“The other reason I didn't want to fictionalize it is because one of the main points of publishing a memoir in nonfiction was that I wanted to write about what had been a very lonely experience. The books that most saved my life as a kid were the ones that articulated lonely experiences that I had thought were mine alone.” WantWritingBookReasonKidsWantedMinesLonelySavedMemoirNonfictionPublishing Author:Melissa Febos
“Me writing the book and the subsequent interactions that we had were actually the cap on that experience. We were still in this weird purgatory about it when I published the book. When I gave them the galleys and what ensued after that, then I understood a lot more about our relationships and what the experience meant to them. I'd never wanted to know what they thought about it at all.” KnowsWritingStillsBookWantedUnderstoodInteractionOur RelationshipCapsPurgatory Author:Melissa Febos
“I made a conscious decision when I was writing that book to depict in real time how I treated it, and how I thought about it, and how I portrayed it to other people, because I wanted the story to be one of change from that to a more honest appraisal, a more accepting appraisal of myself and other people in that world.” PeopleWorldWritingMadeBookRealStoriesWantedDecisionAcceptingHonestConsciousTreatedAppraisal Author:Melissa Febos
“I always wished I could go to confession. I was so full of things I couldn't name and had an instinct to hide. I felt burdened by the loneliness of my interior life. I wanted some container that I could empty myself into, some ear that would never be shocked, even if it offered me some kind of penance.” IfsKindWantedNamesFeltLonelinessEmptyEarsInstinctConfessionShockedInteriorsContainersPenance Author:Melissa Febos
“Early in my career as a domme, I both admired and feared becoming one of those career dommes. I saw, in myself, and in some other women in that industry, the way that sex work could eclipse the other parts of your personality, the way that I started to feel as if I wasn't qualified to do anything else. I had always known that I wanted to be a writer, and I stopped writing for a time while I was domming; the experience subsumed my other interests, and it scared me. Now, however, I have nothing but admiration for them.” IfsWayFeelsWritingWantedSexInterestKnownCareersSawsPersonalityIndustryBecomingScaredAdmirationQualifiedEclipseSex WorkBecoming One Author:Melissa Febos
