Contrasting Sexual Dilemmas

I'm grappling with a dilemma that is purely of my own making right now. This post is probably going to sound a little self serving because...well...read on. I think you'll get the idea as I go along.

In the past couple of days, in discussions with both a prominent Adelaide radio station and the book shop in my home town that is hosting my official launch, I am starting to fret a little over one aspect of the novel which - I feel - has a legitimate place within it. It serves an important purpose. Although I wonder whether it might begin to work against me.

Early on in The Hambledown Dream, there is a sex scene that takes place - quite a strong sex scene, in fact. It's fairly explicit in it's presentation to the reader and it leaves the reader with very little to the imagination. While it's not violent per-se, it is graphic - and there is a good reason for it to be that way.

I did little research into sex scenes or how to write them in preparation for my own. I knew what I wanted to achieve from it and it was a scene I wrote completely on the fly. The aim of the scene was to contrast two very different sexual acts that are occurring simultaneously.

One is a very angsty, angry, primal sex scene between the protagonist and his lover. To paraphrase comedian Eddie Murphy "they don't make love - they fuck". And while it is not blatantly violent, this sexual act does flirt very close to the line of violence...but I couldn't cross over it. In the first incarnations of the scene, I actually did cross into some fairly dark and primal territory but I had to pull back. I discovered that I do have limits.

While this is going on, a second and very different act of sexual expression is taking place. But it is a world away from what I have described just now. It is a tender love scene - a gentle and lyrical expression of physical love between two people that has a softness about it, an understated, seductive passion. A truth, if you will.

The scenes occur simultaneously because they serve as the beginning point for a series of revelations my central protagonist bears witness to on his journey through the narrative. It is hard to describe without giving too much of the plot away, but for those of you who have read The Hambledown Dream already, (I hope) you'll know what I'm getting at.

The scene was never meant to be gratuitous, nor pornographic. It was always meant to be strong - to challenge the reader. And, personally, I think I have achieved that.

But here's the dilemma.

In my quest to become terribly wind swept and interesting (i.e. famous), I have put the feelers out into what I would consider some unlikely places. One of those places is a radio station here in Adelaide called Life FM.

It's a Christian radio station - no two ways about it. And I don't have any problem with that at all. While I don't regard myself as Christian (I would better describe myself as spiritual), I have a lot of friends - dear friends - who are and they are fans of the station. I listen to Life FM sometimes. It's a good mix of mainstream/Christian music, talk-back and news. Very positive, very community focused, not too preachy. And they do very well. They are the number four FM station in Adelaide - which translates into a significant share of the listening audience.

And they have a copy of my book in hand right now, with the intention of reviewing it, pursuant to an on-air interview in the next few weeks.

I have been in regular contact with a presenter there and she seems definitely keen to go forward - provided she can contextualize the book in such a way as would appeal to her Christian audience.

My biggest fear however...

She's gonna hit Chapter 4 (see! self serving - I told you), totally flip out, snap the book shut and bin it without a further thought or care. And she'll possibly email me saying - don't ever contact me again. The sex scene, the depictions of drug addiction and drug use will totally turn them off.

A good friend of mine - Dee, a Christian and prolific supporter of my novel - has assured me that I have nothing to worry about and she reckons they've reviewed far darker material than mine in the past. And when you consider the spiritual progression that occurs in the story line, spirituality becomes the dominant theme of The Hambledown Dream - not the sex or the drugs. Dee thinks I'll have it in the bag.

But still I worry - a lot - and do you know why?

Because I really want this interview.

Being such a prominent player in the FM landscape here in Adelaide, I am sure that a Life FM interview would really push my profile forward and open up a potentially large audience for the book. So, the more I think about it, the more stock I am putting in this opportunity.

The owner of the book store in my home town - who's hosting the official launch of the book in a few weeks time - expressed the kind of squeamishness I'm fearful of during a telephone conversation I had with her, yesterday afternoon. She currently has a review copy as well, which she is reading and she was kind of...breathless...mentioning the sex scene yesterday. Though not explicitly saying - "I think you should warn people on the day" she did say "I think you should warn warn people on the day" (well look at that...did I just do a double negative thingy).

I detected a definite "oh shit - maybe I shoulda read this thing first, before committing to this book event". But outwardly she is sill very much looking forward to the Stuckyvil...I mean...the Moe event.

And here I am worrying about this this when both my grandmothers have put their hands up for a copy of my novel.

I have warned them both though - there is some content within the book that will make their hair curl...without rollers.

But, as my Nana Mayes said to me on the phone recently (bless her world weariness) "I certainly wasn't born yesterday you know"

No...

But, I'll wager they didn't throw the word clitoris around much back in the day.

DFA.

Praise For The Hambledown Dream.

I am really pleased by the reviews that are being posted for The Hambledown Dream over at Amazon Books including this from John Rasor, author of "Roadkill" (ireadiwrite Publishing) which he posted there in the past 24 hours.

