Tag: short story

It always pays to take care of your tools

~ byroncane ~ Leave a comment

Monday Writing Prompt from Clarian Press.

The constant drip-drip of melting ice filtered through her consciousness; the first day of spring, and snow lay heavy beneath the fragrant pines. The circuit training had payed off as she dragged the wrapped bundle down into a hollow, huffing frosty steam from her panting mouth. It was a moot question now: Would she have fallen so hard if she’d known his secret from the beginning? The razor sharp edge of the shovel bit into the softening ground. By the time some hunter stumbled across the remains next fall, she’d be long gone. Rather sardonically, she addressed her statement to the murder of crows cawing out questions of her. “If I wanted vanilla, I’d have ordered ice cream, instead of a man who thought it was funny — after he fucked me — I actually believed he was a Dom.”

Do you need a prompt to write?

~ byroncane ~ 2 Comments

I most frequently write to prompts, at least for blog posts. There is a new prompt, offered by Clarian Press, called:

Based upon a snippet of conversation: “The first prompt is a piece of dialogue that I overheard once when I was in the public library. It was many years ago, but I can still envisage the little old lady who asked the question of one of the librarians!”, the prompt is as follows.

There are many obvious lines that spring to mind.

1. “Why yes, he gives me a pedicure every day.”
2. “He is quite handy. My feet enjoy the massage.”
3. “Shhhh. He has a fetish for toes. His tongue tickles.”

Moving on [or up] from feet, you can take an erotic turn with different genders.

4. “I need his mechanical expertise. The power drill has a dildo attachment.”
5. “That’s why I wear short skirts and go commando. He cleans up my cum.”
6. “I need relief from the stress, and he loves to suck my cock.”

You can also try more societal lines.

7. “Ever since the new computers were installed, IT has been camping out.”
8. “I can never remember which plug goes where. He is handy.”
9. “Nothing like a tool belt slung off a tight pair of jeans.”

Of course, being fixated on spanking, I prefer to utilize discipline with my prompts.

“Do you always keep a man under your desk? How handy!”
“Well, Lorraine, I got sick and tired of people making up excuses for tardy book returns.”
“Oh really? Does he pop out like a harlequin and scare them into complying?”
“No, hardly. He puts the patrons over his knee and gives them a good old-fashioned paddling. One whack per penny due!”
“Goodness gracious! Sounds like my dear departed Elmer. How I miss that man.”
“In that case, Lorraine, this Agatha Christie is overdue by an hour.”
“I see. Rules are rules.”
“Exactly. Glad you agree.”
“Oh my. He is a handsome devil, isn’t he. What else does he do under your desk?”

Vote in Smut Marathon Round 2

~ byroncane ~ 1 Comment

Smut Marathon Writing Round 2 has now closed, and voting for your favorite story is now open when you click this link here.

The assignment for round 2 is:
Write a micro-fiction story using any one of the entries from the first round.

Specific requirements:

– the entry you use should NOT be your own
– the entry you use should NOT be altered
– the number of words does not include that of the entry you choose to use
– your flash fiction story is a maximum of 100 words plus that of the entry you choose
– give your story a two-word title
– when you send in your story, please also mention the number of the entry you have used from the first round

Smut Marathon 2018
Smut Marathon 2018

As in the first round, you can vote for the three entries you liked best. There are 62 short stories and after this round of voting closes on March 10th, 2018, only the top 40 authors by combined point totals of the first two rounds, will move on to round 3.

Please vote and tell all your friends as well. The more people vote, the better all the writers will feel. 🙂

Writing for Readers

~ byroncane ~ 4 Comments

I’m both a reader and writer; more of the former than latter. I’ve always maintained that there is no such genre as fiction, primarily because actual fictional prose would be incomprehensible. Not so much in terms of language or syntax — even that makes sense when done correctly — but in the shared human existence. When we read, we filter the story through our own biases and empirical history. Even if we have no relevant parallel to the narrative, we can still imagine the scenario and empathize with the fictional characters.

