Celestial Reviews 134 - Nov 13, 1996

Note:  One of the authors asked me when the deadline is for making my 
list of Top 100 stories of 1996.  The answer is that any story that I 
review for the first time in 1996 is eligible for that list.  The story 
could have been written in, say, 1994; but if I reviewed it for the 
first time in a 1996 issue of CR, then it’s eligible.  Stories that 
were previously reviewed (in 1995) are NOT eligible, unless they have 
been revised and this revision is called to my attention.  I cannot 
promise to review everyone’s stories; but I do try to review any 
stories that are e-mailed directly to me or called to my attention.  
Right now I have a backlog; but if you sent me a story more than a 
month ago, you might want to assume that something went wrong and send 
me a reminder.

- Celeste

      “Snarl” by Uther Pendragon (playful sex) 10, 8, 9
      “Vacation Doesn't Count” by J. Boswell (wife watching)
            9, 9, 8
      “Sortileger” by David Cramer (dreamlike sex & mind 
            control) 10, 9, 9
      “Hiccups” by Dulcinea (medicinal sex) 9.5, 9, 9
      “Cinnamon” by Patrick Donovan (romance & hot sex)
            10, 10, 10
      “Love You Forever” by Rahul L Iyer (Halloween romance)
            7, 6, 6
      “Dance of the Lecherous Leprechauns” by R. Stephen Redick
            (drunken orgy) 9.5, 8, 7
      “Boss Lady's New Toy” by Madame Hypnotica (mind control
            & female dominance) 8, 8, 7
      “Lisa's Weekend” by Speed Racer (sex slavery) 9.5, 8, 5
      “Caught Between Two Angry Women” by Mary Anne 
            Mohanraj (magic & romance) 10, 9, 9
      “Deja Vu” by Ann Douglas (nostalgia & romance) 10, 10, 10

    * Games" by Deirdre (whipping & sex slavery) 10, 9, 9
    * Gathering" by Deirdre (bondage & sex slavery) 10, 9, 8
    * Girlfriend" by Deirdre (voyeurism and bondage) 10, 9, 8
    * Glance" by Deirdre (blackmail & sex slavery) 10, 8, 8
    * Grad" by Deirdre (bondage & sex slavery) 10, 9, 9
    * Groom" by Deirdre (romantic memories) 10, 10, 10
    * Habit" by Deirdre (whipping) 10, 10, 9
    * Hear" by deirdre (lesbian bondage) 10, 10, 10
    * Help" by Deirdre (surprise!) 10, 10, 10
    * Hidden" by Deirdre (voyeurism and domination) 10, 9.5, 10
    * Home" by Deirdre (oral sex) 10, 7, 7
    * Honeymoon" by Deirdre (Honeymoon) 10, 8, 5
    * House" by Deirdre (female domination) 10, 10, 10
    * Idea" by Deirdre (brokered sex) 10, 9, 9
    * Initiation" by Deirdre (dominance) 10, 9, 8
    * Interview" by Deirdre (oral sex) 10, 8, 8

* Repost of a previous review (because the story has recently
    been reposted).

 “Snarl” by Uther Pendragon (nobody@REPLAY.COM).  This is an 
interesting snippet that describes the playful sexual exchanges between 
a husband and wife while he helps her get the snarls out of her 
beautiful, long hair.  I have given this author so many perfect ratings 
recently that I feel compelled to find excuses for giving ratings of 
less than 10.  There’s nothing wrong with this story; it’s just short a 
short chunk of the life of two people in love rather than a complete 
story.  But it’s still very good.

Ratings for “Snarl”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

“Vacation Doesn't Count” by J. Boswell. The title of this story is 
derived from one of the few American aphorisms that has not been 
attributed to either Mark Twain, Will Rogers, or Ben Franklin: “What 
happens on vacation doesn't count when you get back to the `real 
world.’” I assume it was actually Benjamin Disraeli who first spoke 
these words.  

Sondra is a happily married mother of three who goes on vacation with 
her husband and discovers that she enjoys showing off her body.  Her 
husband eats this action up.  She takes part in a wet t-shirt contest 
with some college kids, and her husband can hardly wait to get his dick 
into her.  For an encore she invites the four college kids staying at  
the cottage next door in for some sex in the jacuzzi.  Same reaction 
from hubby.  And they go further and further - in hotels, with limo 
drivers, etc.  Every time, the sex is hot; and the husband gets his 
piece right afterwards.  I doubt that this sort of thing really works 
out all this well in real life, but it certainly is an interesting 
fantasy!

Grammar review! What’s wrong with this sentence? 

      Always the perfect "lady," bordering on "prim and proper," 
      I was looking forward to seeing my wife in the tiny bikinis
      and revealing one-piece bathing suits she had purchased
      for our trip.

