Immerse Yourself in Eroticism with Carly Pifer from Aurore Magazine
Welcome to one of CAM4’s expert interviews, in which we introduce you to Carly Pifer, the creator of Aurore Magazine. One thing is for certain, this Brooklyn-based creative collaborator certainly has a seductive allure about her, which we will explore in more detail throughout this article.
Carly has a wide-ranging background, from fashion to health, dating to travel. Having written for a variety of different outlets, including VOGUE AU, she became a content strategist creating lifestyle media for several major brands. Carly’s natural editorial skills have allowed her the opportunity to help create striking experiences across an array of digital platforms.
Aurore’s philosophy is simple: “Read porn with a plotline – as smart as it is sexy”
Aurore is a curated collection of erotic stories written by and for women and the LGBTQ+ community, based on their own experiences. It was created to turn people on, to tease, to educate, and to inspire. It’s all about building a community that empowers sexual expression.
Aurore is a safe place to post your stories about the sex you can’t forget, and then read other peoples stories as well. It’s modern, honest, reliable, and above all, it’s real. Aurore is an inclusive destination for great sex to unfold and unravel. Once you’re there, you’ll definitely want to stay!
CAM4 Interview with Carly Pifer
Read below or watch the interview to gain more insight:
Please let everyone know who you are, where you are from, and tell us a little bit about your initiative?
Carly: Hi and thank you so much for this opportunity. I’m Carly Pifer from Aurore Magazine, which I started about four years ago. There’s a few different origins that I like to share about this, but essentially, some years ago I was unemployed and I decided to rent out my room, and go to Europe. Whilst there, I gave myself an assignment to date my way around different European countries and interview people about sex, dating, and relationships in their culture. I did this, not really knowing what was going to come out of it, but with the assumption that I was going to pitch it to the likes of ‘The Cut’ or ‘New York Magazine’ on my return. I’d heard that dating apps are the absolute worst, although I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’m no longer on them. It was early days, and there was still some excitement and trust about meeting somebody new. As I landed in each city, I’d go onto the apps and arrange dates with people. When I showed up to the dates, I’d explain that I was doing a project, and asked if I could record our conversation as I interviewed them. Inevitably, at the end of these conversations, we had been so open and intimate and vulnerable with each other.
That naturally led to sex and as I was rewriting later on, when I was back home, I wanted to tell all about the sex too. That felt so important and such a big part of the experience. I didn’t really know a space that wanted something cultural, intelligent, and with super raw sex as well. Therefore, one thing led to another, and I launched a space for the content that I wanted to create, and that is Aurore. It started out with my stories of those escapades, and I asked friends of mine to write some stories, because everyone I knew was having crazy wild sex in New York City. Everyone had a story to tell, and it has grown ever since. We now have over 200 stories from people all over the world, and the stories are designed to be about the sex that changed them. They write about sexual experiences that are positive, and have left an impact that could educate or influence others. I see this as a part of sex education, because it’s a way to learn exactly what gets people off. It’s possibly the ultimate voyeurism, since people are letting you into their most intimate moments.
Of course, it’s meant to be about more than just sex. After all, we all have sex, and most of us like some experiences better than others. But in the act of writing, what I found about my encounters was such a wonderful vehicle for catharsis, for piercing through a relationship that may not have ended in the best way. There’s always an opportunity, even though the stories are meant to be real and based on your own experiences, that you can rewrite the narrative. You can tell the story in a way that you wish it had gone down, which is incredibly healing. It’s honestly very much akin to therapy for me. It’s actually more fruitful than therapy, because I’m less of a talker and more of a writer. I feel that I need to get my stuff down in writing, and I highly recommend it for everyone. It’s a really powerful experience.
Before entering into the journey abroad, were you always someone in touch with your erotic self, and what has led you this way?
Carly: This is something I think about a lot. I developed very early, and I have beautiful, bountiful breasts that I got when I was pretty young. I was sexualized from such a young age, that I think my way of understanding was to actually step into that role and take that power back, instead of allowing others to sexualize me. I became the owner of my own sexuality, and I’ve always been someone who is not judgmental. I’m very open, and people have always come to me about sex, so I’ve always been really interested in hearing about it. Essentially, I’ve always been very in touch with my sexuality – I’m a very sexual, horny person.
It is very natural that I ended up here. In fact, sometimes I wonder why it took me so long to get here, because I’ve always been within this realm. Until I started my own space, there wasn’t anywhere like this, where you can really create exactly what you want people to feel. I think that’s really powerful, especially for a lot of women who have been in sexual situations that they didn’t enjoy, or didn’t like all the details of, or couldn’t control. Having the opportunity to be able to take that back is very powerful indeed.
How has this enhanced your life, is it something that you’re aware of? Was there life before being this sexually liberated?
Carly: I think this is something that applies to anyone in this industry, because we are all in touch with our sexuality. We are so comfortable with our sexuality, that we become teachers for those who are not. For me, it’s not always obvious that other people may struggle to get to a place where I began. There’s a lot of different levels of where people are at with their sexuality, and I also think it’s something that will change and evolve throughout our entire lives. One of my observations is that there’s always something new, and something you can learn about yourself, what you’re into. By creating these spaces, there’s so much potential to instruct and care for others, and nurture them along that journey. It’s certainly not always easy work, and it’s definitely very thankless work. With Aurore, I get to work with a lot of people who are telling their stories in their own way, and that’s really rewarding.
