Eroticon 2018 Meet & Greet

Just about three weeks to go till this year’s Eroticon kicks off. It will be my fifth one, but I’m just as excited as I was the first time. Maybe more so, because now I know what I’m looking forward to.

There’s a whole weekend of talks, workshops, panels, group sessions (some rather more hands-on, so to speak, than others) along with a huge amount of time to simply hang out with fellow writers: sex bloggers and authors of fiction. I’m not sure I ever met an attendee who didn’t have at least a mostly good time, and for some people it’s been life-changing.

And one of the traditions of Eroticon is the pre-event blog post, where we all introduce ourselves, so that’s what this is. Here’s me.

NAME (and Twitter if you have one)

Zak Jane Keir. Either @decadentmadamez or @dirtysexyworld.

What are you most looking forward to about Eroticon 2018?

Pretty much all of it. There are some wonderful sessions scheduled, and there are some people I consider friends who I only get to see in the flesh once a year or so, as they live on the other side of the world.

But, probably, the biggest thing for me will be seeing and touching copies of this year’s anthology, and seeing how people react to it, because I helped with the editing and I know how good it is.

We are creating a play list of songs for the Friday Night Meet and Greet. Nominate one song that you would like us to add to the play list and tell us why you picked that song

I have spent more time on this question than any of the others, because I really struggled to choose. In the end I have decided to go with the Wildhearts’ Love You Till I Don’t. It’s a significant track for me because, 25 years ago, I got asked to write my first novel (well, novel-length story, it was published in magazine format and sold in newsagents). At the time, I was also a magazine editor, and I had nicked the review copy of the Wildhearts’ first album, because I already liked their stuff. I was mulling over the plot and characters for the story, and listening to it, and that track, which is the last one on the album, just about blew my head off – and everything about the book fell suddenly into place.

(I’m going to do a music countdown to Eroticon on Twitter in the days leading up to it BTW so I get to inflict all the rest of my list on you…)

What’s the first career you dreamed of having as a kid?

I vaguely remember saying I wanted to be a landscape architect when I was quite little, though I have no relevant skills. I think it was something my father (an architect) had suggested. But, really, most of my younger days I wanted to be either a writer or a rock star or both.

Weirdest place you’ve ever gotten up to mischief (define ‘mischief’ however you like…)

In the photocopier room of my then-boyfriend’s office. It was outside working hours but he had keys to the building. Thing was, I couldn’t find my knickers, afterwards, so had to go home without them. He photocopied them and sent a fax of the copy to my office. (Yes, this was before the internet. Or phones with cameras on.)

Tell us two truths and a lie about yourself

I am an award-winning porn star.

I have two tattoos.

I once gave an MP a blowjob.

Complete the sentence: I want..

Better pay for authors and fewer people asking us to work for free.

If you want to come along and check us out for yourselves, I think there are still tickets left.