| "Excuse me, Ma'am, but exactly what kind of undergarment *does* one wear with a bondage suit?" That question and others like it are the sort of thing that I've found myself asking people at conventions lately. I first noticed this astonishing alteration to my normal conversational comfort zone at Dragon*Con in 2007. I know why it happened. The women in my novels tend to dress to impress (and not in a business sense) and because my editor always insists that Tabitha, Rachel, and the other gals can't get away with wearing the same outfit all the time like my male protagonist does, I very quickly exhausted my own mental wardrobe or rather... my fashion vocabulary. I have to admit that after I got married, I kind of stopped paying attention to what women other than my wife were wearing and even then, beyond the simple things like: skirts, blouses, high heels, t-shirts, etc... I had no idea how to accurately describe an outfit. This is something Mark does very well in Happy Hour of the Damned. Amanda is always very fashionably dressed. He's researched real designers... It's all absolutely dead on. But me... well, when I notice an outfit that I think would look good on one of my literary ladies, I ask. The surprising thing? So far, once it's clear why I'm asking, ladies have been very forthcoming, not just with the names of things, but with background info about what the material feels like, how to put it on, and in several cases offering to show me how it comes off. You can tell I've been married for fifteen years, because in every case my answer the that last demonstrational offer has been to turn bright red and offer a polite, "No, thank you." I've found myself pouring through clothes catalogues that I'd never so much as glanced at before, looking through online clothing stores, and even paying more attention to what celebrities are wearing. Clothing is just the most humorous example, but the sort of things that I research now are quite strange and varied. I had to look in chakra for the tantric magic, the reproductive systems of cats, the way a bat's wings work... And don't get me started on the level of research that I wound up doing into classic Mustangs. I guess writing does some strange things to people. So am I alone in this or have some of you found yourself pursuing research that you would have otherwise ignored completely just so that you can depict it better on the page? (Edited to correct my previous underestimation of Mark's fashion research) |
Blog Archives
Latest Entries
Coming Soon
ok, thongs
i just dont get. im 40 yrs old and have been pulling my drawers of out my crack for 38? yrs, since i guess i started wearing panties
\thongs, i just dont understand, ok
with some type of clothes, they would sure help the look, but wearing daily? or just cause, and nnot as dress up in french maid outfit. for like 10 mins
otherwise WHY have that up the crack feeling
My list of weird research subjects is a mile long. Everything from nipple clamps to wine varietals to marijuana strains and guns to shoes to hallucinogenic plants. It's one of my favorite parts of the job.
But what was the answer to the question????
I'm dying to know, so that next time I wear that bondage suit, I wear the correct thing! ;)
Oh, Lord. The things I have to research for my UF is embarrassing. I'm an old married guy, so I had no concept of the varieties of women's clothes, until I wrote a 1st Person POV female, and had to learn. I've only scratched the surface, too. Wow. It's complicated to be a woman these days. Thank God my wife has been there to correct me, give advice.
Also, one book got a bit kinky, so google was my friend. I'm probably on the government's "Pervert List" now. Those conservative, reduce government types love to have government spy on us. Sheeze.
Hey Jeremy. There are no invented designers in Amanda's world, that was one of the things I had to research a lot. Yesterday I researched genital piercing, browsed models.com for an appropriate face for a character and looked at pictures of dead ivy to see if I was getting a simile right. Just a regular day. I miss Amanda right now. The new book isn't as crazy.
Wow, Mark, you rock! My apologies for underestimating your research. I guess it also demonstrates how fashion blind I am.
I had simply assumed that some of the designers were invented, because that's what I would have done. Which brings me to the old saying about what happens when you assume...
(I wonder if I can edit the blog without clobbering Jackie's?)
Macbeaner, in that particular case, she went with nothing up top and a thong down below, but apparently it's a personal preference thing and involves some decision making informed by what the suit is made of, how long it's going to worn, and how your skin holds up to it.
Hey cool! It let me correct it without screwing up the posting order. Yay!
It wouldn't have been a problem to leave it as is. Though I will say that today has been more unusual research wise.
Did you know that the average amount of human ejaculate is between 5 and 17 ml?
The incubus book is taking me to some very weird places.
I did not know that.