The miraculous Anastasia Vitsky answers Emily's questions

I'm thrilled to welcome another wonderful colleague for Emily's Questions. Anastasia Vitsky has been kind to me in more ways than I can count, and with a greater magnitude of kindness than I think I could ever describe. To say that Ana writes F/F spanking fic serves perhaps to describe the starting point of her incredible efforts in her fiction and in a community of spanking fiction authors that she herself has shaped for the better immeasurably, but that simple description cannot capture her Herculean labors to bring the community together around topics both literary and far beyond literature. Really, I think Ana is a force for social justice in the guise of an F/F author. I urge you to follow her wonderful blog, Governing Ana, where she holds nothing back as she works towards the most admirable imaginable goals, while never losing the sense of fun that (in my opinion at least) always has to be there to make our fantasies a place of creation, and recreation, rather than a retreat from the world.

I'll let Ana introduce herself in her elegant style.

Thank you so much, Emily. I came into this writing business from the back door--stop it, Emily!--and never expected more than some fantasizing. I had been told 10-15 years ago that no one reads F/F, no one would buy F/F, and no one would publish F/F. It’s an attitude I’ve encountered many times as an author, and because of that I never expected to publish one book, let alone eleven (counting the anthologies).

A year and a half ago, I wrote stories to heal from heartbreak. I continued to write at a feverish pace, consumed by the stories that would later become The Way Home and Lighting the Way. When Celeste Jones and Cara Bristol invited me into the spanking author community, I found myself surprised to be accepted as a F/F author. Even better, no one tried to change me. I certainly have received (and given!) my fair share of teasing, but there has been remarkable kindness. I haven’t experienced that kind of acceptance in many place of my life, and this writing business has fed my soul in ways I’d never expected.

I believe that all social change begins with a story, and the greatest compliment I have ever received was, “I’d never considered that before, but your story opened my mind.”

I’m grateful to everyone, especially including Miss Naughty Emily, who has opened your mind, heart, and soul to this opinionated author who demands to be heard. Thank you.

Why do you write?

Why do I breathe? Why do I sleep at night (or during the day, sometimes)? I have no answer for why I write, except that I have never not written from the time I learned how to form letters. During an illness when I found myself in the ICU, my first conscious words were, “Can I have a pen and paper?"

I write because I need to write. I write because I want to create the stories I wish I could have read when I was younger. I write because I need to see my visions come to life on the page.

In short, I write because I live. Or perhaps I live because I write.

What's your desert-island fantasy? (If you were marooned on a desert-island with only a single fantasy to get off to for the rest of your life, what would you choose?)

Get off? Me? Are you sure you’re asking this question of the right person? :D

As to my favorite spanking fantasy, it’s one mixed with both pragmatism and impossibility. To receive loving, stern care from someone both strict and compassionate enough to give me what I need. The exact roles don’t matter. Whether it’s Eunji at school, Hana in the Castle, or Carene after a music rehearsal or any of the many roles I have written, the image of firm guidance sends shivers up my spine. I also love the nebulous region somewhere between consent and non-consent. True non-consent I’m not so fond of, but “I consented to this relationship and now I must relinquish control” strikes at my favorite fantasies.

Do you think of BDSM and/or spankophilia as a practice or as an orientation, or as something else, and what does your answer mean to you?

Some people think that a desire to be spanked stems from emotional wounds or is linked to abuse. While I disagree, I also think that the need for spanking (in whatever form we wish to call it) is rooted in a deep need of our identity. Simply put, for those who (like me) grew up daydreaming about spanking and giggle-blushing while looking up “spanking” in the dictionary, this spanking thing (whatever you want to call it) defines who we are. 

For me, especially with my most recent foray into straight-up ageplay, spanking connects with my core identity. Spanking can be punishment, yes, and Natalie at times crossed the line. However, Hana’s nurturing of Mira’s little-girl self brought out a maturity and love I wish more people could experience in the vanilla world. There are many ways to nurture someone, and there are many ways to mentor. Why not with a wooden spoon? :)

Who's a favorite character from your own work, and why?

The character I’m currently writing or the one I’ve written most recently. That’s tough because I’m writing a story right now where I don’t identify with the character. She lets off a f-bomb. (So far. We’ll see if the Ana Censor omits it, as it omitted the first occurrence.) She supports her live-in boyfriend. She works at a bar and doesn’t believe in commitment, love, or tenderness. I’m struggling to love her the way like of my previous main characters, and this girl does not want to be loved! 

If I had to pick one character only, I think it would be Mira. She makes all the worst decisions for the best of reasons, and she stumbles through the fall-out of her bad decisions. To watch her blossom under the care of first Eunji and then Hana...well, that was magic. I’m excited to see what will happen to Mira next. 

By the way, fans of Mira and Hana should tune in for Love Spanks 2014 February 7-9. They’ll get to see a rather unorthodox celebration of the Lunar New year. I won’t accuse Hana of cheating, but let’s say she...ahem...bends the rules a bit. :)

Who's a favorite character from someone else's work (erotic or non-erotic) and why?

