As I indicated yesterday, I gave some thought last night as to which of the stories posted here I had found most memorable.

To other authors -- let me preface my remarks by saying that I spend a lot more time writing these days than I do reading -- if I don't mention any of your stories it does not necessarily mean that I didn't like them. I may very well not have read them, or not enough of them to give them a fair reading. There are a number of story codes which are red lights for me, and it wouldn't matter if the stories were Nobel Prize material -- it would not have occurred to me to open them

In no particular order --

The Viddler Stories -- I prefer stories told from the male point of view with energetic villains. And Viddler's vivid villains are more vicious than most. The quality of his stories varies, and there is a certain samenness to many of them -- you probably shouldn't read more than a few at a time -- but if you're into stories with dominant males, and like his method of telling stories through dialogue rather than through description, he's first rate. One of the few authors who, upon occasion, I have consciously tried to emulate -- in his case by employing dialogue to convey erotic content. There are "temptation scenes" in several of my stories -- for example Chapter XIII "Tempted into Cruelty" in the Jade Pavilion Book II. A belated thanks to Viddler, the master of this technique.

Tent of the Bedouin by Bedouin -- This, on the other hand, is a story with marvelous descriptions, especially at the beginning. I thought that the energy flagged somewhat halfway through (a not uncommon weakness in our genre). An excellent job of creating an exotic world. In this regard, Faibhar's stories deserve commendation as well; the erotic content in them doesn't appeal that much to my particular tastes, but the scene-setting is usually excellent.

Neighborhood Sex and Torture Club Parts I and II -- These two lengthy stories share a sexual energy that one rarely finds. The author uses descriptive language to imbue both stories with considerable erotic intensity. Both stories are quite heavy, and thus probably not to everyone's taste, and are saddled with the flaw (to my taste) that the victims are enthusiastically (and unrealistically) consensual. But even given what I would view as those structural "flaws", they are very well written indeed in terms of sado-erotic 'punch'.

(I hasten to add that in real life all "victims" should be consensual -- the dark non-consensual corners that I (we) explore here should remain the stuff of fantasy)

Librarian in Bondage -- this isn't Hemingway, but parts of this story really touched my prurient instincts. Thinking about this, it strikes me that one's frame of mind when reading an erotic story can play a much greater role in one's evaluation of it, than would be true with a conventional book, film etc. It's not unusual for me to read a story, and react with a 'WOW!' and then revisit it later only to be disappointed by its more or less obvious weaknesses. We are all writing on the quicksand of our readers' psyches, it seems to me.

Tom Justin has posted two stories here -- "Lady Ashley's Penance" was the name of one; the other one slips my mind. They are very similar -- don't read them back-to-back -- but have historical settings, which I like, and very nice descriptive language.

One afterthought -- I really enjoyed a story ("Coldwater") ? by Kallie Thomas (I hope I have that name right) -- an excellent psychological study. I intend to read more of her stories.


Yesterday I mentioned that I had read a story of Chum's whose name i couldn't remember - it was "Truth Be Told"



Chum: My biggest fear now (with my current story in progress at 150K and the end barely in sight) is that I may beat the interest out of future readers with too much explanatory content in my newfound zeal to create living people and clearly imagined surroundings in the minds of my readers.

Been there; done that. (Beat the interest out of readers, I mean)

In this forum, where there is so much competition for the reader's eye and libido, I suspect that it's very important that the first page or two be vivid. If one doesn't grab the reader's attention quickly, another author will. But perhaps I am unusually impatient in that respect -- comments, anyone? My suggestion would be to bring your expository material in gradually, rather than front-loading it into the first chapter; flashbacks are useful for this purpose.

By the same token I have come to think that the synopsis is very important in terms of attracting readership - or at least 'openership'. Especially for a first-time writer.

Continued success,

Boccaccio