Wanna make extra cash? Write erotica

I ran across Debu Mufitsusan's article on being a freelance writer. Most of it was quite straightforward and informative until I read something that made my blood boil: make a new email address that has nothing to do with any other email address/username of yours on the internet. You can be damned sure an employer will google your name to see if you are a member of that "420-4-ever" myspace group, or if you've published erotic fiction to pad your income a little. I don't disagree that keeping one's writing genres separate is a good idea, or that creating different email accounts for different jobs is a good idea. But with this line, she insinuates that knocking off a bit of erotic fiction is what you do when your pressed for cash - like working as a waitress. Or else, she suggests that writing erotic fiction is what you do when you can't do anything else. Or that writers deplore writing erotic fiction and only do it when they absolutely have to, kicking and screaming or shamefacedly. It's insulting to those of us who have chosen this genre, who feel that there is far more freedom in this genre than in any other, and who believe that there are a lot of "good" writers out there who can't write a sex scene to save their elitist, snooty little lives. By all means, keep your genres compartmentalized, but I'll tell you what: the same thing goes if you've earned your reputation writing articles for Better Homes and Gardens and want to make it in the sci-fi world. Also, it might be just worth mentioning that if you REALLY want to pad your income a little, you're looking in the wrong part of the industry. I earned $2,800 writing the copy for a ratan furniture catalogue. I get about $50 per short story - if I'm lucky enough to get one accepted. So, Ms Debu, I CHALLENGE you to write a good, literary, hot piece of erotic fiction, because I think I could wipe the floor with you, babe.

i-stories

A while ago, I purchased the domain name i-stories. I had some sort of notion to publish a site that showcased erotic stories written by a lot of people who's work I read on my writers list, but who don't get published nearly enough. Since then, of course, I've run into a huge number of good writers online. There are sites like Literotica which sport some good stories, but they are mixed in with a lot of badly written stuff, too. It's hard to plow through it all to get to the gems. Clean Sheets has a lot of very well written erotica, but it's not classifed in anyway, so you have to try and guess whether it's your cup of tea by the title - not always the best way to tell. Anywhoo... so I'm thinking: erotic fiction site with the stories organized a little by tags and kinks, using a little more tech (like rss feeds) than the ones I've listed above. It would be a free site, so I couldn't afford to pay anyone for their stories, but it might be a nice showcase for new writers, or for writer's who've written something they can't find a place for elsewhere. Meanwhile, I'm thinking that a little market research is in order. What would you like to see in an erotic stories site? What don't you like about the ones out there presently? What do you think the editorial guidelines should be? Would you be willing to post a story? Your feedback would be most gratefully recieved.

Apologies In Advance

I'm hoping you will be kind enough to be patient with me in the next few days. An earthquake off the coast of Taiwan has disrupted internet traffic on my side of the pond. This means that the web is excruciatingly slow for me. So, I'm going to be a little quiet until things resolve themselves.

A Gift for Christmas

If you're stuck on what to get someone you care for, pressie-wise, I highly recommend "Cream: The Best of the Erotica Readers and Writers Association". Besides the fact that it is editted by the lovely Ms. Lisabet Sarai, it contains a selection of wonderfully sexy stories. Including one of my own - ahem.

Words...

Over on my writer's list (I belong to the ERWA - erotic readers and writers association - list), we've been having a discussion about words for body parts. It was unanimously agreed that anyone who used the term "hot meat injection" would burn in the deepest hell. Three of the women writers (Amanda, Keziah, and Kathleen) felt that the word "cunt" made us feel sexy and powerful. But the word "cunt" emerged as very problematic. Funnily enough, women were not nearly as loathe to use it as men. A lot of men felt it was an insulting word that denigrated women, and so they didn't use it in their erotic fiction. Further, it seemed that a lot of men wanted to impose a certain delicacy and fragility on a woman's sex organ that, considering what it can do, wasn't really based in any sort of reality. I notice that most men think my pussy is delicate and beautiful and in need of nurturing, until they're pounding into it - when suddenly, it magically converts to strong and resiliant. There seemed to be some Madonna/Whore thing working at an anatomical level. So, for the hesitant among you, a flasher: Sticks and Stones 100 words "Say it!" It was an order. The cruel sound of impatience - crop hitting leather boot - made Nathanial twitch. "I...I can't. Mistress please don't ask me..." "Say it, you little coward. Say it and mean it!" Nathanial raised his eyes up the length of Miss Elisa's voluptuous body, then fixed upon the shaved, glistening slit above him. His lips quivered. His eyes watered. "C..." he coughed. "No, it's not right. I can't. It's so pretty, so delicate..." "Say it, or else!" Her gloved hand toyed with the weight of the massive dildo. "C-cunt," he whimpered. "Good boy. Now lick it. Properly." * * * For a very informative read on the post-modern take on the word "cunt", visit Matthew Hunt's "Cunt" page

