In ye olden days, when I was at school, there were all kinds of innocuous-yet-filthy-sounding euphemisms for sex-related activities. People might be a 'good lay' (or an easy one); they would try to get their 'leg over'; they would 'have it off' with somebody. I hardly ever hear or read these phrases since they were superseded by variations on the ubiquitous 'shag'.
In a funny way, I miss them.
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Amazonfail
Twitter ye or Twitter ye not, the likelihood is you will probably have heard of #amazonfail somewhere along the line by now.
While the element that caused the most brouhaha - the random sales de-ranking of GLBT material of all levels of content - has been reversed, and put down to a genuine, if stupid, categorisation error, questions remain.
Is there or isn't there an 'adult material' policy? Several authors were told yes, and there is information going back to August 2008 to back this up. So there is a policy. But what is the policy? Should we not be told? And whatever the policy is, is it applicable only to the UK customer base? Black Lace and other erotica publishers have had their material re-ranked in the US and other territories - but not here. No sex please, we're British? Really?
So I'm scratching my head and waiting for a reply to my email of today from the UK arm of the monop, ahem, company. I hope that publishers are aware of this and voicing their displeasure accordingly.
At least there was some fun to be had amongst the outrage. I did enjoy the SmartBitches Googlebomb, for instance. And cyberactivism is quite exhilarating in its way. It does tend to wreck concentration though.
UPDATE: All Black Lace titles restored to their rightful places at the top of the erotica charts. I can relax and do something productive now, hurrah.
While the element that caused the most brouhaha - the random sales de-ranking of GLBT material of all levels of content - has been reversed, and put down to a genuine, if stupid, categorisation error, questions remain.
Is there or isn't there an 'adult material' policy? Several authors were told yes, and there is information going back to August 2008 to back this up. So there is a policy. But what is the policy? Should we not be told? And whatever the policy is, is it applicable only to the UK customer base? Black Lace and other erotica publishers have had their material re-ranked in the US and other territories - but not here. No sex please, we're British? Really?
So I'm scratching my head and waiting for a reply to my email of today from the UK arm of the monop, ahem, company. I hope that publishers are aware of this and voicing their displeasure accordingly.
At least there was some fun to be had amongst the outrage. I did enjoy the SmartBitches Googlebomb, for instance. And cyberactivism is quite exhilarating in its way. It does tend to wreck concentration though.
UPDATE: All Black Lace titles restored to their rightful places at the top of the erotica charts. I can relax and do something productive now, hurrah.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Sweet Lovers Love The Spring
...or so Shakespeare reckoned. I think he must have shared my enthusiasm for Cadburys Mini Eggs. I hope the Easter bunny brings you plenty of oval cocoa-infused things. Or maybe some of this...
Thursday, 2 April 2009
What's The Story?
I like the new Black Lace anthology themes for 2010 - they all lend themselves to a variety of interesting scenarios. I'm looking forward to dreaming up some wild and wicked ideas to work on.
Of course, some people don't like erotica. Or, more accurately, haven't read any but just don't like the idea of it. A lovely smut-writing friend was recently made to feel horrible by one such unbeliever who just 'couldn't understand' how she could bring herself to write such 'disgusting erotica'. 'It really grosses me out,' she said, although never having read any of my friend's oeuvre, it's not clear how she reached that conclusion.
Obviously, it is pointless to even reply to remarks like this. But what would be a good response? I would have just asked 'Why?', I think, and then dropped the subject. Each to their own and all that. All the same, it struck me as a rude thing to say - and not the good kind of rude.
Oh, and final note for the day - I loved Seduction. It is a marvellous anthology from cover to cover - to the point that I can't even pick favourites. There are too many good 'uns. The death of the decent anthology is a long, long way off.
Of course, some people don't like erotica. Or, more accurately, haven't read any but just don't like the idea of it. A lovely smut-writing friend was recently made to feel horrible by one such unbeliever who just 'couldn't understand' how she could bring herself to write such 'disgusting erotica'. 'It really grosses me out,' she said, although never having read any of my friend's oeuvre, it's not clear how she reached that conclusion.
Obviously, it is pointless to even reply to remarks like this. But what would be a good response? I would have just asked 'Why?', I think, and then dropped the subject. Each to their own and all that. All the same, it struck me as a rude thing to say - and not the good kind of rude.
Oh, and final note for the day - I loved Seduction. It is a marvellous anthology from cover to cover - to the point that I can't even pick favourites. There are too many good 'uns. The death of the decent anthology is a long, long way off.
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