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Recent Comments

Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 10:00 PM
> Catering to the audience. And that’s fine… but I’ve always found erotic horror to have a little bit more meat to it > First of all, for the phrase "It’s an eroticized thanatos" you win the internet today! Congratulations! You said it so much better than I ever could -- I just write scary, but oddly erotic stories when I get high, man. I'm with you on erotic horror, tho. Many of my stories have some sort of sinister overtones that add a level of creepiness to the proceedings. It's also rare that I go for the happy ending, which can anger the audience, as well. I'm very curious about what kind of love I'm gonna get when all is said and done with Book Two. I think "horror" endings stay with a reader more than "happy" endings do. However, when people make emotional investments in characters and then those characters don't get the ending the reader wants and the reader FREAKS OUT!?! That's when I feel I've succeeded the most.
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 9:44 PM
> ... they suddenly find themselves in a horror movie. It's a great twist. So often, erotica that features mind-control and loss of identity themes only focuses on them as fetishes because, well, people who read that kind of erotica tend to view them as fetishes. Catering to the audience. And that's fine... but I've always found erotic horror to have a little bit more meat to it: you're forced to confront how terrifying the thing you are secretly attracted to is, even as you long to experience it. It's like seeing the bones and shipwrecks strewn on the sirens' rocks, even as you steer your ship towards them. It's an eroticized *thanatos*, a simultaneous fear of and desire for that which we know will harm us. To lose one's sense of self, to die as the body lives on, an anonymous unit in a sea of drones... even as we recoil at the thought, some of us feel an awful longing for the liberation of obliteration.
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 8:40 PM
> The farming scene reminded me of a similar scene .... I got flashbacks to reading that scene as I read the opening episode. You took me to a good place with that. > Okay, that's super cool. The "seeding the field" image has been a large part of this story's make-up -- there've been dreams about it going all the way back to the early chapters of Book One. So it was really important for me that once we got to the actual, physical moment they discover that it was nothing like they thought it would be. I wanted the characters to have these kind of rapturous feelings associated with the farm so that when they find out what it really is and what it's going to do to them, they suddenly find themselves in a horror movie. But the best line of the chapter goes to Rugby Boy when he says, "“C’est la partie du film où quelque chose d’effrayant se produit.” *This is the part of the movie where something scary happens.
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 8:13 PM
Another enjoyable chapter, but I had to give the army guys a side eye about leaving Devin behind. I was like, "Dude, you guys are still army; where's the whole 'no man left behind' attitude?" Glad the Lieutenant got things straightened out. Sheriff Lane selling out Kansas was rather enjoyable; just when he was going to receive another visit from Tully, he sicks her on Kansas. The farming scene reminded me of a similar scene in one of my favorite novels. In Robert McCammon's *They Thirst*, there's a scene in it where a former coffin maker is turned into a vampire and working on an assembly line. I got flashbacks to reading that scene as I read the opening episode. You took me to a good place with that.
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 2:12 PM
> Right now, I’m reading the upcoming “war” between the two symbiote factions as a metaphor for how two of your main strengths as a writer–coming up with distinctive characters and devising plots that revolve around depersonalization/dehumanization–are going to war in this story. > I'm excited to have a deeper conversation about this, but right now it would cause SPOILERS the likes of which could shake my fragile reality to the ground! Check in with me again in chapter 18!
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 2:09 PM
> However, in the next chapter things will change significantly in that regard. And that'll be worth at least one load haha. > Ok, I love that everyone is referring to him as “Deputy Great One” – that’s just hysterical. \ Well, he's the Deputy, and he's going to become a Great One, and there are two Great Ones. We need to distinguish them, ya know. As far as Lane, I've always had him pegged for a heartless, coldly efficient bastard. Better to potentially sacrifice hundreds to save his own skin. I really do hope he gets some comeuppance soon.
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 1:46 PM
> So the bonded men haven’t been stripped of their identity- the older men, anyways, > Nobody has yet, young or old -- they're just being forced to produce in the fields with negative reinforcement. However, in the next chapter things will change significantly in that regard. > seem to foreshadow that Deputy Great One is not going to be the solution that Lane seems to think he will be- I think it’s all but certain that at least one of the three will be getting enslaved > Ok, I love that everyone is referring to him as "Deputy Great One" -- that's just hysterical. I think of the Deputy more as "Frankenstein's Monster" than anything else at this point. When he comes to life, will his power be containable? The Sheriff seems to think so... > All-in-all, this was very much a set-up episode, but I can’t wait to see what happens next > I agree -- though as you look back on this chapter in retrospect, you will see it's about the passage of time, too. Ultimately, what comes out of this chapter is the Sheriff's plans laid bare. For the first time, you the readers get to see what he's truly up to -- and more, what he's willing to sacrifice to achieve his ends. I think it's pretty heartless of him to give up Kansas, honestly -- to me, that kind of raises him to the level of super-villain. So one has to question his emotional connection to any of the others. Does he really care about the Deputy, or does he just want to use the Deputy's power? Does he have any feelings for Snake, the other Alpha in the room, or is he just another tool, too? Keep reading!
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 1:05 PM
Huh. So the bonded men haven't been stripped of their identity- the older men, anyways, the younger men may be a different story. Mr. Lenoldi and Coach trying to stage an uprising among the adults sounds interesting, but I have a feeling that endeavor will be doomed to failure. The army boys are ready to make their move, I'm excited to see how that turns out. The tone of the scene with Snake and Rugby Boy sure does seem to foreshadow that Deputy Great One is not going to be the solution that Lane seems to think he will be- I think it's all but certain that at least one of the three will be getting enslaved. And yet again, Lane is setting up a scheme that has massive potential to blow up in his face, though I have a sneaking suspicion that Tully might wind up dead at "Murdock's" hands for her trouble. All-in-all, this was very much a set-up episode, but I can't wait to see what happens next- I've been practically vibrating with excitement all morning waiting for this to drop!
Oct 23, 2020
10/23/20, 12:49 PM
Right now, I'm reading the upcoming "war" between the two symbiote factions as a metaphor for how two of your main strengths as a writer--coming up with distinctive characters and devising plots that revolve around depersonalization/dehumanization--are going to war in this story. Right now, your love for your characters seems to be winning, which I can relate to as a writer. As a reader, though, I keep hoping that we'll get more scenes of depersonalization and dehumanization, from the perspective of the symbiote-controlled humans (and not just from the viewpoint of outside observers).
Oct 20, 2020
10/22/20, 5:12 AM
This is a delight! I’m very excited to see where it goes!