Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts

Monday, July 29, 2019

Perception -- #Psychology #OlderWomanYoungerMan #FreeReadingFest #Prizes

Psychology

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
 
He was late, of course. They always were. Undergraduates these days had no sense of responsibility. They didn't seem to understand that she had a schedule to keep. Her time was scarce and constantly overcommitted. Fortunately, he was her last subject of the day, but she had a long night of work ahead of her nevertheless.

And the way they dressed. He's probably arrive in a stretched-out tee shirt, jeans bagging around his ankles and a baseball cap turned backward. Never mind that she was a member of the faculty. Respect? She snorted to herself. That went out with the twentieth century, or maybe the nineteenth.

Of course the girls were just as bad, with their universally blonde hair and bare midriffs, pierced navels and painted-on jeans. Just like the one that Allen had screwed, blatant sexuality and no substance.

Dr. Knowles grimaced as the familiar pain lanced through her. Damn him! It shouldn't hurt so much, two years later, but she couldn't help it. Despite everything, she had loved him, loved him still, never mind that he was a totally different creature from her. Gregarious, easygoing, imperturbable, with that quick, crooked smile and those ever-so-blue eyes. Relaxed and comfortable in his lithe, lanky body, while the tension sang through her frame. His students loved him, and no wonder; the way he clowned and postured in his classes, he was more an actor than a teacher. He always appeared to be enjoying himself. Sometimes she envied him, even though she knew that she was more intelligent and a better scientist.

His bitter laughter echoed in her memory, from that awful night when she had finally confronted him with his infidelity. "What do you expect, Jessie, when you're so frigid? I swear, your work turns you on more than I do!"

It wasn't true. She ached at the sight of him, his taut muscles and fluid movements. She adored the heat of him, breathing against her neck, coaxing her legs apart with his own. There was just something in her that couldn't quite let go, perhaps some remnant of the iron control she had needed to exercise in order to get where she was in her career. Whatever it was, he sensed it. At the deepest level, he never touched her.

Perhaps, after all, she had never really trusted him. Of course, in the final analysis, he had hardly proved himself trustworthy.

Maybe she was lucky to be rid of him. Since the divorce, she had no conflicting demands on her time, but could focus entirely on her research. She should be grateful. It was just a question of adjusting her perceptions.

A soft knock on the door of the lab interrupted her musings. Finally! "Come in," she called, steeling herself for the ordeal of the next half hour. Sometimes she wished that she had specialized in animal behavior instead of human cognition.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Knowles. Sorry that I'm late."

He was not what she had expected. He appeared more mature than the typical student subject, in his midtwenties at least, with angular features and frizzy ginger hair pulled into a ponytail. He wore well-fitting jeans that were faded but clean, an elaborately embroidered shirt, a leather vest and cowboy boots. Nobody dressed like that these days. His flamboyance reminded her of someone she might have known back when she was a student. She gave him a half-smile.

"Good afternoon, Mr. --" She consulted the signup sheet -- "Murphy. Thank you for volunteering for to participate in my study. If you will please read and sign this release, we can get started."

Her subject fixed her with startling eyes the color of jade. "Whatever you say, Dr. Knowles. But please, call me Ian."

His stare made her feel extremely odd. The room wavered for a moment, like air shimmering above hot pavement. She was relieved when he sat down in the chair to her left and bent over the clipboard to read the legalese of the document. She turned to her computer and typed in the passcode to begin the experiment.

The lab control program generated a number for him, and then randomly assigned him to one of the three experimental treatments. Group S. Her stomach knotted. If only he had been in Group A, for athletics, or even Group V. He seemed very relaxed, not at all the violent type; she wondered if the aggression materials would have affected him at all. But the S group... Dr. Knowles swallowed hard, opened her desk drawer, and pulled out a copy of a girly magazine.

"Now, Mr. Murphy -- Ian. The purpose of this study is to investigate how emotion influences perception. For the next ten minutes, I'd like you to read this publication. Then we'll perform some tests using the tachistoscope."

"The what?" Ian grinned at her, jeweled eyes flashing. She felt a flush climbing into her cheeks. Something told her that he was teasing her. "'Tackystascope'? Is that for measuring how tacky something is?"

"Of course not. A tachistoscope is a device that exposes visual stimuli for very brief periods of time. Fractions of a second." Embarrassment made her tone frosty. But why should she be embarrassed? "It allows us to evaluate perception without the influence of conscious thought."

"Really?" Now she was sure that he was mocking her. "Fascinating!"

"Please read the magazine, Mr. Murphy. I'll let you know when it's time to move on to the next phase of the experiment."

Ian just smiled, and began leafing through the images of smooth, abundant flesh. Dr. Knowles set the timer and tried to ignore him, reviewing some notes from a previous study. But her eyes were repeatedly drawn to the pictures that he was so eagerly perusing.

