Guest post by Sophie Duncan - There were 3 in the Bed...

I'm pleased to host Literary+ member, Sophie Duncan, a gal after my own heart, talking today about menage in fiction.

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Much gratitude to Tressa for hosting me today and thanks to Literary+ (especially Paul Carroll) for organising the blog tour for me.

There Were 3 In The Bed - Menage, ewww or gimme gimme!

My title today came to me, because, as I was considering this subject for a blog post, that old song 'there were x in the bed and the little one said roll over, roll over', came to mind and it made me laugh as I thought about the extra arms and legs and other unmentionables in a PG post that a writer is dealing with when they tackle a menage. Of course, menage does not strictly mean a sexual relationship, but the type of menage I'm discussing here is definitely of the sexual kind and, usually when I read or write it, it means the sexual relations go all ways, not as in the classical menage a trois where one person has two lovers and those two lovers are not sexually involved.

Phew! Menage is a tricky concept to define and writing it can be even more complex. Traditionally speaking, we're used to duos, one-to-one relationships in both our romance and erotica (less so in porn - and if you want to see my definitions of those three genres, check back to yesterday's blog tour post). When we move on to three or more in a relationship, lots of things get complicated and not just the sex scenes. Personally, I like reading and writing menage, those challenges in dynamics make for an interesting read/write and, well, three in a bed can be hot! I'll state clearly here, I'm talking fiction, fantasy: I have no objections to equal, consensual multi-way relationships in the real world (by equal, I mean any combination of male and/or female partners allowed, no restrictions, I'm not attempting to start a religious debate), but I'll keep my own menage fantasies safely on the page :). For other people, two is the perfect number, any more and it gets icky for them. To those people, I say, fair enough, each to their own, I like pairs too, but for me there is just something a little kinky and erotic about breaking that convention.

My only published menage*, apart from fanfic, is Bonds of Fire, which, again I mentioned yesterday, and including an all-male threesome romance (emphasis on PG13 here) in a science-fiction/fantasy story has made it both my most popular release to date, but also the one that has drawn the most vitriol. Apparently, some people reading fantasy don't want a m/m/m romance popping up in the middle of the story. Personally, I didn't even think twice about it, it didn't occur to me that the relationship in the story would 'ruin' it for some people, although I have now listed that content in the description due to some folks' comments, not everyone who was surprised by it was nasty BTW. Anyway, my point for mentioning this story is that I enjoyed developing the relationship in this story. One of the empaths, Yakov, is the catalyst for romance developing and he is already in a relationship with Malachi, the other empath, before Drekken, my protagonist, enters the equation.

There were two scenes I had a lot of fun writing. The first may be obvious to anyone who has read the book, and even if you haven't, you'll understand why I enjoyed it when I say it was the nearest this story gets to a sex scene: it's a little playful flirting, okay, so they are naked, but that's because they've all just been washing in a pool and there are children present (in the form of dragon hatchlings), so there's nothing overtly sexual going on. This is a two-on-one scene where the empaths, the established relationship, are teasing Drekken, the newcomer, and I like writing flirty scenes like this, they are light, fun and gently erotic (if I can get them right, that is ;) ). The second scene deals much more with character: Malachi and Drekken to be exact and Malachi's jealousy over the easy way Drekken and Yakov had begun to hit it off. The society in which I have set this story does not have hangups about gender in relationships, and only gives a nod to pair-thinking as 'the norm', but I wanted to explore the protective side of Malachi when it comes to Yakov and how he deals with the new dynamic.

Throwing a new person into an established relationship and watching the fireworks is something that is done in fanfic, usually because a TV show already has a popular male-female pairing and some of the fans want to see the bromance pairing joined into that relationship. You get any number of combinations in Harry Potter fandom, from Harry/Draco/pick a girl (or guy for that matter), to James/Lilly/Snape and anything in between, you'll also get multi-way relationships with The Marauders as well. In fact, in any fandom where there are more than two leads, you're likely to get menage of established characters and, even when there are only two male leads, you sometimes find writers throwing in an original character to spice up the mix (beware of the dodgy Mary Sues in this form though). Menage is by no means as common as pairings, but it can be a fun read if done well - bad menage, though, is up there with bad porn, especially when the writer loses track of where that hand is and who is doing what to whom :P.

