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Jamie Joy Gatto

By David Lee

Jamie Joy Gatto's best-selling sex tales range from arousing to harrowing, from tragic to optimistic, and from the brutal to the sublime--wherever human sensuality goes, she follows and brings readers along for the journey.

Video News has referred to her work as stretching itself from hardcore to sugary sweet, sometimes within the same story. More recently, Gatto has collected her non-fiction sexuality essays, rants, and intimate confessions for publication.

She opened up to Sex Wrecks about her powerful way with a dirty word. You can visit her online at JamieJoyGatto.com.

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What motivated you to write about sexuality?
The motivation stemmed from one main source being raised in two extremely different households, with very differing sexual attitudes. I was first reared by my natural parents until age twelve. They were wealthy, attractive, very young, and very sexual people. After that, I was taken in by a fundamentalist Christian grandmother married to a Catholic grandfather, very old, extremely rigid, slept in different bedrooms.

So you must know a few things about sexual dysfunction.
Well, that’s what I write about. Sex, sexuality, and other issues, teaching about them as well to help others who may be having sexual identity crises, conflicts, issues, or who just may need empowerment. I think writing is the best way to reach the most people, and it is also the best way for an audience to access my work privately.

Do your readers treat your work as a totally cathartic resource, or do they get hot from reading your writing?
Oh, wow. Hmmm . . . It depends upon what they are reading. When I write fiction, I tend to focus on darker themes that happen to include sex. In other words, I spend a lot of time on character development, psychological aspects, and I can get very serious in my writing. My hardback collection out is Sex Noir: Stories of Sex, Death, and Loss.Though a lot of my fans tell me even my darker stuff is super hot. It's a matter of taste, I guess.

But what about the hot and pulpy descriptions? Do you not go there?
Craft is very important to me. I'm more of an artist/creative than an "erotica" author. Some of my work is very sexy, very hot, but I take pride in the fact that my work isn't simply porn. I consider porn to be "Letters to Penthouse" style writing, confessionals, or a piece that is basically one long play-by-play sex act. Still, I'd never consider my work to be fluffy or romantic.

What was your adolescence like?
I was conflicted a lot sexually as a teen. I was highly sexual as a person, as a being, but scared to death and thought sex was so sinful. I did masturbate a lot, and I always felt guilty. I lost my virginity at age sixteen to my seventeen-year-old boyfriend. We were both virgins, really into heavy petting and outercourse, so we'd been sharing orgasms quite frequently for over a year's time.

Back to masturbation: How frequently would you say that you partake these days?
I live with another sex fiend, my boyfriend, so we get it on! I don't masturbate as much as when I'm not with a regular partner. We watch porn together frequently and share masturbation as well. I like that. That's fun too.

Do you ever masturbate during the writing process of one of your stories or essays?
Actually, writing itself is so intense, my mind couldn't possibly be in that mode in order to be able to write. I'm thinking syntax, punctuation, adjectives, is this dialogue believable, and the mechanics of a sexual position--is that clear enough to a reader--those sort of things. I know it's not a sexy answer, but as I've said, I'm a craftswoman, not a porn writer.

I do think about what might turn me on and write about that theme sometimes, but I focus on my characters, and they guide me to their own sexual preferences. Sometimes I sit down and decide I'm going to write about male-male-female sex, or in general about a sexual daydream, or some other big idea, then I whittle it down to detailed scenes once I get writing.

Are threesomes considered kosher among a married couple in America? What about other countries and cultures?
I think it's a big fantasy, especially for hetero men and swingers, but really sex outside of marriage is pretty taboo still. Our cultural ideals don't seem to match our real-life practices or our fantasies, unfortunately.

And for yourself?
If it harms none, then so be it! Communication is the key. It is up to the partners to mutually decide, without feeling coerced, without feeling they must please, but to really want whatever sexual scenarios they decide upon together. Safe, sane, consensual. That is the philosophy I take. Ask me about whips, clown suits, bondage, water sports, doing it on a jet ski, I'll give you the same answer.

Do you believe prostitution should be legal, to better regulate the cleanliness and pricing of the profession?
I couldn’t care less about pricing. It’s all about health issues and keeping these people from being battered, pimped, killed, raped, etc. Prostitution among consenting adults absolutely should be legalized for public health reasons as well. Prostitutes and johns need good health care and education to prevent the spread of life-altering and/or deadly disease, including STDs, staph infections, and more.

Do you ever hire a hooker for your boyfriend or yourself?
I go to a massage therapist legally, and my health insurance even pays for it. What takes place? After completely disrobing, a person of either gender can touch my nude body repeatedly in private for a certain amount of money, for a certain amount of time. By law they cannot touch certain parts of my body.

The difference between this profession and prostitution can rest solely upon where I'm being touched--in private. Our government has decided where one person may touch another person for pleasure, in exchange for payment. I think the government should lay off regulating our genitals and start taking better care of our public health.

What are you planning on doing in the future with your writing or sex activism?
I'd like to teach more adult sexuality workshops. I may actually writing an erotic romance novel. It seems they pay well, and all I'd need to add to my work is a happy ending.