An Interview with author Jason A. Andresen
The following an a slightly editied interview conducted by telephone in April, 2000 --DP
Interviewer: Other than the obvious -- corporal punishment with a dominant and submissive participant -- is there an over-arching theme to your stories?
Jason Andresen: Sure. At least I hope so. With the exception of "Kenny Pays His Debt to Society" and the "Provost Ulm" series, I try to depict the bonding between spanker and spankee. It's a wonderful thing -- this bonding -- like between father and son, that spanking and paddling causes. That's what most of my stories are about. I hope that that comes through.
Int: You receive a lot of mail concerning your stories?
J. A.: I don't know what you consider 'a lot'. I get more mail than I expect. It's quite nice, actually.
Int: It's all positive mail?
J. A.: Yes. I suppose those who don't like my stories or find something offensive...well these people just don't read my stuff. They don't take the time and effort to write me. I wouldn't.
Int: Do you get any constructive criticism?
J. A.: No. Not really. Some story ideas but not many of those, I guess.
Int: Has one story received more mail than others?
J. A.: Hmmm...."Kenny Pays His Debt to Society" I think got more mail than most of the others. Some stories get no mail at all. But 'Kenny" got the most. I still get mail about that story.
Int: Any idea why 'Kenny' gets the most mail?
J. A.: Well it doesn't get a whole lot more than, say, "Gramps Paddle" or "The Order" is getting. But it seems to be popular.
Int: Ideas why?
J. A. Well Kenny was a 'longish' serial -- I think it was in twelve parts. But I think a lot of readers like stories about prisons or reformatories...that kind of thing. It give an author a chance to be rather brutal as far as punishments go. That kind of thing. "Kenny' had a lot of different "hooks".
Int: Hooks?
J. A.: Yeah. You know, "themes". Like reformatory life. Rape in the shower room, ritual punishments from the guards, some mild scat stuff, and a surprise ending. There was a definite "hero" -- Kenny -- and a real villain --- Guard Ashton --- and of course Doc...ahhh...
Int: Doc Vecchio??
J. A.: Right. I forgot his name. Sorry. Anyway, there was a lot of brutal paddling and switching, authority figures with a sadistic streak. A lot of guys like this kind of thing. I do -- or I wouldn't put it in my stories. I write about stuff that I like mainly. Why write otherwise?
Int: Would you say that you write for yourself?
J. A.: _f_u_c_k_ yes! No question. I mean this stuff is sheer pornography. I have no pretensions about it not being porn. I mean guys getting their butt paddled and switched, having their asshole played with, male-male rape? My stories are the kind of stories I -- myself -- would be looking for to read. So, yeah, I write for myself. Even the non-violent, the tamer stuff like "Party Spank" is the kind of story I like to read.
Int: Your stories reflect your own fantasies?
J. A.: Sure. They give me a chance to 'live-out' my spanking and paddling fantasies.
Int: Do you have a sadistic or masochistic side?
J. A.: Sadistic. Like I said, my stories represent my fantasies. Read my stories and you'll see what I'm "into" as far as the spanking scene goes. I'm sadistic underneath.
Int: 'Underneath'?
J. A. Yeah. In my "secret life". The life of my fantasies. Thank god for fantasies. We all have them, I'm told. For me, my fantasies -- my writing -- give me a chance to vent my "secret" desires. That's a hell of a lot better than acting on them. That's the function of pornography as far as I'm concerned. 'Kenny' is a good example.
Int: But 'Kenny' is something of an exception for you. Most of your other stories don't involve sadistic punishment -- prisons, guards, rape...
J. A.: "The Order" sure does -- it has so far, anyway and I expect there will be more violence -- _s_e_x_ual violence -- in future chapters. But, you're right, most of my stories don't invole violence of the 'Kenny' nature. Of course, spanking and paddling and switching and whatever... these represent vilonce, I guess. A dad paddling his son is violent. Just ask all of those Politically Correct assholes who say that spanking is "child abuse". That's their whole argument.
Int: You believe in corporal punishment? At home and in the schools?
J. A.: Absolutely. Spanking for young children -- say up to the age of ten or 12. Paddling after that. I mean, look, spanking and paddling has gone on for hundreds of years. It's -- in my opinion -- a valid way to punish and discipline a kid. Then all of a sudden, in the 70s and 80s, a bunch of child psychologist and the like decide that it's "vilont" and abusive. That's pure bull_s_h_i_t_. It can be, of course, but that has always been true. Don't get me started on this subject....
Int: Your were spanked?
