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....

Swing! Into Summer

It must be something in the air. First Alison Tyler is having wild sex dreams and now my own Herr Doktor reported an amusing nocturnal adventure he and I engaged in during the wee hours of last night. Apparently, I'd invited a few couples over for a swinging party, but--and this part is pretty nightmarish--we hadn't straightened up the house at all! On top of that Herr Doktor wasn't really happy with his choices of swing partners. Apparently I'd been rather selfish, unlike my protagonist in "John Updike Made Me Do It," and tapped couples where the guy was more appealing. Worse yet, before the action got going, he woke up, which left me feeling a bit frustrated when he related the story.

Until I remembered that today is the day Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers, edited by Jolie du Pre, is released in a sweet take-it-to-bed-with-you print edition. This is one fantastic collection, offering every possibility of couple sharing fun. And the action never ends before the satisfying climax! So, if you're more of an old-fashioned type, be sure to pick up a copy for a sizzling summer read.

In honor of the new release, I'm posting another excerpt from my story, "John Updike Made Me Do It," which takes place just when the party in a Tahoe ski cabin gets going good.

"John Updike Made Me Do It"

The sliding doors swished open behind us and Jurgen and Katharina appeared. As Jill promised, they climbed into the hot tub totally nude.

I felt Nick’s body stiffen beside me. No doubt he was stiffening in his swim trunks as well. I myself sneaked a look at Jurgen: dark blond pubic hair, an uncut dick, gorgeous thigh muscles. No wonder Jill lingered on the deck in her robe, enthralled at this vision of Nordic male beauty.

“Get in, babe,” Ben called, gesturing to the empty place between him and Jurgen.

“I’m not sure I have the nerve to do this,” Jill said with a small laugh.

“You’ve lived in Europe, liebchen. I remember when you were not so shy,” Jurgen teased.

Jaw set bravely, she took a deep breath and shrugged out of the robe. She practically sprinted the five steps to the hot tub, one arm over her full breasts, the other shielding her crotch.

“The sky did not fall down upon you, did it?” Jurgen said with an indulgent smile. He smiled at the rest of the bathing suit brigade, eyebrows lifted in a dare.

Nick shot back with a “no thanks” and Ben shook his head.

I’m not sure why I rose to the bait. Maybe I wanted to shatter their image of me as a coward and a prude. Or maybe on a subconscious level, I wanted to nudge things along. “Oh, I’m going to get naked, I just thought I’d wait until we all start having sex.”

Five heads turned to me, mouths gaping.

Jurgen’s eyes flickered with approval. “I have no argument with that. Or is this an example of the famous American sense of humor?”

“Don’t underestimate Maria,” Ben said with his usual I’m-just-joking grin. “She acts innocent, but I’m told she has a wild side. She’s into swinging.”

“So are we,” Jurgen replied matter-of-factly. He obviously wasn’t kidding.

Katharina’s serene smile left no doubt it was true. “It is very refreshing to meet another daring couple,” she said, turning to Nick. “I see you agree sex is a healthy adult pleasure also. Like skiing.”

Nick and I exchanged a glance. Be careful what you wish for….

But I saw something else in his eyes, too, a reflection of my own dark urges. The barriers of ordinary life had indeed softened in the thin mountain air. It was as if I were floating, beyond the rules of time and space. This could be Europe or 1968. We could be our parents or grandparents, taking that first sweet taste of sexual possibility, or characters from a novel whose very existence depended on doing something shocking to keep the pages turning.

I’m not exactly sure who actually made the first move, but things progressed quickly from there....

My Writing Secrets Revealed!

It's been a great holiday weekend--wine parties with friends, a repeat viewing of one of my favorite erotic movies, The Lover, some freezing cold, yet always heart-warming, soccer down by the bay. But this morning I got my biggest holiday treat! I'm honored to be a guest today over at Logical Lust's blog (they're the wonderfully writer-friendly publishers of Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers) where I talk about writer's block, writing resources, how I do my research and my favorite compliments. This is more of a discussion of craft and process than my usual interview, so I'd be curious what you all think. Please do drop by and leave a comment if you're so inspired!

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

In honor of the release of Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers edited by Jolie du Pre (now available for Amazon Kindle), I just had to share this provocative photograph. I would love to read the article by Edward Dengrove, M.D. as well, but it maybe be lost in the mists of history. Wife swapping, or swinging, will play a role in the opening of my novel-in-progress, so it's been in my thoughts. I'm sure this group is exactly what my heroine's husband has in mind when he suggests some sexual experimentation will strengthen their marriage. The key to a good key party? Carnations and corsages, of course....

