Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Write Sex Week: Day Two

by Felix Baron (Nexus)

Lusty Ladies, on behalf of your myriad fans, I salute you! You deserve our fullest respect for the many benefits that you bestow upon this world. You start with nothing but your sweet sensuousness and well-honed skills and create publishable novels. That’s magic!

Consider, if one of your books sells 5,000 copies and it takes three hours to read, and it’s read only twice per copy, that’s a total of 30,000 hours of pleasure that you are responsible for. That’s 1,250 days, or almost three and a half years. Incredible?

It was Nexus editor, Peter Darvil-Evans, who told me, ‘We publish books for one-handed readers.’ I think it’s safe to assume that each reading of your novel brings about at least two orgasms. I’m including those resulting from the readers’ busy fingers, while reading; those that come later, from the fantasies that the book inspires, and those that are results of your work moving its readers to seek out their lovers for their mutual pleasure. (Two-for-one.) That’s about 10,000 orgasms induced by every novel you write! Most people don’t stimulate anywhere near that many in other people in an entire lifetime. That’s an achievement to be proud of!

Further, you ladies are educators. How many people, I wonder, first learned to locate and appreciate the clitoris or the G-spot from reading sexy fiction? Those revelations can be life-changing. I’ve heard of young women who suffered unslaked lust to their early twenties, or sometimes beyond, because neither they nor their partners knew which cute little pink buttons to push, to induce la petite morte. You’ve saved relationships. You’ve brought continuing joy to countless thousands. Be proud.

Your tutelage isn’t confined to anatomy. You teach tolerance and acceptance. You’ve brought masturbation out of the closet. Thanks to erotic writers, the shame that has crippled so many lives is in rapid retreat.

It isn’t just self-loving that erotica writers have rescued from ignominy. By reading erotica, people can see a pair of thighs gleaming above lacy stocking-tops through the admiring eyes of a leg-fetishist; gaze into cleavages with the glee of boob-fanatics; appreciate the allure of skinny bad-boys or beefy bears; feel the sweet bite of canes through the tingling senses of masochists and enjoy the swelling pride of dominants who are being served well. Those vicarious experiences don’t change the sexual preferences of readers but they do help them to understand tastes that some might consider deviant and unnatural.

More importantly, through erotica, fetishists of all stripes learn that they are not alone. Others appreciate the allure of toe-cleavage. Others fantasize about their public nudity being applauded by the sound of mass masturbation. Whatever your kink, if it’s safe, sane and consensual, there should be no shame in it. (Unless shame turns you on, of course.)

It was here that I read Murray Suid’s witty account of his writing a book review for his college paper, and mentioning cunnilingus. His Dean reprimanded him, not for the prurience of his content, but for perpetuating the myth that such acts were performed in real life. If the simple act of oral love can be considered mythical, isn’t even more absurd to think that people might enjoy being spanked, or buggered, or bound?

Your works, ladies, simultaneously give us permission to be honest about who we are and defy those who would blame us for not being repressed and prudish.

Madeline Moore and I write movie scripts. Over recent months, we have been adapting some of the scripts we’ve written and not sold, into novels.

(Adam was kind enough to publish the first such adaptation as my erotic novel, Dominant.) The process of turning scripts into novels has brought home to us an important advantage that the written word has over tales told in moving pictures.
In a movie, you might watch a 17th Century Parisian seamstress find solace with her last candle. (Warming her hands at its flame. What did you think I meant?) In a novel, however, you can be that seamstress.

Only the written word can take people inside characters. The difference between watching a movie and reading a book is the same as the difference between sympathy and empathy. In an erotic movie, you can see and hear a character express joy at buggering or being buggered; dominating or submitting; sucking or being sucked. In an erotic book, you can share the characters’ glee from the inside. That way, you can truly understand not only the physical sensations, but the emotional ones. It might seem contradictory, but there is more realism in what you read than in what you watch.