Will I get kicked off this blog if I mention a character from children’s fiction? I do love many adult characters from adult (not necessarily erotic) books, but my all-time favorite character is Sara Crewe from A Little Princess. She is the model of dignity, imagination, and compassion. While she is a child character in a child’s setting, I have loved her since I first met her in third grade and continue to love her in adulthood. A friend lent me her library copy of A Little Princess, and I read it in one sitting. I then proceeded to re-read the book so many times that I could not bear to give the book up. So--and I’m not proud of this--I pretended I’d lost the book, just so I could keep it. I believe I may have led my friend to think she lost the book, rather than her innocent friend. Come to think of it, she probably had to pay the library fine, too.

What would Sara Crewe think? Ah well, by now she must have grown up. Think she’d give me a spanking?

And now the best part! An excerpt (one of my favorites) from Mira's Miracle:

"Mira-chan," she purrs into the small electronic earpiece for my cell phone. "Tell me the color of your panties." 

The luscious red apple splurts juice as my fingernails dig into the flesh. "I'm at the supermarket!" A bent-over curly-haired woman hobbles by with a baby bundled on her back. A loudspeaker blares with some harried employee's voice extolling the virtues of some limited time offer promotion. Buy one get one free, or fifty percent off, or a special sample, or a cooking demonstration. I shuffle in between stacks of food. When I came to South Korea last year to enroll in a translator certification course, I knew many things would be different from my native United States. I expected the language and cultural differences, but I didn't expect the rest. I didn't recognize the vastness of my country, or how I took for granted enormous grocery store aisles, houses, parking lots, and sidewalks. 

I squeeze past a precarious stack of miniature sweet yogurt drinks, but my purse knocks a few bottles onto the floor. I murmur an apology to no one in particular as I bend over and replace the drinks on their cardboard tray. 

"Are you wearing the silky violet panties with the sheer back panel?" Hana asks through the phone, luxuriating over each syllable. "When I take you over my knee, will the flimsy fabric tear as I place my hand in between your thighs and—"

"Hana!" Sticky apple juice dribbles down my white sleeve. I raise my voice to drown out hers. "Apple prices are outrageous. Do you want the three-thousand-won kind or the five-thousand-won kind?" Three to five dollars for a single apple, I tell myself. Trying to focus. I am an ordinary schoolgirl on an ordinary errand to buy ordinary groceries for her ordinary girlfriend. But I forgot. This is Hana, for whom nothing is ordinary. 

"I want your saucy bottom tipped over my knee as I split your schoolgirl panties at the seams." 

"HANA!" I put the crushed apple into a plastic produce bag and spin it around to tie off the end. Someone will have to pay for the ruined fruit. I walk over to the special produce bin filled with stacks of luscious red cherries. Each clear, plastic, heart-shaped bowl contains a small handful of the expensive, imported fruit. I long to taste the cherries, to place one in my mouth. I have not enjoyed a cherry since leaving my hometown many months ago, and I have almost forgotten the taste. I remember watching my mother bring in lugs of cherries, hauling in crates of the red fruit she made into cherry sauce, cherry jam, cherry everything. My mouth waters as I wish I could place the forbidden fruit into my mouth. At ten thousand won, or over ten dollars, for a tiny handful, I can't justify the expense. In the meantime, my attention is demanded elsewhere. 

"That's right," she croons. "Scream my name, baby girl, but louder!" 

"Hana!" I whisper, dipping my head forward so my long hair covers my hot face. A toddler careens by with a fistful of candy in each hand, a tired young mother trying to keep up. "Mmm-hmm-mmm," I hum as loudly as I dare, using the tune of a popular children's song about umbrellas in the rain. My first girlfriend, my first love, and my first pornographic phone sex call.

Here's the blurb:

The Castle. A place where Mira's secret, shameful desires will come true--whether she likes it or not.

Sophisticated, stunning, and wise beyond her years, Hana wants a break from her grueling career as a Japanese diplomat to Korea. She makes a bet with her new lover: Mira must ace her translation coursework for the semester or travel to a vacation destination of Hana's choice. Distracted by Hana's kisses, Mira loses her bet and must pay the penalty. Hana calls in a favor and books a luxurious stay for them at the Castle, a special retreat for all things spanking. She also tells Mira the conditions of the trip: Mira must be her little girl. 

Shocked and horrified, Mira protests the childish treatment and clothes. She fights against Hana and the Castle employees, terrified of the growing dread inside of her. Does a part of her actually like being scolded and cosseted, absolved of the responsibilities of grown-up life? As the magic of the Castle awakens in Mira a need she never knew existed, she comes across a deep, forbidden part of herself. Can she be a respected professional while basking in the glow of a more tender love than she has ever experienced? How can she return to ordinary life after experiencing this new way of life? What if anyone else finds out her terrible secret? 

Set a few months after Desire in Any Language, this second installment of Mira's adventures tells the story of hope, acceptance, and freedom.

Buy it here!

Official bio, links and stuff:

Anastasia Vitsky wrote her first spanking story at the age of thirteen and never stopped. She writes female-centric stories of love, laughter, loss, and discipline. People are often most passionate about this desire to spank and be spanked because it has had to be kept a secret. For this reason, the stories of a spanking relationship carry intimate power to change lives. She hopes that her readers will walk away from her books feeling that this world might be a better place.

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