Love Is In the Air by Santa O'Byrne
Love is in the air. Everywhere you look around.
Love is in the air. In every sight and every sound.
And I don’t know if I’ve been dreamin’.
I don’t know if I’ve been blind but there’s something that I can believe in and it’s there when I look in your eyes.”
*“Love Is In The Air” by Lou Rawls is announced by Wolfman Jack on WABC on your AM dial*
I was in the seventh grade on summer vacation on the beach at Seaside Heights, New Jersey when that song was popular. You could dance the Hustle to it. You remember the Hustle? That scandalous dance where swiveling hips in bell bottom polyester pants bumped and brushed up against slender hips in a shimmering silver lame’ halter top Yves St. Lauran dress.
That wasn’t me, you understand, in that shimmering silver lame’ Yves St. Lauran dress. More likely, as not, it was Bianca Jagger or Liza Minelli back in their glory days.
Me? I danced the California Walk –the Electric Slide of its day – in front of the mirror in my room. Alone.
Fear not, this blog is not going to morph into a pity party for me and my woe begotten days as a teenager, awash in angst and all the accompanying baggage that goes along with it. I’ve come a long way, baby. I shook off the dust of those years and rarely look back. When I do, it’s with a keen awareness of how those days were part and parcel of what shaped who I am today.
Those experiences have also crept into my writing. That’s not to say my stories, to date, are semi-autobiographical, but I don’t think we can live this life and have it not be a part of the writing process. Any writer will tell you to write is to open oneself as intimately as if opening to a lover. I have to admit that my earliest attempts at writing were cathartic in that I poured my own experiences into the story…a bit too much of them but what they helped do is get all that sophomoric ideals of love out of my writing. All the angst. All the frustration. All the juvenile ideals.
Here’s a sample:
The night before she was to leave for college Melissa and her friends decided to crash the end of summer party at Lisa Smythe’s house. Melissa began to regret coming the minute they arrived. She agreed to stay long enough for them to make the rounds and get some beers. From her spot against the wall, Melissa scanned the room hoping to get a glimpse of Jake.
“God, you’re pathetic”, she muttered to herself and began to make her way to the patio doors. Hopefully, no one would be out there and she’d be able to wait in peace for her friends.
Jake looked up from his beer in time to see Melissa turn to the back of the house. He couldn’t help but smile. He started toward the door, intent on following her out there. Finally, he would have a chance to see her again.
He came upon Melissa sitting on teak bench partially covered by the sweeping branches of a willow tree. Her honey colored eyes were closed as she leaned back against the tree.
“Damn, you’re beautiful.”
Melissa’s eyes flew open. Crap! She then looked down at the lumps that defined her body and rolled her eyes.
“You’re wasted”
“No, I’m not wasted. I’ve got a good buzz on though”, he replied as he lowered his six foot three frame onto the bench. He nearly groaned aloud as the scent of vanilla filled his senses. She continued to stare at him, her tongue darting out to lick her lips. She looked delicious and he couldn’t wait to taste her.
And so he did. His lips brushed hers and the sigh that escaped her lips was an invitation for more. He pulled her closer and she brought her tongue to his. His body hardened as never before.
“God Melissa!” he moaned against her lips.
Just then, Lisa’s shrill voice broke through the haze. “Jake, baby, where are you?”
“Fuck!” he muttered
“No thanks, baby!” Melissa mockingly replied, pushing him away. “Sounds like someone is looking for you.”
Jake struggled to gain control of himself. He quickly got up in the hopes of keeping Lisa at bay and turning to ask Melissa to wait found that she was already gone.
“Damn! She’s done it again!”
“Who’s done it again?” Lisa hissed.
“Ah, no one.” Jake answered and began to propel Lisa back toward the house.
“Yeah, no one!” came Melissa’s anguished whisper from behind the weeping willow. “But not for long!” she vowed.
How do you incorporate your experiences into your writing? Is it a conscious decision? Does it help or hinder your writing?
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34 comments:
Oh, dear. My. Course me personal 'stuff' be all over me writing. OK, not so much me pirate saga, but the rest a' it. It be theraphy, course.
Sometimes it be conscious, sometimes it don't. I like ta think when it do, that it deepens me story. Tho it can hinder when it be filled wit' ta much angst...
Nice example!
Great snippet, Santa! I like to think all the years of fighting with my husband helps in the snappy dialogue, LOL. I think it's impossible not to insert oneself into one's book.
I think incorporating some of your own experiences in your writing can only help. I have to agree with Maggie, too... On both points! LOL
I really loved that excerpt Santa. (and the blog!)
