A Few Random Stories

Writer's Journal: Today, I finished nailing the big plot point in The Adjusters #25, which might even turn out pretty good, and almost justifies this whole week. Now, I just have to write the sex scene for #25. And I think I found a way to make it progress the plot as well, though it is somewhat dark, which its own kind of kinky.

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Not much to report this midweek, so let me just point out a few stories to you good folks.

Partly in preparation to brainstorm for that story about time travel that's been banging in the back of my mind, I've been reading Shrink42's Banner Year: “His values, his beliefs, his attitudes, and his skills had been developed since a young age, through many experiences - some unique, some thrilling, some terrifying. There came a time when he had to evaluate them all and depend on them all as never before.” I remember reading maybe half this story way back when, and it still holds up quite well the second time around. The first dozen chapter read particularly well for this kind of story, and both the psychology and the sex is pretty interesting. There's a lot in there that I want to use as inspiration.

Now, interestingly, there are a few darker scenes in that story (I won't spoil them for you), but they're played completely straight—they are meant to be read as something horrible as opposed to something arousing. I go back and forth on that sort of stuff myself: do I write my abuse scenes so that they're arousing from the perspective of the narrator, or so that they're a turn-off from the perspective of the narrator? For The Adjusters, I made the executive decision to treat everything as arousing from the narrator perspective. I call it indulging my inner sadist. For the time-travel story, though, I haven't decided yet. I don't even know if there's going to be any dark scenes.

Talking about dark scenes, I've run across Couture's Short Sale: “In a bad market, the terms of the contract change.” Utterly useless description, frankly. It's about a real-estate buying agent that ends up submitting to her boss. It's straight, to the point, and entirely effective.

Another story that is perhaps not very well written, but has a kick-ass premise that I'd love to see explored more competently is More Marie's Sarah and Her Sexy Personalities: “This is a story about a girl named Sarah and her sexy personalities. What started out as unexplained black outs turns out to be multiple personalities. Maggie is the very adventurous lesbian slut and Trisha is the very submissive sexually play thing. In an effort to understand what is happening to her Sarah seeks the help of a therapist who uses hypnotism to help cure her. All seem well until Sarah finds out that her ex has figured out a way to use this cure to turn her into a sex slut.” Come on, how can you resist such a description?

That's all I have for today. Have a great end of week everyone.

Author Spotlight: Daphne

Writer's Journal: I've played host this week to the flu that's been going around this neck of the woods, and I'm pleased to report that it's enjoyed its stay enormously and will call again. All of that by way of explaining my lack of Wednesday post. But all is not lost, as I've started editing The Adjusters #22, which should be out on time this month.

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Once in a while, I'll do what I like to call an Author Spotlight, which is just a grandiose term—because we've all realized by now that I just love grandiose terms—for letting you know about a smut author I like. There's a bunch of them in the pipe, and I'll drop them in whenever they spring to mind.

Today's is Daphne, which many of you that peruse the EMCSA undoubtedly know already. Daphne's been one of my favorite authors for a long time. She's also one of the most infuriating ones, at least from my perspective. You have to understand: whereas I will spend 30000 words to bring my readers to feel a particular way about one of my characters—and even then it's just an approximation of what I really want them to feel—Daphne manages to achieve a greater effect, deliver a harder punch, and make your head spin faster in 1/300th of the space. She's the kind of author that makes you despair to write anything halfway decent ever again. Here are some of my favorites stories of hers that illustrate my point:

Above That Ye Are Able: “Stan accidentally discovers the trigger phrase that turns his girlfriend into a hypnotized sex zombie.” One of my favorite MC story ever. The one I go back to when I feel that maybe I've outgrown that particular kink, and bang it puts me right back to square one, drooling like a little baby.

Make Up Sex: “A man describes to his girlfriend what he would do if he were able to hypnotize her.” A gem at under 2000 words. Almost all dialogue on top of that, just to add to the difficulty. Viddler made a specialty of dialogue-only stories, and this one by Daphne is one of the few that approaches his level of mastery.

Talked Me Into It: “A wife tells a female marriage counselor how her husband is able to persuade people to do things, and then the husband demonstrates.” A classic setup, a classic outcome, all done masterfully.

In Evil Company: “When a diabolical conspiracy targets a well-known actress as their next victim, could the whole operation be ruined?” Come on, who can resists diabolical conspiracies? This story made me wish that there was more stories exploring that universe.

