And getting back into the summer groove of writing and tending to teenagers. I’m hard at work on a major rewrite of an SM novel this summer, which I’m trying to balance against the long unpacking that comes with vacationing with four people and, of course, blogging.
I’m not sure I’ve struck the balance yet, but I do think providence is teasing me a bit as my local alt-weekly posts a long article about Connecticut-area BDSM.
I know many of the key people quoted at length in the article. Miles and Kim are long-time acquaintances — I don’t assume friendship because my superior and I haven’t been very active in the local scene since his retirement — but I know how serious and deep their relationship is, and it’s accurately reflected in this article. Likewise, we know Laura Goodwin. My superior, in fact, has known Laura almost from the inception of her United Leatherfolk group. I know I’ve run into Mistress Laura once or twice back in the La Chateau days, but it was amid crowds and fleeting.
Miles, by the way, does not run The Society. He runs The Group, a different entity.
That mistake aside, the article does a good job presenting the SM scene to its readership. Yes, insiders are likely to bicker over D/s, SM, BDSM as labels, but I’ve long held that no one acronym or label will ever accurately serve the entire world of WIITWD. And, yes, to the uninitiated much of what we do appears extreme. (Hell, I’m walking around this summer with a big T carved hip-level on my ass, put there by my superior’s knife. Given my propensity to scar, we’re hoping it’ll last a long, long time.)
But we’re also as happy and enthusiastic about the way we enjoy sex and intimacy as other people. And I think that’s the important message to take away from this article: We’re as happy as any one else.
Keep that in mind, should you freak over the details, won’t you?
Beyond the SM article, let me point you to the NYTimes article about reparative therapy and Salon’s multi-part series about the same that’s unfolding on its site this week.
Now, back to the kinky novel writing…
