R. Gay is a Midwestern-dwelling writer whose new story, “Broads,” is the first chapter in my new Treasury of erotic short stories.
Jimmy Nolan has a thing for broads—loud, brassy women who sit with their legs open and drink beer straight from the bottle—women who always say exactly what they’re thinking and for better or worse, mean what they say.
Jimmy Nolan has a hard time meeting broads. He’s not quite sure if this is the result of geography, circumstance, or personal limitation. Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend Marissa was the antithesis of a broad—pale, thin, precise and polite with a watery voice and weak handshake. She says that Jimmy isn’t the kind of guy broads go for.
What is it about the nebbishy guy being the new working class sex hero today?
For so long, the iconic male hero has been a guy with rippling muscles and chiseled features. The heroine likes the bad boy who treats her like crap but knows how to
make her moan. That is well and good. I don't mind that guy.
But I think there is also space for the narrow, timid somewhat invisible guy who finds a way to make himself seen in the world. There's space for the guy who is nice and kind and I think that we need to stop equating kindness with weakness. They are not synonymous. By that same token, kindness is not antonymous to sex appeal.
I love that your story is the first vanilla story I've ever read about fisting.
It’s always been fairly surprising to me that fisting is considered taboo and kinky and wrong. I realized this while watching a depressing Lifetime movie called Human Trafficking with Mira Sorvino, when one of the trafficked women was lamenting her unfortunate circumstances by crying, "They fisted me," in a tone that implied that
being fisted was one step away from death.
To my mind, the pussy is the perfect place for a hand. Writers these days (and I don't exclude myself) want to be as "edgy" as possible, so they create hot scenarios where they push that sexual envelope. They take something like fisting and make it seem like a dark, dangerous thing. Perhaps it has simply never crossed a writer's mind to treat fisting as normal as other, more socially traditional forms of sexual interaction.
The good news is that it crossed my mind. I just loved the idea that there is this sweet guy who wants to use his beautiful hands to please the woman with whom he is infatuated.
How would you describe yourself in a phrase, school-wise?
If navigating a university is a game of chess, my favorite move is castling.
Have you ever held Political Office?
The more interesting question, I think, is have I ever held a political member in his office?
What comes to mind when you consider your ancestors, who they were...
My ancestors were free.
I’m Haitian, and it’s always been drilled into me that my ancestors were free and that my ancestors put the idea of freedom into the consciousness of the American people. I think knowing that gives me extra confidence (as if I needed that).
Do you have any noteworthy collections?
I collect old and new Monopoly sets from around the world.
Photo: Duane Dial, Mamluke's Flickr stream.
Interviews: To read all forty of the Erotic Treasury author Q&A's, find the PDF here.