Lure of the Lake Monster

I like it as a title, it’s more subtle than what I usually go for. Besides, Mr Strange vetoed ‘Lake Flaccid,’ ‘The Legend of Booby Creak,’ and ‘It Came in the Lake.’

Hello, readers!

Welcome to another post where I talk shamelessly about my latest story release. Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of fun, puns and plugs! (Plugs for my story, not like, the anal kind.)

So, I decided to explore a few different tropes that I could stretch my writing muscles with in this story, and I hope they all translate well. First, I’ve set the story in the mid-nineties, a time where everything was about slashers and horrors and cliches. I enjoyed this because, even though it’s subtle, I had to find particular nuances to make it work, and there were pitfalls I needed to avoid too. You have no idea how hard it is to remember that your characters can’t just update their Facebook status to #sadtho every time one of their friends dies, since they didn’t all have mobile phones.

Speaking of cliches, if you read my story you’ll hopefully enjoy the very obvious ones I’ve threaded in. The characters are meant to be a parody of the horror films that debuted at that time, so they’re very blatant in their roles.

Okay, on to the good stuff: the alien-monster sex. So, yeah, this is was new for me. I ended up doing a lot of research about aquatic mythological monsters, popular representations of similar figures, even a little about alien races and theories behind where they are, where they’ve come from etc. I always do this when I write a story because I just feel more secure in the idea that things just make more sense if there is some factual foundations in there.

I also read a lot about kinks surrounding monsters, merfolk, aliens etc and tried to portray the allure with as much understanding as possible. I hope it comes across.

I actually had Mr Strange read the paragraph where I describe the monsters cock and then draw it based on my description so I could see if it looked like what I had pictured.

It did not. So, I went back over this a few times, trying to ensure it sounded strange but still attractive. I think I got there after a few tweaks.

Get it? It just took a little tweaking of the monster dick to get where it needed to be? This is exactly why Mr Strange gets to veto my titles. And won’t play Pictionary with me anymore.

The long and the short of it (honestly, I don’t even do this on purpose!) is my new story is now available on Amazon on a free promotion for five days. If you download it I’d love a review so I can get your take on it!

While chasing the famed whale, Ishmael said, ‘To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it.’

Well, what did he know? That guy was nuts!

Take care,

Strange

P.S. Can anyone spot the cameo of one of my other main characters hidden in this story? 😉

No Place for a Woman

Ooooh, it’s getting a little risqué up in here!

Except, not really. This post is actually just going to be my musings on where I fit as a woman in today’s changing world.

I was a child of the 90’s, so I was very much raised by the Spice Girls in the heat of the ‘Girl Power’ movement. It was a great time to be female, I was told I could do anything I wanted when I grew up, and I couldn’t wait to do exactly that!

…Exactly what, exactly?

Good question. I didn’t know what I wanted to do at nine years old (well I did, I wanted to be a Spice Girl, but that’s besides the point). Fast forward ten years and I was on my way to university to be a journalist.

Fast forward five years from there and I was doing something entirely different. Turns out, no one is paying for journalists these days. But that was news to me! (See what I did there?)

Anyway, I ended up doing a job I enjoy, and I’m now married, as many of you know, with a two-year-old son I adore.

So, here’s the big question- did I do what I wanted to do? Is that what I’m doing now? The answer is: sort of. My family and my home are the best things in my world and I’m so incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful husband and stunning little boy.

The question mark is over my career. One of the reasons I started writing is so that I would hopefully make enough money so that I could dedicate myself to being a stay at home mum and wife while still bringing in enough money to support my family a bit.

I know, I know; a stay at home wife? Say whaaat? But the truth is, that’s what I want to do. I want to be with my son, I want to make a home for my family that’s always changing, smells like baking bread etc.

I should clarify, I have the utmost respect for working mums, hell, I am one. I’m not saying this is what people should be doing, I’m just saying it’s what I want to do.

So, I’ve been researching a lot of these women who identify with the housewife lifestyle, and I’ve found something quite interesting. I don’t think I fit there. Or anywhere, actually.

A lot of feminists I come across don’t necessarily like my work because of how erotica is all about sexualising women (and men of course, but they don’t tend to complain as much). And the more traditional housewives seem to value the more demure and chaste demeanour. So, also not super kinky-wife friendly.

So, my question to you, dear readers, is where do people like me fit? What are your thoughts? And do you also feel a little out of place in this world? If so, come to my party, we’ve got apple pies and strap ons for everyone!

And as food for thought; if the shoe fits, wear it. Same goes for gimp masks.

Who Forgot Jessica Rabbit?

Hello all!

So, I just finished writing my newest short; Boom and Bust, and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this story. Not just in the way one would hope to enjoy an erotica story, but actually because I was having fun with my characters.

I know I say this a lot, but I genuinely never know exactly how my stories are going to turn out when I start writing them. This bad boy was only supposed to be about 10,000 words, and it ended up being nearly double that!

As well as having plenty of sexy encounters, the characters all ended up getting to know each other and even themselves, forming new and powerful relationships. I mean, beyond the standard relationship between a group of drunk guys and a pair of busty girls.

I even grew attached to the group of guys I created. My focus is usually on the female protagonists but writing the banter between the boys gave me real sense of kinship with them.

However, as always writing this story has made me take a close look at myself and forced me to ask some hard questions. So here goes, deep breath…are my references outdated?! The feedback from my focus group (Mr Strange) suggested that the examples I used to help visualisation of the characters wouldn’t be recognisable today. Am I the only person in their thirties who knows Jessica Rabbit and Betty Boop?

I’m no poser, I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have never once seen a Betty Boop cartoon. I have literally no idea what her storyline is, except her little catch phrase and the fact that she’s curvy AF. But if you said to me, ‘She looks like Betty Boop,’ I’d be all, ‘not really, she’s in colour.’

And surely EVERYONE knows Jessica Rabbit? Again, the film where she made her big screen debut was shot before I was born, but I still saw it. Didn’t everyone?

…it’s because she’s not on YouTube isn’t it? Maybe Jessica and Betty need to get a YouTube channel.

So, if like me, you’re a child of the 90’s piggybacking the prestige of 80’s media, I hope you’ll give my story a read. Otherwise, quickly google those characters so you have a point of reference, then give my story a read. Maybe also look up Bay Watch. No, not the one with Dwayne Johnson…