Friday, June 6, 2014

Spanking Strories Book Club and SpankA2Z F is for...

Favorites and Fantasies. 


Emily Tilton is here today to lead a dicussion of The Magic Book from Spank! 2. Thank you Emily!

Welcome to regular visitors to Spanking Stories Book Club and a big welcome to newcomers who might have found their way here due to the SpankA2Z hop. Glad to have you! If you have any questions about Spanking Stories Book Club, just click on the tab at the top of the page for the FAQ, or just keep reading to join the discussion. No need to read the book to participate. And, we're talking about fantasies...and you know you want to share. :)

A magic book I think we all wish existed

I adore Penelope Hasler's writing. I reviewed Spank! and Spank! 2, which feature stories by her and by Becky Sharpe on Spanking Romance Reviews a couple months ago, and when the opportunity came to lead a Spanking Stories Book Club discussion, I jumped at the chance to talk about one of my favorite stories from Spank!, "The Magic Book."
My favorite thing about Penny's style is the way she slides from exquisite formal English to panty-moistening dirty-talk without warning and to amazing effect. Reading one of her stories I constantly seem to be surprised by my own arousal. And because in Penny's stories arousal tends to be punished, I think the contrast between the two sides of her style re-awakens in me that delicious shame that seems to feed on itself and to make everything even hotter.
In "The Magic Book," a girl named Georgina finds, in a bookshop, a book of a kind that I imagine most of us know very well: it's called Tales of Discipline, and it features stories, well, like "The Magic Book" (and also ones called "A Governess in Bondage" and "The Kiss of the Tawse" that I hope Penny writes some day!). Georgina fails to heed the shopkeeper's warning that the book is special, and soon finds herself inside the book: "Georgina turned the page, anxious to find out what happened next. But as she did so a dazzling light burst from the book, enveloping her, filling the room, dissolving everything in its brilliance."
Inside the book a story of a wicked, lecherous nobleman unfolds, with Georgina as the maid who must be ravished. When the incredibly hot fantasy-scene is over, another of Penny's wonderful stylistic features comes to the fore: the heroine who thinks she might be interested in spanking, but would never admit it, despite thinking, in Georgina's case, that she probably shouldn't just throw the book away. . .
My favorite thing about "The Magic Book," though, is the way it allegorizes my own (and, I suspect, Penny's own--and perhaps your own) relation to spanking fiction. Oh, how we want to be in the stories we read, undergoing the terrible things we read (and, some of us, write). But, at the same time, doesn't the power of fiction do exactly that? The line between fantasy and wish is very hard to draw--but when we're reading, it doesn't matter a bit.
Some questions to open discussion:
1. If you had the chance to live a spanking story, which one would you choose, and why?

2. "The Magic Book" features a very traditional kind of spanking story, of a lecherous lord and nubile maids. This kind of story appeals to me enormously, but the "industry" seems to be moving decisively away from it and towards sweeter things. Do you agree? Are you happy about the shift?

3. Do you think fantasies--and erotic fantasies in particular--are wishes? What's the relationship between fantasy and wish, for you?

4. After she finishes living out the story in the book, and exits to the real world, Georgina's first thought is to throw the book away. What about that impulse mirrors any of your own reactions to your own fantasies?

13 comments:

  1. Glad to be here, Celeste! I really want to recommend this story to everyone who loves spanking fiction!

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  2. Emily is a favorite of mine too. Good to see you here.

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  3. Interesting discussion today. I can relate because I once wrote a story very much like this only it was a magic painting. If I could live one my stories I'd have a hard time choosing. To some degree every one of them is my own idealized fantasy. But that's the rub; they are idealized. Real life isn't like that. I know. I've tried.
    I don't know about "the industry". If you mean the publishers of "spanking romance" maybe that's true. After all, they have their formulas. In the indie world I continue to do ok with my non-formula erotica which sometimes employs plot tropes like you mention. As for fantasies being wishes, of course they are. But they are, again, idealizations that rarely play out that way in real life. I never throw away a good fantasy.

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    1. Hmm. I'm not so sure about "of course they are." Why of course? Fantasies are little stories we tell in our head--that doesn't necessarily mean we want them to come true, does it?

