I have a very mixed Alert Me bag this week. Agent Provocateur’s fabulous new Christmas promotional video, the Bad Sex Awards shortlist, and an article by The New York Observer that’s a must-read for anyone who’s new to the BDSM scene.
Agent Provocateur – Secret Santa
Source: Agent Provocateur
Struggling with your Secret Santa gift? Need some inspiration? Agent Provocateur have a suggestion for you. (Just make sure you work somewhere with a well-stocked stationary cupboard and a Polaroid camera.)
Bad sex awards 2012 shortlist leaves out JK Rowling and EL James
Source: The Guardian
It’s not easy to write a good sex scene and I’m positive I’m guilty of a few clangers in both Garden [*no longer available on the blog] and Frostbite. However, there are some places you should never ever go when writing about shagging, regardless of whether or not you’re a ‘serious’ high-brow literary author.
This year’s Literary Review Bad Sex Award nominees are guilty of cringe-worthy botanical euphemisms (see below), strange sporting equipment metaphors (‘wubbering springboard’), and baking references that would make Delia Smith shudder (‘She smells of almonds, like a plump Bakewell pudding’). My favourite quotes?
‘He began thrusting wildly in the general direction of her chrysanthemum …’
- Rare Earth by Paul Mason
Gardeners’ World after one too many sherries.
and
‘Now his big generative jockey was inside her pelvic saddle’.
- Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe
Clearly, no one’s riding a winner here.
The Story of ‘No’: S&M Sex Clubs Sprout Up on Ivy Campuses, and Coercion Becomes an Issue
Source: The New York Observer
An extremely interesting and well-written article by Rachel R. White that looks at the rise of BDSM clubs in American Ivy League universities, and examines the disturbing allegations that high-profile members of the BDSM community are exploiting submissives – newbies in particular. If you’re a FetLife member or are considering joining, you’ll definitely want to read this piece.