TOPIC - Who am I?

Who am I?  Well, I am a first time novelist living near San Francisco.  Fiction writing is not my profession, but I had to do something with my degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan.

TOPIC - Why did I write 11 Days with Sgt Tate?

There are many reasons why I wrote the story.

CHARACTER - Lennox Daniel Stevens

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TOPIC - The Axioms of Sgt Tate

The following are the axioms (or rules) I followed as I was writing the story.  I adhered to most of them. For others where the story dictated, I allowed for some deviation from the rules.  And even other rules were broken, only to be fixed in the re-write.

LOCATION - The Sex Club

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CHARACTER - Joseph 'Joe' David Ventura

Named by Mack, Joe is the character that most people like.  He is based on one of my closest friends.

LOCATION - The Rest Area

I was asked often where the rest area was located.  I wish there was one out there like the one described in the story.  It exists only in my mind.

TOPIC - Safe Sex? What's that?

I wrote 11 Days with Sgt Tate as my escape from reality.  I envisioned a 6'5" hung bear behemoth Marine Drill Instructor with millions made from patents.  He doesn't exist in reality.  (If he does, send him my way.)  I envisioned a Rest Area closed to the public but open to dozens of truckers all looking to get laid.  It doesn't exist in reality.  (If it does let me know where I should go for a little fun.)  I envisioned that unprotected sex doesn't have any worries.  That doesn't exist in reality.

CHARACTER: Randy

I think that Randy is the least developed character. . . .

TOPIC - Porn versus Erotica

When I started Sgt Tate it was going to be a story built around a lot of sex scenes.  I had the scenes pretty much planned out.  Yeah it was going to be Tate training Dan and getting closer and closer.  Tate takes it too far with Boris, but the sex scenes come back afterwards.  I wasn't planning on much of the emotional side of the torture scene to dominate the last part of the story.

TOPIC - The Women Readers of Sgt Tate

It may come as a surprise that a number of women have read 12 Days with Sgt Tate.  I find it very interesting that they have followed a gay S&M raunch love story.  For this blog, I decided to find out more about this seemingly contradiction.

TOPIC - The United States Marine Corps

When initially designing the story, I wanted Tate to be the archetype of hyper-masculinity.  He needed to be in the military, more specifically the Marines.  And the most aggressive would be a Drill Instructor.

TOPIC - Hunting on a Hunting Trip?

When I conceived the story, it was centered around a hunting trip.  About Day 4 or 5, I realized that they will be on a hunting trip for 11 days; shouldn't they hunt something?

CHARACTER - Ivan "Boris" Chtgheglovski

Boris. Ivan. Chtgheglovski.  What can I say?

LOCATION: The Lodge

The lodge is a place I would love to visit.  It is based on a number of hidden lodges / hotels I have been in located in northern Minnesota.

CHARACTER: Larry Joe "Tard" Mason

Tard.

Never has something so simple been so complex.

CHARACTER: Jack Stevens

Dan's dad is a homophobic jerk.  He should not have had the responsibility of raising Dan.  When I first conceived him, he was mildly homophobic.  In the end he became something more extreme.

CHARACTER: Senior Drill Instructor Master Sergeant Lennox Tate

While I consider Dan to be the weakest character, I think Tate is the strongest.  The story is essentially about him and his transformation.

Where on earth did this man come from?  I wanted Tate to be the ultimate top, the ultimate master, the ultimate man.  I wanted him to be the alpha male of all alpha males.

TOPIC - Where do we go from here?

Is there going to be a sequel?