I’m a fan of swinging clubs since age 20, and I’ve been writing erotic texts for many years. Some were published online but aren’t available anymore. I also write texts of a different genre, some of which were published, under my real name.
When I met my publisher, the project of The Elsewhere didn’t exist yet. I asked him to read my erotic texts and he encouraged me to write a novel that would promote swinging, considering my experience.
So, I wrote a first version where the female character is bored with her life and discovers swinging after pages of depicting her very dull daily life. When he read those pages, my – future – publisher looked at me, in shock. We talked, and decided it would be more interesting for our female character to be a fulfilled woman. That’s when I thought of my friend Juliet’s story (not her real name). And this is how The Elsewhere was born.
When she read the story, Juliet loved everything about it (even the tiny liberties I took), and this to me is the most beautiful reward; seeing that this person felt the book was really telling her story, and was conveying the message she wanted to convey.
I enjoyed writing this book a lot, and re-experiencing those intense emotions that over many years. I hope you’ll experience the same emotions, reading it, and that it will inspire you, too, to discover the most beautiful way to love: swinging.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE:
It was during the success of “Fifty Shades of Grey” that the author shared with me the erotic texts she had written. This also coincided with the preliminary discussions for the inception of Eukalypto. So, I asked her if, considering her experience in swingers’ clubs, she felt she could write an erotic novel revolving around libertinism.
“Lily,” the penname she later chose, was excited by the idea. To her, the ultimate goal was to persuade as many people as possible to, at least, try libertinism, which in her opinion remains the ultimate and most beautiful expression of love. Convinced that deep inside, each of us is a libertine waiting to express themselves, she immediately began writing what would eventually become The Elsewhere.
Determining the ideal main protagonist took some time, and Lily settled on the true story of a woman whom she had met in one of those clubs. The story of “Juliet” was, indeed and in my opinion too, the most accurate one to introduce a newcomer to that world and guide them through their exploration.
Upon discovering the “club scenes,” I was notably surprised by two things: The first surprise was the prevalence of dialogues in an erotic novel. Though I must confess that my experience in this field is limited, so instead of trying to imitate something we didn’t fully master, we kept the author’s style and spirit as they were.
The second element that took me by surprise concerned a more intimate aspect. I won’t delve into too many details, yet I will confess that reading the novel slightly altered some of my behaviours during intimate moments, giving me a sort of audacity to act more assertively than I would have normally done. I knew then that Lily had achieved her goal: changing each reader’s perception of intimacy.
ABOUT THE COVER:
For The Elsewhere, we wanted an extremely simple yet suggestive cover—a gentle invitation. The idea of a curtain, in shades of red of course, hiding a subdued room quickly became clear. We then found the right image and modified it to give it the exact tone we were seeking.