“The Notebook”: Another Adventure in Sexy Print Versus Racy Cinema

It’s time again to compare book and film to explore which is sexier. This round it’s Nicholas Sparks’ bestseller “The Notebook,” which has also turned into an incredibly popular chick flick.

Again, I prefers the movie version (which as a writer, I continue to find surprising about myself). However, unlike many, it’s not a fair fight, since the book and the movie differ greatly. While the movie’s most popular love scene is fueled by a passionate argument, the scene in the book is much more subdued even saying “There was no uneasiness between them…”

While I can appreciate Sparks’ level of detail in his prose, I’m underwhelmed by clichés/platitudes, including: “…allowing him to take her wherever he wanted, to the place she was meant to be.” and “…felt his strength and gentleness, felt his muscle and his soul.”

Decide for yourself:

The downpour was steady now, and Allie watched the rain fall diagonally from the sky, trying to defy gravity as it rode on westerly winds that whistled over the trees. The sky darkened a little more, and big heavy drops fell from the clouds. Hurricane drops.

Allie enjoyed the rain and leaned her head back for a moment to let it hit her face. She knew the front of her dress would soak through in a couple of minutes, but she didn’t care. She did wonder, though, if he noticed, then thought she probably did.

She ran her hands through her hair feeling its wetness. It felt wonderful, she felt wonderful, everything felt wonderful. Even through the rain, she could hear him breathing hard and the sound aroused her sexually in a way she hadn’t felt in years.

…As he was tying the canoe, he looked up at Allie and stopped breathing for just a second. She was incredibly beautiful as she waited, watching him, completely comfortable in the rain. She didn’t try to keep dry or hid herself, and he could see the outline of her breasts as they pressed through the fabric of the dress that clung tightly to her body. It wasn’t a cold rain, but he could see her nipples erect and protruding, hard like little rocks. He felt his loins begin to stir and quickly turned away, embarrassed, muttering to himself…

Allie too, was wondering about him. She felt the warmth in his hands and wondered what it would be like to have them touch her body, feeling all of her, lingering slowly across her skin. Just thinking about it made her take a deep breath, and she felt her nipples begin to tingle and a new warmth between her legs.

…There was no uneasiness between them as they reached the door and both of them went inside, pausing in the foyer, clothes dripping.

“Did you bring a change of clothes?”She shook her head, still feeling the roll of emotions within her, wondering if it showed on her face.
“I think I can find something here for you so you can get out of those clothes. It might be a little big, but it’s warm.”

…They gave in then to everything they had fought the last fourteen years. Allie lifted her head off his shoulder, looked at him with hazy eyes, and Noah kissed her softly on the lips. She brought her hand to his face and touched his cheek, brushing it softly with her fingers. He leaned in slowly and kissed her again, still soft and tender, and she kissed back, feeling the years of separation dissolve into passion.

She closed her eyes and parted her lips as he ran his fingers up and down her arms, slowly, lightly. He kissed her neck, her cheek, her eyelids, and she felt the moisture of his mouth linger wherever his lips had touched. She took his hand and led it to her breasts, and a whimper rose in her throat as he gently touched them through the thin fabric of the shirt.

The world seemed dreamlike as she pulled back from him, the firelight setting her face aglow. Without speaking she started to undo the buttons on his shirt. She watched her as she did it and listed to her soft breaths as she made her way downward. With each button he could feel her fingers brushing against his skin, and she smiled softly at him when she finally finished. He felt her slide her hands inside, touching him as lightly as possible, letting her hands explore his body. He was hot and she ran her hand over his slightly wet chest, feeling his hair between her fingers. Leaning in, she kissed his neck gently as she pulled the shirt over his shoulders, locking his arms behind his back. She lifted her head and allowed him to kiss her as he rolled his shoulders, freeing himself from the sleeves.

