Paige Hawthorne: Blog

My new story -- The Real Housewives of Sausalito, Mississippi -- will launch on Friday, December 16. It is already stirring up some controversy.

After reading only a few of the chapters, one of my senior, and respected, editors said, "I am finding your story to be repellent. You have crafted a world dominated by predators that exploit and degrade the weak and helpless...

"This is not a sex story; it is more the genre of S&M, with the predator's will used instead of a whip."

*******************

Well.

Okay, this is fair warning for some of you. And, for those of you with certain proclivities, a preview of coming attractions. I do wonder... which camp my remaining three readers fall into?

Paige

Despite the scars from past endeavors, I have turned on voting for “Heaven Sighs”. Have at it, you 1-bombers.

Paige

Despite anguished pleas, I’ve submitted a new story — “Heaven Sighs”.

When is extreme savagery justified? I’m talking about good guys administering street justice. About the suspension of due process. About trampling on the civil rights of the baddies. About being judge, jury, and executioner.

You Dante Alighieri scholars (ho ho) will recognize the chapter headings for this story as the Nine Circles of Hell. The reading times shown for each chapter emulate the old magazine, “Liberty”.

As usual, the vigilante dilemma, and, really, the entire novel, befuddled the editors — Thorny, Steven, Mike, and the new guy, Jim. Jim came on board one story ago during “The Second Sausalito”. So far he has reported no completely incapacitating symptoms from his participation in the Paige Hawthorne saga. We’ll see.

In Memoriam: pcbondsman. Editor, raconteur, good guy.

A few months ago, one of my three remaining readers — no, not my son — sent me this note about “The Second Sausalito”:

“I've been a reader here for a long time. In my view, this is the best story EVER posted on this site. Every star in Hollywood is going to want to be in the film. Congratulations.”

So there’s that,

Paige

Lee Child once said something like, “No one remembers the plot. All they care about is the main character.” And his Jack Reacher is certainly a striking example of a vivid, memorable protagonist.

Many other writers such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Paige Hawthorne, Bill Shakespeare, and Robert B. Parker have been lauded for their main men and leading ladies.

But sometimes a sidebar personality simply steals the spotlight. In “The Second Sausalito”, I had considered Eulalie Guidry to be a minor character. One intended to make one of the subplots a little more engaging. Instead, the 14-year old Cajun sexpot drew more reader responses than anyone else in the story.

Of course, SOL is a sex-story site, so her libidinous nature earned her a certain type of appeal here. Which reminded me to never underestimate the debauchery level of my three remaining readers.

Paige