by Lori Perkins
Fifty
Writers
on Fifty
Shades
of Grey
EDITED BY
LORI PERKINS
THIS PUBLICATION IS UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORIZED. IT HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, AUTHORIZED, LICENSED, OR ENDORSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT CREATED OR PRODUCED THE WELL-KNOWN BOOK FIFTY SHADES OF GREY OR BOOK TRILOGY FIFTY SHADES.
Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey © 2012 by Lori Perkins
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
BenBella Books, Inc.
10300 N. Central Expressway, Suite 400
Dallas, TX 75231
www.benbellabooks.com
Send feedback to [email protected]
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title.
978-1-937856-42-7
eISBN: 978-1-937856-43-4
Copyediting by Don Weise
Proofreading by James Fraleigh and Michael Fedison
Cover design by Jarrod Taylor
Cover illustration by Ralph Voltz
Text design and composition by John Reinhardt Book Design
Printed by Berryville Graphics, Inc.
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
(www.perseusdistribution.com)
To place orders through Perseus Distribution:
Tel: 800-343-4499
Fax: 800-351-5073
Email: [email protected]
Significant discounts for bulk sales are available. Please contact Glenn Yeffeth at [email protected] or 214-750-3628.
COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Sexually Positive” © 2012 by Stacey Agdern
“Fifty Shades of Holy Crap!” © 2012 by Laura Antoniou
“Every Breath You Take” © 2012 by Jennifer Armintrout
“Editing Fifty” © 2012 by Tish Beaty
“Throwing Shade” © 2012 by Mala Bhattacharjee
“Kink and Condescension” © 2012 by Rachel Kramer Bussel
“Forbidden Fruit Is the Sweetest” © 2012 by Suzan Colón
“The Story Is in the Sex” © 2012 by Joy Daniels
“The Brown Paper Bag” © 2012 by Sylvia Day
“The Legal Bonding of Anastasia and Christian” © 2012 by Sherri Donovan
“How I Lost Christian Grey at Auction” © 2012 by Editor X
“Making Fifty Shades into Cinema” © 2012 by Angela Edwards
“Raising the Shades” © 2012 by Melissa Febos
“Labels, Schmabels, I’ll Take the Publicity!” © 2012 by Lucy Felthouse
“The Delicate Balance” © 2012 by Ryan Field
“Sexual Empowerment at the Water Cooler” © 2012 by Selina Fire
“My Inner Goddess” © 2012 by Megan Frampton
“The History of BDSM Fiction and Romance” © 2012 by Sarah S. G. Frantz
“Fifty Shades of Change” © 2012 by Louise Fury
“Fifty Shades of Women” © 2012 by Heather Graham
“The McDonald’s of Lust” © 2012 by Lois Gresh
“Was It Good for You?” © 2012 by Catherine Hiller
“It’s All in the Eyes” © 2012 by Marci Hirsch
“Fifty Ways of Looking at Sex in Fifty Shades” © 2012 by Dr. Hilda Hutcherson
“Wanted: Fifty Shades of Sexual Wholeness” © 2012 by Debra Hyde
“When Fifty Was Fic” © 2012 by Anne Jamison
“Porn Writer on the PTA” © 2012 by Rachel Kenley
“Is Fifty Shades Erotica?” © 2012 by D. L. King
“The Professional Poster Child” © 2012 by Dr. Logan Levkoff
“Imagining a Black Fifty Shades” © 2012 by Arielle Loren
“Whose Shades of Grey?” © 2012 by Sinnamon Love
“A Queer Leather Reluctant Support of Fifty Shades” © 2012 by Sassafras Lowrey
“The Game Changer” © 2012 by M.Christian
“The Collar of Blue Stones” © 2012 by Pamela Madsen
“A BDSM Couple’s View” © 2012 by ChrisMarks and Lia Leto
“A Requested Evaluation of the Mastery of Christian Grey” © 2012 by Master R
“Fifty Shades of Snark” © 2012 by Midori
“Being Stretched” © 2012 by Dr. Katherine Ramsland
“Fifty Shades of Play” © 2012 by Judith Regan
“This Is the Story” © 2012 by Tiffany Reisz
“Between the Covers” © 2012 by M.J. Rose
