One of the really fun things about writing short stories with the emphasis on the sex is the different types of forepl—err, opening story arc the writer can take to create a receptive state in the reader.
There’s slow intimate talk, or direct, seductive wiles. One of my personal favorites is humor—laughter is relaxing, and lowers defenses. A blend of all three, with the right inspiration can be a lot of fun to compose.
Say something, Farrah thought desperately. Nice girls do not have threesomes. Say no, that’s right, say no. Say it now.
“But I read between the lines in your love scenes, and I think you already know what you are. You’re just afraid to live it.”
Her voice taut with panic and excitement, Farrah asked, “Is that supposed to goad me into saying yes?”
“I don’t want you to say yes.” Barrett undid the first button on her vest with a dexterous flick. “I want you to scream it.”
–In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip “Three of a Kind”
Creating characters who are more forward, more debonair, more skilled, and far more on-the-spot witty takes a lot of drafts and rewrites and certainly more than a little visualization so that the right composition ends up on the page. The more ordinary, even mundane issues surrounding sex can also create a strong connection between reader and story because it’s something she’s experienced.
A search for the nearest outlet to the bed only increased my frustration level. The bargain cabins where staffers stayed were so small there was just one outlet, in the bathroom, which was so tiny there wasn’t even room enough to lie on the floor. Mel had joked the shower stalls were converted coffins.
Twenty minutes later I had ascertained that there was no miraculously appearing extension cord in my suitcase. The corridor outside was empty of any other human beings, let alone one with an extension cord slung over one shoulder.
–In Deep Waters 1: Cruising the Seas “Cruising Solo”
Exploring the familiar in erotica can be about sex, but it can also be about life. My favorite erotic stories are ones that have the possibility of more, of sex leading to romance. That the ways the characters might fit physically is only the beginning.
“Okay, so the last five dates I had all wanted me to walk around wearing a damned silly contraption with something that weighed five pounds hanging off it. Every single one of them was a pillow queen too.”
Ash could have pointed out that if Nat would stop chatting up women twenty years younger than she was, she might get a different result. Part of her wanted to demand, “What am I, fifty-five-year-old chopped liver?” Instead, she mildly suggested, “You’re hanging out in the wrong places, obviously.”
“What’s the right place?”
Honestly, Nat was thick, thick, thick. Ash wanted to kick her, and in these stilettos, she could make it hurt too. Whatever did she see in this thick-skulled mushball of a butch?
Fine. So she liked mushball butches.
–18th & Castro “Please”
Even though the many characters in these three volumes (more than 70) had only a few pages to call their own, they still feel quite real to me. I hear from readers about how welcome the diversity of experience, desire and age is, making these lesbians familiar to them too. As I was looking at my new copy of In Deep Waters 2, I realized, sadly, that I don’t have another project like it on my schedule for some time.
That doesn’t mean I won’t write a few stories, just to keep my, um, hand — just to keep in practice.