What a busy few weeks I've had. Lost in a writing bubble. A very strange and sometimes uncomfortable bubble, too. I had three short stories due for competitions I wanted to enter. I found myself fussing over them much more than I usually would, firstly because one was a competition in my suburb, at the local gallery, and the other was a genre I hadn't tackled before. Erotica. Writing erotica proved a difficult challenge, made much harder by the fact my mum was here. I would sneak steely glances at her to make sure she wasn't, I don't know, reading my thoughts or something. Then I'd have to shut down my computer all the time in case she happened upon it. At one point I was discussing metaphors with my boyfriend and she walked right up to the screen and started reading it! Oh the horror! Mum's can't read their daughter's take on porn can they? It's just not right!!
I was quite happy with the first story so thought I'd tackle another story, erotica take two, which was more art house than porn. I really liked what I'd written and sent a copy to my aunty who gives great advice on my work and is a big reader herself. She liked the twist at the end, so I thought I'd send her the finished, polished version, not realising I was actually sending her erotica story number one. When she emailed me feedback I was horrifed to think she'd read the racy story. I mean I used the c.o.c.k word. More than once. And the ...I can't even say, well spell, the other words, I am still mortified. She assured me she wasn't a easily shocked as I might think and basically she liked the story. Oh. My. God. I thought I'd reread it and try and think of it from her perspective. I started blushing furiously and had to skip past the sexy sections.Note to self, slow down when emailing erotica! That being said we had lots of laughs over bad metaphors and cheesy scenarios. And yes, I used the word womanhood. But only once. I'll admit I did feel a little Mills and Boon-y with that one. I managed to stay away from using 'the soft centre of her core'...even though I was tempted. Wink wink. It was a great writing challenge and I am glad I gave it a go. I'll keep you posted on the results. Next on the agenda is a historical fiction competition, which is another new genre. Phew. That, I can do.
