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To All the Lusty Gardeners: Fifty Shades of Green Interview with Publisher Sandra Knauf

Photo by Lily Knauf.

Photo by Lily Knauf.

Well, here I am, interviewing myself for a press release I put together for Fifty Shades of Green last fall. (When you hear self-publishers wear a lot of hats, that is the truth!) I was going to share this interview back with you then, but other things came up and it got stuck in the Drafts folder here on WordPress. Since the film of the other Fifty Shades book is out, I thought now might be a good time.

If you haven’t bought a copy of my book yet, you’re in luck. We have a special going on now – retail price is $15.95, sale price is $12.95 (and it looks like Amazon has taken another dollar off from there). Don’t delay; the savings will not get better than this! Here’s the link!

—Sandra Knauf

And Now . . . the Interview

What brought this book about? It started as a joke. I read Fifty Shades of Grey and was shocked. Not by the BDSM sex, but by the inequality in the relationship. I thought: This is what women find sexy? The story had no basis in reality and the heroine was the “submissive”—in bed, in experience, and economically and socially. What’s sexy about that?

I talked to friends and saw most had the same reaction. At first I thought it would be funny to do a parody, a novel with a female protagonist who was older and a billionaire, someone who had all the power in society, and in the bedroom, who would mete out discipline to a virginal, college-aged male love interest. But after exploring that idea, I found it didn’t hold my interest. So the idea changed to a collection of stories.

Where did the gardening theme come from? Gardening had to be a theme. It’s my personal passion and it’s the subject of all my publishing work. Plus, the garden is the perfect setting for sexual encounters. Non-gardeners may not know this, but the garden is a sexy, fruitful, lustful place. And besides, women and gardens have shared an intimate relationship since the beginning; starting, one could say, with Eve.

Can you tell us about the writers? I fell in love with all the writers. Most are seasoned erotica writers and avid gardeners, so they know what they’re writing about in both departments. Several are men, and it was wonderful to have that perspective; two of the writers are from Britain, and I found that thrilling as the British are known for their mad gardening skills. Another writer’s the editor for a regional gardening magazine, and one graduated from Harvard Law School. There’s an exciting diversity in styles and backgrounds.

Do you have a background in the erotica genre? No, and I honestly didn’t know a lot about the genre before I started this project. But I learned, and I read some of the best work out there, and the more I learned the greater my respect for the genre grew. This is my feeling on the subject: sexuality is one of the most important, powerful, and certainly one of the most beautiful aspects of our existence and the way it’s treated is sad. We have a culture where sex=porn and that is just not so. There needs to be a return to honoring sexuality and lovemaking. Placing sexuality in a dark, forbidden place breeds a lot of society’s ills.

How do you feel erotica fits into today’s literature and why is it becoming so popular? I feel that readers are looking for deeper connections, and when you have access to a character’s sexuality, you see the whole person. I think this is the reason TV shows have become more sexual—not for the titillation, though that can be a part of it, but because we want fully-developed characters. In a big way, A Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert validated this book project for me. Here was a story, from a respected author, about a virginal woman in the 1800s obsessed with studying, of all things, mosses. There’s a lot about horticulture and history and becoming a fully-realized human being, but Gilbert also explored her protagonist’s sexuality. It was enthralling, reading about this character’s sexual awakening and her desires.

What surprised you most about the stories you received? The imagination, and the heart. Eros is the god of love and where the word erotica originates, and there is a joy and a depth in these stories that goes far beyond the sex act. In pornography there is no heart; it’s only about the stimulation. I found myself moved by some of the stories, such as “Pulse of the Earth,” a healing love story between two men. “Love Lies Bleeding” is so beautifully written it took my breath away, and “Phallus Impudicus” is high comedy. “The Judgment of Eric” is a riddle. There are a couple of stories where love potions figure in and that’s always fun, both from an adult “fairy tale” perspective and from a psychological standpoint. The collection is a mix of many aspects of the sexual psyche.

Did you have a favorite? Yes and no. I hand-picked them all, and I love them all, but there are a few that are special to me. I won’t name my favorites, but what’s funny is they changed during the editorial process. One story I read aloud recently and just went, “Wow. I think this is my favorite.” I also find it interesting that there’s no consensus among those who’ve read the book. This tells me there’s something for everyone.

Do you garden? (And do you think gardening’s sexy?) Can I scream, “Oh YESSSS!”? I have been an obsessed gardener for over two decades, when we first bought a home that had a yard. I went through master gardener training twice, the second time as a refresher course. I remember the first cottage garden I saw. I was 19 and my soon-to-be husband and I were house-sitting for his brother and his wife. Victoria and Danny had little money but they had an amazing garden: chickens and flowers, a vegetable garden, fruit trees in barrels, a tiered strawberry bed. This was in Colorado in the 1980s and enjoying this humble yet wildly productive and beautiful garden I thought, “This is paradise. I want to do this one day.” And I did.