In Praise of Older Men

Tom Paine wrote a post of the same title, and I commented on it. I realize that his post was probably self-interested, but nonetheless, it did get me thinking about why I've always been a lot more attracted to older men. Even when I was very young. In fact, the very first man I offered the flower of my virginity to (begged to have it absconded with, actually) was 17 years my senior. I was 16, he was 33. He looked very ill and politely refused. To this day, I have mixed feelings about that episode. In retrospect, I think Kevin (yes, his name was Kevin Sharp. If you're out there, I still remember you) was one of the most responsible and plainly nicest men in existence. However, at the time, I was devastated. It took me ages to recover from the rejection. I was sure there was something hideously wrong with me, anatomically speaking, for him to refuse. I digress (I always digress). Instead of the age gap between I and whoever I was attracted to closing, it got worse. By the time I was thirty, no one under the age of about 60 held much interest for me. I don't mean to say that I haven't slept with men closer to my own age - of course I have. But I get a real slow burning, yearning thing for older men. So. What is it? As I said on Tom's blog, it has a lot to do with "real flesh". I like the texture of flesh that is not new. Sounds icky and vaguely necrophilic, I know, but there you have it. The other thing is their eyes. They have restful eyes that hide things. Young men have eyes that give them away, even when they are trying desperately to look nonchalant. I can read all their petty jealousies, and insecurities, and strategizing. Older men are more of a mystery I guess. Older men see the big picture. You never have to worry about them making sweeping judgments about your non-heartshaped ass, or your non-surgically enhanced breasts. They might like those things, but they'll live without them. Also.. Older men are seduced with their heads. This is a much more thrilling type of erotic swordplay than showing off your tits in a low cut dress. They've seen a lot of tits and, frankly, most older men aren't going to get up and walk across a room for them. But give them a little "head" (no - not that kind - although that kind works very well later), give them a glimpse of your imagination's potential... It's my experience that older men are by far more likely to be truly kinky. They've had a whole lot more time to hone their perversions. They've measured the dimensions of their own fantasies thoroughly and know them well. They've had time to play every scenario known to man out in their heads. What they lack in physical flexibility, they more than compensate for in mental flexibility. Finally, older men are much more realistic. They're a lot more willing to enter a relationship that has boundaries, and they understand that the world is complex and that, just because you've fucked, doesn't mean you want to set up house. Do you like older men/women?

Cross your fingers for me.

I've just got up the nerve to submit The Changeling to SonicErotica.com. I've never submitted anything for an audio site and I'm not sure if what I write will work well as audio. But I'm anxious to find out. I'm sure they are pretty good judges of whether it will fly. I tried once to read one of my own pieces aloud, and found it too uncomfortable. Plus, I have a really low voice, rather masculine, which freaked me out. So I'm hoping to be able to listen to a story read out by someone with a nice voice for this sort of thing. Wish me luck, please :-)

The Devil Made Me Do It

From time to time, I wander across a story that triggers the imagination and starts the ball rolling in silly directions. I subscribe to the Reuters: Oddly Enough. Today, it offered a charming story about a deeply devout Christian man who has just won a claim for 3 million Pounds, after a fall turned him into a rampant sex fiend. Aparently, it came very close to ruining his marriage. Read the whole, very silly story here: Oddly Enough: Injured man wins damages for sex overdrive I apologize if the link is slow - for some reason, I find Reuters agonizingly slow to load.

The Changeling - Part 2

If you haven't read the first part of this story, you probably should: Part 1 I knew all about women who craved psychological abuse, or at least I thought I did. They had low self-esteem and poor self-images. They were often abused as children or grew up in unsupportive environments. I wasn’t that woman. I also knew all about the sociological fallout of the sex trade, especially in Southeast Asia. All the porn in the world couldn’t make women enjoy being prostitutes. It was about economic survival, pure and simple. I was sure about that. And, if all that wasn’t enough, 50,000 dead feminists had surely rolled over in their grave at the way I meekly walked out of that hotel room. I played the tape over and over in my mind; I thought of all the things I should have done, all the ways I should have acted. There were a lot of reasons for me not to keep the Thursday appointment. I spent the whole of Wednesday convinced I wouldn’t go. It was all decided until Thursday afternoon, when I got home from work and felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin. I couldn’t settle, I couldn’t concentrate on anything; I couldn’t eat. I was showered and changed and out of the house by seven thirty. I had to deliberately walk slow not to reach the hotel too early, and still I did. I considered waiting in the lobby, but it felt stranger than turning up ahead of time. Irrationally, I imagined that everyone walking through the lobby knew what I was doing there.