All of the foregoing, ladies, was foreplay. It’s a preamble to the meat of my essay, which is that I am delighted that Black Lace is both for and by women. Most of the opinions I’ve expressed so far pertain to all writers of erotica, male or female. There is, however, an important difference, to the readers, if they know beyond any shred of doubt that the authors are of the fair sex.

I have written erotica under feminine pen-names. I suspect that my readers have often twigged my ruse. So, when I write of female characters who yearn to be sodomised or who can’t get enough of any of the depraved acts I have described, a reader might think, ‘Of course he writes like that. He’s a man. Real women don’t…’

It’s sad, but many men and even a few women, believe that women feign sensuality for duplicitous reasons – to trick men into marriage or to get pregnant or simply for pay. Yes, a woman’s sensuality can be quite different from a man’s, but it can be just as intense, or even more so.

Men doubting this has ruined many relationships. Women denying this has excused psychological frigidity. An incredible number of women consider the female orgasm to be a myth – and I’m not talking about ejaculation.

But, when a writer who is ‘certified female’ invites readers of both sexes into her mind and extols the pleasures of fellatio or cunninlingus or buggery, and describes in fervent detail the ecstatic glee of a fine climax, no one can deny the truth of what she writes. Women readers can learn that such joy is within their reach. Men readers can learn to become better and more trusting lovers.

Ladies of Lust, you are strippers all, baring your innermost selves, and whatever your motivations, you are simultaneously incredibly exciting and powerfully therapeutic.



Felix Baron writes in a number of genres, under various names, and teaches a Course in Writing Erotica for http://www.qualityofcourse.comHis latest novel for Nexus, Sweet As Sin, will be released in October, 2007 and is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com.

57 comments:

Kristina Lloyd said...

Man! Man! Written by a man! Damn, sorry ... I think I'm a day late. Did I miss the guessing game?

t'Sade said...

Lovely and encouraging.

Anonymous said...

Hi Felix

Thanks for your perspective on this. I'm not sure I entirely recognise your world of women who think female orgasms are mythical and men who think women feign sensuality. I'm not sure I have ever met either.

Perhaps this was the case when Black Lace started up over ten years ago, but thanks to those authors - such as our own Portia da Costa and later Deanna Ashford and Kristina Lloyd, not to mention mags like Scarlet and Bust, and the work of Susie Bright and Violet Blue (previous LB guests, of course) and our own trailblazer Alison Tyler things have moved on. And moved on fast.

Nowadays we can push the envelope even further than 'woman like sex too' and write books about rape fantasy, disability, werewolves, even Happy Ever After.

Thanks Felix for reminding us just how far we've come!

Alison Tyler said...

Oh, oh, oh! I'm a trailblazer! I've always wanted to *be* a trailblazer! (I'm so excited that I've just mistyped trailblazer twice!) Ta very much, Mat!

And thank you, Felix, for joining us for The Write Sex week!

XXX,
Alison

Unknown said...

Felix, will you marry me?
(Madeline ands Mr Kate Pearce won't mind, honestly)
what a wonderful post. I suddenly feel like a good writer after all

Kristina Lloyd said...

Ooops, I didn't mean to generalise about gender. I hope I haven't offended any men. It was written by Felix Baron - obviously! My eyesight's going - must be too many myths.

Kate, I've always felt I was a good writer (well, we all have off days but you know what I mean). Felix, I am sure you didn't intend it, but today I feel like a patronised 'lady novelist' from the 19thC!

Sorry to be brief. I'm in a rush. More later. But thanks for stopping by, Mr Baron. Very interesting.

Nikki Magennis said...

Hi Felix,

Thanks so much for coming by and giving your thoughts.

I'm curious how Nexus titles differ from Black Lace titles. Are men's and women's fantasies so clearly different? Has that changed over the years? Would I get off on a Nexus novel?

'many men and even a few women, believe that women feign sensuality for duplicitous reasons – to trick men into marriage or to get pregnant or simply for pay'.

