Cain’s blog Nov 2013-Jan 2014
Hello Reader, How glad I am that you are still with me checking in from time to time to see how I am faring in my life and the world in general.
Not a big fan of the holidays, my partner and I journeyed to Holland to wait out the commercialism and in your face antics of the American Christmas holidays which seem to begin closer and closer every year to Halloween instead of Thanksgiving.
The Dutch Christmas’s are European in tone of course. The lights are usually white and placed generally above the streets. Store windows offer modest displays and the holidays were free to celebrate them as you wish, not as media says you should. Less suicides that way. Our stay was mainly in Amsterdam, a city of holidaying youth and expatriates. Family is for the Dutch in small rural parts of the country like Haarlem, Maastrict and Almeer. So much of Amsterdam is left in the hands of the tourists.
New Year’s Eve was marked by explosive firecrackers and bombs that blew away at least twelve participants, that we know of. New Years Eve is a loud, loud affair and its safer to stay indoors and watch them from the night sky. New Year’s Day was the perfect time to visit the Rijksmuseum. No lines, just quiet locals enjoying many of the great Dutch renaissance painters. The Museum fresh off of its well know makeover had restored much of what had been lost over the 10 years it took to complete the renovation.
Once again we rented a houseboat on the canal which was amazingly warm. We did go out daily if only to the local markets. The temperature hovered consistently around forty degrees. There was very little wind and for
the most part the trams were on time. We led a very homey existence meeting friends, joining friends for dinner, meeting old colleagues for a drink and reminiscing over the good old days of when I used to live there. (above is the train station in Maastrict)
Showing my partner around town has instilled in me a certain pride I have in the city especially since I have friends there for almost 40 years and counting Even more proud that he has surpassed me in city knowledge.
Although allotted plenty of personal play time i was inspired to write and write plenty, I did.
My assignments were to complete anthologies I was in the process of. I have written several ‘series’ of a theme such as Beauty and the Beast 23 AD, about an opera diva and a streetfighter, Summerlands is where everybody recounts their ribald past. Of course my favorite supernaturals, Max and Luther battle Zombies. I added some exciting tales to EXHIBITIONISTS AND VOYEURS as well. The New publishers want nothing less than 6000 words per story and while I thought it would be a challenge, it has allowed me to work out a formula of 2k a day and some tales have come in close to 10K. My other experiment is writing dialogue first then adding the action. It’s effective and works especially because I consider dialog my strong suit.
Part of my motivation to writing while I was in Amsterdam was not having everyone think I was just there for the good times as opposed to working regularly each day and producing several pieces of fiction. I must say that I prided myself on the discipline and having e-mails sent across the pond expressing pleasure and approving book covers made me feel ‘at home’ and of course productive. “Yeah I played around a lot but I also did..” … and then I would list the six or seven at 7000k words a piece that I did.
Did I also mention that I was able to see Spartacus on Netflix, seasons one and two. Aside from sex, violence, nudity and gay sex scenes I really got off on the dialog minus the few hundred ‘fucks’ and gay sex references. A writers uses all the resources at his finger tips and watching Spartacus as I wrote LOVE CAMERON you may notice how some of the dialog from the old roman days seeped into the dialog of two Los Angeles actors, one being from New York..
In this blog I try to focus on how my experiences impact me as a writer and then pass the process on to you. The thing is, everything impacts me as a writer as well it should. Every situation can be turned into a story idea be it for erotica, porn or mainstream storytelling. There is a story behind everything as situations don’t just happen.
January 24th was my birthday and I turned the ripe old age of 61 I am no longer 60 but ‘in’ my sixties. While in Amsterdam I realized just how many people have ‘daddy’ issues and right then I realized that this sex-o-holic was going to be all right.
This polar vortex has me inside and writing like a mad man, knowing come summer i won’t be quite as prolific. But then, I am a writer and there are no guarantees. As you can guess, I’m experimenting with photo placement. I’ll learn. Give me time. In the meanwhile. Thanks for listening. Inquiries, write me here I look forward to your letters!
Cain Berlinger
The following book covers are the results of my Winter Vacation in Amsterdam. Wasn’t all play!
Each is available through Amazon or LydiaPress.com for catalog.
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- illbedamned draft
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- chapel draft2
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- caligularising draft
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- summerland5 draft3
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- avery draft
From The Groin 