Three summers ago, I started a project called the Sugarbutch Star. Maybe you remember: I asked folks for submissions for story ideas, outlines of erotic encounters with characters, plot, and setting, and then I would write up the story.
There were a couple reasons I did this. I wanted to deepen my writing, I wanted to continue writing erotic fiction, and I found that I could write variations on a theme that someone else gave me much easier than I could come up with my own scenarios. I was figuring out that that’s the kind of top I was, too—that when someone asked me to do a couple things, like, say, finger them and kiss them for a while, take their clothes off, throw them on the bed and fuck them until they came, that it was no problem for me to follow their requests, with variations and detail, in a way that was toppy and dominant. It was harder for me when I’d sleep with girls (or write characters, even) where anything was an option and I could do whatever I wanted. Sometimes I would freeze up. Not because I didn’t want to do anything, but because there were so many options, where do I even start?
I didn’t expect it, but these stories helped with that so much. Because the story content was someone else’s fantasy, because it was not from my own brain, even if it lined up with my desires, I didn’t feel guilty or shy about going for it all the way and really bringing all I had to that person’s idea for the erotic scene.
I didn’t even realize that I did feel shy or guilty about my desires up until doing this project, and once I realized that, it was much easier to notice and breathe through and decide whether I was going to let the guilt or shyness stop me, or not. It changed the way I top. It changed the way I write erotic stories.
And there were so many good scenarios that I decided to write up five “honorable mention” stories as short-shorts, which was great practice for me, too, because I noticed sometimes that my long stories took so long to finish. In addition, I wrote up five “finalists.” Then, once all ten stories were written and published here on Sugarbutch, I asked readers to vote for their favorite, and the person who submitted that scenario was henceforth known as a Sugarbutch Star.
So, these are the stories from the first year:
- Shanna: The Diner on the Corner Part One, Part Two. This story has been published in Best Lesbian Erotica 2009 and Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Butch Femme Erotica in 2010.
- Lady Brett Ashley: Threesome and a Purple Tie
- bird: The Hitchhiker
- Avah: Fucking a Porn Star
- Shannon: The Photo Shoot
- Grey: Charcoal Portrait in the Art Studio
- The Femme Top: Untitled, also published as “Make Me” in Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex
- Jennifer: The Popsicle in the Library, also published in Afternoon Delight: Erotica for Couples
- Bad Bad Girl: The Straight Girl at the Dyke Bar
- Madeline: Her Mouth on My Cock
- Jefferson: Cross-Country Girl Adventures
And I made them into a chapbook. I did two printings of this chapbook, each editions of 100, and I’m not planning to do another printing. I have about a dozen left, and I’m selling them for $10 each which includes shipping anywhere in the US (if you’re outside the US, I may ask you to send a couple more bucks to cover shipping, depending on the cost, but I’m glad to send it to you).
Want one? Email me, and if you’re in the first 12, I will reserve a copy for you and send you further details (the easiest way for me is to accept payment via Paypal).
I did the Sugarbutch Star project for a second year, too, and I decided I would only pick five stories as finalists, no matter how good all the submissions were. These were what I finished for the second year:
- Eileen: Her Best Line
- Maze: The Girl in the Red Dress
- Matt: All Five Senses Part 1 & Part 2
- Green-Eyed Girl: The Study Date
I started the fifth story, but never finished it. I still think I might, but maybe it’s time to let that go. (It’s just such a good story! Or it would be, if I could ever finish it.)
So here it is folks … last call for the Sugarbutch Star Chapbooks.
