Tag Archives: Arts

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It’s Been A Year! Why didn’t you remind me?


Well, technically it has been a year and one month but let’s not quibble.  In November October 2012 I launched my first fan fiction effort.  This was on the back of having fallen under the spell of Fifty Shades of Grey, subsequently discovering that it started life as Twilight Fan Fiction and having that moment of temporary insanity that said, “Well, if she can do it, why can’t I?” “I’ll give that a go.”

That first effort was Investing Elliot the title of which was a play on the 2003 novel by Graham Gardner.  (It’s okay, you weren’t the only one who didn’t get it). While the book had very little to do with my story it has huge resonances with my journey as a writer.

The original book description says that Elliot is “young teenager who decides to become a different person and ends up being invited to join a secret society which is orchestrating a reign of terror at his new school” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventing_Elliot).  In many ways, that is exactly what my journey has been.  Well, okay, not the reign of terror bit (not really) but certainly the secret society. And I have loved it.

Writing fan fiction has been tiring, demoralizing, a waste of time, great.  It created discipline when I didn’t have any (I can now spend hours on facebook avoiding work without breaking a sweat), it helped me to push past writers block (with a cricket bat)  and to fit things in when life gets to busy (like ending up in hospital with a stress related illness).  Blogging the journey has also helped to hone my thinking (I have more ideas for my exit strategy now than just being a world famous author with a movie deal).  Of course, I had plans to stick to a proper blogging schedule but…

Now, I could go on about everything I learned about doing things wrong, or what I learned about my own sexuality, or what it means to write in this genre, or the nature of fan fiction creativity.  I could tell you about how I became a celebrity reporter, or getting a my first bloggasm award. But I won’t bore you with all of that.

Instead, what I want to share with you are a set of challenges that I created for my friends and fellow fanfickers.  I would love to know your responses to any or all of these challenges.  So they will come out for you in a series of posts over the next few days.  Please participate. I would love to hear from as many of you as can be bothered.

In the meantime, I will be over here celebrating with that card that you couldn’t be bothered sending me.

BTW – a big shout out to my dear friend Colleen for creating my stunning new banners and background.  Love you, girl!
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Brilliant Women of FanFiction


Alright, I know that for many of you the notion of brilliant women and fan fiction is an oxymoron.  Believe me, when I first entered this realm of fan fiction, I assumed that I was perhaps going into deep dark unknown to mix with a bunch of crazies.  In fact, I was warned not to do it.  I can’t begin to tell you how wrong that assumption was.

Okay, I know you think I write porn.  That what I am pushing here is porn.  And I will admit there is a lot of porn writing in fan fiction but we don’t all write porn.  In fact, most of us would argue that erotic fiction is not porn. The joy of writing fanfic is that we get to push boundaries but it still isn’t porn. Even if you’re a man reading women’s fan fic to get ideas on seduction it isn’t porn – then it’s just research.

So I am going to introduce a few of my friends from FSOG FanFiction facebook land.  We may not all be high-flyers or brilliant writers or even aspiring authors.   Although, there are some ladies on this list who are published in their own right and the rest probably should be. The facebook group (now 200+ members strong) is almost a year old and we’ve become good friends over that time (if you love FSOG, have a ff.net id and would like to join us then let me know, I’m in the dubious position of being an admin).  Our members come from all walks of life and many of us are highly educated, qualified professionals in our real life careers.  Some are writers, some are readers.  Some had never heard of fanfic before they joined in the fun.  Some didn’t even know that Fifty Shades of Grey had been fan fiction itself.  However, every day we share our stories, our joys, our frustrations and our love all things fifty shades.  We have become a family of sorts – alright, sometimes a bitchy family with a hefty dose of PMS (even the guys) – but a family nonetheless.  And quite frankly, we kick ass!

So I would like to introduce you to some of those FSOG Fan Fiction Authors who are now bloggers in WordPress world.  Some have been here a while, others have recently arrived.  All are making an honest attempt at sharing their oeuvre (albeit borrowed) with the world.

Please check them out:

Jane Harvey-Berrick

Jane masquerades as sunandsurf on fanfiction.net and is the author of such classics as Fifty Shades of Taylor.  As you all know, she is truly brilliant as an author in her own right so if you like her ff work, you will love her original stories.

Ani Surnois

Ani is anisurnois on ff.net and is the author of the beautiful 30 nights of Snow (The Masters Muse).  I can’t tell you how she blew us all away when she first arrived on ff.net.  She also lets me tweak her wordpress site every now and then, so I feel like I might contribute in some small way to her creative genius.

Lulu Price

Lulu goes by her own name on ff.net and is the author of Leaving You Behind. She also does some awesome work around pinterest to titillate your tastebuds and you all know how much I love everything about transmedia storytelling.