I know a lot of my baggage turns up in my writing. The funny thing is that it's not contained to one character. I spread my neuroses around and share the wealth. I think it's only natural that you write what you now especially when you're staring out.
Like you said - it's cathartic to get all the crap out and on paper and then you can move on. I haven't gotten to the moving on point yet. But it's coming, I can feel it! LOL
Ah, fighting and dialogue. Definitely has helped.
Great Blog Santa!!
I think some of these long buried childhood memories leave enough of a mark that they can help with angst and heartbreak in novels. I definitely think it comes out in my work. Some of my past horrible relationships too. Glad that they're being useful now. At the time I thought some of those guys were a huge waste of time. (They were, but at least now they're helping out. Nice of them.)
Chance - Don't think you can fool us. You were a pirate in a former life and ye's knows it. :)
And the fighting has to come in handy for something. I'd like to think we get quicker and wittier as we get older. But I'm also coloring the silver out of my hair tonight so I'll take any positives about getting old that I can get.
Marn - Very nice of them to come through now, when they obviously couldn't come through before.
You're moving, Irish. As Marn says, just keep swimming. LOL!
I get ideas from my experience though mostly more recent ones. My new short story is about a girl who dated this total idiot who, after dating for several months, declared they'd never been dating at all. Then after a few months, he sends her a message out of the blue to meet somewhere as if nothing ever happened. And of course, he gets his comeuppance.
Therapy indeed! LOL!
Just keep swimming!
God, I love Nemo
I really don't think it's avoidable, San. Everything we perceive is filtered through our personal experiences. That's why I sometimes think it's necessary to keep a boundary between yourself--as a writer who is showing the world some of your soft spots--and the audience for which you are writing.
Personal experience is our greatest writing tool. That's why, if we stick to it long enough, we've all got a shot.
Me too, JP!
I also love me some Lou Rawls. My mom secretly bought a record (my religion frowned upon anything but classical) and I remember thinking how scandalous she was. How fun it was to blast it in the living room while my sister and I danced around the house.
Ah, the sweetness of forbidden fruit.
I think J's response leads to the question, does anyone worry about putting too much of yourself in the book? Ever worry someone will read it and recognize him or herself?
Here's where cover-your-ass altering comes in, Ter.
1) Bitch girl who kissed your boyfriend has suddenly grown a giant mole on the pages.
2) Brown-haired boy who spurned you in high school now has blond hair ... and want the heroine/you at the cost of his life.
But here's something else. I think people are generally self-absorbed and think the world centers around them. For example, I have an ex in whose work I'm always looking for myself when the truth of the matter is, the ex is prolly too absorbed in his own experience to write about me constantly.
Jerk.
Cover-your-ass altering. I like that. Chance, make that a drink!
To be honest, there are some people that I don't really care if they recognize themselves. And others I don't figure will ever lay eyes on my work. But now that I think about, the stuff I include is the stuff that wasn't *that* important. Like, I have no themes about divorce and I've never even considered including the real life stuff about my ex or my marriage. Maybe that's too close to the heart?
Even in my story idea with the heroine who is a divorced single mom, her story is not reminiscent of mine. Hmmmmm......
ITA with J Perry! I could write a detailed account of my childhood including descriptions of my parents and siblings. My younger brother would read the whole book and not have a clue who I was referring to. If I've learned nothing else these past 20 years or so, I've learned that everyone's perception is different!
Where I saw my father as an unbending, controlling, frightened, insecure man who bit off more than he could chew, my brother saw him as a man of principles to be admired for not letting emotion or sentimentality get in the way of raising his family with high standards. The rub is maybe he was little bit of both. A good writer would show that I suppose! LOL
I see my flaws popping up in my heroines with disturbing regularity *g* Especially my first MS - the heroine was me, which I think is why she annoyed me so much. LOL! And I write a lot of snappy dialog, most of which I just write down word for word from the hub's and my latest fight.
Wait, who wrote this blog? Be it Santa or Terrio?
Me pirate life prob'ly do meld inta me pirate saga, but hopefully, it be recognized as me alternate life. Since me Caribbean ain't the 'real' Caribbean. I can seen the strict historians waggin' fingers at me already!
Some of me best cathartic writin' ain't likely ta see the light a' day. Fer fear me family will disown me... Take some mighty tweakin' ta see if safe ta publish.
