Anneke Jacob's Blog
March 19, 2011
Kinky Ever After
I should be writing on here like a good author, but I need a push from fellow bloggers to keep at it. So I've joined a new blog called Kinky Ever After. My fellow authors are the wonderful Annabel Joseph and Candace Blevins. Please join us over there at KinkyEverAfter.blogspot.com
November 20, 2010
Reality, fantasy and reality kink
I was thinking about a recent post of mind on Fetlife, and deciding it might make a good blog post here.
This question of fantasy vs. reality does keep cropping up in bdsm book discussions. There are no doubt authors who write about bdsm reality, on the basis of experience, and/or who write according to what their audience wants / needs to read. But those of us who write out our fantasies are writing just that: fantasy. It may not be safe, sane and consensual, it may not be realistic, it's certainly not a Guide to BDSM. It's what works in that deep cave of our minds.
People have talked to Laura Antoniou about being "Marketplace material." I remember one of her comments about her "service fetish," questioning whether the person would like to clean house for a week to have a couple of hours of play time, because that's her fantasy. She never claimed it to be any kind of blueprint. It's the network and the realistic setup idea that works for so many people. Again, that border between reality and fantasy. That world doesn't exist, but it could exist. Maybe.
Some of us do have something like a reality fetish. That is, a fetish for a setup that could be true. No werewolves, no secret millionaire islands. A bdsm relationship between fully rounded, fallible characters, embedded within the actual realities of work and family and the world as it exists, with all its fears and frustrations. My second book As She's Told is very much about that.
But no matter how realistic the setting and the characters, it's still my fantasy. Not everything in an erotic novel will work for everyone, and that's nothing to do with logic or the majority take on play protocol. It's about which thoughts make the author catch their breath and say, "Yes."
This question of fantasy vs. reality does keep cropping up in bdsm book discussions. There are no doubt authors who write about bdsm reality, on the basis of experience, and/or who write according to what their audience wants / needs to read. But those of us who write out our fantasies are writing just that: fantasy. It may not be safe, sane and consensual, it may not be realistic, it's certainly not a Guide to BDSM. It's what works in that deep cave of our minds.
People have talked to Laura Antoniou about being "Marketplace material." I remember one of her comments about her "service fetish," questioning whether the person would like to clean house for a week to have a couple of hours of play time, because that's her fantasy. She never claimed it to be any kind of blueprint. It's the network and the realistic setup idea that works for so many people. Again, that border between reality and fantasy. That world doesn't exist, but it could exist. Maybe.
Some of us do have something like a reality fetish. That is, a fetish for a setup that could be true. No werewolves, no secret millionaire islands. A bdsm relationship between fully rounded, fallible characters, embedded within the actual realities of work and family and the world as it exists, with all its fears and frustrations. My second book As She's Told is very much about that.
But no matter how realistic the setting and the characters, it's still my fantasy. Not everything in an erotic novel will work for everyone, and that's nothing to do with logic or the majority take on play protocol. It's about which thoughts make the author catch their breath and say, "Yes."
July 13, 2010
Not in Kindle Smut but still around...
I figured I'd leave some space in the Goodreads Kindle Smut group (fun though it was) for people to discuss my books if they felt like it, without me looking over their shoulder. So I've unsubscribed there. My continuing welcome in that group was absolutely appreciated (what a great, bawdy bunch!). I'm not flouncing, believe me, just making space. The whole author/reader thread-sharing thing is a tough balance, at least for me.
But I'm still around, available for messages or blog comments, so please feel free to get in touch.
Oh, and the third book? This does make me sorry, because I'm disappointing one or two folks, but it's not happening. I gave it a good try, but if it's not there fighting to come out then it won't happen. If anything changes I'll let you know.
But I'm still around, available for messages or blog comments, so please feel free to get in touch.
Oh, and the third book? This does make me sorry, because I'm disappointing one or two folks, but it's not happening. I gave it a good try, but if it's not there fighting to come out then it won't happen. If anything changes I'll let you know.
March 28, 2010
Some background to my latest gaffe
I used to read a lot of Orson Scott Card. I think he's a wonderful writer, and I've always appreciated the quality and craft of his stories, even when the violence was past my tolerance level.
In the book Folk of the Fringe was one story within a story, in which a mother locks her two youngest children into a walk-in closet and leaves them there. The narrator is the next-oldest child, made responsible for bringing them food and removing their wastes, year after year. His story is told in full sensory detail, the mundane and the horrifying side by side. And somewhere is a note that it was based on a real case.
