New Story: "The Birthday Girl"

Time for the last of my longer stories for the summer. "The Birthday Girl" is now up for sale on Amazon. I was originally going to call this story "Bitch and Moan," (BaM) but it didn't really seem to be a good fit for the story as a whole, so I changed it.

This story is the second time this year that I've had something almost done (or so I thought), only to end up with WAY more pages added at the end to tie things up. For those that read my blog regularly, or my Twitter feed (@TGAuthor), you may have seen me do some complaining / procrastinating on this one. Trust me, that's par for the course. I normally just keep it private. In this case, because I'd promised a longer story in July, I felt the need to be a little more open about my process.

I have to say that I'm really, really happy with the cover for this one. Being the worrywart that I am, I felt it might be a little too reminiscent of the cover for "The Cardinal Sins," but I think it's different enough to stand on its own. Plus, it uses elements of the story, which I always love. (The red satin sheets. The black lace lingerie.) I didn't notice until the last minute that the stockings are fishnets. I also wish the model had a better hip to waist ratio. All in all, minor gripes. I guess my inner perfectionist will just have to put on her straitjacket for a while until she calms down.

The story itself is pretty NC-17. To use Femur's proposed rating system:
Genre: Slice-of-Life / Magic
Transformation: Magic Transformation, Full XX Change, M2F Transformation, F2M Transformation
Transformation Details: Forced, Ravished, Transformation As Punishment, Tricked
Sexual Preferences: Pre-Hetero, Post-Unsure

In fact, this is the story I was describing in the thread. You'll notice I left out the "Bad Boy to Good Girl" from the transformation description. That's because the primary character is more of a "Bad Boy to Bad Girl" in this story. I mean, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but you can't help feeling (IMHO) like he's always going to be a difficult person to like, no matter what his gender is.

Story Description:

A man's long-suffering girlfriend throws a very special party for herself to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday. Her plans include decorations, dressing up, alcohol, black lace lingerie, red satin sheets, candlelight, lovemaking, a very special meal, cake and a big helping of revenge! By the time this party's over, it will be a night "The Birthday Girl" will never be able to forget.

(Transgender Erotic Fiction, Approximately 33,800 words)

This story came in at 53 pages in my standard format. I priced it at $4.95 because I wanted it to come in under five bucks. Next up, the final two chapters of the Turned Into A Love Doll series. The next chapter is done. The last chapter just needs an epilogue to tie up the loose ends and give the story some closure. Fingers crossed for that to go quick!

Finished!

I finished the story I've been working on last night. I ended up rewriting that last few pages to remove a pronoun shift that I'd previously included. It felt both constipated and premature, so I took it out. I like the ending I managed to reach.

Now I just have to reread it to edit out any typos, grammatical errors and generally spruce it up. It should be out by Monday at the latest on Amazon.

Schrodinger's Cat

Last post for bit, I promise. Just let me get this thought out and I'll go right back to work.

I both love and hate finishing a story. On the one hand, it's done. Yay! On the other hand, the story is then fixed. Boo! Scenes you've imagined that have no place in the final draft have to go in the dustbin. Things that contradict the continuity must likewise be discarded. It doesn't matter how much you like a particular scene, character, turn of phrase or outcome. If it doesn't serve the story, it's got to go. Unless you want the story to suffer, which is - let's face facts - just plain sadistic. Or is that masochistic? After all, bad editing decisions tend to hurt the author more than anyone else.

I hate having two good endings. I've made my decision about which one I've chosen, but for now, as long as the ending remains unwritten, both of them still exist as possibilities. Like Schrodinger's Cat, they are, for the moment, still both alive.

But one of these cats must die. Observation requires an outcome.

The Voice I Write In

While third person omniscient is a common voice to write in, I try to remember the lesson of Faulkner. In "As I Lay Dying," each chapter is narrated by a different character. Each voice is distinct. Each chapter reflects the nature of the character's unique perspective on events as they unfold.

Now, I'm no Faulkner. I do, however, try to inform my third person omniscient narrative with a little first person point of view. The voice I use from story to story is a mix of my voice as the narrator and the voice of the character.

