Six Sentence Sunday: The Claddagh Icon

Another Sunday has rolled around; in the States it's Mother's Day, so happy Mother's Day to my mother and all the other mothers out there. It's also Six Sentence Sunday, so I've selected another story to tease you with. It's definitely a tease, because while I've sent the story off to my publisher in Italy, I don't know exactly when it's coming out or even if it will be available in English (I think so). It will be part of a series of sexy noirish tales set in different cities around the world -- yes, another publication venue that Mr B pointed me toward.

The story is named after a local landmark, this sculpture that appears on the Claddagh side of the bay, which is doubtless hardly surprising. Across Grattan Road there's another statue which really does look as I describe it in these opening lines. I enjoyed finding the voice of this character. As you might expect, I've spent a lot of my time here listening to the ways people talk:

I first saw her standing by the icon. I was saying hello to Father Burke's statue as he raised a glass to the offie across the street and thinking about indulging myself, it being a grey sort of day that calls for a smoky glass of the gold nectar. Under the halo of the icon, her golden hair glowed. The cormorant rose above her as if to proclaim her beauty to the world. I'm not sure what the boat represented: maybe it was my hopes sailing away...

This story won't be for everyone: steamy! And noirish, so not everything's going to go well for everyone. I'm enjoying the crime groove. My head's full of interesting ideas.

Don't forget -- you can sample a bunch of writers' sixes at the official site.

BitchBuzz: Women's Dangerous Desires

Just a tad bit too late to make it into the column, two news stories today: HarperCollins has a new erotica imprint, Mischief, and the Wall Street Journal has another gasping-for-the-shock-of-it story about what women read on their Kindles (oooh, scandal!). All this frothing shows the ultimate futility of the attempts to stuff women back into the genie-bottle of the past. Annoying that these old geezers keep trying, but we will triumph in the end. After all, women have more endurance. And multi-tasking!

Women's Dangerous Desires

By K.A. Laity

We may have accustomed ourselves to the bizarre hysterics of the Republican war on women in the States, but there's a more subtle campaign against women's desire. I guess it's a way of getting to the root of the problem. Apparently snapping some kind of chastity belt on the vagina just isn't enough. These busybodies would love to shackle women's minds as well.

It can be very subtle and often masquerades as "positive" coverage. The Independent Magazine had a story this past Sunday on a number of erotic romance writers, women of various ages and backgrounds. The male author approaches the writers as if they were some kind of lost species. The idea that he must ask, "Do women write porn?" flabbergasts. The shock angle is they are "shy introverted woman [sic] with a love of reading and writing." Like most writers of every genre, I suppose.

The editorial side plays up the sensationalism: "Kinky Books" the interior title screams. The first pull quote, "I write in secret, using words I would never, ever say," makes Kay Jaybee sound very different than her other words like, "Sadly, many people can't separate the art from the subject matter," rightly noting that people seldom assume crime writers to be murderers. Predictably perhaps, although the authors write mostly erotic romance, the cover blurb has it, "WOMEN WHO WRITE PORN." Porn triggers a more sensational reaction, of course...

Read the rest at BBHQ.

Tuesday's Overlooked Film: Cat People

Simone Simon stars in the Tourneur/Lewton frightfest Cat People from 1942. I'm teaching this today along with a first toe-dipping into Freudian theory. Old Siggy had a lot of hang-ups from his time and misapprehensions about human nature (as opposed to its particular manifestation during his particular and odd time) but there were enough astute observations in his work to keep its currency high even now.

The Lewton/Tourneur film makes much of its atmosphere. The oddly iconoclast Simon portrays the Serbian woman Irena who piques the interest of architect Oliver Reed (?!) despite her odd obsession with the panther in the zoo and her faith in the effects of an old Serbian curse which dictated that -- should she show the least interest in sex -- she will immediately turn into a ravening beast herself. The gorgeous cinematography and effective moodiness of the film make this a real pleasure to watch and the deft nature of it will keep you guessing up until the end about whether Simon's fears are real or not.

The remake with Malcolm McDowall and Nastasia Kinski is also fun. For the round up of Tuesday's Overlooked A/V, see Todd's blog.

BitchBuzz: Women, Sex and Stephen Fry

What's the link, you're asking yourself:

Women, Sex, Shame, and Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry's recent faux pas highlights a cultural blind spot about women's sexuality and shame.

There have been such brouhahas in the Twitterverse this past week. Most writers focused on the take down of Cooks Source magazine, but the more frivolous among us—scandal seekers all—followed the shocking revelation that Stephen Fry apparently suggested that women don't like sex. Well, OK —it's not really that surprising that professionally beloved gay bon vivant Stephen Fry proves himself to be less than knowledgeable about women's sexual practices.
In an elaborate response on his own website, Fry detailed the conversation that spawned a simultaneous tsunamis of outrage and smug we told you so head nodding. Fry was astounded that anyone would believe this for a moment:

"I suppose the keenest disappointment I feel about the past week and the almost incredible weirdnesses it has brought in its train is the idea that there are people out there who actually swallow the notion that I am so stupid as to believe that women don’t enjoy sex. That I not only believe it but that I am dense, dotty and suicidally deluded enough to make a public declaration of such a crazed belief..."

Read the rest: http://news.bitchbuzz.com/women-sex-shame-and-stephen-fry.html#ixzz15006d6aD

Have you also been reading all the terrific interviews over at the League? How about the new serial, Airships & Alchemy (which is still finding its feet, I think)? And did you know Kit Marlowe has her own Amazon author page now?

