Quote by CuriousAnnie
I'm in edit mode and the savings if I have to add to the plot will come, so to speak, in the sex.

I think several of us have taken the same approach.

Quote by CuriousAnnie
anywhere but Australia because no Australian crime novel had ever become a big international hit

That's terrible! Personally, I took an interest in Australia about a decade ago and consumed quite a few Australian novels, movies and nonfiction books, including crime-related works. Anyone who hasn't read Picnic at Hanging Rock or For the Term of His Natural Life is missing out. For that matter, I really enjoyed the contemporary crime novel Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood, though I haven't kept up with the series since. Noise was a great movie too; Snowtown Murders was chilling and disturbing. Australia has a rich history of crime fiction (and, yikes, nonfiction); who cares if they aren't international hits?

Quote by CuriousAnnie
I will be intrigued what readers think of a modern Australian sexy noir

Yes! Please! An Australian setting is an asset, not a hindrance, in my book. In my own story, I went for Seattle instead of the usual Los Angeles/New York setting, not least because I have lived actually lived in Seattle and know it well. "Write what you know" is always the #1 rule. For all I know, many readers might be annoyed by the number of local references I included, but my hope is that there will be readers who truly know the city and enjoy the depth of that. I think the more local references (like "Vagina whisperer," specific locations, or uniquely Australian turns of phrase - of which you have so many) the better. It enriches the story even if not everyone gets every reference.

Quote by CuriousAnnie
I always get to or very close to the word limit, something about feeling I've left plot on the table if I have words to spare.

Seems a lot of the stories (mine included) are coming in around 9000 words. Hard to tell the complex stories we want in less, even if it means editing down the sex.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

My idea is still in production and I'm struggling with what to put in and what to hack out. Oh, and finishing it. That's probably important.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I had that challenge too. I've edited and rearranged this thing so many times, having started it several months before we even knew there would be a Noir comp. If I added back all the ideas I've taken out over time (some of where were actually good!), I easily would have had 18k words instead of 9, I think. Besides the full-scale rearranging, which has happened several times, lots of small-scale rearranging: I've shifted smaller bits of dialogue around a ton of times to choreograph as naturally as possible with the the physical action.

Overwhelmingly, people close to my own age. Lucky guys who got do do older women! I would have loved that, but never got the opportunity.

Not very impressive compared to others here ... biggest age difference I've had was seven years, a drunken encounter with a seventeen year old girl when I was 24. For the record, she pursued me, not that it would have excused me had it been illegal. The next morning I panicked a bit and looked up the age of consent in the state where I was living. Much to my relief, it was 16 there. I have also lived in states where it was 18, and I would have been guilty of a crime.

If I were single I'd be open to a wide range of ages for sexual encounters. It's harder for me to imagine truly forming a romantic bond and having a serious relationship with anyone quite a few years outside my own age range, though, because our experiences of the world would have been so different. As an Xer I tend to drop a lot of cultural references that younger Millennials, Zoomers or older Boomers wouldn't likely get.

Quote by joe71
Yeah. I love women and their bodies, but the feel of a cock in my mouth, and the taste of cum, are awesome too.

Just saw my first post on this thread and realized I didn't exactly answer Meggsy's second question, "are you gay or bisexual?" The answer is YES. I formally identify as bi-curious, rather than fully bisexual, because my experience with other guys is so limited. If I were unconstrained I would be having experiences with guys and calling myself bisexual for sure.

Quote by joe71

Wow. Both are excellent, really capturing the Noir feel. I admit that at first I was intimidated by the challenge of matching up to the quality of these stories, but now I’m feeling motivated to level up. Mine will be more of an action thriller set in the gritty bits of contemporary Seattle, rather than a classic procedural set in 1930s-40s LA. Still has detectives, though, and I still hope to imbue it with the cynical, snarky Noir essence. After all, how could today’s world not make one cynical?

Quote by KimmiBeGood

That's the Spirit! I look forward to reading yours. Comps are a great way to get noticed by new readers and other authors.

