Fetish 101: Robot fetishism

While doing some research for story ideas, I came across an awesome chart that maps out all the major fetishes. This chart is fascinating to me because not only does it include all the major fetishes, it shows the relationships between and among them. Ever since then I’ve been doing occasional blog posts on my site about fetishes. 

The one I’m interested in today is the robot fetish, a fetish which is a subcategory of technosexuality. Robot fetishists usually refer to their fetish by the initials "ASFR" which stems from a now-defunct website.

According to what I found, robot fetishism, considered part of technosexuality, is divided into two usually separate fantasies:

• Sex with a person dressed in a robot costume, a person acting like a robot, or sex with pre-made sex android robot.
• Sex with person who has been willingly or unwillingly transformed into a robot or being transformed into a robot oneself and subsequently having sex. The transformation is of key interest in this fantasy.

If you are a Duran, Duran fan, or remember the video to Electric Barbarella, this robot thing is nothing new to you.




If you ask me, the best part of the video is when she freaks out and malfunctions. According to one interview I read, it’s this possibility for malfunctioning that is part of the draw. When she’s broken you get out your tool kit and fix her.

Wanting to see and hear an actual human talk about sex with robots, I hunted up a video. I’d be interested to hear what others have to say about this guy’s thoughts on why he wants a sex android.



 
Need more?

"Let's mech love", by Lisa Scott, Metro daily paper, 7February 2007.

"Wrong Turns Down TheSex-Info-Highway 5.07", by Martine Duplessis, Exotic Magazine, 1996.

If you are geeky like me, I suggest this Wikipedia article on typical human responses to human-like robots.

Interested in what other fetishes I've been writing about? Check out my site: www.isabelledrake.com

Pinterest by Lily Harlem

Okay, I'll admit it, I have a new obsession, which is not good as I have a very obsessive nature. This new obsession has taken me away from writing for several days as I've trawled the web for hotness, prettiness, wackiness and general sexyness. What is it?...Pinterest.

I expect many of you have come across Pinterest already. But for those of you who haven't check it out here.





Basically it's a live time line of pictures/images people have pinned to their online boards. You can like them, comment on them, or repin them to your own boards.

Making your own boards is enormous fun, and completely addictive, as I have discovered to my peril, and its also very time consuming. I have found it amazing how focused I have become on getting just the right picture. The usually patient Mr H is starting to tut and mutter - whoops! Best make it up to him soon :-)

Here is my page of boards. It is probably easier to just show you than try and explain. (By clicking on one picture on each board you get to see the full content.)








As you can see I have pinned hot studly heroes who give me inspiration for my writing and the lovely heroines who get to bed these men. Pictures of locations that I would happily be transported to and all of my book covers.

I adore both hands and male armpits (that is another blog post!) and have sourced some great images. I can't resist handsome actors so they've got a board too - though you will notice model David Gandy (sigh) gets a board all to himself. Also I had to have hearts, I'm ultimately a romance writer, but I also wanted something to reflect the erotic nature of my books, which is why I have the Dark board. Though this has to be treated with care as nudity is not allowed on Pinterest, though breasts and the flash of a butt cheek seem to scrape through. However, this makes something like my Dark board all the more fun. The images have to be suggestive and provocative to get that delicious hint of eroticism. The same goes for my kissing and bliss boards, which are just scrummy!

I just had to start the Mmm, Interesting pinboard. Scouring the net for images meant I was stumbling across all kind of things I had to have! You can see under each picture, when you click to view the full board, how many times another Pinterest user has liked, or repined one of your pictures. Some of the images on this board have been very popular.

My latest release at Total-E-Bound is That Filthy Book and as you can see I have a whole board dedicated to this novel. Finding pictures that matched certain scenes and quotes was great fun and I think the overall board gives a good sense of this story.

Want to make your own pinboard page? Yay, of course you do!