Answer:  It suggests that the narrator is part of a lesbian marriage.  
The sentence begins with a misplaced modifier that gives this 
impression.  A problem with starting a story with bad grammar is that 
the policy is likely to beget cynicism in the mind of the English 
teacher reviewing it.  When the narrator sees four college guys ogling 
his luscious wife who is sun bathing au naturel, he describes it thus:

      My cock had been rock hard for the hour, and now I 
      started to lightly caress it.  I think it was only peer 
      pressure keeping the boys from doing the same.

There’s nothing really all that bad about this sentence, but the reader 
who is predisposed to think the author uses bad grammar is likely to 
say, “So what?  A little peer pressure on their cocks might feel pretty 
good under the circumstances.”

Having written those past few paragraphs, I can now justify this time 
as work rather than recreation.  I think I’ll go get some recreation 
now.

Ratings for “Vacation Doesn't Count”
Athena (technical quality): 9
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

“Sortileger” by David Cramer (david@law.uoregon.edu).  Actually, I read 
this story by mistake. I didn’t notice that it was Part 1 of who knows 
how many.  Nevertheless, the story is so well written that it forced me 
to stay with it until it ran out of words - right there in the middle 
of the forest with Charisse trying to escape from the mysterious force 
that controlled her.  I don’t believe in magic or mind control - but on 
the other hand, how do I explain why I continued reading this story?

Charisse is a sortileger - a person who tells the fortunes of others by 
reading cards.  One day a mysterious man comes to her and offers to 
join forces with her.  She becomes the best fortune teller in Hawaii; 
and as her fame and wealth grow she moves to the mainland with Tomas, 
her enigmatic colleague.  Although he doesn’t overtly pursue her, 
Charisse is attracted to Tomas; and soon they make passionate (but 
somewhat kinky) love in a remote Rocky Mountain hideaway.

The story is surrealistic.  It’s that dream I have so often had in 
which I dream about trying to wake up from the dream and I do wake up 
except that I only dreamed that I woke up and I keep on dreaming.  In 
fact, I’ll have to check in the morning to see if I was dreaming when I 
thought I wrote this review.  The story is confusing (but it’s supposed 
to be) and depressing (but it’s supposed to be).

I chose to read this story because I had found this author’s previous 
story “Inspiration” to be so well written - at least I think that’s why 
I chose it; but now I’m not sure.  The author uses vivid descriptions 
in this story that are similar to those that integrated music with sex 
so well in his other story.  What I dislike about this story is that 
it’s not finished.  I really don’t know whether or not to recommend it 
to you. 

There!  I’ve broken free!  I can see the sunlight. and I am no longer 
naked in the basement!  In fact, I don’t even have a basement.  My 
advice is to wait until the whole story is posted; then read it.  Or 
maybe not.

Ratings for “Sortileger”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

 “Hiccups” by Dulcinea (dulcinea97@aol.com).  Hiccups can be a real 
pain in the ass - if that’s where the dildo is when you get the 
hiccups.  But hiccups can also be interesting- especially when they 
make the hiccupist’s breasts quiver enticingly in the low cut sweater 
she is wearing.  My own genuine theory is that the way to get rid of 
the hiccups is to distract the body so thoroughly that the breathing 
passages or whatever spontaneously restart without the disfluency.  
Some people do this by drinking water from a spoon or by being 
frightened by someone else.  I won’t tell you what I do; but it works.  
OK.  I use deep kissing with a lot of tongue action.  These people use 
a similar method involving a different set of organs.  I’m not sure 
either my method or theirs really works, but it’s worth a try.

Ratings for “Hiccups”
Athena (technical quality): 9.5
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

“Cinnamon” by Patrick Donovan (drwho@world.std.com).  This is a vivid 
description of the narrator making love to Alicia in a beautiful cove 
by the ocean on a moonlit night.  It is an extremely well-written 
story; and I recommend it strongly.  I had never thought of using warm 
cinnamon oil in the manner described in this story.  What I would like 
to know is whether that liquid when heated and rubbed gently into the 
appropriate aperture really does serve as an effective lubricant for 
anal intercourse.

Ratings for “Cinnamon”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

“Love You Forever” by Rahul L Iyer (Rahul.L.Iyer@rose-hulman.edu).  The 
guy’s fiancee dies in a car crash two days before Halloween, but she 
returns from the dead on that Great Feast to make love to him.  This 
story needs a lot of development.

Ratings for “Love You Forever”
Athena (technical quality): 7
Venus (plot & character): 6
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 6
 
“Dance of the Lecherous Leprechauns” by R. Stephen Redick 
(burrito@mc.net).  A lecherous leprechaun is a strong brandy Alexander 
mixed with green food coloring. Such drinks are considered useful for 
religious debaucheries on St. Patrick’s Day.  This story is about two 
stalwart guys, their bisexual female friend, and two neighbor ladies 
who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago by slurping lecherous 
leprechauns and fucking their brains out.  This is not my idea of a 
really great time.  I simply have this urge to want to remember the 
good times that I have had.  But people who like to read about drunken 
orgies will find this to be a well-written and sexually explicit 
account of a boisterous bacchanalia.

