The Yeats of spanking fic, Tara Finnegan, answers Emily's Questions

My wonderful friend Tara Finnegan has a well-known habit of chastising me thoroughly when I put a foot out of line, so I'm sure she'll take her tawse to me for that title, assuming that I'm mocking her, but I promise I'm not. For me, Tara is indeed the Yeats of spanking fiction. I'd call her the Joyce, but she doesn't like Joyce. Anyway, I love her, and I'm so very grateful to her for so much sympathy, advice, and camaraderie over the last almost-year that I can't adequately express it.

Why do you write?

Now that’s the six million dollar question. In a way it was Fifty Shades that started me. I mean, if you’re a spanko why in the hell would you want to get “cured?” It’s such a sensual pleasure! I didn’t know at the time that there was a spanking fiction genre, I had only just discovered kindle and Spanking Fiction isn’t exactly littering the shelves of bookshops here, so I wanted to tell the other side, the side of what if the woman was the one who actually wanted it, as is so often the case. 

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?)

There used to be a radio programme, desert island disks, and you got to pick some music that you’d bring with you, this is a much more interesting twist!

I think it would have to include a BDSM playroom. (Here in rural Ireland there’s not much call for BDSM clubs so I’ve never been to one.) I’m a one woman man so the only master I’d want is my husband. Failing the BDSM playroom, give me plenty of bamboo plants and some rope, and we could improvise :D

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?

I’m no expert on any of this but I think for many it is an orientation, genetically wired. But that doesn’t mean that those who haven’t been fantasising about it since they were knee high to a grass hopper wont be able to enjoy the pleasures of spanking either. Even if it’s your partners preference, rather than yours, it is quite feasible that you can still work it into your sexual play in a way that will bring mutual pleasure if you have an open mind and an open heart. Spanking can be as painful or as pleasurable as you want it to be, depending on force, and implement. I even have a light foil flogger - total waste for me of course, but for those who would prefer a symbolic flogging, it’s ideal.

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

I really love writing women and I had great fun writing Maeve and Bridie in Mastering Maeve and Ange in my next release for Corbin’s Bend, but there is a special place in my heart for Siobhan from My Naughty Little Secret, because to me she symbolises so many young Irish women who go off and brave it in another country, looking for fun and adventure, and all too often find love and end up staying there. In many ways I used my own experiences of London when writing her - even down to my chosen card game. And Claire and Tara took in many of the characteristics of a medley of my friends. I often wonder if they read it, would they recognise bits of themselves.

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

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice is way up there. In a man’s world, she had spirit, wit and vivacity! She made the most of her world and had great strength of character. When I get marooned on that desert Island can I please take my well worn copy of Pride and Prejudice?

Tara Finnegan blogs here. Here's the blurb of her wonderful novel, My Naughty Little Secret.

From the moment she saw him on her first day at her new job in London, there was something about Michael which annoyed Siobhan Brennan… and something else that pulled her to this stunningly handsome man and his boldly arrogant personality. In spite of her misgivings she soon finds herself out on a date with him, and she is torn between a desire to defy him as often as possible and a deeper, more disturbing need to submit to him. It certainly doesn’t help that very embarrassing thoughts keep popping into her head uninvited: images of herself bent over, bare bottom on display, waiting for Michael to chastise her firmly. 

It is not long before Siobhan, in a rash moment, actually dares Michael to spank her, only to find that he is more than up to the challenge of turning her naked backside bright red. To her horror, her sore behind only fuels the fire growing within her, and she is soon on her knees before him, blushing with shame yet needing him to take her and take her hard. 

It is only afterwards that the couple must come to terms with what took place, and what it means for their relationship. Was this just a one-time event, something to be tried but never repeated, or will Siobhan find herself punished like a naughty girl again in the future? As scandalized as it makes her feel, in her heart she knows what she needs, but is Michael prepared to give it to her? And when she finds out that Michael has kept something important from her about his past and who he really is, will she be able to forgive him or will the revelation tear them apart forever?

Buy it here!