I've rarely been so disturbed in all my life as I was by that story; I could hardly sleep for days after I read it. My mind churned through it over and over, and the images wouldn't leave me alone. Was this a power the author sought? I don't know. But I was angry with him, angry at having such ghastly and insistent images inserted into my brain.
The fact that such things actually happen made the visions even worse. Graphic depictions of real-life horrors are sometimes necessary in order to motivate people to take action against them. But in those cases the audience has some warning. There was no warning here, and I resented it.
It never occurred to me that my words could be as powerful as Card's. Or have similar impacts. Did he know what the impact would be? I'll never know. Perhaps, in retrospect, I shouldn't have blamed him.
In the book Folk of the Fringe was one story within a story, in which a mother locks her two youngest children into a walk-in closet and leaves them there. The narrator is the next-oldest child, made responsible for bringing them food and removing their wastes, year after year. His story is told in full sensory detail, the mundane and the horrifying side by side. And somewhere is a note that it was based on a real case.
I've rarely been so disturbed in all my life as I was by that story; I could hardly sleep for days after I read it. My mind churned through it over and over, and the images wouldn't leave me alone. Was this a power the author sought? I don't know. But I was angry with him, angry at having such ghastly and insistent images inserted into my brain.
The fact that such things actually happen made the visions even worse. Graphic depictions of real-life horrors are sometimes necessary in order to motivate people to take action against them. But in those cases the audience has some warning. There was no warning here, and I resented it.
It never occurred to me that my words could be as powerful as Card's. Or have similar impacts. Did he know what the impact would be? I'll never know. Perhaps, in retrospect, I shouldn't have blamed him.
March 17, 2010
A feather or two
So here I am, honouring my previous post about procrastination by using this evening's remaining brain cells to blog instead of plan my new novel. Surprised?
I didn't think so.
I want to mention one thing that has puzzled me about the reviews and readers' comments on As She's Told. Positive or negative, some portions are barely mentioned. Despite, or perhaps because of his competence, Anders has some issues that he doesn't deal with very well. He needs Maia's wisdom to sort them out.
I know this isn't much, given the rest of the power exchange, but I thought it would provide a hint, a feather or two on her side of the balance. But it never comes up. So I have to assume that that whole theme, and Anders' psychological development, fails to register with readers.
Perhaps I'm unrealistic, expecting anything but sex, kink and the power exchange themes to register in a story that centres on them so intensively. A great many readers, of course, find that rounded characters bring added dimensions of eroticism to the story. I've also come across a few guys who see character development as an unnecessary impediment in the search for the next raunchy scene. And who can blame them? This is porn, after all. Such readers are part of the territory. No surprise there.
But...what can I say? I loved writing those portions -- and Maia's little triumph in the park -- and I still hope that they were taken in, on some level at least.
I didn't think so.
I want to mention one thing that has puzzled me about the reviews and readers' comments on As She's Told. Positive or negative, some portions are barely mentioned. Despite, or perhaps because of his competence, Anders has some issues that he doesn't deal with very well. He needs Maia's wisdom to sort them out.
I know this isn't much, given the rest of the power exchange, but I thought it would provide a hint, a feather or two on her side of the balance. But it never comes up. So I have to assume that that whole theme, and Anders' psychological development, fails to register with readers.
Perhaps I'm unrealistic, expecting anything but sex, kink and the power exchange themes to register in a story that centres on them so intensively. A great many readers, of course, find that rounded characters bring added dimensions of eroticism to the story. I've also come across a few guys who see character development as an unnecessary impediment in the search for the next raunchy scene. And who can blame them? This is porn, after all. Such readers are part of the territory. No surprise there.
But...what can I say? I loved writing those portions -- and Maia's little triumph in the park -- and I still hope that they were taken in, on some level at least.
March 14, 2010
One keystroke to distraction
Time. Online and offline, focused or unfocused, frivolous or functional.
I spent a lot of time online before I began writing my first book. But as the story, characters, words and phrases took over, gradually it was just me and my keyboard. All my spare time (and much that wasn't spare at all) went into writing. Who had time to go online?
Once I'd sent Owned and Owner off to the publisher I plunged straight into As She's Told. Promoting the first book took me into some forums, but before long I was back in my writer's cocoon. How could I waste time networking? It was hard enough getting back into my narrative every weekend, after a week at work. I fantasized about a place out of the normal timestream, where I could have all the time I wanted without taking any away from my family. Sometimes all I wanted was just to write!
Good thing I hadn't discovered Fetlife.
