"Adrienne a la Mode" by Cynthia (SLowhand@dial.pipex.com). Guest review by BluePencil.

A respected writer in another genre once said that plot ideas were one of the easiest things to come by; it was turning them into a good story that required hard work.

Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest things for aspiring writers to absorb. Far too often they feel the need for an exotic plot, locale, or characters. In alt.sex.stories, this often translates into people with unlikely physical measurements and unusual athletic attainments making love with each other, assorted relatives, and the occasional polar bear while riding the roller coaster in their local amusement park. I'm exaggerating slightly, perhaps - they probably wouldn't all fit in the roller coaster. Perhaps the bumper cars.

There are at least two sorts of problems with this type of story:

First, it's usually a little hard to suspend your disbelief enough to forget that it _is_ a story (if not, you and your dearest are probably scheduled for one or more daytime talk shows in the near future).

Second, and far more irritating for the writer, is that if your story is discussed at all it won't be for your masterful plotting, your command of the language, or even your well-crafted sex scenes. Instead, people will remember it as "the one where the bald-headed woman got it on with a camel in a pool of lime jello." Irritating, unless you are willing to take this as a tribute to your memorable characters.

Fortunately, there are writers out there, however rare, who are willing to bypass the easy tricks and work at their craft. And even, amazingly, post the results to alt.sex.stories.

Adrienne is a teacher. Tim is her businessman lover, who has trouble leaving his work totally behind, even for an evening with the woman he loves. She sets out to distract him. What happens? Does she arouse his interest, or at least his libido? Does she succeed in driving work from his mind? And does she get what she wants in the end? Read the story. Really.

Cynthia has taken the familiar elements of far too many ordinary stories and transmuted them as thoroughly as coal into diamond. This is one of the best written, believable, and appealing stories I have read on this newsgroup in the past few months. I don't recall seeing any of Cynthia's stories before; I'd like to thank Slowhand Luke for posting this one for her. I hope that it is the first of many.