10 Things You Didn't Know About D.H. Lawrence

If you hear the name D.H. Lawrence, you probably think of Sons and Lovers, Lady Chatterley's Lover, and censorship. Here are 10 other facts about him you might not know.

• He was arrested in Germany and accused of being a British spy.
• He allowed his mentor Edward Garnett to cut about a hundred pages from Sons and Lovers before it was published.
• The first manuscript of Women in Love was rejected by every publisher who saw it. Only after a major revision and much time would it be accepted. 

• When times were tough, he wrote a schools' history book for money. 
• The final version of Lady Chatterley's Lover was written in just five weeks and was considered the last great creative burst of energy in his life. 
• He distrusted any place where he had been seriously ill.
• His wife left her previous husband and three young children to be with Lawrence. 

• He died in 1930 at the age of 44.
• Fame came after his death. In the 60's he was regarded as a great literary writer, though his reputation declined in the 90's and he was branded a sexist and a fascist. 
• As a child he was frail and bullied in the mining town of Eastwood, near Nottingham.

For more on D.H. Lawrence, visit the University of Nottingham's page here or his Wikipedia page here.

The Argument for Erotica

I think that if a person wants to read a story that has sex in it, they should be permitted to do so. (I'm not going to weigh in on the porn industry because I don't work in film, I work in words). But there are those who have suggested that this is bad, implies a flaw of character or lack of moral integrity. I'm completely at a loss when confronted with this mentality.

Sex is a healthy normal part of being human. So are fantasy and imagination. I'm an adult writing for other adults. My job does not expose me to diseases or drugs. I do not force my work on other people and if they seek it out and don't like it, they are free to post an unfavorable review with an expression of their opinion.

So what's the big deal?

It's been suggested in the argument against porn, that porn creates an unrealistic and unattainable image of what sex really is or should be (again, just stating how some feel, not offering my own opinion). This thinking has been transferred to erotica, with the implication that reading erotic stories creates in women the same false image. If that's true, why stop there? Let's ban all romance writing and certainly in film we must do away with romantic comedies. We don't want people pining for the storybook ending that will never happen. We might as well take away anything that glorifies anything. The underdog team that wins the championship, the lone crusader for justice who defeats the bad guys.

This thinking becomes so muddled and illogical that I get to a point where I can't even take the naysayers seriously. I might be able to understand an argument against words on a page if those words promote hatred or bigotry. But when it comes to erotica, the goal is pleasure. A healthy and happy person can also be a sexual and imaginative one. There's nothing wrong with that.

Don't take away Grandma's erotica, it helps her sleep. 

Selena Kitt on the Pornocalypse

I've long been a fan of Selena Kitt. I've enjoyed some of her erotica, but also her voice on the industry in general. She went up an added notch in my book for her recent blog post on erotica and the treatment of erotica writers. Specifically, how writers of erotic fiction are often kicked to the curb by Amazon, despite the fact that their work might make Amazon a chunk of change.

Read her full article here: Survival Tips for the Pornocalypse

Kudos to Ms. Kitt. Long may she write.