Simon Strange's Blog, page 3

Does witnessing humanity in art make us more human?

Our Country's Good as presented by Bag & Baggage in Hillsboro, OR Recently I had the opportunity to sit in for a reading of Our Country's Good, a uniquely written play by Timberlake Wertenbaker (who, until this event, I had not actually heard of; yay culture!) as presented by a local theatre company near me, called Bag & Baggage.  This is a rather heavy handed play based on Thomas Keneally novel,  The Playmaker .  I say heavy handed because the play has lines like, "People without imagination shouldn't go to the theatre!"  This and others, in a clear demonstration of Wertenbaker's views on theatrical arts which arose during a period in Thatcher's England, in the 80's, when Britain's then prime minister sought to cut funding for them. 
"Oh no you don't, dirty theatre folk!" The theme of the play makes it overtly and repeatedly obvious that Wertenbaker believes in the transformational power of theatre and theatrical language. In it, a group of prisoners in the penal colony of Australia work with the officer set to rule over them to put on a play, The Recruiting Officer. The officer, Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark, believes that having them put on this play will serve to civilize the prisoners, who have been stealing food, raping, whoring, and otherwise doing the kinds of things that sullen, rebellious criminals are wont to do. And, through the course of the play that is almost entirely character driven, it does. At the same time, it seemed to me from the reading alone that Wertenbaker had some pretty scathing views on British culture of the time, as the play is also full of jabs and jibes at the culture of classist elitism and racism she saw pervading Britain at the time. It's delightful, and Wertenbaker herself is well known for being a bit of a... well, she's very outspoken and wields her words with both candor and deadly aim.  "Oh yes I did, Margaret Thatcher." While the message of Our Country's Good was unsubtle, it was still well done, and it got me contemplating the role of not just theatre, but all arts in humanizing people. By humanizing I mean to say, essentially: developing empathy; compassion for the roles and plights of others; interest in and use of language to express ourselves—be that spoken words, or the visual language of color and shape, or even music and sound—and as much as all of that, the desire to be and do those things in the first place. With this, one wonders: if we withdraw those arts from society, cut them off, or restrict access to them, then do we ultimately dehumanize ourselves and our culture? "Take a look, it's in a book..." I'm all for theatre arts; I love going to see a play, and of course how gay could I possibly be if I didn't enjoy a musical now and again? My obviously favored art, however, is literature. Now, I'm not blind to the nature of the bulk of my own work. I'm not sure how much humanization takes places over the course of a good erotica read; but then again, even in that context, perhaps seeing characters develop, comes to terms with desire, and then feel free enough to act on them in some way demonstrates to us the kind of courage and confidence it takes to feel as though we deserve to experience joy and happiness? Alright, for erotica that's a stretch. For romance, a little less. But if reading stories, whether they're fiction or not, might assist us in empathizing with other human beings, and in seeing parts of ourselves reflected in characters on a page—if it can illuminate us to a connection between 'self' and 'other' then it makes sense that this would ultimately benefit humanity as a whole. That takes the need for literacy to a whole new level.  It isn't just about education, developing a skilled populace, and giving people access to things like written history, math, science, and letters to grandmother. Literacy might mean humanization, peace, enlightenment of the masses, and a more universal understanding of one another. Some of the facts from the Proliteracy.org Fact Sheet I found are a little outdated, but the more recent data isn't drastically improved. In much of the developing world and the middle east, women especially suffer from a lack of literacy education. If you're so inclined, you might take a look at the World Literacy Foundation, which is a global non-profit that works to support and spread literacy across the world. The connection between literacy, the arts, and a more peaceful, prosperous world seem to be pretty clear. It would be something really spectacular if the pen really did turn out to be mightier than the sword, wouldn't it?

Nick's Time Out is finally done!

Alright ladies and gents, I finally got it done. Following up after A Lakeside Secret was tough, but here it is! Nick's Time Out ramps up the relationship between Nick and his Step-Dad, Stan, as they further explore their erotic relationship, as well as the emotional attachment that they both share and haven't wanted to admit to.
This story is told from Stan's perspective; it shows his ambivalence between the knowledge that he shouldn't be having this affair, while he indulges in a growing addiction for the way Nick makes him feel. It is hot from page one and I am really pleased with how it turned out. 
It'll be available for pre-order right up until it releases on February 4th, and it will be on sale for $0.99 until then. It goes up to $2.99 at launch, although of course it will be in Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owner's Lending Library as well. Those of you on my mailing list got the excerpt ahead of time - trust me, that's the tamest scene in the book. 
To those of you reading who aren't yet on the mailing list, you're missing out! Sign Up Here to get news of new and upcoming releases, reviews of books that I couldn't put down, and exclusive excerpts and 

Rune & Claw at midnight! A little confusion...