More Viva to come!

Another Kind of Fetish?

We've all heard of voyeurs, but Marina St. Clare's expose of the secret life of musicians over at Jeremy Edwards' blog yesterday--a response to his lovely "Warming the Bench," an Oysters and Chocolate tale of a very harmonious duet in a practice room--got me thinking about another flavor of sexual pleasure. This one doesn't have an official name, so I'll give it my own French twist. If voyeurs find pleasure in watching the sexual behavior of others, the "auditeur" finds pleasure in listening.

I can't say that listening to another couple's sensual sounds is something I seek out, rather it has been thrust upon me now and then through thin walls. At first I usually find it embarrassing, but, since in most cases I've been a captive audience, I gradually get into the rhythm. One very memorable set of encounters happened the second time I lived in Japan. My neighbor and her boyfriend were very loud on occasion, usually at two in the morning. Separated from my new husband by an ocean, I lay in my futon listening with envious annoyance. Yet eventually I realized it was language study of a rare and important kind! And, just for the record, while the Japanese couple made beautiful music together and obviously had a wonderful sex life, they were both quite homely--but an auditeur need not worry about such things. He or she is freed from the tyranny of the visual.

And of course, now that I write erotica and read it out loud whenever I have the chance, I've come to appreciate a new variation on the experience of the auditeur, which, to be catholic about it, includes phone sex, podcasts, public readings of my work and other auditory media.

Marina's comment also reminded me of a scene from my story, "John Updike Made Me Do It" from Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers, the newly released and very hot anthology edited by Jolie du Pre. I thought it might be fun to give you an auditeur's excerpt in honor of the power of sound. I'll also be posting Marina's stimulating report from the practice room here tomorrow. If you have any of your own auditory excerpts to share, let me know. We can have our own fetish festival right here!

From "John Updike Made Me Do It":

Aural Orgy

We finally got to the cabin in King’s Beach around eleven. Good old Jill was waiting up for us in the kitchen with a pot of cinnamon tea.

“Sorry about the bad luck with the weather, you guys.”

“No problem,” Nick said, giving Jill a peck on the cheek. “Maria and I had a nice long talk in the car.”

“Actually there’s another little complication tonight. I thought this place had three bedrooms, but the third queen bed is the sleeper sofa in the living room. Katharina and Jurgen took the bedroom on the other side of the house and they’ll be walking through your room to get to the bathroom.”

Nick and I exchanged glances. That could put a damper on the sex part of our holiday weekend—unless we decided to live dangerously.

“And…um,” Jill began with an apologetic smile.

“What is it now, Jilly-bean?” Nick said, in not-quite-mock annoyance. In fact, they did act a lot like brother and sister.

“So, you know how Germans are more comfortable with their bodies than Americans?”

Nick shot me a what-the-fuck grin. We were both a bit punchy from the drive.

“Just so you’re prepared, sometimes Katharina and Jurgen walk around the house in the nude.”

We held our laughter until we were snuggled together on the sofa bed, snowflakes still battering the windows.

“Beware the naked Germans,” Nick whispered as I muffled my giggles in his shoulder. His hands slipped under my nightshirt and he slowly, teasingly inched it up over my breasts.

“Hey, are you sure you want to do this? A naked German might walk in on us any minute.”

“We can pull them into bed with us. That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Without waiting for my answer, Nick scooted under the blankets and eased open my thighs. He knew once he got to work with his mouth down there, I’d stop arguing.

Sure enough, the instant his tongue met my clit, jolts of familiar pleasure shot through me. I arched back on the bed, but remembered where we were just in time to swallow down a moan. However, to be honest, the thought of fucking in a semi-public place where a stranger might see us turned me on in a big way. Besides, keeping quiet seemed to increase the sensation, sounds of my pleasure trapped and throbbing in my belly. My mind was teeming with images, too, fragments from the evening all tumbled together like trail mix. Nick fucking Grace, while Heather rode his face, their sweat-slick breasts swaying as they writhed in ecstasy. I watched the lewd scene before me while Jill’s faceless German friend groped my nude body, pinching my nipple, twisting it, just as Nick was doing in real life now.

I bit the corner of the pillow to keep from crying out. Every moist click of his tongue, every creak of the cheap mattress as I rocked my ass up for more, seemed to roar in my ears like a jet engine.

They could hear everything. They all knew exactly what we were doing.