Here was a woman bent over so that the globes of her derriere filled most of the page. She was looking back over her shoulder, an inviting half-smile pouting on her lips. Despite herself, Dr. Knowles felt a stirring between her thighs. The woman in the picture seemed so -- accessible. Dr. Knowles forced her attention back to the computer screen, but the whisper of a page turning pulled her eyes back to the tabloid.

Now the image was of a slender black beauty, her skin shining as though oiled. She cupped her breasts in her palms, offering them to the photographer. Her thumbs strummed over her nipples, which were the size and color of roasted almonds. Against the slick chocolate of her face, the woman's teeth were shockingly white.

Dr. Knowles' own nipples tightened in sympathy, pressing uncomfortably against the starched cotton of her blouse. Her panty hose were suddenly hot and constraining, and outrageously damp in the crotch. What was going on here? She had looked at these images a hundred times without any kind of reaction. She had chosen these stimuli. Why were they suddenly having this effect?

Ian glanced up and she hastily turned back to her monitor, but she knew that he had caught her surreptitiously examining the photos. Her cheeks flamed, and the ache grew in her sex. She was careful not to look up again until the timer rang, marking the end of the conditioning phase.

"Now then, Mr. Murphy, we'll move on to the next stage of the experiment. Sit here, please." She indicated the high, backless stool in front of the tachistoscope eyepiece, which stood on a table against the right wall. "I want you to look through here. Everything will be dark. Then I'll show you some pictures, very briefly, and I want you to describe what you see. Don't be concerned if you cannot grasp the entire scene; these pictures are deliberately designed to be complex. I just want you to tell me what first catches your attention."

"I'd rather continue looking at the Playboy," her subject said with another of those disturbing grins. "But I suppose that I need to follow your instructions. For the sake of science."

"If you please." She stepped aside so that he could reach the equipment, feeling the familiar frustration that the university had given her such a cramped laboratory space. She deserved better.

Despite the close quarters, there should have been plenty of room for Ian Murphy to pass her. Nevertheless, as he did, he deliberately brushed against her, hip to hip. Startled, she pulled away, and slammed her backside into the computer desk. "Damn!" she hissed under her breath. It hurt. She'd have a bruise tomorrow. Meanwhile, she still felt the ghost of his touch, a kind of warm pressure that didn't abate even though he was now sitting tamely in front of the apparatus.

Murphy was looking at her, clearly amused. Her cheeks burned.

"Sorry," she apologized lamely. "This room is a bit tight."

"No problem. So, I just look through these goggles?"

"That's right."

"It's all black."

"The pictures will start in a moment." She turned and clicked the button on the screen that initiated the experimental sequence. After a second, the light in the tachistoscope flashed, briefly.

"Wow!"

"What did you see?"

"It's a street scene, someplace picturesque. Paris, maybe. There's a couple, a man and a woman."

"Yes?"

"It was hard to see, but I think they were in an alley off to the side. Her back was against the wall. I think that her skirt was raised."

A thrill of satisfaction coursed through Dr. Knowle's upright frame. The apparatus flashed again.

"Hmm..."

"What did you see this time?"

"A naked woman."

"Anything else?"

"She's on a balcony. One foot is on the railing, and she has one hand between her legs. She's jacking off."

Jessica Knowles blushed deeply. There was a woman in the picture, along with cars, buses, a hot air balloon, a crowd gathered around a unicyclist, an armed holdup taking place off in a corner, two dogs sparring in the foreground. But the woman was clothed, and definitely was not touching herself.

"Are you sure?" She shouldn't be questioning his perceptions; it might ruin the experiment. But she couldn't help herself. She'd never had a subject respond so strongly to the pre-exposure sensitization.

"Well, it went by pretty fast, but I could swear that her mouth was open and she was coming. I could almost hear her."

She gave him a sharp glance, but he was still peering into the scope, waiting for the next image. His right hand was in his lap, though, and she was horrified to realize that he was languidly stroking a substantial erection through the worn denim of his trousers.

Jessica was sweating now. This man played havoc with her objectivity. Perhaps she should terminate the experiment right now. The computer sent another image to the 'scope. Murphy sucked in his breath.

"Whew! That's hot!"

"What is?"

"It's a threesome. Two guys and a woman, mounted between them. She's, like, suspended from their cocks. One in her pussy and one in her ass. Her feet aren't even touching the ground!"

"Mr. Murphy!" Jessica felt panic, but her voice was ice. "Don't play games with me! Tell me what you really see."

"I swear, Dr. Knowles, that is what I see. Come and look for yourself."

Flustered and annoyed, Jessica clicked to pause the sequence, then again to loop the last stimulus. Murphy relinquished the stool; she had to hike up her skirt to get onto the high seat. She felt his eyes on her legs as she got settled.

She took a deep breath and lowered her eyes to the viewing port. For a moment that seemed to stretch for hours, she stared into the blackness, her heart pounding in her ears. A faint trace of a scent reached her nostrils -- sweat and man-musk. It reminded her vividly, painfully, of Allen. Then the fluorescent bulbs flashed, illuminating the scene for an instant.

