My First Smut: Smut in the Pandemic

My First Smut is a recurring feature where we talk about our formative smut experiences. These short confessionals may include such details as: What book did you read? How old were you? Were there other people involved? What made the experience special? What role does smut play in your life?

This week, author Jane Morris talks about finally giving romance a chance in the early days of the pandemic…and loving it.

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First romance novel you read:

Credence by Penelope Douglas

How old were you?

Late thirties

How’d you get your hands on the book?

I saw it recommend on Instagram and the pandemic had just started, so I grabbed the ebook.

What was the reading experience like?

I was never willing to try romance because I judged it wrongly, like many people do. This book completely transported me. The descriptions of everything made the world so real, and I was able to escape into this immersive atmosphere of nature and passion and longing.

What made the experience special?

The fact that I felt like I was in on a secret while reading made it memorable. It was like doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing, reading while my kids played or slept. The fact that the sex scenes were so visceral and including every detail made me feel like I was a voyeur in their world, a world I would totally judge in real life while secretly wanting to live in it.

What role does smut play in your life?

It’s a fabulous escape from everyday life. Instead of drinking hard liquor on Friday nights like my husband, or smoking a joint like I did in my teens to escape, I enjoy the process of finding the perfect story that grabs me by the throat and won’t let go. Reading those books inspired me to write my own, and include every dirty detail just the way I would want to read it.

Bio

Jane Morris is the author of the bestselling Teacher Misery series. Her new contemporary romance novel based on a historical love triangle, Memento Mori, released earlier this week!

Connect with Jane at teachermisery.com or on Twitter and Instagram @teachermisery.

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Thanks Jane! We’re always excited to hear from people who are new(ish) to romance and embracing the genre whole-heartedly! Looking forward to reading Memento Mori—watch this space for a review coming soon!

Have an early smut experience you’d like to share with us? If you’d like to see your story featured, send us an email or fill out our questionnaire and we’ll post it in an upcoming week.