Tag Archives: Online Writing

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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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Rip, Shit and Bust: dealing with post-rejection stress disorder


I wanted to talk about resilience and why I don’t have it.  I thought I did, but I think it dropped out of my bag while I was at the beach and now I just can’t find it.  This month has been a big fat rejection.  I have had two pieces of writing rejected for completely different audiences. Original ones, that were submitted with the idea that they would be published somewhere vaguely important.  The worst part of the whole thing is that game you’ve been playing.  You know the one.  You see them, they see you.  A little small talk, a little flirting and you think you might have something.  You give them your number, you wait…..you wait some more…..you consider calling them just in case they lost your number ……then BAM! Rejection!!

Of course, they give you a nice note, explaining that you are just incompatible at this time.  It’s not you it’s them….yada, yada, yada…. I know, I know…I’ve heard the stories… everyone gets rejected… sometimes lots and lots, before they have writing success.  I get it, I really do! – in theory.  I can spout it as good advice to others, write songs about it…but when it happens to me (and, let’s face it,  it has happened a lot) I just want to crawl into my little hole and never come out.  My brain over analyses – why don’t they like me? what possessed me to think I could do this? what is that sticking into my ass? shit, it’s dark in here! and wet! why am I wet? oh, god, is that a snake?

I have become like Taylor Swift – a serial monogamist. This month I am totally faithful to writing book reviews….fanfic….blog posts….research….shit, I don’t know.

One of my writing issues seems to be having a single good idea and sticking to it.  Being an intellectual and creative magpie with  ADHD tendencies, I can’t decide what it is that I am trying to say (or be).  To quote the Von Trap children, “I flit, I flee, I fly” – from idea to idea, art form to art form, audience to audience. Great fun, a wild ride, life and soul of the party but totally useless when it comes to nailing your reputation to a particular brand.  Let’s not even get into the schizophrenia of living under a pseudonym – yes I said, living not writing cos I swear if Dr J walked down the street and someone yelled ‘Sasha’, she would turn around and look.

Here’s Johnny!!

Another problem I have, is that I am a hack.  I don’t revise enough.  Carefully crafted sentences are not my thing – any more than grammar and punctuation.  I’m a typing speed freak, fingers dancing all over the keyboard as fast as I can go without the requisite care for spelling or omitted words.  See, I am doing it now.  Look, there I go again…I convince myself that what I have written in that first draft is brilliant.  Then I do a couple of reads, a tweak here and there, which usually means adding more shit, without too much thought for repeated words and phrases.  This wildly inaccurate work then gets submitted for publication and I am stunned when I get those rejections only to find when I read over my submission that the two-timing assholes the reviewers/editors were right. It was crap!

I know – you are asking how hard can it be? There are whole sectors of the literary universe who believe that romance writing and fan fiction is crap anyway, so why does it matter? I have a theory that the level of crap generated from the romance industry and fanfic combined is nothing compared to that of academia but that is a whole other discussion (and possible area for research).  But this isn’t a post about sour grapes over those who do or don’t get published, followed or positively reviewed.  It is about pushing through your own doubts in the face of rejection.

I’ve decided to be proactive and I am taking a two-pronged approach to my issues (cos two prongs have got to better than one right?). If I am going to seriously woo – a reading audience, publishers, reviewers – then I  might need to put on a pretty dress, slap on some lipstick, put a bow in my hair and strut my stuff.  So I have solicited for a Beta or two. Recently I placed this ad.

Help – Beta Wanted

I’m a nice person, almost normal, I say fuck a lot and have been known to have a passion for Lovely Stellz naughty pictures. Now that I have that out of the way, I need a Beta. Someone who could learn to love me, will support me, understands my kinky needs and will help me to be a better (Beta) version of myself.

I suck at punctuation and grammar but I try, I really do. Now my plot points have me tied in knots and while that might sound kinky, I think it might be chafing. I don’t have a huge following but they are pretty loyal so if anyone here is reading my work and thinks they can help or if you are a writer and want to swap recipes – Beta for Beta – please PM me.

It’s me not you

I got a couple of hits, a few pokes.  Went on a couple of dates.  I’d like to say it just didn’t work out but I think I’m the one with commitment issues.  At first I was Beta-whoring – getting into bed with anyone who offered.  It was fun but ultimately shallow and unrewarding. There is this one who is kind of special, and if I can just stop cutting and running, I think there may be something there. I’m hopeful for something … more… but….

 

It might be solid, thick, pulsatingly red but why the hurry?

If it doesn’t work out, I have a back up plan although he will probably chastise me for calling him that.  Jason (jasonwrites) has offered to come on over and edit me.  Well, I issued a flirty little challenge and he muttered a non-committal ‘sure’ but that is as good as a proposal and a ring, isn’t it? He is a poet and a teacher which makes him kind of…intimidating. I think he might be fairly strict on making corrections, following the rules of punctuation and ensuring I submit to his dictates. There could be some heavy punishment for grammatical errors. He says he has a lovely big red pen and ruler that makes a nice thwacking sound but he might just be boasting.

Rejection Letter and Negative Review Repository

 

The other part of my plan is to build my resilience to PRSD. At first I considered drugs but then I thought a whole survival kit might actually be in order.  I’m thinking chocolate, alcohol, tissues and a purpose-built dart board for pinning those pesky rejection letters to. I may need your help…suggestions….innuendo…

What would you include?

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