And so, my final thoughts on menage: it's not a kink for everyone, but if you like it, you like it and those of us who do would love to see more quality menage out there. Give me romance, give me sex, show me the unusual character dynamics that multi-way relationships can produce and I'm usually a happy girl.

*I will have another menage (erotica) coming out soon, Incubus Shadows, in the Wittegen Press Giveaway Games Anthologies.

Sophie Duncan

Sophie was born with the writing bug in her blood, boring her primary school teachers with pages of creative writing and killing her first typewriter from over use when she was thirteen. She began publishing her work on line while at university where she discovered the internet and fanfiction. It took another decade for Sophie to realise her long-time dream of releasing her own original fiction as an author through Wittegen Press.

Death In The Family (Heritage is Deadly #1)

Leaving a good London school with solid prospects, Tom Franklin has the world at his feet. Yet one thing has always haunted his perfect life: his dreams. When Tom discovers that the nightmarish images of dark places and even darker instincts are in fact repressed memories from his early childhood, he must face the heritage from his birth-father, a savage vampire known only as Raxos.

Realising his memories are his only hope of controlling his awakening instincts, Tom returns to, Coombedown, the sleepy, Cornish village in which he was born, unknowing that the night-breed in his veins will lead him into danger.

Death In The Family is a young adult, paranormal novel.

Death In The Family Literary+ Blog Tour Schedule:

• 27th August 2012: Is it the teeth? - vampires and why we like them. Host: Brooke Johnson
• 28th August 2012: Scare me, Shock me - paranormal fiction vs horror. Host: A. K. Flynn
• 29th August 2012: For Mature Eyes Only - when does romance become erotica? Host: JD Savage
• 30th August 2012: There were 3 in the bed... menage, ewww or gimme gimme! Host: Tressa Green
• 31st August 2012: The Sidekick - plucky, loyal and just a tad annoying :) Host: Paul Carroll
• 1st September 2012:Feedback - Taking It - Giving It - Enjoying It. Host: Leonard Suskin
• 2nd September 2012: Mad With It - The Highs and Lows of A Writing Imperative Allisyn Bridges

Literary+ is a marketing initiative which was founded and led by Shen Hart. This is a time of evolution and progress, the market is being opened up to e-books and self-publication. As a fellow writer, Shen understands that self-publication is a hard and often lonely road. She started Literary+ to bring together authors and related creative specialities with the goal of helping each other. With a tight knit, friendly and welcoming community at its core, Literary+ holds a strong focus on marketing. As Literary+ continues to grow and evolve it will use innovating, original and experimental marketing methods and schemes to get its member's books into their reader's hands.

Second Chances pre-order now available!

The title says it all. :) If you love a good m/m romance, Second Chances features five stories about finding love again:

Non-Negotiable by T. D. Green <--this one is mine. ;)
Jacob Kerns is due for a promotion, but his ambitions are at risk when he learns his next contract will be handled by Alexander Corey, his ex. Jake tries to put personal feelings aside to do his job, but Alex won't let him. Will they find love again or is the whole thing non-negotiable?

Heart of Glass by L. J. Harris
When Zack Doherty comes to Australia on a working holiday, he is uncharacteristically forward in pushing Heath Connors, a man he barely knows, for a date. Heath, who has only recently begun to live life his way, wonders if Zack will be the one to mend his heart of glass.

Better Together by DaNay Smith
Greyson Welles followed Dominic Nash to Baltimore for his dream job, putting his own on hold. Dominic can see that Greyson's unhappy, but never expects him to turn down his proposal and return to New York. Will Greyson be gone forever or will he decide they're better together?

Dirty Martini by Bette Browne
When Daniel Fletcher runs into his ex with the man he caught him in bed with, vodka seems like the answer. Nathan Smith is used to men drowning their sorrows at the bar he tends, so the connection he feels to one is unusual.  Will a means to forget turn into something more?

Notice to Appear by C. C. Lorenz
Josh Campbell is handed a notice to appear in court for a traffic offense, but his humiliation is complete when he comes face to face with his schoolboy crush, Carter Sullivan, in the court room. Could this be the start of something with Carter now that age is not an issue.

Coming August 31st, pre-order now!