Under New Management: “Lisa, a prostitute, is expecting a to meet a customer, but instead meets her new owner.” Wonderful play on the thin line separating prostitutes and mind-controlled slaves. If anyone wanted to seriously explore the psychology of the mind-control fetish, I think that line would be a fertile starting point.

Maid, To Order: “Katie, a pretty young housekeeper, is reprogrammed by subliminals to be a slave to three male roommates.” Another classic setup, exceedingly well done. The induction in this one is also particularly hot, even though inductions rarely do it for me.

Enough gushing. Go read some of her work, it speaks for itself.

Now, the reason why Daphne's been on my mind recently is because we just got an announcement that Mind Control Comics is back! The following is snatched from MC Forum:

But what about Mind Control Comics?

That's back, too! Memberships are $24.95 per month, or $44.95 for 
three months.

Now, we won't be able to get new content flowing immediately, 
since we haven't had income to pay artists.  Thus, we're giving 
the following membership bonuses:

1. All memberships (monthly or three-month) purchased through 
October 31, 2011, will have two free months added to them 
(monthly memberships will be good for three months, three month 
memberships for five months).

2. All memberships purchased November 1-30, 2011 will have one 
additional month added to them for free.

3. After that, we're back to regular schedules.

(Part of the reason why MCC was gone was due to credit card processing problems. Those seem to have been resolved, although the announcement does point out that they want to make sure the new processing arrangement is stable before going full-speed ahead with production of new titles, but all in all, it's all very encouraging. I'm a big fan, and look forward to renewing my membership.)

Mind Control Comics specializes in high-quality online adult comics with in-your-face mind control, featuring stories written by Daphne, and illustrated by various folks. All eminently readable, and some of the series are particularly effective at getting my blood flowing:

Bearing Gifts: “Mark and David are visiting a hypnotized, brainwashed prostitute… but what’s happening to David’s girlfriend Rowan while they’re having their way with the hooker?” Five stories in the series, and an additional five in the Found Objects related series.

Beyond Rubies: “Julie has started wearing a new necklace that promises her more energy and a better figure... but there are certain side-effects for her and her friends...” Two stories in the series, but more are rumored to be on the way.

The Hidden Knowledge: “Daffyd discovers a book that claims to reveal the hidden knowledge of seducing women. It can't actually work, can it?” Four stories currently in the series.

In any event, join, and enjoy. Among other things, the site's made me discover the art of SturkWurk , who's a talented 3D artist. Don't knock it—it's way harder than it looks, as exemplified by the proliferation of bad 3D artwork out there in Smut Land.

On the Road

Writer's Journal: I had time to kill this morning, so I put in a good 1500 words on The Adjusters #25. And I think I figured out the sex scene in that one too, although it might require me to borrow some details that I was planning to push to #26 or #27. So all in all, a good last few days writing. It's also good for me to remember that this is just a story, and just a stroke story at that. It ain't no Great American Novel.

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I'm on the road for the weekend, so I don't have a lot to offer.

I'll leave you with a deliciously nasty story that seems to be ongoing, by Wontworry, called Whatever you want. No description, but it's basically the story of a woman who gets “tricked”, if you will, into submitting to a rather sick man. I just love the fact that he gets her to play-act. Just love it. I don't want to know what that says about my psyche tonight. Some things are better left untouched.

More about Time Travel Stories

Writer's Journal: Started drafting The Adjusters #25. (#24 was already drafted before I realized I needed a #23...) And I was disappointed to see that my outline said it was going to be all plot. It will probably prove difficult to inject some smut into that one. I'm hoping that as I'm writing it a suitable sex scene will spontaneously raise its hand and shout "Me! Me! Me!" Fingers crossed...

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About a month ago, I talked about time-travel stories, where a protagonist goes back to inhabit his younger self and presumably do everything better, and with lots more sex. I love the sheer wish-fulfillment factor that shines brightly throughout most examples of the genre. (Fact is, most folks I know from my youth are pretty much as hopeless now as they were back them, but it's somewhat crass to point that out. But hey, who am I to knock wish fulfillment? I write mind-control smut, after all, the ultimate in wish-fulfillment fantasies.)

In any case, I've been reading a couple more stories in that vein, where the protagonist goes back not to his own youth but into someone else's body, albeit still a teenager. One that's particularly interesting is by Joe J, titled Twice Lucky: “If you knew then what you know now, how would you act?” A short description, but it's pretty much what you'd expect, a man dies and goes back in time to relive his life as someone else. The story's decent—it has a couple of very good scenes, and while it's a bit difficult to keep track of all the girls that that poor guy hooks up with, the field gets cleared out a bit by the end. I discovered that there are two sequels, which I haven't read yet: Twice Lucky II: Time for a Change and Twice Lucky III: Divergence.