      On the industry issue, I guess I might compare the way my more Victorian stuff sells compared with the way a book like "Tamed by the Highlander" does--and that's without even talking about how well stuff like Natasha Knight's romantic titles are doing.

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  4. 1. If you had the chance to live a spanking story, which one would you choose, and why?

    I have always been attracted by spoiled brats and its well deserved punishments. If I was ever to take a place in a fantasy, I would like to be the most disgustingly spoiled girl presenting a completey reproachable behaviour.

    2. "The Magic Book" features a very traditional kind of spanking story, of a lecherous lord and nubile maids. This kind of story appeals to me enormously, but the "industry" seems to be moving decisively away from it and towards sweeter things. Do you agree? Are you happy about the shift?

    I agree and I am not happy. What we mostly find is girls being turned on by light to mild spankings - or threatens only. I'm very frustated.

    3. Do you think fantasies--and erotic fantasies in particular--are wishes? What's the relationship between fantasy and wish, for you?

    Absolutely. But the wisdom of 'be careful what you wish for' is true.

    4. After she finishes living out the story in the book, and exits to the real world, Georgina's first thought is to throw the book away. What about that impulse mirrors any of your own reactions to your own fantasies?
    Yes, as to deny inner desires and thoughts. It could also point to a very strong fear of her secrets being exposed. As to me, I'm nearly terrified people could be able to 'read' my fantasies and personal taste.

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    1. Really interesting thoughts, Carrie--thanks so much for sharing them. I'm really glad to hear you like the more traditional, severe kind of story!

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  5. Can I not answer your questions and just reiterate exactly what you said about Penny's writing. I love her beautifully correct style one minute and her deliciously naughty shame inducing words the next. She is truly marvellous.

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  6. Wonderful discussion today everyone. I was out and about for most of the day so many thanks to Emily for holding down the fort and for some thought provoking questions.

    1. I'm not sure what book I'd want to live in, but it's fun to think about. I suppose it's usually whatever book I'm reading at the time.
    2. I'm not sure how to answer this question. Do you mean what publishers choose to publish or promote or what readers are buying?
    3. A fantasy isn't always something that I really want to come true. You know, like the times I wish that some snothead would fall and bang their head. I don't really want that to happen (most of the time) but sometimes it's fun to think about. I think of a wish as something I do want.
    4. I'd probably be tempted to throw them away too, for some of the reasons stated above...I wouldn't want anyone to find them. Also, they are mind to keep in my memory, so maybe I don't need the book.

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    1. Thanks so much for having me, Celeste! I'm going to say a little about the "industry" thing in my reply to Stevie in a moment.

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  7. Very interesting discussion. I'll comment on a couple of things. As an author, I can't write the harsher stuff, it's not something I'm personally familiar with although I've read quite a number of serious spanking stories. Most of what I write is lighter. I write what I like to read as I think most of us do. I want romance and family, humor and of course sex. There are even some blogs I find difficult to read as they are to severe for me, but I try to be supportive of everyone efforts. I don't think it's the 'industry' or the publishers 'formula'. It really comes down to what readers are looking for and right now there are plenty of options out there. As far a wanting a fantasy to come true, I doubt the real thing could come close to what my mind is capable of imagining.

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    1. Thanks so much for participating, Stevie! I used the term "industry," in quotation marks because I wanted to include both the publishers and the readers. I think they function as a kind of feedback loop, but there's no question that you're absolutely right and the readers are the most important part of the cycle. Let me just put out there that there is some pressure from publishers towards more romantic stuff--but I certainly don't want to exaggerate that trend, because it's clear that there remains a market for what I don't really have a problem calling "harsher" stuff, though that's not the way I think of it, and that publishers will still publish for that market, though they understandably would rather publish for a more lucrative one. That market is smaller than the market for the romantic stuff, but I think it's clear that the reason it's smaller isn't that the romantic stuff is stealing readers or anything--it's that many, many more new readers have come into the market, and their preference is mostly for romance.

      This is a very, very good thing. It may even mean that those readers will want to try out "harsher" stuff some time.

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I love getting feedback. Thank you for taking the time to comment!