Ratings for “Dance of the Lecherous Leprechauns”
Athena (technical quality): 9.5
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 7

“Boss Lady's New Toy” by Madame Hypnotica (ms.infinity@tka.com).  I 
think it would be safe to say that a majority of the stories posted to 
this newsgroup treat women as sex objects.  {This is not necessarily 
true of the stories that I review and certainly not of those that 
receive high ratings; but it is true of the stories posted here in 
general.}  This one reverses that pattern and treats men as sex objects 
whose purpose is to serve and amuse women.

The story is set in the context of a vaguely defined business run by 
Ms. Sinclair.  A specialist named Celeste works for her and trains her 
male employees to become her sex slaves.  The story supplies the 
details.  There is probably about as much demand for stories like this 
from females as there is among men for stories that treat women as mere 
sexual playthings.  People that are enthusiasts for this sort of story 
may enjoy this one more than I did.  I found it to be a mildly 
interesting but highly improbable scenario.

One of the problems with this story is that the author changes frame of 
reference frequently (which is fine) and it is often needlessly 
difficult for the reader to determine whose thoughts are being examined 
at a given time (which is not fine).  It’s OK to withhold information 
and to disclose it only gradually; but I often found myself with no 
clue to determine whether the man with his nose against the wall is the 
same as the man chained to the computer or the man being sent to the 
business meeting.  There should be clues that would enable me to say - 
at least retrospectively - “Oh yeah!  That makes sense.”

Ratings for “Boss Lady's New Toy” 
Athena (technical quality): 8
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 7

 “Caught Between Two Angry Women” by Mary Anne Mohanraj 
(moh2@midway.uchicago.edu).  I was “cleaning up” my database when - to 
my great pleasure - I discovered that I had missed a few of this 
author’s stories.  That means I get to read them now!

Mary Anne is just now going to print with her book, “Torn Shapes of Desire: 
Internet Erotica” by Mary Anne Mohanraj with photographs by Tracy Lee (c) 
1996. ISBN 1-885876-03-3.  The publisher tells me that the public can already 
order a copy to be shipped as soon as it's back from the printer. As a bonus, 
pre-publication orders will be filled with autographed copies at no extra 
charge.  Checks won't be cashed and credit cards won't be charged until the 
books are about to ship.  More information is available at 
http://www.iam.com/tsd.html (preferred) or via e-mail to info@iam.com. 

Mary Anne has a web site at http://www.iam.com/maryanne/  (the trailing slash 
is important!).  You can get the same stories there that are in the book; but 
I like the idea of having a hard copy or being able to give a copy to someone 
for Christmas.

The prologue begins with Tom McLeod running for his life across the 
darkened moors of Scotland.  The chase seems to have something to do 
with the fact that he has managed to get Janet Duncan pregnant while he 
is engaged to marry her cousin Katherine in two months time. Then we 
return to the main story.  And, ya see, Tommy’s pouring out his story 
to his friend Mike in a pub, and the friend happens to be a lad who had 
loved Janet as a youth and has finally come from Ireland to Edinburgh 
again to see if perhaps she holds a soft spot in her heart for her old 
playmate.  ‘Tis the devil’s own foolishness to find that she is 
pregnant with their mutual friend Tom's babe; and Tom is engaged to 
another, and not caring for either at all.  ‘Tis the stuff of an 
American soap opera.

When they leave the pub and go to the mountain of their childhood, they 
meet the Queen of Faerie, who strikes quite an appearance with her cold 
smile in the moonlight on her white horse.  Tom flirts with her, kisses 
her, gets naked with her, and vanishes into thin air before Michael’s 
very eyes. ‘Tis the stuff of a Gaelic legend.  

And then the story gets really complicated.  Right up to the end it is 
an interesting blend of human romance and Gaelic legend.

Ratings for “Caught Between Two Angry Women”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

“Lisa's Weekend” by Speed Racer (speed.racer@mrwonderful.org).  Lisa is 
a beautiful young woman who is into submission.  She serves her Master, 
the very rich Jeremy.  The story is very clearly written, and I suppose 
numerous readers will consider this to be a good D&s story.  However, 
as I read the story, I couldn’t help saying to myself, “This is one 
sick chick.”  But people get mad at me when I say things like that.  
Somehow it’s supposed to be really cool for a girl to have a guy who 
demands that she be exactly on time and do exactly what he tells her to 
do and who inflicts pain on her for every little transgression.  Having 
read lots of these stories in the past year and a half, I can certainly 
see why a guy would like to have a woman for a slave.  I can also see 
why people would like to own chattel slaves to do their work for them; 
but my assumption is that society has advanced by moving away from 
chattel slavery.  