Woo! The first novel of the Adam Saint series is finally going live! It's on sale initially for $0.99 until the weekend, so by all means grab a copy early.

Now, there is some confusion to clear up, so let me set the record straight (hah!) for all those that may wonder.


Initially it was recommended to me that I should split my romance and my erotica up between two pen names. So I wrote this initially under Artemis Olsen. However, let me tell you now that keeping up with two pen names is a chore, and was taking away time from my writing. By the time I went to correct it, the book was already in its pre-order phase, which means no changes for the three days leading up to release. C'est la vie. As soon as I was able, I uploaded a new cover and manuscript reflecting both names, and I'll tell you why.


My wonderful, wonderful husband was with me every step of the way as I wrote this book, giving my his honest feedback and even helping me rewrite the whole book from the beginning. I salvaged maybe ten thousand words or less from the original. It just didn't have the feeling that I really wanted. Now, it's closer to that and, I think, a much better story. Because he was so present for me throughout this process, although I've removed my social media presence for Artemis, I left the credit to honor my husband because really, this book had two authors. He is just as excited about the series as I am, so he'll be helping me with future books in the series as well. 


Go teamwork! 

Black Party Birthday finally up!

This story took over 48 hours to get approval from amazon, and it's not a wonder why! This is my nastiest story yet, and I was really excited with how it turned out. 


It's about Shane, who just turned 18, and his step brother Collin, who has gotten them both tickets to the black party! For those of you who aren't aware, the black party is a circuit party that is leather and BDSM themed. 


When Collin's friends try to help Shane break out of his shell a bit, Shane ends up lost in the crowd. When he tries to find his way back, he runs into dark, mysterious mountain of a man who leads him to the back room and proceeds to break him in for his first time! 


Things heat up when Collin finds his little brother, and joins in on the action. I don't want to give away all the details, but there is just... boy juice all over this one. Check it out, and see for yourself!

So many stories, so little time.

I have been a busy, busy bee. All nighters for almost a week! I just finished Rune & Stone with my husband, and it's now up for pre-order and going live in a few days. Phenomenally excited, because it is the first novel length book that I've published and in a genre that I adore. 

I'm currently editing the second part in three part series that started with A Lakeside Secret, which has been to date my most popular story. It's a little different, it's told from Stan's point of view as he deals with the opposing forces of his guilt for being involved with his step son, Nick, as well as his growing addiction to their strange relationship. I'm hoping that it will be as hot, cute, and touching as the first one seems to have been; I almost hate to end it on the note that it's headed toward, but believe you me, it's setting up for a fantastic finale in part 3. 

I just finished a story that I'll be posting here soon, Black Party Birthday, which is my nastiest bit of work so far! As soon as it's live there will be a link available my darlings, no worries. This is one of those you want to read in a room alone. Tee hee. 

On top of all of that I have three other stories in the works - another straight seduction piece, the sequel to Finders Keepers - entitled 'Collared' - and then the first serial short that I'm working on for a project called Romance Unlimited! It is a seasonal, six story or episode project featuring several wonderful authors! We are hoping to launch come the end of march to kick off the spring season, and if successful we'll be putting out 2-4 seasons a year depending on how it goes. I'll certainly let everyone know when this happens. 

I have revamped the website, as you may notice - or not, if you're just now visiting. I've included a section on my favorite reads, with links to their Goodreads pages. I'm hoping to add quite a bit to that list and soon, when I have a bit of a break to breathe, I'll start reviewing MM Fiction specifically on the blog. 

Finders Keepers part 1 - Saved

Another story about a straight guy who starts to see things a little differently...


Dean interrupts a gay bashing in progress, and saves 21 year old Tommy from a beating. When Tommy had no where to go, he decides to take the boy home with him to recover.


When he wakes up to Tommy's gratitude, it wakes up the Alpha in him, and he decides that having a pet around the house to serve his lust may not be the worst thing after all...

Tutoring Dallas

Tutoring Dallas is a short erotic story about a straight boy so stressed about a midterm that he's willing to unwind no matter what it takes.


Paul is an excellent teacher, and has successfully tutored plenty of students on campus and off. When his friend Katie sends him another student who needs help with his calculus before midterms, he's floored to find out that the student in need is Dallas Courson, one of the hottest wrestlers in the school. 

Dallas is bright, but has a hard time retaining any information when he's stressed - and cramming for midterms is as stressful as it gets! When Paul suggests that relaxing a little might help Dallas absorb his lessons, the hunky wrestler admits that he's been wound tight since his last break-up, when word got around the to other girls that he's kind of a dog. Getting laid is the only way Dallas knows to unwind, and he's normally exclusively straight. Since Paul just happens to be around and drooling over him, though... 

What follows is a sexy, intense contest to see who can one-up who. If this is what tutoring the wrestling star is like, maybe Dallas can pass Paul's number around to his mates!



