Merge “The Big Short” & “50 Shades” by way of “Billions,” but give the women the whips and make the men submit, and you get my new novel “EDGE PLAY.”
She’s beautiful, brilliant and loves to explore the world of Female Domination. Today’s Feature Interview with author Jane Boon is a first of it’s kind for this interviewer and for the website. It was such a pleasure to sit down and interview a woman with such an impressive academic background and some extraordinary life experiences. Fall under her spell, buy her book, and explore her fantasy world where life imitates art.
Spectacular @VictoriaRage reading the prologue of EDGE PLAY in her Seattle dungeon, while a gimp listens behind her
slaveboysmith: She is the author of an extraordinary book exploring BDSM fantasy play in which women wield whips and Wall Street execs submit. Joining me at DommeAddiction today is the woman behind “Edge Play”, the beautiful and talented Jane Boon. Welcome to DA and thank you for the chance to chat about your book, your views on Femdom and, in general, to share your story.
Jane Boon: Thanks! It’s such a treat to be one of the women you’ve interviewed. There are so many ladies in your archives whose work and style I admire. I think my book’s alpha pro Domme character, Erika Grieg, would want to take most of them out for drinks and to talk shop. And although the book is fiction, it was inspired by real events and real people. I tried to get the details of the 2008 financial crisis as accurately portrayed as the bondage.
sbs: Well by all accounts you’ve done an exceptional job in the details for both areas. Can you share a little of what it was that drew you to writing about Femdom?
JB: Femdom seemed like a rich area to investigate. Frankly, I’m surprised it isn’t written about more often, because it is so timely and so juicy. #MeToo has mobilized women in the workplace to call out sleazy guys and to push for greater rewards. Unfortunately, there remains so much inequality at home — just look at average hours of housework undertaken by men and by women. The notion of a woman snapping her fingers, taking charge and getting shit done is incredibly powerful. But on the flip side, the man who’s strong enough to cede that power is very compelling to me, too. I’ve been fascinated by the BDSM scene since I was a 20-something having lots of fun, and over the years I’ve come to know a few Dominatrixes. These women always impressed me because they knew how to articulate their desires and express their limits. They were willing to ask for and then take what they wanted, and the best also knew how to say “no.” There’s much to embrace in that kind of forthrightness. In EDGE PLAY, my accidental Dominatrix, learns more about power from her time in the dungeon dominating men than she did at Harvard Business School.
sbs: Have you ever had any experience on either side of the Femdom dynamic, beyond conversation with a Dominatrix, I mean? And if not, is it something you have ever considered?
JB: You can see an example for yourself. I portrayed a Dominatrix in the first season of the FOX show, Gotham (“The Scarecrow” episode). Let me tell you, you need to be pretty confident to be filmed in a corset, thigh-high stockings and garters. For several hours, I got to manhandle “Judge Turnbull,” with my ass hanging out the whole time. I was so persuasive on set, the director gave me a line. If you have an eagle-eye, you can spot me standing by the bar at a BDSM club in the first season of Showtime’s Billions. I had a few memorable moments with Paul Giamatti in that episode, unfortunately they were cut.
sbs: I remember that episode, and taking another look, I remember wishing I knew what you might have done to Judge Turnbull to have him looking so broken when he comes to the door before you drag him back for his photo op! And if I may say, you looked remarkable in your corset, stockings and garters! So to be this convincing on screen, and to write Femdom so well, must you have had some experience yourself as a Dominatrix?
JB: Let’s just say I had a lot of fun in my twenties. I won’t add any more as much to protect the guilty as to protect the innocent 😉
sbs: I’m sure you had lots of fun, as did those who were fortunate enough to know you then. You mentioned stockings, garters and a corset in the scene for Gotham that you were in. Do you enjoy fetishwear yourself, Miss Boon?
JB: Yes! When I was researching the book, I attended many fetish events as I tried to decide if my characters should undertake any public play. There were two instances that stood out. I visited Cris et Chuchotements, the preeminent Parisian fetish club. I wore a very short, tight black dress and fishnet hose for one of their “Soirées Dominas.” But the better event, fashion-wise, was the Vancouver Fetish Weekend two years ago. I went out and bought a latex dress for the big Fetish Ball, and had a spectacular night watching scenes, taking in the atmosphere, and then dancing the night away with beautiful young men, half my age. The way that latex accentuates curves more than makes up for its need for frequent polishing.
sbs: Latex may be our greatest invention, and when accentuating the right curves…it can be devastating. I was looking at your website and you had a very impressive academic and work resume prior to exploring the world of Femdom and kink in general. What led you to acting roles as a Dominatrix, researching fetish parties and writing a sizzling hot book about Female Domination?
