Really, really put my foot in it this week!

I wanted to begin today’s blog post by telling you a little more about myself, but then I realised that after having changed my on-line name twice to avoid

A)    Perverts and Spammers and

B)     being noticed (again) by my work colleagues and bosses

that telling you personal stuff would be kind of self-defeating.  I’d love to share a little more about me with my friendly followers – it’s beginning to feel like a family here – but I’m risking being exposed (not THAT kind of exposure!) to those who would mock, ridicule and generally hand me my notice.

So instead I’ll tell you a little more about what I do when I’m not rambling away on my blog.

I’ve been very lucky to be found by Steam eReads, an Australian publisher who specialises in erotic stories.  However, most of my writing income is still generated by ghostwriting – those short stories that are created in a whirl of inspiration, then sent off into the electronic abyss never to be heard from again.  It’s a little sad – rather like fostering children who never write home once they’ve left.  That’s why Steam eReads has become a little like a literary anchor to me.  My name is on the cover of the book that I wrote and they’ve been nice enough to allow me a say in the cover and the final editing.

Ghostwriting is my bread and butter for now, though.  So I continue to trawl for work, fend off those who can’t read what I specialise in (No, I DON’T do web design – where did it say that on my resumee??) and hum and haw over offers of $15 for 10,000 word ‘short’ stories.  Do I really need the work that badly?

But this week I put my foot in it.  I was asked if I could produce a 6k short story with a gay element – featuring two or more participants.  Erotica, I thought.  I can do that.  I can do gay erotica.  After all, my BFF characters Amber and Lucy are always ‘at it.’

I accepted the challenge – and was shocked when the outline arrived.  I’d naturally assumed (as you may have) that I would be writing about two (or more) girlfriends.

Nope.

The contractor wanted guy-guy stuff.

Aw, shoot.

Pun not intended.

I credit myself with a pretty good set of imagination neurons, but this was off the beaten track, even for me.  Yes, I have a gay friend.  I might even have two (I must ask him if he is – just to be sure).  But this will take some ‘getting inside the head’ stuff.

The alternative is turning down dollars that I can really use.

*sighs*.

Time to start following more gay (guy) blogs?

Definitely time to start checking the job descriptions more closely.

Any advice, guys and girls?