As a writer, the question becomes: Do you write ‘what you know’, or create an entire landscape with no semblance to reality? The most successful books, screenplays and movies, are either lushly detailed fantasies set in exotic realms far away, or romantic struggles that echo the common frustration and exhilaration of finding that special life-partner. “Know your audience” is drummed into every hack that has ever put stylus to papyrus. There is no magic formula for writing; just hard work and placing word after word until the manuscript is completed.

Last year at this time, I was working on a short story for a Sexy Little Pages submission called “Corrupted”. The editor, Charlie Powell, broadcast the following information.

“Since the beginning of time, everything has been promised to liberate women has also been accused of corrupting them. Think suffrage, trousers, the pill, the internet, feminism, learning to drive, owning a house, having a bank account, working… Or, more recently, alcohol consumption and selfie culture. I’m looking for fresh and sexy takes on these issues, along with anything else that women have been criticised for doing.”

I started blocking out a plot, who, where, when and why. The lead character is in the title: Ghosting past Emily. As always, that came first. The ghosting refers not to specters haunting a dark mansion, but the practice of deliberately — and without warning — dropping all electronic contact with someone.

The place, San Francisco. Silicon Valley. Emily is in tech, not programming though. She’s Japanese-American, another strike, and lastly, a dominatrix on the side. All the ingredients needed to raise the hackles of white male dominated corporations. The irony is, this was written before that bastion of power and sex started to crumble under the relentless onslaught of pissed off women.

My short story of 3,900 words was accepted for inclusion in September, 2017 and Ghosting past Emily is now available for order from Amazon Kindle for $3.99. The publication date for the Corrupted anthology is March 8th, 2018.

byron-cane

I didn’t choose the sentence in the graphic, by the way. I’m unsure as to how much if any of my story I can share, so for now, that will have to do.

In training for the Smut Marathon

~ byroncane ~ 9 Comments

Like elite athletes the world over, I too am focusing my attention on an upcoming gathering of the best. I am pumping iron, downing kale and egg-white shakes and abstaining from sex. All in the hope of going for gold at the Smut Marathon.

I don’t recall that sport being listed in the Olympic program. It’s not, and I’m not in training for anything more strenuous than feeding the cats. Smut Marathon however, is a real event and is taking place at this link.

A brief summation of the rules: [Bold emphasis mine]

There are two kinds of ’rounds’ during the Smut Marathon – a writing round and a voting round.
The writing marathon consists of 10 writing rounds and 10 voting rounds. Each writing round is followed by a voting round.
Before the start of the first writing round, all participants will receive an email containing the rules and schedule of the Smut Marathon. There will be no deviation from the schedule.
At the start of a writing round, participants will be sent an assignment by email. The email will mention the closing date and time for the assignment, as well as the number of words allowed and any other specific requirements.
Participants are not to speak about an assignment until the voting round starts.
Participants are not to tell anyone which story is theirs, until after the voting round has closed.
During a writing round, one or more reminder emails will be sent to participants who have not yet submitted their stories.
If your story is not sent in on time, you will automatically be disqualified from the Smut Marathon.
The day after the closing date of the writing round, the voting round opens.
Voting is done by means of a survey and in all rounds readers have to choose the best three stories.
The voting round lasts one week and the results will be announced the day after the voting round has closed.
When announcing the outcome of a voting round, we also reveal the authors of the stories.
Depending on the number of participants allowed in a round, the participants with the least amount of points will have to leave the Smut Marathon.
The remaining participants will receive the assignment for the next written round.

The most important rule, is to not tell anyone about which story is theirs until after the voting is closed in order to make it fair for everyone. The complete rules are at this link here.

The total maximum number of words increases with each round.

Rounds 1+2: maximum 30-100 words
Rounds 3+4: maximum 150-300 words
Rounds 5+6: maximum 300-650 words
Round 7: maximum 650 – 800 words
Round 8: maximum 800 – 1000 words
Round 9: maximum 1200 – 1750 words
Round 10: maximum 2000-2500 words

Sun, 28 Jan 2018 until Sat, 10 Feb 2018
Writing Round 1

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 until Sat, 17 Feb 2018
Voting Round 1

Subscribe to the Smut Marathon blog here, and when the voting starts, please read the stories and choose the top three you feel completed the assignment the best. Also, please consider providing feedback as all writers like to have their work noticed.

