Q&A with Rob Matthews
About the book
Q: What inspired you to write this book?
A: In Come Home With Us, the first book of the Cuckold Odyssey, Tina makes her husband, Rob, insanely jealous by having very hot sex with a series of well-hung studs. In the follow up, I Can Do It Better, I wanted Tina to feel jealous. Enter Emma. She’s younger, richer and – maybe – sexier and more beautiful than Tina. When Tina and Emma start pursuing the same stud, Tina has to face the possibility that she’s not the hottest wife in town anymore.
Q: How long did it take you to write the book?
A: I started planning it in September 2015. I had to spend a week working in Paris. (I know, it’s a hard life.) In the evenings, I had pages from my notebook spread all over the bed in my hotel room. I plotted out the story and did some shameless cherry-picking – writing whatever scenes appealed to me at the time. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with ideas for new scenes and plot points. So I had to jump out of bed and write them down. After I got home, I started turning fifty pages of scribbled notes into a book. I sent the book to my editor at the end of June 2016. Fortunately, she didn’t want to make any major changes. Fanny Press is a marvellous publishing house and they turned it around very quickly. It was available by December 2016. But I’m not sure how many people buy erotic novels as Christmas presents.
Q: Do you have a favourite scene in the book? If so, which?
A: The set piece at the heart of the story is Emma’s wedding to Ben, her submissive cuckold. This is where Tina tries to work her seductive magic with Emma’s stud. She figures that even a cuckoldress will be with her husband on their wedding night. Nothing goes according to plan and Emma’s marriage could be over before she’s even back from honeymoon. There’s a lot of highly-charged sex between studs and hot wives and the humiliation of two cuckold husbands.
About you
Q: How old were you when you started writing?
A: I wrote my first novel when I was 12. It was a truly awful book, but my dad always told me, ‘I’ve seen worse in print.’ This encouraged me to keep going. It took a long time before I started being successful, but it was worth it.
Q: Where do you get your book ideas from?
A: The patron saint of writers is Francis de Sales. Maybe my ideas come directly from him. It’s hard to imagine a sixteenth century bishop supplying plot points for erotic fiction, but that’s as good an explanation as any. Ideas just appear in my head while I’m writing. My advice to all writers who feel bereft of inspiration is just to start writing. Get involved in the story and the ideas will come. You can thank Saint Francis later.
Q: How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?
A: I Can Do It Better is my second erotic novel. I don’t know if I prefer it to Come Home With Us. I honestly think they’re both good books. But I Can Do It Better is more fun. I hope readers will enjoy the bitchiness of two rival hot wives as well as the banter between the cuckold couples. The kinkiness of the cuckold sex scenes is also ramped up in the second book.
Your Views
Q: Do you think people are becoming more accepting of erotica?
A: I think so. When I tell people I write erotica, they’re no more shocked than they’d be if I told them I wrote thrillers or romances. It’s a genre that a lot of writers experiment with.
Q: What do you think most erotic authors do wrong?
A: They assume it’s easy. Some writers think you can knock off an erotic novel in two weeks. If that were true, I’d have twenty books out there by now. It’s not enough just to get people in a room and start them fucking. Readers of erotica expect well-rounded characters and satisfying plots. I don’t think erotica is easier to write than any other genre.
Q: In your opinion, what elements make a good erotic scene in a book?
A: They’re the same elements you need for a good scene in any genre. You need to know the characters and why they’re doing what they’re doing. You don’t need to like or approve of the characters and their actions, but you do need to understand them. Often the erotic charge comes from a character knowing she shouldn’t have sex with someone: the consequences could be huge … but she can’t resist.
Just for Fun
Q: If you could be a character from one of your books, who would you be and why?
A: I’d have to say Rob. Although he’s a fictionalised version of me, he has a more interesting life than I do. He spends his evenings watching his wife have sex with other men. I spend my evenings writing. When he checks into a hotel, he meets an exciting woman. When I check into a hotel, I write.
Q: Who is your favourite author?
A: There’s a guy called Shaun Putaine who’s writing some really interesting stuff at the moment. In his books, Passion Undiminished, Trust Undiminished and Love Undiminished, he tells the story of Tom and Lisa, a couple in a BDSM relationship. I’m not especially into BDSM, but some of the sex scenes in these books got me a bit hot and bothered. But, more than that, he’s created real characters in a believable relationship. It’s entirely plausible that they genuinely love each other, even when Lisa is subjecting Tom to the most extreme punishment.
Q: Tea or coffee?
A: I really don’t like tea at all. For me, it’s coffee all the way. It’s my only real vice. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink very much alcohol. But I do put away six or seven black coffees a day.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: I’ve just finished the first draft of Book 3 in A Cuckold Odyssey. It has the working title of We Make Our Own Rules. It’s a bit darker than I Can Do It Better but there’s also a lot of fun in it. And there’s a new character – a smart and sexy goth called Charlotte. I’ve fallen just a little bit in love with her! After that, I’ve got plans for a standalone erotic novel that will feature a new set of characters. And I’m determined to write something that isn’t erotic!
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