Is that true? Hm. I can't quite believe I've met any of these men. Or women. Maybe that's ladette culture for you.

Kristina - I wonder if that's the double-edge of having a women-only imprint. Perhaps it ispatronising in some ways?

It's funny, but I don't think I've ever discussed BL being a women-only imprint with any of the lusties. How does everyone feel about it?

I'll be honest and say that (before I became an erotica writer) porn intimidated me. Perhaps coyness, or perhaps the thought of fighting through forests of pneumatic Lydia Laces to find something that might stimulate my imagination. Because everything in that field (as far as I could tell) was created by and for men.

With 'women-only' porn, I felt like I was on safe ground. That the images or scenarios wouldn't necessarily exclude me as a woman, and would be less likely to have bad-hair women acting the part of objects only.

I know some people may think I'm prudish for that but some of what Felix says I can relate to.

'Women's' erotica did liberate me, to an extent. No, not liberate. Wrong word. Vindicate. Validate.

Its not that I don't read and enjoy erotica by men. But I do think BL and other imprints were and are necessary to even the balance.

Anonymous said...

When I was younger I read some Nexus and Nexus-type books. They were okay, but, well, you know me, I like a lot of description of male bodies and masculine beauty. And, you know, rippling muscular male bodies all naked and glorious (and then transforming into wolves).

Not a lot of that in those books.

Which is why we need the Mathilde Madden Foundation for Dangerously Naked Men. God, sorry, I mean Black Lace. Yes. Black Lace.

And I agree with you, Nik, about not quite being sure there are men around who think women feign sensuality. Um, nope... Never met *them*.

Good.

Anonymous said...

Oh, sorry, technically that's the Mathilde Madden Foundation for the Preservation of Dangerously Naked Men

Not that that's important. But obviously, I'm preserving them. What else would I be doing?

Portia Da Costa said...

Hi Felix

Greetings from a fellow Nexus author! My Delaney Silver books are long out of print now, but Nexus and Forum magazine are where I first got started as an author.

Portia Da Costa
aka Delaney Silver
Nexus Author 1993-1997

Nikki Magennis said...

Portia? How did I not know you wrote for Nexus?!

And here I was wondering if anybody had written for both series. I should have guessed!

Janine Ashbless said...

Thanks Felix. That's a defence of women-only imprints I'd never have thought of, but yeah. It does give women a "safe space" to dip their toes into erotica.

And Mathilde etc - never never underestimate how thick and ill-educated people can be even in this 'enlightened' society. I have been asked by a man whether women actually feel lust the way men do.

!!!!

Megan Kerr said...

I was born into a less enlightened society - think Britain, fifty years back in time - where it was still assumed that women got all emotionally involved every time they got rodgered. Of course I set out to disprove that... ;-)

That aside, I suppose I agree with, and have never thought of, the argument that Black Lace is a sort of Final Proof that women do too like these things - be it fuckage, werewolves, or graffiti artists. Like Kristina, I prefer to assume such proof is no longer necessary. Occasionally I'm astonished to find myself in the company of people who still hold such views, and usually count to ten slowly in my head before upending the full glass of my vitriol all over them. I would certainly hate to think about my writing as me proving what women like - but one's writing can always serve purposes one doesn't intend.

I started reading erotica through Nexus, because they were easier to get hold of, and shifted to Black Lace because I'm not such a fan of role-play - rather than because I felt it was a safe-house.

Janine Ashbless said...

I started with Nexus too.

They're a bit too bonkety-bonkety-bonkety for me these days (and I tire of the unending bdsm) - but Dominant is a happy exception!

Megan Kerr said...