Publication: Sex and How to Get It

Drop by Polite Company magazine to see my humor piece, "Sex and How to Get It." Worth a chuckle or two, I hope. Feel free to leave a comment or repost it to Twitter or Facebook. That's how word of mouth spreads these days.

Which reminds me: Kit Marlowe's The Big Splash can now be purchased through Amazon as well as with the publisher, so now it's listed on GoodReads and LibraryThing as well. Reviews or recommendations would be really helpful! If you've read it, consider offering your opinion in any of the above.

Off this afternoon to catch the last performance of Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound at Shakespeare & Co. You know much I love Stoppard. I've seen other productions of this play, so it will be fun to see S&Co's take on it. Witty and lively and full of clever twists and turns, it's a play as much about the theatre experience as it is a tightly plotted murder mystery.

BitchBuzz: Sugarbabes

Tip o' the pen to my pal Saranna in  this week's column:

Holly Hill and "Sugarbabes" as Surrogate Wives

Sometimes it's all I can do not to turn into Little Bunny Foo Foo and hop through this world bopping people on the head. No, not about the mosque—though that issue has exposed the ignorance of people too stupid to live (one would think) and the machinations of the corporations who manipulate their easily frenzied minds—no, this time I'm going to stick with sex.

A simple issue, eh?

Alert and sexy author Saranna DeWylde pointed me to a little news story on a Australian psychologist Holly Hill's book, Sugarbabe. The subtitle, The Controversial, Real Story of a Woman in Search of a Sugardaddy, just makes you want to sigh with discouragement.  This "naughty feminist" tells the folks at Lemondrop that 'Couples who want to stay together should try out "negotiated infidelity," with a "sugarbabe" who acts as what we can best describe as a surrogate wife meets Hooters waitress. And who, by the way, is paid for ministering to your man.' Hill writes about her own time as a "sugarbabe" so she knows whereof she speaks.

Well, sort of...

Read more: http://news.bitchbuzz.com/holly-hill-and-sugarbabes-as-surrogate-wives.html#ixzz0xl8KjY00

Just kind of makes you shake your head, doesn't it?

My week has been busy with meetings on campus, getting the online class designed, and trying to work out the programming schedule for Albacon. The latter is a real puzzle turning vague general topics people have mentioned into snappy titled sessions -- that don't overlap too much, yet fit a wide variety of interests and offer something new and give all the participants something to do but not too much to do and make everyone happy. Okay, the last is never going to happen.

Good news to mention tomorrow, but I have to look over the contract first.

BitchBuzz: Old Spice

[yes, I am up this early -- again]

Doing Online the Right Way: Old Spice

By K.A. Laity

We're so accustomed to ill-conceived ad campaigns that make us wince, it's a genuine pleasure to find one that not only proves successful, but give plenty of laughs as well.

I'm sure many of you remember the Old Spice commercials featuring the hunky Isaiah Mustafa. The initial commercial caused as much controversy as delight, striking many viewers as a little too over the top, and subsequent adverts employed more subtle attempts to pitch Mustafa's glistening torso as both appealing to women and more gently raising the bar for the men.
Old Spice has its own YouTube channel, but more importantly, it's got its own Twitter feed as well. In recent days their inventive use of the two social media streams has exploded across the net.

Old Spice's tweets vary from encouragement to those who fail to live up to the ideal ("Mr. @caseyayers, do not get discouraged. You're swan dive will come with time.") and friendly banter ("Hello @Rushton2. Your tweet reminded me of the summer I spent off the stormy coast of Tibet."), but by far the most effective tweets have been those that led to videos made for other tweeters
("Are you a baby with muscle-structure of a man @MrBabyMan?")...

Read more: http://tech.bitchbuzz.com/doing-online-the-right-way-old-spice.html#ixzz0tkJjYKG6 and see all the videos I've linked to, including (sob!) his farewell. Silver fish hand catch!

I'm off to Necon this afternoon; it's the 30th anniversary year, so not sure who might show up. Looking forward to seeing a few friends I only see there. And as usual, I'm using the trip to stop by and see folks in Connecticut: lunching with the fabulous QoE and stopping by the Steier homestead. Don't know if there's wifi. If there is, doubtless I'll use it. If not, see you Monday.

BitchBuzz: It Makes You Gay!

My column this week chuckles a bit at a Republican senator's Chief of staff, who told an audience that "pornography makes you gay" and was not kidding. Whatever your thoughts about pornography, surely you'll agree that it's a kind of goofy thing to suggest. But it's just one more strange piece of the puzzle that is Americans' attitudes toward sex in general. Sorting out the Puritan heritage of shame from the capitalist efforts to commodify the body can be difficult for anyone (even a highly placed Republican staffer, I suppose):

Derisive news outlets jumped with relish onto the statements of Sen. Tom Coburn's chief of staff Michael Schwartz who, taking his lead from the sexual insecurity of ten-year old boys, declared that, "All pornography is homosexual pornography, because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards" and the best way to scare boys away from it was to tell them that porn makes you gay: "if you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he’s going to want to get a copy of Playboy? I’m pretty sure he’ll lose interest. That’s the last thing he wants!"

You have to admire a man so focused on time management that he wants to instill homophobia and body shame all in the same moment [you can watch his earnest declaration on YouTube].

Read the rest over at BitchBuzz.