She wasn't prepared, wasn't paying attention. The scene was a jumble of lines and curves; she couldn't make any sense of it at all. Releasing the breath she was holding, Dr. Knowles tried to relax and concentrate.

"What did you see?" Ian asked, alarmingly close. "Did you see them?"

"No..." There was a disturbing quaver in her own voice. "No, I didn't see anything. I wasn't ready."

"Pay attention, Jessie," he whispered. Then two events occurred simultaneously. The tachistoscope flashed again, repeating the image in question. At the same moment, Ian reached his arms around her and cupped her breasts in both palms.

"Oh!" She cried out in surprise and dismay. Because she caught a glimpse, just a hint, a tangle of naked bodies, left of center in the scene. Her field of vision went dark, but the afterimage burned in her brain. She didn't know which she found more shocking, the unexpectedly lurid perception, or the fact that her subject was now unbuttoning her blouse and sliding his fingers across her bare bosom. She had always thought that it was ridiculous for her to wear a bra, considering how flat-chested she was, but in his grasp, her breasts felt fleshy, full, and exquisitely sensitive.

"You must pay attention, now. Don't ruin the experiment." His voice in her ear was honey, warm, sticky, dangerously sweet. The tachistoscope lit up again, and now the image was clear, the rutting threesome drawn in obscene detail. The woman's back was arched, her head thrown back, her mouth wide with a scream of ecstasy. The view went dark just as her subject grasped both her nipples and twisted them hard.

"Oh, please..." she moaned. She had no idea what she was pleading for. Her sex was damp and heavy. The throbbing that his fingers induced in her nipples echoed between her legs. She continued to gaze into the eyepiece, not daring to look at the man who was teasing, was tormenting her.

The instrument lit up again. It should have been the same image, but now Jessie could swear that the man whose penis had been buried in the woman's pussy now had removed it, and was forcing its rampant length down her throat. Then again, darkness.

"No, no, it can't be..." The fingers on her body began to wander downward, across her belly, but were foiled by the waistband of her skirt.

"Put your feet on the rungs and lift yourself off the seat, Jessie. You can put your hands on the table for support. But don't stop looking into the machine."

Why was she obeying him? Her confusion was complete. He loomed behind her; heat radiated from his body, so close, too close. She squirmed nervously as she felt him raising her skirt from behind, hitching down her hose and panties, baring her buttocks. She should scream, should resist somehow. Instead, she stared into the tachistoscope, surrendering to the lascivious scene that was playing itself out before her eyes.

"Arch your back so that I can reach your butt," he murmured. "Yes, that's right, that's perfect."

His hands were cool on her rear cheeks, and gentle at first. Then he pulled the globes apart, roughly. Fear shot through her, as another picture filled her field of vision, the woman's bum held open and exposed by one of her companions, her recently reamed anus gaping. She tried to speak, to protest, but somehow the words died in her throat. Her breath left her completely when he bent over and fastened his mouth on her sex.

He was brusque and forceful, stabbing into her folds with his hot tongue. She felt him nip painfully at her clit, then the pain dissolved into radiating waves of pleasure. She didn't realize that she pushing backward, grinding herself into his face, riding his tongue like a jockey riding a mount. Her attention was momentarily distracted by the picture that flashed before her, the woman now dangling by her wrists from above, her legs held open by the two men while someone she could not quite make out plunged an enormous dildo into the woman's vagina.

"Ah..." The vision burned into her retina and the rasp of his tongue against her swollen clit set up a reverberating circuit. With each wet stroke, her mind elaborated the picture, noticing the juices streaming from the woman's crotch, the veins on the artificial cock as it was pulled stickily out of her, the woman's taut muscles as she strained toward her climax. With each new lascivious detail that Jessie noticed or imagined, her own cunt gushed and grew more sensitive.

The 'scope flashed again and now Jessie could see that the person wielding the dildo was a second woman, raven-haired with pendulous breasts and meaty thighs. The scientist melted into an animal as simultaneously the 'scope went dark and Ian thrust three fingers into her lubricious depths. Grinding herself against his hand, she felt the first shimmers of an orgasm, flickering in the distance. It had been so long, too long...

She shut her eyes, unable to bear the intensity. The lights flashed again, and even through closed lids, she could swear she saw the dark woman burying her fist in the other's cunt. Her moan sounded obscenely loud in the small room.

"Tell me, Jessie," Ian said softly, the hint of mockery still there even as his fingers danced inside her. "Tell me what you want."

"No... don't call me that. He used to call me that."

"Your husband? He was a fool to let you go, Jessie. So what should I call you then? Jessica seems too formal, don't you agree?" He flicked his thumb across her engorged clit, making her squirm. "Jess? Jezebel? How about that, my scarlet woman? You seem quite inclined toward fornication this evening."

"Oh..." Jessie could not speak. The orgasm crept closer, teasing her.