From Lisa’s perspective, I can even understand why she would like to 
have this asshole dominate her.  Excuse me - what I meant to say was I 
can understand why Lisa would like to have this kind and generous man 
benevolently devote a portion of his life to making her grovel in his 
presence.  As I understand it, she probably has an insecure personality 
and is associating these activities with sexual pleasure, and so she 
derives genuine pleasure from activities that others would regard as 
unpleasant.  It’s called classical conditioning.  Through classical 
conditioning experimental psychologists are able to get dogs and other 
animals to engage in behaviors that they previously avoided.  It’s no 
big thing.  It’s almost like a person who previously hated garlic 
developing a taste for that food product - or people committing mass 
suicide because Jim Jones says they should do so.

Is Jeremy “good” for Lisa in this story?  Well, when I was young my 
parents taught me that a good way to express love and kindness was to 
do nice things for people.  And so, if Lisa wants to be treated like 
dirt, I suppose it’s really nice of Jeremy to do this for her.  Just 
like it was really nice for Jim Jones to let all those people in Guyana 
become devoted to him.  I guess the alternative would be to be kind to 
her or something; and if he did that, she would probably just go off 
and find somebody else who would treat her like dirt.

This all sounds kind of perverse, but it’s not unique to sexual 
behavior.  Back when I was in Catholic high school, we used to have 
retreats.  We were a conservative school.  When we went on retreat, we 
didn’t get naked or have orgies or anything; we just listened to holy 
people come and tell us how to achieve sanctity.  They used to preach 
to us about Thomas a Kempis and St. Francis de Sales and other saints 
who said God wanted us to be exactly like Lisa was for Jeremy - only 
with God as or focus instead of a sinful man.  Saints used to wear hair 
shirts so that they could please God by suffering.  There used to be 
orders called flagellants (to be carefully distinguished from 
flatulants, although I suppose flatulation could serve a similar 
purpose), who used to roam the countryside beating people with whips 
for a small fee.  People liked to get whipped really hard, because that 
showed their love for God.  I think it was St. Theresa who was famous 
for thanking God for showing his love for her by making her suffer so 
much.  When the holy man at the retreat told us about St. Theresa, I 
told my mother about it; and she told me that St. Theresa was probably 
confused because she had such a rough life and was trying to make sense 
out of things that didn’t really make sense.  I didn’t know it then, 
but my mother was a Christian existentialist.

What I am saying is that I think Jeremy and Lisa are bizarre.  I think 
Lisa should look around and find out what unselfish love is really 
about.  But somebody will tell me that if Jeremy and Lisa are bizarre, 
then I would have to admit that Thomas a Kempis and Saint Theresa and 
Jim Jones and their followers are also bizarre.  I would say, “You 
might have a point there!”

Back when I was in college, I once worked at a summer camp.  We 
counselors initiated the campers by scaring the hell out of them.  I 
remember once I was drilling a little kid by candlelight in a scary 
room.  He got so scared he started to cry and peed in his pants.  
Everybody laughed at him.  I felt terrible.  The scary session was 
supposed to be fun, but there really wasn’t anything all that funny 
about traumatizing this little kid.  I think something similar can 
happen when people act like Jeremy and Lisa in real life.

I CAN see how it would be really great to have a sex slave doing my 
every wish.  I think it’s a selfish and perverse fantasy; but it makes 
sense.  I do NOT understand why a normal person would want to take part 
as a slave in such an activity - UNLESS IT IS A CLEARLY DEFINED FANTASY 
THAT BOTH PEOPLE ENJOY.  The capitalized words are important.  This 
story doesn’t take that perspective. Rather, it suggests that it is 
“normal” for a woman to get sexual pleasure from being mistreated.  I 
guess my problem may be that I have known perhaps a hundred women who 
have been treated like this, and ALL of them - I repeat ALL of them - 
would be legitimately described as abused sexual partners.  The fantasy 
that lots of women really enjoy this kind of treatment is a figment of 
the imagination of their oppressors.  The reality that a few women DO 
enjoy it is a sad commentary on the classical conditioning to which 
they have been subjected.

I’m probably missing something here.  I feel like a person who watches 
a football game and can’t figure out why all those people are fighting 
over that little ball when there are several extras on the sideline 
that they could share.  I just read this story and it looked like Lisa 
was getting a really raw deal, but she really liked it.  Imagine that!

Wow!  Would I ever be shocked if my mother were the real author of this 
story!

Ratings for “Lisa's Weekend”
Athena (technical quality): 9.5
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 5

“Deja Vu” by Ann Douglas (annd55@nyc.pipeline.com).  Ann Douglas placed 
four stories among my Top 100 of 1995.  I have been keeping a running 
list for 1996; and if I had to post that list right now, she’d make it 
four more times.  She’d make it even more often, except that irritating 
proofreading errors get in the way.  In short, she writes very good 
stories.  Let me tell you her secrets to success.  

