Liz Everly's Blog, page 98

Fifty Shades of Grim Acceptance: Living with the Hatred of “That Book”

If you hated That Book (as I did), this book will help you live with it. Click to buy.

By Alexa Day

If you’re following me on social media (which I encourage) or in real life (those folks, sadly, are stuck with me), then you’re well aware of my feelings toward Fifty Shades of Grey. You know that I insist on calling it out of its name; I refer to it as That Book with the Tie. You know that I will dive for the remote rather than let the movie trailer play on any television in my home. You know that it is one of only two books I’ve been ashamed to be seen with. (The other, for trivia’s sake, was Why He Didn’t Call You Back, a dating book which also no longer resides with me.)

In short, if you know me, you know that I hate Fifty Shades of Grey. You know that I hate it so much that I stopped reading shortly after the first sex scene and then took pains to get it out of my home. Seriously, I took it out to the car that very night and shipped it back the next morning to the person who sold it to me.

Who greenlighted this cover? Today, it’s called Have Him at Hello. Click to buy.

I’m not a fan of innocent heroines, and this one crossed the line between innocent and dim more than once. I thought the sex was unsexy, even though I stopped after the “weird, pinching sensation.” I still don’t understand what’s attractive about Mr. Grey, who is worse than the classic alph-hole hero from romance’s Bad Old Days. I have very, very serious misgivings about the sex masquerading as BDSM. I wanted to kick the Inner Goddess down a flight of stairs while she was doing the Funky Chicken. I never understood why Ana’s roommate, if she was the editor of the paper, didn’t assign a member of her staff to use a telephone to conduct an important interview, rather than to send her completely inexperienced roommate to do it in person. And, God, if I had to read one more “holy crap” or “down there,” I was going to scream.

I might have forgiven some or all of this if Fifty Shades were a better written book, but it isn’t. I can’t get around poor writing. I can’t. I’m not the world’s best writer, but dammit, I think it’s important to try harder. I do not aspire to be popular in spite of poor writing.

A great many fans of That Book are kind of defensive when they hear how much people hate it. “If you hated it so much,” they say, “don’t read it!” Sound advice. Putting That Book back in the mail was absolutely the right thing to do. I still try to warn people away from it — it’s that horrendous — but hey, I stopped reading it. Life’s too short, as I said last week.

But as long as thinking about That Book causes bright pinpoints of light to dance before my eyes, I have

You *can* do better than Fifty Shades. Click to become a believer.

to deal with it somehow. It’s not going away. People who are new to erotica and erotic romance are using Fifty Shades as a barometer of sorts. When they ask whether my work is like Fifty Shades, they’re asking whether the heroine is innocent or whether there’s any BDSM in it or whether the sex is explicit. They’re curious and open-minded. They don’t understand that That Book causes me to grind my teeth. So I’m trying to be better about That Book. Nobody takes book recommendations from someone grinding her teeth.

Now I want to help you live with it, too. As That Book becomes That Movie, here’s a reading list of sorts. Whether you’re looking for something to read after Fifty Shades or a way to avoid That Book altogether, I hope you’ll find something that holds your attention in a way that doesn’t make you fear for our literary future.

No one throws shade at Fifty Shades like Jenny Trout. If you hated That Book, you’ll love her chapter-by-chapter recaps.

Listening to Laura Antoniou read her short story “Fifty Shades of Sellout” was a bit like getting a hug from the author of the classic Marketplace series. If you’re a writer living in a Fifty Shades world, see if you don’t feel better after just thirty seconds of this parody. Actually, if you’re curious about erotica focused on the total power exchange elements of the BDSM lifestyle, why don’t you go right to The Marketplace series? You’ll find secret societies, service contracts, and participants discovering themselves as they explore consent, submission and domination.

Laura Antoniou’s work also appears in Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a collection of essays from writers, sexuality experts,  and participants in the BDSM lifestyle. Tiffany Reisz, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Midori, and Dr. Katherine Ramsland all contribute to the examination of That Book and its effect on pop culture at large. Whether you enjoyed Fifty Shades or couldn’t wait to be rid of it, this book will help you live with it.

You might also try anything in this Buzzfeed list. Seriously, just pick a number and go for it.

