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| Raymond Florio wants you to know he's more than a writer of erotic fiction |
Raymond Florio spent 13 years on the Ford assembly line reading "Street Lit" novels -- stories of violent outbursts and hardcore porno-style sexual encounters -- during his shift. The books were a great way to pass the time between bolting together Fiestas, but like so many authors before him, Florio eventually told himself, "Hell, I can write better than this." So when the opportunity came in 2006, he took a buyout and started scribbling.
It took a lot of writing, a lawsuit and an appearance on
Judge Joe Brown, but Florio's debut novel,
Sex Junkie is finally out this week.
Most Street Lit writers draw from their own lives. Quentin Carter used his time in prison on a drug charge to write bestsellers about Kansas City's criminal world (see the June 2009 feature story, "Story of My Life") and became one of the most successful Street Lit authors in the country. Florio did the same, except he used his experience as a lover man.
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Raymond Florio's Sex Junkie features his alter ego, Damon Williams.
"It is a black erotica book. It's about a character named Damon Williams and talks about his torrid sexual conquests throughout KC," says Florio, who calls Damon his alter ego. "It's more than just a black erotica book or a sex book though, because it addresses a lot of issues in the black community like the need to get tested and safe sex and the ramifications of leading a
promiscuous
lifestyle. You look around and there's a lot of broken homes. ... So yeah, it's a sex book, and it is hot and heavy, but there's also a serious message in there."
The novel (read the first few pages on Amazon) follows the release of Florio's poetry book, Daily Gems, both of which are available on Amazon.com. Gems is also available at metro libraries.
"I wanted the poetry book out so people would know there was more to me than just writing about sex," Florio says.
There were some problems on the way to Sex Junkie's release. After finishing his manuscript, Florio paid a local editor (who he prefers not to name) to help him revise the book. Florio says he took the editor to small claims court when the editor didn't do the job, and the two ended up on Judge Joe Brown.
"They got people scouring those court records looking for shows man," Florio says.
Go figure that a small claims suit over the future of a book about sex addiction would make good television. By the way, Judge Joe Brown found for the editor.
Florio says he's already hard at work getting out his next Street Lit novel, Triflin, which will also feature Damon Williams.
"Triflin starts out with a Dear John letter because Damon is really infatuated with this lady, but her husband is in prison," Florio says. "So he sends him a Dear John letter in prison, and it smells like a lady, but he wraps a condom around it. You can imagine being in jail with a letter from a nice pretty lady that's smelling good and finding a condom in there."
Get reading, folks.
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