Sunday, January 31, 2010

A Fertile Book and the Urge to Improve

The month of love is just a day away, but love comes early at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association. The new columns have just been posted, and there are some exciting changes this month.

First, ERWA welcomes Vincent Diamond to the columnist roster. His new column, Serious About Smut, is full of practical advice about setting realistic goals about writing and publishing, and even though I might be considered a "veteran" by some, his advice was very helpful to me.

Next, although my "Shameless Self-Promotion" journey has ended, I'm continuing to "Cook Up a Storey," but at a new address. I'm now in the Authors' Resources section, which will allow me to discuss the experience of writing my second novel--just so my columns are in sync with my current focus. This month, however, in I Can Do Better: Fruitful Competition, Intelligent Vegetables, and the Erotica Revolution, I ease into the second novel discussion by talking about the foundations of our smut writing urge, how we might "elevate" the genre, and how to connect with readers. I also let off a little steam about society's dismissal of erotica and the way reviewers evaluate anthologies at Amazon. As I enter my third year as an ERWA columnist, I think I'm relaxing more deeply into the Japanese way of "following the pen." And since I just got a great massage at the spa a few hours ago, I feel especially relaxed right now.

Last but certainly not least, I've also posted a review of the delightfully amusing and inspiring book by Cecil Goran, Dictionary of Semenyms: 1, 383 synonyms for semen with examples of usage from erotic literature. This book is really an excellent resource for erotica writers and wordsmiths of all sorts, so head on over to ERWA and read the review. I guarantee, you will never see (hear, taste or smell) semen in the same way again!

Happy February to you all....

7 comments:

Danielle said...

sigh*
i ll miss your shameless selfpromotopn series...it was really entertaining and i learned a lot from it...

Danielle said...

ha..the word verivikation after my coment was PALIN....

Donna said...

Well, thank you, Danielle. My hope is to make "Cooking" a sort of "journey of the second novel" so I hope it's useful for more than just recipes!

Ack, that awful woman keeps popping up everywhere. I'm not sure why everyone calls her attractive. She looks like a steel-jawed nun to me.

Emerald said...

Marvelous column, and I quite enjoyed the review too. When I read this:

"The author, Cecil Goran, dedicates his book to 'the world's erotica writers, with all their off-beat terms for beat-off sperms.'"

I thought, "Gee, with that kind of cleverness just in the dedication, imagine what the book is like...." And of course your review made me interested in it anyway. :)

And I'm a big fan of your "Cooking up a Story" column for this month. I especially loved this:

"Put story first. That is, cook up a great story that fascinates you and let the sex flow from the well-rounded characters in that specific situation."

and this:

"With literary fiction, she expects much more, not just surprising and creative plots and quirkier characters, but a chance to discover new insights into her own life through the story. To me this has a very practical application: if we writers make the considerable effort to invest more of our own minds and sensibilities into our stories, our readers will respond in kind."

So beautiful.

I would also love some of those vegetables right now!

Thanks so much, as usual, for sharing!

Emerald said...

Ha, I forgot to say, at this:

"Or don’t follow any rules and roast whatever the hell you feel like cooking up."

I laughed out loud. :)

Donna said...

Thank you so much for reading, Emerald! Sometimes ya wonder if it all just goes into the void--and I'm always glad to know what worked :-).

Jeremy Edwards said...

I'm so glad you're continuing to column! (Hmm, can I get away with using column as a verb?) Every month, I look forward to seeing what you've "cooked up."