Writing

FetLife Reminiscing – Cock Shot Photography Thoughts

I rarely ever get really involved in discussions on FetLife. Words have a bad habit of blowing up in your face there, so I tend to just observe from the sidelines regularly. Every once and awhile though, I just can’t help myself.

Like when the 50 Shades movie was coming out and all of FetLife was going literally psychotic. The constant influx of conflicting opinions can be incredibly overwhelming and amazingly entertaining, but eventually you get to the point where you’ve just had it. Everyone was writing posts like, “Why I’ve never read the books, and why I never will” or “To those coming to us from 50 Shades” or “I don’t care about the messages, it made me cum…” (note: none of these are real titles that I know, I just made them up, that’s why they suck – people on FetLife are way more clever!). And eventually I had just had enough.

I was compelled, forced by my brain actually, to write the quick piece:

“I didn’t see 50 Shades… or read it…
Not for any reason. Not with any explanation. Not because of this and that.
Just because. And that’s okay.
That is all!”

It also happened about 7 months ago when FetLife was going through this huge thing about cock pictures. It started as a harmless rant, turned into a lot of negativity about dick pics, then it turned into humor and a small trickle of us spoke out against the hatred. But even those posts were masked in hatred of the cock shot.

I couldn’t stand it all, because I personally have no problem at all with the dick pic. I would even go so far as to say that I appreciate a good dick pick. And so, I had to add my two cents. I figured instead of keeping those pennies only on FetLife, I’d add them here too. You’ll have to be on FetLife to see the original post that I’m referencing throughout the post.

1. Cocks can be truly beautiful. Artistic even. So when you’re taking a picture, just like us girls, take the time to find the right angle and get the best light. See your cock as the sistine chapel and take pictures of it like you want them hung in museums!

2. Mix it up a little. You don’t need to take a shot of your cock from the same angle over and over again. I don’t just want to see it standing out from your body. And I don’t just want to see it hard. Let me see that strong vein running up your shaft, take a picture of that first drop of pre-cum. Take a shot from underneath and let me see the darker side of your manhood.

3. Sharesies. One of the commenters on the piece made a great point about not always captioning your photo with “Look at me as I stroke my huge hard cock” type deal. How bout tell us how you came to be in the masturbating way and what you thought about or watched while you masturbated. Share the experience through more than just a photo.

4. Experiment lots. We know that guys are notorious for experimenting with their penises. I mean, we hear about it all the time. But I have yet to see a picture of a guy truly experimenting with his cock. What does it look like if you do [insert something experimental here]? Show us something we haven’t already seen all the other penises do…

5. Look for inspiration. Check and see what other guys are posting for cock shots and see how yours compare. What are the commenters saying about other photos and what are they clearly stating that they love? There are some great cock shots out there, so find a few that you really love and aspire to reach that dream.

Just a couple of thoughts, in no particular order of importance. And be sure to follow the original posts’ advice, because that should just be obvious. Remember, you’re an artist, your cock is a canvas. Show us how beautiful it can truly be.

Now, go paint that chapel!

So now, it’s your turn. What advice would you give to those wanting to take the infamous cock shot and how would you make it better for all those involved?

Submissions, Cleaning and Reading

Even though I had the hardest time getting out of bed this morning and even though it took me forever and a day to stop feeling groggy (even though, I’m still not sure that I entirely do…) and even though I had planned to just veg in front of my computer all day, today ended up being a super great get-things-done day.

Tonight is the last night to get your submissions in for The Erotic Writers Group #WritingChallenges for #EroticWriters. I was determined, no matter what, I was going to put in at least one submission. And, I did!!

I was inspired by one of the #WritingPrompts (this one) and although I totally hadn’t intended this entire piece to be about what it is, I spent 1000 words on Mary’s Nails – the first piece on my writing blog that isn’t technically for a submission to the challenges. Then, I wrote my first song since “The Tree” and have plans to eventually put some music to it and maybe make it a real thing, but for now, it’s just the lyrics. Deeper Into Me was a submission for this week’s #SaturdaySerenade.

Then, I suddenly decided we were going to completely clean the upstairs of our house. Generally, the upstairs stays really clean all the time. The Boyfriend and I have been spending more awake time in our room, so our room was needing a cleaning. The kids started off being pretty terrible but by the end of it, they were working so well that I even got them to do some extra cleaning downstairs.

Now my entire upstairs and living room are clean!

