Hi y'all! I'm jumping in a bit late here, but I found out about this forum only yesterday. Very friendly and literate--I love it already! (Thanks, julievognar.)
I'm honored to be mentioned in a thread about Dreaming, one of those stories I WILL give the attentive reading it deserves. But I do know from what I've read that not only is Cathalin a damn good writer, but she knows how to do HOT too! She really gets inside Jack and Ennis' skin, gets down to the tactile details that make sex scenes between the two guys real, doesn't she?
Otherwise, I'm real impressed by many of the stories--and yes, sex scenes--that are written by women. Some get inside the male characters' heads better than others, and frankly some stories may not even require that they do. Maybe some of the action isn't drawn out or very exciting, no semen hitting the wall and all that, yet the erotica is touching and lovely. Obviously there are endless possibilities as to how writers continue the story and present their ideas.
It's great that a number of readers like how I handle Jack and Ennis' relationship, especially since I'm a canon writer, and that turns a lot of people off. For me, the beauty of the story is in their ultimate separation and Ennis' bereavement. Don't ask, but if you read my stories, you know that pain leads to pleasure. I've internalized both men and sometimes feel I'm writing an autobiography, not only physically as a man (a lot of fun, thank you), but psychologically too (maybe even more fun). I usually try to put character before plot, but sometimes I miss.
Concerning Fanfiction.net vs. LiveJournal: FF's no NC-17 policy threw me off at first, and I thought WTF? But I tried editing to see what would happen. First, a confession: I also write as "rvanv", my persona (presently inactive) who writes stories about Jack's death or later, while "belgianboy" writes the boys while they are very much alive indeed! I suppose it's telling that belgianboy has the reputation here, huh?
I edited an rvanv story called Smile (my first series) for FF. I think the plot and personalities are reasonably well developed, the sex not too bad for a first-timer like myself. Anyway, in the FF version, you can't always tell who is doing what to whom during sex. In the original LiveJournal version, nothing is left to the imagination. If you don't like NC-17 (or shouldn't be reading it!), read the FF version.
I wanted to post Summer of Love on FF, but how do you edit a series about two horny nineteen-year-olds discovering sex, what with all that jizz flying around here, there and everywhere? I gave it a go anyway, and to my surprise came up with something reasonably sexy, I think. So much is about the psychology, and I was surprised at how much I didn't have to change. But if you want it down and dirty, go to LiveJournal. Right now, the story is posted there in seven chapters, but I'm going to combine them soon. Ditto for the Reunion series that I just finished.
Veteran fans, thanks so much for your comments. I'm tickled that some new readers from this fine forum may be wandering over!
Belgianboy
P.S. My apologies, Cathalin, for taking up so much space in the Dreaming thread. It just seemed the best place to address the comments about my own work that have been posted here recently.