Tabitha Rayne lives with three two-eyed cats and one single-eyed cat, in the country, where she has the joy and heartbreak of rescuing injured animals. She feels certain that, if more people read erotica, they’d ‘reach out to their fellow humans more readily and world peace would ensue…’ #EroticaForWorldPeace

She declares, “My main motivation for writing erotica is to turn my readers on, and make them feel good about that. I also love to explore the inner workings of my characters, by bringing in their sexual and sensual experience. They usually have an obstacle to overcome (like the world dying around them, or a sudden, life-changing injury). It’s their intimate, inner world which drives my work. My writing doesn’t always end in sex or climax, but I like to think it’s always erotically charged. Hooray for erotica! I think it can be overlooked in terms of exploring the human psyche.”

Tabitha adds, mischievously, “It’s not all about the fucking…  though of course, it can be…”

Music is a huge influence in Tabitha’s work. She reveals, “If I want to feel horny, to get in the mood for a big fuck scene, I put on Whole Lotta Love by Led Zepplin. God, that is a sexy song. Honestly, I could go on for hours about music. I go to see bands and concerts a lot and get so fired up. No musical genre is excluded, from country to classical, rap to rock, folk to jazz, dubstep and drum n bass – I love it all.”

“If I ever need to be transported I listen to Chopin’s Valse 64 ,” Tabitha adds. “Then there’s the dark sublime grind of Be Your Dog, by the Stooges; this gets me growling with energy and desire. Music gets me so high. Really, I can hardly bear it. I go for music that grabs me and keeps me pinned – so much so that I panic if someone wants to have a conversation while the track is playing. Led Zepplin, Peaches, Aphrodite, The White Stripes, Handel, Mozart’s  Queen of the Night – from The Magic Flute… chills!”

“I played The Wolf And I, by Oh Land, over and over while writing a werewolf shifter story situated in the animal section of the museum. It was a very visceral story, strongly featuring scent and sound.”

Dance, too, has shaped Tabitha’s writing. “I adore watching rhythmic gymnastics – and ice dancing,” she explains. “I’m absolutely in awe of what humans can do with their bodies. It thrills me – absolutely thrills me – I sometimes pirouette around my garden, as if I’m a ballerina. I’m delighted by the aesthetic of the body being put through physical paces. In my stories, I often refer to the sinews and muscles moving beneath skin. The flutter of a vein, the rise of the chest. The poise of a pointed toe.”

“I saw Mathew Bourne’s version of Swan Lake. It utterly blew me away – it was so raunchy and sexual – beautiful and raw. The males as the swans really brought out a darker, more vicious, side which was delicious.”

Tabitha’s writing has also been inspired by her love of Surrealism, especially Dali. “I get quite emotional when standing in front of an original painting,” she admits. “I love the sensuality that comes from the power of one artist and a brush. I’m obsessed by the artist/muse dynamic too. It’s a theme I explore over and over. I love the way art can capture a moment in time – especially if that’s a sexual moment, such as Game On, by Jack Vettriano. It makes me think of the electric atmosphere between artist and muse. I wrote The Conference as an exploration of this idea. I met the artist once, and tried to woo an invitation to becoming one of his models… to no avail. I also love Egon Shiele – oh there’s too many! Mucha – oh Mucha drives me wild too.”

One of Tabitha’s favourite films is Wild At Heart, by David Lynch. “I love the energy, passion and sleaze of it. It’s gloriously odd and earthy and sexual – and Nick Cage and Laura Dern are fucking hot. I love how Lynch makes you aroused and disgusted in the same moment. The need to add repulsion and, at times, shame into my work, perhaps that came as a result of watching films like this.”

Tabitha names the film Secretary as an influence on her BDSM stories, saying, “Seeing it portrayed so beautifully on screen was wonderful; it made me feel more comfortable about writing those stories. My work often delves into emotional trauma or mental health issues and how sex (and exploring your sexuality) can help.”

Speaking of her literary influences, Tabitha tells us, “Toni Morrison changed me. She was the first writer, for me, to have sensuality woven throughout every sentence – making it a rich part of her work, rather than a separate thing. In my own writing, I try to keep all things sensual. Not just when I’m writing a sex scene. I like the whole piece to have an air of arousal, of something impending.”

A lover of poetry, Tabitha expounds on Edwin Morgan’s beautiful verse. “It’s so sensual – shockingly so at times. His poem, Strawberries, has me gasping. Finding eroticism in daily things delights me.”

An extract from Tabitha’s The Gamesman

She watched as he kept lifting up logs to split and throwing them onto the pile to his left. His limbs swung in that cocksure way of a person at ease in his own physicality. Beautifully lubricated joints working in perfect unity with the muscles and bones surrounding them. The flex and glide of flesh beneath clothing and muscle beneath flesh. She was actually salivating as her eyes skated across his torso, then his ass, taking in the shape of his peachy cheeks, oh how she’d love to run her hands round and down into the waistband, and cup those perfect globes, feeling for the dip at his hip when he thrusted.

He flung a split piece of log but instead of picking up another straight away, he turned and caught her staring once more.

“Like what you see eh, lassie?”

Taken from British Bad Boys – a boxed set of stories written by bestselling and award-winning British romance authors. No one knows British bad boys better than they do!

Purchase here

About Tabitha Rayne

Tabitha Rayne has been told she is quirky, lovely and kinky – not necessarily in that order or by the same person. She writes erotic romance and as long as there’s a love scene, she’ll explore any genre. She also has a passion for painting nudes.

Tabitha is the designer of Ruby Glow – pleasure for the seated lady, a hands-free sex toy made by Rocks Off. Her Ruby Glow was nominated as ‘Most Innovative New Product’ by Erotic Trade Only, last year, and came second in Good Housekeeping magazine’s Annual Vibrator Reviews.

She has also drawn up plans for a perpetual energy machine using inverted pendulums, and is in the process of designing a hamster wheel: ‘it will be better for their little backs and smoother, for less nocturnal noise annoyance… yes, I have a noisy hamster’.

Tabitha’s novels are with Beachwalk Press and her short stories are included in anthologies from Harper Collins Mischief, Cleis Press, Stormy Nights, Totally Bound, Xcite, Oysters & Chocolate, Ravenous Romance, Burning Books Press, Velvet Books and House of Erotica.

In 2016, Tabitha was named ‘best erotic author’ by Erotic Trade Only, and is a nominee again this year. Last year, she also won the ‘EuphOff’ – a marvellous competition to award parody erotica. In 2015 and 2016, she was named among the Top 100 sex bloggers, by Molly Moore.

Find a full list of Tabitha’s books  here  – including Her Stern Gentleman – a 1950s romp, set on a cruise liner.

Read more from Tabitha at www.TabithaRayne.com and www.thebritbabes.co.uk

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To find out more about the Ruby Glow, click here