Jack Brighton's Blog, page 7

Alpha Males and fags

I mentioned recently that I had started using Tumblr as a means to advertise my work. Not surprisingly, I've been sniffing around a few other sites, and one theme that has caught my attention is that of the Alpha Males.
There are quite a few blogs I've come across, drawn there initially by some very raunchy pictures that are posted. But the interest for me is more about the little snippets that some of these bloggers add to the pictures they post. Have a look at this one - it's pretty tame compared to a lot of the material, but the message is the main theme that runs through them all. Alpha males are superoir beings and fags are inferior, there only to worship and be of service.
Now I know I write along similar lines - masters and slaves etc, but I usually have a different backdrop - there is respect, nurture, and dare I say it, love, in the majority of relationships in my books. The Wild Side series being the prime example - Angus and his slaves are a family, a cohesive unit that is carefully managed.
But I'm not entirely innocent. There are some different cases!
The Nemesis series is close to the Alpha Male/Fag mentality, at least in the first two books, although I do revert at the end. And 'Loaded' is a certain fit - it scares me how I came up with the character Toni without having refernce to these 'straight' Alpha Males before, so he was obviously in my head - part of my psyche.
So, do I subscribe to the philosophy, or at least sympathise with it? I'm not really sure. One part of me says I should be appalled by men who profess to be straight, yet use gay men for convenient sex. It is SO politically incorrect. I'm sure much of what is being blogged is pure fantasy. I struggle to see why genuine straight men would spend endless hours posting pictures of horny looking Alpha Males like the one above. But maybe I'm wrong. Best to keep an open mind. I know that there are guys out there who do get off on being treated like shit, and I suppose the ultimate rush for some is to be fucked by a 'straight guy' who is a glorious specimen and ultra dominant. I write this sort of stuff, and people buy it. The Nemesis series sells more copies than The Wild Side books, so that must say something.
I've drawn a line under the Nemesis trilogy, but in Loaded there was an opening to continue the story. Perhaps that's should be added to the plan for 2014 - explore the Alpha Male/Fag scenario further, and in doing so explore myself... For don't think for one second that I'm not there in some form or another in every book that I write.

Jack

Lost In The Flood

"Hey, gunner man, that's quicksand, that's quicksand that ain't mud
Have you thrown your senses to the war or did you lose them in the flood?"

Bruce Springsteen - 'Lost in the Flood', from 'Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.'

Okay, so anybody who can quote that one has to be a big Springsteen fan, or at least I was when younger. But what has it got to do with gay BDSM writing? Well, I could probably find a link if I tried hard enough, but the answer is absolutely nothing. It's more to do with how I am feeling at present. I'm lost in the internet flood!
This year has been a strange one in terms of my writing. The last Jack Brighton book to be released was in January - Boot Camp Week. Events sort of caught up with me - a holiday in India, which was fabulous, then returning to a catastrophy of collapsing ceilings in my Brighton apartment due to water leakage from above and the place needing a total makeover after seven years in the hands of a tenant who did no maintenance whatsoever, and an agent managing the place who failed miserably in managing it whilst telling me everything was fine. I sort of got sidetracked for a couple of months.
Having had a break, I then decided to do a makeover of my work. Bring all the old Fergie Boy books up to scratch, and in doing so tackled 'Man in the Box' and 'Naked Hero' which kept me busy for many subsequent months.
At the same time I decided that with so much material out there under the various pen names, I should be marketing myself better. Hence this website, and the blog. There is Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google Plus being looked at, Reddit... Have I missed one? Probably! Is it any surprise I'm lost in the flood? All of yesterday got hijacked with internet tools and not a single word was added to the new book I'm working on. My head was spinning at the end.
I had thought it was paying off. October started really well on the sales front. But then two really crap days put paid to that, so I'm not feeling terribly inspired.
But at least I'm blogging, even if it is in a negative tone. That's life though, isn't it. Not every day is great. You have to keep going, try to stay afloat.... and even if at times you feel lost, fight and don't drown in the flood.

Jack

Smokin' Hot... Or Not?