First, she writes stories that contain vivid, realistic portrayals of 
hot sex.  Nearly all the stories on this newsgroup contain sex, and a 
lot of them contain hot sex.  What Ann Douglas does is to write vivid, 
realistic portrayals of hot sex.  

Second, her characters are normal people.  Some of them are also 
typical; but all of them are normal.  Although some bible thumpers 
would disagree, most of the protagonists are basically moral people.  
Nearly everything that happens in her stories (except maybe in the sci 
fi and comic book stories) is something that my husband or I have done 
or could do or at least know somebody else who has done it.  These 
people are not depraved predators, sex-starved sluts, contortionists 
with 12-inch penises, or generally dysfunctional sex maniacs.  I have a 
soft spot in my heart (as well as somewhere else) for all the people 
covered in the previous sentence; but readers like myself do like to 
read about normal people.  I get the impression that some people would 
disagree with me on this point; Ann’s characters - they would say - are 
not normal, because they are lesbians or at least bisexual.  I am not a 
lesbian.  I think I could enjoy lesbian or bisexual activity; but I 
won’t, because I have made a life-choice not to.  In spite of this, 
however, Ann’s characters make perfect sense to me.  A very large 
number of readers feel this way.  We enjoy Ann’s stories because her 
characters act the way we think we would act (or would like to act) in 
similar situations.

Third, Ann embeds her hot, realistic sex and normal characters in plots 
that are intelligent and well developed.   A lot of authors try to do 
this, and several succeed. What Ann and many of the other successful 
authors do is integrate the sex with the plot in an effective manner.  
Some authors who try to develop a plot fail because they spend too much 
time on details that have no connection with the sex.  One of Ann’s 
greatest strengths is that while she is developing details, she is also 
developing sexual anticipation by describing events and information 
that give us the feeling that something exciting is going to happen and 
then later make the sexual activities more interesting when they 
finally occur.

Ann also uses other techniques effectively.  For example, she’s a pro 
at the story-within-a-story technique; and her plots are often set in 
exotic places or focus on important social issues.  But I’m convinced 
that the three techniques described in the preceding paragraphs are 
what make this author’s stories so consistently good.

There!  Now that you know all this, you yourself can compose stories 
that are every bit as good as those written by this author.

The present story is about Connie D’Angelo and her relationship with 
her granddaughter and her memories of her own sexual awakening during 
adolescence in the 1950’s.  Just read the story!  It does an excellent 
job of implementing the techniques I described earlier in this review.

Ratings for “Deja Vu”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* “When Morning Comes” by Joe Parsons (jmp@cyber-mall.com).  Ellen has 
a kind and gentle lover who does everything he can to meet her needs; 
but she longs for someone who will dominate her.  She wakens from a 
dream and finds a stranger in her bedroom, who does to her all that she 
had dreamed of and more.  Was it a dream or reality?  You read it and 
decide for yourself.

A little while ago this author was the object of some severe criticism 
for using his stories to advertise his phone-sex service.  I almost 
jumped into the fray at that time, but I decided to wait until Joe 
reposted one of his stories.  I personally see no harm in his ads.  
What he does is this: he gives us a good story and then at the very end 
in a clearly delineated area he tells us about his service.  I really 
don’t see the problem.  

If the concern is that kids may see the ad, the criticism is 
unjustified: kids can find those phone numbers a lot more easily than 
by reading a good story in order to get them.

If the objection is to advertising in general, my response is that if 
he’s not breaking a law and not annoying me, then why should I care?

If the concern is with the service itself or with the unsavory nature 
of people who supply that kind of service, my reply is “Give me a 
break!”  I personally have no interest in using Joe’s service; but 
other people inclined to disagree with me.  Who am I to protest?  

If each of the people who send me unsolicited spam would be kind enough 
to encase their propaganda  in stories as good as most of those by this 
author, I would possibly read part of their messages before trashing 
them.

Ratings for “When Morning Comes”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9.5
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9.5

* "Games" by Deirdre.  Cindy and Debbie work together, and Cindy admits 
to her friend that she functions as a sex slave to her boyfriend.  Then 
one day the boyfriend lends Cindy to Debbie to be her slave.  Debbie is 
at first repulsed by the idea and then interested.  In recent reviews 
of Deirdre's stories I have boasted about predicting the endings.  I 
wasn't even close on this one, nor do I intend to tell you more about 
it.

Let me make a technical criticism.  Deirdre begins this story in the 
present tense: "Cindy and I are teachers at the same school. We car-
pool because we live only a couple of miles from each other and the 
school where we teach is a 40 minute drive away. We have been good 
friends for years and often shop together as well as go to a movie or 
have a drink together after work. Cindy had been going with a new guy 
for just a couple of weeks...."  From here on she continues in the past 
tense, until the very end of the story, when she reverts to the present 
tense.  At that point the facts stated in the sentences that I cited 
previously are no longer true. It is my opinion that the introductory 
sentences should have gone in the past tense.  "Cindy and I _were_ 
teachers at the same school.... (etc)."  If the author is telling the 
story in the present tense, that which is stated as true at the 
beginning of the story should also be true at the end - unless, of 
course, the author relates a continuous series of events that generate 
change as the story progresses.  

