So. I joined Lush a few years ago, wrote a few stories, and then Something Sad happened and I didn’t write for over a year. When I started writing again my style had changed dramatically: very stripped down, almost no description, almost no backstory. Lots of dialogue, lots of sex. Sometimes the sex is almost brutal, but it is liberally mixed with tender exchanges. I try to stay very much “in the moment” in these stories, and don’t stray much from the action. I am still writing them.
All the stories are about the same unnamed couple. They all take place in hotel rooms. They are all connected, and part of a larger narrative. In my own head I refer to these stories as the Shard-o-verse, though I fully realize that’s kind of a goofy name.
There are 24 stories in the series so far. Most of them are Flash fiction. They have 3 Series awards, 14 RRs, 1 Editor's Pick, and 1 competition winner between them. So I’d like to use this thread to introduce these stories one at a time, and maybe give a little more insight into them.
I'm so glad to see you promoting yourself in here Verbal. Can't wait to see more posts so I can queue everything! I've read Serious Moonlight and some of your early Shards previously before rejoining and LOVED them all, it is all excellent work and I loved the way you basically reinvented flash erotica in that way! I'll make sure I get to some of them soon!
I am so glad to see that you have created the Shard-o-verse, my love. I think your work deserves more attention, but I also like to hear about your creative process. I am fascinated by interpersonal relationships, feelings, reactions, problem solving, and I love the artistry that puts those dynamics into writing, and love our discussions about the characters in these stories.
I adore Verbal. He's an excellent writer. Everybody should read him. Like, now. Go!
Verbal, I insist you keep writing about this. I could read your thoughts and processes all day. x
Can't say I know Verbal but I see him around Forums where he has always impressed me with his gentlemanly behaviour and clever posts. The word "Shard" caught my eye so I poked my nose in here. I love how Verbal has randomly numbered the shards and his description:
"One of the ideas behind the Shards is this: your memories of any really intense experience—not just sexual, but artistic, emotional, physical, spiritual—aren’t logical, they are just crazy hot flashes of emotion and sensation. You don’t remember a linear story with a beginning and a middle and an end. Your memories are just short, disconnected bursts of experience. So the result is more like looking at shards of a broken mirror than a sustained logical narrative. You don’t see the whole experience reflected, just isolated moments of it. The Shards are sort of an attempt to mimic memory."
After I read that I HAD to read a Shard.
Then I randomly picked "Shard 629 Morning Light". I'm not the most effusive guy so I'm not going to do it justice here but its absolutely captivating. There are some great writers here on Lush but only a few snatch your heart and take it on a journey that changes something in you. Verbal is one of them.
Weird. I could swear I read Candide but the plot as described doesn't register. So, I've put all three in my reading queue.
Okay, I now have every Shard still on Lush in my sig line (I haven't actually published it yet, as I am awaiting verification on the latest one, so if it is overwhelmingly long, I will just use my faves).
The are in rough chronological order for the first 10 or so (the v.2 Shards), after which it all goes to hell.
There are eight Shards no longer on Lush: Elevation, Fire and Ice, Buttons, Morning Light, Mindful, The Razor Thin Edge, Business Casual and Reruns. They are pretty much my faves, and I pulled them off Lush to try to get them published in online/print mags. Sold three so far: Elevation, Buttons, and The Razor Thin Edge. The other five are out, breathlessly awaiting approval or rejection, anxiously awaiting their fates. Sorta like sending your kids off to college and out into the real world. At least, I think so, I an still a few years from experiencing that.