The Erotic Café

Gods of Romance

2012-01-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

...and then there was the contest I did win. Well, I won second place. It was an erotic romance story in the most romantic of all short story contests: Valentine's Day Stories.

It might seem like a no-brainer for an erotic romance writer to come up with a story for Valentine's Day, but readers expect to see certain things in such a story: hearts, flowers, wine, poetry, cupids, candy and cards. Infusing new life into these old tunes is not so easy. Nor is coming up with a champagne-and-fine-chocolates' plot. A romantic tale celebrating the day of romance has to be a little more extravagant and delicious than the standard boy-meets-girl fare.

Which, in the context of how I came up with this story is a bit ironic, as the first thing that popped into my mind were those childhood candies (invented in 1860!) with text messages like: "luv u!" One can't get more plebeian. The other things that came to mind were treasure hunts and secret admirers. What, after all, is more "Valentine's Day" than a secret admirer? That idea took hold; I liked the thought of writing up a mystery that didn't ask "who done it?" but "who is it?" My initial image of a man or woman following a trail of candy hearts to their beloved, however, didn't seem feasible. Valentine cards with room for longer and more cryptic messages, on the other hand, could work very well. So I did a little research on valentine cards. Interestingly, the Victorian/Edwardian ones with elegant paintings and belabored poetry kept catching my eye.

It occurred to me that I found them fascinating because I'd never gotten or given such a valentine--so old fashioned, so romantic-era-romantic. Maybe...maybe that was the way to go with this story? Instead of trying to modernize the Valentine's Day staples, make them old school, so old school that they seemed "new" again? The valentines, the dozen roses, the chocolate candies, the wine, jewelry, poetry...even the gods of Love.

Once I hit on that, it all came together. I knew that my hero, for example, had to be so archaically romantic that he no longer felt he had a place in today's world. And I knew his journey, his hunt, had to be not only to find his one true love, but to learn that romance, even the sort considered passé, is timeless.

My title for this story of an outmoded worshiper of Love and forgotten love gods? Valentine Prayers. It has since become one of my all time favorite titles.

I won second place, which was awesome--but what really blew me away were the thanks I got from male readers. It seems a great many were romantics, under-represented, they felt, in Valentine stories and happy to see an avatar of themselves as the hero of my tale. This was worth a great deal more to me than that second-place prize. In the end, however, the biggest prize of all was the one I'd discovered at the end of a metaphoric trail of silly candy hearts, flowers and poetry: this personal prayer to Valentine's Day. So, my fellow romantics, keep the faith, and remember this: it doesn't matter if you're given a hand-made card for the day or a diamond ring, a bag of pastel colored M&M's or a dozen wine-red roses...they all translate to the same, most wonderful message, the heavenly message of Valentine's Day: that you are loved.

Lighting the Way to Your Holidays

2011-12-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

"...the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely and think of [other] people...as if they really were fellow-travellers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."
--Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

There was an erotic, holiday story writing contest and I wanted to win.

...I didn't win. I came very close to winning, but tales of naughty, toy-making elves and lusty Santas tend to have the upper hand in such contests. So I wasn't all that surprised when my old fashioned, holiday-spirit romance lost out to such a story. Nor did I regret for a minute writing it. I only mention the contest to explain why this particular stocking is so stuffed with holiday elements: from wreaths to chestnuts to colored lights.

I even made the story multicultural and interfaith to cover all the holiday bases. While this aspect of the story started out as part of my über-holiday trappings, however, it didn't stay that way. In fact, it turned out to be the story's shining star. You see, to me, the most important aspect of this time of year is sharing. Yet so many people get proprietary about the holidays, insisting that this or that celebration or tradition is theirs and theirs alone. No one outside it should be allowed to enjoy it.

That seems pretty contrary to the "good-will-toward-all" message of the season.

Thus, as I began to explore different seasonal traditions my goal changed from winning the contest to illuminating that shared center. The holiday spirit, if you like, which doesn't focus on what gifts are offered, or how they're wrapped, but on the wonderful wish we all have to give of ourselves.