Another story in that genre that looks promising is POL's Play It Again, Sam: “Sam Eldon finds himself transported back in time twenty some years and into a much younger body. This is the story of how he affects the lives of many others and discovers what destiny's true purpose has in mind.” Haven't read that one yet, but I've really liked another of POL's tales, Of Drugs, Blackmail, and Seduction, so I have high hopes here too.

All of this reading, for some reason, has got me inspired to explore that kind of world. The creative wheels have been churning for almost a week now, and I'm getting a bunch of characters starting to form in the back of my mind, and a basic story line. Plus it feels like I can even rope in the other idea I had about a sexy older neighbor. What seems to be slowly forming is a story that is a mix of the classical tropes of time travel stories of the kind above, where someone uses the experience he has accumulated to adapt to a new life as a young man, and a few new twists on the idea. If this creative churn continues, it looks like I might have a new long story to write. Don't worry, it won't affect The Adjusters, but it will provide an outlet for stuff that doesn't fit in that universe.

Here's my question to you folks. Are any of you interested in seeing what the development process of this new story is? I don't mean to sound grandiose about it, but one thing I can do is basically post my notes and scribbles and brainstorming sessions so that you can see the plot and the ideas as they develop. I know many people are interested in the creative aspect of writing, and seeing something develop from scratch might be of interest. Now, I'm not sure if I'm going to do this or not—after all, there's something highly personal about hatching out a world and characters—but I'd like to know if there would be any interest before making the final decision. Note that one nasty side effect would be a complete spoiler of the story. I guess one other possibility is to publish the story first, and then post the development material afterwards.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or by email.

An Erotic Graphic Novel by Dr. Faustus

Writer's Journal: Almost done with drafting The Adjusters #23. I was hoping to get it done before this weekend trip, but not quite. If all went according to plan (I'm writing this mid-week, and scheduling it for posting on Saturday—we'll see how well that works) I probably finished the last scene in my notebook right about now. File this one under "fun with time warping." [Turns out I couldn't get the automated posting to work, so I'm posting it manually tonight. Sigh. And yes, I did manage to finish the last scene of #23.]

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There was a pleasant surprise for me in my RSS feed this week—which some of you probably already know about, but in case not, I am here to share the wealth.

Dr. Faustus, of the blog EroticMadScience.com, has just published an erotic graphic novel based on his screenplay The Apsinthion Protocol, illustrated by Lon Ryden. It is available either as individual volumes in PDF or CBZ or as a single PDF file. And it's free, as we like it.

The Apsinthion Protocol is the first part of a series called Gnosis College—which as the name implies is a weird mix of philosophy, academic research, and sex, with a generous vibe of mad science thrown in. I've read it, enjoyed it, and also read the sequel, Study Abroad. It takes some time to get used to reading screenplays, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty much like any short story, except with more dialogue. I haven't read the third and fourth parts yet, Progress in Research and Invisible Girl, Heroine, but they're next on my list.

I'm pleased to see that Dr. Faustus and Ryden are now producing a graphic novel based on Study Abroad, and the pages are posted on Dr. Faustus's main blog as well as here as they appear.

Have a look, it's worth it.

On Cheat Sheets and Copy Editing

Writer's Journal: Still recovering from the drain of editing (in fact, almost rewriting) The Adjusters #21 over the last week. I hope #22 will not require that many changes. But I'm putting away my daily 500 words on #23, which is progressing and also somewhat surprising me.

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I'm a big fan of Nicholson Baker, writer of Vox and The Fermata. I particularly love the fact that many of his stories are essentially just dialogue, yet they read perfectly naturally. Baker seems to have a reputation as a somewhat kinky writer—Vox is the record of a conversation between two people on a sex chat line, while The Fermata is about a man who can stop time, with the erotic hilarity that ensues—but to be honest, his books are not particularly arousing, at least to me. I read them because they are good as novels, not because they are good as erotica, if that makes any sense.

In any event, the reason why I bring him up is because he has a new book out, House of Holes, which I haven't read yet. But I did come across the copy editor's guide to House of Holes, and I thought it was fascinating.