JB: An old girlfriend of mine was the inspiration for the Erika character, and her experiences fascinated me. Clearly, I’d been mulling over the Dominatrix archetype for many years, and trying the clothes on for size. EDGE PLAY let me inhabit that world, and gave me an excuse to buy crazy outfits and attend outrageous events. When you’re writing a novel, you can get away with doing all sorts of things under the guise of “research.”
sbs: Research can be a tremendous amount of fun, indeed. I plan to “research” your new book as soon as it’s available in paperback for perhaps a follow up discussion if it pleases you. For those, like me, excited to explore the world you’ve created in Edge Play, what can you tell us about Erika…about her style as a Dominatrix…her favourite fetishes…her desires?
JB: Erika is an epicure. She is turned on by the best, and she loves being surrounded by beautiful things. Erika also comes to kink from a background in the arts. By day, she runs an art gallery featuring the perviest of contemporary artists. By night, she works as a Dominatrix in her own dungeon, which is as refined and as exquisite as her gallery. She even has her submissive clients buy art from her, and if they’re not ambitious enough in their taste, she will humiliate them for it. When Erika is teaching Amy, there’s one scene they do together with a client that is based on a performance art piece by Marina Abramović. It’s one of Marina’s most famous works, where she lay in the middle of a gallery with a table laid out with 72 different objects. Some of the objects were pleasurable, and some could harm her. She invited the audience members to use them as they wished. By the end of the performance, she had been stripped and cut. When I first read about this, I thought it was the kinkiest thing ever. For Abramović to be so passive in a room filled with strangers and things that could hurt her had to be one of the most intense BDSM scenes I’d ever read about, even if it wasn’t called that in the art press. With a little modification, it would be an over the top mindfuck scene for Erika, who would adore corrupting such an important work of art with a client and for her own amusement.
sbs: That sounds incredibly erotic. Just imagining what must have gone through her mind, and the impression that made on all in attendance. As I understand it, Edge Play is available electronically at this point, and will be soon available in paperback. Can you share a little of the reaction you’ve seen so far to your writing?
JB: Well, people have already begun to ask me how much of me is Amy or Erika. Why don’t they ask me how much of me is Dan, Michael or Rafa? That’s the really delicious part about writing a novel, you get to inhabit your characters. So, there’s a little bit of me in all of them, including the assholes. I must say, however, it was an exquisite pleasure imagining the life of an elite Dominatrix at the top of her game. Erika is decadent, outrageous, and sexy as hell. She wants to give a demo in the dungeon? She summons a man and then he waits until he’s needed. She wants to go to Geneva to get a valuable painting but she doesn’t want to lose her clients? She summons Amy and then persuades her to take over. Erika gets the job done with style and class. And then it was fun picturing Amy, Erika’s accidental substitute, as she figured out how to navigate this new world, picking up skills and confidence along the way.
But you know, it was also exciting trying to get into the heads of the submissive men. Who are these guys? I knew some, and they were all accomplished, savvy men who just happened to express their sexuality in this particular way. My background is in engineering — I have a Ph.D. — so I’ve spent much of my professional life battling against stereotypes about what an engineer looks and sounds like. As a result, I find cultural scripts, like the one we grew up with where men are in one box with one set of expectations and women are in another box, to be very confining. The people who are willing to subvert these scripts are doing something brave. To know you are wired for something that’s at odds with societal expectations — like being a guy who wants to submit to women — is gutsy. To pursue it, is even more so. I believe readers are responding to these unexpected portrayals.
sbs: I have to say with every answer you whet my appetite even more to read your book, and to watch your scene in Gotham again. You do seem to naturally take to the role and it’s intriguing to imagine you embedding elements of your own perspective to each character. Is this the beginning of a journey for you, with more to come, or will you explore other facets of what intrigues you next? You don’t strike me as a woman who would rest on her laurels and not continue to push the envelope.
JB: Absolutely. I’m already toying with a sequel. The Wall Street milieu is so rich and complicated, that I love contrasting the cultures of high finance and BDSM. On the surface, you’d think Wall Street was buttoned down and proper, but I lived next to it for years, and it can be boisterous and outrageous. The tales of bankers behaving badly were frequent topics at dinner because my husband is a journalist who’s spent most of his career covering business and finance. I joke that our pillow talk is pretty shocking, because we both find finance scandals about collateralized debt obligations riveting. Now, don’t worry. There will be plenty of pervy stuff, too. The switch has flipped in my protagonist Amy. She understands what is possible if, and when, she cracks the whip.
sbs: Well I’m sure after reading your first book, our readers will be thirsty to know more of Amy’s journey into BDSM. The book is called Edge Play and it has been my great privilege to interview the author, the beautiful and talented Miss Jane Boon today. How can readers purchase your book Miss Boon?
JB: Here’s where you can find it on Amazon, or if you prefer you can go with Indie. Thank you so much for the interview. I hope your readers will enjoy the book, and if they do, I hope they’ll let me know! My website, has additional contact information.
sbs: You are a remarkable woman Miss Boon, and it was such a pleasure to interview you and talk about Femdom and your new book. Any final words for our readers who, I’m sure, are eager to read Edge Play?
JB: Thanks again, this has been fun. I hope we can continue the conversation once you’ve read the book.
