Sorry, but I have been too busy of late to do much with the blog. I'm still hard at work refining the new volume or volumes (I'm still undecided) aiming to get them out by Christmas (can we still say that? No? It offends who? Oh! Those - we mustn't offend those! OK - The Mid-Winter Festival then). I am off to the Isle of Wight for a week this coming Sunday and although I'll be taking my computer I doubt I'll get much done, judging from my trip last year, so that's another week gone! The illustrator I have been working with has come up with yet another nice illustration, but I can't say much about that at the moment for fear of giving too much away of the plot (for what there is of it at the moment).

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I think that come Chris... I mean The Mid-Winter Festival... Yes, come the The Mid-Winter Festival anything not finished will have to remain that way as I am going to have to focus my energies on earning a decent crust. I am examining the idea of setting myself up in business as a personal trainer. I have a master's degree (M.Sc) in human nutrition from King's College, London and practically live in the gym (when not in the pub) and have done for more years than I care to think about. These days, for health and safety (and insurance) purposes one needs certain physical education qualifications but these can be acquired through a couple of short courses run by the YMCA among others
and in addition there is a specialised course to allow one to work with 'older people' (whatever they are - it's all relative, isn't it?) which I intend to undertake. That - along with nutritional advice and focus on improving body composition rather than on weight-loss per se - will be my USP (Unique Selling Point) in what is quite a competitive market. Basically my idea is to work with folk of around my own age or older, the advantage being that they can see what is possible and that they are not going to be asked to do anything that someone of their own vintage is not clearly capable of. In addition, having suffered most pitfalls and injuries over the years and come up against one or two age related limitations, I have an understanding of where the boundary lines exist and a good knowledge of working around those limitations. I'm sure you get the idea. So although I intend to make sure the illustrated version gets completed, any written material that doesn't make it in will just have to remain in limbo. One possibility I have been thinking about is handing over any incomplete work along with an outline sketch of the story direction I envisage to someone else to finish off - but we will just have to see how it goes for the time being.

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Now, I for one was enjoying our anonymous contributor's running tale appearing in the comments section and it seems a shame that he is now going to be posting it elsewhere (the link you can find in the comments under my last posting) especially as he is no longer posting as anon. That was the only problem I had with it - too many folk all using the moniker 'anon' - it was all getting terribly confusing. Partly it was my fault: I had intended to gather together all the separate parts of 'Anon's' Natalie reform school tale up to that point and publish them as a single post in the main section for ease of reading but never got around to it. I probably still will in some spare moment at some point. Now, as for today, I thought I'd put up a couple more scans of those old letters pages from Blushes et al that inspired me so much in the early days - these kindly supplied by an anon contributor. (I have lost the original email somehow - but thanks... and have you got any more? What a cheeky git, you're probably thinking!). Just click to enlarge and read. There are plenty more - including some I have scanned myself from my own magazine collection - scattered throughout the blog archive, try clicking on the relevant tags or use the archive search facility over on the right situated near the top of the sidebar. The pic I just came upon and just like - and it seems to fit in somehow with the sentiment.

An appeal to Sanity - Mine!

All sorts of shenanigans have been going on in the comments sections of this blog of late revolving around an ongoing serialized tale being posted by an anonymous contributor about a young girl who finds herself unjustly incarcerated in a reformatory. In-between there has been a whole plethora of comments, not all relevant in even the tiniest way to the subject matter; neither the threaded storyline nor the original posting as created by yours truly. Then another ‘anon’ contributor decides to continue a much earlier thread right in the middle of it all.

A continuing piece, posted right in the centre of another continuing serialized piece in itself should not be a problem – intermittent and sporadic posts are part and parceled of comments as a concept. Where the confusion arises is in this habit of so many using the nomenclature of ‘anonymous’ – the casual reader can be forgiven for having little idea of who’s ‘voice’ he is hearing under such circumstances.

