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karahalloway · 1 year

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Sleepless in New York: Sparks Fly Comic

I commissed this comic a few months ago -- from Chapter 2 of Sleepless in New York, capturing the moment that Drake lays eyes on Harper for the first time -- hoping that I'd have Sleepless in New York finished, and I could post this artwork to celebrate. Unfortunately, my summer ended up being quite busy and I've done basically no writing since the end of June 😢

So, I've decided that instead of sitting on this amazing work by @blueberryarts18 for an indeterminate amount of time, I'll just post it now so you can enjoy it while you wait for the next chapter of Sleepless (it started it a while ago and it's about half done, but no ETA on getting it finished atm, unfortunately...)

Thanks for bearing with me!

Extract of accompanying scene below the cut.

Extract from Chapter 2: Sparks Fly

Sliding into the booth, I drop my blazer next to me on the cracked and faded red faux-leather before pulling the laminated menu out of the metal holder that held the condiments and toothpicks.

Giving it a quick once-over, I home in on the burger options. There are three choices: Regular, Cheese or Deluxe. While the Deluxe – with its two patties, double cheese, and onion rings – did look promising, I wasn't feeling the bacon right now and I'd already psyched myself up for a plain ol' cheeseburger.

Maybe next time... If I ever found myself in this part of town again.

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see that it's a text from Bast, asking for an update. The guy really never slept...

I'm halfway through typing up a reply when I feel a presence next to me.

Flicking my eyes up, I'm expecting it to be the Slav again. But what I see instead makes me do an involuntary double take.

...holy shit!

The first thing I notice is her hair. It cascades down her shoulders in lose, honey and caramel waves, framing her delicate neck and heart-shaped face, stopping just above the swell of her breasts. Even in the dim light of the bar, it seemed to shine... like a nimbus of gold around her.

But what draw me in are her eyes. They are wide-set and almond-shaped, sitting beneath curved brows. In the low light, I can't tell what colour they are exactly... some kind of green or hazel. They meet mine with all the focused intensity of a laser sight, and I swear she sees right through me.

I have no clue how long I sit there, staring at her like an idiot.

Eye-catching girls were a dime a dozen in my world. Moving in the circles that I did with Chris, it was pretty much impossible to walk into any kind of room that wasn't filled to the brim with beautiful, well-dressed and self-assured women.

So, it wasn't so much the fact that she was stunning that had caught me off guard.

But it sure as hell added to the overall effect! Because... damn.

I've always had a thing for cherry bomb blondes. And this one...? Straight up eight. Maybe even a nine. The unflattering waitress uniform she had on didn't reveal much in the way of her body, so it was a bit of a hard call to make. But there was no question about it — she was hotter than the Fourth of July and way too goddamn fine to be working at a dive like this.

But beyond all that... There was a carefree genuineness to her that grabbed me instantly. It was the way her hip cocked slightly to the side as she rested her weight on one foot. The way the corner of her lips quirked up in a small, almost playful half-smile. The way her left brow arched inquisitively upwards. There were no masks or feigned emotions with this one – everything she thought, everything she felt, it was out there on full display. And she couldn't care less who saw it, much less what they thought of it.

In short? She was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and I couldn't take my eyes off her.

After what seems like a lifetime – which I damn well hope is merely a second or two, for the sake of my sanity — I see her smile falter slightly as she breaks the time stop by reaching up to brush her hair behind an ear.

"You...umm...ready to order?"

Fuck.

Even her voice was doing a number on me. It was warm and slightly husky, but still rang clear as a bell. She had some kind of Yankee accent — which region or state, though, I had no clue. The only times I really came Stateside was to go down to the ranch, so I couldn't differentiate between the various American accents as easily as I could the European ones. But it wasn't offensive by any means. If anything, it only added to her down-to-earth allure.

"Erm, yeah." I clear my throat. "Sure."

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#drake walker #harper gale #the royal romance #sleepless in new york #comic #trr au fanfic

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thehanniecorner · 5 years

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I recently wrote about my ten least favorite books of the year so far, so it seems only appropriate to write about my ten favorites, as well. I’m quite fortunate this year, as I already have over ten five-star reads, and several of them are new favorites of mine. It has been a good year so far, and I can only hope that the second half is even better. In the near future, I will be writing a larger reflective piece where I discuss the first half of my reading year in more detail, as well as set goals to guide what I read for the second half of the year, so keep an eye out for that! My hope is that this top ten is totally different at the end of the year because I found tons of new reads that I love just as much or more than the ones on this list. For now, however, all I can do is show off the amazing books that I have read so far!

Note: If you are interested in any of the books I am discussing, I will be including an Amazon associate link for each one. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I’ll get a small commission at no additional cost to you.