Could you tell us what the reach of Aurore is now, and looking ahead to around five years time, where do you see it growing to?
Carly: I’ve been talking a lot recently about my dream of evolving into creating actual porn, visual porn using the stories that we have, by creating scripts from them. Looking back at what I’ve enjoyed erotically, I loved reading trashy romance novels as a young person, but I also loved porn as well. Especially those targeted to women, those that had more of a storyline. Therefore, what I really seek in visual porn is to use my imagination a lot. I like creating a narrative, thereby creating a “will they or won’t they?” In a lot of the stories that already exist on the site, I see lots of potential for amazing full feature porn films. At the moment, I am looking for actors and actresses, and anyone that wants to be involved in this. Having spoken to a few people who create feminist porn, it’s worth considering that the porn world has a lot to do with money, rather than people making it ethically. I think that has a lot to do with censorship and other issues about how to get there.
That is a dream of mine, but it’s very far down the line. Right now we have just over a thousand members, although it fluctuates. The pandemic was an amazing time for Aurore, and that was just after I launched. For a lot of online creators, that was a really good time for business, because everyone was in need of some alternative material. People were crazy horny, so it was about trying to figure out how to capture people’s attention. We’re all aware of how much people’s worlds are very much online now, and how people aren’t having as much sex in the real world. People aren’t able to connect with people in the real world, and so we have to ask ourselves how we, as creators, can maintain spaces that feel inspiring and new. That’s something that I do month by month, such as when I decided to do a solo pleasure series where people wrote about how they pleasure themselves. You have to mix it up from time to time.
Aurore always surprises me in the directions that it goes, and I’ve really loved doing the live events. My first live reading was back in October, and getting to work with Laura Desiree was so much fun, because it was more about the virtual world. I want to take Aurore into the real world, which is very exciting. I love to learn about people’s reactions to this space, although ultimately the site is really about the writers, because they are sharing stories and coming together with other people who are interested in this type of work – it’s so magical.
As someone who has a legacy of exploring and investigating temptations of the flesh, what makes great seduction in your opinion?
Carly: When it comes to writing, as well as talking about it, there’s a lot of leading in before the actual act of sex itself. However, with erotic stories on Aurore, people tend to dive straight into the sex pretty quickly, yet the part that gets people most excited is actually the lead in. The unraveling of two people, the wanting and the desire, which is what a lot of the page-turner fantasy novels do – they create the cliffhanger. By leaving people wanting more, by teasing, you entice people into what is to come without giving away too much. I’m sure all creators are pretty much experts at this, but if you can do it with words, that’s extra special for people. Letting them know that there’s more to come, and then making them beg for it, making them wait, is something we hate yet love at the same time!
I do think edging is incredibly powerful for that reason, because the more you are restricted from something, the more somebody withholds, the more you want it. If we think about relationships, the ones that are toxic sometimes also have an amazing connection in sex. This is generally because you never know when you are going to see that person again, or when you are going to get it on again. That wanting, of being a little chaotic with it, tends to mess with their heads a little bit, which I think is the fun part.
Are there ways or suggestions that you have to create a seductive atmosphere that doesn’t require any interaction from the onlooker, the voyeur, or the viewer?
Carly: That’s a really tricky question, because I was going to suggest that I would like to give them a writing prompt, but one that does require interaction. For instance, I think that burlesque, the art of striptease, is all about that slow reveal. I recently got into burlesque when I was in L. A., and I believe that is definitely an amazing way to engage people, by not giving everything away all at once.
However, I think that it would be an amazing exercise to be in a solo camming environment, and narrating as you’re touching yourself. Personally, if I was going to do it, I would tune out the fact that there was anyone watching, and really do it for myself and create that scene and ambiance for myself in that space. That was the challenge with the solo pleasure series we did, it was less about jerking off and more about making it an intentional, ritual based act where you’re really feeling yourself. It’s not so much just doing it to get off, but taking your time to get there. It’s about going back to talking about the slow reveal and the tease.
Dirty talk is also something that people either love or hate. What’s your opinion, what makes good dirty talk?
Carly: Dirty talk is another hard topic. As you’re writing erotica, that’s where to borrow it from, because when you’re in that moment, it’s hard to think of what to say. However, if you’re reading it from something that you have pre-written, then that’s the way to go. If you’re thinking of an experience that was really gorgeous and hot for you, and you write that all down, then that’s something you can return to when you’re not so in the zone.
Just like an archive of nude pics, you could have an archive of dirty talk. Anytime you’re thinking of something, you simply write it down in your notes, and then you have somewhere to borrow from. It’s really hard to conjure something in the moment, unless you’re in the zone and you’re doing your solo pleasure walkthrough. I also think with dirty talk, don’t overthink it. When somebody wants to hear something from you, they don’t really care what it is, anything will do.
For people who are eager to learn more about you and the work that you do, how do they get in touch with you, what are all the links that they need to know?
Carly: In terms of Aurore, Instagram is where we post almost every day, as well as the ReadAurore.com website. The site is member supported, so you sign up for a membership to get access to all the good stuff. I really recommend that people submit stories, because I’m sure a lot of your creators and viewers have stories. You can also join the writing group, which is amazing. All of the links are provided below.
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CONNECT WITH AURORE & CARLY PIFER
Aurore’s Website: ReadAurore.com
Twitter: @readaurore
IG: @readaurore
Carly’s Website: CarlyPifer.com
Twitter: @CarlyPifer
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