Let me explain. You're writing a long story. I mean, a long story. For me, I'm thinking The Adjusters, which clocks in right now at about 186000 words, because let's be honest here, I'm a one-trick pony. How do you keep track of everything? And I'm not just talking about the big things here like plot points, or whether you made sure that the taser you want a character to use at some point has been seen before so that it doesn't come as a surprise. No, I'm talking about the stupid little details. Like the fact that Jackson has blue eyes, that Daniel was born in Connecticut, that Jennifer has dreams of being a writer. Things like that. Things that are easy to forget. Or things you don't even know until you find yourself discovering them while writing a passage and then promptly forgetting about them once the passage is written and edited and posted. How do you keep track of those? Well, in my case, I have a couple of files in my working folder that lists all those details—character sheets, personal histories, a couple of maps. The works. A lot is fleshed out, a lot isn't. Sometimes I had to them as I write. And most importantly, I refer to them when I edit—not when I write a draft, because that tends to break the writing spell. (And despite that there are still things I miss, like what Met identified in his comments to The Adjusters #21, that Radhu doesn't say "mate", unlike many of my Indian friends.)

Of course, I haven't invented anything here—it's pretty much the only way to do it, and it goes without saying that other writers have such cheat sheets for their work. What I realized looking at the guide above for House of Holes is that such a trick is also useful for copy editing! By that, I mean keeping track of the even stupider little details: did I spell Jackson Randall's name consistently, or did I let a Randal inadvertently through? do I use non-negligible or do I use nonnegligible? Both are essentially fine, but I better be consistent. Do I use serial commas (Radhu, Serena, and Daniel) or not (Radhu, Serena and Daniel)? Both have their advocates, and again I just have to be consistent. Details very much at the level of language. And the guide above is convincing me that I should start maintaining such a file, at least for the things for which there is a choice and for which I need to make the same choice consistently throughout.

New Story: The Adjusters #21

Two days late, but here is October's episode of The Adjusters, "Happy Birthday", wherein we discover the limits of the author's storytelling abilities—huh, I mean, wherein a birthday celebration turns out to be way more emotional than anyone might have anticipated.

As usual, comments welcome.

I'll also remind you that we have a Speculation Thread available for discussion. (A thread which I read but do not comment on.)


21 - Happy Birthday

The singing was awful, off-key, earbleed inducing--the way it often
was. Jackson yelling to the top of his lungs was simply par for the
course. Still, Daniel thought it was sweet. Grossly embarrassing, but
sweet. The waitresses carried a small cake, joining in the
revelry. Patrons around the restaurant were split between those who
laughed earnestly, those who ignored studiously, and those who scorned
openly. Next to him, Cindy was singing softly, her voice clearest
among the friends at the table, her "Happy Birthday to You!" sounding
like raindrops in a lake. Daniel wondered if she had ever sung on
stage, and tabled the question for later.

He looked around the booth as the waitresses left. Cindy was sitting
next to him, looking lovely as usually. Jackson and Kyra were sitting
opposite, their hands clasped together underneath the table. Remnants
of their dinner were strewn before them, and wine was still flowing
freely. They were on their third bottle. And now they had a small cake
to share. A tablet computer was leaning against the wall of the booth,
running a video conference application through which the smiling face
of Radhu could be seen. Radhu had loaned out the tablet to
Daniel--part of a remote learning project he was doing with a doctoral
student in the Department of Education--so that he could participate
in the festivities without leaving his apartment, something he had not
done in more than four months now.

Daniel felt a dissociation come over him; for a second, he was outside
the bubble, listening in, watching everyone at the table quibble over
which slice of the cake they cared about. He flashed to a similar
scene a year earlier, another dinner for his birthday, this time at
Serena's place--Jenn, Radhu, Serena, and him, the three musketeers. In
less than a year, everything had changed. Jenn--don't think about it,
he chided, she's gone. Radhu was still around, and had not really
changed aside from his physical withdrawal from the outside world. And
Serena...

Continue reading...


Next month, episode 22: "Back in Town".

Update on The Adjusters #21

The Adjusters #21 will be a day late—still a bit of rewriting that needs to be done. It should be posted tomorrow night. Sorry about this, and thanks for your patience.

Here's a decent story to keep you tied over. It's by The Big Bopper, and titled Working For His Promotion: “The boss seems to want his wife.” (Did I ever mention I both love and hate Literotica's story synopses? On the one hand, they are haiku-like in their brevity, but they also don't give you much to go on.) Basically, the story is that Adam Hamilton's boss really likes Adam's wife, and comes up with a plan that will benefit both Adam and his wife, and himself. But, of course, it all turns out to be the collective bite that they cannot all chew. It starts off as a somewhat typical cuck story, but then takes an interesting direction. Some very hot scenes, and some extremely hot scenes too. And at least one writer-rolls-his-eyes moment—see if you can spot it.