Category Archives: Chapters

Coming soon, in a different format

Coming soon, in a different format

To all the Naked Montreal fans who’ve been waiting patiently, your day has come! I’ve put up my sample chapter for free download on Smashwords (Amazon, coming soon) and I’m working on getting my chapters ready for publication one by one.

That’s right: Naked Montreal will be released in digital format, one chapter at a time, Charles Dickens-style.

I always knew the classics had a purpose.

For those who still want the heft of a nice paperback in hand, never fear! I shall deliver on my promise, once my chapters are digitally assembled and vetted.

For those who want to download that free copy, CLICK HERE. And stay tuned for new chapters to be released in the coming weeks!

P.S. You may also want to grab my new quickie, “THE MONTREAL GUIDE TO SEX,” for only $1.99 at Smashwords. It’s a cheeky DOs and DON’Ts guide to help you choose a suitable partner for all your sexual gallivanting in the Sin City of the North. A comedic how-to, if you will. Enjoy!

11 days

11 days

I’m feeling wild and crazy, pent-up, full of excitement and energy, and maybe I’ve just been reading too much about Simenon, but I’ve got to do something.

Something big.

Something… NaNoWriMo or 3-Day Novel Writing Contest big.

I need to finish this novel in 11 days.

One of my Oddities & Inspirations today was an article on the “World’s Most Prolific Novelist,” Georges Simenon. A tweet from @robertbruce caught my eye this morning, reminding me of a Paris Review interview I’d read with the French novelist, who claimed he wrote each of his 400+ novels in just 11 days. Bruce linked me to another interview from Life (1958), which gave some good insights into the man and his methods.

Georges Simenon, from a 1958 Life article (photo by Yves Debraine)

It grabbed my attention. It sparked my imagination.

I’ll be honest: Work on Naked Montreal has stalled lately, because I feel daunted by the task before me. I’ve pushed back the deadline again and again, and it’s bothering me.

I think what I really need to do is go big. Set a deadline of 11 days, and do nothing but live and breathe this draft until it’s done. (And then spend 3 days revising it, à la Simenon.)

What better way to write a book about a French city than by imitating one of France’s most prolific writers?

And is it any coincidence that, including today, there are just 11 days left in September?

Fate speaks, and I listen. Tomorrow, I shall do my drudge work and get it finished, clearing my schedule to begin my 11-day work-week on this novel. No guilt, no remorse, no stopping ’til it’s finished. I need to do what I need to do.

Simenon, lead the way! I shall follow, your faithful pupil.

Chapter 7: Daniel Allen Cox

Chapter 7: Daniel Allen Cox

One of my literary heroes, Daniel Allen Cox, is featured in this week’s “Three Dollar Bill” column in the Hour. Daniel’s latest book is called Krakow Melt, and I’m eagerly awaiting my review copy from his publisher, having absolutely adored his previous book, Shuck (which I reviewed on Black Heart’s website).

Daniel Allen Cox (photo by Dallas Curow)

Daniel is someone whose career I’ve been fortunate enough to follow from its early beginnings: hawking his novella, Tattoo This Madness In, at Montreal’s Expozine; baking me delicious carrot-cake cupcakes (with cream cheese icing!) as a thank-you for reviewing his book in The Link back when I was their Literary Arts editor; shucking his pants at readings for Shuck, etc. He’s also someone whom I’d consider a mentor, as I’ve been quietly observing his success and thinking about how similar we really are.

For instance, we both:

  • Posed nude for some skin mags to raise our profiles, though we ultimately aimed at writing careers (hey, it made sense back in the day!)
  • Wrote columns for Canadian newspapers (his “Fingerprinted” column can be found in Xtra!; my “V for Vixen” has been put to rest, but is still archived at Hour‘s website)
  • Created semi-autobiographical characters to describe our sexy experiences, in novel form

That last one is the reason I mention Daniel, because I’ve fictionalized him in Naked Montreal, and I just wanted to share a few words on the subject.

For the rest? You’ll just have to buy a copy of the book.

Chapter 6: Cam Whoring for Fun & Profit

Chapter 6: Cam Whoring for Fun & Profit

This is the title of chapter six of my novel. It may not necessarily end up as chapter six in the final draft, but that’s where it is for now. I’m trying to stick to chronological order, at least in terms of the outline I’ve set up, rather than bouncing around too much. But then again, I do like to go where my interests lie…

And cam whoring is a pretty intriguing subject.

For those not in the know, I’m talking about the gals on the Innernet who chat with horny young losers men for money, and will do pretty much anything in the privacy of a chat room. I was a chat hostess (as they call them in the Want Ads) for about a week before I quit, mostly because the company I worked for was ultra-shady. We had a verbal agreement for $10 an hour plus 10% commission on all my private chats, and after day one, I never saw another dime.

This is my literary revenge. But it’s also a warning to other young ladies who feel like it might be a good way to make a quick buck. For the record? It ain’t. But that’s just one woman’s opinion. Mostly, I’ve found that people have to try things for themselves and make their own mistakes, before your advice becomes meaningful. It’s just human nature, I suppose. The skepticism, the doubt, the feeling that you must be the exception to every rule.

It makes me laugh, looking back. It’s probably best that I was scammed, cus it kept me off a path that might well have led to ruin. Or maybe I’d be the next Dita Von Teese by now. Who knows?

Regardless, if you want to know more about my days as a cam girl, you’ll have to buy a copy of my book.

If I'd kept up the cam work, could I have been the next Dita? You decide.