J. A. As a kid? Sure. Me and my three brothers. Spanked, then paddled. We deserved it and we knew it. We knew when we _f_u_c_k_ed-up. We expected to be physically punished. Sure got our attention, I can tell you. I didn't look forward to being paddled, of course, but when it happened I knew I deserved it. It hurt for an hour or so but it served a good purpose. I didn't grow up hating my father. I loved him until the day he died. I respected him. We were close. For every time I was paddled there were a thousand times that I had a good time with my dad. And I'll tell you something, even when my dad paddled me, I was close to him -- physically and emotionally. When he spanked me, I lay on his lap and he hugged me after -- always. He never "beat" me. I don't have scars on my butt. And I'll tell you something else: even when I got paddled at, say, 16 or 17 years old, I cried. Not because it hurt that much, it didn't, but because I was near my dad in a special relationship. Bending over a chair with you butt exposed and your dad standing there is a "bonding" experience, as they say these days. I cried out of shame -- shame that I had disappointed my dad to the extent that he needed to paddle me. I cried most at the end when he would hold me. That proves that the tears were not from the sting but from the closeness to my dad. Boys don't get much of a chance to express themselves in that way. Hell, for some boys the only time that they have any intimate physical and emotional contact with their dad is during and after a spanking or paddling. Give me a break. Sure I got spanked and -- later -- paddled but I don't remember each and every time in great detail. I just remember it happening. I mean, you can't sit down and methodically and rationally reason with a six year old -- or a sixteen year old. The paddle get their attention and forces them to pay a price for bad behavior.
Int: How about school?
J. A. Ha! Fat chance these days -- except maybe in private schools where the parents condone and agree to spanking or paddling up front. But in public school? Forget it. Too bad. I got paddled in junior high and high school. Not a lot but several times. You know, five whacks across the butt with my pants up, bent over, hands on knees in the principal's office. We used to line up -- ten or so at a time. Ha! I remember the Assistant Principal knew how to do it right. He'd give each guy one whack, go to the next guy in line, give him his first whack and down the line. Then he'd start with the first guy with his second whack and down the line again. That way the smacks were spaced-out and you had to stay bent over waiting until everybody got their second or third or fourth whacks before you got your next one. Much more anticipation. The Principal just gave each guy five quick whacks. The assistant Principal really knew about paddling. His one-at-a-time technique was much more effective, if you know what I mean. I should work that into a story -- "How to draw out the pain and embarrassment of paddling a group of high school students!".
Int: Some of your stories involve 'scat'.
J. A. A lot do, yes. In fact, stories like "I'm Sorry, Daddy" are centered on "scat". But not really scat the way most people think. I mean there is _s_h_i_t_ting involved but purely as a means of humiliation. Not the scat you see a lot of where the _s_h_i_t_ is smeared on people of is eaten and stuff like that. I'm not into scat to that extent. The scat in my stories is very, very, tame. It's just that _s_h_i_t_ting is a extreme form of humiliation and I use it that way. I'm not interested in "_s_h_i_t_" per se, just the act of being made to _s_h_i_t_ in front of somebody as a means of punishment. There is a _s_h_i_t_ting scene in "The Order" where Paul is made to _s_h_i_t_ slowly as the Ordinate and Jake watch. It's meant to teach Paul humility. At least that's what he's told by Ordinate Selig.
Int: 'Kenny' has a _s_h_i_t_ting scene as well.
J. A.: Yeah. Kenny has to _s_h_i_t_ with Ashton watching. Very embarrassing for Kenny. But that's what Ashton wanted, isn't it -- to embarrass and humiliate his inmates. Again, no big thing as far as I'm concerned. I use the act of defecation as a means of punishment. The product of this act -- the _s_h_i_t_ -- is of no interest to me and I don't make it important in my stories. I think "I'm Sorry, Daddy" uses a _s_h_i_t_ scene most effectively. People who are turned off by _s_h_i_t_ting should avoid this story since that's its main focus.
Int: What inspired your current serial -- "The Order"?
J. A. I don't know. Maybe some film I saw once, some TV show -- although I don't watch much TV. TV in the U. S. pretty much sucks. I think -- now that I think about it -- that one or two episodes of the BBC show "Cafe" may have got me thinking about monastic life. It's a great setting for spanking and gay _s_e_x_. I don't know how realistic it is but I've received a lot of mail from readers saying that _s_e_x_ inside the monasteries is a fact of life even today -- or so I'm told.
Int: In "The Order" it seems that the _s_e_x_ between Paul and Jake is more than just casual. It's the reason for their being together.
