Monday 27 February 2012

Getting Inside a Man’s Head


There are, of course, many ways to tell a story. Usually, my preferred method is first person narration. I’m unsure exactly why, but this seems to be the narrative form that a naturally gravitate towards.

I think it has something to do with my tendency to inhabit the character, almost as though I were an actor playing a role (is that just me?). However, that doesn’t completely explain it, because I try to inhabit all of my characters and, although not impossible, it would be difficult to tell a story from the first person perspective of each and every one of the characters.

Anyway, I have a new idea for a story, which is a modern spin on The Taming of The Shrew. However, the essence of The Taming of The Shrew can be viewed as quite misogynist - something I’m eager to avoid. To this end, I think it’s important to really get inside the heads of both lead characters, Katharine and Peter. Peter (Shakespeare’s Petruchio), in particular, needs to be portrayed in a way that makes his masculine posturing inoffensive, so that he remains attractive to a predominantly female audience.

What this long preamble is getting to is that, for the first time (in an erotic work of fiction), I’m going to attempt to tell some of the story from a man’s point of view. On the face of it, nothing radical - plenty of female authors write first person narration from a male perspective and have done for hundreds of years. But it got me thinking - can we ever really get inside the head of a member of the opposite sex?

Well, as men make up half the population, we all know quite a few of them and, chances are, we grew up with some of them and may even live with a few now. So, I tend to think we know them pretty well…In fact, most women think they know what men want, especially when it comes to sex. Do we really, though?

In truth, our opinions of men - and theirs of us - are based more upon clichés than on fact. Of course, some clichés are true, but we can be very wrong about what men think. Moreover, most of us, make the crazy assumption that all men are the same, particularly if we’ve been hurt by one. Ask a group of women the following questions and you’ll get consistently similar answers.
  • Given half a chance, would a man be unfaithful? Women say: Yes.
  • Do all men separate sex and love? Women say: Yes.
  • If a man’s getting his kicks, does he care if the woman is sexually satisfied? Women say: No.
  • Do men measure their masculinity by how many women they’ve slept with? Women say: Yes.
  • Do men think with anything other than their genitals? Women say: No.

Why do we think these things? I suspect it’s because the vast majority of us have met a man who fulfils the criteria. The problem is, we tend to tar them all with the same brush. All men are different, just as all women are different. We have vastly different tastes, as do men. Not all men are promiscuous and not all of them are disrespectful where women are concerned. We can never truly get into another person’s head, because each and every one of us is completely different - that’s true of a woman or a man.

But this train of thought brought me to a bizarre conclusion. If women and men are all individuals and, therefore, just as difficult to penetrate (no pun intended) or second-guess, then writing a female character is just as difficult (or easy) as writing a male character. In other words, I shouldn’t have to put on my special writing-a-male hat in order to achieve a rounded character. Regardless of whether it’s a man or a woman, I should approach writing in exactly the same way.

And I think, on the whole, that’s a good rule for a writer to live by.

I should never assume that a male character would think the way I do, but that’s true of a female character, too. Just because she’s a woman, doesn’t mean that the two of us are in any way alike. Male characters, no more or less than female characters, need to be their own people - completely separate from my views, opinions or emotions.

Do you have any specific techniques or rules for writing male (if you're a woman) or female (if you're a man) characters? Do you think I'm talking nonesense? Let me know in the comments below. 

Saturday 25 February 2012

Is PayPal Our Moral Compass?


Well, when it comes to erotic fiction, apparently the answer is “yes”.

This is something I knew nothing about, until I read Marlene Sexton’s blog, and was horrified to learn that earlier this month, PayPal began dictating the content of first BookStrand, then All Romance ebooks and, most recently, Smashwords.

In case you are unaware of what’s going on, PayPal is refusing to do business with these companies, if they continue to publish certain material. The material in question (at the moment) is pseudo-incest; the most popular of which being ‘Daddy’ stories around step-father/step-daughter relationships and ‘barely legal’ erotica; barely legal referring to young women, who are only just passed the age of legal consent.

Consequently, BookStrand AR and Smashwords have all adjusted their ToS to rid their virtual shelves of ebooks containing this content.

Now, of course, PayPal is a company, which can choose to do business (or not) with whomever it wants.

And, on the face of it, these demands by PayPal shouldn’t bother me. I’ve never written any pseudo-incest or barely legal material and, to be honest, neither genre appeals to me as a reader, but that is absolutely not the point. The point is, where does it end? Bear in mind, consenting sex between step-relations or with an 18-year-old woman is perfectly legal. So, what about illegal stuff? Should kidnap, murder, burglary, bank robbery, assault and white-collar fraud be banned from all forms of literature? If so, we’re heading for very bland times boys and girls!

As a writer, or simply as a human being, we have the right to free speech, to freedom of thought and to express our creativities without censorship. There may be many people who find pseudo-incest and/or barely legal erotica distasteful, but once we open the floodgates to censorship, there is no stemming the flow.

Moreover, where does PayPal get the notion that it, in some way, has to police its customers’ and users’ morals? Aren’t we all adults, able to make up our own minds over what we find morally acceptable?

However, my main ‘beef’ with this whole issue is that it’s indie/erotic authors and readers who are being targeted and victimised. After all, will PayPal prevent you from buying a film with sex, violence, rape - there are plenty of ’em that are very ‘mainstream’ - from a big entertainment retailer? My hunch would be not.