One final note, I will be entering my stories as Bryon Cane, not Lurv Spanking, although, as the rules clearly state, all entries are anonymous until after the voting is completed.

Let me wipe the sweat off my brow, this writing stuff is hard. I need a nap.

Byron Cane

Take a FREE peek inside Stephanie

~ byroncane ~ Leave a comment

No, not that kinda peeking. Perverts. 😉

No, the peek inside my soon-to-be published novella, The Spanking Misadventures of Stephanie. You can click this link to download a FREE copy containing the first 5 Chapters of Stephanie. The entire novella will be available for download to your ereader from various vendors by Cyber Monday, November 27th, 2017. If you are a book reviewer or would like to receive an advance copy in order to publicize Stephanie on your social platforms, Amazon or Goodreads, please contact Ina Morata [Owner, Editor, Publisher of Clarian Press] at this contact link to send an email of query for an ARC. The excerpt below the picture is a teaser from Chapter 4.

FREE Chapter 1-5 of Stephanie

“Too many people were trying out various spoons and cutting boards. So we created the separate, adults-only Triple D Club — Discipline Department Dungeon — for all our valued spankos. You can fill out a membership card online.” He reached a locked door and pressed a code into the keypad. “Here we are. All the kitchen and bath utensils gathered in one place. We have large screen televisions, refreshments and plenty of chairs and tables. The only caveat is no completely bare bottomed spanking: we are a family store after all. Thongs or wedgies are fine, just no flashing of private parts please. Have fun and thank you for shopping at Everyday Goods.”

Spanking Newsletter #5

~ byroncane ~ 7 Comments

That time of the month again—for a spanking!!!!

Don’t have an update on last month’s mention of an accepted story for an anthology yet. No idea on the timeline for editing and/or publication. In the interim, I have submitted another story to Sexy Little Pages for the next call. The prompt this time is titled, Dancing With Myself: Stories of Self-Love Erotica.

One other publishing note, there is a new and very exciting venture starting up called Clarian Press. The renowned author, Ina Morata, is creating a company to publish her, and other erotica writers, fiction and poetry. Hopefully by this time next month, I will have more information to share and even an active website link, but for now, this is the concept logo and byline.

“Erotic, romantic and passionate fiction for all your desires”

CLARIAN PRESS

Hope you enjoyed this newsletter and see you next month here, or get your daily spanking, at Spank Me Hard… Please?.

Byron Cane

Spanking Newsletter #4

~ byroncane ~ 3 Comments

Welcome to the August, 2017 edition of my monthly Spanking Newsletter. Starting off the month with a bang, I have some very exciting news on the publishing front. You may remember from last month’s newsletter #3, I submitted several short stories for submission calls, but the first three were rejected. The last one I sent in to Sexy Little Pages, was for the following 2500-4,000 word prompt called ‘Corrupted’:

Since the beginning of time, everything that has promised to liberate women has also been accused of corrupting them. Think suffrage, trousers, the pill, the internet, feminism, learning to drive, owning a house, having a bank account, working… Or, more recently, alcohol consumption and selfie culture.

I’m [the editor] looking for fresh and sexy takes on these issues, along with anything else that women have been criticized for doing.

Your story can have any number of people or pairings. Contemporary stories are preferred, but I’ll consider excellent historical tales, too. Most importantly, I want real characters covering a whole range of genders, abilities, sexualities, sizes and races. I’d much rather have interesting characters than perfect ones.

Your story can be as vanilla or kinky as you like but happy endings are NOT required.

My concept initially was this:

Emily is a mid-40s, middle manager for a tech company. She’s also a professional dominatrix who has become jaded and careless. She thinks because of the recent elevation of BDSM in the mainstream, that she is safe from censure. Then, a new college intern arrives, 21, male, eager to please. She feels threatened and lures him into bondage. It doesn’t end well.

