u/TomatoQuick9807

I’m (40m) a professional writer, and have recently been exploring the genre of erotica (or “smut” as many people know it). It’s become a crowded field, but my audience has been growing and I’ve gained a loyal following, which has been rewarding.

However, I have hesitated to tell friends and family about my new area of writing. I’m not sure why, as it’s legitimate and I’m proud of the initial success I’ve had. But when I told a close friend and his wife early on, they both raised eyebrows and kind of joked about it, which made me think I should keep it private for now.

The question is, when is the right time to “come out” as a writer of this type of fiction? The more my audience grows the more it feels inevitable that I will need to go public with this, and I want to control the timing and message.

I’m (40m) a professional writer, and have recently been exploring the genre of erotica (or “smut” as many people know it). It’s become a crowded field, but my audience has been growing and I’ve gained a loyal following, which has been rewarding.

However, I have hesitated to tell friends and family about my new area of writing. I’m not sure why, as it’s legitimate and I’m proud of the initial success I’ve had. But when I told a close friend and his wife early on, they both raised eyebrows and kind of joked about it, which made me think I should keep it private for now.

The question is, when is the right time to “come out” as a writer of this type of fiction? The more my audience grows the more it feels inevitable that I will need to go public with this, and I want to control the timing and message.

I’m (40m) a professional writer, and have recently been exploring the genre of erotica (or “smut” as many people know it). It’s become a crowded field, but my audience has been growing and I’ve gained a loyal following, which has been rewarding.

However, I have hesitated to tell friends and family about my new area of writing. I’m not sure why, as it’s legitimate and I’m proud of the initial success I’ve had. But when I told a close friend and his wife early on, they both raised eyebrows and kind of joked about it, which made me think I should keep it private for now.

The question is, when is the right time to “come out” as a writer of this type of fiction? The more my audience grows the more it feels inevitable that I will need to go public with this, and I want to control the timing and message.

Growing up, my (40m) family would go camping for a week every summer near the same lake in Minnesota. They are some of my favorite memories as a kid - just my mom and dad and younger sister (Katie, she’s 2 years younger than me), alone in the elements.

Katie and I were very close and still are. Recently we were having dinner with our spouses and got to talking about those vacations, and I started to tell about how we would have to walk a half mile to a secluded river to bathe every other day or so.

Katie immediately shot me a look which made me feel I should ditch the story, so I changed the subject. I asked her about it by text later that night, and she said her husband didn’t need to know that she and I would sneak away to bathe (we would take turns and keep lookout for each other).

My wife asked about it too, since she saw Katie’s look at the table. I told her about the bath ritual and she seemed surprised and asked a bunch of questions, and agreed with Katie that it’s best kept a secret.

I figured I must have a very different memory of that situation than Katie. I texted her again to make sure she was ok, and she said we can talk about it if I need to. Which made it kind of feel like a “thing.”

So now I’m confused. Should I ask Katie more about this to make sure I’m not missing anything? Or let it go?

Growing up, my (40m) family would go camping for a week every summer near the same lake in Minnesota. They are some of my favorite memories as a kid - just my mom and dad and younger sister (Katie, she’s 2 years younger than me), alone in the elements.

Katie and I were very close and still are. Recently we were having dinner with our spouses and got to talking about those vacations, and I started to tell about how we would have to walk a half mile to a secluded river to bathe every other day or so.

Katie immediately shot me a look which made me feel I should ditch the story, so I changed the subject. I asked her about it by text later that night, and she said her husband didn’t need to know that she and I would sneak away to bathe (we would take turns and keep lookout for each other).

My wife asked about it too, since she saw Katie’s look at the table. I told her about the bath ritual and she seemed surprised and asked a bunch of questions, and agreed with Katie that it’s best kept a secret.

I figured I must have a very different memory of that situation than Katie. I texted her again to make sure she was ok, and she said we can talk about it if I need to. Which made it kind of feel like a “thing.”

So now I’m confused. Should I ask Katie more about this to make sure I’m not missing anything? Or let it go?