tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post4236769291441370509..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: OMG, I have to write a cowboy story, so kill me NOW by Suz deMelloAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-19069007749143067762016-06-18T02:12:20.206-04:002016-06-18T02:12:20.206-04:00Well said, Fiona. Suz, your unfinished cowboy stor...Well said, Fiona. Suz, your unfinished cowboy stories are so funny that they point in a certain direction: intentional humor, or parody. How about a spoof of an old Western TV show ("Gunsmoke" or "Maverick")? Maybe a spoof wouldn't be accepted for a serious romance series or anthology, but you could probably publish it somewhere.Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-23381604547318002982016-06-16T12:47:05.164-04:002016-06-16T12:47:05.164-04:00My suggestion would be to make the cowperson a cow...My suggestion would be to make the cowperson a cowgirl, to give the story a twist. Then the person who gets romanced could be a woman or a man. But that would require you to "become" a cowgirl, and I'm not sure how convincing you could be. I've never been a fan of westerns. The idea of some smelly guy who never gets to wash and smells like horses and cowshit, trying to romance me is gross. Maybe for a quickie, like a flash fiction about a visit to a dude ranch? I read one involving a tub, which takes care of the smelly part. But as a life-partner? No thanks. <br /><br />I find the whole American idolization of the old west to be ridiculous. The folks who want to strap on a gun and stroll around in downtown big cities in 2016 because they think it makes them macho like a cowboy, are pitiful. Why not just strap on what you really want to show, your 12-inch dildo? That symbolic penis that shoots at people is killing way too many these days, and I think part of the blame can be thrown at the feet of the symbolic west that some folks want us to return to...when men were real men, and women and people of color knew their places...and there were no GLBT people. Ri-ight. <br /><br />Husband says in reality the first thing you had to do when you entered a town back then was surrender your gun to the sheriff. So no strolling about with your manhood on display. The longing for the halcyon days of yore that never existed is guaranteeing that many of us won't live long enough to see any future days.Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-57698609560678882052016-06-14T15:34:41.584-04:002016-06-14T15:34:41.584-04:00Depends somewhat on the style of saddle.
I did t...Depends somewhat on the style of saddle. <br /><br />I did think of adding that the cowboy could attract the attention of the woman by his insistence on using a Western-style saddle, with saddle horn, etc. She might enjoy trying it herself. Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-77756546679221751332016-06-14T13:26:54.802-04:002016-06-14T13:26:54.802-04:00I've heard it said that women riders can orgas...I've heard it said that women riders can orgasm on horseback. Guess it would touch all the right... ahem... bases.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-59253972694478102072016-06-14T12:54:28.214-04:002016-06-14T12:54:28.214-04:00Thanks for all your comments--wow, Saachi, your ta...Thanks for all your comments--wow, Saachi, your take is wonderful.<br /><br />In mine, I'm planning for him to see not one but two appealing women across the room at Almack's. Turns out that one is the "companion" of the other (ahem) giving rise to some hot threesome action later in the story. But I like the idea of making one of them really into horses and breeding them, which would give them something in common besides an insane sexual attraction (which is usually what my characters rely upon).<br /><br />So thanks!Suz dehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17236960359162948178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-22694739767439485862016-06-14T12:45:11.214-04:002016-06-14T12:45:11.214-04:00That last piece might work if Nate encounters a to...That last piece might work if Nate encounters a tomboyish, rebellious girl who hates being at Almack's at least as much as he does, and would rather stay in the country with her horses. She could rebuff him at first if he approaches her to dance, and then slip away early, eluding her chaperone. He gets the hell out of town as soon as he can and retreats to his run-down estate, where they meet again by chance on an early morning ride on the moors, or downs, or through the forest, or whatever the location is. Cotswalds? Must be places to gallop there. She tries to elude him, galloping off, but he can ride even better than she can and catches up. A bit of antagonistic interplay, some grudging companionship, and eventually she confides that she dreams of living in the wild west instead of musty Olde Englande. Love overcomes all, they decide to make his estate into a horse breeding business, or maybe to spend part of each year in England and part in Montana or wherever. Complications could be parents demanding she marry someone richer, or injuries to the girl or her horse, or any number of things.<br /><br />My stories generally involve lesbians, so I get to play with two feisty, independent woman striking sparks off each other. In the one Annabeth mentions, my central characters are a young girl competing at bull riding and almost killing her brother when the girl she thought liked her turns to him instead, and a somewhat older woman, a singer with the band at the rodeo, who used to be a champion bullwhip artiste at county fairs. Needless to say, with a bullwhip in the picture, there's certain element of BDSM involved. (All this is a fleshing out of a brief flashback in another story, which focusses on the bull rider a few later visiting Amsterdam after getting in trouble at an international equestrian event.)Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-79354116976041976232016-06-14T11:39:13.364-04:002016-06-14T11:39:13.364-04:00When it comes to romance, men with most of their t...When it comes to romance, men with most of their teeth tend to read sexier.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-30233329524010701032016-06-14T11:38:50.728-04:002016-06-14T11:38:50.728-04:00I love this post! It's very interesting to see...I love this post! It's very interesting to see this far inside someone else's creative process. Thanks for posting your false starts, Suz. It's brave to do so. Maybe some of them would work if you kept going a little more? I find that just about every idea seems bad to me about a page and a half in. It's one of the pitfall points that I've noticed and have learned to pay attention to. In any case, maybe you won't need that suggestion and your last idea will work.<br /><br />"I am mystified by the attraction some people (and many romance readers) have toward cowboys."<br /><br />Cowboys have never really done it for me either, but I do have a couple of ideas about their appeal. 1) Knights/paladins/cowboys. There is a tradition of a certain sort of noble hero that I think cowboys can be attached to. 2) Horses. I don't know what it is about horses, but there's something very sexy about them. I think a character's deep association with horses can be a very hot thing. 3) Rope. Or maybe that's just because I like BDSM? 4) The Outdoors. Tends to make people rugged, which can be really hot. <br /><br />But as Lisabet said, Sacchi is probably the best one of us to ask. The cowgirl story she was reading at the Best Lesbian Erotica readings had all of us in the audience shifting uncomfortably due to elevated pulse and altered breathing... ;)Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-54290116289326976462016-06-14T00:45:31.288-04:002016-06-14T00:45:31.288-04:00Hilarious! However, I TOTALLY understand your frus...Hilarious! However, I TOTALLY understand your frustration. I often tell people I've written pretty much every genre, but I've never really written a cowboy story. I honestly can't see the fascination, though they are apparently very popular.<br /><br />Closest I've come is "Spank Me Again, Stranger", which mostly takes place in a rancher's bar in New Mexico. No horses or lariats, though.<br /><br />But Sacchi has written cowgirls, fabulous ones. Maybe she can help.<br /><br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.com