P.S. I don't think an all-women imprint is patronising to the writers. Unlike some "positive discrimination", it's not to give us, the writers a sorely-needed helping hand. It's an extremely successful branding and marketing line, arising from an original context where not only was very little erotica/porn targeted at women, but most women felt objectified and flattened by existing erotica/porn.
Given today's topic, I suppose there's no way to avoid riling me on the subject: I hate being identified with my gender. My writing will always be my writing, not "a woman's" writing, and I don't expect all other women to identify with / align themselves with / be held responsible for my preferences. Likewise, my opinion is my opinion, not "a woman's" opinion. All generalisations are dangerous, even this one. I realise not generalising makes the discussion of gender (or race, or height, or disability) impossible - but we should at least acknowledge the danger. So consider this a large warning post saying HERE BE DRAGONS.

Janine Ashbless said...

I agree with you entirely Olivia. I think this may be something we're discussing tomorrow.

Nikki Magennis said...

Thanks to May for giving us the nod about this program - here is a link to the gender genie.

I've tried three stories on it and haven't managed to fool it so far...

Michael Crawley said...

Wow, you must all be early risers, or British, or something!

Mathilde, I don't think I said that there are women who think female orgasms are mythical. I believe I said that some young women have failed to achieve them, out of ignorance about their own bodies. My point was that Erotica has ameliorated that situation.

As for men who think women fake sensuality, I guess those poor chaps have been fooled by the myth that women have been known to fake orgasms. Never happens, right?

You are certainly right when you say we've come a long way, largely thanks to courageous publishers.

Kate, thank you! I'm incredibly flattered. How about we settle for a torrid affair?

Kristina, I'm sorry if I came across as patronizing, if making you feel like a Jane Austen or a Bronte was that. Madeline will confirm the sincerity of my admiration for your gender in general and for LustBiters in particular, won't you, Darling? Madeline? Darling?

Nikki, I think that men's fantasies differ from women's as much as mine do from Fred's, or yours do from Mary's. If I had to generalize, I'd say that whereas men, on average, tend to fantasize about multiple female partners, women tend to fantasize about multiple male ones. Totally different, no?

Would you get off on a Nexus novel?
As they tend towards MaleDom/ Femsub, you might, if you're sub, but not if you're Dom.

'Validate!' Validation is what I was talking about, or trying to. Thank you for coming up with le mot juste.

Mathilde, good point! That's another major difference between male- and female-written erotica. Male writers tend to dwell on female anatomy, and vice-versa. I'm trying to learn something in this regard. In my Sweet as Sin I put more thought into the men's bodies, plus I have some m/f/m scenes, where the men do unto each other as well as to the woman who has come between them.

Perhaps the two Eroticas are converging? Maybe soon we male erotica writers will all write tales with plots and 3d characters who have emotions other than lust, and you female eroticists will dwell on female anatomy in sufficient detail to arouse male readers?

Portia, I must dig up some of your Nexus work. Did you change styles at all, when you switched to Black Lace? BTW, thank you for the effect your work has on Madeline.

Janine, it seems we have met similarly repressed people. Thank you for confirming that they exist.
(I feel 'validated'.)

Olivia, ditto those thanks to you. Perhaps it's a generational thing. I hope so. It'd be lovely if the misinformed bigotry that I grew up surrounded by was now extinct. (Though the woman who told me that porn movies were mainly computer generated because no real woman would actually 'do those things' was at least one generation my junior.)

Janine, you've read Dominant? Bless you! You win a prize! I'll send you an autographed copy of Sweet as Sin as soon as it comes out.

And now I lay me down to lurk. I shall return!

Cliche? Who said that?

Warmest,

Felix

Madeline Moore said...

"Madeline will confirm the sincerity of my admiration for your gender in general and for LustBiters in particular, won't you, Darling? Madeline? Darling?"

Of course. Felix loves women (especially on their knees.)hohoho.

Thanks for contributing to our Write Sex Week, Felix. I've read *all* your work (except for that horror book with the weird slimy oozy monster crawling out of its chrysalis or whatever...I haven't even looked at the cover all that closely,) and while it does examine the 'feminine wiles' in, perhaps, a less flattering manner than Black Lace books do (perhaps there we have a definite difference in the two imprints) the work is heartfelt and, in 'Dominant' at least, if not in 'Sweet As Sin' there is one honest, capable, intelligent woman who captures a man's heart without guile...

