Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I get asked this question a lot. I am most definitely a pantser. The rare occasions I plot out a novel the end is ten miles away from where I intended it to be. As I have bemoaned long and loud I couldn’t organise myself out of a paper bag.

My latest story, A Cock in the Window, is a prime example. Sadly, I don’t think it’s going to remain with that title since Kobo and Amazon are having conniptions over erotica. A Cock in the Window isn’t erotica, in fact there is little sex, but it does involve wooden cocks, and not of the chicken variety.

The plot bunny came from this picture from one of my facebook friends, Val.

A whole story developed from there, about Kit Stone, who runs a gift shop and carves porn stars cocks as a hobby. One day he gets a shock.

“A man with broad shoulders and a tight arse is standing with his back to me. I admire the view for a moment before I ask, “Can I help you?”

“This is my cock.”

“Pardon?”

The man turns around with the sandalwood member. “This is my cock.”

I chuckle. “Unless you’re a gay porn star I don’t think so.” The smile slides off my face as the man blushes.

“You’re Steve?”

He nods, Steve nods.

Well, this is a new one.”

So it started as a story with a lot of humour. Only somewhere along the line it turned into a murder mystery. Yep, that’s right, a humorous erotic story turned into a murder mystery with humour. 

Sue, what on earth do you think you’re doing? Stick with the plan! 

My brain just laughs.

I sometimes think my brain is like a kid’s picture I once saw. Beautifully drawn and then scribbled over. When we asked why the kid scribbled over the picture, she indignantly told us it was a windy day. That was a lesson in not assuming anything. As my stories develop my plan is then scribbled over by a brand new plot bunny.

So fifty thousand words later I have a neat little murder mystery which hopefully will turn into a series. That wasn’t what I planned but I’m delighted at the way it’s turned out. That goes for many of my books; it wasn’t what I expected but I really like it.

 

 

I doubt this cover will be accepted by Amazon but I do love it and I’m going to offer it in giveaways.

One day I’m going to plot a story and stick to it, just to see if I like it as much. I admire the people who do plot because it is a good skill. You never know, maybe I’ll get a plotter to turn into a pantser, just for the day.

Excerpt

A couple of potential customers come in and I smile briefly, leaving them to look around.

“Sweetheart, you can’t buy one of those for Grandma. Why don’t you buy her a Union Jack ashtray?”

In the middle of trying to make a paragraph resemble English, my attention is distracted by a woman and her late teenage daughter standing near the cocks.

“Because she doesn’t smoke and she’d much rather have one of these.”

“It’s a… it’s a….”

“Penis, Mum. You can say the word. You won’t explode. Gran’ll love it. She’ll put it on the mantelpiece next to the picture of Liam and Sam.”

“Kylie Owens, you shut your mouth. Grandma is a good woman.”

I watch the teenage roll her eyes and bite my cheeks not to giggle.

“Mum, you want to make Grandma’s day, buy her one of these. She’s got a room full of dusty crap. Buy her the big black one. Sam’ll find it hysterical. He’ll probably want to borrow it.”

The woman went so red I thought she really was going to explode. I kept my head down whilst they carried on bickering.

“I brought you a cuppa,” Steve said, handing me a cup of tea.

“Cheers.”

He gave me an odd look. “Are you okay? You look kind of red in the face.”

“I’ll explain later,” I say, tilting my head towards the customers.

The teenager looks over to me and Steve, and then her eyes open and they shoot to the sandalwood cock. Christ, what was she doing watching gay porn?

“We’re getting this one,” she says, ignoring the black cock in favour of Steve’s.

Embarrassment and conflict is clear on Steve’s face. Oblivious to the byplay, Kylie’s mother continues to fuss until Kylie stomps over to Steve, not me, and asks sweetly for it to be wrapped, staring at him so predatorily, I want to get between them and tell her to back the fuck off.

 Steve thrusts it at me and flees back up the stairs. I wrap the cock in tissue paper, making sure the shape is very obvious.

Kylie looks disappointment at Steve’s rapid exit but she beckons to her mother. “Pay the man, Mum. I’ll look for something for Dad.”

“Dear God, buy the bloody ashtray for Dad. If you get him anything like this he’ll have a heart attack.”

“Ewww, gross. I’d never buy anything like this for him. He can have the ship in a bottle.”

I felt rather sorry for the man, thinking he was going to be short-changed in the deal.

After they left I went to the bottom of the stairs.

“You can come down now. It’s safe.”

Steve appeared at the top, a look of relief on his face. “I made a tit of myself, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you.”

“It was just… she’s a girl.”

“Yeah? So?”

“She knew it was mine.”

I pat his arm. “Steve, I hate to break it to you but girls watch porn, too.”

Author Bio

Sue Brown is owned by her dog and two children. When she isn’t following their orders, she can be found plotting at her laptop. In fact she hides so she can plot, and can be considered expert at ignoring the orders. Sue discovered M/M erotica at the time she woke up to find two men kissing on her favorite television series. The series was boring; the kissing was not. She may be late to the party, but she’s made up for it since, writing fan fiction until she was brave enough to venture out into the world of original fiction.

Internet Links

Sue can be found at her website, http://www.suebrownstories.com/; her blog,http://suebrownsstories.blogspot.co.uk/; Twitter, https://twitter.com/suebrownstories; and her Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/suebrownstories.

GIVEAWAY

Sue Brown has agreed to giveaway a copy from a back list – Winner’s Choice!! All you gotta do is leave a comment to this post and mention your email ID so that we could get in touch with you!

CONTEST ENDS 4TH NOVEMBER, 2013 @23:59 PACIFIC TIME!