I ended up with a fable, of sorts, a romance between a odd woman and a desperate man both looking for love, yet fearing themselves too strange or unworthy to give or receive it. It's a story about those lonely times we all go though--sometimes short, sometimes long--when we feel like outsiders. This is most keenly experienced during the holidays when everyone is gathering together; and it doesn't help if our relatives, country or culture has told us that we must be something that we're not if we want to belong.

As in this story, however, there are people out there who refuse to focus on our differences. They don't care if our appearance or faith or background isn't the same as theirs; their hearts are open, and when they look on us, they see a kindred spirit, someone to be invited in and given a place by the fire. Which is why we should never lose hope of finding a people, a neighborhood, a family...and someone to love. There is a lantern out there to guide us all home. And once we arrive there, we should make sure it stays lit to guide others home as well.

That is what this time of year is all about.

I did not win the contest with this story, but as often happens, I got something that mattered a great deal more to me. Which is why I'd want to wish everyone reading this blog a very happy holiday season. My thanks for the gift of your readership. Whatever my stories might mean to you, that you enjoy them means to world to me.

Have faith in each other, fellow travelers. We've more in common then you think.

Economic Theory

2011-12-02T21:49:00.000-08:00

Now this is an odd one.

A fan of mine, PirotX, asked me to write another Romeo and Juliet tale. As you can probably tell, I've a soft spot for opposites-attract stories, so I had no problem with the thought of writing another. Pirot, however, was after a full-on "warring houses" R&J tale with the families or friends opposed to the romance. That made me scratch my head a bit because the current cultural and religious differences that would create such a forbidden romance didn't interest or excite me. So what else was there?

I brooded on this for a while, and then it occurred to me that warring tribes, when not created by differences in culture or religion, were usually the result of economics. Rich and poor are always good Romeo and Juliet material, but there had to be more to this tale than that. Okay. How about opposing philosophies on the distribution of wealth and other such socio-political issues?

Hmmmm. Now there was crazy idea. An erotic romance centered around economic theory. What a daft idea! Even with research how could I make that work? I couldn't. No way, no how, no....And then it hit me. A single image, a scene, an enticing situation...Ohmygod! It could be done. (Stunned silence here.) Economics. Yes. There was a way to make it interesting. Opposite philosophies, different types of wealth and poverty, families at budgetary poles driving at least one side to....

Whoa. This might be fun.

It wasn't, of course, that easy. First, I had to bone up on economics both history and theory (ack!). And then it turned out that the scene that had gotten this ball rolling, which I thought would start the story wasn't working out, not until I realized it had to be the (sic) balcony scene for my Romeo and Juliet. And when the story finally came together it still remained in limbo while I spent days digging through Karl Marx in hopes of finding a title (kids, don't try this at home! It takes years of training to know how to search for creative inspiration in the writings of a revolutionary socialist).

It all paid off in the end, but it was hard going.

Done at last, I began to doubt myself. Was anyone going to even want to read this romance outside of economic/poly-sci students?

To my utter amazement, those who read it loved it. In fact, they were downright enthusiastic and PirotX, the instigator, waxed rhapsodic. He thought it my best story yet. Even so, when Jayha requested it for BT I did a double take. The story where Romeo and Juliet fall for each other while discussing economics? She wanted that one? Really? Talk about risky publishing. But fans have been peppering me with messages, wanting to know when it'll be out so they can have it.

Sometimes the wildest, weirdest ideas pay off. This one, among the strangest I've ever had, is proving to be of inestimable value.

New Name, Small Relaunch

2011-07-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings Friends and Readers! You may note a small name change to this website. When I started it, I thought this blog would serve for both myself and my collaborator on the book "Irish Eyes." Given my writing partner's nom de plume (Tom Collins) I thought "Erotic Cocktails" to be an apt if a bit naughty pun. Very soon, however, this blog became mine alone, and I've been feeling that the name isn't representative of me or of what I've been publishing with Beautiful Trouble. So today marks a retroactive name change to the blog and a minor relaunch.

Welcome to The Erotic Café.

