Stephen Sims has the distinction of being the longest serving contributor to the modern Janus run. Working alongside Peter French, Vic Barnes and Paula Meadows he wrote the photo stories for the magazine and appeared as a model on many occasions. We’re delighted to be able to publish a free chapter from his new book ‘The Bottom Man’ in advance of it’s launch on Friday.
Stephen recently met with Jon Rayworth to talk his time working on the magazine and they also discussed the background to this new novel:
Jon Rayworth: After quite a break you’ve come back to writing about the subject of corporal punishment in your new novel ‘The Bottom Man’. Tell me a little bit about the novel and how you came to write it.
Stephen Sims: For a long time I’ve wanted to write a story about a decent and caring man who finds himself inexplicably drawn to the idea of erotic spanking, and of a young married woman with a responsible job who finds herself fascinated by the idea of being spanked. And neither knows why. How they eventually get together in the book is really an adult comedy of errors, and when they do the result isn’t at all what might be expected. But don’t expect an extended piece of highly-charged Janus-style fiction, this is an I hope insightful and realistic story of two people, puzzled by their rather ‘strange’ and socially unacceptable desires, who find each other through these desires, with many a slip-up and misunderstanding along the way. I’ve used my experiences of working in the business to give an authentic background, even to the reality of how those magazine photo shoots would sometimes go! Even the content of certain erotic correspondence in the novel is taken from life and not invented. Then there are the all-too-often misguided prejudices indignantly aired by those who don’t or won’t or are afraid to understand the adult need (because it is a need) by others to spank or be spanked in a mutually consensual way. As will by now be obvious, this scene has long fascinated me, which is why I couldn’t resist writing about it. And at last it’s ready! I hope readers will emote with, empathise and enjoy it.
JR: The novel also includes quite a few unpublished photos, in particular some lovely previously unseen images of Lucy Bailey and Christina Winchester (aka Rosaleen Young). What made you decide to include those?
SS: Well, they’re not intended to illustrate the ongoing action, but rather to reflect the atmosphere stimulated by the respective male and female heroes’ subconscious fantasies at certain points in the narrative. I think they add something and I hope readers will enjoy seeing them.
You can read the free chapter from ‘The Bottom Man’ by clicking on the highlighted link. Check back on Friday to see Jon’s full interview with Stephen and to download a copy of his novel.
