Dear Reader,

Swap wasn't my idea.

Seriously. I had pitched quite a few erotica ideas to my editor for the next Heat book in my contract, but none of them worked. There must have been something in those pitches that triggered an idea for my editor, because out of the blue I received a call from my agent. It went something like this:

"They want you to write about swapping."

Dead silence. I squinted and slowly mouthed the word. S-w-a-p-p-i-n-g?

"And," my agent continued, "they want a romantic, happy ending."

"They want WHAT?" Yeah, that snapped me right out of my stupor. How can I write about a couple or two swapping partners and get them to a romantic ending?

"Can you do that?" my agent asked.

Can I do that? You've got to be kidding! I've never written a book like that before. Sure, I've written scenes ranging from a submissive enjoying a sex act in a bondage swing to a woman with a Santa fetish trolling the malls in December. But swapping? That might mean ménage. Group sex. The only way I'm going to get a romantic, happy ending out of that is if I—

And then the light bulb went off. I suddenly had an inkling of how I could write the story. But could I really do it? "Uh… sure?"

Once the call ended I stared at the phone. What did I just get myself into? I asked myself that question throughout the months while I wrote Swap. The deeper I got into the story, the more I realized these characters had extreme sexual fantasies and I shouldn't hold back. I was scared when I turned in the manuscript. I didn't know if I was completely off the mark. I couldn't tell if I went too far or not far enough.

I was relieved when my editor suggested minor revisions. Whew! But I wasn't out of the woods yet. I wasn't sure how the reader would receive it. For every reviewer who thought the book had too much sex, there was another reviewer who considered Swap a character-driven tale about forbidden fantasies. If one reviewer loved the book because I pushed sexual boundaries, another would suggest the language could have been more graphic.

Quite honestly, Swap isn't for everyone. I could have played it safe. I could have given it a politically-correct twist and made it easier on myself. I'm glad I didn't. With a book like Swap, I'm already making a promise to the reader and I went all-out to fulfill it. The book is now available in stores and my hope is that Swap will satisfy the erotica reader.

Jenesi Ash