IJ Miller:A Secret, a Confession and a Guilty Pleasure

I'm delighted that the first guest post in my new series is from  I.J. Miller, the author of five, distinct, literary, erotic works of fiction: SEESAW was translated into two languages, with over 130,000 copies in print; WHIPPED appeared in both English and German; SEX AND LOVE, a collection of short stories, made its debut in the summer of 2011; CLIMBING THE STAIRS, a novella, was released just a year later.  His latest novel, WUTHERING NIGHTS, is an erotic retelling of Emily Bronte’s classic, Wuthering Heights, and is published by the Grand Central Publishing imprint of Hatchette Books.  It is available now as an e-book and will be in bookstores as a trade paperback and audio book on April 23 (TODAY!) 

OVER TO YOU, IJ.......

A secret:

I published a novel called WHIPPED.  It is about an affluent suburban housewife trying to reconnect with her daughter, find true love, and escape the terrors of an unknown stalker.  Oh, and she works part time as a dominatrix.  And one more thing: the character is based on my stepmother.  And...to this day, she doesn’t know it.  (You can be sure I won’t be sending her the Kissing Velvet link.)  Now when I say “based on,” that is very loose terminology.  My stepmother never worked as a dominatrix.  She found true love (my dad).  But I would have to say she still hasn’t fully connected to her daughter (my stepsister).  The essence of her character is there, which is the germ of what inspired the story in the first place: what an interesting thing it is that some affluent housewives who you think have it all, can have certain self-esteem issues that make them miserable.  Enough said.  You want to know anymore, you’ll have to read the book.  Just don’t tell my stepmother.

A confession:

My real name is Ira Miller.  Years ago I published my first book using my real name.  Then I had to make a living so I became a full time university tennis coach.  Then along came the internet and Google.  All of my books since are written by I.J. Miller.  In these conservative times, better to have a separation between university employee and erotic writer.

A guilty pleasure:

I pride myself in being an intelligent, well-read person.  I hate reality TV shows.  Cruise right by them while scanning with the remote.  Except...I’ve seen all twenty-six seasons of Survivor.  Yeah, sometimes contrived, sometimes I’m sure it’s scripted, but I think Jeff Probst is a natural, I love how the hunger and pressure sooner or later seems to expose who each person really is, most challenges are still pretty creative, and there is always someone you love to hate.  I even like the last Reunion Show.  And my family and extended family have a Survivor pool every season.  Everyone puts in five dollars and is randomly assigned two contestants.  Your person wins, winner takes all.  I do feel as if I should be watching a documentary on Public Broadcasting, or listening to Obama’s State of the Union address.  But I’ll take Survivor every time.

IJ Miller has a Master of Fine Arts from the American Film Institute and has taught creative writing and screenwriting at the university level.

Website: http://www.ijmiller.com.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heathcliffian

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ij.miller.5

Related posts: 
http://elizabeth-cage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/how-to-write-good-erotic-mashup.html
http://elizabeth-cage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/new-series-secret-confession-and-guilty.html
http://elizabeth-cage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/an-erotic-history.html