It is my pleasure to host Spencer Dryden today. Spencer contributed to my Sex Stories 2: Erotic Tales of Naughty Play. He has quite the sense of humor, which was a welcome addition to the anthology. When he asked me if he could talk about his new novel on my blog, it was my absolute pleasure. Without further ado…
I’m promoting my new novella, The Memory of Mermaids from Fireborn Publishing. I am particularly delighted to be here today, as my very distinguished host gave me my first entry into the publishing world. We became acquainted when Leonora put out a call for submissions for an anthology she edited, Sex Stories 2: Erotic Tales of Naughty Play.It is still one of the the top ten sellers in the Anthology category for Ravenous Romance, after two years. The “Gueschtunkina Ray Gun” of course, continues to drive sales of this collection. It was the first story I ever submitted to an anthology, and among one of the very first pieces I wrote. But I told myself that there was no way the editor could exclude a story about the most powerful sex toy in the universe. One blast from the Gueschtunkina Ray Gun renders any woman into a state of extreme sexual arousal…
You’ll have to read it yourself to know.
Mermaids has been through several rewrites, but the core story remains the same. It was built around the premise of what could/would happen if an ordinary guy living in the world today encountered a mythical being. So if I have a word of hope to offer to any new writers out there, don’t give up on a good story. I knew this dog would hunt. I still don’t know if it will sell, that’s why I’m out flapping my arms as hard as I can, trying to fly. (Wish I could get my hands on Dumbo’s magic feather.)
I also did something risky in writing this story that most writing coaches would discourage. I didn’t do a lick of research. Not only have I never read a mermaid story, I haven’t even seen The Little Mermaid. In the beginning I had only two scenes in my head, the opening scene in which my MC rescues a mermaid from the clutches of a sea monster and the climactic scene where she rescues him. I decided against filling my head with mermaid lore and other mermaid stories, for fear it would bleed into my writing. I wanted to preserve the awe, innocence, confusion, and wonder my character would experience in meeting a mermaid. If the story succeeds I think it will be for that reason. I discovered mermaids myself through the revelations that came as I wrote the story.
My fear of course, is that there is some jury out there that regulates all mermaid stories, and mine will be rejected out of hand for violating sacred principles of mermaids. The way robots have to follow the rules set out by Isaac Asimov, from all those years ago. I’ve got a robot in the second installment of my ray gun trilogy who hasn’t read Asimov. Actually it’s just the brain of the robot stuffed into a ventriloquist’s dummy. He’s a lot of fun. But I’m not pitching that story yet…
Anyway, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me. I am not only happy to be here today, I’m so grateful for that first publication by Leonora.