And finally, have you read Twilight yet? I did. I was curious to see if the source material was any better than the fanfic that became That Book, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself quite immersed in the story. It works so well because Bella’s a teenager (and appropriately clueless), Edward’s a vampire (and appropriately threatening), and there’s no horribly written, unsexy, unsafe, nonconsensual, non-BDSM sex in it. I would say that it is Fifty Shades with all the awful Fifty Shades written out of it, but Twilight came first.

How are you getting through this difficult period before That Movie comes out? How did you feel about That Book? Mix it up in the comments.

And follow Lady Smut. Our goddesses are all on the outside.

Sexy Saturday Round-Up

By Liz Everly and the Lady Smut bloggers

Hello, Sexy! Welcome to Sexy Saturday Round-Up, where the Lady smut Bloggers share some of our favorite posts from the week.

From Liz:

Plus size model in Sports Illustrated. Is this really “plus size” ? Just looks like a healthy woman to me.

On pegging.

Rachel Kramer Bussel on a Dom sexier than Grey.

From Elizabeth:

Should you stay or should you go? Eight signs that show it’s time to end it.

Men’s clothes? Women’s clothes? Fashion designer Rob Hourani says fuhgeddaboutit! Let our clothing be genderless.

The ultimate in sensual massage – the nuru.

Turns out, at the festival for really good sex, you can have really good sex.

From Madeline:

A You Tube video our bodies, our glorious body hair

At Elle.com a woman discusses What it’s really like to be a submissive and a feminist. 

Stay Hungry,

Liz

P.S. Join some of us tomorrow as we have a Paranormal Erotic Romance Tea Party as part of Harper Impulse’s Digital Romance Festival, 12 noon EST.  Here is the link to the event. Special guests Joey W. Hill and Kate Douglas! Drop-ins from Sarrana DeWylde and Katana Collins. Discussions, ebook giveaways, and competitions!

In Defence of P*rn

“Ermahgerd, I saw his thingee!”

“The internet is 95 percent porn and spam”

― Margaret Atwood

by C. Margery Kempe

I only starred the ‘o’ out to avoid auto-censoring filters because there are people who won’t countenance even the sight of the word. My esteemed colleague came up with an idea for ‘lady porn’ that pretty much does not include any actual porn. There’s a persistent image of women as frail vessels that cannot abide real sex (the erotic romance industry suggests otherwise) and must lie back and think of England.

Need I say, I am not one of those types?

As someone who’s regularly too sexy for my other genres I find it weird to feel a need to be defending the pleasures of sex in the realm of erotic romance. As a crime writer, I write noir because at least there’s a little leeway for sex in the narratives even though it seems to raise a few eyebrows as well if there’s too much, but why do people commit so many of those desperate crimes if not for the burning flame of sexual attraction?

“You can’t talk about fucking in America, people say you’re dirty.

But if you talk about killing somebody, that’s cool.”

― Richard Pryor

No one agrees on what’s sexy: I’m mystified by people’s attraction to Channing Tatum. But there’s so much loaded into the word ‘porn’ to talk about explicit sex. It’s used in casual senses, like the Food Channel referred to as ‘food porn’ and similar metaphorical ways that mean we’re supposed to laugh at the sighing and longing that goes into it — and never notice how our culture teaches us to equate spending with sex. I write explicit sex scenes in my erotic romance: and yes, it includes emotion and beauty and connection and relationships. It unspools like a movie in my head and I just write it down.

The problem with the word is that if you say ‘porn’ most people are going to have the picture in their heads of the worst sort, which for me means bleached blondes with trowel-thick layer of makeup and lots of ugly men trying to humiliate them. But you know what? There’s porn that’s beautiful and even porn that’s funny and kind of sweet. And it’s for ladies as well as men and everybody else, too.

‘Pornography is somebody else’s erotica that you don’t like.’

― Erica Jong

My Lady Porn Manifesto

Use your imagination to fill in the rest. Credit: the halifaxjungle.tumblr.com

By Madeline Iva

WHAT IS LADY PORN?

The other day I took an unofficial survey of the LadySmut crew asking if they liked porn.  The answers I got back were: Yep. Nope. Meh. and Yes, if by porn you mean gay or feminist porn.  Then I asked Kiersten Hallie Krum, who said: Uh, I like Lady Porn.