10. You Asked For Perfect – Laura Silverman

You Asked For Perfect is the textbook example of a lucky find. I picked it up on NetGalley simply because the cover looked nice and I’m so glad I did, as I’m not certain if I ever would have found it otherwise. This book has the best description that I have ever seen of the pressures that come with constantly striving to overachieve in high school. The protagonist is constantly struggling with his need to be the best as he attempts to navigate his senior year of high school, while also wanting to just have fun and pursue friendships and romances like many of his peers do. It’s a short and quick read that I would highly recommend, and I have more details in my full review.

Amazon

9. Better Nate Than Ever – Tim Federle

Over the past few months, I’ve been working on an experiment where I read the books that Goodreads recommended to me based upon my favorite and least favorite reads. Better Nate Than Ever is a recommendation given to me based upon my love of George by Alex Gino, and I couldn’t be happier for the push in this book’s direction. For one thing, it cemented my newfound love for the middle grade genre, and for another, Nate is one of the most adorable protagonists that I have ever read about. His dialogue is true to how children his age would actually talk and he’s so full of energy. He has a goal of making it onto Broadway and he will do anything and everything in his power to make this happen. This is the start to a trilogy that follows Nate, so I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series this year.

Amazon

8. Saga, Volume Nine – Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan

I was about ready to give up on Saga before I read the ninth volume. While I enjoyed the series at the start, as more characters got added in and the plot focused more on the politics and less on the star-crossed lovers that I initially signed on for, I began to lose interest. This ninth volume was going to be the last one I read, as the series has gone on a hiatus and it seemed like a logical stopping point. When I made this plan, however, I was not accounting for the fact that the ending of this collection stabbed me right in the chest with a huge plot twist and left me needing to know what happens next. While I’m not entirely certain that I like the direction that this series is headed, I can’t deny that this entry left me emotionally gutted and needing to know how everything turns out.

Amazon

7. Paperback Crush – Gabrielle Moss

Paperback Crush has a narrow niche that it caters towards, and anyone outside of that group isn’t going to get the appeal. This is a nonfiction reference guide that outlines the history of the Young Adult book genre, with most of its attention dedicated to the 80s and 90s. As someone who has read nearly every book prefixed with “Sweet Valley” and constantly daydreamed about being Claudia’s best friend in The Baby-Sitters Club, this book is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I got to relive my entire childhood, learn quite a bit about how the YA genre got to its current form, and even dragged up some old memories of books I forgot I had read. For example, I totally forgot about my entire phase where I read Lurlene McDaniel’s sad books about kids with horrible diseases that often die at the end, but now I remember and learned a lot about how The Fault in Our Stars came to be so popular.

Amazon

6. The Immortalists – Chloe Benjamin

I knew from the second I laid eyes on the publisher’s description for The Immortalists that I was going to love this book. Four siblings go to a fortune teller and find out the exact day that they are going to die. From there, they spread out and live their lives with this information. Any story that discusses fate or time is one I immediately feel drawn to because I love the complexities of the conversations involved. For example, if some of the siblings learn that they are going to die young, were they going to die at that age regardless, or did they begin to live more recklessly because they knew their days were numbered? Would they have all lived happily to the age of ninety had they not gone to the fortune teller because that act, in itself, determined their fate? These are the sorts of questions that I pondered through the entirety of the time that I was reading this book, and I loved every second of it.

Amazon

5. Roller Girl – Victoria Jamieson

As I stated with Better Nate Than Ever, I have been diving into the middle grade genre a little more than usual lately and been having pretty good results. Roller Girl is a coming-of-age tale told in the graphic novel format about a young girl who decides to try taking up roller derby. It’s a sweet book that I found myself flying through in a single day due to its vibrant art style and relatable characters. I find that, in a lot of respects, middle grade books are actually easier to relate to as an adult reader than their young adult counterparts, even though they are written with a far younger audience in mind. They contain less angst and are more about the sorts of topics that any age can relate to, such as learning to fit in or following your dreams. I will discuss this more in my reflective post, but I think transitioning to prioritize adult and middle grade titles over young adult for a while would probably result in enjoying a higher percentage of the books I read.

Amazon

4. Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White

It is a goal of mine to read all of the major children’s classics in my lifetime. In my experience, children’s classics like Charlotte’s Web have all of the same symbolism and messaging that their adult peers have, but they’re a lot more fun to read. The friendship between Charlotte and Wilbur was adorable and I couldn’t believe that it took me so long to get around to such a sweet story. As an adult, I loved it, but as with all children’s books, I’m sad I didn’t get a chance to read it as a kid, as I would have treasured it years ago. E.B. White has a sizeable collection of titles that I still need to read, so I highly doubt that this is the last I will ever see of him.