 
Am I wrong, or is smoking on the increase? It certainly seems that way to me when I'm out and about. It was once seen as cool then sort of went out of fashion with all the health scares, high taxes and negative publicity. But is smoking back in vogue?
It's a topic in writing that I ocassionally embrace - Angus McCloud enjoys a cigar and is often portrayed smoking one, usually with a malt whisky in his other hand. I've taken it further with other characters, using the glowing cigar as an object of torture to burn a submissive's nipple. I must admit that I like the image, and might look to take it further. But do people find it sexy, or is smoking old hat?
As an ex-smoker and glad to have given up, I never use cigarettes in any of my scenes. But perhaps that's being unrealistic when so many people are still happily adicted. I know that the BBC have banned it in some of their programs, not wanting to advocate by screening characters who smoke. But should I be doing the same? Is it right to self censor? What is the responsibility of an author - to portray reality, the world as it is; or to paint a fanciful picture where certain things don't exist?
Well let me think on that for a second, for that's all it need take...
Hey! This is Jack Brighton! This is Fiction on The Wild Side! Of course I paint a picture that is far from real. My men are always gorgeous like the smokin' hot stud above, their cocks are always big, hard and forever hungry, and it's a long long time since I wrapped one in a condom. It's a fantasy world full of fantasy characters, where the horrors of STD simply doesn't exist. So if I choose to banish smoking then that's all part of the deal... except of course for those smokin' hot masters and their sexy cigars. That's different! That's Jack... and that's not going away!

Jack

The Passive Master

My mind is always churning, thinking of new ideas for scenes or for books. Over the weekend I came up with an interesting one... Shake up The Wild Side with an alien concept - introduce 'The Passive Master'.
We live in a world where ignorance and bigotry still abound. As an author of gay BDSM books, I like to think I have an open mind. But are the characters I create bigoted in their own way? What would the members of The Wild Side have to say if someone in their rank was to put up his hand and admit 'I love to get screwed on the quiet!'
It's a sort of unspoken rule that the masters do the fucking. Certainly at the club I have never writen a scene where the stereotypical roles are reversed. I did it in 'The Wild Side of Paddy McGuire' where Paddy as a trianee slave screws one of the masters, and was encouraged to do so. But that was a one off - a rarity for the master who normally tops and thoroughly enjoys doing so. Paddy of course gets fucked as well by Angus despite being a natural top. But how about having a man like the one pictured, who looks like a top, and knows how to dominate, but has a strong preference for getting fucked. If he has wealth and power, why not buy a harem of horny top slaves, sexy butch men who fuck his brains out, but only on their master's terms. It is he who is always in control!
I think he would be a great character - and then I took the idea further. Angus McCloud loves to fuck butch men - Paddy being the prime example. What a thrill it would be for him to screw a master! And on the flip side - getting screwed by your property is all very well, but for the Passive Master, the allure of another master pounding away at him would be a huge attraction. But who would be in control? That would be the fun part - the battle for dominance and a challenge to the proscribed notion of who is the dominant one during sex. Of course with Angus involved it would be a no-brainer, but maybe some of the other masters at the club would find it a power struggle where only in terms of where his cock was did he actually come out on top!Add it to the growing plan for 2014. I think it could be an interesting project!

Jack

Inspiration vs Plagerism

I had an interesting wake up call this morning - it came in the form of a reply, which I probably misinterpreted, to a comment I posted on Facebook. There was a quote posted which I identified with and made a very rare comment on - that I liked it and could see myself using it in some form or another. The response was 'Thou shall not steal from the internet' and I went totally apeshit!
Not being a big user of Facebook, I didn't look carefully enough to see that 'LIKE' was attached, along with a smiley face, and some more wording '...That is my job' so I'm hoping it was done tongue in cheek. But I was really agitated for an hour or so. It felt like I was being accused of plagerism, or at least thinking about commiting the offence.
I don't plagerise, but I do use quotes, always attributing to the original source. Shakespeare and Robert Burns are my favourites to draw on. I had both drummed into me at school, so can reference them pretty easily. And they do come up with some cracking lines!
But the situation got me thinking... is there a fine line between plagerism and inspiration. If I were to use the quote that was posted on Facebook then I would paraphrase the words but keep the same sentiment. Is that plagerism, or using something someone has writen to inspire my own work?
Why this is so topical for me at the moment is because I have started to use Tumblr as a means to advertise my work (see earlier blog). I do this under the title 'Jack's Inspiration' hence my questioning myself. Bear in mind it is an advert, not a retrospective. What I do is find an image that fits something I have writen - post the image and the extract from the book with a link to the book page on this website. For example, the guy above was used yesterday along with an extract from 'Nabbed Again'. But I found him after I wrote it, so not guilty there.
However!
There have been instances where I have seen an image and used it as genuine inspiration. Maybe the way a guy looks, or some filthy act that is taking place, and then write the scene with this in mind. Can that be a form of plagerism? I hope not. But I will certainly think a little more carefully about what I post in future. It is so easy to point fingers, and so easy to make a mistake without intending to play foul.
Anyway, I'm glad to have got that off my chest... Now time to do some creative writing - 'The Wild Side of Christmas' awaits, and there is a pretty obvious deadline that needs to be met.

