Phallic Friday - Menages

Menage is the commonly used term in erotica to describe sex with multiple partners. Menage a tois was the original phrase which indicates three people in a sexual act. Menage by itself literally means a household; the people living under the same roof. But I'm using the term as the multiple partner thing.

I love reading menages that are done well. Kaliana Cole is one of my favourites. When I first read her writing, it blew my mind. It was so real, gritty and sensual. The first of hers I read was her Hot Down Under short story - Shelter From The Storm. I then hunted up her first book, Good Horses, Fast Cars and Real Men. Then I fell into Liberty Springs, her town where all forms of sexual relationships abound.

The first story has three brothers and Emma - No Bag Limit. Ty, the eldest is really enough of a hero to have a story of his own but he shares the story and the woman with his twin brothers, Zach and Colby. And Zach and Colby are gorgeous too. All three are delicious characters that blend together to be the perfect man. Alone just wouldn't be right. And Emma is woman enough to handle them all.

Hook, Line and Sinker had me caught completely in her stories. And this one flicked back to just a pairing. But wow, the world of Liberty Springs was where I want to be.

There are another 3 stories, all spectacular, and more info can be found at Kaliana Cole's website.

Another ripper menage is Kylie Scott's Flesh. At first you think Daniel's hot, then Finn comes along and it's difficult to decide. Then, what the hell, the end of the world is nigh, why decide!?!? And all is right in the world :)

I'm really sold on the multiple men stories (need any more recommendations?)... and I'm starting to see why men like the multiple women idea. But how feasible is it? Do women share well?

I've not had the real life menage experience, but in my former net-junkie life, I have. The multiple women, one man thing really didn't work for me and I struggle to write it. The cyber-guys involved did all the right things - one was actually a master at making sure everyone was involved. But the girls... well... maybe I 'intuit' too much... but that big old ugly green monster reared it's head far too many times for my liking. Sometimes I felt like backing away and saying, "Hey, he's yours. Stop feeling threatened." Other times I just got so uncomfortable I logged off. Girls have a nasty way of excluding you - I learned it in the playground when I started school. It's subtle, often unseen by others, but I know. They turn their back, lift an eyebrow and give a sharp pointed look, huff a sigh, roll their eyes. It's subtle but pointed. Even on the internet!

And when I go to write a menage with multiple women... I get those vibes again. The "I will not share my toy" vibe.

So for me, menages are all about men. Lots of them. And I'd like to go visit Liberty Springs. Hell no, I'd like to live there! And if I can't do that... then I'd like to be Kaliana Cole when I grow up :)

How do you feel about menages - in fact or fiction?

Wildlife Wednesday

I found this guy on the flyscreen door. He's tiny and I've focussed on the flyscreen instead of on him, but hopefully you can see him okay and get the idea of him.

So what is he?

Let me make a confession. I studied Environmental Biology and I have books and books and books on ID of everything, and I thought I was pretty good at knowing 'what critter is that'. Since doing this blog - I realise I have no idea! I have invented names in my head for critters. I think they're right and then I go Google (to check for the blog) and I get some totally different animal.

So I'm pulling out my book, An Introduction to Australian Insects. I have a few of these critters to look for so I hope I stumble across them somewhere.

Okay, success #1. This little guy is a PLANTHOPPER. He feeds on Eucalypts but does not cause damage. His scientific name is Siphanta acuta and he's a member of the Hemiptera order and the Flatidae family, growing to 5 mm.

Okay, so I'm feeling more intelligent now. All I have to do is remember he's a Planthopper - and not keep calling him my invented name :)

Sunday Story - Bird By Bird

I gave a friend of mine Bird By Bird for Christmas. Then, when I went to visit last week, she left it on my bedside table for me to read - but I was NOT allowed to take it home. So I did what I had to do - read it while I was there :)

I've been messing around with writing for a few years now - it's 8 years since she laid down the creative writing challenge to me, but before that I wrote for work, and at uni and through school. And I realised that what I've learned and done instinctively over my life, is right. Right for me, anyway :)

These are the take home messages I got from Bird:

• pour every bit of yourself into your writing every time you write
• never be half-hearted
• take advice
• give yourself space, distance and time
• if it takes 2-3 years to write a book, it's okay
• write for you, not for publication
• love your subject passionately or you won't have the impetus to finish
• surround yourself with people who understand. When you need help - ask. When they need help - give.
• finish things
• you'll never run out of ideas
• observe, scribble notes, pay attention to life
• interpret what you see your way but write it real, with all the minutia
• libel: mask all your characters with lots of different traits. Never let anyone be identifiable.

I can't say I liked this book. I skim read it because I wasn't taken by the author. Maybe it's US humour that I missed, but things fell flat for me. Sometimes I didn't want to know her. But her advice is solid and she's been around writers all her life, so she's picked up lots and lots of tips. I mean, that's a lot of take home messages for one book!

Phallic Friday - Butcher Shop

I know, a weird topic but I'm suffering from brain drain after a holiday - you know, when you want to be back on holidays but you have to work? That brain drain.

So... I thought I'd share a discussion I had last week with my 'ideas' friend. I can't blame her for the warped ideas I use for my stories... but she's the girl who starts my Ideas-Muse spinning. We're like two ideas-people who spring from topic to topic, craziness to craziness, insanity to insanity. She's the one who challenged me to write a book (bet she regrets it!) when I thought I could do nothing.

Anyway, my local butcher is fantastic. He's just taken 2nd place in the Australian sausage contest (seriously). So of course, I had to take some of the award winning sausages to my friends who don't have the chance to partake in such delicacies!

And when you rock up with a pile of sausages, tales of your great butcher and you write erotic stories, your friends start putting all these things together and suggesting you write a butcher shop steamy story.

Now I've had those thoughts myself - but how could I ever shop there for my dinner if I wrote his shop into a story? Would I be able to ask for my kilo of thick sausages without turning red? Could I ask for chicken breasts without blushing?

My friend and I spent a good few minutes (okay, nearly an hour) laughing until we cried, as we came up with butcher shop sex. Cool rooms, meat saws, carcasses, sausage mince, smoke houses. Seriously sexy stuff - and then some!

And when I came home and went to get dinner ... gosh, I was blushing as I opened the door. I don't think I'm ready to write butcher shop escapades... but those ideas won't stop!!

Do you have such wicked thoughts, or wicked ideas-friends?