Marie
Curie Saves the Titanic
with
a Flying Alien and a Mechanical Bat (and then They Bang):
An
Action Figure Erotic Novel
By
Lady Ristretto
Marie
Curie is travelling aboard the Titanic on its maiden voyage with many
historical figures, such as the Einsteins and Rudolph Valentino.
Marie finds herself attracted to two mysterious American men, the
ethereally handsome Kent Calhoun and the brooding billionaire
Brewster Wainright.
Marie's
extended exposure to radiation through scientific research has given
her telekinetic powers. But Marie isn't the only one with superhuman
powers.
Suffering
in an unhappy marriage with an emotionally abusive husband, Marie
indulges sexually in the fascinating people around her.
Despite
it being a buffet of anachronistic historical figures which borders
on the absurd, Marie goes through a very profound and painful journey
as she finally determines that she wants her life to change.
This
is an Action Figure Erotica novel. The main characters have to have
been made into action figures. Time, place, and history doesn't
matter. It's like playing with toys as an adult. It's fantasy and
myth and history all wrapped up in a sexy package.
I
worked for almost ten years in coffee (Starbucks, Barnes & Noble
cafes) when I quit and turned to writing erotica full time.
That's
a little misleading. Let me back up about twenty years. I decided I
wanted to write professionally when I was in high school (not
erotica, but my work definitely skirted the issue in an obvious way,
but it eventually manifested itself in plays. They were the only
thing I could finish. I did write poetry, but it was riddled with
teen angst and pocked with imagery involving bleeding walls of flesh
and a knight chess piece. And I kept a diary which, at the time, I
wrote at an astonishing rate of half to one blank book a day.
While
at UCLA, I wrote plays on the side. Sometimes during class. Sometimes
inspired by my classes. While I took archaeology, queer literature
and vampire fiction I wrote a radio play about a cross dressing
archaeologist in Mexico who unknowingly unearthed a vampire.
After
UCLA I had no idea what to do with myself and missed college a week
after I graduated. I had my first full length play produced by a
small theater in Illinois, and the director told me I'd learn much if
I got my MFA in playwriting. So I went to Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale and got my MFA.
I
wasn't the best graduate student. I was willful, stubborn, contrary,
fiesty, combative. My work started to enter the realm of erotica and,
being life stage plays, this became problematic. Especially in a
university theater. I had written a one act play about pony play,
which the department found too objectionable and unstagable to
produce. Another one act was about a lesbian astronomer who falls in
love with a star, and has a kind of "sex" scene with the
star involving a nude scene.
My
thesis play was about a woman who pretends to be a man online, and
has cybersex with another woman. I didn't want this to be my thesis.
For my thesis, I wrote a full length version of Dying in Pleasure.
But that was immediately found to be objectionable: too violent and
misogynistic for undergraduates actors.
But
I got out of there, and spent a couple years working on a novel
version of Dying in Pleasure. I couldn't let it go. During this time
I went to Pompeii and it was harrowing. The condition of the town and
seeing the bodies on display was extremely disturbing. No matter what
professors had said about my play, I wasn't going to abandon the
story.
I
eventually landed in Texas to work on my Phd. While there I began my
own theater company to produce my works almost exclusively. This is
when erotica and playwriting truly merged, and I became quite the
controversy.
The
theater lived almost two years before bankrupting, and I suppose I
slid underground. I wrote very little and focused on coffee. Many
personal issues and complications and life changes later, I find
myself in Southampton, England and writing erotica full time. I work
on novels and write short stories on commission. I've been building a
significant online presence and have worked hard to be successful.
Publishing
Dying in Pleasure has been more than a professional hurdle and
accomplishment. It's the culmination of years of work, my development
as a writer, my obsession with Pompeii and my stubbornness.
Presently,
I'm working on a mermaid erotica novel which I hope to be the first
book in a series.
PS.
A question suddenly occurred to me--why erotica? I've been fascinated
with sex and sexuality for years. At this point, nothing really
shocks me (although every once in a while, something new pops up that
does), and it all fascinates me. I don't judge anyone. I don't write
about everything (such as child molestation), but I don't look down
on furries and golden showers and any form of BDSM.
I
think what intrigues me the most is the power sex has over us. How
sex can turn an intelligent, well balanced, logical and emotionally
stable person into a panting beast. I've experienced it myself. One
of my best friends said of me, "How could someone so intelligent
do something so stupid?" What I had done was stupid, but how it
happened in simple: sex. I didn't know how to wield the power of sex.
It was a sword I was too weak to carry and it cut me in a thousand
places. It had nothing to do with intelligence. Sex never does.
Intelligence
is realizing that sex is powerful. And sometimes it's okay to give in
to it, and other times it's not.