With that, he slowly reached for her. He lifted her shirt and ran his finger slowly across her belly before raising her arms and slipping it off. She felt short of breath as he lowered his head and kissed between her breasts and slowly ran his tongue up to her neck. His hands gently caressed her back, her arms, her shoulders, and she felt their heated bodies pressed together, skin to skin. He kissed her neck and nibbled gently as she lifted her hips and allowed him to pull off her bottoms. She reached for the snap on his jeans, undid it, and watched as he slipped them off as well. It was almost slow motion as their naked bodies finally came together, both of them trembling with the memory of what they had once shared together.

He ran his tongue along her neck while his hands moved over the smooth hot skin of her breasts, down her belly, past her navel, and up again. He was struck by her beauty. Her shimmering hair trapped the light and made it sparkle. Her skin was soft and beautiful, almost glowing in the firelight. He felt her hands on his back, beckoning him.

They lay back, close to the fire, and the heat made the air seem thick. Hr back was slightly arched as he rolled atop her in one fluid motion. He was on all fours above her, his knees astride her hips. She lifted her head and kissed his chin and neck, breathing hard, licking his shoulders, and tasting the sweat that lingered on his body. She ran her hands through his hair as he held himself above her, his arm muscles hard from the exertion. With a little tempting frown, she pulled him closer, but he resisted. Instead he lowered himself and lightly rubbed his chest against her, and she felt her body respond with anticipation. He did this slowly, over and over, kissing every part of her body, listening as she made soft, whimpering sounds while he moved above her.

He did this until she couldn’t take it anymore, and when they finally joined as one, she cried aloud and pressed her fingers hard into his back. She buried her face in his neck and felt him deep inside her, felt his strength and gentleness, felt his muscle and his soul. She moved rhythmically against him, allowing him to take her wherever he wanted, to the place she was meant to be.

She opened her eyes and watched him in the firelight, marveling at his beauty as he moved above her. She saw his body glisten with crystal sweat and watched as beads rolled down his chest and fell onto her like the rain outside. And with every drop, with every breath, she felt herself, every responsibility, every facet of her life, slipping away.

Their bodies reflected everything given, everything taken, and she was rewarded with a sensation she never knew existed. It went on and on, tingling throughout her body and warming her before finally subsiding and she struggled to catch her breath while she trembled beneath him. But the moment it was over, another one started to build again, and she started to feel them in long sequences, one right after the next. By the time the rain had stopped and the sun had set, her body was exhausted but unwilling to stop the pleasure between them.

"Picture Me Naked" Accepted to Best Women's Erotica 2011

Great news! My latest piece "Picture Me Naked" has been accepted to Violet Blue's Best Women's Erotica 2011. For me, it's personally satisfying considering the fact that her series is what convinced me to enter the field in the first place. Always been my goal to have a piece accepted to it.

Look for the book December 2010, put out by Cleis Press.

Sneek peek:

I slide my leg across a worn patch and circle a finger around a cigarette burn etched into the faded magenta leather, toying a bit with the piece of foam poking out. It’s now that I wish I had a picture of myself. I’d fold it neatly and slip it between the seat cushions with enough of a corner peeking through to get noticed.

Piano-Inspired Cinematic Sex

Lately, I’ve been spending much of my free time tinkering around on the piano. Which got me to thinking about how often is a piano used as a location to get it on, at least in movies. So…I haven’t figured out a statistic. But the idea intrigued me enough to do some searching. Here are a few “piano-inspired” cinematic sex scenes, from the comedic, to the super sexy to the downright literal. Let’s review, shall we?

“Pretty Woman”
Never before has prostitution seemed so glamorous. As Julia Roberts character says in “Pretty Woman” no little girl dreams about becoming a hooker, but after incredibly sexy love scenes like this one, they just might start. A classic:



“The Tall Guy”
“The Tall Guy” is a 1989 romantic comedy in which the character Dexter King (Jeff Goldblum), an American actor working in London and living platonically with his "educated, charming...nymphomaniac" landlady. He's just finished his sixth year playing "The Tall Guy", a straight man in a two-man, long-running comedy revue. Chronic hay fever prompts him to see a doctor, where he meets and falls quickly in love with Kate (played by Emma Thompson), who works there as a nurse.
Not sure why Jeff Goldblum’s head ends up smack down on the keys, but amusing anyhow.


