The James Sisters has been called my “teen sisters serial”; certainly, the trope of sisters who share a closer than usual bond is common enough in pornography to merit consideration as its own genre. Of course, I’d like to think there’s more going on here than that. The terms I’ve arrived at when trying to describe it are “pornographic soap opera” and “suburban noir,” neither of which is terribly descriptive, or even accurate, but both are less readily dismissed than “teen sisters serial.”
Originally inspired by Mark Aster’s infamous series of erotic shorts, My Friends, the Allens, it’s veered off into some strange territory I never really anticipated. There is more to come—much more—though it may take a while.
A Midwesterner writes:
Will there be more? I’ve just read the whole thing and it leaves me wanting more, rather like a good meal, prepared perfectly but without the portions being too generous. When reading, the portions are rarely skimpy, but I find that I want a greater amount of closure.
Please let me know when we can expect more from the James Sisters. I’d really like to meet the twins, by the way!
Yes, there will be more. Lots more. Though you’ll have to wait a while for that darn closure. Twins? (Oh. Right. Them.)
A Hellion writes:
You posted chapter 5 as 2 parts, and although I found and read the first one, I can’t find your other part. Either it didn’t pass moderation or my news server is wacky, so I’d appreciate it if you could paste me a URL where I can download it or send it to me in the form of an attachment.
And I’ve since gone and made it more confusing. What was once the fifth chapter is now the fifth and sixth chapters. I wrote it all it once, since I had to get from A to B, but it’s too long, really, to just be one chapter, and it breaks in half rather nicely. So I broke it. So sue me.
A Philosopher Princess writes:
Carter holds together very well. We get a lot of him but don’t feel that we know him, which keeps him interesting. He doesn’t really explain himself but we observe a lot through his actions and what he doesn’t do. The fact that he’s the narrator allows you to get away without really developing Jessie as a character much... she’s much simpler than Nabokov’s Lolita. More like... (reaching, reaching)... Salome. Drew Barrymore. The Other. Her Ultra Nubility is perhaps part and parcel with the genre you’re going for, but you define her well enough that she goes over quite pleasurably. It doesn’t seem like she’s capable of anything truly unexpected but she’s got a lot of room for nuance in her antics and it’s nicely hard to say exactly how scandalous she’ll get. Virginia comes in very successfully—you pulled it off without earning either a smirk or an eye-rolling moment, which is tricky to do with things like that.
One imagines nymphets in spandex clicking ringed hands together and crying: “Ultra Nubility Powers activate!”
Well, I do, anyway. I don’t know what your problem is.
An Utena Fan writes:
You are Lynx, a half-American Indian who roams the tunnels under Paris, and I claim my AI-in-a-pendant.
(A game of Spot the Reference. And I got all the Utena references early on, which scared me...)
I’m afraid I lost this round. (Turns out it’s from Bad Voltage, by Jonathan Littel.)
Someone Who Doesn’t Trust Me writes:
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by (AnonX) on
Sunday, February 7, 1999 at 03:13:02
-------------------------------------
Your_comments: The James Sisters is one of the best series I have seen on
Mr. Double’s. I hope you write
more chapters for it, soon! Your stories are much more intellectual than the
“quickie” stories, and I like that.
A Jazz Aficionado writes:
The stories were interesting and I liked them but I just wanted to know if you knew Orestes Urfe Gonzales, the famous Cuban bass player and composer. He wrote Cuban music beside danzones and lived in Havana for several years. If you have any information about this, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.
Unfortunately, no. But I do know a great little Cuban restaurant nearby, if you’re ever in the area.
A Rather Forward Young Lady writes:
I just read your story on asstr re: james sisters and.. . .wow!
I have never written anyone like this. .i guess you’d call this a fan letter. .but just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it (especially the music and film references, the characters), how much I was turned on, how much I came.
Thank you!
Glad to have been of service. Cigarette?
Someone Who’s Adjusted For Inflation writes:
I am only just starting in on The James Sisters, but I gotta say that it is very intelligently written. Apart from the odd fifty-dollar word, the characters act intelligently. Also, details like Jessie’s shaking legs indicate better perceptions than that of someone who would only put together what he had read in other porn stories.
It’s always best, they say, to write what you know.