Let me put it another way.  The author is talking (as Debbie) in the 
present tense at the beginning of the story, and she says that Cindy 
and she are friends.  If you look at the logic of the story, which 
becomes apparent only at the end, this degree of friendship and car-
pooling did not exist at the time that the initial statement was made.  
The events of the story transpired before the story was written, and 
therefore most of the information that I cited from the introductory 
sentences was untrue.  Am I making sense?

A large number of authors make this same mistake.  I guess it's no big 
thing, and most readers probably don't even notice the inconsistency.  
However, Deirdre truly does write nearly perfect stories; and since she 
doesn't accept e-mail, I have no other way to communicate with her in 
order to stimulate her further toward perfection.  Sorry about that.  
This was a good story!

Ratings for “Games”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

* "Gathering" by Deirdre.  As I recall, the Waltons have a Christmas or 
Thanksgiving special called the Gathering.  I can just imagine Deirdre 
curled up by the fire with her family watching this wholesome show, and 
somebody saying, "Deirdre, why don't you write a story like that?"  

Actually, as you might expect, this story diverges somewhat from what 
happened on Walton Mountain.  Peg is the quiet, friendly sister who is 
returning from out of town.  Sandra is the bitchy grouch of a sister 
who lives in town and visits more regularly.  As soon as I had learned 
this much, my guess was that Peg would turn Sandra into a sex slave by 
the end of the story - thus rendering her quiet and useful at the same 
time.  Well, let me just say that I was close - but no cigar.  Read it 
and enjoy it!

Ratings for “Gathering”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

* "Girlfriend" by Deirdre.  The young girl (I'm guessing age 12 or 13) 
and her mother come home and hear the unmistakable sounds of sex 
emanating from the older brother's bedroom.  The mother shoos the girl 
off to her room, so that she won't be scandalized.  Now, knowing that 
this is a Deirdre story, what do you suppose happened next?  You're 
probably close.  It's another strange but interesting story.

Ratings for “Girlfriend”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

* "Glance" by Deirdre.  As you have probably noticed, Deirdre writes 
excellent stories from either a male or female perspective.  This story 
comes to us from the perspective of a man who makes the mistake of 
casting an interested glance at a sexy neighbor while his wife's sister 
is watching.  Soon the evil sister-in-law is blackmailing him, and his 
sins and the level of blackmail escalate, until he becomes a full-
fledge, card-carrying sex slave.  Let this be a lesson to all you guys 
out there!  If you commit even a minor indiscretion, the correct 
protocol is to apologize humbly to your wife or girlfriend, beg for 
forgiveness, and accept your punishment like a man.  Either that or use 
an axe or arsenic on the stupid bitch who is blackmailing you.

Ratings for “Glance”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

* "Grad" by Deirdre.  I'll write this review after reading only the 
first two paragraphs.  A woman who is in law school goes to spend the 
weekend with her friend, Gail, who is surrounded by sexy women who 
serve as her sex slaves.  Gail seduces her friend, who is thus spared 
the ignominy of becoming a lawyer and is forced to spend the rest of 
his life catering to the sexual whims of a rich old lady.

Well, I was pretty close. What really transpired can perhaps best be 
described as something between what I predicted and a nice double date 
that ended with romantic sex around the fireplace.  However, it was 
still interesting to see how they got there, and I'm not really sure 
that becoming a sex pervert saved the narrator from becoming a lawyer 
after all.  Deirdre is arousing my interest in this whole concept of 
sex slavery.  I may go out and get myself a sex slave or two someday 
when I retire from teaching and when my husband is too old and feeble 
to satisfy my needs anymore.

Ratings for “Grad”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

* "Groom" by Deirdre.  Would it be possible for a college girl who was 
already involved in a serious relationship to work with a guy for a 
whole summer and develop a close but non-sexual relationship with him?  
Sounds plausible.  And if the relationship with the former boyfriend 
broke up, would it be possible that the girl might long for and 
fantasize about that close friend, even though she has lost touch with 
him?  Sounds reasonable to me.  And then would it be possible that a 
high school classmate might invite the girl to her wedding, and when 
the girl shows up she might discover that the groom is the very person 
with whom she had formed the close friendship and about whom she had 
fantasized?  A little less likely - but certainly a good premise for a 
story.  What will Deirdre do with this plot?  Let me simply tell you 
that I did not guess the ending.  That  piece of information should not 
ruin the story for you.  All it means is that the ending does not 
involve mind control or three-way anal sex.