"Tell me what you want, Jezebel, and I'll give it to you." He suddenly slipped a finger into her anus, and she screamed at the deliciously rude invasion.

She couldn't see him, behind her, but she could imagine his grin. She was mortified and at the same time eager, eager to have him use her, to open her body to him. The tachistoscope flashed another image, but now she was fully occupied by the sensations he was generating in her sex, and the tantalizing, distant vision of her climax on her body's horizon.

"What do you want?" he whispered in her ear, wriggling a slick digit deep into her bottom. "Say it."

She could barely choke out the words. "Please... please, make love to me."

"Make love?" he laughed. "No, that's not quite right, is it? Say it. You can say it, Jezebel. You won't shock me."

"Fuck me," she whimpered, finally, undone by his mouth and hands. "I want you to fuck me."

"All you had to do was ask," he said softly. He turned her around to face him. His cock protruded from his jeans, jutting proudly toward the ceiling. She blushed, then moaned as he lifted her from the stool and settled her on that thick stalk of flesh. The sensation of him sliding into her was both strange and wonderfully familiar. With thighs and cunt muscles, she gripped him hard as he carried her over to the narrow bench on the opposite side of the room.

Holding her up by her naked buttocks, he hooked the bench with his foot and pulled it away from the wall. Then he set her with her back against the polished wood, momentarily pulling out of her. She could not help grimacing at the obscene slurping sound her cunt made, reluctantly releasing his penis. Ian grinned, straddled her, and drove his cock back into her, pinning her to the bench.

For a moment, the force took her breath away. Then the pleasure welled up inside her, wave after wave, synchronized with his fierce thrusts. She tilted her pelvis, twisted against him, trying to force him deeper. His penis grazed her womb, and the twinge of pain only brought the pleasure into higher relief. Teasing her still, he nearly withdrew, lightly rubbing the bulb of his cock against her engorged and aching clit. Electricity shot through her. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed.

"Pay attention, Jessie," he reminded her. "Look at me." She fixed her gaze on his eyes, which were bottomless green pools. She felt transparent, light, suddenly free of her past, her present, her self. As he sank back into her depths, she clutched his shoulders and relaxed her cunt, opening to his probing. He went deeper than anyone ever had before. Her climax hovered nearby, just out of reach.

"You don't recognize me, do you?" he gasped between thrusts. She arched toward him in silent answer. "Two years ago. I was in your Psych 202 class. Sat in the very front." He slammed his cock into her, suddenly angry. "You never noticed me, though, did you? You weren't paying attention..."

He eased his attack, became more gentle. "God, I loved to watch you. You seemed so cool and competent, a creature of intellect, not passion. But I knew. I could feel your frustration. I always knew that I could give you what you wanted, what you needed... When I heard your husband had left you, I thought, good riddance."

"When I saw you on campus, though, you always seemed to be deep in thought; I didn't want to interrupt. I sensed that you weren't ready. Not yet..."

His thrusts accelerated suddenly. He pistoned in and out of her, faster than she could have imagined, fractions of a second, instantaneous, driving himself, driving her to the peak. Then all at once she was there, at the top and tumbling over the edge into blissful oblivion, laughing and crying at once as she felt him pumping his own release into her.

It was dark when she regained control of her thoughts. She lay there still, in disarray upon the hard bench, her back and buttocks deliciously bruised.

Her cunt was empty, but still vibrating with recollections of pleasure. Semen had dribbled out all over her skirt, which was bunched beneath her.

The room was empty, she could feel it. He was gone.

Her mind whirled. She would have to throw out his data. Maybe the whole experiment had been rendered invalid... What had happened, anyway? Had he somehow tampered with the lab control software? But that wasn't possible, the lab was secure, she was sure of it... Did she have his phone number, his email address? She'd have to get back in touch, to apologize, to make amends for her totally unprofessional behavior...

Without her realizing it, her hand drifted to her pussy and casually grazed her still-sensitive clit. A bolt of excitement shot through her, leaving delicious echoes in its wake. The tachistoscope, still cycling in its loop, flashed in the dark room. She remembered the images of concupiscence it had revealed and smiled to herself, stroking one finger slowly between her slippery labia.

Never mind working tonight. She needed a long, hot bath. She'd think about the experimental implications tomorrow. And she was nearly certain, yes, quite sure, that she had included a field for email address on the volunteer sign-up sheet. It wouldn't have been like her to omit an important detail like that.

Remember – I’m giving away a bunch of prizes during my Free Reading Fest. Leave a comment with your email and you might be one of my winners!

Friday, November 16, 2018

Facts are not enough - #Research #VictorianErotica #ElectricPlay

Circular Library

Research is an integral part of writing, even in fiction. When you're an author, you've got to get it right. Some readers take insane glee in pointing out gaffes and discrepancies. Have your ancient Roman characters drinking tea, your Elizabethans using the word “clitoris”, your Dom swinging a cane made of bamboo (I've been pointedly informed that bamboo is too brittle for a cane and that rattan is the preferred material), and you may find yourself ridiculed throughout the blogosphere. Even a more forgiving reader can be distracted from your story by some detail that just doesn't fit. Every author's goal is to build a fictional world in which readers can happily lose themselves. To the extent that this world is inconsistent or unbelievable, the author will fail.