It's published! https://www.lushstories.com/stories/trans/dick-job

(mods, feel free to delete this post if it feels like too much self-promotion. I do have an entry in that forum as well).

To me what defines porn isn't sexuality, but visual imagery. Although some people here do post a bit of that, it's overwhelmingly about words; therefore, it's an erotica site not a porn site.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/trans/dick-job

Please forgive the departures from convention, but I hope readers will still find a Noir feel to it, set in a near future where the world has started to spin out of control, with lots of wisecracks and Noir-esque turns of phrase. I've strayed away from the usual twisting-plot detective procedural in LA or New York in favor of spy action and car chases in Seattle.

Still has dicks, though, by which I mean detectives. And also penises. And also jerks. Four letters to the word, but so much meaning.

I hope readers will find the story enjoyable.

I don't think so, at least when I was awake. Would much rather wait and find a private place where I can whip it out and jerk off properly.

Asleep ... even then, I've only had a nocturnal emission once in my life. We had houseguests, and I'd gone over a week without masturbating, and in the middle of the night my body decided it had gone too long. I guess normally I jack off plenty often enough to prevent this from happening.

Have never had a threesome, but just as some woman-woman contact is pretty much standard in threeways that involve two women, I'd certainly hope for some male-male contact if it was me, a woman and another guy. Hard to imagine being naked next to another guy with a hardon and not wanting to at least touch it.

Can't believe I didn't mention it in my earlier post, but hairy too, please. Those who've tried both shaved and hairy seem to say the latter means a stronger smell and taste, in which case bring it on. Wouldn't know, personally: my pre-marriage sexual encounters were in the 80s and early 90s, before the shaving craze caught on. Never been with a woman who had shaved her pussy.

LIke Seeker4 I haven't really gotten to explore my bi-side, but if I were with a guy I'd definitely want to try anal. If I were with a woman who really, really wanted to do anal I'd go for it in a second, but generally with a woman I prefer the pussy.

Surprised how many women like being on the bottom, with a man. The women I've had 69 with always wanted to be on top so they could be more in control of the blowjob half of things.

Don't currently have an anal toy, let alone a good one. Anyone tried the Aneros products? They seem to get a lot of attention.

When I was younger I would sometimes play with candles, and maybe half a dozen times I had prostate ejaculations. But it was always hard for me to get the right angle and depth, and I never figured out how to do it consistently. Was always extra exciting to have a big dollop of cum in my hand to slurp down when I hadn't fully orgasmed yet.

That said, I don't think I've experienced a true prostate orgasm. I would like to find the right toy for it, or even better a hot cock with the right angle to hit the spot if I ever figure it out.

Can't imagine not.

Store eggs should be refrigerated because they have been washed. At least this is the case in the USA, though I'm aware that other countries don't follow the same practices. Ironically, this is to reduce the spread of disease, but it also causes them to go bad more quickly. When we had our chickens, we NEVER washed nor refrigerated their eggs, leaving them out sometimes several weeks without issue.

We tested the washing theory by actually washing a couple, and then seeing how long they lasted outside the fridge. Sure enough, went bad in a few days. DIdn't test the baby oil trick; I've heard of people doing that, but I'm not sure it works as well as the original coating.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Damn. Y'all better bring your 'A' games. The first 2 outta the Noir gate, Krystal and MojaveJoe, nailed their entries. Damn. Really looking forward to reading every entry!

Wow. Both are excellent, really capturing the Noir feel. I admit that at first I was intimidated by the challenge of matching up to the quality of these stories, but now I’m feeling motivated to level up. Mine will be more of an action thriller set in the gritty bits of contemporary Seattle, rather than a classic procedural set in 1930s-40s LA. Still has detectives, though, and I still hope to imbue it with the cynical, snarky Noir essence. After all, how could today’s world not make one cynical?

Thanks for the quick feedback, Jen and WBW. The violence will be not be splatter-level graphic.

Looking forward to this! It has been fun for me so far, especially incorporating Noir-style dialogue and internal-monologue lines. I've been checking out some Noir novels and movies to get a feel for the genre. I'd like to share with other contestants that I've found ANY novel by Raymond Chandler to make an excellent, maybe even definitive, intro to the style.

