She is a profoundly intelligent, engaging and alluring woman who has created a world in which Femdom meets high finance that introduces you to two magnificent women you can’t help but ache to know more about. I had the privilege of interviewing Miss Jane Boon about her novel, Edge Play, some time ago, before having a chance to read it myself. Today’s return engagement allowed me to ask questions, and allowed the lovely Miss Boon to share inside information on the characters and story she has created. Honestly, I could never tire of being in her presence, feeling her power, her creativity and her knowledge of the world of BDSM. Thank you again for the privilege of this interview, Miss Boon. And for anyone reading this, yet to have purchased and read Edge Play, you really do need to check this amazing novel out. Edge Play can be purchased through Amazon.com
slaveboysmith: Today at DommeAddiction I’m in the presence of one of my favourite recent interview subjects, the beautiful novelist, Miss Jane Boon. Today’s informal discussion will be like a kinky book club meeting to discuss her amazing novel Edge Play. Welcome back Miss Boon, and it’s a pleasure to once again be in your presence.
Miss Jane Boon: I’m delighted to be here. Talking about Edge Play and its characters is something that brings me great pleasure as well…and I am all in for pleasure!
sbs: As we were chatting before this interview began, you asked me if I was #teamerika or #teamamy. Is that a thing now with those that have read Edge Play? Are readers taking sides?
MJB: Yes, they are taking sides. I mean, no one has drawn blood yet, but there seem to be people who prefer Amy and others who prefer Erika…And I get that. Erika is an elite professional at the top of her game who basically dominates Amy, as she persuades a civilian to get up to speed and take over her dungeon for a few months. Now, that’s a gutsy move – she must have sized Amy up and found her sufficient to the task – and then she had to get Amy up to speed. It takes incredible judgment and insight to identify an acceptable replacement that way.
Amy is more uncertain. She knows the limitations of her knowledge and expertise. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone by accident in the dungeon. She doesn’t want to experience personal or professional pain for her engagement with BDSM. Amy is more an every-woman, and that is relatable in a different way.
sbs: I will confess, Erika intrigued me because we don’t learn as much of her as I think we hungered for with her leaving to pursue her private engagement with a wealthy submissive. That said, she made one hell of an impression in the short time she was present. I will confess the scene where she demonstrates some of her favourite toys on Amy left me very excited to imagine where that might have gone!
MJB: So you’re a member of #TeamErika! Great. Yes, who wouldn’t want to experience her magic? She has a knack for bending the world to her needs, and her needs reflect a very decadent sensibility. She loves art. She enjoys the best wines. She has an amazing closet. She has exceptional friends, and she does intricate and outrageous things to them.
sbs: I could see myself either kneeling beside Amy as we both submitted to Erika as the Alpha, or serving them both as Amy learned from the best. Neither scenario could be described as a bad choice!
MJB: There are no bad options where Amy and Erika are concerned. One might send you to therapy for years, the other would probably drive you there.
sbs: For the sake of our imaginations, do you have a physical description in mind when you think of Erika? Of Amy?
MJB: When I imagined Erika, I had in mind a few women. I love the edginess of Bettie Page – the severe bangs, the very dark hair, the outrageous and amplified curves. I also had in mind a young Mary Boone (no relation!) who was a very effective and controversial art dealer in NYC, with her long black hair and immense personal style. Mix in some of the high glamor of Dita Von Teese, where every outfit is a personal statement, and you have Erika.
Amy had to bear some resemblance to Erika, so that there was a sense of that she could slide into Erika’s life, but there was no way she would be as intense or as outrageous a beauty. I was picturing someone tall and sporty, with long dark hair, a bit Elle MacPherson, perhaps. Amy’s the kind of woman who is so obsessed with her work that she forgets to go to the stylist until her hair is way too long. She’s so driven at the bank, that she doesn’t take very good care of herself. When she becomes unemployed, her skin clears up and she becomes more fit.
sbs: And jumps into Erika’s world rather seamlessly based on her initial supervised scenes with Erika’s regulars like Arnim and Peter. Just imagining Amy learning her way as Erika watches intently. Those scenes must have been fun to write!
MJB: Yes – Amy is an alien in a very peculiar world. But she’s very smart and very fast on her feet, so she figures it out. The scenes with Amy and Erika in the dungeon were a blast to conceive. I wanted to touch on each of their interests and priorities and then get wicked. The mindfuck scene based on a performance art piece by Marina Abramović was a blast to write. I know, it doesn’t sound like fun – how wicked can a BDSM scene be, when it’s based on something from the art world? Well, performance art is often an exercise in masochism and/or submission, and the piece I reference was incredibly kinky in its day, although it wasn’t thought of that way.
And I wanted Amy to have the opportunity to take an executive to task for being insufficiently pro women. I wanted her to really get into chastising a client for his shoddy professional performance, because this was something important to Amy, but also, it enabled her to witness how she might use her new skill set for good. Amy does take on the patriarchy in the novel, and she gives it a proper spanking.
sbs: That she does. Was I the only one anticipating a dungeon revenge scene with her former Boss, who backstabbed her, or was it always the plan to have her seek financial revenge upon him?