Lady porn? Lady PORN!!!! Wha?  What the hell is KHK talking about? Suddenly I knew exactly what she meant. She meant Victoria Dahl’s Tumblr Blog. (OMG, I lurv it so bad.) She meant Amber Lin’s Erotica Pinterest board (ditto).  She meant what people have in the past perhaps called erotic photography or whatever.

Lady porn is about a sense of mood, as much as anything else.

Which is not the same thing as porn at all.  We all know porn when we see it. I call this ‘classic porn.’ (No, C. Margery Kempe, I’m not including gay or feminist porn.)

LADY PORN VS. ‘CLASSIC PORN’

Here are even more examples of Lady Porn.  So is Lady Porn it so different from porn-porn? Hell yeah!  It’s pro-sex, woman-positive, and visually oriented. I admit ‘classic’ porn arouses my lady bits (sometimes), but it also usually leaves me feeling emotionally empty and ick.  It’s a visceral reaction–I’m not even saying it’s about any intellectual/feminist stance.  It just doesn’t work for me.  Many, many women–and even men, to be honest–feel the same way I do.  There’s a joke that goes: “Anticipating the woman’s erotic fulfillment as a sexual equal…was in no porno ever.”

So how is Lady Porn different?  Let me count the ways.

We’re not actually seeing people having sex–but we can imagine we are.

shows the part and not the whole (engages the imagination to fill in the whole) both in contemplative moments of pause during a relationship & or sex act
shows sensuality and passion–not just sexuality
shows emotive feeling as the visual focus
focus on fantasy of sex vs. the biology of sex
also shows love & connection, people in a relationship–innocent, loving, carefree, happy
invokes a sense of identification with the woman from an interior perspective (how lingerie feels on her body vs. how it entices a viewer –though enticing can be thrown into the mix too)
Arty as all git – black and white, or soft focus.
About 10 – 15 % focus on postures of women’s sex parts—usually the booty–displayed for a sexual fantasy or encounter–either for rear penetration or for spanking
Less than 5% show of power relationships/women in bondage get up

The ultimate key to Lady Porn is context. Ask yourself: could I see this on the wall of some student art show at a university? If the answer 8 times out of 10 is yes, then yer lookin’ at Lady Porn.

LADY PORN VS ‘ARTY PORN’

Retro-lingerie is SO Lady Porn. JM Keep’s tumblr blog is NOT.

Finally, let us not confuse Lady Porn with what I’ll call “arty porn”.  I found some last year unexpectedly on Tumblr.  You see, Joshua Keep posted a bit of lady porn on One Handed Writers– (See photo to your right.) And he’s like: I use these erotica photos to inspire me to write short erotica stories.  Go check it out. And I’m like, cool, retro-lingerie. Then I click on his link, expecting it’ll be lingerie stuff.  Instead I was like, WHOA Nelly! So if you want an example of some “arty porn” by means of comparison to Lady Porn, here it is– Tumblr blog of JMKeep.  (Do NOT look at this if you really dislike porn.  It’s SERIOUSLY PORN.)

Note with this Tumblr 4 page post:

We have full on sexual penetration
explicit shots of the private bits
the whole physical act going on (and no condoms either, tsk-tsk!)
Though some photos are arty–i.e. black and white–there’s nothing really left to the imagination here.
The primary focus is clearly skewed towards the external, the sexual, the thrusting and the licking.

So.

It’s about love too, dammit.

THE LADY PORN MANIFESTO:

For those of us who like the idea of unrestrained sex and emotional connection–  

For those of us who find ‘just sex’ leaves us cold and uninterested, indifferent, and bored–  

For those who take refuge in our dreams and our imaginary lovers, savoring how they satisfy our bodies and our hearts–  

For those who appreciate the small gestures between two people as revealing the whole of one’s mind–ever-alert to the inner tilt of intuition pointing like a finger towards hidden love, attraction, tenderness, attachment and heartache– 

For those of us who affirm the lighter, more joyous side of men and women together–where friendship and innocent pleasures come along with our primal mating bond–

For those of us who dream of men that will anticipate and need our pleasure to complete their own–

We rejoice in the creation and dispersal of visual Lady Porn not only for what it does for us, but also for the way in which the artist’s models are treated and for how women are portrayed.

LONG LIVE LADY PORN!

Lady Porn affirms the sensuality of non-barbie doll bodies too.