J. A. Right. That's the underlying premise of "The Order" I guess. Priests or monks or whatever have to be celibate. So...in The Order young priest-to-be -- Novices -- are "taught" to satisfy their _s_e_x_ual drives with other members of The Order. They may have to swear celibacy, but that don't have to become a_s_e_x_ual --- they can't be a_s_e_x_ual since they're human. So they learn to satisfy their _s_e_x_ual desires within The Order. It's a great premise, although I don't think you can "teach" someone to be homo_s_e_x_ual. But that's a technicality! You have to buy into the premise that young Novices learn to be quite happy with members of their own _s_e_x_. The Mentors in "The Order" teach the "boy priests" to go several steps beyond masturbation.
Int: But there is, of course, a lot of corporal punishment in "The Order".
J. A. Of course. About an equal mixture of corporal punishment and gay _s_e_x_ -- with a little sadistic torture thrown in for fun. Ha!
Int: The relationship between Mentor and Novice -- between Jake and Paul is more than _s_e_x_ual though.
J. A.: I hope so. I mean, that's what I intend. I think the relationship that grows between Paul and Jake is...well, "tender" and even loving. Jake teaches Paul more than how to take a severe spanking or how to give a good blow job. In many ways, Jake is the father figure that Paul has never had. Paul loves Jake despite the pain Jake inflicts upon him -- and the humiliation.
Int: There is some sadism in "The Order" too.
J. A.: You bet. The Novices are intentionally tortured -- not severely -- but tortured. I mean the opening chapter is mostly torture of Paul. And even Jake gets some torture from one of his superiors -- the anal torture he goes through.
Int: Some chapters of "The Order" don't have any spanking or paddling in them at all.
J. A.: True. Some chapters -- or one or two -- are mainly developing the bond and relationship between Paul and Jake.
Int: Do you see yourself as either Paul or Jake or perhaps Ordinate Selig?
J. A.: Oh, I'm Jake. Pure and simple. I'd love to live the part of Jake in real life. Jake is kind, wise, compassionate and yet he loves spanking and _f_u_c_k_ing Paul. What a job! It's all fantasy. Ordinate Selig is a kook, pure and simple. A little unbalanced, but very powerful. Sadistic, yet often kind. I like Selig's character. I enjoy writing the scenes with Selig.
Int: Do you know what direction "The Order" is going? Do you have it mapped out?
J. A.: No way. That's part of the fun in writing something like "The Order" or "Provost Ulm" or "Uncle Dan and Billy", I have no idea how the story is going to unfold. Ideas just come to me as I write. It's amazing sometimes how I can look back at a chapter and wonder how the hell the story took a certain direction.
Int: You don't have control of your characters?
J. A.: Sometimes I really don't. Honest. Or the plot either. Sometimes plot twists just "happen". Sometimes I'll think of a plot development but I can't use it because it would mean rewriting and earlier chapter and that chapter has alresady been published! Oops, too late. _d_a_m_n_! On a long serial like "The Order" or "Kenny.." it can be a problem. I guess I should outline the entire story and plot line before writing but I hate outlining and besides, that would take the fun out of writing.
Int: Do people comment on your style?
J. A.: People tell me that they like the dialog of my characters, that's it's realistic or something like that. One reader told me that he liked "Uncle Dan and Billy" because Karl and Billy taked just like kids their age would. You know, the words and phrases, I guess. I try -- sometimes without knowing it -- to make the words of my characters realistic, like they were in the room or like we were overhearing them. That kind of thing.
Int: The "Provost Ulm" series isn't finished is it?
J. A.: No. I don't know if it ever will be. That happens a lot, I'm sorry to say. 'Ulm' is actually a re-write of a story I wrote ten or so years ago. It's very sadistic, I guess. I've always wanted to write something like it, though. Ulm is a very sadistic person and doesn't hide it. The boys he tortures with his switches have it coming though. Public switching was not uncommon at one time. I enjoy writing this kind of story but I don't feel in the mood very often. It may be a while before we find out what Ulm has in store for his unfortunate victims next. 'Ulm' caused a lot of mail come to think of it. People as sadistic as I am, I guess.
Int: Do you have a favorite story?
J. A.: Hmmmm....good question...No, I can't say a favorite. "Camp Capers" was fun to write but so were some others. I really enjoy writing "The Order". "Camp Capers" might be my favorite but not because it's extra hot or anything. "Uncle Dan and Billy" is dear to my heart because it has some biographical stuff in it but so does "Party Spank".
Int: Do you ever read your stories after you publish them?
J. A.: Hmmmm...ahhh...Sometimes. I have to admit it. And sometimes I get an erection reading my own stuff. I used to think that that was terrible but, really, if I'm not turned on by my own stuff, I can't expect others to be turned on. I sometimes get mail saying something like "I was hard the whole time I was reading and I took care of it when I finished" -- I'm paraphrasing here. But really, that, to me, is the supreme compliment.
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