I think a main character who navigates the minefield of manipulative men and women is a common theme in both imprints, it's the gender of the protagonist and the genders of the manipulators that switches around, (*generally speaking*)((should I say genderly speaking? or genrely speaking?) depending on which imprint the author writes for.

Nikki Magennis said...

'Perhaps the two Eroticas are converging? '

Hm, that's what I'm wondering...

Michael Crawley said...

Mathilde, mea culpa! It has just been pointed out to me that I did say that some women consider that female orgasm is a myth.

If there are any such, the number is minute and dwindling. I allowed words I'd heard from women in my youth, my far distant youth, to echo beyond their expiry date. I'll say 20 'Hail Mathildes.' Will that do?

Warmest,

FElix

Anonymous said...

I'll say 20 'Hail Mathildes.' Will that do?

From a big bad Dominant like you, Felix? I'd say that was rather special

Kristina Lloyd said...

Felix, I wasn’t calling your sincerity into question, believe me! You didn’t make me feel like a Bronte etc in that you made me feel like a great, historically important writer – I am not that, and it’s perhaps silly of you to think I’d be dumb enough to fall for such a line! I felt patronized because you assumed a position of authority, knowledge and superiority from which to congratulate us. I also have trouble with being referred to as a member of the ‘fair sex’, a ‘lady’ who has ‘sweet sensuousness’ and a ‘cute’ clit. Round here, you have to be really good at irony to get away with stuff like that.

Anyway, apology accepted! Cheers. I just wanted to expand a little on why I was offended. Hey, this insight into modern woman might prove helpful to you in your writing! Good luck with it.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with Kristina. I do find being called a 'lady' rather weird. It makes me feel a bit grubby and underdressed.

Besides, I'm really not a lady. My hair is far to short. And I'm sure no 'lady' has as many pairs of handcuffs as me.

Olivia Knight said...

For insight into "the modern woman", consider whether you'd say the same things to a man. It's a good rule of thumb if you're unsure.

Madeline Moore said...

Gee Kristina and Mathilde, must you wrestle for dominance of Lust Bites with our guest bloggers? Isn't it enough to know that you rule this Lust Bites roost?

Michael Crawley said...

Oops! I referred to women as 'ladies' and 'the fair sex'? Put it down to my age. Worse, I open doors, pull chairs out, surrender my seat on buses (when allowed) and walk between my female companion and the road, 'to protect her.'

When I was young, these were not sins. BTW, when I address a group of men, I call them 'gentlemen'.

I DO find feminine sensuousness 'sweet' and clits 'cute.' I'm afraid I'm incorrigible. Be comforted that my perverted generation is fading and those following will treat you, not as equals, which I do, but as being no different from men, which I am incapable of doing.

For me, 'vive la difference' still resonates.

Warmest,

Felix

Unknown said...

Actually, I've met a lot of women who feign orgasm and sensuality. Maybe it's an age/what continent you live on thing.

Anonymous said...

Ladies is a bit of an odd one. It always makes me feel like I ought to cross my legs. And my legs are rather fat and don't cross nicely.

As for 'the fairer sex', well, it's all rather subjective isn't it? I mean, if anyone can show me anything fairer than say, David Boreanaz, I would cheerfully give them a biscuit.

Olivia Knight said...

Felix, I'm not quite sure whether we're supposed to make allowances for your age or be charmed by your "incorrigible" refusal to admit that certain phrases and attitudes are no longer acceptable. I grew up in a country and generation where "kaffir" was still in common usage and "they don't want to work" was common wisdom, but I wised up.

I also, as I said, grew up surrounded by sexism and fought it tooth-and-nail in a way that British women of my generation have never had to do - and so while they can afford to be more polite about it, I'm not going to be nice about this one. You have literary credentials: surely you can spot a patronising tone. You are intelligent: surely you can understand the difference between a compliment and a case of special pleading, between courtesy and paternalism.