You have to request an invite to join Pinterest which takes about 24hours and then you can start pinning (unless you have a Facebook friend already pinning then they can invite you and you'll start instantly). While you are waiting have a look at other boards. Think of the possibilities for planning weddings and parties, showing off holiday snaps, or hinting at gifts when birthdays come around, and of course just indulging in ogling sexy men and steamy scenes. 

Have fun and link up with me so we can follow!!

Hide and Seek

Just like every other writer, I sometimes get the question where I get my ideas from, and then there’s the unavoidable if my characters happen to be based on myself or on people I know.

My first instinct is to say that no, it’s not about me. And that’s not even a lie or a subconscious blindness to reality. Stories are just there, or perhaps I should say characters are there and things happen to them. If enough things happen that are actually interesting a story is born. Pure magic.

But, that magic happens in my head. Out of all the information that’s stored in my brain, the things I’ve seen and heard and read, most of it forgotten enough to feel like I never knew about it in the first place, some emerge in the form of a sentence, a thought…the start of a story.

I’ve never felt the need to write directly about myself, but is it really a coincidence that I tend to create characters who are introverts with a strong need to try and understand their every emotion with the help of rational thoughts? Yes, even if they have sex, or especially when they have sex. Or would I have written in quite the same way if I had been straight instead of a lesbian with a thirty year marriage (even though I can only officially call it that for the last ten years, and yes, what influence has that fact on my writing?) Didn’t have children, or daughters instead of sons? Had lived at least partly closeted instead of fully out? Hadn’t come from a working class background? Had met different people in the course of my life? Had a different type of body?

No, my work is never directly autobiographical, but somewhere, hidden between the words, I’m there. And something tells me we writers are always there, playing hide and seek in our stories.

S. Dora

R.A. Padmos

Anticipation...

Anticipation

I wish I could say anticipation was always delicious, a shivery, exciting feeling that leaves me breathless. (Oh, but that’s something else entirely! I’ll write the story for you and call it fiction.)

Sometimes, anticipation leaves me wishing away the days!

Book release days kind of leave me with a mixture of emotions, and I have a book release day (BRD) coming up in a couple of weeks.

There are a lot of things leading up to BRD.

First thing is edits. I do my best to send in a clean manuscript, but I know I’ve invariably made errors. Each editor brings his or her unique perspective to the process. Will I agree with all the recommended changes? Generally I do, because I appreciate the feedback of someone who cares deeply about producing a good book, but has less invested emotionally and has a new perspective.

Then comes the book cover… Does it capture what I want it to? (Of course, I have to send in really good cover request forms, which is surprisingly difficult…again, that emotional attachment.) So when the e-mail arrives with the cover as an attachment, I sometimes click to open immediately. And sometimes I wait a bit. The cover is never what I expect. Often it’s far superior. But it’s always interesting to see how the artist has interpreted what I’ve provided.

Then actual BRD.

After months of work, it’s a giddy time.

Will people like the story? Will I strike a chord? Will I have successfully taken my reader away from daily trials and challenges and provided a respite? Even better, have I hit a fantasy button? Have I done my job so that I emotionally affect a reader?

To me, that’s what it’s all about, YOUR experience as a reader?

As I craft a story, I always keep the reader in mind. We are all complex human beings. (See my comments above about anticipation being a mixed bag!) And I try to create characters who are reflection of reality.

My characters are not based on real people, but rather they are a composite of people I know and experiences I’ve had.

I try to create an experience for the reader. My books are less about me and more about the person I’m connecting with. In that regard, writing is very intimate. I’m hoping for a connection. I hope to create a few laughs, maybe some anxious moments, some sensual tension, something that inspires, maybe some anticipation….

Ultimately it’s up to the reader to let me know how I did. And that is the biggest anticipation of all.

Whips and chains and shackles, oh my!

I'm in the mood for something a little rough.

When Fifty Shades of Grey made a splash on all sides of the pond, women everywhere were suddenly getting a taste of the thrills that could be had if their lover was willing to dominate them in the bedroom. But of course, those of us who were well-versed in erotica just had to chuckle and shake our heads. You're finally figuring this out, ladies?