If you write only about characters who share your class, ethnicity and culture, or if you set your stories in a non-specific contemporary locale, you may not need to do much research. However, this can get pretty boring. Thinking about my own work, I find that there are four situations that dictate the need for research.

Geographic or location-oriented research: When I'm setting a story in a specific location (as I usually do), I often research landmarks, place names, or spatial relationships. I don't need to give my readers a map, but I may need one myself in order to write convincingly.

Cultural research: If my characters are something other than white, western, and well-educated, I need to check on things like vocabulary, slang and tone. I also need to understand the characters' assumptions, the way they look at the world and how that is different from my own perspective.

Sexual research: There are many sexual practices that I haven't personally tried (though you might not think that from some of my previous posts!). In erotica, it is especially important to research the details of the fetish or sexual subculture you are describing. I've read many BDSM stories that struck me as ridiculous rather than arousing because the practices described were inaccurate and reflected a lack of research on the part of the author.

Historical research: Writing in a period other than the present probably requires the most intensive research activity. Every aspect of life depends on the historical period, from costumes, food, transportation and economics to language and world view.

Some authors adore doing research. I gather that for some authors, research actually distracts them from the writing process. They get pulled deeper and deeper into the worlds they are exploring, searching for the next level of detail, putting off writing as they gather knowledge that they might not ever use.

Personally I view research as something of a necessary evil. I'll spend the time I need to answer my questions, but I am always eager to get back to the story itself. I have observed that too much research carries risks—the author feels compelled to use all the nifty information she has uncovered, and ultimately, this distracts from the story. Normally, I'll let the story itself drive my research activity. Before I begin, I'll spend some time reading about the period, the people or the practices on which I'm focusing, but then I'll stop, only returning to my search when I have a question.

Geographic research is fairly straightforward, given the resources on the Internet. I also have two shelves full of travel guidebooks which I use extensively. I'm fortunate in that I've traveled quite a lot. Frequently I'll set a story in a city or country that I've visited. Even so, I will often need to check on details. “Prey”, for example, is set in Prague, but I wrote it nearly ten years after I visited that wondrous city. I spent quite a lot of time poring over maps and trying to reconcile them with my recollections. Necessary Madness takes place in Worcester, Massachusetts and its environs. I lived in central Massachusetts for more than twenty years, but I still find that I need to jog my memory. Of course, if a tale is set somewhere that I've never visited, like Guatemala (Serpent's Kiss) or Assam, India (Monsoon Fever), I have to rely entirely on external information, supplemented by analogy with places I have been.

Cultural research is particularly tough for me. Not foreign cultures—if I've visited a place, I usually have at least a rudimentary sense of the people and how they communicate. But in capturing the subtleties of other western subcultures, I have problems. The American south, for instance, has a particular flavor of discourse. Likewise the American west. I've tried to write criminals and mafia and stuttered badly. One difficulty is the fact that you can't search directly for the kind of cultural markers that make a character seem genuine. The best way to pick them up is to actually meet an individual from that culture. The second best method is to read other people's work featuring characters from the same subculture.

Sexual research is always fun, and not too much of problem. The 'Net overflows with didactic material on various fetishes as well as content that can serve as exemplars. My story “Body Electric”, in D&S Duos 1, features electric play, which I've never personally experienced. I had no trouble finding information on electric toys and the effects that they produce. Even my BDSM critic (the one who chided me over the bamboo cane) did not find fault with the result!

Historical research, of course, can go on forever. About a third of my novel Miranda’s Masks takes place in Victorian Boston. The physical environment was fairly easy; I had lived in Beacon Hill, which actually hasn't changed much since that period. However, I spent considerable time, effort and money researching costumes (Victorian clothing was extremely complex, with lots of special vocabulary), transportation, and the differences between social classes. I also read up on Victorian erotica, which was the subject of my heroine Miranda's dissertation, using Steven Marcus' encyclopedic though annoying tome The Other Victorians.

Even a historical short story requires an inordinate amount of work. Shortest Night, set in Shakespeare's London, took me nearly twice as long to write as a normal story, because I was working so hard to be true to the period. After all that effort, my editor still picked up a variety of words that were too modern for Elizabethan times. (I was extremely impressed.)

It's tough to get the facts right. Unfortunately, even if you do, that may not be enough. To accomplish the objective of creating a compelling, believable fictional world, an author needs more than a raft of detail. It's critical to have what I can only call a “feel” for that world—an intuitive sense of how it works and how its denizens think, feel and behave.

It's never possible to answer every research question. Sometimes I have to rely on imagination. But this only works if I can understand the people and places I am trying to portray, at a gut level. How do you acquire this sort of intuition? You won't find it on Google. For me, building a rich, nuanced picture of the world where I'm setting my story requires more personal experience. Reading original sources, including fiction, from a period can help. Visiting a museum or the actual site is a possibility. Ultimately, though, I find the process a bit mysterious.

