themightyxloph

I'm a rather boring guy, so let's talk about my stories instead. My writing is pretty much a product of my own personal interests and fetishes anyway, so it should tell you all you need to know. Oh, and before you ask: yes. Parts of my writing are based on personal experiences with my Significant Other, who is amazing. You'll also find a certain amount of my own opinions in there. (What? Preaching? I am shocked, shocked! that you would accuse me of such a thing!)

As a general rule, I write the entire story, no matter how long it gets, and then edit it chapter by chapter, publishing each chapter once it's been edited.

Starry Starry Ride was written in one go, at two in the morning. I woke up in the middle of the night with the story in my head and it wouldn't leave me alone, so I got up and wrote it. I'm still not sure where it came from. As you will read below, this is not the only time that happened.

My second story to be published, Intensive Care, was actually written decades earlier, in the early 1990s when BBS's, dial-up modems and Usenet were king. I wrote it after I spent two weeks in hospital. It is certainly not my best; I was still developing my writing skills in those days, and it shows.

Then came Brave New World. This started when I had a dream of a naked woman with gold-glitter make-up on one side of her face, standing in a sun-lit garden under a black, star-speckled sky. That image is the only thing I remember of that dream, and it stayed with me until I realized that I simply would have to start writing something around it, just to get it out of my head. So I began what I thought would be a short story. Seven chapters and 113,000+ words later I finally realized that I have no control over my writing.

Orgasm Lab... I'm still not sure how that one happened. I wrote it in one go during an extended lunch break. It's the first story I deliberately attempted to write from an entirely female perspective (Starry Starry Ride just sort of happened) and several female Lit readers have told me since that I haven't done too badly... for a guy, that is. Be still, my throbbing ego.

In The Temple Of Gar The Desecrator had a difficult birth. It was my first attempt at erotic horror, and I blatantly raped and pillaged Lovecraft's best works for it. Unfortunately, Lovecraftian horror is apparently not for everyone: Literotica rejected it several times. Apparently having someone turn to stone is now classified as a "snuff" type of story, and a character ending up in psychiatric care is also "not done". I didn't expect this, having read many other stories before in the Erotic Horror category dealing with vampires, succubi or demons who leave their victims bloodless, desiccated, eternally damned or otherwise destroyed in various ways. What I wrote was certainly no worse! Yet I was forced to rewrite it and tone it down in order to get it published.(Incidentally, the constantly changing goal posts of Literotica's policy on what is and isn't acceptable are becoming increasingly problematic.

My next story, The Passenger, turned out to be unexpectedly difficult. It took me much longer to write it than I had intended, not only due to other obligations but also because the journey of the protagonists from start to happy ending turned out more complicated than I had in mind. It was also interrupted by Orgasm Lab and In The Temple Of Gar The Desecrator, which both materialized in what passes for my mind and demanded to be let out while I was halfway through The Passenger. Weighing in at a hair under 200,000 words it's my longest story so far. It was written during a difficult part of my life, which is why it contains many errors. I'll edit and re-post when I can.

Tales Of The Apprentice also came too soon, if you will excuse the pun. It announced itself while I was working on the final part of The Passenger, and I had to write the first chapter and general outline of it just to clear my head so I could finish The Passenger in peace. It's my first venture into Swords & Sorcery and harder work than I expected. This will be a series of at least 2 or perhaps 3 books of about 10 chapters each; my longest work so far.

I've got a few more stories ready as well. They'll be published after right Apprentice book 1, before I start on book 2.