short erotic published, and our first novel-length erotica, Cat Scratch Fever, came out from Black Lace Books in 2008.
I'm also a published poet and speculative fiction writer.

5. Just for fun! Gym Shoes or Stilettos?

In my dreams, it’s stilettos. It breaks my femme heart that due to an old back injury I’m pretty much stuck with flats, so I get the cutest, shiniest ones I can find.