A shout out to your Lit influences and mentors.

[lovecraft68]

Yesterday's thread from X-Hearts about who we wish were still active here made me think of people along the way here who influenced me not just through their work, but kind and generous enough with their time to help out a new, raw, completely inexperienced newbie. Made me think-and maybe this has been done at some point over time, but I feel some topics are worth coming back around as we get newer folks coming through here and gives them a chance to share.

This thread is dedicated to the authors here who influenced you through their work alone or you reached out-or them to you-and became a mentor to you in writing, encouragement, inspiration, and friendship. A shout out to the "Big brothers/Big Sisters" of Lit who helped shape the writer you are now.

As I've been here some time, I have several I want to call out.

PacoFear. Stolen Kisses was the first taboo story I read here and one of the best sibling stories of all time. He also penned the famous Words on Skin which is synonymous with "The story to rule them all" in the genre, but WOS was my personal favorite. I knew taboo was allowed here, but wondered what kind? Was it just the mindless stroke you read about in those nasty "anon" paperbacks, the goofy porn, or some substance, which is what I wanted to deliver. His was the latter and I sent him a message through feedback and was surprised he not only responded, but offered to help me with my first couple of stories here. He politely stopped when my story grew far too dark for his tastes, but what he'd helped me with was more than enough to teach me a few things and get my footing.

Jamesbjohnson-Branded one of the AH's infamous trolls back in the day because he had the drill sergeant mentality of "You fucking suck, get better" and was also not the most politically correct which made him unpopular with the preachy sorts here, but the guy knew writing and if he thought you had potential would reach out and offer to help. His advice was laced with snark and insults, but that's always worked for me and I learned a lot from him. For whatever reason he used to call me "Elsie" and down the line I received an e-mail from him. "Hey, Elsie, I bought your book, good to see you paid attention, now take a bow, its solid work."

TX Rad-The old goat as I always called him saw me as the red headed step child he loved but still wanted to beat the crap out of on occasion-his quote-we would bicker at times, but always with respect. He helped me out in a big way with advice on getting my more serious work published, even gave me a couple of contacts to reach out to. Pre Mod this forum had some nasty times and flame wars and we always had each other's backs especially during the Cabin Cabal where some serious personal attacks were levied against anyone they didn't care for. One of the last PM's he sent to me referenced that time and with a bunch of smiling emojis he said "But we're still here, and they're not, right?"

Now he's not here anymore and that one hit me hard. He was like my Lit big brother.

But overall, the person who most inspired and helped me was Alwayswantedto


Acknowledged by many as the best author of mother/son stories here or anywhere, he was close to being the number one faved author here my first few years here until he pulled his stories. He reached out to me when he did and said I owed him for me getting to slip one spot higher in his absence. Sadly, he'd pulled his work because he had a terminal diagnosis and no one in his family knew what he wrote and he wanted it kept that way.

He was a huge influence and help to me. He reached out to me about one of my early Mom/son stories which was a bit of a depressing train wreck and gushed over it and led to us having many discussions about writing in general, but especially the M/S genre. I found out that in a contest he read a mature romance I'd written and posted on his home page, and his own entry that folks should go read it. I've noticed that many here tend to be a bit selfish, self absorbed, and protective of their own work, which I see as being natural to some degree, but AWT was far from that. Genuinely happy to see others succeeding and willing to be part of it.

AWT was probably my biggest influence as far who's style spoke to me. He proved that I/T wasn't this stroke filled 'easy' category so many detractors claim it is, but could feature stories more plausible than one would think, but mostly full of depth, conflict and turmoil over forbidden desires. It was the category done right in my mind.

Two of the biggest compliments I've ever received here was one person commenting one of my earlier stories had "Shades of Alwayswantedto" to it. The other was from another taboo author who also had a good relationship with AWT who remarked on one of my stories that placed in a contest at a time where I/T had been in a contest placing drought that "The baton has been passed, our friend would be proud."

I don't know about that, but I've always felt that part of being a good mentor is instilling the desire in you to make them proud by improving and raising your game in an attempt at the old cliche, when the student becomes the master.

Not that I think there's any real 'masters' here in that sense. There's always something new to learn, something you see here that makes you think "Oh, wow, didn't think of that." and remind you that maybe you've established yourself here, but there's always room to grow.

The other point of this I want to make before I stop rambling, is a big part of this topic is after these folks have helped you, is about paying it forward. Reaching out to a newbie with some advice, or if they reach out to you, taking some time to help them out. In anything there is always a changing of the guard, people come and go, and it's important for the 'next wave' to be willing to pass on what they've learned.

