Spanking Story Writer Emma K. Gardner In the Hot Seat

Hi everyone! I'm very excited to have Emma K. Gardner here for an interview. Emma is the author of several spanking stories, including Asking for A Spanking, Time for a Spanking, Taken in Hand and several others.

Celeste Jones: Of all the different genres you could write in, why did you choose spanking fiction? Have you written in other genres before?

Emma K. Gardner: I’ve written in the paranormal genre (people with powers and vampires, mostly!).  Spanking fiction is the only kind of erotica I’ve written, just because it’s what I find sexy and so the most fun to write.

Celeste Jones: What do you consider to be some of the challenges of writing these types of stories?

Emma K. Gardner: Finding new ways to describe the sensations of giving or receiving a spanking.  I can also fall into something of a pattern in the way a spanking progresses.  It helps me to find different kinds of characters to shake up the dynamic.

Celeste Jones: You’re a self-published author. Can you tell us a little bit about what that experience has been like for you? Do you think you would ever consider working with a publisher?

Emma K. Gardner: I have found self-publishing really satisfying.  It’s a good feeling to be able to take control of everything. ;)  On the downside, even though I feel like I proofread carefully, and set the manuscript in really large print when I proofread so I won’t miss anything, I still miss things.  I’m working on it!!  I WILL create a flawless manuscript!  I also don’t think the covers have quite the polished look they would with a publisher.  Still, at this point I want to continue self-publishing, and hope I continue to find ways to improve.

Celeste Jones: Your first few books were contemporary, but you have recently released two Regency spanking stories, The Headstrong MissHenley and The Scheming Miss Sinclair.  What made you decide to go back in time? What are the challenges of going from contemporary fiction to Regency era fiction?

Emma K. Gardner: I just love Regencies.  I’ve read a ton of them, and I thought it would be fun to write one.  As soon as I finished  Miss Henley, I leapt right into The Scheming Miss Sinclair, and I have another Regency in mind.  I just love the trappings of that world, the balls, the gowns, the carriage rides and strolls.  I also find all the rules—no waltzing without the approval of the patronesses at Almack’s, no showing one’s hat lining, no women walking out unescorted, no women walking past the men’s clubs at all, and so on—useful in coming up with reasons for a spanking.  I think at some point, although not with the next story, I’m going to turn the tables and have an earl or a duke get spanked.  I’m sure I can come up with a few who deserve it.  

Celeste Jones: What’s your latest release? Please tell us about it.  

Emma K. Gardner: My most recent release is the Regency I mentioned, The Scheming Miss Sinclair.  The story opens with Lucy Sinclair ruining her reputation by being caught alone at a ball with Lord Reece.  She plotted the whole thing with the help of Lord Reece’s sister, because she has been in love with him since she was a girl and hasn’t been able to get his attention, although she’s gotten several proposals from other gentleman.

Understandably, Lord Reece is quite angry at her, and once they are—quite quickly—wed, he immediately spanks her for her atrocious behavior, and sets out to turn her into the ideal, submissive wife with more punishment.

What I liked about writing this story, is that Lucy was actually somewhat surprised that Lord Reece was so upset.  She really thought he’d be pleased to have her for his bride.  I also liked that she and he are really very well suited to each other.  I’m a sucker for a happy ending.  

Celeste Jones: What is your writing day like? Do you have a set schedule for writing?

Emma K. Gardner: I really don’t have a schedule.  I do have a coffee shop I love to write in.  All I do there is write, so as soon as I get there, I slide into writing head.

Celeste Jones: Are you a panster or a plotter?

Emma K. Gardner: Weirdly, with the spanking stories I’m pretty much a pantser.  With the other kinds of writing I do, I’m a chapter-by-chapter outliner, a full-on plotter.  Maybe because in the other genres I write full-length books, and, so far, I’ve just written spanking stories. 

Celeste Jones: Is Emma K. Gardner a pen name? If so, who in your life knows about your career as a writer of spanking fiction? Do you find it challenging to keep that part of your life a secret?

Emma K. Gardner: It’s a pen name.  A bunch of my friends and even my mom know I write erotica.  I haven’t filled them in on the specific type, though, and I’ve only told two people my pen name.  I haven’t found it hard to keep it a secret, maybe because I write other stuff, so people who don’t know don’t think it’s weird that I’m writing all the time. 

Celeste Jones: Do you consider yourself a feminist? If so, how do you reconcile feminism and submission?

Emma K. Gardner: I definitely consider myself a feminist.  Personally, I enjoy erotic spankings, but don’t want true disciplinary spankings.  I’m not saying women who are given those spankings aren’t feminists.  Just that, for me, consensual is what works.  I do write stories with non-consensual spankings, and I find reading stories with disciplinary spankings sexy.  I don’t feel like I need to censor my fantasies.  And, unless a woman is actually being spanked without entering into a relationship where she's agreed to accept them, it’s all the woman’s choice.  Choices are what feminism is to me.

Celeste Jones: What tips or advice do you have for people who might be thinking about writing spanking fiction?

Emma K. Gardner: I think reading a lot is great for figuring out writing techniques.  Also, I think it helps for writers to write about what excites them.

Celeste Jones: What’s your guilty pleasure?

Emma K. Gardner: Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk.  And Dance Moms.  Sometimes together. 

Celeste Jones: Anything else you’d like to add?

Emma K. Gardner: Thanks for the chat!

 Thank you, Emma!

Here's more about The Scheming Miss Sinclair 

Miss Lucy Sinclair is used to getting everything she desires, and what she desires most is marriage to Lord Reece. Although she has received three proposals since her come out, although her drawing room is filled with flowers from admirers, although she's been deemed a diamond of the first water by the ton gentlemen, she has been unable to attract the attention of the earl.

So Miss Sinclair does what she does best--she concocts a scheme, a scheme that thoroughly ruins her reputation and compels Lord Reece to wed her.

She is shocked when the earl turns out to be a different sort of man than she supposed. With the ring scarcely on her finger, the earl marches her to his study and orders her to bend over his desk for a spanking as punishment for forcing him into marriage. When she refuses, he simply takes her over his knee, bares her bottom and spanks her until she obediently stretches out over his desk and submits to a spanking with his hairbrush.

It seems the earl has decided that, as he's had no choice but to marry the scheming Miss Sinclair, he is going to train her to become an obedient and docile wife. His methods involve applying his hand, his hairbrush, a willow switch, and a crop to his bride's lovely behind, while offering her tantalizing tastes of the pleasures a husband can bring to the body of a wife if she behaves.

Connect with Emma K. Gardner

Her Blog: A Good Spanking

Find her books on Amazon and B&N  

Twitter  @EmmaKGardner