Adeline and Jip wrote an erotic collection
Some people may say goodbye, but they never really leave you. When Adeline, Addie for those close to her, left us after years of running the editorial team, she gave me a basket containing everything I couldn't do without. A corkscrew, a full stapler, scissors, matches, and other things I was always looking for. Unfortunately, she herself couldn't fit in the basket, and that wasn't the intention, of course, because Adeline had to spread her wings, naturally. But we continued to love each other. While Adeline made other magazines happy with her writing talents and organizational excellence, she also continued to do things for us. She replaced me a nice feeling during vacations, but she also said: “Yes, why not,” when I asked her to occasionally write an erotic story for us. Because that is still a subject where there are still some areas for improvement in terms of emancipation. We need to have sex, really. But admitting that we actually enjoy it and that we have our preferences, that's where there's still a mer à boire, as the French beautifully say. When Jip asked Isabel de Jongh to write an erotic story collection together, she shook off the pseudonym and wrote. Loud and proud. The result: a fantastic collection of erotic stories that give the concept of ‘a bedtime story’ just a slightly different meaning.
Your book in three sentences
Adeline: “The erotic story collection for women, to enjoy and perhaps also to gain some cozy inspiration. Wonderful for bedtime, but also hot when you're lounging on the beach or just enjoying it on the train. Sex is healthy and should be fun, that's what I want to convey.”
Why did there need to be an erotic story collection?
Jip: “A lot has changed around sex and eroticism in recent years, and that's something to celebrate. At the same time, we see that female sexuality still (yes, still!) doesn't always receive the same space and attention as male sexuality. Women often receive contradictory messages: sexuality is visible everywhere in the media, but there's not always as much room to openly reflect on their own desires, fantasies, and pleasures.
An erotic story collection for women is therefore important because the female perspective is central. It's not just about eroticism, but also about recognition, curiosity, imagination, and discovering what someone personally finds enjoyable or attractive. Stories can help make conversations about intimacy and desire more open and show that female sexuality can exist in all its forms.”
Adeline: “The offerings for men in the erotic field are so vast, that's why I immediately got excited about Jip's idea to publish an erotic story collection. The female angle, the female perspective, that makes me happy.”
Writing about sex, how did you come up with the idea?
Adeline: “For Amayzine, I had been writing erotic stories for a while and later also for Flair, so May is actually the original driver of this genre for me. I remember getting the message saying ‘Addie, this seems like something for you’ and how true that was. Little did I know that a whole book would come out of it. Thanks to Jip and our publisher. It's especially intensely fun to immerse yourself in a completely different world or to write your own story.”
Jip: “Writing is an outlet for me. In everything I've written over the past years, feelings and desires are hidden. Love is a major theme in that. I noticed that when I was in love with someone, I liked to capture memories in stories. Ultimately, it turned out that the most intimate stories were my favorite stories to write.
That's how I actually started writing erotic stories. Everything I wrote were essentially memories and moments I wanted to preserve. At some point, I started sharing some of these stories on my Substack, and the reactions were incredibly positive. People found it beautiful to read these stories from a female perspective, and I noticed there was a need for more. Slowly, the idea of writing a complete collection of such stories formed in my mind.
Eventually, I ended up with Adeline because I wanted to write another book but got stuck. At some point, I asked her if we could take a look at my erotic stories. I knew that Adeline also wrote erotic stories herself. After that session, I pitched my idea for the collection to her and asked if she wanted to write it with me. I got an instant ‘yes!’. And so it happened.”
Are the stories based on true events?
Jip: “There are certainly true stories in there, but I also got to let my imagination speak for the first time, which I ultimately found perhaps the most enjoyable part of this process. I mean... I have not had a threesome with two young guys on a yacht, but how fun was it to shape this story? Haha.”
Adeline: “Haha, yes. But I'm not going to reveal which ones they are. First read it yourself and then I might confirm it. But you always write about what you know, so somewhere in every story, there's always a piece of reality in it.”
Favorite stories and experiences
Adeline: “One of Jip's stories for sure. I've immersed myself so much in my own stories that they almost feel true. So it's time for that erotic party, haha.”
Jip: “Oof, that's a tough one. I agree with Adeline, I would also replicate one of her stories, like with the sex toy, where someone else operates it from a distance. But that yacht is still on my mind, you know.”
Never have I ever – the erotic variant
Adeline: “Had a threesome, haha. People expect that by writing this book, you're being hoisted to the ceiling every weekend, but in practice, that's not the case at all.”
Jip: “Did bondage. Which I might not mind trying out once. Furthermore, I was very close to a threesome with two women, but backed out at the last minute because I was still too insecure about sex with women. I had just come out as Bi, but I did work that story into the book, how it might have gone. It wouldn't be too bad to let that fantasy become reality.”
Books and entertainment with Adeline and Jip
Adeline: “I will never see the world the same way again, by Ahmet Altan. I wanted to highlight a sentence on every page to save for my later life. And I share a favorite with May, Why it is so attractive to be happy. You read it in one breath.”
Jip: “Oh no, I really think this is the most beautiful question ever. I think that A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is somewhere at the top of the list. But if I look at what I've read more recently, I was really impressed by the writing of Jaap Robben, in the book Birk. And I really cried at Two Princes by Splinter Chabot. Beautiful.”
Music and reading material at home
Jip: “My taste in music goes in all directions and I think I've become very fond of Dutch music lately. Think Bente, MEAU, and S10, but I also have the song Kiss Me by Maro on repeat at the moment. I've just finished the books The Custody by Yael van der Wouden and All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert. Now I'm reading My Unlikely Friendship with Emma Watson by Caro Derkx. But it's also time for a romantic fantasy series again. For example, I am a big ACOTAR fan. Furthermore, I enjoy watching true crime documentaries and coming-of-age series like Off Campus.”
Adeline: “At home, I prefer to whip up a huge charcuterie board. When I'm completely alone, I play my schizophrenic ‘I like it’ playlist on Spotify. In company, I absolutely don't dare to do this, so I prefer to lean towards something by Olivia Dean or the Buena Vista Social Club. That's more social and just a bit more accepted. And what do I read? Unbound by Nina Pierson is high on the list, but Two Princes by Splinter Chabot is also waiting on my nightstand.”
A biography about yourself
Jip: “‘To the love I left behind, and found again.’ We go a bit too deep if I explain this title completely, but let's just say that I was obsessively focused on finding love externally for years and eventually learned that love can be found not only in a partner but everywhere around you. In your friendships, your passions, and cliché but true, especially in yourself.”
Adeline: “A thousand and one things? I have the dubious talent of wanting to do everything at once. From living in Spain to publishing a book, launching a new business idea, and in between wanting to see the whole world.”
Where will you be at the book launch?
Adeline: “With my butt firmly planted somewhere on a terrace, of course. In the Netherlands, because I have a few more days here before I head back to Spain. I live there temporarily. I think I can't choose between a glass of Veuve or an Aperol Spritz. Maybe just both. And can I also order cheese sticks right away? Thank you.”
Jip: “I think I'll plop down next to Adeline, so we can FINALLY toast together to this fantastically beautiful moment and a collection we can be very proud of. A glass of pinot grigio please… and can we also have some focaccia with those cheese sticks?”
