Jaye Elise's Blog, page 10

Wonder Woman’s Kinky Backstory?

[image error]Okay, okay, I admit it – the title is total clickbait. After all, what could be hotter than Wonder Woman…and kink?? But now that you’re here, how about you take a gander and find out some fun (sexy) facts about Wonder Woman’s origins. And when I say “origins,” I’m not referring to Diana, Princess of Themyscira’s origin story, but rather to the man who created this goddess and gave the world one of its most recognizable, strongest feminist superheroes.

In 1941, writer and psychologist William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton) created Wonder Woman. Incidentally, Marston was also instrumental in the development of the polygraph machine. But where’s the kink you promised, Jaye? Well, here you go! For starters, Marston and his wife Elizabeth were involved in a polyamorous relationship with Olive Byrne, the woman largely credited with providing the inspiration for Wonder Woman’s appearance, especially her iconic bracelets. All three were fervent feminists and Marston would explain, “Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world.” While his idea that Wonder Woman “would triumph not with fists or firepower, but with love,” may ring as decidedly non-feminist according to our modern sensibilities, his foresight in creating a vehicle for a strong female comic book lead character was unheard of during the 1940s.

Of course, one of the kinkiest elements in the comic books and in the subsequent TV iterations of the iconic goddess is that of bondage. Diana often finds herself tied up and held at the mercy of her foes, invariably escaping through her own cunning and strength. This is largely due to the fact that Marston aimed to subvert the ‘damsel in distress’ trope – Wonder Woman can rescue herself, dammit! But isn’t it hot to see her all tied up in the first place? Why, yes. Yes, it is. And it’s quite likely that Marston agreed with us wholeheartedly, at one point describing bondage and submission as “a respectable and noble practice.” A gorgeous, nearly omnipotent feminist all tied up, who then releases herself from bondage? Hot damn… No wonder she’s been around for nearly 80 years.

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For all of the fascinating details of how Wonder Woman has evolved over the years, how she became a feminist icon, and even how she (briefly) became an Honorary Ambassador to the UN, please refer to her Wikipedia article, the same source for the information I’ve included in this post.

 

 

 

The Personal Touch, or Maintaining Humanity in the Twitterverse

[image error]While I am anything but a Twitter expert, as I’ve begun my journey as a published author, I’ve learned to embrace and even enjoy the 140-character-based social media platform. It’s fun to see which pics get retweeted most often, which hashtags seem to provoke responses, and which followers pick up on the subtle (and not so subtle!) nuances in my tweets.

However (and yes, I’m decidedly old-school when it comes to communication), it’s somewhat disheartening to see an increasing level of follower auto-response services within Twitter. For example, I’ll follow someone’s feed and immediately receive an automated “thank you” response along with an offer to subscribe to the same service that generated the “thank you”. Now, please don’t misunderstand me, we all like to be acknowledged and thanked, but somehow being thanked and upsold by a bot just isn’t the same, is it? I think I’d just as soon not get the message in the first place.

Now, of course, comes the time to toot my own horn. From the beginning, I’ve made it a point to thank each of my Twitter followers via direct message, when possible – although if I’ve missed you, I apologize! It take a few seconds, but it makes a big difference. I’ve had a number of people respond with their own messages of thanks, follow-up comments and questions, or even a quick emoji. I’ve “met” people from all over the world and have had the opportunity to discuss books with them. I’ve even had some folks ask me which service I use to generate my responses, to which I invariably respond, “I don’t have a program. It’s all about the personal touch!” It makes the experience more rewarding and humanizing for everyone involved, and I’m always astounded at the impact a quick, genuine “thank you” can have on someone’s day.

I’m not saying that Twitter management tools are inherently bad, but I firmly believe that the best results stem from a careful balance between professional platform development and the personal touch. Just a little dose of the latter has the potential to go a long way, and, curmudgeonly though I may sound, I think the twitterati out there would be well served to keep this in mind.

Mum’s the Word: My Approach to Writing

[image error]Before I’d even considered trying my hand at writing, I had already heard of two fundamental precepts of the writing process:

Read as much as you can. Savor each thought-provoking turn of phrase, look up new words you’ve never heard before, delight in exquisite dialogue and descriptions. The more you read, the more confident you’ll be as a writer.
Share your work. Whether it’s with a trusted family member (although don’t expect unbiased feedback), a writers’ workshop, your online blogging community, or beta readers, be sure to share your work, consider the responses you receive, and make adjustments accordingly. You may not always agree with the data you get back from your readers, but at the very least you’ll have some new perspectives on your work.

Now, the first one? I’ve got that nailed. I’m an avid reader (Falling in (and out of) Love with Reading) and always enjoy seeing the world through another author’s eyes. But it’s that second one that I struggle with. I cannot stand sharing my work. I’m notoriously secretive. I don’t participate in workshops. I won’t even write on airplanes for fear that the nosy passenger in 12D might look over and take a gander at my prose. The only person with whom I’ve ever shared my work-in-progress is my husband, and even then, he only gets the occasional glimpse at a chapter.