Emma Thompson ..hot - The funniest movie is here. Find it

“The Piano”
Okay, so no sex on a piano (or at least I don’t think so. I haven’t actually seen the movie), but the piano plays an important role in the lead character’s “sexual awakening.” Someone made a comment that every scene in this movie should be on the list of uncomfortable sex scenes.

The New VelvetMoore.com

www.velvetmoore.com

VelvetMoore.com has received a well-needed facelift! You can now access links to my existing works and connect with me via my Facebook page. Take a browse...

Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, vol 10

Has been selected to be part of Maxim Jakubowski's upcoming Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, Vol. 10, to be released in the US and the UK in January 2011. This series features a selection of the best of recent erotic writing, featuring stories of sexual encounters from every part of the world. I'm thrilled to be considered a "fresh new talent" among many well-known names.

In the Flesh Erotic Reading Series

Will be attending the "In the Flesh Erotic Reading Series" to read "Chemistry." Featuring contributors to Orgasmic: Erotica for Women, including Lana Fox and Heidi Champa. If you're near the NYC area, join us.

"Chemistry" appearing in Rachel Kramer Bussel's "Orgasmic: Erotica for Women"

Very happy to say that one of my latest pieces "Chemistry" is being featured in Rachel Kramer Bussel's upcoming anthology, Orgasmic, erotica for women. You can find it on Amazon.

Mr. Skin is a Thriving Website; Mrs. Skin is a Barely-There Wordpress Blog. What’s Up With That?

Last week, I asked the same question that someone else posed two years ago on yahoo answers. “Is there a female version of Mr. Skin?”

If you don’t know, Mr. Skin (the original and male-audience-focused supersite) is the self-acclaimed “world’s foremost authority on celebrity nudity.” The site’s main purpose is to let you know at exactly what moment female celebrities are nude in movies and television shows. Helping men fast-forwarding to the good parts is their forte. The website was made even more famous after being referenced in the blockbuster comedy “Knocked Up.”

Witness the female’s answer: Mrs. Skin: A Celebration of the Female Gaze. This wordpress blog has existed since April 2008 (but not updated since September 2009) and features about 35 photos of some male celebrities, most shirtless, others just partially suggestive. (No offense intended to the blog owner, but there aren’t many). It’s the only near-equivalent to Mr. Skin that I could find.

It makes me wonder: why is it that Mr. Skin is a thriving website and Mrs. Skin is a barely-there wordpress blog?

Is it that women are unmotivated and incapable of creating such a resource? Uh, no!

Is it that there aren’t enough examples of male celebrities showing their goodies in film? Possibly. I can only think of a handful. Even Mrs. Skin couldn’t find many photos.

Perhaps it’s reasonable to assume that a female version of Mr. Skin that focuses only on providing the moments a man provides a full frontal or an ass shot would not be lucrative enough for a primarily female audience.

My guess is it’s because women aren’t as motivated as men are by full frontals. The popularity of daytime soap operas (which have significant limits on what they can show and allude to) suggest that it isn’t just about the skin for women. Get our minds involved to get the juices flowing!

Well maybe such a resource does exist and I can’t seem to find it. (After all, a “Mrs. Skin” reference may be copyright infringement…)

If someone does create a female-oriented Mr. Skin equivalent, let me know. And how about a shout out to V Moore!

British “Bad Sex in Fiction Award” highlights the most awkward description of an intimate encounter

For more than 15 years, the Literary Review magazine’s bad sex in fiction award has pointed out the best of the worst sex descriptions in literary royalty. The award is given to “the passage considered to be the most redundant in an otherwise excellent novel” in an attempt to discourage authors from writing poorly featured sexcapades.
Here’s the latest winning passage and an explanation as to why it received the award. Read all about it here.

