New Book Cover - Thoughts and Opinions Please

Hi folks!  I've just updated the new book cover design.  Not sure how well it works as it is so your opinions, thoughts and ideas are most welcome.  

As you can see, it features several elements from Roger Benson's artwork which he kindly gave me permission to use, ie the girl, stool and camera as well as a ransom note that was made in the traditional way with letters cut out of newspapers and magazines which I then scanned in to the computer and distorted to make look crumpled by being held in a hand.  

The cane is one of my creations.  Anyway, see what you think.

By the way, I am trying to contact 'Chris' who wrote a piece for this blog back in january about another piece he has written and I have been working on editing.  I have tried a couple of times to contact him by email, but to no avail.  So if 'Chris' is reading this, please email me.  Ta!

A Spanking Good Pint and a Milestone - My 3ooth Follower on Tumblr!

Yeah!  Your favourite scribe has just passed the 300 follower mark on Tumblr (actually that particular milestone I passed last week - but I was too modest to say).   So (I so hate folk who start off their sentences with 'so' - it is something becoming ever more prevalent here in the UK, even on the BBC - ESPECIALY on the BBC!)...  Sorry!  Where was I?  Ah, yes!  So, does imbibing real ale and spanking mix?  Well, certainly one should not spank when inebriated, just as one should never punish when angry...  But someone seems to think so (left), seen on a bar in a wetherspoons pub (The Rochester Castle, Stoke Newington, North London N16 - I think) during that company's last UK-wide beer festival back in October last. 

 

The 'implement' is actually a handy device designed to aid in carrying three one third of a pint glasses in one hand and nothing at all to do with corporal punishment, unless of course one has tasked one's prettier 'other half' (prettier than me? Ha!) to fetch and carry the afternoon's refreshment and she's...and  she's.... and  she's (I can't quite bring myself to say it!)... and she's SPILLED some of the precious nectar!!!!  Oh my God - I've just come over all cold! 

 

It is kind of interesting that someone behind that bar (presumably) recognized the passing resemblance the thing has to a well known variation on the so-called 'paddle', innit? (as they say around here). 

Anyway; as you'll know, I'm pretty much broke and doing my best to keep going until I can get my next book out (not that the proceeds from THAT will make much difference) thanks to my bank misinforming me as to how much I am worth - and me going mental and blowing a load on 'essentials' such as booze and sun (in my own defence, I WAS deeply depressed and heading off down self-destruction ally - again!), but a friend had stood me to a day of drinkies.  Well that same friend is standing me to another day of drinkies today, and there's another one of those beer festivals on - the Wetherspoons spring festival.  Can you believe this lavish interior is actually the inside of a British pub?  Well it is - The Hamilton Hall, at Liverpool Street station, London; it looks more like the Hermitage or something, paintings, ornate plaster mouldings, chandeliers, the works!  What an amazing place!  And I'm full of amazing ideas at the moment too, so I'm waiting for my mate to go so as to get on with a little writing (hope he leaves me with a bit of cash to buy a few more beers with!!). 

 

For what it's worth I've just changed the working title to THE SHAM CONJECTURE and my poor unfortunate hapless heroine has just had a damn good caning and has been fed a few squares of chocolate.

 

What is so bad about THAT?  I  hear you ask.  Well, you see, it all depends on your viewpoint, whether she actually LIKES chocolate and how hungry she is!. 

 

Presently she is having her waist length hair (spoiler alert - so now you know she hasn't had her head shaved) combed... With a nit comb.   

 

Hmmm, interesting possibilities! 

 

SHAM of course, in this usage (as well as obliquely referring to a plot device - of which more another time; if you're lucky) is an acronym developed from the initial letters of  Subjugation, Husbandry And Management (of wayward young women). 

 

Oh...  Just before you go.  Did I mention that comb is none too clean?  No?  Well it seems it's been through a few other heads first and not too well disinfected afterwards either - oh well!  And there is a shower cap involved - I can tell you that much. 

 

Now; on a different tack; I wonder if any of you ladies out there (and I KNOW there are some) can imagine horse hair knickers or perhaps polythene knickers with a woven horse hair lining worn under a coarse hessian prison dress?  Just an idea!           

 

It’s All in the Eyes – It’s All in the Mind!

Yep I know British visitors (and probably others nowadays, now that TV programs get shipped around so much) will know immediately where this is from, that it is entirely innocuous and nothing at all to do with my little world.  But hey!  Don’t say anything and ruin the illusion.  

 Besides, there is nothing to say that particular uniform dress wouldn’t suit other roles – you just have to apply a little imagination.   

In fact a shop that was once situated in the Edgware Road, London (Near Marble Arch) used to sell a similar style aimed at privately employed nursery nurses and children’s nannies right up to the late 1980s.