As far as sex and the garden go, there is no place sexier. Flowers are the sex organs of plants, you know. They are beautiful and many emit intoxicating perfumes. If you have a flower garden and a vegetable garden, you have an orgy going on during the spring and summer, right in your backyard! The bees and butterflies are pollinating, the flowers are cross-pollinating. It’s amazing. You’re surrounded by sex.                                                                                                                                                                                         

P. S. I thought you might find it amusing that the pose and setting for my press kit photo was inspired by one of my favorite garden writers—that true champion of organic growing, Ruth Stout! I love her so! It I wrote about her life last year in a mini-bio that you can read either in Greenwoman #5 or in the Kindle publication, The Whole Ruth: A Biography of Ruth Stout.

Thank you, Ruth. Your sexy good humor was just what I was looking for.

My sultry and sensual garden mentor, Ruth Stout. Did you know she enjoyed gardening in the nude?

I imagine Ruth Stout thought this photo funny and suggestive of a “roll in the hay” with the author of books on straw mulch gardening!
(Did you know she enjoyed gardening in the nude?)

And, once more, the link to buy yourself (or your lusty gardening pal/s) a copy. You know they make great gifts, too!

Poppy FInal June 17 copy

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Filed under Art & the Garden, Garden Writers We Love, garden writing, Gardening is Sexy

Fifty Shades of Green, the Paperback: IT’S HERE!

You may be seeing our "card" on a bulletin board near you!

You may be seeing our “calling card” on a bulletin board near you!

 

Another case of “What a week!”

We received five proofs of the paperback book on Monday. I delivered one to the editor and one to a friend who said she’d give it a final proofread. My daughter Zora said she’d pitch in, too. Of course I got one. My goal was to have it done within 24 hours. The book is only around 150 pages, and we’d been over it several times already, including a second look by each and every contributor.

Well. Of course it took three times longer. There were many errors we didn’t catch the first time—including words used the wrong way.

Future note to writers, including myself : Check every single word you do not use in everyday conversation.

There was also the matter of ridding stories of brand names (a big no-no; one can be sued over such things), and sentences that were grammatically incorrect and needed restructuring or made into two sentences, and commas that needed to be added, deleted, or moved. And the list went on and on.

An interesting note on the use of trade names: In the film Slumdog Millionaire, Mercedes-Benz and Coca-Cola objected to their products being used in the Mumbai slum scenes. The logos had to be disguised.

I must be an optimist, because I imagined there would be maybe a half-dozen changes in the book, not over a hundred. Then I had to compile all of the changes. And change not only the print version, but the Kindle version, and the individual digital stories that I, in my enthusiasm, had rushed to publication on Amazon last week.

Such is the nature of publishing. If you have ever been there, you will know exactly what I mean. Mistakes crop up more prolifically than weeds. Out of sight, then whoa, everywhere! Perfectionism is an ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT. You want to look like you truly care about your work. At least I do.

This is why self-publishers need not only one professional editor, but ideally two (with different areas of expertise), and a professional proofreader, and a few smart readers that are sure to catch things those individuals don’t catch. I had this, and very good people with years of experience helping, but we still struggled.

Ahhh. So glad that is over. There will be a few more errors found, and it’s fine. There will always be something, even in the biggest, most extravagantly-funded publishing houses, but for now . . . the book is ready.

It’s READY!

It’s on Kindle today, available to order!!!  Here’s the LINK!

Now to my next task—promotion. Astonishingly enough, these last months have been the “easy” part. There’s a quote from Jack Canfield, author of those mega-bestseller Chicken Soup for the Soul books. He likens the work of publishing a book to an iceberg. The top 10%, the part that’s visible, is the book itself, including ALL the work it took to bring it into being. The 90% below the surface is the part that will determine whether or not the book will be successful. That part is the marketing.

After four years I know this well. I’ve lived it.

And so, on with the 90%!

I do hope that you all will check out the book on Amazon. I was so very happy to see that the Kindle edition’s preview. Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature lets you read the entire first story in this collection, which is “Phallus Impudicus” by Rebekah. I’m sure the “Look Inside” feature will also be available on the paperback book’s link within the next couple of days. What I love most about “Phallus Impudicus” is that it’s funny. It’s one of my favorite stories in the collection and it’s a good introduction to the magic, naughtiness, sexiness, and gardening love of Fifty Shades of Green.

So tell your friends to check out that free story and consider buying the book. It is surely a one-of-a-kind, ground-breaking (pun intended!), be-the-first-of-your-friends-to-know-about-it collection!

—Sandra Knauf

P. S. I HAD to end this post with a visual for another of our other favorite stories. Though, honestly, this anthology is like having 12 beloved children (stories); it is impossible to pick a favorite. The art is the cover for the story is “Love Lies Bleeding” by Janine Ashbless. “Love Lies Bleeding” is a completely compelling, beautifully written, and sexy supernatural tale. A true gothic romance. And I love the title. (For those who don’t know, love lies bleeding is a colloquial name for the plant amaranth.)

My daughter Zora created the Kindle cover from free images I found on Wikimedia Commons.

 

Beautiful cover for "Love Lies Bleeding" created by Zora Knauf.

Stunning cover for “Love Lies Bleeding” created by Zora Knauf.

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Filed under Garden Writers We Love