Why Erotic Café? And if "Café" why the books in the background? Let us start with the famous painting at the top, "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. I adore Hopper's spare style. His paintings are always of pauses in life where the viewer can imagine what has been and what will be after that moment ends. Most viewers of this painting tend to think the occupants of the diner sad and lonely. Hopper, himself, had a bleak view of this picture--yet also an oddly optimistic one as it was 1942 and he saw diners, like the one in the painting, as the remaining lights of civilization in a darkening world. That is how I've always seen it. Others may think the stories in this picture tense, existential and even scary, but to me they are lights in the dark.

To me, these four "nighthawks" have made a connection there at the counter. Because they are up and the rest of the world is asleep. Because they are seeing the world as others do not. Because they are sharing that quiet moment. I see that diner not as a cage of loneliness, but as a refuge from it. An illuminated interior with company, coffee and a perch to rest on before flying off into the dark once again.

That fellow with his back to us has a writing pad and pen in his jacket pocket, by the way. At least, I think he does. When I think café, this painting is one of the things that comes to mind because, to me, diners are the American equivalent of Paris cafés. Here's another image that I connect with cafés:

Cafés are for reading as well as thinking, a time to focus and absorb. Which is why mine has all those paperbacks in the background. That, to me, is the perfect café, one with books and chess games and newspapers as well as late night coffee and good conversation.

Hence, the name change. "Erotic" remains to indicate what kind of books you'll find on the shelves and what discussions you'll hear at the counter. "Café," however, takes the place of "cocktails" to expresses how you ought to feel about this blog. Like you can pause life and take your time over a cup of coffee. In that pause there are stories to be read, or seen, or experienced.

Enjoy.

Pretty as Picture!

2011-06-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

New e-book alert! Yes, Beautiful Trouble has published yet another of my short romantic erotica, and though I'm proud of all my tales, this one has a very special place in my heart. It's one of my shortest stories, but it is one that I spent a lot of time on.

"Pretty as a Picture" is my tribute to Big Beautiful Women, a story about a fashion photographer who yearns not for the rail-thin models he photographs, but for a woman, as he says, of "three-dimensions." Told entirely from the photographer's p.o.v. it is, perhaps, the most poetic of all my stories as I felt it important to get across in words how the photographer saw his world, the beauty he was trying to capture with his camera.

Having the story all from his perspective allowed me to indulge in lush descriptions and give readers insight into the sexual allure of a plus-sized woman.

Even though the point-of-view is only from one angle, however, both characters reflect on the theme of appearance and prejudices. There is the photographer and his views on thin vs. heavy women; and then there is the plus-sized woman and her feelings about this very handsome man. That he is trim and attractive might seem to counter the message of beauty being in the photographic lens of the beholder. The point, however, is that assumptions on what is and is not attractive can run both ways. I wanted the reader and the photographer to realize that there there might be more to him than his good looks.

That, at least, is some of what I was aiming to achieve when I framed this snap-shot of a story. I hope you'll give "Pretty as a Picture" a read--and I hope, if you do, that you get as much out of it as I put into it.

Welcome to My Garden

2011-05-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Some five years back I chanced upon a post by one MsJess125, a foodie with a certificate in pastry arts who was hoping some aspiring writer might create a story for her of a girl seducing a sexy guy with gourmet cooking. A foodie myself, I e-mailed Ms. Jess, letting her know that I wanted to take a stab at this culinary challenge. With editorial help from a restaurant Chef named Dan, I cooked up a story that more than satisfied MsJess called "The Garden of Earthly Delights."

I'm proud to announce that "Garden" has been published by Beautiful Trouble Publishing as a short e-book with a lovely, sexy cover. It is a story that is as much a romance to the art of cooking, baking, and dining as it is a love story between two lost souls.

I hope you'll give it a download and a read. Enjoy!

A Special Occasion!

2011-04-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Very special indeed as, at last, there is a new book out from me, Thirteen! It is a novella rather than a full length novel (that's long for a short story, but short for a novel), and it is also my very first heterosexual ménage! Two gents and a lady (alas for my gay male readers, the men are not attracted to each other in that way). The two gents are in lustful love with the lady and determined to make this particular occasion very, very special. This is one of my lusher stories, a very sultry indlugence.

