Dark, Honest & Very Much OK

Right, folks.  Two things.  Firstly, as my friend Errika recently pointed out, my fiction is now on an iPod app.  Heaven knows what that means, but it sounds good to me.  Do check it out.  It looks kinda fancy.

And a quote for you today.  Why?  Because it's about being sexually honest.  Too often, we are told that we shouldn't show risky sex in writing.  That showing the dark is unhealthy, especially if it arouses.  But as a person who has known darkness (and who among us hasn't?) I can safely say that there have been times when I have felt hollowly alone...until I have read of a darkness similar to my fears or experiences, and feel embraced by it, and not lonely any more, and able to move on.  So here.  A quote from Stephen Elliot's introduction to his story collection, "My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up."  (It's a super collection, by the way):

"...I take responsibility for these stories, for every sexual act depicted, many of which occurred when I was younger, before I made the effort to acquire the information I needed.  I acquired scars instead.  This is not a memoir, but it's damn close.  And I'm OK with that.  And I'm OK with you knowing that."

Yes.  Oh yes, yes, yes.