Ratings for “Groom”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Habit" by Deirdre.  As any regular reader knows, all of Deirdre's 
stories have one-word, enigmatic titles.  One thing that I enjoy is 
trying to predict before I read the story what it will be about.  
Habit.  I'll give myself three guesses: (1) Somebody is going to screw 
a nun, who would be wearing a habit.  (2)  Somebody will kick THE habit 
by using mind control to switch from smoking to either oral or anal 
sex.  (3)  Two college women will ritualistically prepare for their 
exams by engaging in some sort of bdsm.

I've finished the story, and I wasn't even close.  However, I should 
add that the title is about as accurate as one can get with just a 
single word.  The moral of this story is if a woman plans to bend over 
with her bare ass sticking up next to the front door with a belt on the 
floor next to her so that her husband can give her five quick swats as 
soon as he gets home, she should first check to make sure that the 
husband is alone.

Ratings for “Habit”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9.9

* "Hear" by deirdre.  Deirdre is the Sherwood Anderson of a.s.s.  She 
must have about a thousand {actually, 160 right now} of these simple 
but unusual stories with one-word titles, and someone has started 
reposting them again.  Her stories are a wonderful combination of the 
normal and the weird.  In this one, she relates the story of a young 
college woman who "thinks she might like to try a lesbian 
relationship."  Weird. Nice.

Ratings for “Hear”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Help" by Deirdre.  Let's take another shot at predicting a Deirdre 
plot from the title.  Help.  It could be about THE help, as in the 
people we hire to work for us.  Or it could mean Help! - as in "I'm in 
deep shit up to my chin; somebody get me out of this mess!"  More 
likely, however, it's about somebody helping somebody else over come 
initial resistance and get turned on to some sort of sexual practice.  
I'll bet on this third possibility.

OK.  At the very beginning of the story I found out that a person 
(presumably a guy) is standing in line at a checkout counter and starts 
eying a girl in the next line.  The woman behind him offers to help him 
get a date and have sex with that girl, but only on the condition that 
afterwards the guy will help the woman have sex with the girl.  At 
least now I know I'm not going to be dealing with perversion of some 
kind!  Let me conclude by saying that the title was appropriate and 
this was a most creative story.

Ratings for “Help”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Hidden" by Deirdre. This story is about a young boy who hides in the 
closet in his parents’ room to find out what kind of weird things they 
do when they have sex.  It turns out that Mom has assumed a dominant 
role over Dad as a punishment for his ogling the fair Ellen at the 
party which they just attended.  Mom catches the child, punishes him 
creatively, and eventually turns him over to the neighbor lady, who 
makes him into a sex slave for her daughter, whom he will eventually 
marry.

Let me say that I found this story to be grotesque - in the best sense 
of the word.  The difference between this one and "Julie Bound," which 
is reviewed later in this issue is that this story was grotesque but 
fascinating.  I have long enjoyed Deirdre's stories, even those about 
people engaging in activities in which I myself would never partake.  
After all, the stories were only fiction; the people in them were 
generally consenting adults; and the activities were strangely 
fascinating.  However, every once in a while I have wondered, "Don't 
these people ever have children?"  In this story, the answer is yes, 
and we get to see how a sexually bizarre person handles the sex 
education of her adolescent son.  I don't recommend this strategy, but 
it did seem realistic - given the constraints of the story.

Ratings for “Hidden”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9.5
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Home" by Deirdre.  The neighbor's wife goes away for a week, and he 
comes over to spend time with the narrator and his girlfriend.  He's 
obviously in heat, and he's a great flirt; so the narrator is afraid 
that he will seduce his girlfriend.  Therefore, when the neighbor 
suggests that the guy give him a blow job to reduce his sexual tension, 
he complies; and then events compound until you can well imagine what 
happens.

I once said that one of Deirdre's stories seemed unrealistic, and a 
reader criticized me by saying, "It's fantasy, not reality.  It's not 
supposed to be realistic."  Still, this story seemed less "plausible" 
than most of the other Deirdre stories I have reviewed.  It just really 
didn't seem logical that the guy would do what he did.  But it's still 
not a bad story.

Ratings for “Home”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 7
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 7

* "Honeymoon" by Deirdre.  When she posted this story, Deirdre included 
an introduction that mentioned her extreme concern for her privacy.  
She is so obsessed with privacy that any e-mail directed to her is 
destroyed before it reaches her, and she doesn't send e-mail to 
individual correspondents.  I can live with that; and as long as she 
remains my personal sex slave, I won't reveal any of the information 
that I have acquired that suggests her actual place of residence is 
Sulphur Springs Texas rather than Clyde Ohio.  On a more practical 
level, I think I'll stop posting her address along with these stories.