“Grey Is the New Black” © 2012 by Katharine Sands
“The Byronic Hero Archetype and Christian Grey” © 2012 by Jennifer Sanzo
“Crass Is in Session” © 2012 by Rakesh Satyal
“Fifty Shades of Grace Metalious” © 2012 by Andrew Shaffer
“Fifty Shades Is Where You Find It” © 2012 by Marc Shapiro
“Fifty Shades of Diva Frenzy!” © 2012 by Lyss Stern
“Fifty Shades of Stories” © 2012 by Cecilia Tan
“Because Love Hurts” © 2012 by Hope Tarr, PhD
“Fifty Shades of Sexual Freedom” © 2012 by Susan Wright
CONTENTS
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Fifty Ways to Look at Fifty Shades by Lori Perkins
Fifty Shades of Erotic Fiction
Between the Covers by M.J. Rose
This Is the Story by Tiffany Reisz
The Game Changer by M.Christian
Fifty Shades of Change by Louise Fury
The Brown Paper Bag by Sylvia Day
Labels, Schmabels, I’ll Take the Publicity! by Lucy Felthouse
Porn Writer on the PTA by Rachel Kenley
Is Fifty Shades Erotica? by D. L. King
Fifty Shades of Romance
It’s All in the Eyes by Marci Hirsch
The Byronic Hero Archetype and Christian Grey by Jennifer Sanzo
Grey Is the New Black by Katharine Sands
Because Love Hurts by Hope Tarr, PhD
Every Breath You Take by Jennifer Armintrout
Intermission
Fifty Shades of Play by Judith Regan
Fifty Shades of Sex
Forbidden Fruit Is the Sweetest by Suzan Colón
Fifty Ways of Looking at Sex in Fifty Shades by Dr. Hilda Hutcherson
The McDonald’s of Lust by Lois Gresh
Crass Is in Session by Rakesh Satyal
Sexual Empowerment at the Water Cooler by Selina Fire
Fifty Shades of Women by Heather Graham
Fifty Shades of Snark by Midori
Fifty Shades of BDSM
Kink and Condescension by Rachel Kramer Bussel
A Queer Leather Reluctant Support of Fifty Shades by Sassafras Lowrey
The History of BDSM Fiction and Romance by Sarah S. G. Frantz
The Legal Bonding of Anastasia and Christian by Sherri Donovan
Wanted: Fifty Shades of Sexual Wholeness by Debra Hyde
A Requested Evaluation of the Mastery of Christian Grey by Master R
The Collar of Blue Stones by Pamela Madsen
Being Stretched by Dr. Katherine Ramsland
Whose Shades of Grey? by Sinnamon Love
A BDSM Couple’s View by ChrisMarks and Lia Leto
Fifty Shades of Sexual Freedom by Susan Wright
Fifty Shades of Writing
The Delicate Balance by Ryan Field
Was It Good for You? by Catherine Hiller
The Story Is in the Sex by Joy
Daniels
Sexually Positive by Stacey Agdern
My Inner Goddess by Megan Frampton
Intermission
Fifty Shades of Holy Crap! by Laura Antoniou
Fifty Shades of Fanfiction
Fifty Shades of Stories by Cecilia Tan
Editing Fifty by Tish Beaty
Throwing Shade by Mala Bhattacharjee
When Fifty Was Fic by Anne Jamison
Fifty Shades of Pop Culture
Fifty Shades Is Where You Find It by Marc Shapiro
How I Lost Christian Grey at Auction by Editor X
Making Fifty Shades into Cinema by Angela Edwards
Fifty Shades of Grace Metalious by Andrew Shaffer
Fifty Shades of Diva Frenzy! by Lyss Stern
Imagining a Black Fifty Shades by Arielle Loren
The Professional Poster Child by Dr. Logan Levkoff
Raising the Shades by Melissa Febos
Appendix: Fifty Shades of Reading
About the Editor
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BEHIND EVERY AUTHOR, there is a team. In addition to the Ab Fab writers in this book who wrote under extreme deadline and turned around corrections at lightning speed, I want to thank Louise Fury, my agent, who came up with the idea for the book and brought it to me; Debra Hyde, who kept me on track and pitched in on a moment’s notice; and Leah Wilson, who was everything an author could dream of in an editor.