Jack

A Blow Too Far

Okay, so I am approaching the big punishment scene in 'The Wild Side of Christmas' and am dreaming up some wild ideas about what will happen to the man. He's a bit of a hunk like the one over there, a rugby player who can handle some pain - he's also a virgin to the whip on his back and to a cock up his ass, so there is plenty of scope with the blank canvas he offers... But how far can I go?
It never bothered me in the early days. I did what I wanted, be it concensual or not, but now I have to be more careful.
Why?
Censorship!
If I want to get published on some of the big sites then I have to comply with their views on what is acceptable or not . Sadly this is never clearly stated 'Nothing offensive' being the biggest player's rather wooly offering as a guideline. In other words - what we deem appropriate given the climate at the time, or what pressure we might be under from interested parties who think it is their right to enforce a moral code on others.
I don't approve, but what am I in comparison to big business - those powerful banks who we all know are as pure as the driven slush. They make the rules and I have to adhere to them or find that my work gets removed from mass market. If I want to survive financially as a writer in my genre then I have no option. There will be no blood, no taking in rape, although I have managed to get such books through in the past, but they usually get removed eventually and have to be resubmitted with a bit of toning down. So don't be too harsh on me if I'm not harsh enough. Instead write to your bank and tell them to mind thier own business or you'll take your business elsewhere.

Jack  

The Wild Side

If the blog is entitled 'Thoughts from The Wild Side' then I suppose it would be a good idea to get in there early with the club that has featured in so many of my books.'The Wild Side' was actually the second book I wrote under the name Jack Brighton, and that's the original book cover.
Whilst most of the story is about the relationship between two men, The Wild Side club plays a significant part as it is at the club a critical moment is reached between the two main characters - Ralph who is a dom and a member of the club, and Barry who is spending the weekend with him learning what it's like to be a sub.
I have never used these two characters since, but yesterday wrote a short scene where they appear again, and I think there is scope to involve them more - we'll see.
Whilst the actual club went on to feature in many other books and became the centrepiece for much of the action, there was only one character who was lifted from the original book - Mr. Charles, the manager. He appears in several other books but has never been a star, something which I know I need to amend as he is a very popular character whose story deserves to be told. A project for 2014 perhaps.
Of course the main characters who did emerge are the club's owner, Angus McCloud and his entourage of slaves: Paddy, Dylan, Sven and Marco. Paddy has had a book dedicated to himself where I go back five years and tell his story. Dylan has been the star of two books. Sven and Marco we learn about through snippets so perhaps they deserve more of a focus. The next book in planning 'Trouble at The Wild Side' will certainly give Marco more of a voice.
The big one is Angus of course. I've developed him slowly and hinted at his background, especially in 'The Wild Side of Paddy McGuire' but have never told his own story. That would be a massive project. I have it in my head but it would take a long time to write, so I need to pick the right time. It would take him from his teens to when he meets Paddy, and might have to be done over three volumes. Let me know if it's something I should be moving up the planning list, or should Mr. Charles get his say first.

Thanks to those who have commented or made contact. As always with a blog, you hope people are finding it and reading what is said, but only through feedback do you actually know. It makes it worthwhile, and it helps me as well, so keep the comments coming.

Jack

Pen Names - A Brief History

Yesterday I started to add some of my other work to the site. I also have quite a few titles published under two different names - Fergie Boy and Tom Farrell - so I thought I'd take a few minutes to explain.
I drifted into writing rather than set out with a clear goal of being Jack Brighton, author of gay BDSM erotica. But I always had the urge to write a book, and having quit the London rat rate, I had the time to try my hand. When I started, I found that there were plenty of ideas in my head, but the writing was pretty poor. Two books were produced that not suprisingly were rejected by publishers.
It was during this rejection process that I was approached by a friend of a friend who was setting up an erotica website with a business partner. They wanted a gay section and I wrote some short stories that were so well recieved that they decided to make a dedicated site for my work. Very ambitious, but it was their money, not mine. All I had to do was produce some more stories. The site was named 'Gay Boy Books' and Fergie Boy was born.
Fergie Boy
I do regret that name now - but hey - too late to change it.
I produced enough work so that Gay Boy Books could be launched, but not surprisingly it fell flat on its face. Even the main erotica sites are suffering now under competition from the big ebook retailers, so I don't think it ever stood a chance.
What was interesting however from my point of view, was that as a marketing ploy, some of my work was offered to the two main UK erotica sites, and it sold pretty well. One book in particular - 'Keep It in the Family' made a big impression. On one site - Adultebookshop - it quickly became the all time gay best seller, and still hold that position today, as you can see if you hit the link. So I decided to go independant and set up my own self-publishing company, which eventually was named 'Firm Hand Books'. Over the following year I produced quite a number of titles as Fergie Boy. But I felt limited in the genre and wanted to explore new themes. I wanted to try a darker side where my imagination could really run riot. Rather than confuse the readership, I created a new persona, and that's when Jack Brighton came along!