Sometimes no amount of research will help. Several years ago I visited the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. During the twelfth century, the city of Angkor had more than a million inhabitants. It was the largest settlement in the world. I was fascinated by the civilization that had built such impressive monuments, only to disintegrate back into a village culture, and I had an idea for a time-slip erotic romance set partially during that period.

I set about reading everything I could find about Cambodia and Angkor. I spent lots of money on books. I went to museums. I scoured the Web. Somehow, the intuitive sense of those people eluded me. I just couldn't picture them, understand who they were and how they thought. I could look up all the historical details in the many books I bought, but my imagination remained bone dry. I've shelved the project for the moment, hoping that at some point I'll have some experience that triggers the sort of comprehension and empathy that I need to be able to proceed.

Research the facts. That's the starting point, sure. But developing a sense of your world, to the point where you can trust your guesses—that's far more difficult. Ultimately, it's a kind of magic. Like creating stories in the first place.

Monday, June 18, 2018

A Real Place for a Story - #HistoricalRomance #CivilWar #Nursing

A Place in Your Heart cover

By Kathy Otten (Guest Blogger)

My new novel, A Place In Your Heart, takes place mostly at Armory Square Hospital in Washington, DC. In doing research for the day to day organization of a hospital at that time, I relied heavily on the book, Diary of a Civil War Nurse by Amanda Akin, who had been a nurse at Armory Square.

Before the war began, Washington was a relatively rural town with limited medical accommodations. There were no military hospitals and very few medical facilities.

By the end of the war there were over 56 hospitals in and around the Capitol.

The military soon realized that the current facilities were inadequate and public buildings were turned into hospitals. One wing of the Patent Office became the Patent Office Hospital. Patients were cared for within the walls of the Capitol. Reynolds Barracks Hospital was set up on what is now the south lawn of the White House.

Other buildings used as hospitals included Georgetown College, Water’s Warehouse, and St. Elizabeth’s Insane Asylum. Hotels and private schools were taken over for a monthly fee.

Soldiers were kept in field hospitals and when the regimental tents filled up, nearby homes were commandeered. Sick and wounded were only sent to the Washington hospitals after their conditions had worsened to the point of barely being able to survive the trip.

Because of the informal set up of these Washington hospitals, security and privacy for the sick were non-existent. People wandered in and out, looking for wounded friends and family. Pastors came into pray and convert the wounded. Patients became the victims of theft.

Mothers, wives and sisters were allowed to care for their loved ones. But they tended to ignore soldiers in adjacent beds or would only help those wounded from a particular state, and would scoff at Confederate wounded.

These hospitals averaged about 500 beds. Sanitation and ventilation were poor. The hospitals were not heated well. There was no sterilization of instruments and used bandages littered the floors.

As a result, blood poisoning, tetanus and gangrene were common. Mosquitoes and flies abounded spreading malaria and other diseases.

Wounded soldiers were fed the same food as soldiers in the field. Cornmeal and hard tack, fried in pork grease. Fruits and vegetables were never fresh and seldom available. Scurvy and malnutrition was rampant.

In June of 1861 the U.S. Sanitary Commission was organized. Their purpose was to give advice based on the most current medical knowledge of the day. Its goal was efficient, decent health care for the sick and wounded. The Commission directors were men of high professional standards and had the political means to apply pressure when needed. The Sanitary Commission became the driving force of Civil War Hospitals.

Armory Square Hospital, where most of my story takes place was one of six model hospitals built in 1862 according to the specifications of the Sanitary Commission. It was located on 7th St. across from the grounds of the Smithsonian, just beyond the canal, which itself was little more than an open sewer at that time, with floating dead cats and reeking with fetid odors.

Armory Square Hospital

The hospital consisted of eleven long pavilion style buildings placed side by side with their gables facing the front and rear of the grounds.

There was a main pavilion which functioned as an administration building. It contained a reception room and offices for the surgeon in charge, a man named Doctor D. Willard Bliss.

Also inside was a dispensary, a linen room, post office, and officers quarters, (where my hero, Dr. Charles Ellard had a room).

A general kitchen, laundry and mess hall occupied the rear portion of the building.

The remaining 10 pavilions were positioned 5 on each side of the administration building. Each ward was 149x25 ft. with an average height of about 13ft. and held about 50 beds.

Covered walkways connected the wards rather than closed corridors designed to improve ventilation in the sick rooms.

A side door opened about half way down near a cabinet with a table and chair in front of it.

Each ward held about 50 beds. A section at the rear served as a dining room (grub room) and lodging for female nurses. There was an area partitioned off (the wall didn’t go all the way the ceiling), and it closed with a curtain. At the end of the ward were the bathroom, water-closet, knapsack room and the ward master’s room.