I know as a reader, I wonder 'bout the erotica stuff. Not that I b'lieve the authors do all that stuff...but I wonders if they want ta do all that stuff?! Do they write what they know? Or what they wish they knew? Or is it jus' research? ;)
Chance - This is Santa's blog and she'll be in when she can. (I'm happy to say I am not old enough to have done the Hustle :) )
I think with Erotica writers it's more writing what the readers want. I remember a Samhain editor saying sex scene with five or more participants were flying off the virtual shelves. My guess is this kind of info, what is selling the most, gets to the authors and they do their best to please the readers.
Ah, yer coverin' fer Santa! Gots it! I hopes ya took yer pay in rum fer helpin' out...
I figure the erotica ain't writin' their personal experience, but I would think that be the biggest danger a' writin' that genre, when it comes ta fanthink.
Afterall, we gots all the ladies writin' M/M and settin' aside past lives, that ain't somethin' they likely ta have personal experience wit'.
The Hustle? Uh...I was never inta dance crazes. (Aye, I'm stickin' ta that answer... I actually think I was around...but I was shunnin' the disco stuff...)
five or more participants??????? WTF? Am I more of a prude than I thought, or is anyone else struggling to imagine how exactly you would go about writing a sex scene with five or more participants?
I need to start reading more erotica. five or more - holy crap!
No exxaggerating!!! And it's one woman with four men. Seriously, how the hell do you keep that many people busy? Tag in and tag out?! (This is where Hellie would comment that she'd be afraid they'd all get wrapped up in each other and forget she was there. LOL!)
One woman with four men?
I won't touch this except to say that from a writerly perspective, I can't imagine how I would make a reader care about four men (build characterization etc) enough that they wouldn't all blend into one another. I can't imagine having an alpha with three other guys let alone more than one alpha while there's only one girl.
I think maybe I need to read more to see what that's all about too. And how an author would pull it off.
I haven't really dipped into the erotic or erotica recently. WHat I have read wasn't well done. There wasn't a whole lot of character development and it felt more like I was watching one of those cheesy movies on Cinemax late at night where the doorbell would ring and someone would just show up and have sex randomly. I didn't buy it. But I think it has expanded some in the past few years.
Greetings all! It's wonderful to see that I'm not the only one out there bare arsed in my writing. And a word to the wise about using real life stuff in your writing. It can and will come back to bite you. And five carrying on is not real. It's admirable on some level but it's not the thing.
Thanks for keeping it going, Terri. But fear not, I'll get you for the Hustle reference. I also know the waltz but it doesn't mean I ever graced the doors at Almacks, lol. Come to think of it, I don't think I'd get vouchers.
I'll be back from time to time for the rest of the day.
All I can think, is if there are four guys and one woman, they can't all be involved with the woman at the same time. Right? Which means they would have to be involved with each other....I gotta go wtih Marn on this. This doesn't work at all if you have alpha males. They don't share well. And they certainly don't think, "Oh she's busy, I'll just play with him till she's ready." LMAO!!! Though it would be interesting to read and see how it works *g*
LMAO! "Oh, she's busy, I'll just play with him til she's ready."
I found this hysterical!!
You guys are cracking me up. LOL! My guess is in these particular scenes, it's all about the lady, so who cared what the guys are thinking? LOL!
I'm off to pick up the Captain!
Well, maybe the men be interested in each other and she be the extra? I could 'magine two women, three men...
Uh oh. I be revealin' too much 'bout what I watch... tho I'd like ta see some man on man action that don't necessarily mean they are gay...
I love ta waltz, Santa!
Terrio...if'm M/M erotica be one a the biggest sellin' genres out there...it be the men interested in the men.
Ter - you're right. Why am I worried about the boys? That's going to be one happy woman at the end of that!
Have fun with the cap'n!
Capt'n has arrived safe and sound. Woohoo!
Let's see, how do I incorporate my life into my writing...LET. ME. THINK. Um, I take a sarcastic heroine with self-esteem issues and a bossy, Puritan friend, change their names to something more tolerable, and then I take the bad boy guy I know and basically thinly veil the shenanigans we've participated in, make up all romantic stuff, and then shoot him at the end. Good times.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Cap'n ya be breakin' hearts the world over!
Ahoy, Capt'n! Glad to see you're safely ashore! A case of art imitating life imitating art, eh?
And, friends, since when is erotica or, dare I say, M/M sex involve thinking?
I'm just sayin'!
Never havin' had M/M sex, I have no idea how much thinkin' it takes!
Ah, 2nd, that's another blog. How to write about what we DON'T know, lol.
'Night, y'all. T & F - have a blast!
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