Quille: Blog

I have heard it said, 'never complain, never explain,' and in many ways I can agree with that, but I thought perhaps it would help readers to understand how I see writing--and my stories.

So, as I have just submitted chapter 2 of 'The ReVerse of Amy' in which our try-again lass begins to uncover more of her puzzling return to her former teenage years, I thought I would take the opportunity to explain a little of my approach to story-telling. This, incidentally, was prompted by a reader who asked why I did not go deeper, or give more detail, of a sex scene.

It was a very good question and I am grateful the reader communicated it to me, but it highlights from my point of view how I think the stories I write should unfold. In short, they are stories with sex rather stories about sex.

To me there is a big difference. On SoL there are countless excellent authors who explore stories their way, as they should. We are all inspired by many other story-tellers but in the end we grasp the nettle as it were in our own way. It is an awesome collection on these pages and I can see why so many readers come here to discover so many aspects of the human condition. In all this I am just another scribe here beavering away (no pun intended), and I can see many of SoL's talented writers recount sexual episodes in wonderful detail. I am not sure however I should try to match their prowess.

This is partly because my approach is to explore the 'inner self' of my characters and how they think and feel and react to events (some sexual, some mundane), rather than how they have sex. As a writer I believe that once I furnish the outline then the imagination of the reader kicks in and they 'fill in the gaps' or at least visualise some of the finer detail.

My characters have doubts. They are not omniscient: they realise things, sometimes slowly, and they have to come to terms--however long it takes--with who they are and what they want both in their sometimes complex relationships with others as well as understanding what drives them in their personal sexual life.

They will have sex, but with various outcomes, repercussions and perhaps even regrets.

This means sometimes I will seek to provide an outline rather than any fine detail. In other words, I would prefer to use at times a broad brush to suggest action rather than tell the reader everything. I do accept this may well be a turn-off for some readers, but so be it. I accept some will pass by what I write and dismiss it, as is their right.

This is not an apology nor an attempt at providing an argument why I do what I do. I like stories, and enjoy a story that in a sense completes a circle: the protagonist faces a problem and finds a way out, or comes to terms with it. The traditional three-act format was in effect: set-up, issue, resolution. (You can sum this up as, say, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl.) But we might see it as a world/situation that exists, gets broken and is repaired. Nor is it just rom-coms that follow this pattern; you can see it in thousands of stories and plays and movies.

So that is what I am striving for in what I write. Of course, sex is there, but as I say my writings are more stories with sex (often a very important 'with') but do not focus solely on sex for its own sake.

I hope in some small way this helps.

I will be continuing with the adventures of Isabella, the humanhorse, but for now I have submitted the start of a new story which falls into the 'ReDo' category, as a woman returns to her early life but in a position and place she never expected.

The story is set in early 1960s England and makes reference to the time and dress of a long gone era. For the protagonist, a 14-year old called Amy, this is an opportunity to try to avoid the errors that will plague her life in later years. But what she thinks might be straightforward turns out to be far from it, and puts her into a complicated situation she had no idea about when young.

In the meantime, many thanks to the readers of Isabella who took the time and trouble to write to me. I have to say it is very encouraging to have their support, and as I say Isabella will continue.

After many years of writing stories--some published under other names elsewhere but lost in time, alas--I came late to SOL. I find it a good platform, well organised and helpful and wish I had found it before, for there are things I need to learn and grasp. I will probably make mistakes, especially with categories and the codes, but for the most part I hope to get most of them right.

As a new author, a little about me: I am old, English and most of what I write will be in what is called UK English or British English. I am interested in a good few erotic themes but almost all of them revolve around humiliation, slavery, domination and submission as well as, inevitably, bondage in some form. I like lesbian interactions and count myself fortunate to know a couple of women whose 'kink count' is high on both male/female and female/female relationships and understand the attractions of both, as well as that of bondage. I have no problem with any same-sex interactions and the demeaning of men into a form of lesser women is one of the themes I enjoy.

As an Englishman most of my work will use English idioms and descriptions--perhaps without me realising. I take it that anyone who sticks with my writings is smart enough, irrespective of their homeland and upbringing, to understand what I am writing about.

I don't want any of this first blog post to come across as a sort of pre-apology. I am what I am, and too old to change.

My first SOL-posted story of Isabella: Humanhorse of Far Earth and its fantasy origins should not be taken as the only subject I will write about. I plan to write about non-fantasy matters too but for now I will continue with the story of Isabella. As always, I am like any writer eternally grateful to those who read my scribblings.