
Welcome to the 5 Minutes Series. Each week, I’ll ask five questions of some of my favorite authors, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals. This week I’m talking with Karelia Stetz-Waters, author of several excellent books including the recently released Behind the Scenes.

You are co-writing a book with your wife! How is that going, and can you tell me anything about it?
Fay and I always wanted to write a book together. We imagined a non-fiction book on relationships (we’ve got so much good advice if people would only listen 😁 ) but we don’t have a platform as counselors or psychologists. Then we realized we could fulfill our dream of sharing tips for healthy relationships by writing romance together.
Right now, we’re finishing revisions on a book called Second Night Stand (out in 2024). It’s about a ballerina and a burlesque performer who fall in love on a reality TV show. It’s fabulous. Y’all will love it.
Process-wise, Fay and I decide on the plot, main characters, scene structure, chronology, pacing, and emotional beats together. She does all the research, develops the minor characters, and writes some of the dialogue. I do most of the drafting, leaving requests for her to fill in wherever I need help.
She’s better at brainstorming and thinking outside the box than I am. I’m incredibly disciplined and organized.
Emotionally, it’s wonderful. I love writing, but it stresses me out too. I feel much more relaxed working with her. And Fay gets to escape from the emotionally taxing work as a civil rights attorney. We both love creating a world where everything works out and good things happen to good people.

You wrote a book (Satisfaction Guaranteed) that takes place in a sex toy shop. What was the inspiration for that book and how much research went into it?

My dog had chewed up one of our vibrators so I went to my favorite sex toy store in Portland, She Bop (they ship if you’re not in the area 😉). But before going to the shop, I’d picked up a SCOBI from a friend. A SCOBI is the wad of mucus you use to start kombucha. It’s like a sourdough starter except a hundred times more disgusting. So I had my mucus in a jar in one hand while I chatted with the clerk at She Bop about sex toys our dogs had eaten. I thought, This is so Portland, I have to write about it.
But what started as a funny setting led me to research that showed me how little education Americans get about the clitoris and the vulva. Medical education shortchanges the clitoris and vulva. Sex education classes do too. And all around us we get messages about how women should climax by penetration when, in fact, that’s not a reliable route to orgasm for the majority of people with clitorises.
Writing Satisfaction Guaranteed, made me passionate about writing Sapphic romances that showcase the beauty and complexity of the vulva and clitoris. Also I’m on a quest to buy as many clitoris themed items as I can and make a catalog of romances that use the word “vulva” so if you have suggestions, send them my way.
What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
I love hearing from readers who say my work has touched them. I’ve received emails from women who said they had thought they were sexually broken until they read Satisfaction Guaranteed. If I can help one person feel great about their sexuality and sexual experience, it’s all worth it.

If you could instantly change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I didn’t compare myself to other writers. If I see that another writer has gotten more reviews than I have or has more followers or has won an award, part of me feels like I’ve failed. It’s not so much jealousy as an inner voice that says If you’d worked harder and been more strategic, that would have been you.
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?
Write every day.
Karelia can be found on the web here and if you sign up for her mailing list here, you get a free novella!