Look up ‘GAROULDS OF LONDON’ (click) in the women’s workwear collection section of THE ORIGINAL INSTITUTE if you get the chance.  It is in the BEYOND THE BARRED WINDOW area or copy and paste the link below into your browser.


   http://www.theoriginalinstitute.com/toyntanen/garroulds-of-london-1960s---80s-overalls-and-uniforms.html

Not that there’ is much really going on in this particular picture either – to me it’s all in the facial expression (bolstered by the uniform to some degree – but not as much as you might think).  Sometimes you can come across a perfectly innocuous scene like this and read all sorts into it.  As an image, though, it would work well if illustrating some part of one of my later books, such as ALICE UNDER DISCIPLINE (either book one OR two - Garth Toyntanen, LULU Books) and it would work wonderfuly well along side the piece by 'Chris' I am currently edditing / embelishing in between working on my own new book.

Talking of reading.  For the first time in years I actually purchased something in my own genre (apparently) recently, off of Amazon.  I’d read the first part as a free sample and got all steamed up about it – it spawned a multitude of fantasises and putative story arcs in my head.  But I should have left it like that – all hanging questions, what ifs and ‘maybes’.  As it was I took the next step…  And was disappointed.  It only cost me £2.59 (inc VAT) so even I, in my fairly dire strait, am not actually weeping other the cost – and to be honest it was not THAT bad all things considered – it was just that it quickly ran out of steam ideas-wise, didn’t go where I’d hoped it would go and… Oh no – the heroine not only quickly grew to like her situation, She Came Out On Top (in a way, to a limited extent).  A real shame all in all.  Yeah there were one or two aberrations which niggled, such as the use of ‘an’ before a word beginning with a consonant (the word forms part of the title, so I won’t give it) and one or two plot devices which were contradictory (there is a part where the heroine is in something very akin to a straightjacket in the manner by which it immobilises her arms, but all of a sudden she is being ‘led by the hand’) but all in all it was quite well written.  As I say, the cost is so little as to mean nothing, it is just that reading it sort of robbed me of all those delicious mental possibilities I was enjoying so much. 

Which brings me back to the picture above.  Left as is, with perhaps just the hint of an outline, one can still tailor the tale to suit one’s self.  In fact it is for the latter reason that I decided to leave off anything that might define exactly who is being addressed, gender identity and so on.  Now you the onlooker are in charge of the journey.

Lastly – GOOGLE.  Yep!  Apparently the rumours were true:  I received the following email a few days back (which is why I’ve been inspired to update again – and go back to editing a contribution by Chris for future inclusion), but have not had time to post it up until now:  So this is what they say – it’s not exactly a climb-down in the way that it is worded; but you have to admit, the scenario they describe with blogs such as this one being labelled as ‘adult’ is errm…errm…errm…  Actually – can anyone see the difference?

EMAIL from GOOGLE

 ………………………….

Dear Blogger User,This week, you received an email telling you about some changes we were  making to the Blogger Content Policy. In that email, we announced a change  to Blogger's porn policy stating that blogs distributing sexually explicit  images or graphic nudity would be made private.We've received lots of feedback about making a policy change that affects  longstanding blogs, and the negative impact on individuals who post  sexually explicit content to express their identities.We appreciate the feedback. Instead of making this change, we will be  maintaining our existing policies (http://www.blogger.com/content.g).What this means for your blog:Commercial porn will continue to be prohibited.If you have pornographic or sexually explicit content on your blog, you  must turn on the adult content setting  (https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/86944?hl=en) so that a warning  will be shown.If you don't have sexually explicit content on your blog and you're  following the rest of the Blogger Content Policy  (http://www.blogger.com/content.g), you don't need to make any changes to  your blog.Thank you for your continued feedback,The Blogger Team(c) 2015 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Google Bowling a Googly! Is this Bye-Bye to the Barred Window?

Very soon (as from March 23rd) the only way you, my loyal readership, will be able to access my blog with its extensive archive (reaching way back to Aug 2008) and hear about my new and upcoming work will be by being explicitly invited. And I guess the only way that is going to happen is by you making yourself known to me via email (toyntanen@googlemail.com).

Obviously you can make up a alternative name for yourself if you want to keep your true identity hidden from me – and I have no problem with that; the best way is probably to start up an alternative Google or Yahoo account or whatever for yourself in a fictious name (as I have – Garth Toyntanen is not my real name). 

Alternatively I shall try to keep you updated via my Tumblr account and I shall endevour to transfer the entire Behind The Barred Window back catalogue to Wordpress and / or some section of The Original Institute website and carry on regardless there. 

 

Meanwhile, please feel free to mine and download as much of the archive as you want - and QUICKLY, before it's gone.  I ask only that you share it around a bit and pass on my alternative contact arrangements via your favourite form of social media.

Please believe me when I say non of this is of my making – see message reproduced below (sent me via email 23^rd Feb) 

............................................................................................................