INTRODUCTION
Fifty Ways to Look at Fifty Shades
EVERYWHERE YOU GO people are talking about Fifty Shades of Grey, from the supermarket (where it is on sale!) to the airport to PTA meetings and even church socials. It is the book of the year, if not the decade.
You all know the stats. It has sold more copies than the Harry Potter series in a mere six months. It has dominated the New York Times bestseller list since April 2012. As of this writing, 32 million copies have sold this year in the US alone.
So the real question is: Why did this book, and its sequels, capture our attention now?
• • • • •
I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT, as a literary agent who has toiled in the erotica fields for decades, I love the Fifty Shades trilogy. Its success has shown the world that a strong market exists for erotic fiction written, edited, and purchased by women.
To me, Fifty Shades is smut for women. I consider myself a “feminist pornographer,” which always raises a few eyebrows. But I believe this movement of women claiming their own smut is part of the evolution of feminism—proudly owning your sexuality is a big part of equality.
When I was a young feminist, I was given Story of O by a lover, and I was offended by it—not because of its overt subject matter but because I knew that I was not a submissive woman (I didn’t know the terminology back then; now every young woman will!). I’ve wrestled with this my entire life in my personal relationships, and I assumed that the submissive woman fantasy was a male one and part of the patriarchy.
Until I became an editor of erotic literature. I quickly learned that the fantasy of complete surrender to an alpha male is the leading daydream of the majority of American women.
As a young feminist, I equated all romance with submission, and I looked down on them both. I didn’t think it was possible to be submissive and a feminist, just as old-school feminists were appalled that their well-educated daughters wanted to stay home and be mothers or learn to knit and bake. In a recent review of The Hunger Games movie, a feminist reviewer complained about the apparent need for “romance” in what is otherwise an action-based dystopian story. I used to decry this kind of “unnecessary” addition of romance, too, but I secretly went to romantic comedies alone so no one would see me cry. I was ashamed of my romantic side.
Until I came to see that you can be a feminist and a romantic. It’s okay. And it’s really okay to want, and believe in, a happy ending—even when you know that in reality 50 percent of all marriages fail. These movies and books are an escape, and a hope.
We’ve been saying for the past several decades that feminism is about having choices, and one of those is the freedom to indulge in our erotic fantasies. Everyone wants to fall in love and be swept away by its power, even men. But they don’t have the emotional freedom women have. They don’t have the emotional choices we have. In Western culture, you will never see a story about a man being swept away by love, unless it’s a comedy or a cautionary tale.
Fifty Shades brings all these issues and more to the surface. But more than that, it has proven, once and for all, that women love to read smut with a happy ending.
Looking through my erotica reader and writer lens, I foresee that this phenomenon means that a whole new marketplace awaits these stories. Story of O is fifty years old and the current edition is a dated translation (I’d love to see it in contemporary language). We need new fantasies, which E. L. James has given us. I am awed to see the birth of a new erotica classic. (I had the same feeling when I watched Harry Potter become a children’s literature classic in my time.)
Some have wondered how a “classic” can be so “poorly written.” But I contend that it is not poorly written, but rather written in an everywoman’s voice, a necessary part of its success. I once worked with an author who used plebian language (bringing me my first experience with the phrase “Holy crap!”). When she returned my edits, she told me that she did indeed know the word “simultaneously,” but when she was fantasizing, she always used the phrase “at the same time as,” and she knew that her readers did as well. When she saw the word “simultaneously” in fiction, she knew it had been edited up to New York Times standards, which was all well and good, but not the way she spoke in her head. These books are about being drawn into the fantasy—and E. L. James expertly takes her readers on that journey.