Jack BrightonJack went a bit wild to begin with... '007 - A Licence to Bondage' was the first book I penned under that name. It was littered with mistakes, and wasn't exactly an original story line (young lad lured by the boss he adores to audition to become his slave) but it had some good scenes, and these somehow saved it and found me some new readers.
Note the book cover! Happy days when I didn't worry about censorship. I was only releasing to erotica sites, so they wanted it strong for this genre. The material in the book reflected this, and the same applied to the subsequent books - 'The Wild Side' being a case in point.
But to really sell books you have to get onto the main retail sites, so that book cover got replaced, and some of the writing toned down. You have to do this, otherwise the books don't get accepted. It's a fact of life, and as I now saw the possibility of actually making a living out of my work, I had to toe the line.
When I did actually release my catalogue of work (Fergie Boy and Jack Brighton) onto Amazon and such like, it became clear which of the two had the greater following... Mr. Brighton of course. That's when I decided to put all my focus into this genre, and only wrote under that name. After a couple of years, I wanted to try something different. Going back to Fergie Boy somehow seemed wrong, so I elected for a new pen name and a new start. This was Tom Farrell.

Tom Farrell
Okay! Okay! So Tom's best selling book is 'B for Bondage' which sounds like a Jack Brighton book, and in a way it is - it's still me doing the writing. But B for Bondage came after a couple of non-BDSM books: 'Dr. Yes!' and 'Deeper'. The difference is in the mind set, and also the literary style. Almost all the Jack Brighton books up to this point had been writen in the third person, taking a birds eye view of the story. I decided with Tom to either write in the first person, or if in the third, then do so from one person's perspective. It's much more personal and you can get into really get into the mind of the main character. The stories were kept quite simple and realtively short. I found it easier to write, and my proof reader (yes thankfully I had enlisted one by this stage) preferred the style, so I produced quite a body of work to see how it faired.
Pretty well was the answer. But except for Barnes & Noble where Tom really took off, not as well as Jack Brighton. And the truth of the matter is - I feel much happier as Jack, so it was inevitable I returned there (I've never gone away since, but will do at some point - there's more to come from Tom Farrell).
Notice the banner that I elected for as a marketing ploy for Tom Farrell. I decided to rebrand all my work under the Flaming Hot banner, and whilst at it, made sure the quality of writing in the earlier books was up to scratch. On revisiting, I particularly enjoyed 'The Wild Side' and the spin off I had writen 'Fisted!' That's when I decided to try and create a series of stories based around the club mentioned in these books. That was the birth of 'Tales from The Wild Side... and that is blog in itself.

Jack

A New Toy

  I am now using Tumblr!
Admittedly I have been accessing various Tumblr blogs for some time now. It's a great resource of material for images which I might use as part of a book cover, and also for giving me ideas, or adding detail to scenes.
But now I am doing my own blog on it, entitled Jack's Inspiration. I got the idea when working a few days ago on my latest book 'The Wild Side to Christmas'. I was wondering what I should have Paddy McGuire wearing and having spotted this picture on Tumblr, I though, yes, he'd look great in those jeans, filling them out even better, which is quite an achievement, but then it's fiction after all! So from there I decided to make a project and blog a whole varioety of images which have insprired me, and give a small extract of the writing that ensued. Another avenue of expression, or a toy to play with... Well I do like my toys!

You can check it out on - http://jackbrighton72.tumblr.com/ but be warned!!! Some of the material is pretty raunchy. But then what else would you expect - kittens with ribbons?
Hardly!

Jack

A New Website

My thanks to Rain Carrington and Claire Morgan, who quite by chance brought me to Weebly where I am now building a web site. I'd looked at such things before but they were always too complicated and time consuming. I'm a writer not an IT whizz kid. This is fairly simple once you get the hang of it, and I think I'm doing okay. It comes with this blog which I'm going to make a huge effort to put something on with modest regularity. Poke me if I get lazy. Scream at me if I get boring.Anyway, it's always good to start off with a hunk, and this is my muse of the moment. I'm assuming that's New York with all the yellow cabs surrounding him, but you can bet your bottom dollar, pound or Euro, that he's going to crop up in London quite soon. Once I've finished 'The Wild Side of Christmas' re-write, the next book in planning is provisionally entitled 'Trouble at The Wild Side' and this guy looks like trouble to me!
You don't agree? Well picture this...
There will be trouble in the book on multiple levels. Each and every one of Angus's slaves are going to be facing their own particular problem, and this guy is going to be Paddy McGuire's. A slave swap is occuring and Paddy will be sent to choose a temporary replacement for Sven who will be seperated from Marco for the first time in years. Does Paddy pick the one he wants for himself, or the man that he knows Angus would want... a man that could be a rival for his master's affection? If you've read any books where Paddy appears then you probably know the answer.

Jack