Thursday, January 12, 2017

Fourplay Fetish Feature: An Interview with Ralph Greco Jr.

Continuing our Fourplay Fetish Feature on the gang at Wordwooze Publishing, Ralph Greco Jr. has stopped by to chat with us.

♥ Thank you so much for taking the time to join us - we are so very delighted to have you! For those readers who have yet to encounter your work, can you give us a brief introduction?

When it comes to the fiction I write, I am mainly a short story writer. When it comes to erotic short fiction, I tend to the slightly fetish-y side of the street. I also have a love for ‘fantastic’ fiction (sci-fi, horror, fantasy) and satire. I am a published playwright, interviewer/reviewer, blogger as well.

♥ If it’s not too personal of a question, where does lifestyle experience end and vicarious fantasy begin within your fiction?

I sniff glue constantly….just joking. I don’t know what percentage of what I write is from things I have experienced, things I have fantasized about and things I wish I could try. As with all writers, it’s probably a mix of all three almost all of the time.

♥ On that note, is there a personal fetish or a fantasy that you have yet to explore in your fiction?

Not that I have overturned every rock in my imagination or experience, I am sure. But generally if I have yet to ‘go there’ that probably means I won’t. I tend to riff off the same subjects. I find most writers have there go to’s, subjects, ideas, settings, they explore again and again, trying to understand what’s in their head by a different approach to the same subjects (Bradbury’s love of his boyhood home comes to mind, Chaplin mining the same material of pathos and humor…and no, I am not comparing myself, in any way, to these greats!).

Flawed animals that we are we don’t ever get it right, we can never say what we want to say in the most perfect way, but it is the trying that makes it all worthwhile, I feel. In my case with the erotica I go back to the same well trying to describe (to get right) the feelings of the motivations of characters who engage in certain acts, what they are feeling and why. So it is less for me what I have yet to get into as it is me trying to get right what I go to over and over again.

♥ You have been published for a couple of years now, with several stories available. What was it that prompted you to begin writing?

I have written since I was a little kid, making up stories about spaceships and monsters. My mom actually still has these books where I would draw the pictures and write in dialogue, from when I was like six or seven. Erotica writing for me specifically began when I penned 800# phone sex scrips for a husband and wife team running a pre-recorded phone sex line back in the 80’s.

♥ With reader reviews so crucial to generating exposure, what are some of the weirdest or most wonderful reactions you’ve had from readers?

I am not on any kind of social media, so I don’t get to read many reviews. By and large though what I have seen (in Amazon reviews or something like that) have been positive (I guess the bribes I have sent around are working!) It’s pretty clear what my books/stories are about, so I don’t think readers are coming to my stuff unless they have a pretty clear desire for that kind of a story in the first place. I’m just glad people are generally not disappointed.

The best comments are usually when somebody reacts to how truthful the writing seems, that’s what touches me the most. If I can get something accurate enough that someone else reacts to the validity of it, even if it isn’t their specific experience, then I know I have done my job.

♥ Having explored the realm of self-publishing, what attracted you to the shelves of Wordwooze Publishing?

I knew Jim from Wordwooze from another publisher, so I knew his character and what he stood for. He was also open to laying out a plan with me, discussing my books at length, how he’d market them and he is very proactive in this regard. He was also the first person to approach me about making my catalogue into audiobooks, which I love.

♥ Finally, looking towards a brighter, more fantastic 2017, what can readers look forward to seeing from you next?

Just more stories, maybe a few stand-alone novels, though that’s a Herculean challenge I am not sure my dull organ of a brain can handle. My buddy and fellow Wordwooze author M. Christian and I will continue to teach our erotic writing classes across the U.S. and I guess I will just keep at it.

♥ Thanks again for taking the time to join us.

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