Here are a couple of my favorites so far, from The High Window. Describing an ancient elevator operator: "He looked as if he had been sitting there since the Civil War and had come out of that badly." After making a smart-alecky remark in a drugstore, protagonist Philip Marlowe says the druggist "looked up, surprised. The girls at the pinball machine looked at me, surprised. I went over and looked at myself in the mirror behind the counter. I looked surprised."

Exciting! I've got a story I have been working on. Since this is Noir (a genre that often involves murder cases or other collateral violence), and our complex plots may not be sexual until later in the story, is violence still an absolute no-no for this Competition? Of course any violence would have to be absolutely NON-sexual, but would it be okay, for example, if a couple of disposable henchmen get killed early in my story? If not, I'll figure out another way to tell the tale.

I've been a spy-genre fan for a long time (favorite author Charles McCarry - Tears of Autumn is an absolute masterpiece), then started reading Lisa Gardner's procedural thrillers this summer. She's got a real sense of suspense, action and hanging the reader over the cliff. They've all been so good so far it's hard to pick but I'd have to pick The Perfect Husband for the ending I absolutely did not see coming.

I've shifted gears this month, though. To prepare for the alleged Noir competition, I've started sampling that genre. Tried to read Maltese Falcon, but I'm embarrassed to say the writing style just didn't grab me, and I'll probably watch the Bogart movie instead. Sorry. But I have started reading Raymond Chandler (starting with The High Window, with The Long Goodbye on deck), and I'm absolutely seeing how he was so influential in setting the conventions of Noir. Highly recommended.

Nice changes overall. I only just noticed the other day that the old ratings system was gone. I'd used it to gauge which of my stories were hottest, mostly trying to ignore the (thankfully rare) 1 ratings. But I'm good with the new system, and I like the new Interactions feature.

On another note, maybe this is covered earlier in the thread ... it seems like some of my "older" stories (I've been on here less than three years) seem to have fewer comments than they used to. Were a lot of old comments "cleaned up"? To be clear, there was one mean comment on a 2020 story I'd always wanted to clean up, and now it's gone, so glad for that.

Having already done most of the things with one woman that were once on my bucket list, all of what is left involves multiple partners or other men. Not really possible to realize any these fantasies within my marriage (with which I'm otherwise happy), so that's why I write about them.

FFM, hot sex with two women. Watching them together and then taking turns with them. Yes, I know, the generic unfulfilled fantasy of almost every straight man. Still hot.

Sucking another guy (hopefully reciprocal). That's my most common recurring one.

Anal sex with another guy (mostly receiving, perhaps also taking a turn on him). Favorite variation is getting fucked missionary-style while deep kissing.

Mutual masturbation and frontage while kissing another guy.

Pee play with another guy.

Sex with a transgender woman, especially oral. Cock and breast size are not that important.

MMF, hot sex with woman and another man. Most specifically, I want to fuck a woman while I'm being fucked, I want to suck another guy while I'm fucking the woman, I want to fucklick a guy while he's fucking her, and I would love to try DP and feel the other guy's cock rubbing against mine inside her.

MFMF, swapping opposite-sex partners with another opposite-sex couple. I guess that one's pretty classic too.

MMFF, swapping SAME-sex partners with another opposite-sex couple. The women start doing each other, and the guys start getting so turned on by watching them that we start touching each other and maybe more. I'm realizing that this hot fantasy is NOT one I have explored very much in my stories (except the six-way orgy in my Contagion series). Might have to do something about that.

Of course I'm just describing acts here. Throw in various situations (outdoors, pools, saunas, steam rooms, gyms, various public places, dressing up, strangers, friends) and the permutations of unrealized fantasies are near infinite. And may remain so.

[edited later to remove messy bullet points]

No. I was lucky that the first couple of girlfriends I got to have sex with were both on the Pill, and since we were monogamous there was no need. Spoiled me, though.