A Demon from Old Blighty writes:
This is an excellent story. I’m sorry about the ending but I quite see that it is more or less inevitable. Of course, there must still be large flows of emotion going on (suspension of disbelief? what disbelief?) so perhaps the story isn’t over? I wouldn’t want you to make a soap-opera out of it, though.
Over? No. I’m just terribly slow. And, um, sorry, but it’s pretty much already a soap opera.
A Famous Internet Magazine writes:
Dear Nicholas
Unfortunately we will not be able to accept your submission ‘Jessie’ for [Name Deleted].
We thank you for letting us read the story and would be happy to look at more of your work in the future.
Ah, well.
A Nocturnal Curmudgeon writes:
So I just read chapter one of the James Sisters. Yum. But I see from later in that, and from Indigo, that you seem to mostly write FF/Ff/ff—and while (like most men, I think) I enjoy F/F/f/f (whatever combo), I really strongly prefer MF or mf or Mf—the latter two best. DID find Jessie James (you sneaky devil—I just noticed her name) to be very arousing.
It’s times like these I’m tempted to quote Woody Allen: “The heart wants what it wants.” Um. Wait a minute...
A Shriekback Fan writes:
Kind of took me by surprise. Very interesting musical palate as it were. Enjoyed the stories.
A New Fan writes:
I just read your story, and I wanted to tell you how wonderful I thought it was.
I am a writer myself, and as I read your tale, I became so enchanted with your style. I hope to read more from you, you truly have captured my imagination.
Someone Who Doesn’t Mince Words writes:
This is an amazingly emotive story! I love it.. I don’t know what else to say! More?
The Man Himself writes:
Yesterday afternoon I was talking with a friend about Fowles’s The Magus. Then last night I logged onto my AOL account, driven by a whim that I won’t even attempt to explain, to surf around for naughty pictures of Jesse (from the Team Rocket cartoon). And in my mailbox there’s a letter that, among other things, asks if I’ve ever read the James Sisters stories, by Nick Urfé. So I Google that up, go over to the site on asstr, and spend some enjoyable minutes reading about the James women, one of whom is named Jessie. And I notice that the author cites one Mark Aster as one of his sources of inspiration.
Now all this is utterly absurd!
- Nicholas Urfé is the protagonist of Fowles’s The Magus,
- The two members of Team Rocket are Jesse and James, and
- I am Mark Aster.
Someone Up There must be having a good laugh.
Shouldn’t you have called the girls Lily and Rose?
Ah, but that would beg the question: who is Conchis? —Not me, that’s for damn sure.
Mike in Mississippi writes:
Hi. I’m an erotic fiction fan who also loves John Fowles. Just finished The Magus, and have read The Collector, A Maggot, and The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Just saw your profile on ASSTR and am about to read your James Sisters story. I hope it goes well. I don’t usually write, but was just thrilled to see another Fowles fan into erotica. I’ll let you know what I think when I get finished.
So how’d you like it? Mike? Mike? You there, Mike?
The Male Gaze writes:
I’m wondering, where did you get those pictures for the stories? Specifically, the file named, jasishd2.jpg. I don’t know if I am seeing things or not, but that girl on top looks very similar to a girl I knew in high school! I doubt it is the same girl, but it would be nice to investigate it.
Um. All over the place? That picture’s gone now, by the way; replaced by a different design scheme. (Good luck, though.)
A 19th c. Hungarian writes:
I just wanted to write to you to tell you that I just finished reading what you’ve written of The James Sisters and have enjoyed the experience very much. I had been browsing through the authors’ sites early this morning looking for something interesting and I came upon your site. Without really desiring it to do so, your writing devoured my night. I thank you for that.
Sorry about that devouring the night thing. I’d let you have one of mine, but they’re booked solid for the next few years.
Not a Number, but a Free Man writes:
A fine read. Thank you! There is now a link to nickurfe from the number_6 links page.
Thanks yourself. And hey! Would you look at that!
An Alliterative Apparitor writes:
I just spent part of the evening absorbed in the 6 chapters of this nicely erotic story (stories?) What a tangled web is woven!...I expected it to come off much differently. Is chapter 6 the end of it all???
No; no, it isn’t. (I should hope not.) There are notes. There is more to come. It’s just—I’ve been busy? Distracted. Yes, that’s it. Distracted.