"The Hambledown Dream is a sexy and wonderful love story with paranormal overtones that are just right. It's the story of two men from different worlds - one dying, the other, dead already - as they come together with a common passion for classical guitar, to save each other's souls and find that love of a lifetime, even death cannot deny.

Dean Mayes has woven an intricate and emotional tale of lives drawn together by fate in his beautiful story and carries it through to the end in a fabulous crescendo that will leave you breathless. To call it a romantic thriller would do it justice, and of course, the journey's the thing as it moves through the tawdry jungle of Chicago's drug infested underbelly to the city of Melbourne, down under, for its emotionally charged climax. Hambledown is a well paced read that keeps you in it the whole way through, and a great read for anyone."

Check out this and other reviews over at Amazon Books.

DFA.

The State Of I.

I sit in the middle another early hour - somewhere in the region of 2am to be exact.

Sleep studies lab tonight... watching over a seven month old with some mysterious poor feeding/poor weight gain/poor developmental issues that are a real question mark right now. It's the kind of thing that would have Gregory House and his team salivating with a clinical/dramatic desire to solve this mystery ala Murder She Wrote. But if I throw in another TV Reference here right now - I'd probably vomit.

The old Bakelite telephone I have in my office at home has probably received more of a workout in the past month or so than at any other time in it's nearly one hundred year life span. It is seriously old - like pre WW1 old.

I purchased it from an antique store in a place called Tyabb in rural Victoria - it must have been a good 6 or 7 years ago. At the time of purchase, the shop-lady showed it to be in good working order, however the journey from there back to my home in Adelaide must have done something to it because I couldn't get the damned thing to work on my phone line in my Adelaide house. A call to the phone company revealed that it was indeed registering a fault on the network so, after a quick search, I found a guy who was a whiz went it came to these old contraptions. He found the original dialer to be so badly corroded that the only option was to replace it.

A Bakelite Telephone - not mine, but very similar to mine.

Good as new.

The black Bakelite telephone has served me beautifully ever since and has proudly sat on my desk next to my laptop, cell phone and PDA. A granddaddy communications device punching ably above it's weight in the digital age.

I have always been a lover of technology - a geek if you will - and I have an appreciation for the technology of yesterday as much as I appreciate the technology of now.

Anyway - another Monday went by yesterday and I spent most of it placing calls on the old Bakelite, following up with people who are (potentially) interested in my novel and keeping the squeaky wheel thing happening. I'm discovering that nothing happens quickly insofar as marketing.

In the case of one major book retailer here in Adelaide, who I've been talking with now for nearly six weeks, the progress has been maddeningly slow. They've expressed a keen interest in doing an event with me (supporting a local author and all that) but I'm finding that I'm doing a lot of chasing. Calling, leaving messages, emailing, requesting return receipts, getting none. As recently as today - after three attempts at speaking to the contact - leaving messages - I finally touched base with the person only to be told 'we're still waiting for the go ahead from head office'.

See - what happens is - the book store has a program supporting local authors - they help in organizing and hosting an event (i.e. a book signing/meet the author) and they secure funding from HQ to submit a purchase order to my publisher for stock. But it all happens fairly slowly and patience has never been one of my stronger virtues. I'm still being told that this all will happen...but part of me is having doubts.

I spoke again to a local FM station here in Adelaide who expressed interest in talking to me about my book and I have supplied them with a copy to review. There is one catch though, that is knocking my confidence off kilter. The station is a Christian focused one, which in itself isn't a concern for me. However the novel is quite dark in the beginning, contains a fairly graphic sex scene and also has some fairly strong language. I fear that these may work against me in terms of the station's philosophy. The novel does have a strong spiritual thematic string as well though and, as a good friend of mine - who herself identifies as a Christian - said to me today, most modern Christians are fairly progressive in their thinking and are broad minded (she, btw, loved the novel).

So I dunno...I furnished them with a copy from my own batch which I paid for...so I'm taking a leap of faith here. Time will tell.

After what I regarded as a completely bloody shambles - that being last Monday, I consider today...well now yesterday actually...to have been a much better say.

A couple of unexpected things happened today that made me smile. Two libraries - one here in Adelaide and one across in Melbourne are intending to purchase the book for their collections. This kinda spun me out because, thus far, I hadn't given much thought to libraries. But I'm told there are opportunities to do events with them as well so I'm going to consider this as another option for getting the word out.

I sat back in my chair after I had done as much as I could do by late in the afternoon and considered my old Bakelite telephone. What conversations had that phone facilitated over the years? What news had it been a silent witness to? What momentous occasions, haunting tragedy, trials and tribulations had it transported down it's wires over the many decades of dedicated service it has performed? It has accumulated nearly a century of communication mileage...

And what the hell is Bakelite anyhow?

DFA.