I’ve really been wanting to write more, and one of my ideas is a semi-autobiographical little femdom novella.
Semi-autobiographical because I have no imagination.
Little because long form narratives really aren’t my strength.
Femdom because ‘duh’.
I have settled on fleshing out a relationship from my younger days.
As a newbie dominant, I dated a beautiful younger submissive man who was a steel artist. He used to create his art in a kind of foundry with huge machines that would heat and shape steel, and men with hammers would pound away at them in a fug of noise and sweat. As a team they created, among other things, community sculptures of the kind you see when you wander around major cities. As an individual he created complex abstract pieces that made you furrow your brow as you tried to decipher what they meant. He was talented and intense and difficult.
So a story then, about trying to find love as a new Domme. It starts around her frustration with not meeting anyone, through finding him, first meeting, what dating looked like, how the dynamic developed, how they played, grew, the challenges they faced, how they related as the relationship progressed. All of this from the perspective of a newbie Domme, a real, well rounded woman who is both unsure and hellishly arrogant in her dominance.
It would be a femdom story with play and sex, but with more depth of character than the glimpses we see in pure erotica.
My question to you, dear readers (as a poll so you don’t have to leave a comment):
Would you be interested in reading a novella like that?
*** POLL NOW CLOSED ***
Edited to add: Sorry, poll is now closed. See results here. Please leave a comment if you want to have a say.
40 comments
I would read that in a heartbeat. I have always loved your writing Ms. Ferns, especially the way you so clearly and beautifully depict what the dominant is feeling and thinking. So a story with fleshed out character development written by you would be a dream come true. Please please write it! :)
Thank you so much for your encouragement and your kind comment *smile*.
Ferns
Yes please. “Give me real, don’t give me fake.”
Great feedback, thank you. I felt a bit like it might be too ‘bland’ to be interesting.
Ferns
Ummm I probably wouldn’t buy/read it but go for it Ferns, you write wonderfully so it should do well
Coug
P.S. Bugger all to do with the Topic but for YOU Ferns
http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/venn-diagrams-only-british-people-will-understand#.pe7poYR3k
Thanks Coug.
Is there a particular reason to do with the idea itself that would make you not buy/read it? Or is it more a general ‘I just don’t read that stuff’ thing?
Ferns
More a general not my thing. I love your writing and your style of writing, just not for me I think. I’m hurt you didn’t say about my link though :P lol
Coug
I don’t know the literature well, but it seems like an important niche to fill – unlike the fantasy stuff and the ‘how to’ guides. A semi-autobiographical read might be something that would get suggested to many newbies, all the more so given your wonderful writing talents!
Thanks DC *smile*.
Ferns
I would enjoy a novel like that. The one thing I dislike about the vast majority of Femdom stories is that they are little more than shallow porn, that does it’s best to titillate, while offering nothing in the way of edification.
I view D/s relationships (just like their vanilla counterparts) as complex things that are full of complex emotions, motivations, as well as just the messy details of ordinary life.
I desire to see characters of depth and purpose with a backstory that explains not just what they do, by why. I want to see that “something” that they both need and find in each other.
If anyone is capable of writing a Femdom story like that, I would say that you’d be the perfect one to do it.
I loved your first book, and I am quite certain that this one would be just as enjoyable.. If not more so… I say: GO FOR IT!
Thanks so much for the extra information on what you’d be interested in seeing. Very useful.
And thanks for the encouragement also *smile*.
Ferns
Yes, going by your blog and also the Domme Chronicles book I think your novella would be good to read.
Thanks Matt.
Ferns
Yes! Yes! Yes!
First of all, you write so beautifully, with sensual imagery essential to good fiction. Not that style is everything, but 99 percent of erotic fiction is grade B or way lower. Same can be said of most romantic fiction – doing nothing for mind, body or libido.
Secondly, with few exceptions, BDSM fiction is numbingly male-dominated, from “Story of O” to “Fifty Shakes of Grey” and don’t get me started about the movies! Let’s have some believable domme protagonists who are not necessarily Mad Max remake superheroines or semi-psychotic abuse survivors like Lisbeth Salander (much as I enjoyed Steig Larsson’s trilogy.)
One novel won’t change all of that overnight – but an engaging, sexy autobiographical narrative by an author with your sensibilities, sophistication and style can take us a healthy step forward. Plus, I’m sure it would be great fun to read!
Good luck with it, and I will look here in hopes of perhaps reading work-in-progress excerpts, if that’s a part of your process.
YES for all of these reasons. Yes!
@DommeLuck: Thanks :).
Ferns
@zero2infinity: Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment.
As for WIP, I’m thinking of setting up a mailing list for those who are interested in reading snippets, providing feedback, listening to me whine about it etc (vs posting it on my blog). I’ll have a think about that.
Ferns
I’d be interested in either reviewing or giving feedback this story. Art & Femdom are areas I specialize in.