Suddenly I heard a soft knocking filtering down from Jill and Ben’s room in the loft. Tap, tap, squeak. It took a moment before I realized what it was: a headboard nudging the wall, another mattress protesting under the thrusts of joined bodies.

Ben must have been waiting up for Jill. He had to watch the German woman parade around naked all evening and he was desperate for release. Jill was now paying for her friend’s provocation as she lay beneath her husband’s big body, his dick sliding in and out of her swollen, pink pussy. Tap, tap, squeak.

My thighs began to shake. I was close. Nick pulled away and rose to his knees, guiding his cock into my very wet cunt.

He bent forward and his lips closed over mine. We began to move together in our familiar rhythm, making love as we always did. Except tonight we had company.

Tap, tap, squeak.

Now another voice joined the chorus, a low feminine moan, with a hint of Bach. Jill’s friends from Bonn were fucking, too. On top of the blankets, of course, their nude bodies fully exposed. The heady mix of sex sounds swirled through my head in an aural orgy, dancing down my spine to gather in my cunt.

We’re all fucking. Together. Friends, strangers, fucking, coming.

It was too much.

I climaxed, my teeth biting into the pillow. Nick was right behind me, his face twisted in a mute grimace of pleasure.

A few moments later the knocking above and the moans from the front room subsided. I heard six pairs of lips exhale in a collective sigh of carnal contentment.

John Updike couldn’t have planned it better.

Tomorrow's a Swinging Day!

Yes, with all the build-up of the tantalizing blog tour, I'm just dying to read the sizzling hot stories in editor Jolie du Pre's Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Authors.

And tomorrow, April 24, my dream will come true! It's a big day for Swing! authors. There's a party at the Swing! yahoo group from morning until midnight where you can chat with the editor and contributors and win Swing! prizes.

In the meantime, check out the Swing! book trailer on Youtube with Tara Tainton.

Swing Blog Tour: "John Updike Made Me Do It"

Welcome to the Sex, Food and Writing stop of the all-star Swing! Blog Tour, a month-long party leading up to the publication of Swing! Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers on April 24, 2009. Please help yourself to the sushi and saké cocktails to satisfy your foodie urges--we'll get to the sex and writing part very soon. But first I wanted to say how much I've been enjoying the interviews on the tour so far, first with editor Jolie du Pre and then with the U.K.'s foremost expert on the swinger scene, Ashley Lister. I think we'll have to collect all the spot-on useful writing advice when this tour is over and make another anthology!

But now, my responses to the Swing! Blog Tour questions, including an excerpt from my story of a swinging literary obsession. So let's Swing!

SWING!: Why do you write erotica and what do you love best about it?

DGS: When I first started writing erotica about twelve years ago, it wasn’t a conscious choice. I’d just left teaching to be with my new baby and decided to devote his nap times to fiction writing, which is something I’d always wanted to try. Somehow, whenever I sat down at the keyboard, sexy stories just seemed to flow through my fingers and onto my computer screen. This was far from the respectable masterpieces I’d hoped to write, but then again I’d never felt so excited or fulfilled by any work I’d ever done in my life. It was thrilling to write about sex honestly from the female point of view and discover familiar truths in erotic stories by other women writers, because of course, I started reading a lot of contemporary erotica for the first time, too. So much of the sex written by our most celebrated American writers—such as Philip Roth, John Updike and Saul Bellow--represented the male experience.

What I love best about this genre is that I can celebrate good sex and the many ways sexual desire enriches our lives. In literary fiction, sex tends to be bad and sad or both. Popular magazines constantly offer us a flood of fluff pieces every month about sexless marriages or five steps to better orgasms, but rarely do they go deeper than chirping self-help platitudes. Sex is either poison or a reason to buy something to “improve” yourself.

Of course, it’s so much more. When I start a new story, I feel as if I’m trying to figure out yet another mystery about sexual desire. What makes power play so alluring? How does swinging enrich a couple’s relationship? What new things can you see through a blindfold? Erotica gives me the chance to break free from our society’s fear of sex to capture the magic of the erotic urge. I also have to mention that one of my favorite parts about my work is connecting with fellow erotica writers and being part of such projects as Swing! People who write dirty stories are very cool!

Tell us about your story in Swing! Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers and please feel free to give us an excerpt.

My Swing! story is called “John Updike Made Me Do It,” which refers to the heroine’s life-long fascination with the couples’ swapping scenarios in John Updike’s novels. The story is as much a celebration of the way Updike’s portrayal of suburban life in the 1960s captured America’s imagination, as it is the depiction of a polyamorous party. So in that sense, John Updike really did make me do it--although I definitely had fun writing the many juicy sexual encounters. Like all of my stories, it started out as an intriguing question and ended up teaching me a lot about my own desires and yearnings, both sexual and literary.