It is also brand, spanking new. It was finished in February, and has been posted no where else.

And it's got a cover that's so sizzling hot, I hesitate to post it! But I will....

This is no April Fool's joke. Just click on the image (if you dare!) to go to the publisher.

To all faithful readers who've been patiently waiting for something new, I give you A Special Occasion. Join me in celebrating it. And my profound thanks for hanging in there.

Yours,
Thirteen

2011-02-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

Greetings Readers!

Thirteen (3113) finally has some new news for you! I have contracts with Beautiful Trouble Publishing for some of my heterosexual romances (short stories). Some of these will be oldies that you might have read, but the one appearing in March will be a completely new, short story--an erotic and heterosexual "Threesome." I'll be sure to post here letting you know when it's available.

What a lovely Valentine's present! Thank you BTP!

On Hold....

2010-09-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends and readers,

Alas, our writing is on hold, and so is "Smiling." First things first, Tom Collins is on hiatus from writing as six weeks of jury duty took over. So that has put the brakes on any new novels from us.

I owe everyone an apology for getting any hopes up on that score. I had no idea life would intrude so rudely on our latest collaboration, and so jumped the gun. Mea Culpa!

As to "Smiling" we've not heard a word from the publishers on whether it's being edited or even if its still wanted. Once Tom is back, we will look into it yet again. If there is still no-go on it, we will probably seek out a new publisher.

We thank you all very much for your patience, and we're sorry that our news isn't more promising at the moment. We hope, however, that you find good and wonderful books to read through the coming autumn months. There is really nothing more wonderful than a good book by the fire on a chilly afternoon. Enjoy!

Yours,
Thirteen

2010-07-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

Summer's Here and Molly's Story is Being Written!

Greetings faithful readers!

Tom and I hope you are having a 'bitchin' summer. After all our promises of a prequel, you're likely wondering what happened? It seems that good editors are hard to come by, and those around are booked solid. So our manuscript had to wait in the queue.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling is, alas, still being edited and awaiting approval for publication. We will keep you updated on how that goes.

We are not, however, resting on our laptops. We are working on yet another "Irish" tale and this one...wait for it...is heterosexual! Gasp! We hope you'll forgive us hopping the fence to the other side for this one story, but we couldn't resist exploring Molly's love life. Molly, if you recall, is Liam and Brendan's big sister. She was on vacation in Ireland during most of Sparkling. What no one knows is that she met someone special there, someone she's going to run into again now that she's back in the states....

That's all the taste you'll get of that story for now, but we hope we can bring you both our promised prequel and a great, romantic new sequel soon. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your time at summer camp.

Mon Dieu! Reviews! Nominations!

2010-01-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

Zut Alors! When Irish Eyes are Sparkling has found international appeal on a French website, Blue Moon. Not only has it gotten a great review from Blue Moon, but it's WON their award for best M/M Romance of 2009. Blue Moon Awards.

Merci, Blue Moon! Merci Beaucoup!

Our thanks and gratitude goes out to reviewer Guitou for giving us the heads-up on both review and award. What an amazing Valentine!

In other news, the "prequel" to "Sparkling": When Irish Eyes are Smiling should be in editorial hands very soon. We'll keep you notified here as to when it's going to appear on Aspen Mountain Press.

The Erotic Works of Tom Collins and Thirteen

2009-11-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the blog of Erotica writer Thirteen (aka 3113). I'll be using this blog to let you know what new stories of ours are out there and where you can find them.

You can also use this blog to post any positive feedback, constructive comments or wish-list desires on what we've written, together or separately.

Currently, I have one gay male erotic/romantic e-novel written with co-writer Tom Collins, published by Aspen Mountain Press: When Irish Eyes are Sparkling.

Welcome once again to our cosy little diner. The door is always open, and there's always hot coffee and pie. Order up and enjoy.

Yours,

Thirteen