Hi folks,
Got a bit of a treat for you today. My good friend and
colleague, author Carl Brush has written an essay on “Literary Sex” which I
thought you’d find interesting. Carl and I have been friends for many years and
since he lives in Oakland, CA, he’s my source for everything S.F. Giants.
Whenever they win the World Series… like twice in the last three years (hear
that, Dodger fans?), he sends my son Mike and I all the newspaper accounts and
pictures. Thanks, Carl!
Here’s Carl’s thoughts on sex on the page…
LITERARY SEX—A GUIDE
TO THE PROMISED LAND
By
Carl Brush
So your characters are in love, or
at least lust, and you’ve brought them to that
point. What’s next? Maybe a stream of moans and groans and slurps and visions
of bodies contorted into circusy gyrations? Or how about the tender embrace
followed by the gently-lowered curtain with violins in the background? Or will
it be something in between? Pun intended.
Part of the answer depends on your
story’s genre. If it’s erotica, you probably need to go for the liquid gold.
However, I’m neither the audience nor the writer to talk to about that. I have
no moral objection, and I have read some erotica with interesting
characters/plots. It’s just that when I get to the carnality parts, I find
myself skating on by to find out what happens next in the tale. I’m much more
interested in how to make the lovemaking scenes, both exciting in themselves and
part of the overall development of action and character.
You don’t have to go far to find a
couple of superb examples. Les Edgerton’s ThePerfect Crime contains one of the most erotic scenes I’ve ever read, yet there’s
nary a salacious detail. Our intrepid hero and his lady are on a stakeout in an
apartment so empty it’s bereft of furniture or carpeting, and they’re directly
above the apartment of their quarry. A
single sound will reveal their presence, leading to serious injury or death, as
well as the foiling of their mission. Yet, their brand-new relationship is
heating up and is on the brink of the big it.
Thus, their decision to yield to their impulses is not only in character, not
only crucial to the plot, but is triply erotic because of their need for
absolute silence during the act. Mine is a second-hand description, and the
experience is in reading Les’s masterful writing, but I trust I’ve made my
point about the merging of the lovemaking with character, action, and story.
Staying with Les for a moment,
let’s turn to Just Like That, in
which the narrator undergoes a male-on-male rape. This time, Les gives us pretty
much every in and out and back and forth of the physical event. However, the
way he writes it, the main focus is still not the sex so much as the razor
that’s poised at Jake’s neck during it. In terms of both action and character,
the dramatic tension for the reader comes from wondering if Jake can or will
fight back. So action, character, sex all at once, not separate elements.
Of course, both the examples I’ve
given are from what the critics might call “gritty” crime novels, and one might
assume it’s easier to accomplish such intertwining there than in lighter fare.
Well, let me introduce you to a couple of historical thrillers and demonstrate
that it ain’t necessarily so.
My “Vendetta Duo,” the recently
released The Maxwell Vendetta and its
sequel The Second Vendetta take place
in 1908-10 San Francisco and the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains amid more “proper”
surroundings than Les’s settings. Nevertheless, the course of young love cannot
be denied, and I didn’t find it necessary to deprive readers of a share in the
proceedings by doing a fadeout when the going got hot and heavy.
Andy’s been pursuing Virginia for a
long time, and the reader (I hope) is wishing he’d just forge past her
obviously insincere denials. Finally, in her artist’s studio, the time seems
right. His jealousy aroused by the drawing of a nude male model tacked to her
wall, Andy strips and assumes poses such as the David, then invites her to
follow suit. She’s tempted, but demurs, giggling about his circumcision
(unusual for the times) and his awkward positions. He’s made a bit of a fool of
himself and is still a long way from home plate with Virginia. End of scene.
Failure? Not so. Delay. And we know how tantalizing that can be. Andy’s clumsy efforts
prove endearing and, in the end, effective. Consummation follows not long after.
I don’t provide more graphic description, though. After all, we’ve already seen
the goods, so we can vicariously join the proceedings while Andy gets his
romantic groove on. Thus, action, character, sex. All at once. With a bit of
the comical thrown in for good measure—always welcome and sadly missing from
novels these days, I think.
There are other sex scenes in the Vendettas, scenes I intend to arouse the
reader without much play-by-play but still juicy. I guess I prefer my literary
sex to be more like a Japanese painting in which the
space is as important as the object. After all, what’s the strip without the
tease?
About Carl Brush
Carl Brush has been writing since
he could write, which is quite a long time now. He grew up and lives in
Northern California, close to the roots of the people and action of his historical
thrillers, the recently-released The Maxwell
Vendetta, and its sequel, The Second Vendetta.
A third volume of the trilogy, set in pre-gold-rush San Francisco is
nearing completion. Its working title: Bonita.
You can find Carl living with his
wife in Oakland, California, where he enjoys the blessings of nearby children
and grandchildren.
Journals in which his work has
appeared include The Summerset Review,
Right Hand Pointing, Blazevox, Storyglossia, Feathertale, and The Kiss
Machine. He has participated in the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, the Squaw
Valley Community of Writers, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Tin House
Writers’ Workshop.
Hope you enjoyed Carl’s essay! Get his books—just first-rate
writing and storytelling!
Blue skies,
Les
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