By the way, this story had already been written and accepted for Swing! when I heard news of Updike’s death in January. Now I realize the story is a kind of eulogy for a writer I both admire and struggle against in my efforts to present the erotic experience from the female point of view.

I thought about excerpting one of the, ahem, climactic scenes, but didn’t want to be the cause of undo blushing on this very decorous blog tour, so I’ll offer up the opening scene which merely suggests the pleasures that await in the pages beyond.

From "John Updike Made Me Do It"

Roots of an Obsession

John Updike made me do it.

He definitely deserves a lot of credit anyway.

Because when I think back on that night in Tahoe, it’s almost as if he were right there in the hot tub with us, his lips stretched in a patrician smile as he guided my hand over to caress the rock-hard cock of a man who was not my husband. Of course said husband was too busy sucking the rosy nipples of the German woman, Katharina, to notice or care. And Jurgen and Jill were already kissing as if they’d done it dozens of times, which they hinted they had when Jill spent her junior year in Bonn. None of them seemed to need John Updike’s help, although no doubt they had his blessing.

Updike had been softening me up for this night for years. Sitting in the effervescent spa water with five other horny married people, the Sierras soaring around us into the star-flecked sky, it was just like stepping into the pages of a steamy novel. In fact, it was the same surreal excitement I felt as I devoured Rabbit is Rich or Couples under the blankets as a teenager. Sneaking them from the bookshelves in my parents’ room, I instinctively knew I could only read them when I heard the soft click of their bedroom lock at night.

While my parents “did it” the customary way--with each other in their marriage bed, their lust invisible to the world--the couples in John Updike’s stories were fearlessly experimental, so they ended up all jumbled together like Halloween candy in a plastic pumpkin. They’d jet off to the Caribbean where the wives would confer to redistribute sex partners for the night. Or they’d fall into affairs, then confess to their spouses who would graciously consent to sleep with their cuckolded counterparts to even the score. Even Updike’s memoirs glittered with shocking transgression. I can’t tell you how many times I masturbated to the scene of Updike fingering a neighbor’s wife through her ski pants as they drove back from Vermont through a starry winter night.

I knew these were just stories, maybe even pure fantasy, but I sensed, too, that John Updike was giving me a glimpse of the hunger and restlessness of the adult world. What were these people looking for in their swaps and affairs? Did they ever find it?

Would I?....

Name some other books where we can find your work.

DGS: For a book that’s all me, all the time, check out Amorous Woman (Neon/Orion), my semi-autobiographical novel set in Japan that was published last summer. I took my inspiration from a 17th century erotic classic by Ihara Saikaku about a woman who loved sex and had many adventures, taking on every role open to women of the time from the concubine of a provincial lord to a lowly streetwalker. I thought it might be interesting to translate that into a modern story of a sexually curious Western woman trying out all the roles available to her in Japan. I tried my best to make the tale as steamy as a hot spring bath, plus add in plenty of humor in keeping with the tone of the original. For a sample, check out my website or my provocative book trailer on Youtube which includes racy Japanese erotic prints mixed in with embarrassing photos of me without any clothes on.

I’ve also had the honor to work with many wonderful erotica anthology editors over the years, and my short fiction has appeared most recently in Susie Bright’s X: The Erotic Treasury,
Maxim Jakubowski’s The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 8, Violet Blue’s Best Women’s Erotica 2009, Alison Tyler’s Never Have the Same Sex Twice, and Rachel Kramer Bussel’s The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories.

And of course, being part of Jolie du Pre’s Swing! is a long-time dream come true.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently plotting out my second novel, an “intellectual erotic mystery,” that is a peek through the bedroom keyhole of American history in the 20th century. I’ll pay homage to Sally Rand, the famous 1930s burlesque dancer, Bettie Page and camera clubs in the 1950s. John Updike’s spouse-swapping suburbia will play a “key” part in the story as well. Swing! has been a great inspiration for me in this particular area!

If you could offer one piece of advice to a new author, what would it be?

Writers create fiction and fantasies, but we can also get distracted by some common fantasies about “success” in writing that make us forget what’s really important—the creative act itself. I remember reading a memoir piece by John Updike bemoaning the fact his novels were no longer available in every airport kiosk. Here’s a writer who is by any measure a huge success, and it wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Sales and good reviews do feed the ego for a while, but the greatest satisfaction will come from like-minded colleagues who support you, readers who give you the gift of their time, and most of all your connection with the magical power of language to create something surprising and true.

