Earlier last year, I put together a publication file for a new short-story collection. It had a sequel to “As Hard As You Can”, which is in Butt Stuff, as well as a bunch of new and interesting stories, many of them about spanking. There was also a collection of flash fiction, called “Flashes of Me and You”, which I’ve talked about before on the blog. But when I started working in earnest on Holiday Heat I realized that (a) I needed to focus all of my attention on that and (b) I was going to have to write 365 stories.

Thankfully, I believe in recycling. That third collection never came to fruition, and instead I’ve started using the stories from it in Holiday Heat. I’ve also mined some of my trunk stories, some books that I never finished writing, and, yes, “Flashes of Me and You”. A lot of the flash pieces in that were pretty hardcore and edgy, so you’ll probably notice when one of them shows up in Holiday Heat, but I did back off a little bit on some of the more extreme things. I also expanded on them significantly; they’re not flash fiction anymore.

When I’m hurting for ideas, sometimes recycling is the best way to go. It gives me a place to start. It’s also helpful when I’m in a situation where I don’t feel like writing — like, for example, when I found out the hotel was sold out for Frolicon 2024. That was a very sad moment; other than 2017, and the COVID years, I haven’t missed a Frolicon since 2014. It’s my favorite BDSM convention, and I love going. But if I can’t get a hotel room at the host hotel, I can’t go, because I have way too much stuff to schlep back and forth every day down the unevenly-paved sidewalks of Atlanta.

I digress, though. I was talking about recycling story ideas. Don’t be afraid of doing this; if you’re sufficiently creative, no one will notice, and if the stories are good enough, no one will care because you’ve told them a good story. And, really, that’s what it’s all about.