All my mentors are gone, most not just from here, but life and its more than a little depressing in that sense, but that's life and nothing we can do about it. But what I-and we-can do is do for others what they did for us.

 

[THBGato]

Good thread.

Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again, but BrokenSpokes's stories were a massive reason why I decided to start writing and publishing here. Then she was kind enough to agree to edit my first story, which was hugely helpful and a great learning experience. She continues to be a huge inspiration; the way my stories fit together apes the way hers do.

I also was lucky to receive advice, encouragement and support early on last year from other giants of the genre like BiCathy, Ripley and NellyMcBoatface. Exchanging emails with them really meant a lot and really made me motivated to keep writing.

Though my biggest mentor as a writer isn't on Lit. It's my wife. A former journalist, A Level language/lit teacher, and published novelist, she's leagues above me in skill and style, but has always supported me and helped edit many of my pieces. Shout outs to supportive SOs everywhere.

 

[iwatchus]

I read stories on here for a very long time (and on a usenet group before this site existed) before I finally started writing earlier this year. My actual influences have been mostly lost to the mists of time for the most part. Thinking about it, I suspect the stories of @HStoner had a big influence on my original series. Looking for his name, I just realized I do not even follow him (now corrected).

The closest to a mentor I have had here is @TheRedLantern . She gave me significant feedback on my upcoming Crime and Punishment story The Great Cupcake Caper (which some of you saw when I had a problem with premature publication -- thank you Laurel for taking care of my problem).

The feedback @TheRedLantern gave me improved the story undoubtedly. But it also was the first time I really understood how to take a step back and look at my own writing. Time will tell how well I can use that lesson, but I truly appreciate it. I cannot believe she doesn't think she is a good enough writer to write what she wants. I suspect she will see this, so let me tell her "You can write wonderful things, just don't cripple your character with a cheesy starting point like being the anchor on a collegiate blow job team."

It's not so much writing support, although both have offered that, but I feel like I should thank @Actingup and especially @NuclearFairy for their support at times when I have needed it.

 

[Erozetta]

Snowbear edited my first story here. He pointed out errors and weak points in my story but had no stories posted here himself. I will be eternally grateful to him for responding to my request and working back and forth with me on it. He offered to edit more for me, but I got nervous asking. I felt like I'd already taken more of his time than I should've.

Highlight of my working with him was this response from him after sending him my first story: OMG! You are a really good writer that story is both super hot and pretty classically ‘Hallmark'. In the middle I was just really horny, by the end I was crying (dammit!). You are going to be a big success on Literotica.

@Privates1stClass edited at least one story for me as well. I can't find our email chain to confirm, though. I feel like we had some back and forth conversations on writing and life and it's bugging me that I can't find them, so I'm wondering if it was through PMs here instead of email. Either way, I recall his help coming at a time when I was really uncomfortable asking anyone for help but felt completely overwhelmed with the process. He helped ease me back into posting stories.

@PtmcPilot and I had a lot of back and forth on a few stories. I will be eternally grateful for his input as he strengthened quite a few of my stories and brought up questions I hadn't even considered. We also had quite a few conversations about life and such.

@JuanaSalsa offered me a hand when I got pummeled after posting my first cheating story. (It apparently doesn't matter if the husband is an abusive piece of shit.) she and I developed a friendship and she is one of the few who knows my real name, what I look like, and my phone number. We talked writing and life quite regularly and she was wonderful for bouncing ideas around with.

@Altissimus definitely my biggest influence. For better or worse he keeps pushing me to put in the effort to do better instead of half-assing it. He also murders more of my run on sentences and comma splices then anyone else. And he is never afraid to tell me when something simply doesn't work. More than once I've scrapped a story at his recommendation, but took the core and redid it into a much better story. I easily consider him my friend and mentor. He knows my real name and where I live and work.

@NecessaryDeviance is in a similar boat to Alt. He pushes me, points out inconsistencies, and urges me to keep learning as a writer. We talk often and in detail about life and writing. He pretty much knows everything about me, including what I look like, lol.

@lovecraft68 is one of the first people who reached out to me and talked writing with me. If he hadn't, I probably wouldn't have stayed very long because I was not skilled or knowledgeable enough to fit in with the elites. (And I'm still not, but now I don't really care.) He also made me feel like a love of horror and erotica wasn't all that odd.

@AwkwardMD and @Omenainen both had some early influence on me in their review thread. I submitted a piece to them and they gave me a fair and critical review. They clearly didn't love the story, but the things they pointed out gave me a little bit of a confidence boost because the key things they thought were missing were things I took out on suggestion of editing. And my editor wasn't wrong that they didn't need to be there. But I do think better balance of my writing instinct and listening to my editor came about from their critique. I trust myself to say no to an editor now, but mostly, I feel like there's usually a middle ground between what I originally wrote and what the editor suggested, and that, in my experience, is the sweet spot of clarifying my writing is. I am extremely grateful to them for their honesty with my work as it led me to become a stronger writer.

