Reading and writing

Now that I've finished The Story of O, one of the aspects of it that no one mentions much is it's lesbian undercurrent. O is very keen to have sex with other women. She experiences herself as powerful in those moments unlike her experiences with Rene or Sir Stephen where her experience is more to do with freedom and liberation.

Which of course is the essential dichotomy of BDSM. Nearly everyone who writes about their experiences talks about the sense of freedom, of having the space to be truly who they are. I've blogged about this before and still remain fascinated by the spiritual links between pain and sex. Must be the ex Catholic in me.

I've also been reading Gail Dayton's The Compass Rose, a romantic fantasy from Luna. I liked it so much it's inspired me to write a fantasy novella. I'm about 3,000 words in, so I'll see how it goes.