Friday 31 July 2009

Lecture Notes Chapter 9

About time too, I know, I know!

Exercises for Beth.

Monday 27 July 2009

City of Light

I feel reinvigorated and renewed, and a few other re- things to boot. Refreshed. Reformed. Rebarbative. (Actually not sure what that last one means.)

I have walked more miles in the past four days than I have done in the previous four months; I have seen the Seine and mused at the Musee d'Orsay; I have stirred coffee and stirred ideas around in my head. Paris, I think, is good for the spirit. Certainly good for the imagination.

Story and plot ideas started popping into my head from the moment I looked through the back window of the hotel room and noticed the grey-suited arm of a businessman working at his desk in the apartment/office building opposite, and from that moment they just went pop! pop! pop! at regular intervals, like a succession of champagne corks.

I love champagne! I love Paris! And, just at the moment, I am back in love with writing again.

Vive la difference!



(I have to say that, when I saw this picture - Gustave Caillebotte's Raboteurs de Parquet - I did think of Erotica Cover Watch. I think their nineteenth century predecessors would have approved!)

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Away From It All

Away from the silence and the stubborn inbox '0 unread' message. Away from the sadness and the badness.

Away to improve my mind by exploring great cultural monuments:


Ahem.

Later, dudes.

Sunday 19 July 2009

Lecture Notes Chapter 8

It's the day after the day before for Beth and Sinclair.

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Half-Hearted

If you have the other half, can you send it back to me - that's: Justine Elyot, Slough of Despond, UK.

Or maybe I'll soldier on with my fifty percent of ticker and just write fanfiction forevermore, because Desperate Romantics - starting next week on BBC2 - looks as if it might launch a sea of purple Pre-Raphaelite prose, and I do think I might like to surf that wave.


Paint me!

Monday 13 July 2009

Lecture Notes Chapter 7

And the beat goes on. Or does it?

Pervy Professor action here.

Thursday 9 July 2009

Man of the Month: July

This month (so far) I have been mainly watching The Sound of Music. It comforts me, it rocks me to sleep, to dream of dirndls and strudel and whistles and bells and...


Schwoon! Who would not want to dance the Laendler with Captain Von Trapp, eh? All that uniformed, buttoned-up, imperious passion. Jawohl!

So, yes, that is what has been taking my mind off the general woe. That, and all the wonderful Black Lace writers who have been such towers of strength and solidarity over the past few days. You know who you are - thank you all.

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Lecture Notes Chapter 6

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, but heaven knows I'm miserable now
I was looking for a job and then I found a job, and heaven knows I'm miserable now

All the same, here is the next instalment of Lecture Notes.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Lecture Notes Chapter 5

The last chapter ended on a cliffhanger and this one will be no different - I am, after all, a member of the EastEnders generation and I honour my soap conventions faithfully.

But I guarantee you there will be ACTUAL SEX in the next chapter.

For now...just let the tension ratchet up a little higher...

Devon Cream

That's what Black Lace is like, apparently, and it seems to me a damn fine foodstuff for erotica to aspire to be. Better than cauliflower or quinoa or something like that, surely. As a dweller in the land of Cream Teas, this image tickled me, and I was also very pleased to read the rest of Jean Roberta's thoughtful review of Liaisons.

"Advanced Corsetry” by Justine Elyot is a more elaborate and tightly-laced BDSM fantasy told by a custom corset-maker who loves her craft. She is approached by a man who orders a corset for his “wife,” a woman who seems to be under orders never to speak. Following the “husband’s” instructions, the corset-maker is able to arouse the “wife” in unmistakable ways, but a disturbing question about the consensuality of the “fittings” hangs in the air. When the corset-maker is almost excited enough to ignore her own concerns, the “wife” breaks her silence to reveal her true motives. This story is essentially a lesbian romance to which a man has been added as window-dressing.

Check out the review in full here.