Wednesday, July 21, 2010

John Updike Made Me Do It


I'm thrilled to announce that my story, "John Updike Made Me Do It," is now available in its full natural splendor at Clean Sheets as of today!

This story is a favorite of mine, originally written for a themed anthology on polyamory, Swing!, edited by Jolie du Pre. (Check out that steamy book for an entire feast of polyamorously perverse short stories). When the call for the book went out, I knew I wanted to work with Jolie, but my real-life experiences with swinging were minimal to say the least. Fantasy, of course, is a different matter, and I immediately thought of John Updike and his tales of suburban sexual adventure as the perfect inspiration. Under John Updike's influence, I cooked up a story involving hot tubs, Tahoe and three married couples in a free-wheeling vacation frame of mind, not unlike the swapping game in Rabbit is Rich.

A few months after I wrote this story, in January 2009, John Updike passed away. I was glad then and still am, that I could acknowledge his influence on my work--as both a dutiful daughter and a rebellious one.

I suppose you really can say John Updike made me do this. Funny how life works that way....

7 comments:

Jeremy Edwards said...

I love that story! I'm glad he made you do it.

Donna said...

LOL, Jeremy. In my fiction anyway, men are always making me do things and I'm glad always glad they did!

SusanD said...

Loved this story, Donna!

Nikki Magennis said...

Oh, that was brilliant, thanks for the read, Donna!

Craig Sorensen said...

Thanks John Updike. Thanks Donna!

Such a great story!

Donna said...

Susan, Nikki and Craig, Thanks SO much for your support! I appreciate your coming along to Updike land with me ;-).

Emerald said...

This is one of my favorite stories of yours, Donna. Congrats on the reprint—I'm so glad to see it further exposed! :)

Xoxo