MJB: So, as I was thinking through the rules that would guide my dungeon scenes, it’s important to recognize my underlying philosophy about Erika’s dungeon: The dungeon is for decent people. It’s a place where fundamentally good people explore intimate and outrageous things. Once I decided that the dungeon was for good people, it was easy to say that Amy’s boss had no business being there. I considered a showdown, in the dungeon, between Jon and Amy, but he didn’t measure up. Jon was not good enough to gain access to such a privileged space.
Once I had made that decision, I had to take Jon down in some other way. And in a “live by the sword, die by the sword” philosophy, it would be his cock that does him in, and a pair of women who would bring his sleaze to light.
sbs: I like that. It felt like a dungeon take down was coming, but his lack of worthiness for entering into the world Erika created, and Amy maintained, makes a lot of sense. He certainly is hurt where it counts most, his wallet. We haven’t spoken of one of the other main characters, Dan, as yet. What would you say about his role in the story and his impact on Amy’s learning as a new Domme?
MJB: Dan represents temptation. In many ways, he’s all the things the old Amy is drawn to, in particular his wealth and business acumen. But he’s a client of Erika’s, with a very particular and peculiar predilection for bondage. It needs to be tight. He needs to be in the dark. He wants to talk.
Dan is also a billionaire who cares about Amy, and he demonstrates that affection at a very key moment and they become lovers. They have a great deal in common, and there’s a clear attraction on multiple levels beyond the sexual, but Amy worries that he views her first as a bondage-delivery device, and then as a woman, but she falls for him all the same.
Dan offered a way to explore the complications faced by sex workers in their personal, romantic lives. And he also offered a way to explore the way extreme wealth can be distorting, from the private jets to the expensive baubles. A guy like Dan can create a reality distortion field that just draws a girl like Amy in, even as she’s aware of the magic he’s wielding.
sbs: I found Dan’s character, and his interactions with Amy right from the outset, humanizing for both Amy and the Femdom exchanges they shared. Was that intended? There was something uniquely different in how Amy was, and responded, when she was in session with Dan than with others, even before she fell in love with him.
MJB: Well, both Amy and Dan are motivated by similar things. They’re serious, thoughtful people who are deeply curious about the world. They both love business and they are engaged by the puzzle of making deals work. And if that sounds narrow, that’s intentional. I wanted them to seem like peas in a pod from the start, as Amy tried to figure out what makes Dan tick…first, because it’s her job, but second, because she finds him fascinating.
I’d also like to point out that Amy did not know Dan was a billionaire at first. She only knew he was different and that he was special.
sbs: Now that you’ve created this intriguing world full of characters we’ve learned something about, but are still left fascinated and curious about what else they may be hiding from us, what comes next? Might you explore continuing this story, or would you start over with a new cast of characters and situation?
MJB: I’m a bit torn about this world and these characters. To be honest, I’ve fallen in love with them and I’d love to inhabit their lives some more. Perhaps you and your readers can help. I have two ideas I’m considering: 1) Flesh out Erika’s backstory. Who is this woman and how did she become this BDSM powerhouse? 2) Amy and Dan will be working next to one another, bringing Corda to fruition. Isn’t that a recipe for intrigue? Dan now realizes that he loves her. Maybe he’s ready for more? Which do you prefer?
sbs: Well, being on #teamerika I have to say I would LOVE to know more about her. I’d love to read about her in session, in complete control of a slave and learn more about her as a Domme. Both ideas are intriguing, why limit yourself to just one? Perhaps there are two more books to come 😉
MJB: Anything is possible! I enjoyed the experience of writing Edge Play, and the feedback from the men and women who’ve read the book has been so encouraging and affirming. If/when a second book happens, you will be one of the first to know!
sbs: I’m sure I won’t be the only one anticipating where you take us next, Miss Boon. Thank you again for the pleasure of interviewing you. Is there anything you would like to ask me before we wrap this interview?
MJB: If Erika wanted to use her tawse on you, like she did on Amy’s ass, would your answer be an enthusiastic “yes” or a nervous “yes”?
sbs: Nervous only because I’m always a little nervous in the presence of a beautiful dominant Alpha like her. But a definite yes. I don’t get the sense many can say no to Erika anyways 🙂
MJB: Nervousness seems very sensible. It’s a tawse, after all. And truly, it never occurred to me that you’d say “no.”
sbs: Something tells me Erika or Amy could easily persuade me to be a very good boy and obey their every command.
MJB: I believe you are correct. They are very intuitive and commanding women who know how to elicit the respect they deserve.
sbs: As do you, Miss Boon. Thank you again for the privilege of this audience. Any final words for our readers?
MJB: What I adore about your readers is that they are constantly seeking ways to honor and respect the talents of women. I can’t tell you how delighted I get when I learn a submissive gentleman has a copy of Edge Play on his nightstand or in his iPad, because our time is so scarce and precious and he’s chosen to share it with my work and to inhabit a world that I created.
Mistress Jane – Leather & Latex
