"Gloriana" - a new taboo story
To my delight, right in the middle of my series of posts here on taboos in erotica, comes the publication of The Big Book of Bizarro, containing my story “Gloriana”. “Gloriana” is another meditation on sexuality in virtual worlds, and this one has a decidedly taboo element.
I wrote “Gloriana” without a market in mind but it seems to have found the perfect home in this anthology, which describes itself as “Salacious - Sacrilegious - Scatalogical - Scotomizing - Strange!” I think my little tale only deserves a couple of those adjectives, but it is definitely not a story I could have sold to a more mainstream erotica anthology. So I am very pleased and grateful that editors Rich Bottle Jr. and Gary Lee Vincent liked it enough to include it.
I had submitted it previously to another collection that advertised itself as daring but I received an almost immediate rejection that the editor was not accepting any fantasy stories, which I found interesting because the fantasy in “Gloriana” is part of a virtual world in a very contemporary setting. I think that’s another lesson in the nature of taboos. We all bring our preconceptions to any work of art and two viewpoints of the very same story – or a particular element in that work – are likely to diverge. I don’t hold any bad feelings toward the editor who rejected the story. For someone unfamiliar with virtual worlds and environments, the distinction between genres that play with perceptual reality might be impossible to make – fantasy, contemporary erotica, and science fiction may even become indistinguishable. Personally, I like that!
The taboo at the heart of “Gloriana”, however, is a powerful one, and not a topic I would pursue for prurient purposes, so I suppose that means I have my own forbidden zones. But, for the sake of a good story – where the intention is to tell the tale and not to titillate -- those zones are very different.
That’s a topic for another day. In the mean time, here’s a short excerpt from “Gloriana”:
Gloriana, fallen princess of the Old Forest elves, stepped naked and dripping from the pool of rebirth. Her guardian and chaste lover Aelborn awaited her on the shore wearing his distinctive white cloak. They embraced and kissed, a token of passion and suppressed desire, born of the vow between them.
“I have a confession to make,” Gloriana said. “Strayhorn of the Dead Forest has courted me and wishes me to be his mate.”
A shadow passed across Aelborn’s noble features. Gloriana saw sorrow in his eyes and ached with him.
“I cannot hold you,” Aelborn said. “But if you go to him, be wary, for his tribe is our sworn foe.”
Fading sunlight painted her ivory skin the hue of red plums as she dressed, wishing that Aelborn would take her in his arms and make her whole, but of course he turned away and vanished into the haze at the end of Gloriana’s vision. The love between them could not be consummated, no matter how much she desired it. He had been very clear about that when they exchanged the Vow of Eternity.
She sighed, weary and forlorn. Fine. She would visit Strayhorn and see what he offered her, either diversion or adventure. She whispered her magic words and the world turned white.
(Loading)
When the Phantasy world appeared again in fine resolution, the Dead Forest loomed about her, its trees sharp, black scratches against the perpetual gloom of its sky.
Gloriana stood in the center of a clearing. Teddy didn’t know if Strayhorn’s player used a voice app or not, so she tapped /t and typed, “I’m here” in florid scarlet letters.
“BRT,” came the red reply.
Soon the forest darkness birthed Strayhorn, his ebon majesty emerging from the shadows.
In a corner of Teddy’s screen, in a box directly over Gloriana’s lovely, robed form, Instant Messenger chirped and its window opened. A message from Daddy appeared there.
“Dinner’s on the stove when you want it, honey,” Daddy’s message read. Teddy smiled, and sent him an X in reply.
Dinner could wait. Teddy wanted action.
I wrote “Gloriana” without a market in mind but it seems to have found the perfect home in this anthology, which describes itself as “Salacious - Sacrilegious - Scatalogical - Scotomizing - Strange!” I think my little tale only deserves a couple of those adjectives, but it is definitely not a story I could have sold to a more mainstream erotica anthology. So I am very pleased and grateful that editors Rich Bottle Jr. and Gary Lee Vincent liked it enough to include it.
I had submitted it previously to another collection that advertised itself as daring but I received an almost immediate rejection that the editor was not accepting any fantasy stories, which I found interesting because the fantasy in “Gloriana” is part of a virtual world in a very contemporary setting. I think that’s another lesson in the nature of taboos. We all bring our preconceptions to any work of art and two viewpoints of the very same story – or a particular element in that work – are likely to diverge. I don’t hold any bad feelings toward the editor who rejected the story. For someone unfamiliar with virtual worlds and environments, the distinction between genres that play with perceptual reality might be impossible to make – fantasy, contemporary erotica, and science fiction may even become indistinguishable. Personally, I like that!
The taboo at the heart of “Gloriana”, however, is a powerful one, and not a topic I would pursue for prurient purposes, so I suppose that means I have my own forbidden zones. But, for the sake of a good story – where the intention is to tell the tale and not to titillate -- those zones are very different.
That’s a topic for another day. In the mean time, here’s a short excerpt from “Gloriana”:
Excerpt from “Gloriana”
By Angela Caperton
As appearing in The Big Book of Bizarro
Published by Burning Bulb Press, 2011
By Angela Caperton
As appearing in The Big Book of Bizarro
Published by Burning Bulb Press, 2011
Gloriana, fallen princess of the Old Forest elves, stepped naked and dripping from the pool of rebirth. Her guardian and chaste lover Aelborn awaited her on the shore wearing his distinctive white cloak. They embraced and kissed, a token of passion and suppressed desire, born of the vow between them.“I have a confession to make,” Gloriana said. “Strayhorn of the Dead Forest has courted me and wishes me to be his mate.”
A shadow passed across Aelborn’s noble features. Gloriana saw sorrow in his eyes and ached with him.
“I cannot hold you,” Aelborn said. “But if you go to him, be wary, for his tribe is our sworn foe.”
Fading sunlight painted her ivory skin the hue of red plums as she dressed, wishing that Aelborn would take her in his arms and make her whole, but of course he turned away and vanished into the haze at the end of Gloriana’s vision. The love between them could not be consummated, no matter how much she desired it. He had been very clear about that when they exchanged the Vow of Eternity.
She sighed, weary and forlorn. Fine. She would visit Strayhorn and see what he offered her, either diversion or adventure. She whispered her magic words and the world turned white.
(Loading)
When the Phantasy world appeared again in fine resolution, the Dead Forest loomed about her, its trees sharp, black scratches against the perpetual gloom of its sky.
Gloriana stood in the center of a clearing. Teddy didn’t know if Strayhorn’s player used a voice app or not, so she tapped /t and typed, “I’m here” in florid scarlet letters.
“BRT,” came the red reply.
Soon the forest darkness birthed Strayhorn, his ebon majesty emerging from the shadows.
In a corner of Teddy’s screen, in a box directly over Gloriana’s lovely, robed form, Instant Messenger chirped and its window opened. A message from Daddy appeared there.
“Dinner’s on the stove when you want it, honey,” Daddy’s message read. Teddy smiled, and sent him an X in reply.
Dinner could wait. Teddy wanted action.
Posted by Angela Caperton at 8/13/2011 3:04 PM 
Categories: Taboos, Angela Caperton, Virtual Sex, Erotica
Tags: Angela Caperton erotica taboo virtual sex
Categories: Taboos, Angela Caperton, Virtual Sex, Erotica
Tags: Angela Caperton erotica taboo virtual sex
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