I’m not sure whether or not this has to do with the subject matter I tackle – erotica of various flavors – or if it’s that I’m an inherently private person, not willing to share my writing until I’ve deemed it fit for popular consumption. Perhaps, as I grow as a writer, I’ll soften my views on sharing my work. But until that point, it’s mum’s the word.

Falling in (and out of) Love with Reading

[image error]Let me start off by saying that I love reading. It’s one of my favorite pastimes and I know my life would be a much bleaker place without a good book in hand. When an author successfully transports me to a different time period, a different planet, a different point of view, a different lifestyle, or a different kink, I couldn’t be happier. Books keep me company on my commute to and from work each day and come along with me on every trip I take, both for business and pleasure. In fact, the biggest reason I decided to try my hand at writing was because of my deep and abiding love for reading.

But this wasn’t always so.

For nearly ten years, while I pursued advanced degrees in literature, reading became my career. Novels, poetry, plays, critical articles, literary theory – I read it all. I devoured, dissected, and diagrammed centuries of literary tradition and committed it to memory. Having given up reading for pleasure – there simply wasn’t enough time to read anything non-canonical – I began to fall out of love with reading. Even when I could find a spare moment to relax, the last thing I wanted to do was read. And yes, it was bleak indeed.

[image error]Thankfully, once I left academia (and gave myself a good six months to recover), I rediscovered my love of reading and haven’t looked back since. Okay, okay, I admit it. There’s nothing too exciting or profound about this post. However, I did want to share that it’s nice to know that even when I lost my passion for reading, when I thought I’d never be able to stand the sight of another page, it wasn’t gone for good.

Reading was just waiting for me to find my way back. To fall in love all over again.

Sunday Night Split Personality

[image error]On weekends, I’m a writer.

Monday mornings I go back to my nine-to-fiver and keep my author alter ego under wraps for the next five days.

Now, I love my job, but being wrenched from the dreamscapes I’ve crafted and facing the “normal” work week has me feeling melancholy, conflicted, and torn.

It’s the Sunday Night Split Personality Syndrome. And until I decide to pursue one career avenue over the other – which I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do – the syndrome is here to stay.

Low Res Erotica

[image error]I’m currently working through a few different writing projects. While all fall under the erotica subgenre, each piece is independent of the others and requires a unique mindset to tackle it. With a couple paragraphs here and a few edits there, I’m making my way towards The End thrice over.

Please note that this isn’t my typical approach to writing, as I generally prefer to stick to one storyline, make some lucky gal’s buns nice n’ red along the way, and see it through to the happily ever after. And I’m slowly coming the realization that by splitting my erotic creativity, for lack of a better expression, among multiple projects simultaneously I may be delving into the world of “low res erotica.” In other words, the sexual tension isn’t quite taut enough, the individual scenes aren’t quite hot enough, the emotions aren’t quite palpable enough. Long story short, it ain’t good.

I’m not a fan of low res erotica.

This Just In!

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That is all.

Have a great weekend, all!

Confessing to My Husband, or “Hey, by the way, I write smut now!”

[image error]Well, it’s official – the cat’s out of the bag! Over an insanely decadent celebratory dinner, I finally let my husband know that he’s married to a published author of wicked erotic fantasies. And then I sent him his very own copy of said wicked erotic fantasies.

When he finally lifted his jaw off the table, I told him that my family of fellow authors (and Twitter and blog followers) were expecting a full report on his response to my confession, and he graciously distilled it down to two main points:

1. He’s so incredibly proud of me that he could burst.

2. He’s always known I had it in me and can’t wait to see what I write next.

I am indeed an incredibly fortunate woman to have such a supportive husband who couldn’t be more pleased about my goals and successes.

P.S. He also threatened to spank my ass if I ever pulled a “surprise” like this again, so I guess I’m REALLY fortunate, huh?

*Insert “Hump Day” Reference Here*

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To get your own copy of naughtiness on your Kindle, click here.

On Writing Sex…and Keeping It Sexy

[image error]There are days when I’ll go heads-down and write without surfacing for hours. I’ll grab a cup of coffee, take a quick bathroom break, and get right back into it, eager to pick up where I left off. These are usually the days when my hottest, nastiest, sexiest ideas come to the forefront of my mind and I scramble to try and collect them at their most intense and lascivious.

And then there are days when I struggle to make it through a scene without resorting to using the word “boner”. Jesus.

Whether feast or famine, I find it’s helpful to remind myself that – just as in physical sexual relations – there are ebbs and flows when it comes to writing sex. Especially when you write erotica. The tension gets stagnant. The vocabulary you once savored falls flat. Your protagonists bump up against each other, all elbows and angles.

And just as in physical sexual relations, when you ride out the wonderful moments in waves of ecstasy, sometimes there’s a lull in the action until that next wave crests. But without that awkward, uncomfortable lull, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the thrill of coasting that next wave to pure bliss.

So, now, about that boner…