Thanks dave. If you’re interested in reading my existing book and popping your review on Amazon, I’d be happy to send you a copy.
Let me know :).
Ferns
Yes, because as others have also said, you write so well, and have something to say.
I’m not a big fan of femdom fantasy fiction wherein the heroine seems to often times be trained in the arts as a young girl in a big castle typically owned by aristocrats or spinoffs of English royalty.
It gives me the willies and titillates me for all of ten seconds. Its the same damn plot every single time and I don’t buy a word of it. Sheer dross!
Reality-based stories would be so much better.
But but…I really WAS trained in the arts as a young girl in a big castle by English royalty… :P.
Also, I’m a stunningly gorgeous billionaire, natch.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Ferns
To be honest, I have started writing a similar style story, but from the point of view of the male submissive. So I would love to see a Dominant female’s take on the dynamic.
That’s great to hear! Please do let us know when your story is out. There aren’t enough real-life style stories by submissive men.
Ferns
Indeed, I would be interested. We need more honest, real, loving D/s writing that captures life between scenes. As a new-ish D, it would be great to have some touchstones that are neither how-to nor porn/erotica, but a different category entirely. Furthermore, and speaking as someone who came up through art school (I was a printmaker/stone lithographer, now a sometimes-painter), the wonderful mix of real competitiveness and honest collaboration in a studio environment makes the most fascinating, complicated, and highly-charged relationships. Mmmm .
*laugh* It sounds like you had quite the fabulous time at art school… Good for you!
Thanks for your thoughts.
Ferns
In principle yes, but aside from the ‘life and times’ of a d/s relationship, I suppose I would want a story arc – plot – if it’s not just going to be masturbation erotica fodder. The outline you give hints at the story but what else will drive the novella forward?
Twiggs
This is such a great question for which I have no great answer.
Life is just life, it doesn’t really HAVE a plot, if you know what I mean. We live through certain experiences, we interact, we learn things: that’s our story. There’s no real ‘story arc’.
One reason I described what I was thinking of writing about and asked what people thought was because I feared it would just be too bland to be of interest.
It’s more a ‘new Domme coming into her own’ story of exploration, mistakes, lessons. What’s ‘driving the novella forward’ is her desire for love and connection (vs any real ‘story arc’).
Honestly, my lack of ability to write fiction is because I have no imagination to make it more than what it is. If I think about it *too* much I’ll be in danger of retreating back into inaction, but I will think about this question some more. Thank you for it.
Ferns
Well, I’ve already bought 100% of the books you’ve published previously and enjoyed same, so I’ll probably buy this one too. If only because I’m impressed by authors who do market research.
Include full color fold outs of your birthday nudes, preferably wearing stilettos and holding a whip, if you want to attract more buyers, particularly the much desired mouth breathing, one handed typist demographic! :)
I really was trained as a book publicist in a massive Upper East Side co-op by New York City plutocrats.
Also, I’m heir to a publishing fortune and a famous underwear model. Really. Truly. Totally seriously. I am not a pudgy, balding, thrice divorced orthodontist from Sandusky Ohio. Definitely not. Where ever did you get that idea???
But, definitely a buy.
SSS
I feel privileged to be the recipient of your professional advice given your obvious expertise and experience as a celebrated book publicist!
Ditto your fascinating bio. Completely believable. Send pics.
Ferns
Please write it for us!
SSS
*smile* Thank you for your kind and polite request!
Ferns
I am always searching for “real” femdom stories. I rarely find anything that both satisfies and has depth.
Thank you! This seems to be a bit of a theme: the appeal of ‘real life’ femdom content. Which is encouraging for me.
As for ‘satisfying and with depth’, that remains to be seen!
Ferns
I would be interested in starring in a novella like that. Does that answer your question?
*laugh* No, no it does not.
Though I do have various daydreams about my exes turning up out of the blue.
Oh wait… THAT ALREADY HAPPENED!
Ferns
Oh, I’ll read that one.
As to your hesitation in something bland, why?
Life is a pool of water, usually covered in wavelets, blurred by wind. If one were to leap in, the splash is out-of-scale, but quickly subsides. The ripples and wavelets continue on, long after the splash, interconnecting, interlocking, and bouncing. Now, think of your story.
Starting slow, no splashes, but soon the ripples are there, the interconnections. I am already imagining the scene in the foundry, with the artist slumped over a desk covered in sketches, and getting reinvigorated as you come into the room. Energy, faith, shared view, bouncing off of each one’s strength.
What’s bland about that?
*smile* Thank you so much for the encouragement and the drawing out of the possibilities. I really appreciate it, plus it was really lovely to read.
And that doesn’t sound bland at all.
Ferns
YES!!!
Write Ferns……it is Your calling, Your gift.
Your artistic expression through words and with the video, capture a part of the FemDom, that is beautifully different then the genre portrays on the average.
It is real. I think that is the difference.
Blessings……..
Thank you so much for your lovely comment and for the encouragement!
Ferns