Now: Orage has recently posted a comment indicating that he would like to read the continuing story of Natalie's tribulations (a nice piece sent in by an anonymous contributor, not myself) “without other characters surreptitiously edging their way in”. Madmonkey, commenting on the same subject asks: “… is this story about Natalie going to be continued in the comments section in a similar manner as to which the story about Judith has been continued?” Meanwhile the anonymous author of said tale (Natalie's tale not Judith’s tale – see how confusing it can all become) himself bemoans that he can no longer add additional material pertaining to his story, vis-a-vie the next chapter, to the comments section of my last posting which currently hosts an incredible 26 comments.

The latter problem is probably due to some sort of limit set by Blogger on the number of comments attached to any one posting, but that is only a guess. All the rest can and will be dealt with, as I have said before, by my collating all the sections of the Natalie / reform school tale into one or more sections and presenting them as main posting subjects and then deleting the fragmented parts from the comments, especially the multiply-duplicated fragments. To this end I have requested the author of this thread to cease posting as comments, as the more fragments that build up the harder it will become for me to sort out. Actually, what would be useful would be if the anon author would kindly send all the parts of his work to me as email attachments as this would save me a significant amount of time and effort in collating and sorting out all the various scattered fragments. One idea I have had, since the work seems to be blossoming into a near novel-length tale, is for me to create a dedicated folder / album for it attached to the blog.

The problem I have at present with all this is that right at this minute I am pretty much buried up to my neck with completing my own latest work while still deciding whether to re-organize and publish as one or two books. Thus if you do have any very long contributions to make and that you would like others to read through without interruption then please send direct to me via email.

A Tale to Come - Even if not one of Mine

A correspondent – Madmonkey - recently made the following comment referring to a story posted as a series of comments attached to my last post: “How about a description of the uniform itself? Perhaps also a bit about how the uniform she now wears compares to what she normally wears. Details make the story seem so much more real to the reader.“ To which I would add: my Sentiments exactly, old chap. That was one aspect that so often I found disappointingly lacking in the literature I used to buy through the 1980s and 90s and subsequently encountered 'on-line'. The absence detailed descriptions of suitably humiliating uniforms in spanking literature was one of several related frustrating and unsatisfying points that finally drove me to begin to writing my own stuff. Other sadly missing aspects included a lack of originality and imagination in the depiction of said uniforms - where some detail was discussed – a marked lack of imagination applied to the matter of punishment, with a near total neglect of psychological aspects and other subtle coercive methods, little thought given to the development of some sort of at least semi-plausible scenario (and even a casual perusal of near-history supplies plenty) and a tendency to escalating repetition when it came to an author's 'pet thing'. These are all aspects that I set out to correct in my own writing (to what extent I have so far succeeded I leave up to the reader to decide). Suffice it to say that there are quite detailed accounts of the design of the uniforms as worn both by those in authority and those in their charge within the pages of the first two volumes of the INSTITUTIONALISED series – there are even more detailed descriptions – both institutional and from the possibilities that open up within the domestic-discipline arena with a little imagination - peppering the pages of the upcoming volume. At the same time, in my writing I try to remain cognisant of the final point I made above – the danger of the accusation of repetitiveness, thus the comment I made in an earlier posting in these pages.

The story to which Mr Madmonkey was referring has been developing in installments – as I have said – as a series of comments, and so might be missed by some (I know that I don't always read the comments posted when visiting a blog). For that reason - and for improved clarity - I shall shortly be reposting the anonymous contributors work here, in one or two chunks depending on length, for all to see and appreciate.

While on the subject of repletion; in order to keep the comments section manageable, having gathered together all of the work of Mr Anonymous posted thus far and amalgamated it as a single post (or two) here in the main section I intend to then delete the duplicated sections that were apparently created due to some sort of communications error in the comments section.