AC Netzel

Netzel is a firm favorite on ff.net.  as the author of Late Night Thoughts – one of the earliest FSOG fanfics.  Netzel is known in our circles as the Queen of the Happily Ever After (HEA).  Her work is the type that will keep you warm at night.

Monique Lain

Most of you know my absolute love and adoration for this lady.  Mobabe mentored me into this blog and I am eternally in her debt.  Of course, she is also the author of the stunning Fifty Shades Meander,  amongst others, and she writes a mean cliffhanger ending.

Rose Grey

Rose is one of those genuinely lovely people who has a permanent place in my heart.  But don’t let that sweetness fool you, she likes to travel on the steamy side with Fifty Shades of Fate.   She gives you the kind of visuals that make you want to suck in your breath and cross your legs.

Angie Bowness

One thing I can say about Angie, is she is prolific, and one of the kinkiest writers I know.  She’s brilliant!  In ff.net she goes by the moniker Missreadingfool,  If I had to make one recommendation from her list it would be The Reluctant Parent, just because it is my fave but quite honestly just read them all.  You won’t regret it.

DivineBronzeGoddess

What to say about this lady.  Bronzey is a force of nature and her story is phenomenal.  I could talk about her research, her pithy dialogue, her kick-ass characters, her unreasonably intense plot twists.  Just read it.  That’s all there is to it.  At ff.net you’ll find her listed as Bronze Goddess because she just is.  Her brilliance shines in Paging Dr Steele.

Ann DeSilva

Ann is one of those unique writers who has taken the original work and placed it within a completely different cultural context.  Which only goes to prove that the love story is the key to the appeal of the original stories, not necessarily the kink.  She goes by Anastasia DeSilva on ff.net and you should really check out Connected Souls.

 

There are others, and I will make an effort to introduce more from time to time but these are a wonderful starting point (mid point, ending point) if you loved FSOG and wanted… more…

Enjoy your weekend! Stalk me!

Sasha xxx

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Award Bloggasm


Back in February I got nominated for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award by Speaking Out On Nate 

I was so excited at the time.  A nomination? Me?  My little blog had at that stage only been going for three months and this felt like Christmas all over again.  In anticipation of the award ceremony I went out and bought a new frock.  Very sexy, very hot, very inspiring.  And then I waited…and waited…and waited.  I figured after a couple of weeks that I hadn’t won.

Then the other day Nate posted about Blogging Awards and how they work.  That if you are nominated you have won.  I didn’t know.  All this time I could have had this beautiful badge floating around my blog. I could have taken a photo of myself in the frock accepting the badge. Or at least pressing enter on my computer.

So I asked him, what is the statute of limitations on award acceptances?  There was an insane conversation about having a cactus thrust upon one’s person and before it got too kinky I made a decision that I would accept this award if for no other reason than I am an eternal show off who needs public affirmation and I have a couple of people who I would just love to give a shout out.

Here are the rules of the award:

1.) Display the award logo on your blog.

2.) Link back to the person who nominated you.

3.) State 7 things about yourself.

4.) Nominate 15 bloggers for this award.

5.) Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by ping back. This is the one rule I don’t follow.  Too much of a pain in the butt notifying people via comment. 

Nate said that last bit. I have tried to link.  I’m not sure how successful I have been cos some things about technology and bloggasming still elude me and I am too old and lazy to learn how to do it properly.

Cover Your Eyes 7 More Things Nobody Needs to Know About Me (A Nate Title if ever I heard one)

  1. I’m a jazz baby.  I am a nut for the American Songbook and I love vocalese and vocal groups. So much so that I own every recording that the Manhattan Transfer have ever recorded.  I get chills when I listen to Count Basie.  My Dad once toured with Duke Ellington.  I have shaken Buddy Rich‘s hand, had a drink with Richie Cole, seen Dizzy Gillespie perform live and been in an audience singalong with Sarah Vaughan performing at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York.  These are some of the highlights of  my life.
  2. My music collection exceeds 300Gb. Almost every genre is represented and almost all of it has been legitimately purchased.  No one could possibly listen to that much music you say? Try me.
  3. My kids and I are complete movie nuts – so much so that we often talk in quotes, confusing everyone around us.  Monty Pythonisms are often used to end  arguments (is this the full half hour or the five minute argument?).
  4. I suffer with crippling self-doubt about everything I do.  It is the reason why I constantly have an exit strategy, why I haven’t sung professionally in 12 years, or danced even longer.  It is the reason why I haven’t written the type of book that I really want to write yet and why I think about pulling the plug on this blog and my fanfic at least half a dozen times per week.
  5. TMI. I didn’t experience a vaginal orgasm until after I read FSoG.  I need no other excuse for loving the books so much and creating a blog in their honor.  (Given the content of No.4 I am wondering why I have told you this and will most likely delete it before going to press.)
  6. I get addicted to shit really fast and thoroughly.  I get addicted to the worlds around books, to video games, to technologies, to tv series, music and movies.  My current addiction is the FSoG FanFic group and everything associated with my fanfic world.  It is so bad that I have to remove myself from the internet to get work done.  I have been known to forget my children whilst in the midst of an addictive phase.  They haven’t eaten for six weeks.
  7. My family is not allowed to read my blog but I am pretty sure that my folks are secretly chuffed that I am finally working towards the book that I have always wanted to write. Which is why my Dad sends me strange FSoG related material and that just freaks me out.  STOP READING MY BLOG, DAD! PERVERT!