Do you like Lady Porn? It’s not *really* porn, is it? But is is about sex and connection.  Leave your comments below.  I mean, yeah, we want to smack anyone up the head who says all women only like sex feelings.  I know that’s not the case. Still.

NEXT WEEK: ‘woman porn’, #FridayManWars & Charlotte Stein.

OH AND HEY— Check us out this weekend  We’re going to host a Paranormal Tea Party:

Sun, Feb 8th

12pm – 1pm EST

at the #ROMANCE FESTIVAL 2015.

Joey Hill and Kate Douglas are our special guests!  Here’s a link where you can register:

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/romance-festival-2015-tickets-15326821937

Romance Festival is an online romance fest with facebook parties, twitter chats, google chats and other fun stuff. Check back here for the deets.

 

 

Pussy Footing Around

By Elizabeth Shore

So here we are a week and a half away from Valentine’s Day and lots of us are thinking, dang. What could I get this year that would really show him my love? It could be something of the romantic variety. A beautiful card. His favorite cologne. A cozy sweater. Or maybe you prefer to walk on the sexy side. A pack of flavored condoms, perhaps a naughty board game for two. But what about if your man happens to be one who starts panting like a dog in heat at the sight of your pretty toes? Aside from making certain your pedicure’s up to date, how can you please your foot fantasizing guy? Well, my friends, never fear. The vajankle is here.

OMG – The horror!
Courtesy Sinthetics

I bet I know what you’re thinking. WTF???!! What is that?! Right? When a friend first showed me a picture of the vajankle, I thought I was looking at a horror movie prop. If only I could burn my eyes out with acid so I could forever unsee this revolting piece of silicone. And honestly, that’s what’s most perplexing to me. The vajankle has to be the least sexiest sex toy I’ve ever had the misfortune of coming across.

Let’s start with the obvious. Vaginas don’t grow on ankles! The vajankle looks so freaky that it’s like something you’d see in a medical book about horribly unfortunate birth defects. The open, gaping vagina planted right at the stump of the foot is about as natural as a penis with a tongue growing out of it. (And please, if there is such a thing, don’t show me a picture. I’m already scarred from the vajankle).

And what about those toes? Are they sexy? Pretty? When I look at them the only thought going through my mind is that somebody needs a toenail clippers – stat! Isn’t that fourth digit a hammer toe? So weird to be included on a foot fetish toy. Yet I’m a girl, so what do I know? Maybe guys really do find this sexy. I decided to poll a few male friends to get their reaction.

“There is NOTHING sexy about it,” one of my guy friends exclaimed, going on to add, “Even if I had a serious foot fetish, I can’t imagine having sex with this thing… I’m pretty open, but it’s kind of disturbing!” Another perplexed male commented on how totally unnatural it was to have a vagina on an ankle, and that it harkened back memories of the “fleshlight” that was all the rage a few years ago. (click on the link only if you dare, my friends. Only if you dare). A third said simply, “It looks like an amputation.”

Despite the reactions of general abhorrence I’ve gotten from men and women alike after showing pictures of the vajankle, if you decide that it’s just what the doctor ordered for your foot-loving guy, there are options to make it extra special for him. Instead of a French pedicure, the vajankle’s toes could be painted a pretty cherry red, for example. You can choose from a variety of flesh tones. And you can have that stumpy ankle a little longer. More vajeg than vajankle.

The fun thing about sex toys is how a couple can use them together in their love play. But the vajankle really strikes me as more of a solo venture. I’m going to hazard a guess that a guy who wants to f**k a foot wants to do it alone.

What do you think? Would your guy like a vajankle? And – big question, if so … would you get one for him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And while you’re at it, dive in with both feet and follow us at Lady Smut. Our posts will be sure to keep you on your toes.

 

 

The Open Door: Guest Post from Geneva DeCroix

By Geneva DeCroix

For most of us who write erotica or erotic romance, there seems to be this assumption from readers that we must have a wildly adventurous sex life. And maybe I do, at least behind closed doors. I really don’t know, because for all the shows like Sex & The City that show women sitting around talking openly about sex, I’ve never really experienced that kind of true honesty with friends. Oh, there will be a comment here or there, but not since high school have I had a conversation that included all the titillating specifics of mine or someone else’s recent encounters.