Then, I came back on the computer and got tons more done than I had expected to get done and it all seemed ridiculously easy. I’m hashing out stuff like crazy and I am loving it! It always feels good to get the bulk of your work done in less time than you expected to, especially being that it means I get to spend so much more time doing other things.

At some point tonight, I plan on getting some reading done because I’m very close to done my first book of 2015, Mary Wood-Allens’s What Young Women Ought to Know. It’s being quite the interesting read and more than once have I interrupted The Boyfriend’s gaming to read him passages from the book. My favorite rule presented by Mary is that girls should never run up and down the stairs. It’s been a running joke this week between The Boyfriend and I.

I always hate that he never reads any of the books that I read. But at least he pays enough attention to what I’m reading to be able to have running jokes with me!

Well, that’s my day in a nutshell. What was your day like? Do anything special this week?

A Few of My Favorite Things

Favorite Posts So Far

It’s officially been about six months since I came back from my big long blogging hiatus. In that time, on this blog alone, I’ve written 40 posts (counting this one). So, I thought it would be fun to take a look back on some of my favorite posts over the last year, not only on this blog but also on My Bucket List, my Pictures & Videos and my Writing & Erotica.

Favorites from Valerie Rayne Rants (this blog)

For (E)veryone
For (A)dults

Favorites from Valerie Rayne Writes (Writing & Erotica)

For (A)dults

Favorites from Valerie Rayne Lists (My Bucket List)

For (E)veryone
For (A)dults

Favorites from Valerie Rayne Pics (My Pictures & Videos)

For (E)veryone
For (A)dults

Now that I’ve shared all my favorites with you, I’d love for you to share yours with me. I’d also like to take a moment to thank all of you who have been reading and following. I especially want to thank those who have commented on my posts and the valuable insights you have often given me. Thank you so much for the likes and I hope we keep on having them 😉

In a Rut and Slacking

I’ve been slacking something fierce the last little bit. Pretty much since the last post that I did and that depressed rut has been lingering about me ever since. I wouldn’t say that I’m depressed, just that it’s there hovering around me.

I’ve been writing a lot, probably a lot more than usual. Although I tend to force out a paragraph and then the screen-staring begins and I can never bring myself to push publish. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get all these paragraph-long drafts into something more than that, but it’s just not going anywhere.

It’s been cold, really cold, these last few days and I’ve been spending a huge portion of my day trying to hide from that. I can’t tell you how many times the house has to listen to me complain about it. I’m ready to get winter over and done with and it hasn’t even truly begun yet… It’s going to be a long couple of months!

I’m going out with my Mom tomorrow afternoon, which I’m definitely looking forward to. It’s been a bit since I got to get out of the house for anything other than errands that needed to be done, so I’m hoping it will be nice and relaxing. I have to decide what I want to do for the two hours we’ve got between dropping Carter off and picking him up, and I’m not exactly sure what I’m in the mood for. I wish we had a cooler museum or something…

I’ve been completely neglecting everything to do with The Erotic Writers Group, going on officially two weeks now. I am trying my best not to beat myself up about it but I totally am. Which I guess is better than just not caring… I have every intention of jumping back on that bandwagon and picking up exactly where we left off, but I’m having a hard time getting there…

I couldn’t even tell you what’s holding me back from getting anything out there, but I just kind of feel a little paralyzed every single time I try to do anything there. I go to write a blog post, paralyzed. I go to schedule up challenges, paralyzed. I go to work on ideas for other stuff related to the group, paralyzed. And I just can’t seem to get past it. Not sure why…

However, in all the stuff that I didn’t get done, I have been doing a relatively decent job in keeping up with the kids’ school work, I’ve been on The Boyfriend’s butt regularly about keeping up on the laundry, and I did finally get another photo installation up (finally!). So, three things checked off the never-ending to-do list that is my life…

I’m curious, what are some of the out-of-the-box alternative ways that you pull yourself out of a rut? How do you avoid getting trapped?

Sick and Trying to Write

First week of school done, first snowfall of the year and everyone is getting sick! Carter started two days ago with a runny nose that has now turned into a full-out cold. Kenzie started last night and I woke up this morning with a very prominent tickle in my throat. Which means that by tomorrow, I will be incapacitated to my chair under a big fluffy blanket and the most you’ll get out of me is a cough here or there.

I hate getting sick. It’s just about the worst thing. They’re always worse than you think they’re going to be, they always make you feel gross for days and just when you get over one, another one is just around the corner. It’s very depressing.

