INTERVIEW WITH BDSM EXPERT DR. C. FERRER

Recently, my novel, TRUSSED (Book 2, The MASTERED Saga) was nominated for Best Erotica Novel of the Year by The Golden Flogger Awards.  I’d not heard of it, so I did some research and was VERY impressed with what I found.

Today I have with me the fabulous Dr. Charley Ferrer.
Dr. Charley is the founder of the Golden Flogger Awards and the host of BDSM Writers Con. and an advocate on dominance and submission. I had a few questions for her. Check out what she had to say below.

Welcome Doctor.  Please tell us a little about BDSM Writers Con.
First, let me start by saying, thank you for inviting me on your blog. It’s always wonderful to speak with authors and fans about BDSM Writers Con and what our goal is.

To share a little about the conference, BDSM Writers Con is for writers and readers of dominance and submission. We began as a 3-day Workshop Intensive with a handful of authors and readers in 2012. We’ve since grown to 150 participants with a 4-day annual conference in New York City. On March 31 – April 3, 2016, we’ll be hosting our first west coast conference in Everett Washington. Don’t let our name fool you, BDSM Writers Con is for everyone interested in writing about OR exploring the world of dominance and submission. We offer over 30-hours of workshops and live demonstrations on various aspects of the BDSM lifestyle; plus we take you to a Dungeon to experience it first-hand.

I’m SO honored that TRUSSED is nominated, Doctor. But, when I first got the news, I’d never heard of the Golden Flogger Awards. Can you give us a little general background ?
As we all know, people tend to believe what they read. In the past few decades, BDSM has stepped out of the closet and into mainstream. Many more authors are writing about dominance and submission these days, unfortunately not always correctly. I created the Golden Flogger Awards to recognize those authors who are dedicated to their craft, conduct their research, and write great BDSM novels which provide a more realistic and respectful portrayal of the D/s lifestyle.

BDSM Writers Con held the first Golden Flogger Award ceremony during our conference in August 2015. We handed out our awards to ten authors whose books we felt represented some of the best BDSM novels published in 2014. De Tail Toys sponsored the awards and custom made actual mini golden floggers for us to give the winners and author Grey Dixon made the badges with our logo which were added to the floggers. We invited you to join us next year, August 18 in New York City for our second annual Golden Flogger Awards.

Where do the nominations come from and how many are there?
Anyone can nominate their favorite author’s BDSM book: authors, publishers and fans; we even nominate a few ourselves. I will stress that we seek an author’s best BDSM book not their entire list of published novels for the year.

Last year, we received 188 nominations for the 2015 Golden Flogger Awards. Out of the 188 nominations, thirty-three were disqualified because they did not meet the publication date criteria, the book was not based on a D/s relationship, or the book was not considered a consensual BDSM novel. By consensual I mean the storyline began with a non-consensual or forced submission which is not dominance and submission but a criminal act. Though captured fantasies may be erotic and fun to read, it is not a true portrayal of consensual BDSM.

Our 2016 Golden Flogger Award nominations are currently ongoing and close May 1. Thus far, we have received 150 nominations and have disqualified 22 books as they did not meet our criteria. At this point, there’s no doubt we’ll surpass last year’s nominations.

How do you whittle it down to just ONE?
That’s the hardest part of the Golden Flogger Awards, choosing just one book for each of our ten categories. There are so many wonderful books nominated it’s hard to decide. Our judges are made up of veteran authors, readers, and BDSM Experts. Each book is review by at least four judges who rate the book based on five questions. Each question can receive a rating of zero to five points. The highest score the book can receive is 25 points. In the case of non-fiction books, we address the impact the book will have on the community and the accuracy of the information it provides.

Our categories are: BDSM Light, BDSM Advanced, BDSM Dark Erotica, Ménage, Paranormal, LGBT, Anthology, Novella, Dominant women & submissive men, and Non-Fiction.

When is the final decision announced?
We will announce the Finalists on July 1, 2016. The winners will be announced during our Golden Flogger Award Ceremony August 18th in New York City.

Last but far from least, can you tell us a little about yourself, Doc? You have several BDSM related books published. DO tell!
I’m a Clinical Sexologist and Sex Therapist. I conduct workshops throughout the US, Latin America and Asia on sexuality, self-empowerment and Dominance and submission. I write non-fiction books to help individuals embrace and reclaim their sensual and sexual divinity. My book, BDSM The Naked Truth provides individuals with a foundation for understanding dominance and submission as well as valuable information on some of the more advanced D/s play.

I also wrote a quirky fun book called Domme Says that provides playful sayings which you can use for a daily smile or obtain the paperback which is a journal book. In celebration of our first west coast conference, on March 31, 2016, I’ll be publishing a Naughty Games & Activities books—because the wild child inside of us all deserves some fun time as well. You can pre-order the book now on Amazon or through our website. We will also be publishing our 2016 Anthology full of original works from some of our featured authors.

Check out Dr. Charley’s books – The Naked Truth & Domme Says…