Recommended: "How to Write a Dirty Story" by Susie Bright.

For obvious reasons, I'm reading How to Write a Dirty Story by Susie Bright. And now I want you to read it, too. Yes, and probably you, as well. (Probably not buy it, but check it out from the library.)

This is not a recommendation for 'if you want to Be A Writer' or 'if you want to get paid for publishing naughty bits.' (Amazon reviewers actually complain that it's skimping on the mechanics implied by the title. It's getting comparisons to Stephen King's "On Writing.") The first chapters of this book are making me feel sexier about my own life just by reading it, whether I ever write anything again or not. And then it's making writing for personal pleasure sound attractive.

( I ramble on a bit longer. Completely work-safe. )

I'm struggling to explain this properly, and probably failing, which is why I've put the details about the book's structure behind a cut for those who are considering picking it up. But this book is making me feel... warm, by which I do not just mean hot. It's a really positive and thoughtful look at the place sex has in our lives and our thoughts, no matter how much literal sex we do or do not have.

Nothing ground-breaking if you read a lot of sex-positive literature, but a different angle than I'm used to, since it's talking about taking a deep breath and creating with it. Not that sex isn't an act of creation, but performance art and working with words are very different parts of the brain.

After reading a couple chapters of it yesterday, I put 4500 new words on my wiki, easy as breathing. I wrote down a fantasy I'd been playing out for a week but hadn't considered writing down because it 'didn't fit into a story line.' Fie on that. It's hot. And it's mine.

And it got both hotter and more meaningful when I wrote it down.

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Edit: P.S. Man, Oh, Man (on writing M/M fiction) is also getting two thumbs up for a sympathetic book that's at least partially tailored to the confused gaggle of mostly-women trying to break out of the fanfic communities and into publishing. The author, Josh Lanyon, is a guy who writes mysteries with strong (and hot) M/M subplots. It has me alternately laughing, crowing, and feeling sheepishly reassured.

In a flurry of posting today...

Okay, I meant to mention this two weeks ago, but I have not been much with the posting. There are some very funny and very cool fan and fanfiction auctions over at livelongnmarry, bidding on the honor system, all proceeds to be donated directly to groups supporting equal marriage rights.

There are about 8 million "I will write a fanfic to your specifications," but presuming that's not your cup of tea, check out the art offers, the fanvid making offers, people who will compose sonnets or knit socks or provide semi-professional manuscript editing services.

(I am sadly, just short of the point where I can really make use of the last. Rarrr. Come on, brain, start spitting out that second draft structure!) But I bought an art commission, $30 for 2 pencil sketches and the artist will read my work for scene and character details. Heehee. And unless there's a last minute sniping bid, I've bought a custom sonnet and a fanvid as well.

Bidding closes tomorrow at midnight tonight (12:01 a.m. July 15, Pacific Time), so if you're interested, don't dawdle. livelongnmarry. If nothing else, go have a look at the phenomenal variety of fandoms listed in the tags and be amused.