Dear Blogger User,

We're writing to tell you about an upcoming change to the Blogger Content Policy that may affect your account.

In the coming weeks, we'll no longer allow blogs that contain sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video. We'll still allow nudity presented in artistic, educational, documentary or scientific contexts, or where there are other substantial benefits to the public from not taking action on the content.

The new policy will take effect on 23 March 2015. After this policy comes into force, Google will restrict access to any blog identified as being in violation of our revised policy. No content will be deleted, but only blog authors and those with whom they have expressly shared the blog will be able to see the content that we've made private.

Our records indicate that your account may be affected by this policy change. Please refrain from creating new content that would violate this policy. We would also ask you to make any necessary changes to your existing blog to comply as soon as possible so that you won't experience any interruptions in service

Domination and Husbandry of Wayward Girls: Atmosphere, Scene-Setting and Dress

 Am I the only one who thinks there is something about the sheen on the fabric of the dress the women is wearing in this scene (left) that somehow makes it ‘work’ despite so much else being so ‘wrong’ about it?  I mean… sure, the nappy’s ok as far as it goes, but all that jewellery and make up on the girl?  And the background is just horrid, in my opinion, even in a domestic setup.  Even in a fairly modest home I would have thought it possible to set aside a small box room (as we’d call it here in the UK), kit it out in an appropriate manner – obviously depending on one’s taste but, security always being paramount, surely with bars on the window and a sturdy lock on the door as a bare minimum requirement.  I don’t know about you but I just think all those toys lying around in the background aren’t just a distraction, they also threaten to send the wrong message… 

Wow!  What a rant – sorry!  That wasn’t the route I’d intended to take at all – it was all supposed to be about the role of woman’s dress in setting the scene and providing so much of the atmosphere. 

That ‘sheen’ I have been enthusing about is probably just an artefact produced by the over zealous use of camera flash, but I don’t want to think about that too deeply coz it still ‘does it’ for me.  Somehow it changes everything.  How about you?  What is it about it, if anything at all?

Actually, in my humble opinion, such ‘problems’ as I outline above are pretty rare in pictures originating from the same source (www.nrs.helena.com  Don’t bother following it coz sadly it no longer exists).   The web address refers to Nurse Helena and try as I might I can’t find an extant source.  I don’t know who was behind them or where they’ve gone, I just know there is an entire cannon of medical fetish photographic work out there in Web-land labelled with the same defunked web address and all of it (well most of what I’ve seen thus far) highly atmospheric, highly imaginative, to the point of practically telling a story in one shot! 

Take the example on the right for instance (this one is labelled www.ab-dl-production.com but it’s from the same source, trust me, I’m an expert, I can recognise the style etc -  and this address doesn’t seem to exist either).  Study it for a while, give your imagination free rein and…  Hey!  Look at that!  Yeah I know it could have come out of one of my novels, but that’s lazy – let your own creative juices have a go.  Now check out all those Tumblr blogs for more (though you wont have to much longer coz I plan to gather them all together in one place in The Original Institute website before long).  

Actually I really hate the face mask thing, but look at the body language, the way the girl’s head is hanging, the listless way her arms hang by her sides…      

More on the Domination and Subjugation of the Shy, Sheltered Bookish Type

It seems my post back on Tuesday, 13 January 2015 has generated a heck of a lot of interest – even though I neglected to provide it with a title (something I have today rectified – not absolutely necessary I know, but I'm a stickler for detail). OK most has been in the form of emails to me personally, but nevertheless, there is obviously a LOT of interest out there in the unjustified, undeserving punishment and discipline of the quiet, shy introverted bookworm type.

I have been hunting around for a while now – ever since that original posting in fact – for a suitable illustrative example of the type I envisage (easy enough, you may think), but pictured within the right sort of context. I think the look is captured quite nicely in this  illustration by that great, great, CP-orientated artist, Hardcastle originaly for Janus magazine back in the 1980s (although for an entirely different kind of storyline).  But if you can think of any better examples please feel free to share them here (by sending in via email) or posting a link / description or what have you.

The consensus from the emails I have received seems to be that the more sheltered, pampered and privileged the girl's upbringing has been, the more unassuming, good-natured, quiet and modest she is, the better and the greater the impact – and thus the frisson to be had, from the reader's point of view – when the disciplinarian is introduced into her orbit. And the girl's isolation from her previous existence as soon as practically – and plausibly - possible seems a prerequisite of story development from that point on, as does the unbridled and undisguised enjoyment of the proceedings by the disciplinarian her (or him) self as he or she imposes ever more austere and restrictive conditions.

Another theme coming to the fore is one of favourite pastimes, interests or ambitions becoming twisted and turned against the hapless young thing in the hands of the draconian authority figure to the point of becoming punitive, hated and loathsome. Thus the once-joyful piano lessons that become a mindless detested – even feared – repetitive chore (see this illustration I found - on Tumblr; where else?).