I'm quite certain you did not intentionally patronise or take a paternal attitude. However, insisting on your right to call women "ladies", to dismiss their sexuality as "sweet" and to deride their claims of equality as a desire to be "no different from men" does not fit with the ethos of Lust Bites.

Love,
Olivia, who has given up on the notion that women should be, above all, nice

Kristina Lloyd said...

Madeline, I'm not wrestling for dominance of anything. I'm simply expressing an opinion that differs from Felix's. And i think I'm perfectly entitled to do so, otherwise I'm still stuck in that 19thC, being 'ladylike'.

Alana Noel Voth said...

"What the fuck is ladylike if ladies like to do what the fuck they like just like you."

Not sure why those lyrics came to mind, but I love the song. ("Ladylike" by Storm Large and the Balls.)

Felix, many thanks for stopping by LB and sharing your two cents worth. Your essay strikes me as insightful and complimentary. Although I don't write for Black Lace or Nexus, and don't plan to in the future, I accept your kind words. Thank you.

Women in this genre have inspired me socially, emotionally, politically, sexually, AND artistically. Susie Bright is my hero. Marcy Sheiner is another woman from the genre I admire a great deal and feel indebted too.

Others.

Cara Bruce, Jamie Joy Gatto, Alison Tyler, Susannah Indigo, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Chelsea Girl, Molly Weatherfield, Sage Vivant, Tristian Taromino, Shanna Germain, Anne Rice, Sonja Kindley, Gwen Masters, Tulsa Brown, Stacy Reed, Kristina Wright, Kim Wright, Saskia Walker, Nikki Magennis, Cheyenne Blue, Cher Ladd-Vuolo, Violet Blue, Felice Newman, Sommer Marsden, Debra Hyde, Maureen Gibbon, Anias Nin, Serena Moloch, Donna George Story, Helen Walsh, Sera Gamble, Kate Dominic.

Thank you.

Felix, I don't get to hear men address erotica enough these days. Gay men, yeah. And I appreciate thier insight very much. Everyone should have a voice. Guess that's what this week is about. Voices. I dig this blog for that reason. I get to hear a myraid of opinions and experience. Cool.

Bisexual men, heterosexual men too, don't address erotica or even sexual politics enough. I think because they dread being labeled misogynistic or patronizing. Also, straight guys have never needed to defend thier sexuality, so to speak, or thier sexual preference. Porn was born for them, right, because a straight guy's sexuality is a given. A God given right.

Meanwhile, the rest of us have had to work at it, pretty hard.

By the way, Felix, I love the distinction you make between what we experience watching a film oppossed to reading a story. Thank you. Beautiful.

Madeline Moore said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael Crawley said...

Olivia, I apologize for offending you. That was not my intention.

Alana, your kind words touch me.

To all of you, I certainly didn't want to get into any Dom/Domme or M/F battles, nor to offend anyone's sensibilities. My praise for female writers of erotica was sincere.

I had hoped that my observations about the things a novel can do for a reader, as opposed to what a movie can do, would spark some serious discussion. Obviously, I couched my observations clumsily. No excuses; no more attempts at humour.

Warmest,

Felix

Nikki Magennis said...

Blimey. I knew this would be a turbulent week.

Here goes...

I have often been riled by being referred to as a lady or by protestations of chivalry, or by the term 'the fairer sex'. These are words that strengthen and perpetuate the patriarchy, and to me are offensive, demeaning and emasculating.

But

I do appreciate Felix's kind words and the spirit they were offered in. Like Alana says, it's important to have different views represented here on lust bites. I hope you don't feel hurt by some of our member's views.

One last thing - 'does not fit with the ethos of Lust Bites.' I don't believe we do have any one ethos.

I would like to think we have space for various different ethoses in here. In fact, I'd insist on it.

Michael Crawley said...