The bloggers I nominate are:

  1. Lashell Collins
  2. jklly12
  3. 30 Nights Of Snow
  4. Squirrelly Writer
  5. Lady or Not…Here I Come
  6. crazinessiscontagious
  7. TwiFanfictionRecs
  8. Fifty Shades of Grey – the story continues
  9. fifty shades of grey and more
  10. Snarky Snatch
  11. Love Lust and Laptops
  12. Author C.A.White
  13.  Poetic Passions
  14. Go Jules Go
  15. skinsavant

There are others that I would like to nominate and if I ever get nominated again I will certainly make sure these people are recognized.  However, this very eclectic list are the bloggers who paid me  popped into my head  are holding my children hostage  best represent the ideas, humor and talent that I find inspirational and so I share this award with them.

Now go forth and stalk them!

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Your honest opinion please


Today I am stepping onto the other side of the review process.  Oooh, things are not so hot over here either!

I am feeling a case of the guilts over a book review that I committed to write.  As you may have guessed one of my regular haunts is GoodReads which I love for staying up to date with new offerings and reconnecting with my old favourites.  As part of my contribution to the platform as a resource for readers and writers I am trying to write reviews as often as I can.  It is good for the growth of the site and the bank of knowledge it offers to the world but it is good for me as a writer and reader to deconstruct what I read and really begin to think about what it is that I like or don’t like about a book.

politicalhumor.about.com

The downside is that you can’t like everything.  In a recent review on this site I promoted a book that I actually think is really well written but felt I could only give it three stars.  For my money it was missing the genre in which it was being promoted and that is difficult because it was one of those great reads that falls between genres. I tried to be honest about my own reaction to it as a reader and not as a literary work and to be constructive about this beyond ‘it wasn’t for me’ or ‘I just didn’t like it’ (rolls eyes, twirls hair, pouts lips).

I just don’t like it

This latest book has a lot less going for it than the work cited above.  There are some real issues with it and I couldn’t with all good faith give it more than two stars.  But this author is a newly minted one.  She is learning the ropes and quite honestly has potential because the idea is great.  In fact, it is dangerously close to where I have been heading in one of my stories so this is going to seem disturbing when I finally get to that point but I will honestly say up front here, on this date, with my hand on my heart, that I thought of my storyline over a month ago and I read her book this morning!

That aside, as a recently and often rejected writer, I get frustrated at the review process when I either get a rejection without any critique at all or a rejection where the critique is so obscure that it gives me nothing to work on.  The ones that give me hope tell me the good aspects of my work and then make sensible and actionable suggestions as to what I can either do to improve the work or improve my skills.  Couched in the language of ‘don’t give up’, these are the ones that give me some hope that I am not completely wasting my time.  Of course, since the passion is an obsession it would be pointless for them to tell me not to continue, I am not sure I could stop even if they wanted me to, but you get what I mean.

In the end, this is the best advice for any writer.  Of course, it doesn’t mention reading and I would add in the mantra that to be a better writer you should be applying the 3:1 rule.  For every hour you spend writing, you should be spending three hours reading, and reading a range of genres.

So I posted this review for this particular author this morning.  I want to contact her personally if I can to give her some encouragement. Please tell me, am I being too harsh? Am I supporting her enough to be the type of writer that I think she could be in the future?

You'll Be Safe Here (Promises, Prayers & Secrets Series, Book 1)You’ll Be Safe Here by Kristine Pierce

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a fantastic idea that has been poorly executed. The plot is really good and I can see that what is essentially a novella, could become a great novel but this version of the story is underdone. There is very little in the way of character development and for me this is a key element that is missing. The author sets up the dynamic but fails to really explore the motivations through either the first person narrative or the back stories. The action leaps around too much. I felt like I was being dumped in the middle of each scene without any of the requisite build up to get there. The book needs some heavy editing. Tenses are all over the place and there are a lot of spelling and grammatical errors. More attention could be paid to crafting of sentences to eliminate word repetition and to really shape some of the linking elements that are absent between scenes. Having said all of that, the central idea is really good and the characters could be fabulous. I would love to see someone work with the author to reshape this into the really great story that it has the potential to be.