I can think of few better ways for summing all this up than by ending with this contributed piece sent in as a comment by 'Chris' and repeated here for no other reason than to illustrate the fact to those (and I'm often an offender myself) who don't always bother to open the 'comments' sections of blogs to do so more often – you never know what you may be missing out on!  Now read on:

A Contribution by Chris

“I too much prefer that such a woman be placed in charge of a quiet, socially-conforming, bookworm. I too like the total contrast, 'the use of the iron bar to break the butterfly’s wings.'

This girl is not in need of any disciplinary regime, she is a high achiever at school – sure the atmosphere is relaxed, no uniform, lots of social activities, but she still works hard and gains 'A' passes; she has never been a cause for concern, no boys, no drinking or smoking, a conformist in all respects. She enjoys the outdoors and loves her horse-riding, excelling in this too, with many ribbons to adorn her walls. Life is a pleasure….

Then the governess is appointed, [and the girl] can’t understand the dramatic change to her world. She is now to study for twelve hours a day, wear a strict and uncomfortable uniform, perform hard physical household chores for a further four hours each day, and have no further contact with her host of friends. The final straw is when her governess, a woman - if she may be termed so, for she is barely two years her senior - informs her that her favourite showjumper, a horse she trained from a foal to A-grade, dotes on daily, and is now worth a great deal of money; has been given away.

In tears, shaking with grief, frustration, disbelief and resentment - this is so totally undeserved - she calls her governess, ‘a cruel monster’. After all she is a perfectly [well] behaved girl, she would never swear, or raise her voice in anger [nor] lash out. [Imagine] her total shock when her governess calmly advises, her tone implacable, “Little girls need to learn obedience and respect their superiors. Your behaviour is quite unacceptable and will be dealt with appropriately. Please remove all your clothes in preparation for your punishment.”

She can hardly believe her ears, this young governess is talking to her like a little child. Worse follows as she is lead into the punishment room where she sets eyes on the gym horse with its leather restraints and the vicious cane placed alongside. It is obvious this is going to be a severe thrashing. It is undeserved, who would not have reacted similarly, or worse, in the circumstances?
 

She chokes back the tears in disbelief, shock, her mouth dry, her stomach churned up as her whole body trembles in dread. She breaks down and sobs, pleads for forgiveness and mercy, she will never disobey again, apologises profusely for her behaviour.

Her governess looks on dispassionately. The girl has never heard a raised voice before, she has been pampered and, in truth, spoiled all her life; yet this martinet looks at her without pity. She beseeches:

“Please… forgive me, just this once, I promise I will be so so good from now on…… so good. I am so sorry…. Please… I will never call you names again. Please don’t hurt me, I’m begging you… forgive me, just this once?”

Her pride is long gone, she barely believes her own words as she trembles before this young woman barely older than she; yet worlds separate them. It is all so unjustified, so undeserving… so extreme a penalty. All she has known before was love and caring compassion; a quiet word of warning, at most, if her behaviour had ever warranted correction.

Her words fall on deaf ears as her governess simply advises, “Bend over the horse, now… and if I hear another word from your mouth, I will double your punishment.”

The girl [feels utterly] defeated as she bends and finds herself secured to the horse, no option but to bear her punishment. Yet - as her governess viciously slashes the cane in practice, the evil hiss causing her to cringe in absolute terror - she cannot help but ask, her voice a tremor, “Please, just this once, spare me…..”

The cold emotionless response of her governess breaks her completely, “You just doubled your punishment - thirty-six strokes.”

Great stuff!  Eh, folks?  More, please. Chris!

The Delicious Discipline of Little Miss Pigtails Behind Bars

Not much I can say about this one, except it made for a pleasant distraction from slogging away at writing, the new book is coming soon (honest) - or at least the first part is - and it’ll have nothing to do with the implied storyline here.

Basically it surfaced while fishing around on my hard drive for a suitable example for the bookish heroine discussed last time and I again ran into that little miss pigtails pic I came across some time ago on Tumblr.

I have to say Tumblr is fast becoming my main source of inspiration nowadays, Easily outpacing all those old reader's letters and so on from the pages of Janus, Whispers, Blushes and all those compilation editions that used to hit the shelves back in the eighties, not to mention Justice and – much later - Februs.

Oh...  No one told me I'd got the word, orphanage, wrong in the title of my last post.  Are you all becoming as dyslexic as me?  Well, Ive fixed it now (I hope).

Lastly:  If you've emailed me recently or left a comment on here and are yet to receive a reply,  My apologies.  Rest assured that I will have read your missive, but I have had problems (again) with the home Internet connection.  I will be responding to as many outstanding emails as possible tonight and addressing as many comments as I have time to, so keep an eye open.