 Patients in the ward

In the summer of 1863 the hospital received a $300.00 donation and new quarters were built for the lady nurses.

Ward E is the ward where Amanda Akin worked as well as my heroine Gracie McBride.

At Armory Square Doctor D. Bliss was the surgeon in charge of all the wards. Each ward had a surgeon, who had an orderly. At times a surgeon and his orderly might handle two wards. Each ward had a nurse who also had an orderly. There was a ward master and a cadet surgeon to dress wounds. Three attendants to each ward and 2 night watchers. Nurses were generally men, soldiers assigned the duty, who at the time of my story, were being sent back to the regimental field hospitals as more and more women volunteered.

During the summer months when the casualties were highest, tents were set up on the hospital grounds to handle the over flow of wounded.

Armory Square was known for receiving the worst cases from the battlefields of VA. It was situated nearest the steamboat landing at the foot of Seventh St. and was nearest the line of the Washington and Alexandria railroad. They were the first stop for wounded who wouldn’t survive the trip to any other hospital and they also received the soldiers who died enroute. As a result Armory Square had the highest number of deaths of any Washington military hospital.

Between August 1861 and January 1865 there were 1,339 deaths recorded out of 18,291 admitted patients.

Blurb

Gracie McBride isn’t looking for love; she’s looking for respect. But in this man’s world of Civil War medicine, Gracie is expected to maintain her place changing beds and writing letters. Her biggest nemesis is the ward surgeon, Doctor Charles Ellard, who seems determined to woo her with arrogant kisses and terrible jokes.

Charles is an excellent surgeon. He assumed he would be well received by an army at war. He was not. Friendless and alone, he struggles to hide the panic attacks that plague him while the only person who understands him is a feisty Irish nurse clearly resolved to keep him at a distance.

But, Charles is sent to the battlefield, and Gracie is left with a wounded soldier, a box of toys, and a mystery which can only be solved by the one man she wishes could love her, both as a woman and a nurse.

Excerpt

No. I want you to go home before the death of that ten-year-old boy becomes so ordinary that one day you wake up and realize you no longer have the ability to feel.”

She squared her shoulders and stepped toward him. “Me own husband was a doctor, sir. I’ve birthed babies and stitched wounds. I stood by William’s side during surgeries and passed him instruments. I helped him clean the intestines of a man gored by a bull, before putting it all back inside that man’s belly. Me delicate sensibilities did not send me into a swoon then nor will they here. I thank ye for yer concern, Doctor Ellard, but ’tis who I am. And by the saints, as long as I have breath in me body, I will feel, and I will care.”

Their gazes locked in that moment and something flickered in his icy depths, overshadowing his usual cynicism with what she suspected might be admiration. The harsh lines of his face softened.

Saint Jude must indeed be watching over you, Mrs. McBride.”

That he is, Doctor Ellard, that he is.”

He gave her a brisk nod and opened the door. “You’re not going home then, are you?”

She turned. “Ye know us Irish, Doctor Ellard. We don’t know what we want, but we’ll fight to the death to get it.”

A Place In Your Heart is available at Amazon



About the Author

Kathy Otten is the published author of multiple historical romance novels, novellas, and short stories. She is also published in contemporary romance and historical fiction. She is a Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star winner and Utah/Salt Lake RWA Hearts of the West finalist. A Place In Your Heart is her fourth full-length novel. Currently, she is putting the finishing touches on a contemporary young adult novel.

She teaches fiction writing online and at a local adult education center, and is a regular presenter at area events. Kathy also does manuscript assessments and editing. She lives in the rolling farmland of western New York where she can often be found walking her dog through the woods and fields. She has been married for thirty-four years and is the mother of three grown children and one grandson.

Kathy can be contacted at kathy@kathyotten.com




Saturday, June 16, 2018

I’m no murderer, but I do kill people - #Texas #songwriting #steamyromance @TalkinTwang


Lovers
 
By Ann Everett (Guest Blogger)

Early in every writer’s career, they’re told to write what you know. For me, I need more information before I can make good use of that advice.

Even though I write romance, I’ve written stories that include murder, a sociopath, and an alcoholic. Personally, I have no first-hand experience with any of those. I’ve certainly never killed anyone… though in reality, I’ve wanted to knock my husband upside his head from time to time. Especially when he tells me how to drive!

The beauty of fiction is I can commit murder without actually doing it! I did that in my first book. I killed off a character based on a person I didn’t like. Her identity has never been revealed, but I know who she is—and that’s enough.

The definition of a sociopath is “disorder which manifests in extreme anti-social behavior and lack of conscience. The closest I’ve come to that is eating chocolate in secret without a single regret!

As for knowing the burden of alcoholism, I’ve never even been drunk. I know—hard to believe, but it’s the truth. I’m somewhat of a control freak and the thought of not being in charge of all my faculties scares the pee-pee out of me. Hey, there are cameras everywhere. I don’t want to wake up the next morning and find a post of me doing drunk karaoke, getting a tattoo on my ass, or having announced I waxed Mount Vagina!