Edit and re-edit, over and over and over and over and over and over ... well, you get the idea. After I've finished the initial brain dump of getting my story out, then I start going over it repeatedly. The first few times usually involve some pretty heavy editing, moving whole paragraphs or sections around. I'm amazed how much I repeat the same thought multiple times in different ways on the first write, so I try to prune those out.

Even after I've got what seems like a half-decent story, more or less publishable with few if any outright errors, I go over it a bunch more times. I try to make the dialogue snappier, my internal monologue more concise, the pre-sexual tension more delicious, the action hotter, the physical descriptions more evocative. I can easily end up going through the story a dozen times, sometimes more than twenty, before I'm satisfied with it. I usually don't consider it ready until I can do a full read-through with few if any corrections or improvements, though I admit sometimes I lose patience and jump the gun on that.

I try to read it out loud to myself at least a couple of those times, if no one is within earshot ... or at least mouth the words with my lips to make sure I'm processing every word, every punctuation mark, and not just skimming or speed-reading, which is all too easy to do when you're reading your own work. I haven't used text-to-speech (maybe I'm not comfortable with the potential data collection of those apps), but maybe I'll at least try the native Apple functionality one of these times.

And then as soon as it's published, I see things I could improve upon. I don't dwell on it too much, though. Published is published, and I try to move on to the next stories in the hopper, learn from those mistakes and keep improving my writing.

Pussy or Dirty Pussy please. Tangy, sweet, musky (even a little pissy is okay) makes the flavor nice and complex. Clean is fine too, but unnecessarily, fussily clean isn't a turn-on. Way too many women obsess about that, douche companies selling them things they don't need. Never tasted a pussy I didn't like.

Huh, I thought I'd already replied here. Anyway ...

- "Joe" because I try to write from the perspective of an average (male) Joe.

- "71" from George Carlin's bit about numbering additional sex acts besides 69: "68 ... that's 'you do me and I'll owe you one.' 71 ...that's 69 with two fingers up your ass."

I suppose if I became a general fiction writer, I might be interested in writing such a thing. But I'm on a sex-stories site, and it's mostly sexual stories I'm interested in writing.

I've tried to keep even the longer standalone stories under 4k or so, though the story I'm working on for the Noir entry is looking around 6k.

Once I've made the decision to split into a series, though, I'm finding I like to make the individual chapters under 2k or so. I think people's eyes glaze over otherwise.

Quote by joe71

So, to the earlier question of fair use of book and film references ... is music special, with different rules than other media? One reason I ask is that I recently published a story that referenced some jokes (i.e., content) from Seinfeld, but did not mention the show Seinfeld itself (i.e., title) specifically: it would seem that would not be allowed under the rules for music, wherein you can't reference the content without crediting the title. Is that okay for a TV show, or should I go back and update it?

Also I've been working on a story that I think may fit the Noir competition, which will have a few references to both Wonder Woman and Harry Potter. The former will reference WW's character by name, whereas the HP references will be to a couple concepts in the books but only referencing the titular character as "The Boy Who Lived". Legit, or should I make some adjustments? I want to make my story as hot as possible (of course) but also follow the rules. The references are oblique, and neither Wonder Woman nor Harry Potter are actual characters in the story.

On another note: I thought Eyes Wide Shut was a masterful tour of the sexual subconscious, at least for mainstream cinema, and a fitting swan song for the man who made it. I was fortunate to be in Europe shortly after it was released, and managed to view the uncut version in the theater. Didn't make a huge difference to the overall experience of the movie, but it did feel more complete that way. And how do you not like the last line of the film?

If your "hot" friends aren't getting hit on, that's surprising to me. Maybe the kinds of guys that hit on every other woman are intimidated? Then again, those guys thrive on rejection, so I don't know. What you're describing does not match up with my life observations.

Personally, I and many other men have often found stereotypically "hot" women to be pretentious and/or high maintenance a lot of the time. Not always the case, but often enough.

As a guy I can say it's very nice to caress a woman's butt .. if I've been intimate with her. Otherwise, inappropriate in all situations, full stop. Many would consider it assault.