Answer You Anything (#1?)

Not sure if I expected less or more but HERE WE GO WITH WHAT WE'VE GOT.

Peggle20:

"Who are some of your favourite authors?"

That's a fair question. At the risk of sounding... I don't know, trite? I'd like to first give a shout-out to Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, two authors  who were both hugely influential both on me as a writer and on me as a person -- Poe hit me during my teen years after being given a stolen anthology of his short stories by an ex-girlfriend, whereas I got into Lovecraft in my 20's and have adored his work ever since (even if he as a person was a bit of a racist dick).

I'd be remiss, of course, to say that I haven't spent quite a great amount of time reading the works of Piers Anthony, Edgar Rice Burroughs (the entire Mars series is a fave), and while I later found his work to be a bit narratively flat, R.A. Salvatore.

My favorite book series of all time, however, is the original Nine Princes in Amber series by Roger Zelazny, before the second series and all the Merlin bullshit.

Sky_Altruism:

"Was there a single moment in your life where you decided that writing erotica was for you?"

I'm afraid there wasn't. This is partially due to the fact that I don't really consider myself an "erotica author," despite that being the way the winds have life have kinda blown me. I see myself as a writer, and as such I write down what comes into my head... which just happens to occasionally be lewd, as I am a pervert.

I wrote a few personal projects all throughout my teen years and they got so much praise that, eventually, I decided to try to take things to the next level. Being broke and borderline-homeless can change your mind about what an acceptable profession is, so I started down this road. Honestly, it's gone a lot deeper than I expected!

"What would be your biggest recommendation be for a someone new to writing fantasy erotica?"

This largely depends. If you're looking to try your hand at doing commissions, my advice is to pay very close attention to the wishes of your clients and do your best to meet them as specifically as possible -- the closer you are, the more likely they'll come back to you for more. Cliffhangers (something I used to great effect back in the day, but have slowed down on due to lack of necessity) can also be an amazing way to get people coming back. Give them what they ask for, to the letter, but don't be afraid to surprise them with something of your own.

If you're talking about just writing erotica on your own, as a hobby, then that's a whole new level of question. I guess my advice there would be to become a good writer in general -- erotica without actual writing finesse never holds the attention past the cumshot, and that's no fun for anyone.