Our erotica author interview series continues this week with hotwife erotica author Arnica Butler. A relative newcomer to the publishing scene, Arnica Butler has been gaining fans with her hot and often amusing tales of hotwives and the husbands who love them!
Let’s start with the obvious. Most writers in erotica tend to use a pen name. Is Arnica real? If not, where did it come from?
I did know an Arnica once. She wasn’t very erotic, though. I actually have no idea why she popped into my head when I was looking for a pen name, now that think about it.
Do you really live and write on a farm?
It’s true. But I won’t give you any details. Is it goats or chickens? Hay or corn? Do we have a gimp? I like to people guessing.
Have you written in other genres before making your foray into hotwife erotica?
I wrote some very dreary, moderately successful literary memoir. For whatever reason, erotica is way more fun.
Are you self-published, or with a publishing house?
We have a publishing house, but it’s me, husband, a smelly dog, amid a lot of beer cans. I’m not sure if anyone takes that seriously or not. But the books are great, folks! Check them out!
Why the hotwife erotica genre in particular?
Hotwife is HOT. Readers in this genre appreciate good writing and psychological thrills. Those are two things that I get really worked up about. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time. The more I write, the more I see that there is an ocean of complexity to this kind of kink. I love it.
Do you have any other genres you publish erotic stories in?
I do, but they’re often just for fun, because HW/Cuck can get kind of heavy. I like sci-fi, so I sometimes go to a genre that lets me get really imaginative with setting and characters, like futa or TG…I believe that anything can be a turn-on if you do it right.
Many others like to put their own twist on a specific genre, like the shared-wife / hotwife genre. I’ve read several of your titles and it seems your take on this is a more hardcore version of erotica, and some humiliation that you might not find from other authors in this genre. Would you say that’s accurate? And what made you choose this particular flavor of story?
I am pretty hardcore. I just…really like it. It’s also a great mental feat to fit it into the love/fear/trust/ balancing act that is a good hotwife story. The more I write, the more I enjoy trying to combine something dark in the bedroom with a very loving relationship. It’s such a difficult balance.
I realize it sometimes ticks people off, but I also have to be honest, I enjoy seeing my reviews vary so wildly because of this. I don’t see a lot of authors in this genre, except maybe Ben Boswell, get slammed with angry one-stars. I actually love that people go so far as to hate my books (you know, provided someone also loved them), it means I struck a nerve of some kind. Naturally, I prefer that people love them, but seeing the bipolar reviews is actually a pleasure to me.
In your book, A Gamble: The Making of A Hotwife, you have created an interesting mix of characters with Brad the rich stud, his very amusing and sexually forward Russian wife Irena, and the vanilla couple Ryan and Victoria who quickly get sucked into Brad and Irena’s world. In this particular story, it seemed each character had almost their own agendas. Is this something you typically try to achieve in your books, or do you start with one character and mind and see where the story takes you?
I read a lot of spy novels, to be honest. I can’t help myself sometimes, giving people agendas, making them sneaky. It’s all for the greater good.
How long does it typically take you to finish a full-length book?
2-3 weeks, depending on what the kids destroy and whether I have to do the work myself or contract out.
Do you work with a team of editors, or do you do everything yourself?
I WISH I had a team of editors. Man, that is the most annoying part of this job.
Many fans like to know where the ideas for some of their favorite stories came from – do you care to share any juicy tidbit that led to a story, or is everything you’ve written purely from your imagination?
People would die if they knew where the shaving scene in “A Gamble” came from. That’s all I can say.
In your new book, The Hobby Job: A Romantic Wife-Watching Novel, you decided to write from the viewpoint of the female character Laura, who you state is “feeling a bit trapped in the boonies.” Does she have similar characteristics to your own life?
Oh yes. There are many things in that book ripped straight from the pages of my life. I’ve had that idea on the backburner for a while.
Was it hard to write from the perspective of a woman after not doing so for so many books?
Yeah, it really was. This is a curious thing that I can’t get my head around. I think it worked well for me, and I managed to finish the book, so maybe it’s getting easier. Why this is the case, I really can’t say.
What would we find on the home page of your Kindle right now?
Ben, Kenny, Kirsten, Len Deighton, and (I am serious) Capital In The Twenty-First Century.
I am a real fun date if you add some wine to all that. Never know where I’m going.
Any other recommendations for readers of other authors you enjoy?
Of course the gold standards in this lengthier subsect genre are Ben Boswell, Kenny Wright, Max Sebastian, Kirsten McCurran. I like Lexi Archer very much for fun, novella-length stories, and I just recently checked out Matthew Lee’s “San Francisco Nightmare” and couldn’t stop reading it. It’s twisted, but quite good.
Finally, the hotwife genre is such an intriguing genre for many readers. Have any of your fans ever told you they tried out some of your ideas in your books, or perhaps been inspired by your writing to really venture forth into the idea of sharing your partner… or do you think this is all purely fantasy for most?
For me, personally, it’s fantasy. However, it’s very intrguing to think that people might be using my erotica as a way to get into real hotwifing, and of course I say go for it. If it makes people’s relationships sexier, or more interesting, or better, and something I wrote had anything to do with it I think it’s fantastic. But mostly, I just want people to enjoy reading my books, be entertained, and be turned-on and free to indulge in some naughtiness.
Anything else you’d like to share with your readers and fans?
Thanks for your support. Really. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time and my writing skills, but it wouldn’t be possible without readers and fans. And as always, please email me, tweet me, or leave a review – I really love to hear what you think, good and bad.
I also want to give a big virtual hug to the community of erotic authors (you know who you are)…because y’all are great.
Check out Arnica Butler’s new titles, A Well Laid Trap: The Story of a Professional Hotwife Books 1 & 2, and Human Interest: A Lead-In to Wife-Watching, out now!
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