Like a spanko moth to a perv red-rosy flame, I was drawn to this one. Okay, now that I’ve lost three quarters of the readers as result of that atrocity of a simile, I’ll continue:)

First, thank you to Corinne Alexander for proposing this month’s discussion, and thanks to Spanking Romance Reviews for hosting.

Here’s the subject for this week’s discussion:

Once upon a time in spanking romance land spankings & punishments consisted of strictly spanking; hand or implement and bottom. In the last couple of years spanking romance authors have delved a little beyond just straight spanking. It seems that now more often than not a little or a lot of anal play & punishment are added to the scenes to increase the spice factor.

Corinne was very nice to us in presenting a few questions to go along with this month’s subject, which I’ll answer in detail below.

1. Does anal punishment/play in a spanking romance get you all hot and bothered or is it a definite scene skipper for you?

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool spanko, so to me, the idea of a spanko who didn’t like anal punishment/play would be akin to being a race car driver who didn’t like to go fast.

Does. Not. Compute.

Since I’m coming at this from the Dom’s viewpoint, I’ll simply say that when we say we enjoy punishing that disobedient sub’s bottom, we sure as hell don’t mean only those pale, round buttocks of hers. We spanko/Doms are obsessed with all parts/aspects of a woman’s ass, so yeah, she ain’t gettin’ off that easy. Why am I suddenly dropping g’s? I blame lack of caffeine, or the fact that I’m an idiot. You choose.

2. What elements do you like?

Why do I always want to blurt out “What’s not to like?” Sorry, okay, right — the question.

In spanking/BDSM fiction, the sub’s body/mind/thoughts are often the “landscape” where most of the story takes place.

(I would’ve said “wonderland” in place of landscape, but any word that evokes a John Mayer song, even tangentially = “Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is FULL.”)

Where was I? Right, what do I like. So much depends on context, but in fiction I love the fact that anal play/punishment is a sort of verboten activity. I’m not sure why it is, but in the popular consciousness it’s often still something off the beaten (heh) path. Any time you have that element of the forbidden it’s usually going to amp up the heat level.

In the context of D/s — which is the natural concentration/orientation my fiction always seems to lead back to — touching and/or punishing the anus is just about the most private, invasive, intimate thing one can do to a sub. What more effective way to emphasize and confirm her status as subject to her Dom than to require her to surrender that most private part of her body to both his pleasure and discipline?

3. What elements are turn offs to you?

:::crickets:::: :::tumbleweeds:::

Okay, I can’t think of anything that turns me off about anal play/punishment, so here’s another picture, just because:

4. Do you personally add this element to your stories?

Definitely — and I’ve taken some fire in the past for doing so. In one of my stories, Maintenance Night, the hero uses anal sex as a “punishment” in that he’s using it to push his submissive wife’s boundaries — which she ultimately loves. Several people were upset or disturbed by that idea, and instead perceived it as borderline abusive. Of course, the hero wasn’t abusive — not in the least — but I could also see how someone, confronted with their boundaries (as a reader) being pushed in this way would be squicked. Different strokes for different folks, right?

I’ve learned to tread, um, carefully, on this particular ground, but it’s ground I intend to explore in most, if not all, of my books. To me, as both a reader and a writer, the spanking/punishment just is missing something, if anal play/punishment isn’t included along with all that ass smacking…

5. Feel free to add your thoughts as both a reader & a writer!

I am REALLY glad to see other authors exploring these themes. I think readers love it, and they are always looking for something new, an aspect of this crazy thing we do that they haven’t quite read about before. So, I hope — and trust — that this evolution will continue. Yes, I know that’s me being TOTALLY selfish. I’m at peace with it.

I would add one more thing before I sign off on this week’s discussion. If any of you would like to read an example of just blue giant star HOT anal play and punishment, get thee immediately over to the book listing for “Pets: Bach’s Story” by Darla Phelps. (I know we’re not supposed to do promo, so I won’t link to it here directly). This book has an extended sequence of anal play/punishment that I haven’t seen equaled anywhere. If you haven’t read that book, go now, and pick it up — you will not regret it.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll visit the other blogs participating in this week’s discussion. Until next time!