Forum: Author Hangout

Thanks for the clarification. I haven't seen the original article, just a newspaper paragraph intended to titillate.

But surely 9 can't be right - every teenager knows you can't get pregnant if you do it standing up ;)

AJ

Indeed, and other urban myths. Many of them invented by horny teen boys. :)

Indeed. I remember the days when many kids considered a Coke spritz an effective form of birth control.

The aspirin works best for birth control if grasped firmly between the girl's knees.

the top ten positions for getting pregnant

Isn't the Cowgirl where the girl is on top? Not the best position for getting pregnant.

According to my son's Sex Ed. teacher back in 1970, any position that can be used to get penetration, no matter how shallow, is enough to cause pregnancy. Her recommendation was to use a condom or don't do it at all.

By the way, this was a 5th Grade class. It was in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Sperm is very good at swimming fast, but only for very short distances, so position (penetration) matters, while gravity doesn't.

If that were true, short dicks would have been eliminated by natural selection. :o)

I knew a guy a long time back who tried convincing any girl that would listen that it was safe to have sex with him without a condom because he already had impregnated one girl and "you can't get another girl pregnant until after the first one gives birth". Trouble was he really believed it. He soon found out you can't get a girl pregnant after she gives you a swiftly delivered knee into the groin.

How on earth can any bloke come up with such a stupid story and believe it

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. After all, people voted for Hillary, didn't they? :)

Seriously though, there are some really strange ideas regarding sex and procreation out there. You know the doctor joke, what do you call women who practice the rhythm method of birth control? Mothers.

Now, while it's false that a guy at Gettysburg got shot in the balls and had the minie ball end up in a womans abdomen and made her pregnant (although that was a hell of a story), there are so many old wives tales out there still and honestly, a lot of the population around the world just isn't educated enough to know that those old wives tales ARE false. How many times have you heard of a woman cutting the ends off a roast because that's how her momma did it, and find out that it's because grandma did the same thing - only to find out that it's because grandma didn't have a big enough pan to fit the roast in the first place? Same stupid people, all the time.

I didn't create it, I'm just quoting RAH. And it was true in 1973, and seems to still be true today.

Like telephone cold-callers, it only takes one sucker to believe their patter and they're quids in, whether the cold-callers believe it themselves or not.

AJ

Being a politician gives you some power to fix the problems of your society. Even well-meaning idiots cause problems when they tweak something. Especially, when they don't understand how their tweak will affect the problems and society.

Then you have the self-absorbed idiots who are out to remake the world to their image of what is right (aka Trump and associates). They truly do not care if the public is hurt by their actions. They consider the problems they inflict on the public to be collateral damage that can't be avoided.

Yeah, but what if Trump is the Anti-Christ!?

Yeah, but what if Trump is the Anti-Christ!?

Then there must be several anti-christs, because Obama is one.

To be an aunty-Christ they would need to be women.

That would be Hillary Clinton.

According to Wikipedia,

In Christianity, the Antichrist (Greek: αντίχριστος, translit. antichristos; Hebrew: אנטיכריסט‎‎) or False Messiah (Greek: ψευδός Μεσσίας, translit. psevdós Messías; Hebrew: משיח שקר‎‎) is generally regarded as a figure of evil that will falsely claim to be the Christ (Messiah).

Sounds to me like the positions taken by most politicians. Especially when campaigning for office; although the positions usually aren't religious.

For what it's worth, my heroes usually are already rich or become rich so that they can devote their time to the point of the story. Otherwise, they would spend so much time working to support themselves and their family that there would be no story.

If that is gaining power, then so be it, but I class it as a way to make the story more interesting. That, by the way, is why so many of my Western heroes are bounty hunters--they can support themselves while advancing the story.

Yes, the MC working for a living would be a plot killer for most SOL story plots. The only way that would work is if the plot is about the MC making a living.

Yes, the MC working for a living would be a plot killer for most SOL story plots. The only way that would work is if the plot is about the MC making a living.

I kept getting feedback on my original "Catalyst" series (as the protagonist's health started to fail), asking why he didn't start an exercise program. The simple answer was, since he kept changing locations, dedicating specific times for him to exercise cut into what I could show him doing, and required separate, largely non-productive story sequences (i.e. they wouldn't necessarily advance the plot).

Anytime a character has job or time requirements, it cuts into their ability to react to events. If a kid is still in school, there's an easy solution, as that's their main socializing time and accounts for their conflicts and romantic entanglements. However, no one wants to read about filling out job applications or serving up burgers in a fast-food joint.

serving up burgers in a fast-food joint

I'm pretty sure I've read at least a couple of decent stories where the protagonist is employed for a while in a fast food joint.

Lazlo Zalezac's 'Millionaire Next Door' is the only one I can remember the name of off hand.

AJ

If a kid is still in school, there's an easy solution, as that's their main socializing time and accounts for their conflicts and romantic entanglements.

Have you ever wondered how these high school students do what they do outside of class time and still manage to do their homework, so they can earn the grades the story indicate they are getting - usually As

Otherwise, they would spend so much time working to support themselves and their family that there would be no story.

I've seen waaaay too many stories in which the protagonist is an IT wizard who can accomplish a week's worth of chargeable work in a couple of hours :(

AJ

I don't think that was one of my stories!

I've seen waaaay too many stories in which the protagonist is an IT wizard who can accomplish a week's worth of chargeable work in a couple of hours :(

It was many, many moons ago - but I actually did that once.

I had a lot of code I was working on at home for a private project when a client said they wanted something done, and I realised 80% of the code I had would do about 90% of what they wanted. Copy, minor changes, clean, compile and check - voila, weeks of work done in one day from the customer's viewpoint I did bill for all the many hours I'd done on it over the previous months. But that was an odd, and not often see, situation.

True, but it also generally robs you of any desire to do so.

So true. For me, and I suspect you, most politicians are in office for what they can get out of it for themselves. They get the power to help the public, but most don't use it that way, unless it benefits them.

who are out to remake the world to their image of what is right

Isn't that the American Dream? Become ultra-rich and powerful then you can do what you want. Most of the wish-fulfillment stories on SOL depend on the protagonist becoming extremely rich and therefore entitled to privilege above and beyond Joe Public.

AJ

Isn't that the American Dream?

To become rich, yes. To afford to do that which you wish, yes.

Extreme wealth is power. How that power is exercised is not part of the American dream. However, the wealth generates power and that power is used. The stories on SOL define what the writer thinks they might use that power for, if they had it.

What one would like to do before gaining power is often very different from what one would do once they had the power.

what is "The Eagle"?

I suggest you consult google. I had to look this one up too, I didn't realise the position had that name. You live and learn!

AJ

penetration will be so deep

The first link google presented me with took me to a site which recommended it as suitable for men with a small penis ;)

Good to know there's another chapter of "Off The Deep End" imminent. Keep up the good work.

AJ

Forgive my ignorance, but what is "The Eagle"?

Don't feel bad. In addition to "The Eagle", there were several I have never heard of.

After looking them up,

The topic (i.e. unusual sexual positions) didn't interest me enough to expend the effort of looking up the definition of the positions.

I am left with who the fuck thought "the toad" was a good name for a sexual position?

Sort of reminds me of the names used for some yoga positions; like the Forward Leaning Dog. I'm not into yoga, but from the name it sounds like a few sexual positions described in SOL stories. :)