I personally would love to read more of this chap's stuff and I think that if there is a fair amount more to come – and I for one hope there is – it might be easier if the writer could kindly send the sections direct to me via email. I'm easy to contact – and always up for a chat! My email is: toyntanen@googlemail.com

Cheers, folks!

Punishment Dress: More Inspiration Taken from Blushes Reader’s Letters Pages

Hi folks! I'm a little pushed for the time at the moment as I'm struggling to get the new work out there and finished by Christmas and it may well end up published as two distinct volumes, with all the extra work that will entail (three, if one counts the planned illustrated version of one of the books). The rational behind spliting the tale into two distinct books is twofold: One: the total number of pages if presented in one book as it is at the moment would be colossal. Two: the storyline follows two distinct characters, both of whom you have met before, along two very distinct and very separate pathways. These paths only overlap to any extent to a very small degree.

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On the other hand it may be possible to pare away certain areas where the commonality between the two timelines threatens to introduce too much repetitiveness. After all there is a limit to how many times even the most ardent uniform discipline aficionado, for example, would want to read a detailed description of an ultra strict, ultra restrictive, school uniform imposed on a petulant teenager (or is there? you tell me!).

The reason I would like to finish by Christmas is because - to put it bluntly - money is getting a little short this end; I get very little return financially from book sales and the amount that I've taken from my savings this year to support myself has already exceeded that which I had scheduled and is already threatening to eat into the funds that I had earmarked for next year for various projects. In short I shall need to set aside a little time to seek some form of supplementary income: vis-à-vis a job! You can get an idea of how serious the situation has become by the fact that I plan to forego my usual visits to the pub throughout the month of October and to limit my enjoyment to only two or three visits, at the very most, in the month of November (timed to catch the end of the Wetherspoon's beer festival with any luck).

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As a change of subject: The above chatter over the imposition of strict, restrictive uniforms on recalcitrant young ladies brings to mind the notion that in the domestic or private institution scenario the dividing line between such dress discipline and what might be described as punishment dress can easily become blurred - a thought that came to mind when reading through a couple of the scanned reader's letters pages taken from that marvelous publication of the 1980s and early 90s: 'Blushes' in preperation for today's post. So without further ado here's a couple more of the pages sent in courtesy of our kind contributor 'Alan' (I just had to cut out and zoom in on that natty little drawing!). Needless to add that to read, just click on each page to enlarge. See Y'all!

Blushes Reader's Letters Pages Inspiration

I've just been lucky enough to have received via email a whole series of scans taken from the reader's letters pages of that grand old institution, the Blushes, Whispers and New Uniform Girls magazine stable (many thanks Allen). Longer-standing readers of this blog will remember the letters pages scans I published taken from my own collection that I used to illustrate the type of thing that went to inspire my writing. As the contributor himself says: “Breast punishment and leering old men, you can't beat it, and this letter is also illustrated with a rather pretty girl”. Indeed, old chap! Indeed! I have to say I've had great fun reading through all these great old letters pages.

Most I have had in my collection at one time, but long, long ago, before I sold a few off and then gave away many of the rest. Why? Who knows? That was all long before I had ever thought about writing my own stuff of course, although the memory of the imagery conjured in my imagination when originally I'd leafed through those pages is still fresh enough in my mind to have informed some of the events presented in my publications - including the unfinished new one.

One other area that would crop up from time to time within those same pages and could always be counted on to generate a fascinating and imaginative discourse was that of institutional 'admission procedures', especially those dealing with the importance of the psychological implications behind the ritualistic nature and design of those procedures. Those letters that I could still locate in the remnants of my collection I have already scanned and shared with the readership of this blog - tagged with the term, 'inspirations' or something similar I believe, just in case any of you want to look them up in the blog archive. While I'm at it, I'd just like to point out that for your delectation and delight I have today added a link to a diapered girls blog – check out the blog listing in the sidebar on the right.

