Sex and Power, Night and Day

My new column is up at ERWA today, "Sex and Power, Night and Day," and I had a particularly good time writing this one! Although we allow that night dreams speak to us in inscrutable code, daydreams are assumed to be a literal expression of desire. At least fantasies are treated as that transparent and dangerous, and thus we learn not to speak of them. But I believe they deserve the same treatment we give a literary text, with a respect for the deeper, hidden possibilities in the story. Plus, I argue that power-play erotica packs its punch because it takes on two taboos in our society--the unspeakable truths of sex and power. Let me know what you think!

The Erotic Magic of She Said-He Said

I’ve been having a very good time reading my contributor’s copy of Sudden Sex: 69 Sultry Short Stories edited by Alison Tyler and including favorite writers such as Jeremy Edwards, Vida Bailey, Heidi Champa and Jax Baynard.  Erotica definitely lends itself to the shorter form.  When I write erotic stories under 2000 words, I definitely find myself turning up the heat for a quick boil.  But I still like to have all the ingredients for a good story ready to mix in for a satisfying result! 

A number of authors have more than one story in the anthology, so it’s also been interesting to see how the two stories complement each other.  Some, like Alison Tyler’s “Booked” and “Bookended,” which open and close the book, portray a promising meeting between a client and a bookstore employee, following by an even more promising first date.  The wordplay and meta aspects are as much fun as the kinky sex!

My two stories in the book were lots of fun to write because the first, “Frank,” is the “she said” and the second, “Eva,” is the “he said” of a femsub relationship.  Exploring the same scene from two different points of view, getting deep inside two different minds, is the kind of exciting writers love most.  I’d like to whet your appetite with two sample views of the same moment.  I didn’t want to give too much away, so if you find these tame, all I can say is get yourself a copy of Sudden Sex and read the stories!

From “Frank”:

I perched myself at the edge of the bed feeling very much on edge myself.  Who knew what Frank would do tonight?  I was suddenly aware of the warm slickness between my legs.

Frank could make me wet before he even touched me.

Just then he sauntered into the bedroom, an impressive erection already tenting his robe.  I blushed and looked away.

He sat on the bed beside me.  “You have something naughty to tell me, don’t you, Eva?  I know that expression on your face.”

My cheeks flamed brighter.

“Are you going to confess or will I need to resort to firmer means?”

I felt another gush of arousal ooze down my thighs.  “While I waited for you, I ....”

“Out with it.”

“I touch... touched myself.”

“Indeed?  Do you think of me and masturbate when you’re at home, too?”

I nodded reluctantly.

Frank clicked his tongue.  “Your poor bastard of a husband has no idea how depraved you are.  You know you need to be disciplined for this?”

I nodded again, my heart now thumping against my ribs.

Calmly, deliberately, Frank arranged my body diagonally across the bed and tied my wrists to the bed poster with the belts of our robes.... 

From “Eva”:

Eva meets me at the door in the hotel bathrobe, bright-eyed and gorgeous.  I swear I can smell her pussy, like fresh baked bread.  I know that shaving for me arouses her, but something else is afoot.  A secret.  Almost as if she’s had a lover while I was gone.

My cock twitches. 

I send her off to bed and go change into a robe myself.  When I join her, Eva’s sitting on the edge of the bed studying the carpet and looking guilty as hell.

“You have something naughty to tell me, don’t you, Eva?  I know that expression on your face.”

She stutters, but finally admits that she masturbated while she waited for me.  My cock gets harder.  I can just picture her in the bath, her cunt all dewy, that slim finger jiggling away in the folds. 

I ask her if she fantasizes about me when she masturbates at home, behind the back of her poor unwitting husband.

She bites her lip and nods.

“You know you need to be disciplined for this?”

She catches her breath. 

I smile.  She’s handed me the perfect reason to tie her up—to keep those wandering fingers from doing more mischief.  It’s always easier to push the limits when she “deserves” it.  Still I pay close attention to her response as I bind her wrists to the bed post with the belts of our robes.  This was new for us.  So far, so good....

The "Downton Abbey Dirty Story"--My Next Big Thing for 2013!

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop continues to gallop through the blogosphere, and I was recently tagged by the very talented literary writer, Naomi Williams.  Our relationship is in itself an interesting story.  We first met in my senior year of college in Japanese 101.  Because Naomi was a freshman at the time, we didn’t get to know each other well, but we certainly did when we met again several years later as graduate students in Japanese literature at Stanford. 

Fate would have it that after Stanford, we both turned our focus to creative writing.  While I’ve been a very bad girl and shamelessly penned over a 150 erotic stories with lots of filthy words, Naomi’s work has won a Pushcart Prize and appeared in first-rate literary journals such as One Story and The Gettysburg Review.  One of my very favorite of her stories is the humorous and experimental and irreverent “Sunday School,” which was recorded for KQED’s Writer’s Block radio literary archive.  You can listen to it here.  It’s brilliant!

Last week as part of the Next Big Thing Blog Hop, Naomi described her fascinating story collection-in-progress, Landfalls, which re-imagines events in and around the La Pérouse expedition, an 18th-century voyage of exploration that started in France in 1785 and ended with shipwreck in the South Seas in 1788.  I’ve read some of the stories, and it’s literary fiction at its best, so know you have a treat coming.
 
I’m taking this blog-hop-stop opportunity to talk about my work-in-progress, a novella set in early twentieth-century London. This is a bit of an impulse project, but since 13 is my lucky number, I figured 2013 is a great year to indulge myself in a just-for-fun story.  Here goes:

What is the working title of your novella?



“The Downton Abbey Dirty Story.”  Or possibly an "X-rated Upstairs, Downstairs," but that first title always makes me smile, and a happy writer is a productive writer.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?



A fresh-faced village girl goes into service in a grand London townhouse and learns a lot about the surprising intimate needs of her employers.

Where did the idea come from for the book?


Decades of watching PBS.

What genre does your book fall under?

You’ll find my book under these labels in your local e-store:  Erotic Anglophilia, Social Class Pornography, Vintage Underwear Studies


Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?


Lawrence Olivier and Julie Christie.  Okay, we’re talking 50 years ago, but the imagination knows no boundaries, does it?

Will your book be self-published or sold through a publisher?



I’m not sure.  I probably should check out the wonderful world of self-publishing, but publishers do provide more exposure, so to speak, and my book is all about exposing things.  I’ll probably try a publisher first.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?



The short story that inspired the longer work took about a week to finish, but the ideas kept flowing until I just knew I had to keep going with this project.  I expect a few months for the novella.  Yet in another a sense, I’ve been writing this in my head since I first started watching Masterpiece Theatre on Channel 13 back in my Washington, D.C. youth.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Fanny Hill.  Tipping the Velvet.  Autobiography of a Flea.

What inspired you to write this book?



Victorian porn and Downton Abbey.  Or rather what they don’t show on Downton Abbey.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Have you ever wondered what those starchy English empire-makers really did when they retired to their bedrooms in the evening?  The lessons the gentleman brought back from Paris to gently instruct their wives in exotic pleasures?  The perverted ways pampered ladies kept their jaded husbands satisfied within the hearth and home?  Read this novella and discover the possibilities!

While you’re waiting for my new novella, check out Amorous Woman and Ageless Erotica.