I kept the name, changed the flow a bit, and the story clocked in at 3,902 words. The title is: Ghosting past Emily. The ghosting refers to the word used for someone who goes electronically silent by choice and never connects with former contacts again.

It’s a very fast paced, erotic story of F/m with heavy BDSM elements and gender biases, along with sexual harassment and ethnic tension.

Hope you enjoyed this newsletter and see you next month here, or get your daily spanking, at Spank Me Hard… Please?.

Byron Cane

Spanking Newsletter #3

~ byroncane ~ 2 Comments

Cut through the noise.

At no point in human history has it been both easier to publish yet harder to be noticed. Through 99% of the past, literacy has been the barrier separating the elite—including organized religion—and those simply trying to survive day-to-day. Up until Johannes Gutenberg brought the printing press to Europe, the primary means of communication were sermons and plays. It was very easy to control oral information for the authorities. A severed tongue stilled treason.

Between Gutenberg’s Bible and the rapid explosion of the World Wide Web, books became more and more common and difficult to stamp out. Censorship no longer could solely focus on bards and troubadours, but fought a steadily losing battle against underground pamphlets and other scurrilous publications. Contrary to modern thinking, porn—both visual and written—has existed for as long as humans have interacted.

What is new, are the many e-publishers who have taken the erotic story off the dingy back room shelves, boldly cast off the raincoat and openly called upon writers to submit their best smut. I answered that call, and submitted to four different prompts over the course of several months. The first three were rejected. Not a surprise, because I don’t really write what editors are looking for. I prefer to write quirky.

If I had to pick one genre of fiction I gravitate to the most, it would be science fiction. I do realize that there are as many distinctions in sci-fi as there are in romance, but I tend towards hard science if I had a choice. This is a segue into one of the submission calls I entered for an erotic take on gluttony; more specifically in terms of a Deadly Sin. The setting is in a future where humans have settled other planets.

The story is long, at 4,000 words, and is graphic and disturbing for those that like a nice, neat stroke story. This is not one of those. After the story, I will have a brief explanation as to the reasons I wrote as I did.

As written, this short story could serve as the beginning, the middle, or the end of a novella or novel. I wanted something gritty. Something disturbing. Even so, it’s a lot tamer than it could be.

The title as always came first, but the Black, does not refer to skin color, but the history behind the shade. Black has always meant evil, and foreboding deeds in sinister towers. Sable was a heraldic term, and besides, it’s also a marten, and wouldn’t make sense tied to Feast, while ebony is fine if you’re a piece of furniture.

A staple trope of sci-fi is planets settled by either religious or ethnic groups—with the odd evil corporation tossed in—seeking a harmonious paradise untainted by ‘them’: All the while blithely forgetting that Old Earth had always been riven by sectarian strife and wars of purity.

[The major problem with outsourcing Earth’s excesses to the stars, is that there is a net increase of at least 83 million people each year. Assuming a cold sleep ark could carry 10,000 passengers, then each and every year 8,300 ships would have to leave just to break even. That’s one ship almost every hour-on-the-hour. At that’s at the current population level of 7 billion+. Sci-fi writers sidestep this conundrum by killing off most of the population first with handy plagues, wars or aliens. Sometimes all three combined.]

Anyway, my presumption is that Africa rose to preeminence and left in a massive surge leaving behind the ‘coloreds’ to their fates. They took with them slaves, and allowed immigration to the Empire. Gluttony in this case is not only food, but an entire culture bent on gorging in every way possible to wipe out the past.

Erotica to me does not automatically mean sex. The setting, the tone, the genders; all of these factors make the story work. The sex should feel organic: within the flow of plot, and not a jarring action. But then again, that’s just another label for something that people do every day—even in outer space.

Hope you enjoyed this newsletter and see you next month here, or get your daily spanking, at Spank Me Hard… Please?.

Byron Cane