The Changeling

One day, quite suddenly, you realize that you are changing. For me, it began in the middle of a cappuccino. I was sitting at my regular cafe, in the morning, just before the day became too hot. I sat silently, peaceably at the same table as a stranger. He was staring out over the courtyard, to where the gardener's efforts had ceased and the busy street began. I smoked and looked at him looking. He was middle-aged, balding, and somewhat overweight. A plain man. A quiet man. Thoroughly unremarkable. Some might even say he was ugly. The more I looked, the more I saw. The eyes behind the steel framed lenses were grey-blue, with a darker ring around the outside of the iris. I had never noticed his mouth before, but now I could see it was rather odd. The lips were plumpish and cherubic. It was the mouth of a greedy man. A consumer of things. The lips pursed. "Thank god the rainy season's over. I'd had enough of it." The sound of his voice startled me into awareness. I withdrew from my scrutiny, vaguely ashamed of my intrusion. "You'd regret that remark by February. It'll get stinking hot and you'll dream of rain." "True." He nodded his head, eyes still fixed on the distance. I took a sip of coffee, lit a cigarette, and resumed my guilty exploration. I had no idea why I felt so compelled to look at him, but he seemed oblivious to it. He was wearing dark, light wool trousers, and the jacket that completed his suit was neatly hung on the back of his chair. Highly polished oxfords enclosed neat, small feet. Even with his legs crossed, his black socks reached high enough covered his calves. A careful man. A man of habits. Read the Full Story

Avoiding Clichés in Erotic Fiction

One of the most common complaints about erotic fiction is that it is generally overburdened with clichés. Sometimes it seems extremely hard to avoid them. The necessity to introduce information fast in a 1,000 word story means that the writer needs to deliver certain bits of information in a very condensed form, and this is where clichés come in very handy. They’re a sort of shorthand. Take, for example, the classic and cliché dominatrix. She’s tall, she’s buxom, she’s dressed in a black leather corset and speaks in a booming and demanding voice. This is often a very stock character. The use of a character like this means that the writer doesn’t have to spend 400 words telling you what she looked like or what she was wearing or how she behaved. The reader already knows who this stock character is, so they can go on to the meaty bits without spending time going into complications. It is easy to see why writers of short stories, especially, resort to stereotypes and clichés. The problem with the cliché dominatrix is the problem with all clichés. They are only partly true. A cliché lulls us into believing we have the whole story, when really we only have half. Also, readers can become inured to the stereotyped image so that it fails to turn them on because they don’t have to roll the image around in their mind and help build it. All the work is done for them in the presentation of the cliché. This is why clichés work well for porn – where the reader is expecting a quick jump to the sexual details – but fails abysmally to provide experiential depth for the erotica reader. Similarly, for the writer, the first meeting with the now well-worn image of the dominatrix might have been entrancing, but revisitations leave the image without any spirit of discovery. Hugo Liu, in his article, “Articulation, the Letter, and the Spirit in the Aesthetics of Narrative” has some interesting strategies for mitigating the problems of clichés – he calls them “hyperarticulations”. Strategy 1. Use the cliché intertextually. For an explanation of what intertextuality is, Wikipedia has a fine explanation. The relations between the texts allow new forms to be created with interesting juxtapositions. (Make the dominatrix a middle-aged cleaning lady). In essence, you are using two clichés here – but their juxtaposition makes the concept fresh and intriguing. Strategy 2. Violate traditional representations. Approach your subject from an acute and unexpected angle. (Most descriptions of a dominatrix start with her physicality – looked upon from outside the character. Violate this tradition by introducing her through her words or her voice or her feelings – describe her from the inside out.) Strategy 3. Impose an aesthetic signature. Present your clichéd character, but use a non-traditional writing style to do it. Strategy 4. By it’s nature, much erotica deals with and is consumed within subcultures. There is a very definite BDSM subculture that has birthed the cliché dominatrix. Relocate her from her dungeon to a check-in counter. Bring her alive in a world of stamp collectors or coding geeks. If you'd like to read the full Liu articlce, send me an email.

Link Correction

Aparently, the link below isn't working for some people. It works fine for me, but I've added the "www" just in case you had problems getting to it. It's really worth seeing the site. Click on the "Paint with Light" menu item too - it's wonderful. Also, Kill Your Darlings is also amazing - very dark, very primal. I'm not enough of a photographer to figure out how he's done the textures around the figures. I'm not sure if it's done with chemicals, or what...but it's wonderful. If anyone knows how it's done, I'd really love to know.

Erotic Photography

I realize I haven't written for a while. While looking for inspiration on the net, I came across a Danish photographer named Emil Schildt. Personally, I'm not all that fond of traditional "Fine Art" photography of women. I usually find it either contrived, or soulless, or completely lacking in the complicatedness I crave in my sense of eroticism. However, this is something altogether different. I tried to figure out why it had such an impression on me: the lighting, the technique, the framing, the subject. But I really couldn't tease out the reason why I found it so wonderful. There's something very dark about the work - dark the way I think erotica should be. Primal and visceral, half-lit and half-sensed.

New Look Thang

As you might notice, I decided it was time to do something about my very dour website. It's a little lighter now. It would be foolish to think this reflected anything other than my current design tastes. In the meantime, I have vowed to try and write something filthy in the next week or so. Thanks for your patience and your comments while I was away in la-la land....