As I read through the early submissions, some are indeed steamy and celebrate senior sensuality while acknowledging the realities that are very different from the way sex (and life!) used to be when we were 20, 30, even 45. The best of these stories are provocative, innovative, and beautifully crafted as well as sexy.
But far too many of the stories I've received strike me as youthful erotica with an older chronological age slapped on. No, let's do something truly different here!
Those of you who are over 50, 60, 70 (and I specifically asked for writers over 50) know that our changed and changing bodies, responses, and need for stimulation are not mirrors of our youth. The dynamics of our relationships are different. The contexts of our lives are different. What we find sexy is different. What takes us over the top is different.
I'm looking for erotica that faces and embraces these changes -- erotica that makes us older folks shiver and tingle. Erotica of high literary quality. Erotica unlike what turns on younger readers.
That's what we don't find in the bookstore yet. That's what we want to read! That's why I proposed this project.
If you've already submitted your story and realize now -- reading this -- that you need to craft it further, please email me to withdraw your submission for now, and re-submit it when it's ready.
If you're younger than 50 and won't be turning 50 by Spring 2013, realize that I'll give preference to older writers, because one of the aims of this collection is to give older writers a voice.
And if you already did everything I'm asking for, thank you! I'll be in touch.
Posts
Just saying thanks for a rather enticing topic, 55 and alive, lol!
ReplyDeleteDave
I've been thinking about your call for submissions and about what you want. I don't see a lot of difference between my own enjoyment and experiences with sex at 60 or 50 or 40 etc. I did include erotica in "Free Fall" and I'm wondering how those excerpts measure up to your expectations for your anthology? It's good to hear that you're getting an enthusiastic response.
ReplyDeleteRae, I found Free Fall deliciously erotic. Those excerpts definitely measure up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joan. I was over at your website and it is fantastic. You are doing a splendid job. That new workshop is a winner, too. All the very best to you....
ReplyDeleteHi Joan,
ReplyDeleteI tend to disagree with Rae a bit, and perhaps this is the difference between sexes. I've discovered I'm in NO hurry...and if the session can last an hour or two or three...so much the better. I'm also not intimidated by a variety of toys that, at one time, may have turned me off completely. And I found your blog spot on - the time for worrying about whether I pass the fold out picture look...or seek such...is LONG past. I think that I've also become more aware...more 'in the moment' than I ever was in my rutty, hasty youth!
Ken