"This was not soft porn. This was no longer two unclothed women caressing and kissing on a bed. There was something primitive about it now, this woman-on-woman violence, as though in the room filled with shadows, Pegeen were a magical composite of shaman, acrobat, and animal. It was as if she were wearing a mask on her genitals, a weird totem mask, that made her into what she was not and was not supposed to be," writes Roth. "There was something dangerous about it. His heart thumped with excitement – the god Pan looking on from a distance with his spying, lascivious gaze."

'Roth is very anxious about his description of sex," said Jonathan Beckman at the Literary Review of the extract. "Why write of a scene that repeatedly features a green dildo, 'this was not soft porn', unless you're worried that it might be taken as such - in this case, with sentences like 'then she crouched above Tracy, brushing Tracy's lips and nipples with her mouth and fondling her breasts...', the worry seems justified. But it's the overcompensation that qualifies this passage for the award – the totems and shamans are an attempt to convince us that Roth's leering is actually giving some vital anthropological insight."

Famed author Norman Mailer won the award in 2007 for this line: His mouth lathered with her sap, he turned around and embraced her face with all the passion of his own lips and face, ready at last to grind into her with the Hound, drive it into her piety
Read more

Mailer’s response: "Some authors spend five pages describing a walk in the park but when it comes to sex they'll just do two sentences - 'she rolled off him'. Sex is exciting stuff - it can be vey dirty and smelly, but you've just got to get stuck in, and I'm not afraid of doing that."

I’m sure the Literary Review would melt down if they searched for “often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description” in specified erotica.

Orgasm for Peace: December 21

Want to help promote peace, reduce global levels of violence, hatred and fear? Have an orgasm. More specifically, have an orgasm on December 21st.

According to a group of “scientists, engineers and artists” that coordinate the Global Consciousness Project, you too can bring peace to the earth by participating in the Global Orgasm for Peace. According to the group’s website, “by concentrating our thoughts before, during and after orgasm on peace and loving-kindness, the synergy of high orgasmic physical energy combined with the power of positive visualization could help reduce global levels of violence, hatred and fear.”

Apparently, the group can measure the uh-uh-outcomes and last year the correlations were subtle. They’re hoping for a much more satisfying climax this time around. Read about the so-called science.

This effort reminds me of a Politics Daily blog entry I read recently called “Saving the World One Pair of Panties at a Time.” It talked about T-shirts and “message panties” that bear pro-peace phrases such as “Stop Genocide” and promise profits to charity. “Fashion statements that promise political action with no more effort than getting dressed in the morning?”

At least with the global orgasm doesn’t require you to even get dressed.

Do I believe the answer to global violence is a miniscule raise in positive energy? Absolutely not. Do I believe it’s worth knocking boots the 21st? Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Violet Blue Defines Erotica, Oprah November 2009

Oprah forged some new territory by providing an episode dedicated completely to women's take on porn and erotica. Lisa Ling went behind the scenes at a porn filming, Jenna Jameson appeared...View a couple of clips and a transcript online at Oprah.com

One of my fav editors, Violet Blue, appeared b/c she has written "The Smart Girl's Guide to Porn." Here's her take on the difference between porn and erotica:

"Porn is something that is a graphic sexual image that conjures up an animalistic reaction in you. You like it or you don't," she says. "Erotica also is graphic sexual imagery, but it has an extra component or several extra components that resonate with the viewer—be it artistic, be it passionate, be it something that emotionally engages you, be it something that parlays into a fantasy that you have about sexuality or the way that you relate to the people on screen."

Vampires Equal Sex

After months and months of defiance, my friend has finally convinced me to read the Twilight series, if only to provide her someone to talk about it with. I’m pushing it to the weekend.

However, it’s worth exploring our society’s most recent (and yet historical) obsession, mostly because vampires equal sex.

Why do we find vampires sexy? Read msnbc.com’s take on the topic.

Don’t feel like theorizing? Then just watch the sexiness. The Daily Beast put together a media gallery of the 16 sexiest vampires. Video clips and all. May I recommend the sex on the ceiling in number 10?