And that’s right, I said above snowfall. That dreadful white stuff, which we weren’t supposed to get, started falling and ever since the weather has been some slushy rain coldness. Needless to say, it’s been freezing cold and none of us were prepared for it. Stupid Alberta…

Not too much else has been going on. I got through another bunch of chapters of Brave New World and am enjoying the story immensely so far (also started a story inspired by it…). The Boyfriend and I worked our butts off the other day to get the kitchen clean, even pulling out the fridge – which was definitely needed! Other than that, it’s mostly be computer time for me.

Lots of The Sims 3 being played, tons getting done for The Erotic Writers Group and have spent the last couple of days testing out Scrivener. It was suggested by the group and so far, I’m liking it for organizing story pieces. I’m still setting up all my folders and backend stuff, so that I get into the crunch of writing some of The Brighton Tales, because seriously, I am so ready for this story to be out of my head, on paper, for consumption.

I’m having a really difficult time on choosing a name for the female slave in this story, which is making the writing much more difficult. Up until now, I’ve mostly just referred to her by pronouns and when I’ve written something that requires a name, I’ll just little brackets, because I’m not exactly sure what I want to call her. I know that I want her to have a normal “Brighton” name (although, what is that even?!?) and then she gets called the same thing as all the other slaves once she’s ritually taken by Atticus. What to call her, hell, even what to call the slaves – haven’t quite figured that out yet…

Slaves are even the wrong word to use for those in service to the Kingdom of Brighton. I hate when the words trip you up on the writing!

I Love Productive Days!

It happens so rarely for me and that absolutely needs to change, but I seriously love really productive days. They just make me feel so very accomplished – even if when I’m done, I feel utterly exhausted!

Last night, I decided that I wanted to get up when The Boyfriend got up for work. And imagine how excited I was when I was awake before his alarm even went off! I waited for coffee and jumped out of bed when he got home. I had stuff to do!

So then, shortly after he left for work, I checked the first to-do on my list off of it. The kids and I walked down and registered Carter for Kindergarten (cannot believe my youngest is now in school – what am I going to do with myself?!?) and ensured the other kids were set to start. It took us just under an hour to complete the whole thing, including the walk to and from the school and this alone made me feel really really good.

Got home and sat for a little bit, debating whether or not the day was going to be a productive one or not and then, went out to the kitchen to grab a drink and next thing you know, I’m power cleaning the kitchen. Sweat was literally pouring off my nose! But, so clean!! Floor swept, walls washed, dishes done, surfaces cleaned and I’m even cleaning out the garbage can really good! Still arguing with myself about whether or not I’m going to do the oven – will most likely leave it until later on tonight, after the kids have gone to bed.

I’ve also written two blog posts so far today, with a definitive plan for a third and I even hope to get next week’s challenges all cued up (since I finished this week’s last night) – which means that I’m at least 4 days ahead of schedule on my usual challenge tasks.

The kids are even enjoying the productive day, although they are being much less productive. But they have been better behaved all day today than I’ve seen them in months and it’s just generally being a great day!

Lesson learnt today: Wake up earlier! Makes me more productive which gives me that nice accomplished feeling I love so much 😉

I’m Back!!!

Well, it’s been over a year since I last wrote anything blog related. After succumbing to extreme amounts of stress and an overwhelmed feeling that I just couldn’t shake, I had to step away from the computer and internet for quite awhile. And while I haven’t totally conquered the stress or gotten over the fact that my life can sometimes be incredibly overwhelming, I have realized that not blogging can no longer be an option.

So finally, I’m back… This time is going to be a little bit different though.

First of all, I’m not going to bite off more than I can chew. It’s often the downfall of my time on the internet. I think I can do it all, I want to do it all. Be on every social network actively, put all my ideas out there, write everyday, blah blah blah – and that’s not why I started blogging in the first place. I didn’t start blogging to become marketable or to reach some target audience or to get a certain amount of likes and shares.

I plan to not make any plans and I plan to let my writing and blogging happen naturally and organically. I also plan to not take on so many projects online or at the very least, give each project it’s time to settle in. That way, when I get in front of my computer, I don’t immediately feel like giving up.

So for now, it’s The Rantings and The Erotic Writers Group, and that’s it!

Over the next few days, you’ll most likely get a few introductory posts and then we’ll get into the real good stuff. For now though, I’d love for you to check out my latest writing, a submission for The Erotic Writers Group: Challenge Central and if you’re on Google+, that’s the best place to get updates from me!

Thank you so much for reading my first post back after my year long hiatus and I look forward to many more rantings. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave your comments.