Nikki, thank you! I'm not offended, I assure you. Several members of this group have been extremely kind. Mathilde has demonstrated a subtle but delicious sense of humour and if I weren't capable of absorbing the barbs of those I've offended, I wouldn't expose myself.

Warmest,

Felix

Alana Noel Voth said...

Felix, about the film vs. book distinction you made.

When I watch a film, I observe the action. Visual stimulus. Reading feels more as if I participate. I tend to respond more to stories than movies simply because reading allows interpretation and/or imagination. I can fill in details.

Sometimes I'll read a story and then drift off to personal fantasy, as if the story acts as a pair of hands pushing the boat into the water. Sometimes the story provides ideas to the fantasy, if that makes sense.

When I watch porn, I really just concentrate on the action and get off.

Janine Ashbless said...

Wahay! I win a prize? I've never won a prize except once at a garden fete. (It was a jar of honey.)

Felix, I'll be delighted to read 'Sweet as Sin', since you're without exception the best Nexus author I've read.

*Aargh, now Portia will set Reikei magicians on me... I haven't read your Nexus stuff I'm afraid, Portia. Would happily do so, though.*

Hmm. Yeah. 'Lady' is not a title I take kindly to being addressed by either. But motive is everything. Kudos for having the courage to stick around with us, Felix. And being strong enough not to lash out.

Janine Ashbless said...

You write Horror too?
Under what name?

Can you give me the name of you agent? ;-)

Michael Crawley said...

Alana, that's exactly what I meant. That's why I hope that print will never die. Reading is the only way to get inside a character and, one hopes, empathize with people who might be totally foreign to your experience.

I suppose that could be taken as hippocracy on my part, as Madeline and I are struggling to break into movies. My excuse is that I measure my success, or lack of it, by the number of 'people-hours' of entertainment I create. I once calculated that a million or so people had read my work, in total.

Although the movies that have been made from my scripts have only been seen by seven people, so far, if I ever did get lucky enough to have one theatrically released or on tv, that'd be several million people experiencing my work, all at once. Now THAT'S orgasmic!

Warmest,

Felix

Alana Noel Voth said...

Felix, a million readers. Doesn't that just float your boat? :-)

Michael Crawley said...

Janine, I blush! The best Nexus author? Please tell Adam.

My first sale was Horror. It's called 'The Room' and is by Michael Grey. You can pick it up on Amazon for a penny plus shipping and handling.

Agents? Well, I've had six. One sold a book for me. He absconded with my royalties. Since then, I've been my own agent. We are lucky, in this genre,that most editors will look at submissions that aren't agented.

Do you have a book you're trying to sell?

Warmest,

Felix

Janine Ashbless said...

Do you have a book you're trying to sell?

Yep. As does Adam!

Horror is a dead market in the UK at the moment. Weird, because it's all over the cinema - That's another book/movie distinction for you. Mostly we write small press & magazine short stories for other horror readers/writers. *Sigh*

Janine Ashbless said...

Frankly erotica is a lot more fun for everyone though, including the author.

Michael Crawley said...

Janine, the Horror market is dead everywhere, I'm afraid, but have a look at marketlist.com You might find something.

I started writing Fantasy but an editor who'd rejected me said he'd look at Horror from me, as he liked the horrific elements of my Fantasy. I sold The Room just as the bubble burst, though I did manage to peddle the sequel, to a Polish publisher, for $400. THEN my editor said he liked the erotic elements of my Horror and introduced me to Nexus.

We travel strange paths...

Warmest,

Felix

Anonymous said...

To go back to something you sad earlier, Felix. I am really surprised that Nexus is biased towards mandom/femsub.

I thought they're be masses of books featuring fearsome grimacing domaintrixes. I can't believe there isn't a market for it. Obviously I am *no* expert *ahemhem* but I hear there are quite a lot of men who like that sort of thing

Alison Tyler said...

Oh, yes, Mat, and I think most of them hold political posts in the US. Republican posts.

Michael Crawley said...