View all my reviews

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My Bucket List – A Blogasmic Challenge


 

 

Please allow me to introduce you to Dana.  She is an incredibly brave young woman who took a leap of faith in 2011 and decided to follow her dream to become a professional writer.  When I grow up I want to be just like her.

This is Dana’s book.

The list is a combination of the unique steps that have formed my career and bolstered my creativity, and the things I haven’t yet had a chance to try. The book offers some conventional and some unconventional steps on the path through a writer’s life, why they matter, and advice for getting started.

Dana asked anyone who wanted to be involved to join her in writing their own bucket list.  There are two days to go in this blog challenge and I have been procrastinating.  So that goes up on my bucket list first – STOP PROCRASTINATING AND JUST DO IT!

What am I going to cross off my Bucket List in 2013?

I’d like to say I will leap out of a plane and write about it but quite frankly that is never going to happen due to my unreasonable fear of heights and small planes.  So this is what I will do….

1. Be A Whore – Make A Splash

As an academic in social sciences and humanities, I would be lucky if my work is read by more than a dozen people and most of those are down my corridor and read it because they had to (I may have been holding them down and force feeding them M & Ms at the time).  When I published my thesis as a book I sold three copies – two because I made the university library purchase them and the other my dad bought.  He’s still trying to get the money out of me.  My bosses bang on about impact factors but the truth is even if you make it to an A-star journal you might be lucky to get cited half a dozen times.

As Sasha Cameron, dynamic and vaguely interesting perpetrator of fan fiction, curator of fiftiness for the greysessed and blogasm artiste extraordinaire – impact factor has taken on a whole new dimension.  I’ve only been at this blogging thing since November 2012.  I created Sasha in October so that she could play in the fan fic world.  Since then she/I have just broken the 21K view barrier on the blog and reached the 60K mark on fanfic.net, so I am claiming that as a pretty big splash.  Look at what I have to compare it to.  Of course, I am not sure if it is a smart career move to put tags like ‘do my tits look big in this?’ on my next academic article.

2. Social Media – Work The F*#k Out of It

As an academic I spend thousands of dollars of my own money each year plugging my work at conferences where maybe ten people are in the room during my session and two of those give me their details with a promise to call.  They never do.  I feel so used.

In her short existence, Sasha has gained 90+ blog followers, 110 facebook friends, about the same number of goodread friends, 93 pinterest followers and over 600 twitter followers.  She belongs to Linked In, several readers groups, a number of facebook groups.  She is a social media whore and loving it!  Her mother would not approve.

Social media is the darndest thing.  There are a lot of warnings and disclaimers that go with it but since Sasha started showing me how it is done I can see why people want to live their lives out loud and on line. My bucket list aim is to take some of what I have learned in the blogosphere as Sasha and apply it to my academic career. And of course, nurture all that hard work that Sasha has put into whoring herself about the blogosphere.

3. Finish Shit

Part of being a  successful  mediocre writer/artist/social media whore is having the product or service to put out    sell  offer the world.  Up until now I have been stalling, in both my academic work as well as that long held desire to be a writer that I kept trotting out at dinner parties – “yes, one day I hope to write my own [insert genre here] book”.

As I read the other day on Kristen Lamb’s blog – perfectionists don’t win, finishers do.  So I am going to finish shit.  All over the place.  Great big dumps of completed crap wherever I can.  Then I will worry about how to shape it into some semblance perfect.  If EL James that artist bloke can get millions of dollars and a movie deal thousands of dollars for writing FSoG to create his shit art installation then I can at least get one original fiction book published by the end of the year.  Right?

 

There are at least a dozen people who are rolling their eyes right now because they know me well.  I’m hoping they can see their way to picking up their pom poms and cheering me on instead.

 

This leap into fan fiction/blogging has been the most wonderful experience of all.  Without it I would not have believed that I could actually do any of this.  So I will nurture the muse and my new writing/reading friendships above all in 2013.

A few of you stop by from time to time and tell me your thoughts.  But I am going to ask you all – just this once – if you are reading this blog post, if you have had a nice blogasm with me, please, take a moment to tell me about yourself. I promise not to be that chick who virtually stalks you and  leaves text messages on your phone that say ‘let’s get together sometime’.

Love and good times,

Sasha xox

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Breaking Dawn Pt 2


Breaking Dawn Pt 2

Took Mini Me to see the final Twilight movie today. Neither of us were particularly looking forward to it but this has become a tradition so we battled through. Much to my surprise I really enjoyed it. The dialogue wasn’t great and the pacing off in many ways. However, the special effects were great so it was worth it to see it on the big screen.