In short, the process is the gold. Treasure it!

The Swing! Blog Tour continues on April 6 at Alicia Night Orchid's very erotic blog.

Get Ready to SWING!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Story Soup and Sexy Readers

The April ERWA columns are up today, and there isn't any fooling around this month for yours truly. My "Cooking Up a Storey" continues its sexual and culinary meditations with Story Soup: Forbidden Fodder, Mystery Spices, and Very Embarrassed Eggs. First I muse about the way our pasts inform our writing and how, ironically for writers working with often taboo subject matter, it is taboo to acknowledge the roots of our work. As I was writing this month's column in the midst of my own focus on the creative process, I came to this realization about the self-reflective nature of this year's "Cooking" project:

The more I stirred the stewing pot of my own psyche, the more I realized how many different elements nourished my imagination. Some were obvious, some secret and subtle, but the bubbling brew began to seem very much like a homemade soup, crafted without a clearly defined recipe but rich with the freshest produce at hand and piquant spices from my cupboard. In short, when I write, I really am cooking up a story. Who knew?

It's nice to know I can at least convince myself of the relationship between cooking, writing, and sex! Then at the conclusion of my soul-searching taboo talk, you'll be rewarded with some juicy descriptions of Sunday dinners at my grandma's and an old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch recipe for a way to use up hardboiled eggs.

This month's "Shameless Self-Promotion: Websites, Blog-sites and the All-Mighty Reader" talks about the importance of seeing our readers as people, not sales stats, and ways to make your website reflect your sensibility, which is what readers connect with when they buy your book. I take a quick tour of some websites and blog-sites I like by Lisabet Sarai, Susan DiPlacido, and Jeremy Edwards and I also interview Lisabet Sarai at the ERWA blog about what she's learned from her recent website redesign.

The other day I was looking through notes and saw that my one-day publicist, Lauren Cerand, recommended an author actively promotes her book for one year. I'm not sure if she meant I should start counting from the pre-publication work I did, which would mean I should stop now, or that the clock starts ticking from the publication date (which gives me until June). Writing the Shamless Self-Promotion column is definitely helping me figure out what worked, what didn't and what I want to do next time, so that's been very helpful for me!

Tomorrow brings the start of another very exciting event, the all-star blog tour for SWING! Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers. I'm the host on April 3 with an excerpt from my story and lots of secrets to share. It's truly a fabulous roster of writers and we'll be blogging all month long. Come hang, and swing, with us!

An Intriguing Elevator Encounter

Today's storyteller in Suite 69 is the lovely Emerald and get ready for some glittery, tantalizing fun. First she'll tease you with a scene in a hotel elevator that will have you breathless to find out what happens next. Then you'll realize total satisfaction is not quite within reach because this excerpt from "What We Do" is on the verge of release in Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers. Not that there's anything wrong with teetering on the edge, when the wait itself is so pleasurable!

In keeping with our hotel conference theme, I invite you to the breakfast buffet that room service has just delivered. We have our classic conference menu (according the Herr Doktor, who is very familiar with these things): a fruit tray with melon, pineapple, strawberries and grapes; muffins and bagels with individual tubs of cream cheese, a pitcher of orange juice covered in Saran Wrap (which we might put to good use later); and urns of coffee, decaf and hot water for tea. While you're nibbling your muffin, and admiring the entrancing photograph by Nikki Magennis take a nibble of this titillating tale:

"What We Do" by Emerald

“Hold the elevator please,” Jackson called as we hurried to the open door.

Immediately I saw my cute young professional inside. I squeezed Jackson's hand and met his eyes. Jackson followed my glance as I sent a sidelong glance to the young man on my other side and then grinned at me.

“Here for the conference?” Jackson asked the object of my attraction, sidling over beside him without moving me any further away. “I'm Jackson Blake,” he said, offering his hand and explaining his position with the company sponsoring the conference.

“Seth Harris,” Cute Young Professional said somewhat uncertainly, glancing at me quickly before turning back to Jackson. “Yes, I'm actually just an intern, but my company wanted me to come for the experience.”

They talked about their respective workplaces as the elevator door opened at the lobby floor. The other occupants exited. The three of us followed suit and paused in the elevator corridor.

“This is my wife Victoria, by the way,” Jackson said heartily.

I stepped forward and shook Seth's warm hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Seth seemed slightly uncomfortable as he smiled back and then looked back and forth between Jackson and me.

