Half Light and Sex

Well, that probably grabbed your attention, didn't it? There is more than one sex scene in Half Light..... this is after all, a gay romantic crime thriller, where the boys get together in steamy passionate love on more than one occasion. In fact, there is a case that Dom uses sex to distract Si from some of the devious stuff that is going on in the background.

But...... and it's a big but...... there are three distinct sex scenes, which I hoped would be sufficiently different from one another, and sufficiently steamy, without straying into the area of pornography. Unfortunately, it appears that my idea of steamy and sexy is about the same as a maiden Victorian aunt who feels overcome at the sight of an uncovered table leg.

I'm not a prude..... far from.... as those who know me well can certainly say, but how to make the whole thing steamy and sexy without being either repetitious or revolting? That is the question.

Which is probably why I was still writing at three am...... and why I now feel tired, mildly ratty and somewhat sex obsessed, and possibly also explains why I have actually come out in public and admitted that I write impossibly over melodramatic fanfiction (usually at three in the morning as well) and actually posted some of it up on my facebook page....

I should probably apologise to "The Bill" for this incredible liberty with their characters, but it helps me think, and sometimes helps me sleep too (long story)....... so you see it is all in a good cause.

On the subject of sleeping, watching Dog Soldiers at three thirty am isn't conducive to sleep, you tend to want to check under the bed (just in case).

I do actually have a target deadline for all this stuff to actually come together into something that is recognisable as a book, possibly three. There is a Book Fair in Montolieu..... I see it as an opportunity to lay my work on the line and come up with three complete manuscripts by 10-13 April 2009. So I suspect there are a few more sleepless nights, and slightly incoherent days to come. Particularly as my dreams and schemes are big this time, one of the books, Split Screen, I intend developing into a tv/film script.....

And why not?

Little point in dreaming small!

Fanfiction.....

I can hear the purists twitching from here. But. And it's a big but. Fanfiction is a place where two things can happen. All the more improbable stuff you wish would happen, can (And yes, Sally is a Skynet Robot from the future.....), You can make it happen! And you get the chance to try out some of your plot lines and writing style with a ready made and often critical audience in place.

On one hand, you can really push the boat out...... write stuff that would never ever cross the screen, particularly if your favourite show goes out before the legendary and largely (as far as I can see) mythical watershed. You can also write unlikely love stories between extremely unlikely lovers. Which brings me neatly to the subject of Slash.

To the unitiated, Slash is a same sex pairing within the context of the story that you're telling. Your pairing can get up to all sorts of stuff. For instance, I am quite partial to shower scenes, things that have happened in the showers at a certain well known "Police Station".... well, let's just say if the actors knew what their characters got up to...... they'd never go in the Gent's Locker Room again!! Strangely, the fanfiction audience loves Slash. There's a lot of it about.

So, there you have it. Wildly improbable pairings, danger, death and destruction around every corner, hot water, soap........ what more could you possibly want to play with.... and it's all free. The only real limit is your imagination (and basic decency!). Ready made characters, some idea of back story without the effort of creating it. And it is quite hard work trying to write it true to character. That is one of the points of the whole thing. No good writing it, if everything you make the character do is so wildly out of character that your audience won't believe. Fanfiction has its uses, it's a good exercise in consistency, it's great fun and you meet the nicest people!