Planet of the Rapes
I began writing this book in 2016. The profoundly disappointing Presidential election that year put me in a dystopian mindset. I stopped work on it — stopped writing entirely — because of a personal setback. But here we are in another profoundly disappointing Presidential election year and another dystopian mindset. I decided to buckle down and get this fucker done by November.
It actually began years before, when I had a half-assed story idea about a male astronaut crash landing on a planet with widespread sexual slavery. He would be kidnapped by a sleazy rich guy and given to his beautiful, young daughter as a gift. There would be some class-based satire and cheap sex fantasy. Not terribly compelling, so I filed that away.
Fast forward a few years and I’m sitting around thinking I should write something based on Planet of the Apes (in a similar vein to Swapship Troopers and The Lesbian, the Bitch, and the Bathrobe, two earlier books of mine). I spitball some ideas. Planet of the Grapes, I think. No, I think, that’s stupid.
Then it hits me: Planet of the Rapes. Ick, I think, what kind of sick planet would that be? Then I realize an unfortunate truth: it wouldn’t be all that different from Earth. The famous surprise ending to Planet of the Apes occurs to me at that point … [Spoiler Alert] … it was Earth all along. The story clicked for me then, but it was honestly a bit too cynical to actually write it. Again, I filed it away.
Some more time goes by. In a turn of events too strange for fiction, a dangerously incompetent television character who proudly brags about sexual assault is elected President of the United States. Suddenly my little idea doesn’t seem so cynical anymore.
It’s a story of a female astronaut, Olivia “Liv” Freeh, who crash lands on a strange, habitable planet where women are bought and sold like property. Liv is betrayed and sold into slavery. She’s given to the youngest son of a sleazy business man as a birthday gift. This young man, however, is kind-hearted and sweet, but lacks the self-confidence to make it in this world of toxic masculinity. A beautiful, strong-willed woman might be exactly what he needs.
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