If you’re looking for some steamy fiction to fuel your fantasies, then you might want to check out the erotic fiction of Eli Thomas.
Eli has ten books published, and number 11 is underway.
We caught up with Eli to talk about the allure of erotic gay fiction.
How did you get started writing erotic gay fiction?
I’d just published my second self-help book and decided to take a step back to catch my breath – to enjoy the moment.
Halfway through reading an erotic novel that I’d picked up earlier that week, I had a realisation – this was the direction I was now being pulled towards.
At the risk of sounding like one of my characters, something was beginning to stir within me.
Eli Thomas is a pen-name, why did you decide to write under a pseudonym?
I knew I wanted to write under a pseudonym from the very beginning. I didn’t want to be restricted by thoughts of family and friends reading my stories and having to hold back or diluting the experience of the characters.
I found that – by not worrying if a BDSM sex scene was too intense for Aunty Gladys – I was able to explore certain fetishes freely and see how far I could take them.
It took me a while to come up with the perfect name. I played around with a few combinations but finally settled on one with a little knowing wink to myself. I love Elijah Wood, and being that I am exactly the same height as him, that felt right. And Thomas may or may not be one of my actual middle names. It’s kind of fun being anonymous.
Who’s your target audience?
Being a gay man writing gay erotic fiction, I had imagined that my core audience would mainly consist of other men with a penchant for the kinky. I was a little surprised after the release of my first book – Worshipping The Alpha – that I had already amassed a large following of women in the 25-50 age bracket. It seems they couldn’t get enough of some man-on-man bondage action – I love that!
What’s your creative process?
I get a lot of my inspiration from hot porn, actually. I often imagine what would happen to the characters after they shot their load and left. Where would they go, and what stuff did they have going on in their lives that we would never get to see?
With that jumping-off point, I would then map out the story in note form and layout each scene. Being novellas, I can usually get a final draft finished within about six weeks.
The wonderful thing about being an author nowadays is that we can take charge of the whole publishing process ourselves. I use Kindle Direct Publishing to format and publish my ebooks exclusively on Amazon worldwide – it’s very liberating.
Most of your stories explore BDSM fantasies – what draws you to the world of BDSM?
I hit my niche immediately. I knew that for me to be able to write authentic scenes, I had to have a personal connection with the subject matter. I’ve always been drawn to kink as an expression of sexuality, identity and self-discipline. There’s something so powerful within BDSM, that to put yourself in a safe environment and surrender all control to a Dom you trust, is incredibly freeing.
There’s also the intense experience of subspace – where a sub during a BDSM session can experience a rush of endorphins that is akin to floating. For me, that is the moment where everything else in the world melts away, and I find myself completely centred.
How do you hope that people feel when reading your erotic gay fiction?
Turned on and horny is always a great place to start!
It’s also really important for me that every reader can connect on some level with the journey of the characters. I want them to be able to relate to the challenges and joys of finding your way in life and having the courage to live authentically, without shame or apology.
Being a hopeless romantic myself, I would love for people to finish any of my books and feel the exquisite flush of a happy ending.