I will say, however, that a few of my stories are based on real life encounters. The first part of my new serial, Thrill in the Woods, is based on something that really happened: an outdoor spanking with a virtual stranger who was curious and asked me to do the honors. (Free today on Amazon!)

Click on the book cover to head over to Amazon for the FREEBIE!

 

 

A Reminder for Him, my only femdom spanking story, was based on a real life experience with a guy who wanted to know what it would be like to play the role of sub. I did my best to fulfil his fantasy, but sadly, the encounter wasn’t repeated as it turned out to be “that was great, but probably not something I’d do again”… at least on his side. I discovered I had more of a dom side than I realized!

And I can’t help but think that anyone who has actually had sex with me would probably recognize me in other stories, even if those encounters are 100% fictional.

But there was this one time something happened to me that I never wrote about, but has always made me wonder what would have happened if only…

I was with a new partner, and I took him to a local bondage shop. I hadn’t been to the place before, but was curious. The place was fabulous. Leather as far as the eye could see and a really helpful owner who talked to us about different kinds of restraints, paddles, and various kit that was so much fun. The best thing about it was how un-creepy it was. I’ve felt more uncomfortable in a Victoria’s Secret than I did in that place.

Here’s the thing, though. On the way out, the owner said that night they were having a public spanking session at the shop. He was quite looking forward to it, because they had a new contraption they planned to try out and he thought it would be quite a show. Anyone, he told me, could give or receive spankings that night, or if we preferred, we could just watch.

I said I thought it sounded like fun, but I wasn’t sure. I’d have to talk to my partner about it. But looking in my partner’s eyes as we made that final chit-chat at the store, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The shop owner gave me a card and said they’d be starting at 9pm. He told us how much he hoped we’d attend. (He was going to be spanking two of his subs that night, and he wanted a good crowd.)

So my partner and I left and as soon as we got to the car, he said, “Wow, can you believe he actually thought we’d go?” That ended that discussion and closed the door.

When I think back to that moment, I still wonder… what if? What if I’d gone?

My sex life might be adventurous behind closed doors. I like to experiment and I believe I have an open mind. But what if the door wasn’t closed?

“Photo Credit: Loom Studio”

 

I picture that day in that little shop and still in my mind I see an open door. If that invitation came up today, would I go?

One of the joys of writing erotica is it gives me a safe place to explore my fantasies. If given the opportunity, would I make some of those fantasies a reality?

Would you? Or do you prefer your naughtiness to be kept safely on the page?

Which Came First, the Writer or the Reader?

by Kiersten Hallie Krum

Yesterday, Lady Smut blogger Alexa Day talked about the dreaded DNF–that book that you just could not finish–in her post The Bitter End: Pushing Ourselves to Finish Reading. It takes a lot for me to not finish a book, but I recently had to give up on a new release from a major paranormal romance writer whose books I’ve glommed for years. It was a real disappointment in writing, character, and story, and the fact that I walked away from it has been bugging me for weeks. First because I wondered, after reading effusive fan praise in reader reviews, if it was just me and I simply grew out of the series and that writer for the nonce. And second because if it’s not just me, then what the hell happened?

DNF books always make me follow the bouncing ball to books that haven’t satisfied, like that one book from that favorite author for a beloved secondary character that I waited and waited and waited for only to find when if finally came out that it was…meh.

Click picture to buy.

The one that stands out most in my mind will always be Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann. I loved Sam Starrett and Alyssa Locke since they first showed up as bickering adversaries in The Unsung Hero through The Defiant Hero where they because unexpected friends through Over the Edge and Out of Control when they became smoking hot lovers and Into the Night where they were brokenhearted exes. I Could Not wait for their book Gone Too Far to arrive and read it through in one sitting only to be…underwhelmed. It just didn’t feel like Sam and Alyssa and somehow, the back story for Sam particularly didn’t quite gibed with the character he’d been for five books. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good romantic suspense book with SEAL hero, sharpshooter heroine, emotional angst, all kinds of good, good stuff. It just didn’t live up to my long-held expectations.

Those books, the ones we as readers have waited a long time for only for them to piffle out, were on my mind this weekend as I brainstormed this weekend with a friend who is doing just that, creating a new book series around a fan-favorite secondary character from a previous series. I can’t imagine the kind of pressure that must involved, the need to do right by the character just as strong as the desire to fulfill reader expectations. In a publishing landscape that loves a series (as do I), getting readers invested in that series and those characters is key to them being successful both as a book and a product.

