January 2023

 

Natasha: Hi Samuel! Thank you for the interview. Can you tell our readers about yourself and how long have you been a writer?

Samuel: Hi Natasha. Thank you for picking me for this opportunity. Well, I’m an erotica author from Kenya, and I live in a small city along the coast, called Malindi. I was born and raised at the coast, and I currently live with my lovely girlfriend.

 My journey as an erotica author has been a winding one. I always enjoyed writing short stories back in school. However, I pretty much abandoned that skill growing up. It wasn’t until I was sexting my ex-girlfriend that I realized, “Hey, I have a knack for this stuff!”

 It wasn’t until 2015 when I began freelancing. For years, I wrote erotica blogs and short stories for various clients. It wasn’t until December last year when my childhood friend, Hash Black, approached me to establish Empire Fiction as a publishing business. And just like that my career as an erotica author took off. In fact, I just finished writing my third book this year.

Natasha:  When it comes to writing, do you have a certain routine or writing process that allows the ideas to flow better?

Samuel: Well, I sort of do. My writing process usually begins with a vision. That vision could be the ending of the story, or it could be the beginning. From there, I always have this itch to develop the book cover first. It motivates me into the next step, and it gives me a little something to share with fans in my newsletters.

From there, I visualize the characters. I decide on their looks, their goal, their drive, their traits, and most importantly, their conflict. I try to bring every detail in a character together as harmoniously as I possibly can. Putting myself in my characters’ shoes has always helped me profoundly – to feel their emotions and see the world through their lenses.

From there, it all depends on the length of the story. For a novel/novella, I plot the general idea for each chapter before I write. But for short stories, I’m pretty much a pantser, running wild with the story as it unfolds in my mind.

The mistake I made for my first novella, Naked Secrets, was to take the latter approach. That was a huge mistake. I really struggled to finish that story, slamming into wall after wall with writers’ block. I plotted the second book in the series, though (Naked Desires), and managed to get through all the writing in under three weeks.

I’m a huge procrastinator. It’s a curse that I deal with on a daily basis. So, I use goal trackers to keep myself focused and motivated through the writing process. I especially prefer Pacemaker for this. Story Origin App is also a very good option. I also listen to nature sound videos on YouTube to drown out the noise in my head and get myself in the zone.

Natasha: Can you tell our readers about your latest book? And how did you come up with the title?

Samuel: Well, my latest book has been quite the quagmire. It’s titled Throbbing Temptations. It’s a collection of short stories, and though I’m looking to publish it now, this is actually a collection of the very first erotica stories I have ever written.

These go back months before my first book was released. I wrote these, at first, with the aim of putting up fade-to-black erotica blogs for our website. But after a while of learning some SEO, Hash and I decided to take another route with the website blogs. So, we scrapped the short stories, but I wasn’t willing to toss them aside just yet.

I finally decided to put them up as a short story collection book on Wattpad, under the title Late Night Temptations. I wanted this to be a freebie through which potential readers would sample my work. But the book had a threesome scene with hot twin girls, so it got banned for incest.

Being busy with The Naked Series, I put Late Night Temptations aside as a beta book and posted it on the Empire Fiction website. It wasn’t until I finished the second installment in The Naked Series that I finally decided to get back to these short stories. I added more hot scenes in the stories and gave the characters a bit more of an edge.

I finished it recently and have already started signing up readers for the advance review copies. But it wasn’t until I was setting the automations for advance copy signup forms that I realized that the Late Night Temptations title felt a bit off. After a while of back and forth between me and my girlfriend, Throbbing Temptations was finally born.

Natasha: If you could have one of your stories turned into a film? What story would that be and why?

Samuel: Well, I would pick The Concupiscent Series. This is still at a conceptual stage, so I haven’t begun writing it. But I feel that it’s best concept I’ve had since The Naked Series and The Throbbing Series. While I am very happy with how the latter two are panning out, I find The Concupiscent Series to be much more intriguing and exciting to write about.

Why?

Because it revolves around a secret society competition. And I’m all about fun and games. Add a great plot in there, some captivating characters with relatable demons, and sprinkle on some hot and steamy sex scenes, then this easily becomes a winner for me.

So, if I had to pick one of my stories to end up on screen, it would definitely be The Concupiscent Series.

Natasha: Are you like any of the characters that you write about and why?

Samuel: Wow! This is a good question, and to some extent, I would have to say yes. When I was writing The Naked Secrets, I was dealing with a rough breakup with my ex. So, I had a lot of anger and regret in me at the time.

As a result, I (unknowingly) dumped a lot of what I was feeling onto Mac (the main character in Naked Secrets). I feel this is why I made him cheat on his wife. Mostly because I lost belief in the sanctity of marriage or any relationship at that moment.

But a lot has changed in me since then (in a good way). I feel that this might impact the third placement of the The Naked Series, which will focus to a large extent on Mac. I plan to wrap this story up with a nice happy ending bowtie, where Mac and Alisha (his wife), finally rediscover the love they had once lost in each other’s arms.

So, I do feel like Mac is a bit of a reflection of myself.

Natasha: Besides writing, what do you enjoy doing on your spare time to relax?

Samuel: Fun fact; I’m a digital artist. And not only do I write erotica, I also draw it. I used to hide a naughty sketch book of mine under my mattress when I was much younger. While I would occasionally draw the usual ‘spiderman’ and ‘batman’, I enjoyed drawing nude women much more.

But here’s what scares me; I have no idea where that book went. I worry sometimes that my mother found it and tossed it in the bin at some point. At least she’s never said anything about it. LOL!

More recently, I’ve taken my endeavors to the digital realm. I started out with a cheap Wacom drawing pad before moving on to a Surface Pro, where I also do some of my writing.

I share my work on Instagram (@erotic_silver) as often as I can. In fact, I’ve really been thinking of incorporating my artwork into my books. Though I’m skeptical over how my audience might perceive this. But who knows? Maybe I will one day.

Natasha: Can you share with our readers any future projects that you are working on?

Samuel: Well, I hinted at this in a previous question; The Concupiscent Series. I must say, though, that the title is not final at this point. I might change it. But I do imagine getting into it by February next year.

As mentioned before, the main theme of the series will be a titillating world of sex games. A stiff competition where only the fittest endure long enough to win the ultimate prize. But this prize will come at a steep price of its own.

I’m super excited to get started on this project. I get jitters just thinking about it.

Natasha: How can our readers learn more about you and your books?

Samuel: Well, I prefer to keep a lot about my life private, but I’m always open for a good old chat with readers. I’m easily reachable by Email or on social media through Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.  

You can also opt into my mailing list where I share exclusive details on my works in progress or any upcoming books.

Natasha: Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? Is there anything special that you’re hoping to get this year?

Samuel: LOL! This question caught me off guard. I’ve been so busy with a lot of stuff, I haven’t even begun thinking about this. But for my fans, I will be giving my books away for free on Amazon. So that might be something to look forward to.

I’m also thinking about getting a little something special for my girlfriend. She’s really been my rock throughout this year, and she’s helped me through quite a lot. I’m not going to spoil it here, but it’s something really close to my heart.