Five years went by, and I put everything I had into As She's Told. When it came out, I was damned if it was going to disappear after a brief run. My intense preoccupation shifted to promotion. (Intense preoccupation, hell; call it an obsession.) And I got totally hooked into online social networking, of the kink variety, where most of my promotion took place. Every once in a while the questions would pop up: "What are you writing?" "When's the next book coming out?" I was too busy promoting my magnum opus. Who had time to write? And for a long time I didn't think I had another book in me.
But now I'm mapping one out. How will I find time, in between Fetlife and Goodreads and updating my website? How will I get anything done with distractions only a keystroke away, whenever I get stuck? Damned if I know.
That's the status report from this sometime writer. I'll keep you posted.
I spent a lot of time online before I began writing my first book. But as the story, characters, words and phrases took over, gradually it was just me and my keyboard. All my spare time (and much that wasn't spare at all) went into writing. Who had time to go online?
Once I'd sent Owned and Owner off to the publisher I plunged straight into As She's Told. Promoting the first book took me into some forums, but before long I was back in my writer's cocoon. How could I waste time networking? It was hard enough getting back into my narrative every weekend, after a week at work. I fantasized about a place out of the normal timestream, where I could have all the time I wanted without taking any away from my family. Sometimes all I wanted was just to write!
Good thing I hadn't discovered Fetlife.
Five years went by, and I put everything I had into As She's Told. When it came out, I was damned if it was going to disappear after a brief run. My intense preoccupation shifted to promotion. (Intense preoccupation, hell; call it an obsession.) And I got totally hooked into online social networking, of the kink variety, where most of my promotion took place. Every once in a while the questions would pop up: "What are you writing?" "When's the next book coming out?" I was too busy promoting my magnum opus. Who had time to write? And for a long time I didn't think I had another book in me.
But now I'm mapping one out. How will I find time, in between Fetlife and Goodreads and updating my website? How will I get anything done with distractions only a keystroke away, whenever I get stuck? Damned if I know.
That's the status report from this sometime writer. I'll keep you posted.
March 13, 2010
A virtual hello
Hello from way out here to way out there.
As anyone can guess from my publication history, I'm a slow, slow writer. Two books in ten years. So blogging has always seemed to me an unlikely occupation. The immediacy, the need to keep it up...
But my books, especially As She's Told, create reactions. Readers respond and comment, and I follow those comments with fascination, winces, gratitude, glee. Hiding only works for so long.
I do hang out on Fetlife.com, by the way, and I'm more than happy to be friends with readers. Feel free to visit me there.
About As She's Told. It's created some pretty strong reactions. Some I expected, others I didn't. It didn't occur to me that people would read it who would find its contents disturbing. I thought I'd had Anders provide enough clues to the extreme nature of the power exchange, early enough in the book, to keep those folks from continuing.
What I didn't count on was reluctant readers feeling drawn in despite themselves. Of course there's some gratification in knowing the writing has that power. But there's no satisfaction in upsetting anyone, or imposing unwelcome images on their minds; quite the contrary. Read the reviews; if that level of kink and intensity aren't your thing, please just move on.
To those readers who have offered praise and thoughtful comments, many, many thanks. I spent years with Maia and Anders, feeling like I'd created friends from the seeds of myself. If they've found more friends out in the world, then so have I.
As anyone can guess from my publication history, I'm a slow, slow writer. Two books in ten years. So blogging has always seemed to me an unlikely occupation. The immediacy, the need to keep it up...
But my books, especially As She's Told, create reactions. Readers respond and comment, and I follow those comments with fascination, winces, gratitude, glee. Hiding only works for so long.
I do hang out on Fetlife.com, by the way, and I'm more than happy to be friends with readers. Feel free to visit me there.
About As She's Told. It's created some pretty strong reactions. Some I expected, others I didn't. It didn't occur to me that people would read it who would find its contents disturbing. I thought I'd had Anders provide enough clues to the extreme nature of the power exchange, early enough in the book, to keep those folks from continuing.
What I didn't count on was reluctant readers feeling drawn in despite themselves. Of course there's some gratification in knowing the writing has that power. But there's no satisfaction in upsetting anyone, or imposing unwelcome images on their minds; quite the contrary. Read the reviews; if that level of kink and intensity aren't your thing, please just move on.
To those readers who have offered praise and thoughtful comments, many, many thanks. I spent years with Maia and Anders, feeling like I'd created friends from the seeds of myself. If they've found more friends out in the world, then so have I.
