Speaking of stories that not everyone would like, I asked Cheyenne Blue to give me some backgound about her story, set in the Colorado mountains. Here's what she said:
Cheyenne Blue
My story “So Cold the Night” is included in “Foreign Affairs” and I have never been more surprised to receive an acceptance. For starters, the story is not set in any exotic island location – it’s set in the Colorado Rockies and the characters are a dreamy girl from Kansas and a church boy from Memphis – hardly a cultural stretch for many people. Of course that’s the America-centric viewpoint and Rocky Mountain scenery and those characters could be unusual and strange to someone from Europe. (I’m living in Australia, and 30 feet of snow and church boys seem very unusual to me right now!).
Secondly, the story has at best a bittersweet ending, at worst a downright depressing one. Sad or bittersweet endings don’t seem to be that common in erotica (certainly, I have a drawer full of rejections that state a story wasn’t upbeat or romantic enough). Personally, I love a bittersweet ending where everything isn’t wrapped up tidily. I wish there were more of them in anthologies, but obviously my view isn’t a popular one. J I imagine that most readers here would say they prefer a happy ending?
Cheyenne Blue
My story “So Cold the Night” is included in “Foreign Affairs” and I have never been more surprised to receive an acceptance. For starters, the story is not set in any exotic island location – it’s set in the Colorado Rockies and the characters are a dreamy girl from Kansas and a church boy from Memphis – hardly a cultural stretch for many people. Of course that’s the America-centric viewpoint and Rocky Mountain scenery and those characters could be unusual and strange to someone from Europe. (I’m living in Australia, and 30 feet of snow and church boys seem very unusual to me right now!).
Secondly, the story has at best a bittersweet ending, at worst a downright depressing one. Sad or bittersweet endings don’t seem to be that common in erotica (certainly, I have a drawer full of rejections that state a story wasn’t upbeat or romantic enough). Personally, I love a bittersweet ending where everything isn’t wrapped up tidily. I wish there were more of them in anthologies, but obviously my view isn’t a popular one. J I imagine that most readers here would say they prefer a happy ending?