Which brings up the question of entitlement. Fans who invest in a product, be it a book or a show or a vegetable, increasingly feel a sense of entitlement, that they have a voice in how that product should play out. Who should be with whom. And when an author doesn’t fulfill those expectations? Well, cue the pitchforks.

Where do we draw the line between what the reader wants to see and what the author as creator feels compelled to write? How do we stay true to story and character and yet keep the fans happy? What do we do when there are fans of multiple options? Do we let that fandom drive our creative decisions? Do we risk the witch hunt when we do? Writers do depend on readers to read (and buy) their books, but does that give readers the right to expect a return on their investment that suits their own desires? Which responsibility is greater, the one to our creative process or the one to the fans who pay for the results?

These questions are top of mind for me personally as well as I work through writing and planning my three-book series, especially now that I’ve added a novella to the tally. I suspect because I’m a glutton for punishment. The novella is a surprise based on a secondary character who I think really (and, believe me, unexpectedly) pops from the page. Will she pop for readers too? I don’t know. But in a publishing landscape where series are increasingly published quickly to build readership and sales, which means the whole dang thing may have to be written before anything hits the shelves, it’s a gamble I, and many other writers, have to take. Are we doing our characters justice? Or should we wait for reader feedback before we decide their fates?

Is there a series book you waited for that fail to live up to expectations? Do you think readers are entitled to weigh in on the fates of their favorites? Do you like when secondary characters in a series finally get the limelight or would you prefer for them to remain in their glory on the sidelines?

Follow Lady Smut. We always come first.

The (Bitter) End: Pushing Ourselves to Finish Reading

Well, sir! Ms. Day will see *you* now.

By Alexa Day

A little over a year ago, I had a conversation with some fellow readers about a book I stopped reading after I encountered the word “Argh.” This book and its two sequels have been wildly successful, but I eventually found the first story unbearable for reasons too numerous to recount here. Because I’d stopped reading the first book, I saw no need to pursue the two that followed it.

I won’t be watching the movie version when it comes out in two weeks, either, but that’s another story for another day.

Anyway, about halfway through my shopworn diatribe against this book, one of my very patient reader friends nodded in agreement. She had also disliked that first book, she said, but something toward the middle of the third book reinforced my point more effectively.

I asked her why, if she’d disliked the first book so much, she’d read any more of the series.

“I have to finish things,” she said. “I couldn’t just stop reading.”

This phenomenon is mysterious to me. Life is short. I’m surrounded by books that tempt and entice me. I have a day job. There’s food to be eaten and beer to be drunk. I can’t invest nonrefundable time in books I don’t enjoy.

Still, every day, I see readers making the decision to continue reading books after making the decision that they dislike what they’re seeing. Some, like my friend, live by a code and must finish what they start. Others live with the hope that things will get better. Still others need to know just how bad things will get so that they can provide a well-informed critique.

I, personally, think “I didn’t finish it” is a complete and well-informed critique.

Still, I admire my friend’s persistence, even if I don’t understand it. She bought, paid for, and really hated all three books in the series I gave up on so early. She doesn’t hate the genre in general, and she hasn’t built any sweeping presumptions about kinky people or erotica writers on her experience. She just needed closure, and once she had it, she moved on with her reading life. And I have to admit that she made a more powerful argument about her issues with the book than I did about mine.

No doubt she’s just as confused by my refusal to finish. After about a third of the first book, a single word (again, it was “Argh”) sent me into a fury that lasts to this day. But had I lost something by throwing in the towel so soon?

Possibly.

Click to look past the lawyer stuff to the love.

I didn’t think I’d care for The Help after reading the word “alright” enough times to convince me that its presence was intentional. But I blew through most of it in one long sitting. Whatever my complaints about it might have been, The Help held my attention. I was pulled into its world quickly, and the characters were so real that I wanted to shake a couple of them. So I can’t say with a straight face that it’s not well written, right?

