STANDFIRST

Erotica writer Zane is on the Island for a series of signings of her latest novel. She spoke to Lifestyle reporter René Hill about how she went from Internet scribe to a best-selling author, publisher and scriptwriter.

Zane began writing short stories on the Internet 12 years ago.

"It really just took on a life of its own, to the point that a rumour got started that I had put a book out and from there I decided to go ahead and put one out to see what happened," she said.

"And the rest is kind of just history. I guess this just means that this is really what I was meant to do."

Although her genre is erotica, her writings aren't all about sex, she said: "My goal is to empower women in all aspects of their lives, including sexual liberation.

"Most women are still very uncomfortable with vocally communicating their wants and desires. And it is my goal that hopefully through my work that they will somehow find the courage, or be liberally inspired enough, to say what's on their mind.

"But I do deal with a lot of issues in my books everything from incest to child molestation, to organ donation, to unplanned pregnancy. All of my books have some kind of message behind them.

"They segue to deal with much bigger issues like for example, my book 'Headbanger' that comes out in a couple of weeks. I just couldn't write a book without any purpose behind it.

"We all know hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but in the book we find out what a man is capable of when he feels like he is not being acknowledged in a relationship, when he feels neglected."

Zane is the New York Times best-selling author of ten titles: 'Dear G Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love', 'Afterburn', 'Skyscraper', 'Nervous', 'The Sisters of APF', 'Gettin' Buck Wild: The Sex Chronicles 2', 'The Heat Seekers', 'Shame on it All', 'Addicted', and 'The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth'.

So where does her inspiration come from?

"This is my 11th novel and my inspiration really just comes from life itself and observing people, experiencing the world. It is either something that is really affecting me personally or something that I have observed a lot of and really wanted to address.

"Therefore when I did 'After Burn' I saw a lot of people that I felt were wasting a lot of time in life and that was the underlying theme of the book. And one of the greatest compliments that I ever got was during a book signing a woman came up to me and told me, 'Thank you for writing the book, because I now get up every single day and tell my 15-year-old son that I love him because we all get caught up in so many trivial things that we lose sight of what is really important'."

She agreed that reading her novels remains something of a guilty pleasure for many people: "Absolutely! A lot of people buy my books and watch my television show, including celebrities. But they would never go out and say: 'Oh I watch 'Zane's Sex Chronicles'.'

"They wouldn't do that, even though they watch it every week."

Asked why she uses a nom de plume, but doesn't mind showing her face, she explained: "It is really great, because I can go out and be 'Zane' and then come live my real life.

"It is actually very perfect."

Why Zane?

"Why not? Zane is just known as Zane around the world."

On whether her children minded her choice of writing, she answered: "Not at all. Some kids, their mothers go to work nine to five, Monday to Friday. And then there are mothers like me. (My son) thinks that mothers go away on business trips all the time.

"Last week I took him to a fashion show up in New Jersey and for him this is normal. To them this is simply what I do, but it has nothing to do with me being 'mommy'."

Parts of her work are semi-autobiographical, she admitted.

"My television show is loosely based on my real life and how I got started and how no one knew I was Zane."

Asked if she initially thought her novels would be a huge success, she said: "I knew I was going to sell a lot of books, but to think that I would be an international success, no.

"I thought that I would sell a lot to my fans that had already accumulated, and it was going to be some underground thing, I did know that, but on it becoming as large as it has, no."

When it was suggested that she was the JK Rowling of erotica, she said: "Oh, I wish! Yeah, we're not quite that sexually liberated yet."

Part proceeds of last night's Ree's Book Club event at the Fairmont Southampton were in support of the Women's Resource Centre. Her thoughts are with the sufferers.

"First of all my book 'Breaking the Cycle', which I won the NAACP award for, is on domestic violence and particularly the effect that it has on children in those relationships.

"And in fact on June 3, I am actually doing a class for about 200 women [in the Washington] DC area on that topic. But what I hope that take away from it, is that we as women have a right to be respected, have a right to be cared for, have a right to fair treatment. There are so many places in this society where sexism is so prevalent and where men feel that women were placed on this earth to service them.

"All I am saying is that they have a right to be treated fairly and not have to live with their oppressor. A lot of men say they are oppressed by society, by the workplace, but many of us live with our oppressors. You can change jobs, you can move cities, but as long as you are with that same man, you will be oppressed your whole life."

While she plans to keep writing novels, she also aims to expand her publishing imprint, Strebor Books, which publishes books by other authors as well and is a joint venture with Simon & Schuster.

She also plans to do more television series, feature films and similar projects and "really, continue to do what I love to do, which I am very grateful for".

"It is a blessing to be able to do what I am passionate about for a living," she enthused. "Some people never have that and I feel very blessed to be able to have that."

Before she started writing, Zane worked in sales.

"In many ways I feel that I still am. I have a sales and marketing background. That is why I have been able to accomplish what I have, a, with my own books and b, with my imprint.

"And this is why a lot of authors fall by the wayside because they really don't understand that a writer is someone who just sits down and writes a book, but an author is a salesperson and a marketer, all those things all rolled into one. A lot of people don't grasp that concept.

"You have to convince someone that you have written something that is worth them spending a, their money on, and b, their time on it to read."

Zane's first three books were self-published by choice, she explained.

Although several publishers wanted to publish her work, they wanted her to change her work to emulate other erotic writers of the time. She refused and today many erotic writers are being encouraged to follow the path she took.

She recommends that writers just read, read and read and write every day.

One of her books, 'Addicted', was not intended to be a book. It was written because she felt like writing it.

"And it is still for that same reason that I write my books today. It is not about 'let me write this book, so that I can put it out and sell a bunch of books'.

"The first thing is to make writing a regular part of your day and get used to it and to finish a book, get it out of you, realise that you can still re-write it, but get the full story out first."

Getting published is the more difficult part, she stated.

"I won't even lie about that. Because of the economy, a lot of publishers are suffering just like everybody else.

"There is self-publishing. There are different things that you can do, but no matter what, they have to remember they have to be patient. And if they are rejected by a publisher it may not be for the reasons that they think. It may be that that publisher already has enough books. It may be that they have published many things similar. Don't take the publisher's rejection as you can't write.

"But I will say this, as a publisher, please, please, please put your best foot forward before you send something out. You would be amazed at what people send out to publishers, and then expect to be taken seriously.

"My publishing director looked at the first six pages of a book and there were hundreds of errors, not dozens, but hundreds. You cannot submit that kind of work and expect someone to take you seriously.

"Take pride in your work. Even as many books as I have out, I would not just send a book in to my publisher [just] any kind of way."

Although many people have stories to tell, not everybody is a writer, says Zane.

"It's as simple as that. It is kind of like watching 'American Idol', the people on there think that they really can sing. Everybody can't sing and it is the same thing with writing. It is a talent. I don't care what anybody says, either you've got the 'it factor' or you don't.

"You can sit there and struggle and try to write a story, but everybody can't write. Some people have put eight years into it, but if they are just not capable of doing it, then they are just not capable of doing it.

"I have seen that (with) people who have put a lot of time and effort into it but if it doesn't work after a while, really, really think about it, and don't just ask your friends and family they are all going to say that they love it."

Zane will be singing her new book at Brown & Co. today between 11.30 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.

For more information visit www.Zanestore.com