Guest post by Paul Carroll - Speed Writing

I'm delighted to host Paul Carroll today. He recently finished his "Writing Olympics", completing his novella, Balor Reborn, (see info at the end of his post.), in an amazing one week. How'd he do it? Read on.
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Speed Writing

Writing at speed is not a new phenomenon. There are challenges that take place throughout the year that involve writing a comic, or songs, or scripts, or novels, all within a short space of time. What makes the Speed Writing event at my Writing Olympics so different was that I didn’t have an extended deadline on when the finished product could be revealed to the world. From day one, I was on camera, and by day seven the book had to be available to buy.

Event two of the Writing Olympics, then, put me under a lot of pressure to complete Balor Reborn. I followed my own advice: I went in with a plan. I knew that I wanted to start with the separation of Stephen and Fionn, with Fionn only being a child. From there, I wanted to slowly introduce Fionn into the world of magic that was coming back to Ireland, and throw Stephen in head-first with an encounter with Balor of the Evil Eye. This much was clear from my plan, and it only took a short space of time to get used to the camera before writing at speed became a simple endeavour.

The approximate figures came out as follows: 5,500 words on day one, 10,500 words on day two, and 5,000 words on day three. The latter ended the book, though I finished much earlier than planned. In theory, I could have written twice as much.

When you attempt something like this, you need to focus on doing one thing, and one thing only: writing. There can be no going back to edit, no restarting the book because you got a new idea, and no stalling to get the exact right word. So how do you do this?

Leave it for the editing. I ploughed through my book, with the plan, to ensure the first draft was written swiftly. Except on a couple of occasions at the end of a writing session, I didn’t go back to change anything. I built up a momentum, and I set myself word count targets for every half hour. Aiming for 850 words every 30 minutes meant that I was producing a lot of words. This also tired me out, so it’s worth noting that you need to take things at an appropriate pace. It may be a sprint, but you still have to reach the end.

As for new ideas... I was fortunate enough not to have to change the book to cater for them while writing. I got ideas that fit better into later books, so I didn’t have to concern myself with going against my plan. However, it’s inevitable that something will pop into your head while you write. Deal with this by keeping post-its or a notebook nearby, and when you find an idea coming to mind, jot it down and keep on writing.

That’s the vital thing: you can’t stop. Stopping ruins your momentum, breaks your train of thought, and puts you in a position of needing to start all over again. We all know what happens to runners when they have a series of false starts: they’re out of the race. It happened to Usain Bolt, it can happen to you. So keep focused, and when it comes to that exact word, remember that this isn’t the only event in the Writing Olympics.

Deal with your inner-perfectionist by highlighting the word or words you need to change, then move on. When you go back to edit, you’ll know where to pick up. Until then, finish your first draft. Yes, I mean it. Don’t edit until the whole draft is written. This isn’t a freestyle medley, and this isn’t a relay. You’re in a sprint, and you just have to keep on going.

There’ll be plenty of time to slow down once you have something written, as you’ll soon discover in the later events.

Bio

Paul Carroll is a writer from Dublin. He is studying to be a teacher of Religion and English at second level, while working in a bookshop at weekends. His 'free time' is divided among assignments, fiction, poetry, articles and blog posts, as well as college Drama and almost weekly trips to the local cinema.

He has been writing since the age of twelve, with a love of words going back further than he can remember. When he isn't reading or writing, he likes to make use of social media, bake, and talk to friends. Often, he'll watch a horror film alone in the dark for the sheer joy of it.

He can be found online at paulcarrollwriter.com.

About Balor Reborn

Old Ireland is returning, as an ancient evil arrives in Dublin. A single glance from his eye is all it takes to kill.

Stephen Fox is haunted by the memory of his wife, and suffers from guilt at abandoning his new-born son. The spirit of the tyrant Balor has come back to take his vengeance on the country. A hero must rise in the unwilling form of Fionn Murray, a university student with a mysterious past.. As a world of wonder unfolds around him, and with no one but his house mate Michael at his side, he’s left with the choice of running, or facing the evil that could consume the world.

Based on the old Irish myth of Balor of the Evil Eye, Balor Reborn is the first in a series that seeks to revive the magic of Ireland. It was written and published in one week.

It's available to buy on PDF, Epub and Mobi via his website, Amazon, and Amazon UK
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