I’ve also had characters who were chicken farmers, Texas Rangers (the lawmen type, not the baseball player types), a bartender, horse trainer, Tarot card reader, and auctioneer, just to name a few. You guessed it, I know nothing about any of those!

The great thing about writing is you can find real people who do know about those things. And, there’s always Google. In the first New Adult Romance I published, TELL ME A SECRET, main character, Maggie even googles a blow job. Later, her love interest, Jace, is thrilled that she did.

I’m lucky to have a medical doctor and police detective who are willing to answer any question I have concerning medical issues or police procedure. They are a real treasure because it’s important to get the facts right. If you think you can get away with misinformation, you’re wrong. A reader out there somewhere will be an expert on just about every subject and call you out on them!

Write what you know works in some instances. Like locations and descriptions. I don’t write about New York City, even though I’ve been there. All of my stories take place in Texas because I’ve lived here all of my life. We talk funny, but I steer away from overusing y’all, fixin’ to, ain’t, and bless your heart, along with other things we say in everyday life. Readers get tired of that—even Texans!

I like to use Texas names for characters. Rayann, Jay Roy, Synola, Saint, (yeah, I had that name in my family long before Kanye and Kim came up with it.) And I generally use real locations like Austin, Houston, Lubbock, Brownsboro (iddy-biddy town where I grew up) Tyler, Athens, etc. However, in my last book, and the one about to release, I made up a name so I wouldn’t have to be exact concerning its whereabouts. Plus, I kind of like Bluebird, Texas. It gave me the opportunity to build the town anyway I wanted. I like it so much, I decided to write a series of companion books tied together by that small- town location.

The love scenes in my books are steamy and can be a bit graphic. One reader recently wrote and asked—"how do you know all the explicit details for some scenes?

As much as my husband likes to take credit, imagination is so much better than real life. Heck, that’s why we read romance. The answer to her question is—research. I do a lot by reading magazine articles and internet searches.

As readers, do you like to read what you know? Or, do you like reading about new places or fictional locations? Is the setting even important? Do the character’s occupations play any role in you choosing a book?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a “Come Fly With me to Bluebird, Texas” tee-shirt. Sizes large and extra-large available. This prize is only for US residents. Out of country winners will receive a digital eBook of both Bluebird, Texas Romance Novels Chirp, and True, my latest release. 


 

Sometimes it takes losing everything…

True Shanahan must be the unluckiest woman in the world. Either that or she’s cursed. After another failed relationship, True leaves Dallas with a broken heart and new attitude. It’s time to walk on the wild side. But when she makes a wrong turn and ends up in Bluebird, Texas, the only man she wants is anything but reckless.

to find all you’ve ever wanted.

Ritter Malone is the town’s favorite son and has the local hero awards to prove it. Seems he’s always in the right place at the right time. But when he crosses paths with True, his life takes a turn he never sees coming. Her songwriting skills may be questionable, but her ability to turn him inside out is indisputable.

Welcome to Bluebird, Texas.

Where a chance meeting gives two people a chance at love.



Excerpt 

Once seated on the bench, she ran her fingertips over the keys. Other than the few notes she’d hammered out at Ritter’s, she couldn’t recall the last time she’d played, but figured it was like riding a bike. 

Jessie scooted a chair closer, spun it around and straddled it. “Any time you’re ready.”

I should warn you. Apparently, I’ve had some bad breakups, so my songs are a bit on the—”

Sad side?”

No. More on the I’ll-write-a-song-to-get-even-with-you side.”

Jessie chuckled. “I’m anxious to hear them.”

Okay, here we go.”

When True finished all the verses, Jessie’s face had turned red with laughter. “That’s pretty cute. Got another one?”

Depending on how risqué you’ll allow me to be, here’s one I call, “There Was Nothing Between Us but Your Penis.”

Jessie threw his head back, and belly laughed.

She launched into song.

This time when she ended the number, he laughed harder. “Girl, you may be just what this place needs. I’ll try you for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. If you’re the hit I think you’ll be; we’ll work out a salary. What night you interested in?”

~~~~


Find all of Anns books here: http://www.amazon.com/author/ann.everett

About Ann


Ann Everett writes about small-town Texas, where the women are sassy enough to say what they want, and the men are panty-melting hot with plenty of southern charm.

She's an Amazon bestselling author. She's won awards. She’s a top reviewer on a major writing website and a regular speaker at Wordwyse Exposytions. No need to bore you with the details. Here are ten things about her more interesting than accolades.

- She’s married to her high school sweetheart.

- She loves shopping at thrift stores.

- She doesn’t remember her first kiss.

- She hates talking on the telephone.

- A really sharp pencil makes her happy.

- She secretly wants to get a tattoo.

- She believes everyone should own a pair of cowboy boots.

- She’s thankful wrinkles aren’t painful.

- She sucks at math.


Email ann.everett at rocketmail dot com
 
Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/author/ann.everett