All of which is to say that the main character of my next story is not a very nice person and it would serve him right if someone washed his mouth out with soap.

OK, yes, still procrastinating.

Circling the Goal

I recently bemoaned over at Twitter that I didn't have an ending yet for a story I'm working on. I've been working on it this week while I'm vacation. Now the problem I have is that I have two possible endings. One is dramatic/hopeful. The other is tragic/literary/a real downer. The artist in me wants to have the main character learn nothing and become a victim of his own misogynist prejudice. In the happier ending, I still leave him at the bottom of a hole created by his misogyny, but he has a ladder to get out of it.

Decisions, decisions.

I'm also still torn on what image to use for the cover. I try to use something that's evocative of a scene in the story. For "Head Games," I used a picture of a head / face that I hope looks at least a little like it could be one of the women in the story, decapitated and plugged into an alien computer system. "The High Price of Inflation" and "Airhead" are both meant to show the main character in his female form as depicted in one of the story's more erotic moments, as a way to better reflect the nature of the content. The somewhat generic cover for "The Party Favor" is more innocent with its balloons and bare legs, precisely because the content is less erotic. Whatever the story, I try to pick something sexy, or at least fun and feminine to look at.

I suppose I have found a cover image or two that could work. Now I just have to make a decision. (Decisions, decisions.) All of which is to say this post is me procrastinating.

Time to dive in and do some work.

New Story: "Airhead"

I know, I know ... nothing published for so long, then so many all at once. This is what comes of procrastination. Having hoarded these stories so long, I have a lot to share. Enjoy it while it lasts. By the end of summer, I'm going to be out of things to publish.

"Airhead" is the sequel to "The High Price of Inflation." Two down, two to go!

Story Description:

Trapped in her new existence as an inflatable love doll, this former man's future seems grim at best. When change comes for her at long last, she's grateful to escape the prison her life has become. Given the smallest taste of freedom, her past as a man may not be enough to prevent her from embracing a future as not just a woman, but as the willing slave to the man that stole her life.

(Transgender Erotic Fiction, Approximately 6,100 words)

"Airhead" includes some pretty graphic sex, some minor BDSM and the literal objectification of a woman. Can't get too sassy with your man when he can pull your plug and turn you into a limp piece of inert plastic at any moment! The story comes in at 11 pages in my preferred format. Amazon's estimate is 16 pages. For $2.99, the price is right. It reads best if you've read the first part of the story, but there's enough of a recap at the beginning to get the new reader up to speed. Why not check it out today?

New Story: "The Party Favor"

My latest story is up at Amazon. "The Party Favor" is a story that's been complete for a long time, sitting on my hard drive gathering dust. Or electrons. Or whatever it is files gather when they sit around too long without being accessed.

It was started in 2006, left half-finished for six years, then finished in February of 2012. I blogged about it HERE. I had to remove some content from the original version of the story to avoid referencing a well-known licensed character and two celebrities. The astute reader might catch the remnants of those edits. I also left a couple in, but I think they both fall pretty squarely under fair use. I hope. (Please don't sue me.)

If you're looking for a sex romp, this isn't it. It's more social than sexual, exploring the best and worst in male social behavior, which the main character has to endure while transformed. If you want something with more sex, why not check out "The High Price of Inflation?" Its follow-up, the second of four stories, is going to be coming out at the end of the month. I want it available to everyone before the July 4th weekend.

Story Description:

As a favor to a girl that he likes, a man agrees to what he thinks will be a temporary transformation. Surrounded by his friends, he begins realize that the transformation has altered not just how others see him, but also how he sees himself. Who he is and who he will be is something that the night's events will lead him to discover.

(Transgender Erotic Fiction, Approximately 44,300 words)

This story came in at 91 pages in my typical format. I didn't want to price it at $9.10, or even $8.95, so I used the reduced page count when formatted for Amazon, which was a lean 67 pages. Those blank lines between paragraphs add up quick. Because of that, the price is $6.50.

This means I'm now out of longer stories to make available. I'm very close to finishing one longer one (tentative title of BaM) which I plan on putting out in mid-July. More news on that to come.