PUBLISH
Our writing supervisor said, “Sex and the City” attracted 4.6 million viewers.”
“Are you saying that in order to be published one has to write erotica?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
I was not going to argue, but contrary quotes flashed through my mind.
A VICTORIAN AUTHOR: “The positions are ridiculous, the pleasure brief
and the expense damnable.”
MARLENE DIETRICH: “In America sex is an obsession, in other parts of
the world, it is a fact.”
GLENDA JACKSON: “Acting is not very hard. The most important things
are to be able to laugh and cry. If I have to cry, I think of my sex life. If I have
to laugh, well, I think of my sex life.”
CANDICE BERGEN: “I’m great at screen orgasm. Ten seconds of heavy
breathing, roll your head from side to side, and simulate a slight asthma
attack.”
I gathered my thoughts and looked at my supervisor. “Yes, I do want to be
published.” So, home I went, and rolled a sheet of paper into my typewriter
(that tells you that I’m past the first flush of youth, added to which, I’m ever-so-
refined). However:
1959 DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
Anthony and I are joyous and playful. We have a deep intimacy. He is strong
and beautiful and makes me supple and fluid. We explore each other’s bodies
and meet in the act of love and vibrate with it. His thrusting strength fills me to
overflowing. We fall deeper and deeper into an abyss of love. We taste the
joys of each other and repeat and repeat and repeat this engulfing together-
ness. His hands, his eyes, his lips, in a fusion of our natural selves.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION:
Dear Diary, remember Shakespeare? I did.
“Make use of time, let not advantage slip,
Beauty within itself should not be wasted
Fair flowers that are not gathered in their prime
Rot and consume themselves in little time.”
I headed my effort at erotica, “SEX! THE MOST FUN YOU CAN HAVE
WITHOUT LAUGHING” and posted it to the publisher.