Request for Ideas

[Rocky]

I am in the process of writing another piece of fiction, this time the memoirs of a retired slave girl, and would appreciate any suggestions regarding her experiences, major incidents in her life, etc., that you might have.

She will be the 70-year-old author of this first-person text. I'm planning on taking her from early childhood through the present day, covering the period of about 1930 through the present. Here's a rough outline of what I have so far:

- Her earliest memories as a young girl in a male-dominated household. Chores, punishments, rules, attire, etc.

- The loss of her virginity as a pre-teen, by having her father sell it in order to raise cash.

- The sale of her to a young couple, for use as a wet nurse, at age 16, and that couple giving her to their son when he became a teen. Following the son to college, and her disposal by him after he finds a girlfriend who is anti-slavery.

- Subsequent sale to a breeder, and a ten year period of pumping out babies.

- After no longer useful as a breeding slave, she is sold to a fraternity for a pittance, and becomes the frat's slave.

I haven't gotten much further than that, but I see the ending as her once again becoming the property of the man to whom she was wet nurse. He expresses affection for her, and sends her to a training center for new slave girls, where she is a semi-retired counselor, providing advice to both the trainers and the new slaves.

Anyway...any suggestions on additional plot lines would be appreciated. I do prefer somewhat happy endings, and won't be posting until the story is done. However, what I may do, is post a chapter or two a week until the entire thing is posted.

If you haven't taken a look at Charity Auction, posted on 7/23/04, please do so to get an idea of my writing style.

Regards,

Rocky

[mythicat]

I'm a bit of a historical fiction buff, and this is set at the time my parents were growing up, so you have my attention! I was just wondering what setting (rural/small town/urban/what region) she grows up in? And what race is she?

Subtle points, but could make a difference in people's attitude/dialogue/treatment toward her given the time frame.

Also I was a bit unclear about whether or not it's the same child she wet-nursed that she is later given to and follows off to college, or is it an older sibling of the nursed child?

Oh! And that couple that hires her to wetnurse...if she's 16 at the time then WWII is probably going on and the husband would likely be enlisted. If his wife goes to work in a factory during the day, that would explain the need for a wet-nurse.

[Rocky]

Thanks for the great comments and suggestions. I hadn't even considered the implications of WWII, but will probably have the husband working in an executive or managerial position in a vital industry. I do have the wife leaving on business trips occasionally, so she will probably have some sort of administrative or technical job...perhaps a contract administrator for the War Department, but at this point I haven't described what either one does. I don't really want this to be a historical novel, nor do I want it set in a totally alternate reality...but in a time and place when the enslavement of others (particularly females) is, if not totally encouraged, at least accepted.


I do have the wife initially being a bit of a lush, and there is one drunken scene where she becomes violently angry with our slave girl. This, however, becomes a turning point in both their lives, as the wife comes out of rehab quite normal, and the slave's life changes for the better as a result of it.

As far as the slave girl's birth and early years, the setting will be rural, in a farming community. The family owns a farm, but their real money comes from raising, training and selling slaves. I haven't decided yet whether this will be commonly known, or known only to a select community of those involved in the slave trade. Probably the latter. Not all the slaves will be female...with the manual labor needed in farming, there will be a relatively small group of males as well, though they will be on the periphery of the story line.

The principal character will be caucasian...so much easier to change hair color that way, and don't you thing the various brands and tattoos she'll eventually get will be that much more visible? And, yes...her first set of owners give her to the young man to whom she was wet nurse, as a birthday gift...probably when he is a young teenager and she in her early 30's.

At this point, there is a very minor link to my earlier work, in that she does spend some time at the same island facility where Tulsa had all her major modifications. However, in this case, the body work is much less severe, and she leaves looking quite normal and much younger than she did upon arrival. Basically, she gets a full body makeover, much like what you'd see on Extreme Makeover on television.

So far, there really isn't a whole lot of explicit sex, though it is certainly inferred quite a bit. I'm not real hot on describing that sort of action, being a strong believer in allowing the reader to imagine for himself or herself what is going on. As a matter of fact, I'm having a very difficult time right now trying to write the segment regarding the loss of her virginity. So, I'm bypassing that for now and will get back to it eventually.

Thanks again, and any other suggestions or comments you might have would certainly be appreciated.

[mythicat]

Looking forward to it! Keep us posted as to when chapters will become available.

I'm not real hot on describing that sort of action, being a strong believer in allowing the reader to imagine for himself or herself what is going on. As a matter of fact, I'm having a very difficult time right now trying to write the segment regarding the loss of her virginity. So, I'm bypassing that for now and will get back to it eventually.

Well ya know, there's always the old "someone finds blood on the sheets the next morning" schtick. Kind of implies everything, allowing you to either elaborate or not.

[Rocky]

The first installment may be ready by the end of the week...but no promises!

One question for you, though...since the main character is someone whose knowledge during her life is pretty much restricted to her immediate surroundings...i.e., she doesn't really know what is hapening in the world...do you think that her memoirs should be more of a "I didn't know it at the time, but x was happening in the world, and had y impact on my life; all I knew was what the end result on me was" or should it be more along the lines of, "due to the results of the Great Depression, Daddy needed money, so he sold me."

In other words, should the memoirs be written based on what this now-literate woman now knows was happening in the world as she grew up, or should she only use inferences that the men were discussing financial problems, that there was talk of "Japs" and "Krauts" and a war going on "over there?"

I appreciate your input.

[spike]

should the memoirs be written based on what this now-literate woman now knows was happening in the world as she grew up, or should she only use inferences that the men were discussing financial problems, that there was talk of "Japs" and "Krauts" and a war going on "over there?"

If you are writing a fictional memoir you should consider why the character is writing her memoirs. She will have a particular readership in mind and will write for that readership.

If she is writing to the world at large she will be talking about how the major movements of history affected her personally, perhaps explaining the wrinkles that others might not know, such as the personality of her father's bank manager but assuming they know that times were hard.

If, on the other hand, she is writing for, say, her granddaughters, then she has to tell about the way things were in simplified terms that they can understand but assuming no prior knowledge.

There is another level to consider. How good a writer is she? Does she have an editor? But that may be getting a bit baroque.

Good luck with the writing. Have fun with it, so that you make fun with it.

Spike

[mythicat]

The first installment may be ready by the end of the week...but no promises!

Cool!

One question for you, though...since the main character is someone whose knowledge during her life is pretty much restricted to her immediate surroundings...i.e., she doesn't really know what is hapening in the world...do you think that her memoirs should be more of a "I didn't know it at the time, but x was happening in the world, and had y impact on my life; all I knew was what the end result on me was" or should it be more along the lines of, "due to the results of the Great Depression, Daddy needed money, so he sold me."

Short answer? The latter. Because the other way says the same thing, only with a lot more words.
Since you're writing erotica with a historical angle rather than historical fiction with an erotic angle, you want to keep the historical parts streamlined.

In other words, should the memoirs be written based on what this now-literate woman now knows was happening in the world as she grew up, or should she only use inferences that the men were discussing financial problems, that there was talk of "Japs" and "Krauts" and a war going on "over there?"

I appreciate your input.

Spike brought up a good point about this. What exactly would this woman's literacy level be? You say she's now literate, but just how good of a writer would she be considering her life experiences. Perhaps she should be telling this story orally to someone.

Or perhaps we should just hush up and thank the nice writer for his smutty story.