Phallic Friday - Sex Shops

I'm talking about Sex Shops today because I had an odd experience this week.

In the past, Sex Shops have been exciting places to visit. I remember going with friends to the ones in Canberra and laughing as one friend hid in the car while the rest of us went in and spent ages marvelling at the choice and variety and colours, etc etc.

I remember going to a really classy place in Sydney (women's only) and it was like being in a fabulous boutique, except with sex toys!

And this week I went into the local sex shop. Oh my. I'm not sure how to describe it. Cluttered with junk is probably the closest I can say. There was all sorts of crap for hen's nights and joke gifts. There were tacky costumes for dress up (like you'd buy in Spotlight or something). The man behind the counter could have been a roadie for a 70s rock band. He appeared stoned, had long thinning hair, and couldn't work out my change when I spent $10 and gave him a $50 (sorry, I know, I shouldn't judge people).

And the worst thing - he wouldn't take my Hot Down Under bookmarks. He said e-books weren't something people would buy. Then he looked at the covers on the bookmark AND BLUSHED! He works in a sex shop and he blushed at book covers!?!?!?!?

What is the world coming to? Don't you buy sex toys and serious sex items in sex shops anymore, or am I just in hokey town here?

Wildlife Wednesday - Big Moth

This is my very technical name for this critter - Big Moth.

I get this moth drift in once a year - I guess it's a different one each year - and I don't know what it is. I've looked up my butterfly and moth books but I can't get an exact match.

They aren't small. Across their wings would be a distance the length of my hand (15 cm or so).

Any idea what they are?

They stay for only a day or two. They don't go to a plant or tree but land on the ground or a door or something and just sit quietly.

I'm pretty fond of his feathery antennae.

Sunday Story

I've read two amazing books this week but they're nothing alike.


The first is Putting Alice Back Together by Carol Marinelli. It's chick lit, I guess. Alice is twenty seven or eight and her life is a train wreck, with lots of friends and family standing by enjoying the show. Somehow, Alice seems to know she needs help and she stumbles along, mostly alone, to get it. A few of her friends support her but it's largely Alice's show. It doesn't sound like a great read, but it is. It's clever and subtle and witty. There's enough drama to last a lifetime but it's done so well, you're cheering for Alice all the time.

I think the pace of this story is what kept me going. No drama is dwelled upon. It rips along from one drama to the next with snappy amusing lines. It's a sad story (with a happy end, of course) with a fast pace.

The second is Skin by Kylie Scott. It's the second of her zombie apocalyptic erotic stories and I think I enjoyed it more than Flesh, the first one, which I loved. Skin moves fast. Nick and Roslyn have a tempestuous relationship that is reflected by the war-zone-like drama around them. They fight with each other, then when they're not, the elements fight with them. The story doesn't let up with tension from start to finish - which is why I could not put this book down. I even had to fumble around in the dark plugging in my iPad just to keep going. If Kylie Scott had second book nerves, I never noticed. This is a ripper.

So pace is this week's lesson for me. You can have fast-paced stories even when the topic is sad. It doesn't only have to be action stories that rip along. Fast pacing can be scenes that quickly move to the next disaster, relationships in turmoil, or external elements creating the pace. And if you mix all that up - and throw in hooks like last week's - holy cow! I wouldn't be able to stop writing, let alone reading :)

Phallic Friday - Affairs

Oh my goodness... Friday snuck up on me! I guess because Sunday was Tuesday, I'm all out of whack!

So... today's discussion... affairs.

Are affairs something interesting to write about? Or do you feel cheated by the cheating spouse?

I guess if I'm writing erotica, affairs are okay. But for erotic romance... affairs are cheating on her love, and not romantic (unless the partner is gone pretty quickly and the partner is a true horror, and even then die-hard romance fans might still raise their eyebrows).

I was talking to a friend about the book, The Bride Stripped Bare. She was saying how shocked she was to read that book because the woman got braver and braver and did more and more wicked things. My reaction wasn't like that. I'd been told how wicked it was before I read it, and I remember thinking how tame it was. Maybe I need to re-read it and not think about "tameness" but think about it as a story.

Most of the stories I can think of about affairs are usually the man having the affair, not the woman. I'd like to write one about a woman playing up. I think that would be much more fun.

So, how do you feel about affairs? Would you read about a woman playing up? How horrid would her husband have to be to allow you to enjoy it/buy into the story? Would you just think she's a bitch?