“Yes, she decided to accompany me even though I told her how busy I was going to be,” Jackson continued with a smile. “They've got me working 10-hour days here. I imagine it's not nearly so busy for you though, Seth? Maybe the two of you could get together some day while I'm off working.”

I barely smothered a laugh of surprise. Seth looked nervous, which I found understandable, and said, “Uh, well -”

“I know Victoria gets pretty hot and horny all day up in our room all by herself. She loves fucking in hotels. Maybe you could stop by sometime when you're free during the day and take care of her.”

Poor Seth looked like he was about to swallow his tongue.

Jackson smiled at him. “Our room is 719. Just call up during the day if you're interested.” He offered his hand again, which Seth shook mechanically. “Nice to meet you.”

I offered my hand too and gave Seth's a squeeze, trying a warm smile to snap him out of his shock. Then I turned and followed Jackson, leaving my cute young professional standing dazed behind us.

Well, I'm hoping young Seth has a few surprises of his own in store...more, more, more!

John Updike Made Me Do It

It’s one of life’s many ironies that we earn the most praise for our deeds after we’re dead. This is particularly true of writers. Since John Updike’s death from lung cancer at 76 on January 27th, his books have been topping the charts at Amazon, which, no doubt was not the case on January 26th.

John Updike is undoubtedly one of the best-known American writers of the later twentieth-century, a member of the coveted New Yorker “first-read contract” elite. What he is perhaps best known for is writing about sex. Updike managed to write a lot of sex--sell millions of paperbacks in airports and drugstores to non-literary readers--and yet still maintain his standing of artistic respectability.

At the X: The Erotic Treasury reading at Books Inc. last Thursday, Susie Bright said that John Updike influenced the way we write erotica today. I know he influenced me, although in complex ways. My parents’ copies of Couples and the Rabbit Books were indeed some of my first exposures to erotic scenes (The Godfather being the very first, of course). And Updike was inarguably a master of prose. Andrew Sullivan wrote recently: “I do not recall ever reading a bad Updike sentence.” I agree.

But I have read Updike passages and stories that rubbed me very much the wrong way. The “wrong” part was never the style, but rather the point of view, specifically the honest POV of a white male born in the 1930s.

I can’t tell you how glad I am to be part of MY generation instead. Our moms had it tough and it’s not just John Updike who harbored the sexist, belittling attitude toward women. You can see this in “Mad Men,” and in countless grandpas still holding the standard of the Greatest Generation. A number of them have told me I'm a bad writer--for some reason, I've gotten my nastiest criticism from old guys, many of whom have just started writing themselves. The first few times I was devastated, but I'm getting better at dealing with the WWII crowd.

But I digress. For a while there I would get really pissed at Updike’s male protagonists, their arrogance, their supposed celebration of female sexuality but only if the woman was compliant and bovine. Intellectual women were strident, neurotic, punished with diseases and divorce. I kept wondering if John Updike were writing as himself (Joyce Carol Oates famously called Rabbit Angstrom “John Updike without the talent.”) Eventually though I decided it didn’t matter if the annoyingly retro male narrators were actually Updike or not. He was giving me an honest portrait of an elite, suburban American male of the mid-twentieth century. I didn’t have to like him or agree with him, but it was interesting to get a glimpse into his view of the world. And with publications in The New Yorker and Playboy, he was certainly part of our culture's collective imagination.

When the call for Jolie du Pre’s Swing!: Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers went out last summer, I knew I wanted to work with her, but I wasn’t exactly an expert on the topic. However, I did have a wealth of memories of John Updike’s fiction and memoirs that lay glittering in my brain like unmined treasure. And so I turned to his work as inspiration for my story, “John Updike Made Me Do It,” just as my protagonist channels him to inspire her own experiment in partner swapping. You can read an excerpt at Jolie’s Swing! blog, in honor of John Updike and his literary legacy "King of Sex and Suburbia" (and compare my prose to Updike’s scene which won him a “Bad Sex in Fiction Award.” I’d be worried I might suffer by comparison, but I think you have to be famous to be considered for that honor.)

Swing! is coming out soon and has a wonderful list of contributors, including Neve Black, M. Christian, Jolie du Pre, Jeremy Edwards, Emerald, Ashley Lister, and Sage Vivant among others. I can’t wait to read the stories! No doubt they will enrich my sense of possibility beyond the realm of Updike. For indeed although a writer of his stature may achieve immortality, death brings inevitable limitations to a vision rooted firmly in the past.