I hope Fifty Shades will be the tip of a rather large iceberg of erotic empowerment. And I hope that these books will usher in a publishing tidal wave of female-centered commercially successful erotica, giving women a new voice for sexual, political, and financial choices. It’s what we should’ve had all along.
• • • • •
THIS IS THE WAY I look at Fifty Shades. But there are many, many others, from what its story says about us as a society to the role of women in and out of relationships to our hidden fantasy lives. This book offers fifty of those ways, from readers who love it and a few readers who don’t, because their voices are important, too.
Is Fifty Shades literature? Postfeminism? Or just the end of civilization as we know it?
I hope you will find all of those answers in here.
And then continue discussing amongst yourselves.
Lori Perkins
August 2012
Fifty
Shades of
Erotic Fiction
M.J. ROSE
Between the Covers
THE SHEETS WERE SMOOTH. Cool. And that smell! Fresh linens scented with jasmine and orange blossom. She breathed in deeply as she settled down. For a few moments, she concentrated on just being there. On relaxing. On trying to let go of the minutiae … of all the ordinary and unimportant million things that had happened. Or barely happened.
She knew he wouldn’t mind if it took her a little while. He was patient. He would wait for her. Yes, he would wait for her.
The day had seemed like it would never end. There were arguments at work that had been exhausting. Her family was always demanding but today they had been relentless in their needs. She’d thought this would never come.
Her fingertips made circles on the bedding. She listened to the jazz she’d put on. The slow, hot music was perfect. Just loud enough to drown out the sounds beyond this room … beyond this house … beyond this world. Drown it all out so she didn’t have to be aware of anything but what was going on inside of this cocoon she was spinning around herself. Where no one else was invited.
No one but him.
She’d dressed for him, putting on a thin nightgown that clung to her and skimm
ed her skin. A pressure so light it was like butterfly kisses. For now, the silk was pulled down demurely, covering her to her ankles. Only the soles of her feet and her toes were exposed to the cool air.
Even with his first words her breasts began to push against the fabric. More of his words. More push. Even gossamer would have been too constricting now. Her breasts were ready to be released. To be touched. To be squeezed and pinched and …
No, not yet … all in time … because there was time … with him there was always time, and what a luxury that was.
As she relaxed into the act, he told her more about what he wanted and her imagination soared.
How would her skin feel when he slapped her?
How would her mouth be able to take so much of him inside her?
How would she react to being bound?
Scared? Excited?
Would it be frightening to do only what he allowed?
How could she accept being controlled?
She could accept it because this was control by invitation. This time she wanted to be told. Yes. Wanted him to demand she perform for him and do these things to him, and she wanted him to do those things to her.
It was all new. It was heady. She’d never imagined any of this before him. She would have been ashamed if anyone else had asked all this of her.
But not him.
The sensation between her legs intensified and teased. Hovering deliciously. The twinges and very first throb of an orgasm beckoned. Maybe there would even be more than one. Hard to come by more than one in most situations.
But this wasn’t most situations.
This was a sexual heaven. This was being taking by the hand and led gently into a different world where nothing was wrong … nothing was obscene … nothing was forbidden.
Orange moved to red. Red moved to scarlet. Scarlet pulsed to purple. Lightning jolted inside her. She flared.
Yes, he had been patient … but now he was demanding. He was a frightening lover. Yet, because he made sure she understood the word love was encapsulated in the word lover, she was safe. Everything he was suggesting, was insisting on, was all for one reason … to take her further into the colors … into the music … into the smells and the touches … all to make her feel more … and feel more deeply.
She didn’t understand how such a simple act made excitement like this build in her. How it aroused and hardened her nipples. How it made it so she could barely keep her hands away from the warm, wet space between her legs.