THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

How about a bit of in-the-moment, live-action, never before seen story brainstorming? We authors do it all the time, receive the kernel from our muse and start to nurture the damn thing until it blooms into a full blown story. Just yesterday sitting in the parking lot of Dunkin Donuts (No, I was not bribing my muse with sweets. I was bribing my son, thank you.) a story setting descended on my poor unprepared mind. The circus. Do you like the circus? Ironically, I never much did as a child. I think it made me nervous. And the sensory overload blew my circuits. Of course, as an adult, I realize that's part of the point and leaves great riches to mine in potential story wealth. As a grown-up I saw Cirque du Soleil and formed an instant addiction to those shows. The blatant sensuality of it blew me away. How perfect for erotic romance.

The circus, even the more typical one, has so much: wild animals, acrobatic feats of strength and physical self-discipline, costumes and masks, daring, magic, the embracing of the bizarre, family troupes with long traditions and histories. So tell me, does the circus do it for you? Is it exotic or just a sensory turn-off with its screaming children, loud lights and music and copious amounts of sugar? I admit I've read a couple books recently that may have brought this setting to mind. Do you have a favorite book, erotic or otherwise, that used this backdrop for character and story?

With this recent muse-provided story environment I thought I'd give myself a writing challenge. Since I am perpetually in need of work on my SHORT story writing (I'm super plus length novels all the way, my dears) I'm going to ask you, my lovely readers, to come up with some story variables for me to use to write a stand-alone erotic romance circus scene. Later, I'll post the scene on this blog. I won't promise it for my very next blog post, but I'll try my best. So here's where you get to decide if it's Mr. White, in the library, with the candlestick, up against the wall with Mr. Brown topping him, or otherwise. Oooh, maybe there can be a whole series of erotic Choose Your Own Adventure novels? Do you remember those?

Throw out some variables to me and I will play --m/f, m/m, m/m/f --- an acrobat, the knife thrower, a clown, the ringmaster, a trapeze artist, the animal trainer, the tight rope walker etc... --- under the big top, in a side show car, in the bus of the caravan, inside the animal cages etc... --- a modern day circus, a circus in a fantasy or futuristic setting etc... And anything else you can think of. I'll pick and choose suggestions and then string them together as part of the story.

Let's see what happens. Any suggestions appreciated.

Michelle