@WhiteTailDarkTip made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I had an intro to a story I didn't know where to go with, but I absolutely loved the characters. He took my intro and transformed it into a beautiful love story that kept my pet zoo intact and added a nefarious necromancer, witches, and a goddess. He helped me get out of a rut, much like Altissimus did.

There was only one person who had a negative effect as far as initial mentoring goes. When I first got here, someone who was very active on the forum reached out and offered to edit for me. I was thankful and sent them a story I'd been struggling to finalize. They initially told me it was a good start but could be better if I did a few things different. He had me write a few new opening paragraphs, which I did, and he was very kind as he pointed out things in the different options I wrote that made them strong or weak lines. I was very appreciative. I was not, however, so appreciative that I would roleplay with him. At that point my writing became unsalvageable trash and he'd wasted his time on me. I ended up posting the story I sent him a little while later largely unchanged except for grammar corrections and it was sitting around a 4.8 with many comment and favorites when I deleted my account. So it apparently wasn't completely unsalvageable trash. But that interaction put me off asking for help for a while, so still had an influence on me and my writing. I had about a year where I didn't post anything. That was why, I just didn't tell anyone that was why.

This isn't a complete list. Just the ones off the top of my sleep deprived brain. (Including a nap last night at work I've slept like five hours since Thursday around 8 pm.)

 

[Omenainen]

I don’t think I’ve had a mentor in this sense. When I first started posting here, I wanted to participate in the community and so I did beta reading for others and they for me, but I soon discovered I’m not actually open to suggestions once I’ve written what I’ve written (I mean as far as the story goes - my English certainly could benefit from listening to others more, back then and still today). So I stopped asking. I figured if I’m not going to listen then it’s a waste of people’s time to read mine and suggest improvements. I’m kind of pigheaded that way. Or to put it more nicely, I choose to follow my muse over what someone says would make my story better 10/10 times.

That being said, I think @AwkwardMD ’s stories have influenced me more than anything else, and I’ve learned a lot from doing reviews with her. We’ve also collaborated and that has been hugely influential for me. I think about those as more a mutual thing than mentoring though, even when I think her writing is better than mine. Writing is not really competitive in my mind, we each do what we do, so I don’t think it matters who’s better.

 

[Statius]

Britva450 for giving much in the way of practical advice on writers block and what questions to ask oneself to debloat a story ( the advice goes much deeper than that), in my thread 'Just Venting'. I keep revisiting that thread to read their comments, so thank you for that, along with everyone else who commented there as well.

NuclearFairy for her generous support and comments on my stories as they are, I am deeply grateful.

But a special shout out, and the deepest respect and the most sincere gratitude goes to HannahBaird. Their generosity is beyond compare. The willingness to read drafts of works that are not yet published, the gentle criticisms and most of all the encouragement to keep trying when I wanted to quit. We do not write or read the same type of material ( Hannah you are a master of what you do!). The kindness shown is beyond compare here from my experience. Because of Hannah's influence there will be a clear break from my former works and what is to come. It will be due to Hannah. Hopefully I do not disappoint. Thank you HannahBaird for taking the time from your schedule to listen, read, and encourage a 2nd/ 3rd rate writer. You're a gem!

 

[TheRedLantern]

Without a doubt, @ChloeTzang has been a big influence on my writing. I was super nervous to post my first story, and I saw that she had some similar themes in several of her stories, so I nervously approached her to get her take on the type of stuff I was thinking of posting. Luckily for me, she had some time and was willing to chat.

Over the last four months, she's given me a ton of direct, pointed advice, a lot of suggestions that helped steer me in the right direction, and several servings of moral support & encouragement especially early on when I was more nervous and skittish than I am now (I still am, but a tiny bit less so). She's given me insights into her process, which has led me to ask questions of my own process ... why do I approach X this way? what if I tried doing Y more like Chloe does?

There have been a TON of tough lessons that she short circuited. For the last month I was struggling to write a short story ... I had written and rewritten it at least 9 times. I think the total word count was around 45K to 50K words between all the drafts. Then she published a short story last weekend, and it was totally clear to me what I was doing wrong in a way that couldn't have been explained to me through logic, reason, and rhetoric.

We've had a lot of great conversations that have really helped build my confidence and sharpen my skills.

Thank you, @ChloeTzang !

