Some Non Smutty Books

Writing Journal: Slight brain overload this week again, with too much creative juices and not enough outlets. I've been trying to redirect those energies into thinking about The Adjusters's storyline beyond Book II—which ends at #30 according to my current outline. I've got a couple of story threads in mind, but one is going to be tricky to navigate without overloading the reader. So I'll need to do some macro outlining. Probably over Christmas time. I do have a specific story to tell, though, and I know pretty clearly how it ends, but I'm not entirely sure how to get there.

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I've been trolling the Amazon Kindle Store limited-time offers section these last few weeks, in the hope of finding some free books that are not completely stupid. Mostly failed, but I did give a try to a few of them.

For instance, I did run into Cris Anson's Dance of the Seven Veils, which is a decent story. It's very much an Erotic Romance novel, but it has some pretty hot scenes, including one where the main character Lyssa confronts her good-for-nothing ex-husband in front of her current beau. Sadly, the book seems not to be free any longer, and I'm not sure I'd spend the $6.00 they want for it now.

More interesting is William Irwin's Superheroes: The Best of Philosophy and Pop Culture. (Still seems to be free, and if not, it's priced at $0.99, so not bad either way.) It's a readable, cute, not very deep but still decently broad overview of philosophy for those that don't know much about philosophical issues, and can't stomach a standard introduction to philosophy. The book addresses topics such as free will, justice, punishment, or the role of emotions, by focusing on a superhero that embodies the issue being studied. Yes, it's a gimmick, but it mostly works.

I think the most interesting chapter was the one on ethics, and accessorily the meaning of life, and that's for a couple of reasons. The first is just funny at this point: it's based on Spider-Man. It seems that a running joke on this blog is forming around that character—one that I repeat I hardly read anymore, except in the odd reprints I run across here and there—and how he creeps up when you least expect it. Anyways, a more serious reason is that the chapter contains an interesting discussion of Stoicism, and the reason why I bring it up is that Stoicism should play a role in my next project, Leapers. Finally, the chapter ends with a discussion of Thomas Aquinas, and it struck me that the author of the chapter really likes Aquinas, portraying him in a positive light, which is in sharp contrast to the few other places where I've encountered that character in the last few months (because I have, oddly enough), where he was painted as, well, not quite evil, but pretty close—certainly pleasure-denying and misogynistic. I don't know enough about him to really take a stand, but I find the contrast intriguing.

I've also finally gotten around to reading a book I grabbed a while back on the psychology of sexual fantasies: Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexual Fantasies, by Dr. Michael J. Bader. Basically a book investigating the psychoanalytical foundations of sexual fantasies. According to Dr. Bader, they serve as a way to regain a measure of safety against guilt, anxiety, shame, or worry, whereupon from that safe place sexual satisfaction can be gained. It's actually pretty engrossing, because like all good psychoanalysis layman books it is full of case studies, which are not only illuminating but interesting stories in their own right. I think I'm looking forward to getting some insight into my own fantasies. (Then again, maybe I should worry. I remember reading a quote from I believe Neil Gaiman saying that when he started reading Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces he stopped and put the book aside, fearing that reading it might ruin his ability to craft tales... I'll let you draw the analogy yourself.)

Don't worry, I won't leave you without any smut today. I've been reminded of the following mind-control story by PavlovsBelle entitled The Perfect Proposal: “Belle can’t wait for the college shuttle she’s on to arrive back at her dorm’s stop, her boyfriend is waiting for her and she’s certain he intends to pop the big question. Unfortunately a fellow bus rider has chosen her bus as the opportunity to help the passengers re-think their lives.” No sex to speak of in the story, but a lot of twisted, mind-bending conversations that suggest a lot more. Part of me really loves those stories where a girlfriend or a wife is turned away from her boyfriend or husband and forced to go with someone else. This story does that pretty well, and leaves you wanting more, a lot more.