In the same introductory message, Deirdre stated that she enjoyed my 
reviews but that she was somewhat perplexed by my ratings.  It seems 
that her favorites sometimes receive lower ratings from me.  (Now, you 
have to remember that the "low" rating she cited was a 7 for "Key.")  
She also wondered what my favorite was among her stories.  Off the top 
of my head, I would say the answer is "Freebie." I like its combination 
of romance (which is like me) plus extreme danger (which is not like 
me) and twists in the plot.  

The present story is about a man and woman who are on their honeymoon.  
The man waits for his wife in the bar of the hotel to which he and his 
wife have gone, and he is accosted by another woman who comes on to 
him.  It's a truly excellent setup, but then we are left wondering 
what's going to happen.  We have no clue.  The other woman could be 
anything from an innocent Avon lady who is selling dildos on the side 
to a vampire who has gained control of the wife's mind and is making 
preparations to turn the couple into sex slaves.  Open-ended endings 
are sometimes good; but this one goes too far.  Perhaps Deirdre was 
perturbed that I had been guessing her endings too easily and decided 
to fix my wagon by omitting the ending from this one completely.  It is 
interesting to note that Deirdre wrote this story over a year ago, when 
she still lived in Clyde, Ohio, and was more directly under the 
influence of Sherwood Anderson.

Ratings for “Honeymoon”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 5

* "House" by Deirdre .  OK.  I'm going to try again.  I'll write the 
review _while_ I review a Deirdre story and try to guess what's going 
to happen.  At the very beginning we find out that Gwen lives alone in 
an extremely large house and has invited Ms. Billings inside to show it 
to her.  I'll bet she has a sexual torture chamber in the basement!  
OK, I've read further, and I have found out Gwen takes in college kids 
as boarders.  That means that I may have been right about the machines 
in the basement, but the main plot will be that Gwen has a bunch of sex 
slaves that serve and pamper her.  The surprise ending will be that Ms. 
Billings will move in with Gwen as a sex slave.  Ooops!  The nine 
borders are all boys and are reputed to have girl friends.  Maybe we 
have a simple bordello here.  OK.  Now one of the boys is undressing 
and letting Gwen and Ms. Billings fondle his genitals.  My main theory 
is holding up all right.  Ooops! One of the boys is showing off for 
Gwen and Jenny by sticking his cock into another boy's ass.  I wasn't 
expecting this, but my overall theory still sounds good: sex slaves and 
Ms. Billings will move in.  I'll skip a few details that simply confirm 
my hypothesis.  

Two girls have arrived.  I think the one named Jenny is probably a 
recruiter and assistant mistress.  The other girl, Carla, seems to be 
an outsider. Ms. Billing and Carla have secretly plotted to get away 
after dinner.  But now dinner is finsihed and Carla has been missing 
for a long time.  I think she's being recruited and will decide to 
stay.  OK.  I've read further.  Still no sign of Carla, but Jenny and 
Randy have fucked Ms. Billings and have hidden her clothes; but she has 
found a key to get out of the room and is dressed in a bath robe, 
intending to escape.  The action is getting hot and heavy.  Aha!  While 
looking for an escape route, Ms. Billings has wandered into the 
basement; and people are chained to the walls, and one of the girls is 
holding a whip!  There are a few final details; but I did pretty well 
this time.

Ratings for “House”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Idea" by Deirdre.  Eventually Deirdre will have to run out of weird 
ideas for stories.  In this one, a female friend asks a man if he'd 
like to do it with Nancy Jenson.  He replies that it's a moot question, 
because he's a married man.  The friend replies that that's the same 
thing his wife said - that _she_ wouldn't do it with Nancy because of 
her prior commitment to her husband.  The implication is that they both 
would like to do it with Nancy Jenson, and so the friend offers to 
broker the arrangement.  So far everything was as I had expected; but 
then came a sudden and interesting twist in the plot.

Ratings for “Idea”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

* "Initiation" by Deirdre.  "It was my senior year and I was called upon to 
play a leadership role in my sorority.  Specifically, I was asked to plan an 
initiation activity that would give the new members pause.  Something other 
than the formal initiation that would catch them off guard."  Holy cumshot!  
What kind of sorority is this?  Do these kids have any idea whom they are 
dealing with?  It's scary to think that there may actually be sororities out 
there with people like Deirdre in them.  Maybe she'll suggest a scavenger 
hunt.  I'm not going to tell you what she did suggest, but let me assure you 
that whatever Deidre suggested was well within the guidelines of the school 
with which the sorority was affiliated.

Ratings for “Initiation”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

* "Interview" by Deirdre.  Predicting this story's plot, I told myself,  
is going to be a piece of cake.  The woman is going to interview for a 
job, which she badly needs; and she'll have to become a sex slave to 
get the job.  I was close, but the story was still quite interesting.  
Ooops!  I just noticed that Deirdre's next story is entitled 
"Interview2."  I'll bet that one's about a woman who is going to 
interview for a job, which she badly needs, and she'll have to become a 
sex slave to get the job.

Ratings for “Interview”
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

