When I finished writing Beauty Lover, I faced a choice that every debut novelist confronts: pursue traditional publishing or self-publish. I chose self-publishing. Not because I couldn’t find an agent or publisher—I didn’t try. I chose it deliberately, knowing exactly...

There’s a question that haunts every writer who includes explicit sexual content in their work: Am I writing erotica or am I writing pornography? The distinction matters. Not because one is morally superior to the other—both have their place and their audience—but...