 

[lovecraft68]

@lovecraft68 is one of the first people who reached out to me and talked writing with me. If he hadn't, I probably wouldn't have stayed very long because I was not skilled or knowledgeable enough to fit in with the elites. (And I'm still not, but now I don't really care.) He also made me feel like a love of horror and erotica wasn't all that odd.

I saw the chance to not be the only horror obsessed porn writing whack job here.

I mean, um, I really like your writing.

Same thing actually.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Hmmmmmm. I have to say I have had a ton of help and advice along the way from people here and some that are no longer with us - TxRad, KeithD, Ogg, HP, NoirTrash (Jamesbjohnson), Lovecraft, Zeb Carter, NotWise, ElectricBlue, Cyrano, SimonDoom, Voboy, Beachbum1958 and Lori, holliday1960, Kethandra, Randi, TarnishedPenny, JasonClearwater, and probably a few I've missed.

And of late, @TheRedLantern has been a real help to me in a couple of stories I'm working on.

That said, the biggest Lit influences on me were
(1) Selena Kitt - it was a couple of her books that influenced a lot of my early writing, and a couple of emails backwards and forwards that really motivated me and inspired me back when I first started writing here
and
(2) not really any writers in particular, but just discovering there was a whole sub-genre of WMAF writers and I wasn't alone in writing WMAF stories - THAT made a huge difference to me - and stories like "White Heat" by @little_miss_behaving, "Aussie Couple and Me in Aitutaki" by @WildcatAdventure, "Social Studies" by @Ling00, and a few others all boosted my confidence.

But overall, I'd have to say Selena Kitt, who was still around in the AH now and then when I first started.

 

[lovecraft68]

Hmmmmmm. I have to say I have had a ton of help and advice along the way from people here and some that are no longer with us - TxRad, KeithD, Ogg, HP, NoirTrash (Jamesbjohnson), Lovecraft, Zeb Carter, NotWise, ElectricBlue, Cyrano, SimonDoom, Voboy, Beachbum1958 and Lori, holliday1960, Kethandra, Randi, TarnishedPenny, JasonClearwater, and probably a few I've missed.

And of late, @TheRedLantern has been a real help to me in a couple of stories I'm working on.

That said, the biggest Lit influences on me were
(1) Selena Kitt - it was a couple of her books that influenced a lot of my early writing, and a couple of emails backwards and forwards that really motivated me and inspired me back when I first started writing here
and
(2) not really any writers in particular, but just discovering there was a whole sub-genre of WMAF writers and I wasn't alone in writing WMAF stories - THAT made a huge difference to me - and stories like "White Heat" by @little_miss_behaving, "Aussie Couple and Me in Aitutaki" by @WildcatAdventure, "Social Studies" by @Ling00, and a few others all boosted my confidence.

But overall, I'd have to say Selena Kitt, who was still around in the AH now and then when I first started.

Good list.

Jason Clearwater was a big help to me beta reading the only GM scenes I wrote for one of my EH novels.

Selena Kitt is of course a true Lit Legend who became an erotica selling and publishing legend and now her babysitter series has been made into a series of Porn vids.

When Amazon pulled their massive witch hunt in 2014 and were letting people republish their titles by 'their rules' but in true fashion weren't letting you know exactly what those were, she managed to get actual details and was nice enough to share them with me.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I can't say I had mentors, but I can name Tantala as one of the writing influences when it comes to lesbian d/s stories. For fantasy stories, all of my influences come from mainstream.
I don't think that any of the authors I enjoyed reading are still active...

 

[Areala-chan]

@lovecraft68, @KeithD (from his sr71 account), @Sammael Bard, and probably countless others over the years whose names escape me. It's been more than twenty years here with large swaths of not-here time between, so alas my memory isn't what it used to be.

But every story I read teaches me something.

 

[dirk2024]

For me, my first mentor back in May/June was @filthytrancendence . He reviewed my work and provided pointed, constructive criticisms that my very rough edges needed to hear. He was also supportive of the few positive aspects of my writing.

More recently, both @Erozetta and @StillStunned have steered me left and right, either in DM or on the public posts here. I have received a lot of help here in the AH from many folks which I appreciate. Some of that was in direct replies to my posts or me reading their replies to others.

I've read a lot here, so it's tough to remember who all to call out, but recently, authors like @Erozetta , @StillStunned and @lovecraft68 come to mind in recent stories I have read in the last week.

There are a few authors who have series that I greatly enjoy including @BreakTheBar (AMA The Boyfriend, the OF Girl, Font of Fertility, Quaranteam Northwest), and @RoyalAuthor (A Model Romance & now A Model Engagement).