Writing from the Inside
Sick Leave When I’m asleep, dreaming and lulled and warm,–They come, the homeless ones, the noiseless dead.While the dim charging breakers of the stormBellow and drone and rumble overhead,Out of the gloom they gather about my bed.They whisper to my heart; their thoughts are mine.‘Why are you here with all your watches ended?From Ypres to […]
From The Burning Pen: Sex Writers on Sex Writing, Simon Sheppard’s essay “Mondo Pomo Porno”: “So one of the things porn can do, especially well-crafted, thoughtful erotica, is help convince us that sex is worth not just talking about but thinking about. In depth. …erotica is given the freedom to speak of consequences, to admit […]
The “Muppet Morsels” glosses on my DVDs of The Muppet Show are sometimes only loosely related to the episode, so it’s hard to remember where this one came from. I paraphrase: “every skit ends with either an explosion or a digestion.” I.e., something blows up, or somebody gets eaten. This could be generally applicable to […]
I am not one of those writers whose characters talk to them, not in the literal hearing-voices-in-your-head way, nor do I like using that as a metaphor for character creation. Probably because I like to be in control. I also think that’s why I never got into role-playing games; I didn’t want other people’s ideas […]
I’ll be reading at Philadelphia Fantastic this week: February 27, 20097:30 pmMoonstone Art Center110A S. 13th Street (13th and Sansom)Philadelphia, PA Philly Fantastic readings usually last approximately an hour, so this is a long reading. Attendees are invited out afterwards for dinner and/or drinks.
Sex scenes in romance novels, I feel, need to move the plot along by encompassing some sort of character change or modulation. But what else makes a sex scene a success? Clearly, it’s one of those questions in which individual mileage can vary. Here’s a list of what I think makes a great sex scene, […]
“The largest annual event in New Orleans is a something which we arrived too late to sample–the Mardi-Gras festivities. I saw the procession of the Mystic Crew of Comus there, twenty-four years ago–with knights and nobles and so on, clothed in silken and golden Paris-made gorgeousnesses, planned and bought for that single night’s use; and […]
A good thing about writing several novels one after the other is that it becomes easier to notice patterns in the way one works. Some things I learned are generally applicable. For example, this time I know stretches of rough draft in which nothing happens will eventually make sense, or they won’t, and if they […]
I’m not making a huge point here, but I think it might be a significant one for how I approach writing erotica as opposed to longer romantic works. I think the reader of a short erotica story is more willing to make assumptions from little evidence. They know where the story is leading; it is […]
I have rediscovered something, while working on revisions for The Moonlight Mistress: available time to write does not directly translate into wordcount. If I’m writing dialogue or description, but most especially dialogue, the words pile up faster. Word acquisition slows when I’m making subtle changes, or changes in many places throughout the manuscript. I think […]