PayPal is a huge company that is quite within its rights to refuse to do business with any publisher it chooses. However, the irony of this does not escape me. In attempting to take a moral stance, PayPal is actually behaving in an immensely immoral way, by preventing creative freedom and bullying indie authors and publishers, who are powerless against the might of a huge corporation.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Snippet of Better Off Forgotten

Cover Image for Better Off Forgotten
Better Off Forgotten is an erotic suspense novella, which follows Faith Toulson’s attempts to come to terms with a tragic event in her past. The only problem is, thanks to a bout of trauma induced amnesia, she only has fragmented and disturbing dreams to go on.

In an attempt to escape the nightmares, she spends an evening drinking and is more than a little tipsy by the time her boyfriend, Ben, gets home.

Oh, no you dont, he stated quickly, taking the glass from my fingers. Youve had enough.


Well, I think you need to unwind a little yourself, Benny, I suggested, reaching out my bare foot and rubbing it against his ankle, before sliding it up the outside of his calf all the way to the knee.

This caused him to smile, but I could see he was trying to fight his wayward lips, as they quirked. You cant get round me like that, you know?

Oh, really? I asked softly, leaning forward and grasping his belt in my left hand.

He immediately, placed his hand over mine and began to remove it from his waistband. You need to get some rest, he said, seriously. Youre going to feel this in the morning.

I want to feel something right now. I told him, while my right hand moved to grope at his crotch. Unfortunately, my reactions were a little sluggish and he took a step back before my hand reached its goal. Ben, I whined in frustration.

You are very drunk, he stated, keeping a firm hold on the glass that still contained the last of the wine.

So what if I am? I moved around to his side of the table, but he matched each step with one of his own, keeping the small obstacle between us.

Im not making love to you when youre too drunk to remember it, he said, keeping his eyes on my face.

I quickly realized that I wasn't going to win this way, chasing him around the table was undignified and it was making me dizzy. So I stopped and stood motionless. Oh, come on, Ben, I began. Its not as though youre taking advantage of me.
Thats exactly what Id be doing, he spoke in a tone that suggested he couldnt understand why I didnt see this the same way he did. Just because were in a relationship, just because weve made love before, that doesnt make it all right.

It was at that point, I glanced down and noticed that his body was far from disinterested. His head may not have been willing to succumb to it yet, but there were parts of his anatomy that were definitely not taking the moral high ground. All I had to do was tip the balance of power, until his brain had no choice but to follow the demands of his body.

Lifting my hands to my blouse, I began to slowly unbutton it, while I spoke. If you came home and I was passed out drunk, Id agree with you, I told him softly. But I am still very much aware of whats going on and what Im doing. By the time Id finished speaking, the blouse was completely open. I pulled at the edges, yanking it down my arms and throwing it to the floor.

Faith, he said, finding it difficult to swallow.


A Little Taste of First Blush



Cover of 'First Blush'
The following is a small excerpt from my latest release, First Blush, it was my first crack at a Regency erotic story and was both challenging and fun to write. Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below. Enjoy!

“Maria,” he called. “I asked you to turn around,” his smooth voice gently reminded. Even though I had my back to him, I could tell he was smiling.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I braced myself. This was not simply about facing him, it was about facing my future. A future that would require me to become an obedient, dutiful wife. A future in which Thomas would have possession of me, of my body. Tearing my eyes from the bedclothes, I twisted my head towards him, as if in slow motion.

He smiled, as he lent against the closed door. “Have I told you how beautiful you look?” he asked, pushing his weight onto his feet and taking a step towards me. “Well,” he continued, not waiting for a reply. “You are incredibly beautiful.”

For reasons I could not explain, I was unable to hold his gaze and my eyes darted to the floor. It was not as though I had never heard those words from him before. Now, however, they were imbued with something more; these words were an opening gambit in a game I was unfamiliar with. Oh, I understood the mechanics of what was about to happen. My sister, who had married two years previously, shared the secrets of her own wedding night when my marriage to Thomas was announced. She warned me that the first time he entered me would be painful, but assured me that it would be over quickly.

What troubled me, was not the fear of discomfort, but the fact that the act was clearly an indication of dominance; a man claiming his wife as his property. Elizabeth did not articulate this, but it seemed implicit to me, by the very fact that a woman is quite literally impaled by her husband. Every rebellious instinct indicated that I should be disgusted by the notion of being dominated and possessed by any man. However, the thought of Thomas doing so, created a quivering sensation between my legs that belied my desire to reject accepting him as my lord and master.
“It is going to be all right,” his calm voice nudged, as I continued to examine the patterned carpet at my feet. “Tell me something,” he said, suddenly changing his tone from the soft, lover’
s voice to a lighter, conversational quality. “Is this the Maria I am going to be married to for the rest of my days?”

My eyes lifted to see him unbuttoning the black tailcoat he wore and shrugging it from his shoulders.

“What do you mean?” I asked, raising my left eyebrow quizzically, a habit my mother had been unable to deter me from.

“I thought I had married a headstrong, passionate, insatiably curious, fiercely wilful woman,” he explained, throwing the tailcoat over the back of a nearby armchair. “Suddenly, she has turned into a shy, introverted mute.” His eyes sparkled, as they met mine and his lips rose into a broad beam. “It is perfectly natural to be nervous,” he added.

“I am not nervous,” I snapped, scowling in response to his grin.


Hello & Welcome to Nighty Knight


This blog is dedicated to the erotic literature of C.L. Knight, and will offer sneak previews of my latest work, a glimpse into my writing process and an examination of my love for erotica.

We all love naughty nights, afternoons and mornings. Well, here, you can get the naughtiest!

I write a broad spectrum of erotic fiction, ranging from short stories to full novels; romance with a hint of erotica to steaming, writhing prose. Above all, I enjoy writing fiction that will both titillate and fascinate.

If you want erotica that is more than just a graphic sex scene for the sake of a graphic sex scene, then you've come to the right place. So, sit back, relax and enjoy. I won't bite - hard.