By
Linda Nightingale (Guest Blogger)
Houston,
Texas to host the first sex doll brothel in America? NO, said the Mayor, that
single syllable resounding around this country. Immediately, the
city council amended an existing ordinance to forbid business patrons
from engaging in sexual congress with inanimate objects.
Not
so the rest of the world.
At
Aura Dolls, a love doll brothel in Toronto, clients pay $120 an hour
plus $90 per half-hour to do whatever they desire to the six dolls on
staff. Aura’s employees ‘freshen up’ the dolls between
appointments, taking various safety precautions. The Toronto brothel
is not the first of its kind. Similar enterprises can be found in
Barcelona, Moscow, and Turin, Italy.
I
was surprised that the Toronto firm chose Houston of all places to
open its first brothel in the United States. I lived in Houston for
14 yeas, and it is a rather traditional and not the most liberal
city. The brothel seemed destined to fail in its endeavor to open its
doors.
In
addition to the religious, legal, and moral issues, the sex doll
brothel industry faces certain other disadvantages like the high cost
of their ‘prostitutes’ themselves. A customized Real Doll costs
about $6,000. Then we have the legal ramifications. The love doll
brothels exist in a somewhat gray area. They don’t violate most
state prostitution laws, but the intense moral opposition to sex work
in the US will probably constitute an almost insurmountable barrier
to robot sex workers..
Since
the 1970s when Ben Skora created his human-like robot, Americans have
been fearful of being replaced by robots. In some industries, this
has proven true. There’s a humanlike newscaster and Sophia has
appeared before the UN. These are androids as opposed to love dolls.
Will this be true for sex workers or will flesh-and-blood win over
silicones? A man in England—with his wife’s permission!—married
his love doll.
Oddly
enough, both of my Tomorrow's Angels books are set in Houston. Go figure. I’m psychic!
There
has always been a demand for prostitutes. That fact is unlikely to
change. Some of the opposition has even said it is degrading to
machines. Not to get into robot rights, but does degrading machines
compare to human women being degraded in similar circumstances?
I
found out about the love dolls when a friend in Texas messaged me on
Facebook. She said only, “Love For Sale.” (the title of the
first book in the Tomorrow’s Angels series). Love For Sale
and my new release, Life for Sale, star sentient androids
indistinguishable from human who’re programmed as loving
companions. The Special Editions created by Mayfair Electronics have
emotions and react like a human. They are intelligent and charming.
They’re everything you could want in a lover, but would you be
creeped out?
Blurb
Mayfair
Electronics has created life.
But
four of their Special Editions—sentient androids indistinguishable
from human—have escaped. Rebel, Christian Aguillard and his owner,
March, are on the run, but they have a bigger problem than his
creator's plan to destroy him. They've discovered that one of the
renegades has suffered a dangerous malfunction, threatening them with
more than just exposure.
Trapped
on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic, March and Christian
must stop the insane robot before someone else dies. All the evidence
points to March being the killer's next victim.
Excerpt
“Why
are you here? To spout more nonsense?” Spitting mad, Monica reared
up in her enemy’s face.
“Not
at all.” March’s hand flashed, almost too rapidly for Monica to
see, and came down hard below her nose in a Judo-like attack.
Shocked
and in pain, she stumbled back, switching modes as she pushed off the
bed. “That’s it, whore. You’re a dead woman.”
“I
don’t think so,” her rival gritted out, hands braced on her hips,
her expression as cold and hard as her mediocre brown eyes. She shook
her head. “Look, Monica, I know you’re aware of your actions. I’m
going to give you a chance. You must deactivate until we can safely
transport you to Dr. Cross for testing. Surely, you know something is
wrong.”
“As
they say in the films, you and whose army?” She squared her
shoulders, preparing to strike without notice. “I didn’t do
anything to that bloody dog. I didn’t do anything to you, fool.”
“You
didn’t mention Anne.” The other woman seized Monica’s arm.
“What did you do to Anne?”
Claws
out, Monica lunged. March darted beneath her guard, stabbing at a
spot beneath her left earlobe. Monica shoved her back. “Looking for
my off switch, fool? It’s well hidden, like where Ms. Goodie Two
Shoes wouldn’t even think about going.”
Her
insane human rival stood at the locked door, her stance as much as
saying to leave Monica would have to get past her. No prob. She
stalked toward her rival, murder in her eyes. March didn’t move.
When Monica threw a punch at her eye, she moved by the gods.
The
American whore lurched back, crossing her arms across her face,
anticipating Monica’s next attack. Forearm struck forearm. A human
bone should break, but March stood her ground, her limb intact. She
recovered too quickly, dealing Monica a hard blow beneath her
cheekbone, barely missing her eye, slamming her back against the
wall.
“I
don’t know what you are, March Morgan,” she sneered. “But it’s
not going to save your butt.”
“No,
but I am.” Looking like an avenging angel, Christian—in a
Houston t-shirt and khaki shorts, his long hair disheveled—had
somehow appeared behind March without either of them hearing.
Praise
for Linda Nightingales’ Life for Sale
Linda
Nightingale’s Life for Sale takes the characters from Love
for Sale and sets them on a dangerous adventure for these
androids posing as human. After fleeing at the end of the first book,
they are trying to hide from the watchful eye of Mayfair, but decide
a reunion is in order. One of the four, however, is suffering a
murderous malfunction. The resulting story is not so much a murder
mystery as it is a study of a chaotic mind, albeit lab created, yet
eerily human in its madness. Nightingale has seamlessly made the
unbelievable believable for the reader with a totally unexpected, but
thoroughly satisfying ending to this duet. Imaginative premise, well
developed characters and an insight into a mind gone wrong make this
a great read…S. Hutchinson
Buy
Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D2Z5XLC
About
Love for Sale – first book in the Tomorrow’s Angels series
In
Love for Sale, Mayfair Electronics company, in black and white,
offers “love for sale”. Mayfair has engineered sentient androids
indistinguishable from humans. March Morgan flies to England and
meets the man she has been searching for her entire life. Christian
requires no programming to love March at first sight, but her past
and his future soon threaten their happiness—and their lives.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XCZ6EVY
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XCZ6EVY
About
the Author
After
14 years in Texas, Linda returned home to her roots in the South
Carolina red clay. She has eight published novels, four of which are
available from Audible.com in audio. For many years, she bred,
trained and showed the magnificent Andalusian horses. So, she’s
seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a
horse trailer. She’s won several writing awards, including the
Georgia Romance Writers’ Magnolia Award for Excellence, the Raven
Award, and the SARA Merritt. In real life, she was a legal assistant.
Author
Links
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/LNightingale
Web
Site: http://www.lindanightingale.com
– Visit and look around. There’s a free continuing vampire story.
Blog:
https://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/
- Lots of interesting guests & prizes
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/lbnightingale1/