This story involves graphic MM sex, oral and anal, and a straight boy who learns what an experience another man's mouth and ass can be - and bottom boy who learns that straight guys know how to fuck a tight ass just as well as a tight pussy.

New Book!

Straight boy in our Bedroom is a straight seduction story, about Brian and Jason, boyfriends, and their pal Kevin - their token straight boy. Kevin has a hard time getting girls to see things his way, and gets talkative when he starts to drink. Responsible friends that they are, Brian and Jason insist that he sleep on the couch rather than drive home.

However, Kevin wanders the house in the night, and stumbles upon a scene that is quickly heating up between Brian and Jason, and can't pull his eyes away. When the two lovers spot their friend spying, they invite him in for a little training and he finds that with the right people, it can be plenty of fun...

Its ten thousand words of light submission, straight seduction, buddy sex, oral, anal, menage that you'll read over and over again, at least as long as you don't chafe easily.

Keep a fresh pair of undies ready for this story, and don't skimp on the tissues!

First Book, New Day!

I am tremendously excited to announce the first novella published under my Simon Strange pen name, A Lakeside Secret! This steamy PI erotic romance series follows Nick as he develops a special bond with his Step-Father, Stan. The series will grow beyond this as it unfolds, as Nick discovers not only what it means to be a good son, but also confronts his sexuality, his spirit, and ultimately the man that will steal his heart.

Check out this excerpt, and look for the book on Amazon.com for only $2.99, or borrow it for free from Kindle Unlimited

Check out an excerpt here:

"Eh, none of my guys friends are into that sort of thing." He said it not like he was joking, but like... it had been discussed? My dad was always a master of deadpan, though, so I rolled with it.

"Well there's Craigslist," I said.

"How the hell do you...?” He scowled at me, but it wasn't real anger. “You and Ken, I swear. You can't order up a blow job like a pizza."

"Uh," I said, "yeah, actually, you totally can."

"Huh. Well, I don't like to order in."

"You'd rather cook at home, then? Is that the metaphor we wanna..." I trailed off, and clamped my mouth shut, but too late. I knew that his head went to the same place mine did, because we had almost the same sense of humor.

We were quiet for a bit. The fire crackled, the crickets and frogs sang, the water lapped at the sand. I hoped that the sounds would somehow just drown out whatever thoughts were hanging unspoken in the air between us.

"Nick," dad said, breaking that silence with my name spoken almost too quiet for me to hear him, but, unfortunately, loud enough, "were you thinkin' about me, that day?"

I couldn't play coy to a question like that. It was direct, and I knew when my dad asked a question to which he already knew the answer. I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. Then my tongue. But my dad had this silent thing, he could kind of ask a question and then apply this magical, psychological pressure to it that built up and built up until you had to answer, and you had to tell the truth. I swear, he had real live super powers.

"Here," I said, and poured us both another shot of the rum. We both drank it, fast and with zero hesitation.

I tried to fight off the dad powers a little longer. It was a hopeless fight, though. He'd know if I was lying because that was another of his really irritating super power. "It's not what you think."

Dad nodded agreement, and the shrugged. "The brain... the imagination... our minds... they're... complicated, you know?" He said, waxing intellectual, thank god. "Not everything we think, or dream, or... fantasize about, means what it looks like. Everything in here," he tapped his temple, "it's smoke and mirrors, trying to hide from us what's deep down. What's really there. It kind of comes up as... ghosts, hauntings, that don't necessarily make sense, and aren't what they appear to be. I've had all kinds of dreams that didn't mean what they seemed to."

"Yeah," I agreed, even though I was actually... kind of lost as he wandered a little bit there.

"So, if you have some... fantasy, you know... about... your old man... that can be normal, too. Nobody knows what's normal. They say sex dreams aren't really about sex." He turned, and looked at me. He was drunk, yes, but I could see lucidity there that actually kinda worried me because it meant that he was likely to remember all of this really vividly the next day.

"I think I read that, yeah." I agreed, nodding.

He was quiet a long moment, kind of looking at me. I looked back, and then turned to look at the lake... and then turned to look back because he was still staring. "Dad...? What?" I encouraged.

"Mm." He scratched the scruff on his jaw. I could hear it from where I was, over the fire and the crickets and the waves. "What were you thinkin' about? I mean, what was... this... fantasy?"

"I really don't want to talk about that." I tried to make it sound as final as I could.

It didn't help. "Look. Son, I will never judge you, or hate you, or shame you, okay? But this conversation, this fantasy you had, it... it might tell us something really important. You didn't have your mom around; just me - and I think I did a good job, man, you're a... you're just..." he choked up a little, and took a moment. When he spoke again, the sincerity in his voice was weighty. "Nick you are so much more than I ever hoped for. You will never know what that means, but... you're perfect, to me, okay? No matter what."