Rachel Kramer Bussel answers

Rachel says:

I definitely have a few darker stories - that's
what pseudonyms are for! I write most of my work under my own name, but
when writing something of, say, the Daddy/girl scenario or rape
fantasies or something else I feel is extreme, I find it easier to work
under a pseudonym. Often these are topics I never had considered
writing about and have mixed feelings about, but am drawn into writing
erotica about them for whatever reason. So it's not so much a matter of
literary merit, because I feel that some of these stories, which I am
working on now, are some of my best work, but uncertainty about forever
having my name tied to them. That being said, I'm writing a couple of
rape fantasy type stories and we'll see how they turn out; obviously it
could be a big disaster. I do think there's something to an idea when
it unnerves me, and sometimes I ignore those ideas and go for safer
topics, but when I can push myself, that's usually where the more
interesting stories come out. You always have the option to not publish
your work or use a pseudonym; I think going with that initial writing
impulse is worthwhile.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
Editor, Dirty Girls: Erotica for Women


KB adds:

Rachel's name may be familiar to you if you read erotica. She's edited many anthologies, and runs the wonderful In The Flesh reading series in New York. (An LA version just started last month)

Her answer reminds me of a great conversation on the Erotica Readers and
Writer's Association writer's list where we talked about rape fantasy
stories. Someone had an alternate term that I wish I could recall that captured the essence of the fantasy while removing the politically sensitive word. But whatever you call it, rape fantasy is a taboo subject. Women are still being told what they're allowed to fantasize about.