Mathilde, you're right, there is a demand for FemDom, though not as strong a one as for FemSub. Adam has plenty of FemSub and recently told me he'd like to see some FemDom submissions. Would you like to straddle the Black Lace/Nexus fence? (Obvious joke deleted.)

Warmest,

Felix

Olivia Knight said...

Tilly - they've got none left 'cos I bought them all... I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours! Re films and books - I enjoy both equally in other genres, for the different things they can offer, but have never found a porn film with the immersive viewpoint traditional in Hollywood films; it's all voyeurism, which isn't my thing. (I'll hand you over to Tilly again, for that one! Any other closet voyeurs malingering behind the wallpaper with the peephole there? Yes, you, looking through the eyes of the portrait...) And then - call my body fascist - but the men's looks usually alarm me, and the women I find quite freaky, all bone and bubble. Purely subjective, based on a very small sample, and definitely excluding Zazelle. (Btw, I'm no fun to go to the cinema with because I watch films with my whole body - flinching and twitching in fight scenes, cutting off the bloodflow to people's hands in scary scenes - it's a polymorphous experience for me.)

Olivia Knight said...

P.S. That should be "call me body fascist" not "call my body fascist". Although you're welcome to, because I'm fascinated as to what that might actually mean.

Michael Crawley said...

I'm off to a birthday party. I'll check back later.

Warmest,

Felix

Anonymous said...

Are any of these republicans cute?

(Well some might be)

Olivia, I am rather scared what the covers of these manporn DOMinaTRIX books might feature - in fact that is also the reason I am unlikely to write one. I strongly suspect Nexus-femdom and me-femdom are kind of different.

I have got a nice little femdom story in Alison's H is for Hardcore. When is that out, AT?

Anonymous said...

This lively, funny, serious conversation makes me glad--proud--to be part of the human species.

The conversation also suggests why the mass media are having trouble holding onto their audiences. Where are you going to find a "show" that's half as entertaining, passionate, and as honest as the comments above?

Alison Tyler said...

Oooh, you're asking me for a plug, aren't you? Yay! EFGH are scheduled to come out at the end of July. I love your piece, Mat -- starts H is for Hardcore off with a bang!

XXX,
AT

Michael Crawley said...

Thanks for your hospitality and the stimulating exchanges, Biters. It's been fun, for me at least, and I hope for you.

Warmest,

Felix

Anonymous said...

That was some fun reading! Lots of strong and different opinions. Here's mine, for what it's worth: I, personally, still expect a man to open the door for me and to surrender his seat on the bus. They get the mighty arched eyebrow and curled lip when they don't. Now, I'm thirty-five, and not supposed to want those sexist deferences. But hey, - I do. Back when I was still dating, I wasn't too keen on splitting the check, either. (Ducking all the rotten tomatoes I know are being lobbed at my head. Lol. )

Similarly, I hold dear the notion that Women for Women imprints can only be a good thing. Nexus takes up some space on my shelves - not nearly as much as Black Lace, but some. I read them when I'm in a certain, strokey mood, because I have noticed that Nexus titles don't play much to my emotions and do seem very obviously male oriented. Which is cool - when I'm in the mood for it.

In Dominant, for example, I didn't really get into the action until our heroine, Lana, was introduced, relatively late in the plot. Before Lana, the novel seemed to consist of classic Male Dom fantasies, nothing more. Then, when she appeared, a young woman both emotionally strong and classically submissive, I settled down and enjoyed the ride to the end. In a BL novel Lana would have taken up center stage plotwise and a different story would have ensued. One probably just as enjoyable, but different...one for women, you see.

My point, you might ask? My point is, I think there's room for both male and female oriented smut and I like the distinction. It helps me choose the one-handed reading material I want to enjoy on any given day. And Nikki, Felix, I can only hope you're wrong and the distinctions aren't on their way to becoming blended out. Because that would be a shame, IMO. :(


Alisha

Michael Crawley said...

Thank you for being - do I dare say it - feminine - Alisha.

Warmest,

Felix