ISSUE 2 AUTHOR INTERVIEW: LAUREN TAYLOR BAK
When Pride and Prejudice meets Beauty and the Beast and you pepper in some hot furry smut and juicy relationship dynamics, you get “Pride and Protocol,” a sci-fi erotica story from NYGEL’s second issue. Check out our interview with author Lauren Taylor Bak about her inspirations and hopes for monsterfucker media!
NYGEL: What piece of media was your gateway into monsterfuckery?
LTB: Probably either Ursula or the Borg Queen. I'm a sucker for tentacles and glistening alien women. That, or any big fluffy guy—Bigfoot, Sully, Chewbacca, werewolves. That's the bi- in my bisexuality: slippery fish ladies and cuddly bears. Such polar opposites, ha ha.
NYGEL: What creature or character is your biggest 'hear me out'?
LTB: Most recently, Rocky from Project Hail Mary. I know he doesn't have a face and can't share an atmosphere with a human being, but there's something about watching that rock-spider-alien being an extremely competent engineer that's gotten my engine running. Plus he knits. Ever heard of competence porn? I am obsessed with this little guy. All I'm saying is I'd let him "fist my bump." We'd make it work.
NYGEL: Did anything in particular inspire you to write this story?
LTB: This story shares a setting with a non-porny story I published last year, and I'd love to keep exploring classic space opera universes in weird and wild ways. I feel like there's a lot of places that sci-fi won't boldly go, you know? As for influences, Pride and Prejudice is obviously a major allusion in the story, but there's also an aspect of Beauty and the Beast and also Thundercats on Blorxxx's side, and Sigourney Weaver's underwear scene in Alien (ooh là là!) inspired Ophelia Koch in a big way.
NYGEL: If you could add a monster romance to any existing story, what would you choose and why?
LTB: I'd love to reimagine several Shakespeare plays with a monster romance element. Romeo and Juliet is the obvious one, but there was apparently a production of Othello where he is portrayed as the only werewolf among a group of vampires, and I think that sort of thing just rocks. I also dig historical RPF/AUs like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so I'd be game to write something like that about Charles Darwin or somebody. Galileo gets abducted by sexy aliens? David Crockett x Bigfoot? Virginia Woolf becomes a mermaid? Say the word, I am locked in.
NYGEL: What would you like to see more of when it comes to weird and spicy fiction?
LTB: Beautiful, well-written prose. I just slurp up fiction that is intellectually stimulating and beautiful, as well as being hot. I like my porn brainy. I want lines that take my breath away and will haunt my dreams. Beauty can be found everywhere. "We deserve a soft epilogue, my love" is from Captain America Steve/Bucky fanfiction. "I will face God and walk backwards into hell" is a @dril Tweet. It is the mark of really good writing—even erotica, especially erotica—to have that one line that leaves you going "Ohhh." It's so deeply human.
If you like your alien erotica with four arms, two dicks, and a cocky charisma, you’ll devour “Pride and Protocol,” only in Issue 2!
Lauren Taylor Bak (rhymes with our favourite C-word) is an emerging author of erotic speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, weird) fiction. She has a PhD in English literature, though these days she mostly uses it to justify dubious references in dirty stories, such as those that recently appeared in Jungle Scandals, Tales of Galactic Pest Control, and Best Bi Erotica of the Year. Her fiction aims to represent the entire spectrum of human (and alien) gender and sexuality while being sex-positive, inclusive, body-positive, and downright filthy. Find out more at https://laurentaylorbak.wordpress.com/or follow her on Bluesky @laurentaylorbak.bsky.social.