I found this amazing photograph here.

But there is a first time for everything, and there is always a first time for being introduced to the wonderful world of BDSM. Some of my first experiences were very soft-core, such as being tied to the headboard with scarves. There was the light spanking, the one that happened on the spur of the moment and didn't really turn me on, but it was fun to try something new. Then there was the moment a lover ordered me around, told me to get down on my knees and suck his cock, and held my hair as though I wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere until I had finished the deed to his satisfaction.

Those were first efforts at BDSM, and they did the job -- they made me want more, made me want something hard-core, made me long for serious bondage, a good spanking and of course, being told to cater to his wishes, no matter what those wishes might be.

After experimenting with being the submissive over the years, it was time to experiment with the other side of the coin -- being the dominant one in the bedroom. And oh my goodness, that's when my true colors came out! There's something so sweetly wicked about giving my partner a few sexy assignments, tying him to the bed, breaking out the toys and watching him go through that sweet struggle of trying to please while doing everything he can not to come. It's a delight!

What's your BDSM story? Are you a dominant or submissive? Are you just discovering the world of BDSM, or have you never indulged before? Does it make you nervous, or does it turn you on? Tell us about your naughty story!

Cheers,
Gwenny

To Truly See...

The saying goes, "eyes are the window into the soul," and I believe this to be true in many ways. Something happens when you take a moment and really look at a person as they are talking. I think it's amazing how our eyes can reveal so much even when we haven't uttered a word!

Eyes are the first facial feature to draw me to another. I think they can be the first indication of the kind of person you are dealing with.

Sometimes our eyes can betray us...give away what we are truly feeling when we don't want to be exposed. It often feels safer and is easier to force those bright-eyed expressions.

Looking into someone's eyes...letting them truly see what you feel without the shutter in place can be scary. You can't do it with everyone and there's some vulnerability involved often times even with the ones we hold dear to our hearts.

But, oh the gift of having someone see into our soul and truly understand...magic!

Nichelle Gregory 

Simply sexy stories...

www.simplysexystories.com • 
www.simplysexystories.blogspot.com

Learning...from a romance novel?

To the person who does not read our genre, if asked the question, "what can be learned from reading romance," responses may be crude (how to have sex), obnoxious (how to steal someone's girl/guy), or plain ignorant (there's nothing to learn from those books). 

Being a life-long reader of romance, I beg to differ. I started reading romance in the early 1980's, when historicals were big. Do you know, from my love of these tales, I minored in history in college? Reading about people living and loving through different periods in history brought this oft-moaned subject to life. Dates and documents were there in the stories, and I did absorb them, but it was through the interactions and events of the characters involved that had me craving more information.

As fiction writers, we write story lines that are not based on real life, but our stories usually have points of fact in order to bring our stories to life. We create places and events that readers will identify. We work our stories so that the reader will be able to lose themselves in our tales. If they come out the other side in love with our hero/heroine and understanding the difference between a backhoe and a dozer, more power to them. Romance writers are good that way -- hiding the facts in plain sight, so to speak. To me, that's the best kind of learning.

From reading romance-themed stories, I've learned not only about historical places and events, I've also learned a little about cars, I've found household cleaning tips, I've even picked up a few recipes that are to-die-for delicious. No car manuals were involved. I didn't go out and buy all the household books on the store shelves, and I don't think there's a recipe book out there to match some of the goodies I've found in romance books.

Beyond the tid-bits of fact that pepper our stories, we can also learn a little about life. We write about relationships that are deep, intimate, trustworthy and sustainable. Would that real life followed this pattern. Unfortunately, it does not, but from these stories we can learn the importance honesty, communication and standing up for ourselves/our beliefs.

Romance books contain a wealth of information. Come to think of it, perhaps this is why our genre is despised so much (even as it outsells others) -- it's pure jealousy. I mean, after all, we have it all, and no other genre can compare.

What about you? What bits of information have you picked up, just from reading a romance? I'd love to know. 

~Ayla 

http://www.aylaruse.com