Naoko Smith’s Revue Bar … Review Thread

[Gorza]

I love the idea of the senior citizens of a small town in Ohio gathering to discuss who might be the author of a gay romance on an erotica site while trying not to admit going to read it.

"No, Mavis, of course I didn't read that gay smut. I found some lovely BDSM instead!"

 

[curl4ever]

The campaign sign part of the story was a piece of totally unplanned irony. That or the Muse messing with my subconscious and laughing her ass off.

I had based the story in my old hometown in Ohio, openly identified it, and used numerous actual locations and businesses in the plot. The names of Steve and Andy were completely random picks. I was at least two or three sentences beyond the campaign sign scene when it hit me that the name of the state representative for the area actually was "Andy" also! Plus he is a total, uber-conservative, homophobic tea partier and I had just inserted him into a piece of internet smut! It wasn't planned at all...it just happened.

Now this is a small town where gossip and rumors run rampant constantly. According to a lifelong friend who still lives there and had read the story, for about a week after the story hit the Lit contest, there were whispered conversations all over town where the number one question was: "Who the hell is J. Kendall Dane?"

When she got asked if she had any clue, she just grinned and said, "Well, I'm 'old lady Abicht' in the story, so what do you think? And just HOW do you know about this story anyway? It's a gay romance on a big internet erotica site. Someplace you visit often to read gay stories?"

Hearing that I had given the old church biddies and the retired guys that hang out at McDonalds drinking coffee every morning something to talk about was probably the best feedback I could have gotten.

Absolutely delicious!

Bravo!

- curl

 

[JKendallDane]

I love the idea of the senior citizens of a small town in Ohio gathering to discuss who might be the author of a gay romance on an erotica site while trying not to admit going to read it.

"No, Mavis, of course I didn't read that gay smut. I found some lovely BDSM instead!"

Buwahaha! Okay, you get bonus points for that line, Gorza.

There is an interesting precedent for this happening with my story. Thirty years ago, when I still lived there, a book hit the local stores titled "Country Club Drive" which was the name of an actual street in one of the best sections of town. It had a fairly racy plotline coupled with a 'Peyton Place' type of theme exposing all the dirty little secrets of small town "society women" ...who all would have probably been reading stories at Lit had it existed at the time.

What made it truly interesting (and scandelous) is it was based in the late 1950s when that street was first built and detailed each resident on it. Within a few weeks the running joke was it had sold 12,000 copies nationwide and 11,000 of them were sold in Marietta, Ohio. The same type of discussions went on about that book too. "Who the hell is Liz Hamlin?" was heard all over town for weeks along with an almost fanatical guessing game of which characters in the book matched up to the actual women that lived on the street back then.

Mine didn't create quite the same level of stir, but it did get me more than a few emails and phone calls from some old friends...several of them still in the closet and very nervous about my writing hobby. Had to tell two of them, "Too late. You're already in one."

Absolutely delicious!

Bravo!

- curl

Thanks, Curl. Half the fun of being a Lit author should be about having fun.



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[NaokoSmith]

I had based the story in my old hometown in Ohio, openly identified it, and used numerous actual locations and businesses in the plot....
Hearing that I had given the old church biddies and the retired guys that hang out at McDonalds drinking coffee every morning something to talk about was probably the best feedback I could have gotten.

that's brilliant! We never know who is going to read our smut.

I've reviewed a couple of the Valentine's Day competition stories - one of them my own (review blogpost here). Check out the whole list, won't you - and vote.

 

[zoemiller]

Hi Naoko!

I know this thread is somewhat fallow, but I'm a long-time appreciator of your blog and writing, and I thought I'd link to a recently written short story of mine in the hopes that you'd have time to read it at some point. In The Smell of Old Books, tired and lonely office drudge Mariko finds her passions reignited, and her slumbering sexuality re-questioned, after a chance encounter with a handsome female store clerk, Tomo. Knowing you're a fan of things Japanese, I thought you might be interested. If you made time to review it, I'd be intensely flattered, but just your reading it would be more than enough for me.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-smell-of-old-books

Thanks for all the writing you do!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Hi Naoko!

I know this thread is somewhat fallow, but I'm a long-time appreciator of your blog and writing, and I thought I'd link to a recently written short story of mine in the hopes that you'd have time to read it at some point. In The Smell of Old Books, tired and lonely office drudge Mariko finds her passions reignited, and her slumbering sexuality re-questioned, after a chance encounter with a handsome female store clerk, Tomo. Knowing you're a fan of things Japanese, I thought you might be interested. If you made time to review it, I'd be intensely flattered, but just your reading it would be more than enough for me.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-smell-of-old-books

Thanks for all the writing you do!

I saw this one earlier and can recommend it!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Totally agree with Bramblethorn - Naoko, you must give this one a look. And perfectly safe for your blog!

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-smell-of-old-books

Thanks for all the writing you do!

 

[zoemiller]

Gosh, this was a nice thing to wake up to! I was a little trepidatious posting here, so thank you both for your kind words.

 

[Areala-chan]

Totally agree with Bramblethorn - Naoko, you must give this one a look. And perfectly safe for your blog!

Make that three votes for you to read this one. Seriously, seriously good story and phenomenal grasp of style.

*huggles*
Areala-chan