Eden Bradley
New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Eden Bradley (aka Eve Berlin) writes dark, edgy character-driven erotic fiction. Her work has been called “elegant, intelligent and sensual.” Her debut novel, The Dark Garden, has been praised as “a masterpiece”, and was a Romantic Times Top Pick, as was her erotic novel Forbidden Fruit. Her novel The Lovers was called “the thinking woman’s erotica .”
Nothing opens us up and reveals our core truth like falling in love. This is why I write.
I’ve been reading and writing for as long as I can remember. When I was three and a half, even though I wasn’t quite clear yet on my alphabet, I decided there were never enough adults around to read to me and demanded to be taught to read myself. At age eight, I volunteered for summer school so I could take a creative writing class. My friends thought I was crazy—all they wanted to do was climb trees, go roller skating, and swim. But I knew what I was doing with my summer was even better.
I wrote my first novel at age twelve with a good friend who is also still writing, as far as I know. At a sleepover at her house, instead of sleeping, we stayed up all night crafting a rather horrible romance novel. I like to think I’ve improved since then, and I now have enough sense to sleep at night and write during the day. Usually.
I’d written erotica since I was 19, then in 2000 I started writing romance, and pretty quickly the two converged, since a good HEA always makes me happy, and now my main focus is erotic romance (although later this year I may finally get to the mainstream fiction novel I’ve been making notes on for the last few years). I love the way emotion and sex can create a complex and compelling vision my readers can really immerse themselves in.
I tend to make a study of human nature when creating my characters, which is my favorite part. What makes them tick? That’s what fascinates me. My characters are so real to me, and I love every moment of getting to know them and watching their often painful process of self-discovery. Nothing opens us up and reveals our core truths like falling in love, or the vulnerability in those moments of intense intimacy. This is what really drives me to write!
In the last ten years or so I’ve begun to work more and more as an educator, with a focus on sex-positive culture and BDSM practice, psychology, and safety, as well as writing craft. I’ve been involved in kink culture for most of my adult life. It’s important to me to share my experience, and to do what I can to allow people who want to explore kink to go into it armed with knowledge so they can have safe, fun, and satisfying experiences. My classes on sexual positivity for women and female-bodied folks have become perhaps even more important.
I want us all to love ourselves, to accept sexual desire as natural and beautiful, and to get the most out of life. I didn’t expect my writing life to morph into sex education, but it’s become an amazing and fulfilling part of what I do. I believe there’s no reason why we can’t all embrace our needs and desires—even when they’re a bit on the dark side—and that we can lead happier lives if we do so. My goal is to help create an environment of self-acceptance and open communication about sex and kink, whether it’s through live speaking engagements, social media posts, podcasts, online chats, or through my books.
Fortunately, someone other than myself loves my work, too. I’ve written for Bantam/Delta, Berkley, HQN and Harlequin Spice, Rawhide Ranch, Black Light, 1001 Dark Nights, GTB Publishing, Macmillan Tor UK, and I indie publish, as well. I’m so grateful to do what I love! What else about me? I love to cook (I make a killer Coq Au Vin), love to eat (sushi and pistachio ice cream are a current favorite! Um…not simultaneously…), love to lounge on the beach even though I’m afraid to swim in the ocean, take my dog hiking in the woods, and I couldn’t survive without the support and company of people who make up my odd and amazing group of friends, family, and chosen family. I’m obsessed with art (especially the neo-classicists and surrealists, photography and sculpture), tattoos (I currently have ten and am hoping to finish my sleeve this year. Tattoos are kind of a fetish for me. Okay—maybe more than “kind of”.). I’m obsessed with our two dogs (my beloved Boston Terrier is an old man now, and we have a rescue Frenchie who is an adorable, loveable handful). You’ll sometimes see me getting political, and identifying as queer means LGBTQ+ issues are especially important to me. Social justice issues are something I’m passionate about. I’m also dying to travel more. I would love to spend a few months at an Italian villa, really need to get back to Paris, want to rent an apartment in New Orleans and write all day, then explore the French Quarter at night, and I MUST get to Fiji! Meanwhile, I get to write, and someone actually reads my books, which is a pretty good life.
xx Eden