Similarly, J.J. Murray almost lost me when his lawyer hero committed a major privilege faux pas in Until I Saw Your Smile. That happened a pretty good way into the book, though, and I was willing to close my eyes to it because I’d gotten to know and care about the characters. A privilege faux pas of similar magnitude chased me away from Shonda Rhimes’s How to Get Away with Murder during its very first episode, though, and I haven’t been back since. I guess that set of characters wasn’t doing enough to overcome the privilege problem.

I’d like to think that I give new authors and genres a fair chance to earn my attention. I don’t take the decision to quit reading something lightly (especially if I paid for it), but I’m absolutely willing to make that decision if I have to. While part of me admires the reader who soldiers on through a series after being turned off by the first book, more of me just wants to hand that person a better book.

So do you believe in finishing at all costs? Do you have triggers that will stop you from reading another word? Tell all in the comments.

And follow Lady Smut. We never quit.

Sexy Saturday Round-Up

By Liz Everly and the Lady Smut Bloggers

Hello Sexy! Hope your weekend is going well and that you have some time to catch up on some reading. The lady smut bloggers have been searching the Internets to find the perfect blog posts for your reading. This week, we’re covering virtual sex, penises in fashion, and, um, the codpiece memo.

Enjoy!

From Liz:

Should Doing Porn Ruin Your Life?

Authors: Thinking of a BookBub promotion? Check this out.

Virtual sex? Yep.

Sonali Dev has a diverse-authentic ah-ha moment. Much to think about here. 

From Elizabeth:

Deciding Fashion Week needed some shaking up, designer Rick Owens figured penises were the way to do it.

What we need to know about self publishing in 2015.

Getting ready for the big game this weekend? Then you better know the top studs from each team.

Some people just don’t get it. An Australian newspaper leads its obituary on celebrated author Colleen McCullough by calling her “plain” and “overweight.” Real class act.

What’s a little cold weather to stop you from having outdoor sex? Here are some tips for getting hot in the cold.

From Madeline:

As a big fan of WOLF HALL, I’ve learned the TV series has had to deal with some sensitive issues from Henry VIII’s reign. I bring you The codpiece memo.

A Daily Show reporter freaks out over people who have a mixed relationship.

The scandalous (and LONG) history of sex ed movies.

Oh no they didn’t! California’s new rape laws spring into action after two bicyclists save an unconscious woman from being raped by Stanford student on the swim team.

From Alexa:

I love the wise-ass Valentine’s Day cards.

It’s still cold outside. Are you looking for a blizzard boo?

If you’ve got a little while, why not listen to Ann Mayburn and Kallypso Masters drop some knowledge at Marshall University about erotic romance, BDSM, and feminism?

 

Stay Hungry,

Liz

 

 

Do You Want to Be A Rock-n-Roll Star?

by C. Margery Kempe

Piggybacking on my colleague’s post from yesterday, here are the reasons it’s sexy to be a rock-n-roll star. After all, the Lady Smut crew has been on tour for three weeks and we need to go out with a bang!

YOU OWN YOUR SEXUALITY

No one tells Joan Jett what’s sexy. She is and she knows it and if you don’t know it you will — or you’d best get out of her way.

YOU DON’T TAKE SHIT FROM ANYONE

L7 are reuniting! More mayhem coming our way. But don’t get on their list or you’ll regret it for sure.

YOU OWN YOUR BREAKUPS TOO

When things are good, they’re very good. But when things are bad you use it as your muse and you triumph over that pain. And if you’re Björk and someone leaks your CD, you just release it and foil their plans.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE GOOD

As Eartha taught us, it feels so good to be bad.

NOTHING DESTROYS YOU

Life hands you the worst and you survive and thrive and you never let it own you.

YOU DON’T LET ANYONE SHAME YOU FOR YOUR REAL SELF

Rihanna has humour about the way other people see her and she has had her troubles but she does not apologize for who she is and she can stand toe to toe with a legend like Madonna and shine.

YOU ARE WILD

Nobody can stop you. You are the sexy beast.

YOU WANT TO MAKE IT BIG

You aren’t willing to settle for a boring life, you want to speak your mind, play your songs and shout poetry at the world. People have the power to make you a star, but you are the one who has to have the dream and never give up on it through all the hard years and lean times. You can’t wait to be on the road, making your fans.

Speaking of being on tour, it’s the last stop on the Lady Smut tour at All I Want & More. Follow Lady Smut because we play louder, harder and faster ;-)