Name: Jennifer Brozek

Author of: “The Sexual Attraction of the Lovecraftian Universe,” an essay

Age: 39

Geographic Location: Seattle, WA

Original Hometown, if different: Military Brat. Didn’t have one. But I was born in Alaska.

Twitter: @jenniferbrozek

Website: http://www.jenniferbrozek.com

Past publications: Quite a few. Most recently “Family Duty” to M-Brane SF, “Eulogy for Muff” to Apexology: Horror, “Shanghai Vampocalypse” Savage Worlds RPG book, “Swallow It All” to Rigor Amortis. To see more publications, please go to: http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/bibfiction.html

What’s your favorite H.P. Lovecraft story or other Mythos story? I really like the language and imagery of “Nyarlathotep.” The “Cats of Ulthar” amuses me in ways it probably shouldn’t. But “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” is one of my favorites. It is gothic, gloomy and just wonderful.

What comes to mind when you think “Lovecraft” + “Erotica”? Tentacle porn and insanity. Really, “Lovecraft” and “Erotica” don’t seem like they should go together and yet they do, and I wrote an essay about that.

How did you hear about Cthulhurotica? Probably like most of the people in the book – Twitter.

What inspired your story? I was chatting with the editor about how wrong the concept seemed but how, upon further examination, there are a number of reasons for it to be. Then I pitched an essay about the topic and it got approved. Thus, “The Sexual Attraction of the Lovecraftian Universe” was born.

What music or movies helped you to write this story? None. I prefer to write in silence. Ok. That’s not true. I referenced a movie in the essay (The Dunwich Horror) but I did not watch it while working on the essay. Mostly, I re-read a number of Lovecraft’s works to back up my opinions. Also, I discovered that I did better writing about Lovecraft at night.

How many rewrites did you do before submitting? Two.

What is your favorite bit?

The stories H.P. Lovecraft told were not ones that incited arousal or encouraged promiscuity between mortals, mortals and servitors or mortals and the Old Ones. And yet, Cthulhurotica is not the first book that explores the sexual nature of this universe. There are other books (anthologies and novels), roleplaying games, movies and even (dare I mention it?) Lovecraftian porn. At first blush, this seems incomprehensible. However, after taking a closer look at the issue, the reason for the link between Lovecraft’s creation and erotica becomes clear.