Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime
Fifty Shades of Grey - Have we discussed this and I missed it ?
Seems I have had downloaded onto my Kindle for a number of weeks now "Mummy Porn" and it has shocked me, for a few minutes anyway.
After all I am not only a mummy but a Grand mummy too ! I'd never heard of this genre of fiction until reading a BBC online article by Will Gompertz. Have to say I 'd never heard of him either until yesterday.
So, what is this pornographic material that I have not only downloaded but paid for as well ?
It's Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James.
What do you think ? Have you read it ? Is it "porn" ? Is it a good read ? Is it even well written ?
I've blogged about it at
http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/i-have-mummy-porn-on-my-kindle.html
Discussion welcome, here or/and there !
Comments
Can't say it's the sort of thing I would read - I'm not really interested in erotica and I usually like my books at least reasonably well written (with the exception of the occasional thriller-type book which I will forgive if the story is good enough)
Let's do the LOL CATS version.
We can haz Pussy Porn.
Whoops! (Maybe not!) :)
*Exits to browse top shelf at newsagents.*
I found Sally's blog, that Heather mentions, far more enjoyable than the book.
And how many of them actually have any idea of actual BDSM practises? I certainly don't, but even fluffy pink handcuffs doesn't appeal.
In fact the most frequent term I've heard in relation to the sex in the books is 'vanilla' and I had to Google it to find out exactly what it meant...
Mummy Porn dear me .. anyone would think it was something new. Anne Rice's take on Sleeping Beauty is preferable if one must read such.
(I have many a mummy on facebook discussing it... )
Really? It's very steamy indeed!
I have to say that EVERYONE I know is talking about this book, either reading it, read it or just about to read it. My eyes have been opened to a different world; I think it's fascinating. It lead me on to a wikipedia trail that had my eyes popping out of my head!
It is written in a clunky way but I think the emotional side is very well done. It's extremely explicit with every detail described intimately. I have read the first book and will shortly be downloading the other two, as I want to see whether Anastacia manages to convince Christian to have a normal relationship and come to terms with the traumas of his past.
I've never known a book so much talked about or widely read - that's an amazing achievement in itself. It would not have been possible before the iPod, iPad and Kindle.
Come to think of it, reading porn on an ereader should be less hazardous than print - no chance of the pages getting stuck together.
And thankfully I don't do erotica/romance/shmaltz-porn/mommy-porn or any other badly written tosh/porn. So I'm safe.
I dont personally think this book is about female liberation through sex. Its about a girl with no self-esteem whos willing to do practically anything to hold onto her boyfriend, because she truly believes that hes her only chance to be happy
means I definitely won't be reading it. Sounds like a load of crap to me and that's putting it mildly.
Edited to say: This also from Sally:
Odd times Ive really wondered if the sex was written by someone whod never actually had sex.
Makes me wonder if this James person is actually really simply nowt but a thirteen year old boy and you've all been fooled. Lol.
I wouldn't say Anastasia has no self esteem; she's quite sparky. And she was happy anyway, just hadn't found the right person. She doesn't want to fall for him but she does. I can't believe I'm defending this book! The sex scenes were pretty convincing. I'd say the writer has had to have been involved in that scene to give that amount of detail. That's what makes it fascinating to me; the way that people's minds work and why they are attracted to different things (remember that woman who married the Eiffel Tower the other year?).
[quote=Red]So I'm safe. [/quote]
Safe from what?
That's the thing, and it's giving a bad name to fanfiction writers, because I read and write fanfiction (It's what I've been doing in my spare time to keep writing) and there are some excellent writers of fanfiction which make you question how they haven't written something new that would get published in a heartbeat.
Also, there are some really good stories out there, with sexual scenes written in them out there, much better than from what I've read of 50 shades. Some fanfictions are better than the scriptwriters of some of the shows I watch, so really this is just tainting the reputation fanfiction has and I don't like it.
[/quote]
Agree completely, Pixie.
I have two friends at the writers club who do a lot of it, and the standards are very high in the UK written stuff.
Also, there are some really good stories out there, with sexual scenes written in them out there, much better than from what I've read of 50 shades. Some fanfictions are better than the scriptwriters of some of the shows I watch, so really this is just tainting the reputation fanfiction has and I don't like it.[/quote]
The first story I wrote four years ago was a fanfiction, (a Doctor Who story) and I did begin a follow up to it, but got no further than four chapters in before I began writing my own original stories, but I would like to finish the follow up at some point. There is definitely no sex in my stories, either fanfiction or original, and never will be, as like others here it is just not my thing.
http://fiona-maddock.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/fifty-shades-of-bonkbuster.html
I can understand why it is successful, and then I read the comments by you guys, and I can't understand it. In any case, I've just bought myself Anne Rice's The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy to cheer myself up. At least I know I will get the quality of writing. Add exquisite writing to sexy bits and it should be a really good read. :) (with no "holy crap" in it).
As for 50 shades, got halfway through the second page and gave up.
She writes goth/vampire/werewolf for a reason.
Fan-fict can help develop writing characters/vocab. Though like you Neph.. the teeth/fur...and such can get messy >:)
Neither can I.
I haven't read it, but after reading Sally Q's blog post (today I think it is) I'm definitely not interested in reading about some bloke who has been abused in a previous life and takes what he has learnt from that experience forward to use others. She also describes one "sex" scene which to me does seem as if the person who wrote it is clueless.
She writes goth/vampire/werewolf for a reason.[/quote]
That will be another I won't be reading then. Aside from the original Dracula, and the related Dracula "B" movies from the 1930s-50s, anything of the modern ilk in vampires does nothing for me. Any book/film/tv programme of the Buffy/Angel type of thing, is automatically ignored by me. I appreciate that many people do like them, but I just can't get into them at all. As for werewolves, I don't so much mind those, indeed there have been some good stories of them, particularly in recent years in Doctor Who and Harry Potter.
Perhaps just leave it to your characters, Neph! ;)
She writes goth/vampire/werewolf for a reason.
[/quote]
Yes, indeed. Don't worry, I'm a huge fan of Anne Rice. The Sleeping Beauty series - in the blurb it says it's her erotica, written under her pen name of A.N. Roquelaure.
I read her Interview With A Vampire series a few years ago, and I must read them again. Lestat captured my heart (so to speak).
There's not in mine John, and I doubt there will be. I might suggest it or allude to it, but actually write it? Nah, I can't do that. I've read stories with it done tastefully but otherwise it's not in mine.
I do like writing fanfiction though. It's a nice break from everything. Yeah, it's probably taking a step back in terms of progressing but at least I can practice writing romantic stuff I wouldn't normally write.
You ever watched 'Daybreakers' or the German vampire flick, 'We Are the Night' John?
I would like to write more fanfiction, as I think it is good practice anyway, and I really enjoyed doing the first one. I intended it to be a short story at the outset, but it ended up a tad over 30,000 words long.
Couldn't put it better myself. Can turn a blind eye to some shoddy editing but this book takes the biscuit. As for the sex scenes, I read till the first one and thought, what a bore. I've been told it gets better but the bad writing, the wishy washy characters, just put me off.
I do, although a couple of them manage to get themselves into some interesting positions that might be fun.
[quote=Lou Treleaven]Safe from what? [/quote]
Erotica/romancey stuff. Really not my thing.
I reckon they were too embarrassed!
I used to have a satchell for school :)