An Apology from the Central Department of Dodgy Links

What can I say? Flushed with the excitement of the moment - and a little too much ale - I neglected to put in the link from the illustration at the top right of my last posting to the artist's site. Suffice it to say that I have now remedied the problem and a click on the aforementioned pic will whizz you straight to his site. As a little compensation, here is an intriguing little number from that great doyen of spanking art, Paula Meadows (Lynne Paula Russel - a link to her site can be found over in the right hand sidebar, listed under 'Useful Resources'). The question is whether or not the young lady's outfit qualifies as a form of specialized punishment dress and thus part and parcel of her discipline. Is it intended to facilitate / augment corporal punishment or humiliate or is it just part of some rather edgy in-vogue fashion and worn by choice. If the latter, then the question becomes; should it be allowed or should the caning be closely followed by her being handed her new school uniform? By the way; for any who might be interested, despite the time of year it is sunny and bright here in London and I'm sitting out working in the garden - I wonder how long this will last? I am going to award myself one more day out in the pub next week, the proviso being that in that day I get the final outstanding part of the new book finished - the section wherein one luckless young thing receives a visit in the institution in which she has become incarcerated from her guardian and that formidable hellion woman's tame lawyer: there are some papers to be signed and the ever-present threat of the cane is there overshadowing events... Yum!

Art, Liberty Bodices, Discipline and Crashes

Hi peoples, init. I know, I know, yet another week gap. But I have been hard at it in the background, bashing away at the new book. There is so much written, one year in, that that I am considering rearranging the work into two distinct volumes – for clarity of storytelling rather than for any financial advantage; I get very little out of this financially anyway. Almost everything is now written to some degree or other, except for a couple of short scenes and one major scene that will likely take me a day. I could of course simplify by leaving out some of the descriptive scene-setting stuff. But as I have said before: the whole aim, when I first set out down this path, was to try and create some form of spanking literature - incorporating discipline / submission, humiliation, petty rules, restrictions and uniforms and multiple other disparate fetishes, as long as they could be fitted within the framework sensibly – having proper scene-setting, character development, dialog and all the rest, set out within some plausible premise, just as one would expect to find within any other genre one might come across on the high-street bookshelves. Wow! What a long sentence! Better wait to get your breath back.

In the interim I came upon a site run by an illustrator with some rather out of the ordinary imagery for the genre. I particularly liked the artist’s rendition of what appears to be a good old-fashioned liberty bodice on the girl in the first drawing (above) - very imaginative if set in the modern period… and a garment you will encounter a character being put in within the new book, as luck would have it. Little details such as the puff-sleeved blouses worn by the girls in the second illustration all add to the atmosphere of restriction and discipline, while the third is just perfect for all those that like the idea of drill impositions (bottom). The artist sells his work commercially - and I don’t ordinarily promote commercial sites outside of the couple that I am an affiliate of - but I urge you too check out his stuff. You can find his work on www.spankingcharm.wordpress.com (click the pic at top left or check out the blog listing in the right hand sidebar).

One other thing that has held me back was that on Monday – a day I had planed to set aside a little time to update the blog, I suffered a major computer crash that resulted in my having to reload Windows from scratch - with all that goes with that!!!! Luckily the book stuff is spread in duplicate between two computers and occasionally backed up on to CD. Also luckily I had backed up a lot of other stuff on to an independent drive on the same computer back in July – but I lost anything I had downloaded to my various illustration and inspirational collections throughout August. The worst hit potentially was the voice recognition software I use, as one has to train it to one’s voice – not too bad, as it only takes around 15 – 20 minutes – and it learns through experience and correction, improving in accuracy as one uses it. This latter aspect at first seemed disastrous, as I had been using it practically none-stop for two years and it had gone from being quite unreliable to being pretty good at interpreting my voice over that time… Then I discovered that I had backed-up its ‘user files’ a few months back and so was able to reinstate its vocabulary to a point when it had already become quite competent. In short I lost around a day and a half in total but am now up and running again – touch wood!!!