Amazon

3. Scythe and Thunderhead – Neal Shusterman

I decided to put Scythe and Thunderhead together, as I liked them an equal amount and didn’t want to take up two entries on this list. Shusterman’s new series is shaping up to become one of my favorites of all time, so long as the conclusion out later this year turns out to be the same level of quality. It’s dark and tackles some very real societal problems, such as what happens when we do overpopulate the world, and how would people cope in a world where they aren’t actually needed for anything? I have a whole (spoiler-filled) discussion about where I want the series to go for the finale, and it is safe to say that The Toll is my most anticipated book of the year.

Amazon

2. My Sister, The Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite

A lot of people were talking about My Sister, The Serial Killer because it was nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. I love a good thriller, so I picked it up immediately, and it was not what I expected at all. As the title suggests, this is a book about a woman whose sister is a serial killer. It isn’t much of a thriller, however, as it instead explores the complicated relationship between the sisters and why they would be willing to do anything for one another, even though one has a love for stabbing people. While it wasn’t what I expected, it’s still one of my favorite reads of the year and definitely my most pleasant surprise.

Amazon

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

I feel like I’m behind on this one, but words cannot express how much I love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It took me a while to get around to reading it because I was scared off by the hype, but that turned out to be a silly fear. This is one of the best-written books I have ever read. Every detail put in the writing builds one of the most realistic portraits of a complex woman that I have ever read. If Taylor Jenkins Reid came up to me tomorrow and told me that Evelyn Hugo was a real person, I would believe her because it can be really difficult to remember that she’s fictional while reading the book. Obviously, I am always hoping to find a book that I love more than my current favorite because it means I’m reading lots of books I love, but it’s going to be difficult to top this masterpiece.

Amazon

That’s it for the books that I have read and loved so far this year! I can’t wait to see what the second half of 2019 has in store for me. What are your favorite books of the first half of the year? Let me know in the comments below!

Best Books I Read So Far in 2019 I recently wrote about my ten least favorite books of the year so far, so it seems only appropriate to write about my ten favorites, as well.

#books #Lists #reading #top ten

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aceinabook · 3 years

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March Reading Wrap-Up

I read a lot this month, but most of it was Graphic novels/Manga so those are real quick reads.

Reviews linked to my GR reviews.

Tokyo Ghoul Vol. 1-5-I’ve had these on my shelves for a while and finally got into it! I really liked it and im excited to continue. 1 2 3 4 5

Our Dreams at Dusk Vol. 1-4: If you are not character driven do not read this. This series is v character driven and I enjoyed reading a story about LGBT characters and seeing their lives. Kamatani’s work is amazing. I think this is my favorite read for the month. 1 2 3 4

Bride of the Water God Vol. 1-I didn’t care for this and I felt it romantizes a lot of shitty things. I don’t know maybe it wasn’t for me.

Legend of the Fire Princess(She-ra Graphic Novel): This was just bad. I didn’t like it all.

MockingJay(Hunger Games #3): I finally finished the Hunger games trilogy! I really liked it. I felt like it was a good end and I can see why it caused the great trend of great dystopians.

How Saeter Robbed the Underworld: this was a short novella that was only availble on Ereaders. I am not a fan of ereading personally. BUT...this was really good and I cried. Katz did a good job of manipulating emotion.

The Seventh Bride: I loved this book! I enjoyed all the themes and most of the characters. Kingfisher’s writing style is also super fun.

The Player of Games(Culture #2)-I hated this in the beginning and never liked the MC. At the end of this book I did end up actually liking it. It was pretty good. The Drones were my favorite. I don’t read a lot of sci-fi and I was glad to take a dive. Also this was my book club pick of the month.

Monster and the Beast Vol. 1-3-Listen this is kind of trash, but it’s erotica and its fun, not good but fun. 1 2 3

Yotsuba&! Vol. 1-I read this at a bad place and it was v stressful waiting for news at a friends. It was funny enough to make me smile.

Son of the Storm-I won the ARC of this from a GR giveaway. I thoroughly enjoyed this and think it’s one of my favorite reads of this year. The world was amazing.

Women’s War-I used this for the prompt recommended you by a librarian. This one is not pictured because I foolishly thought I wouldn’t finish it within March and finished it on the last day of March. It’s a fantasy set in a society that highly oppresses women and Women who don’t perform properly get sent to government funded brothels.

#booklr #wrap-up

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ggfj84 · 4 years

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Very merry female stereotypes in old Christmas movies on Disney+: A rant

Amid a pandemic, I hoped to keep my posts positive. That’s actually the reason why I decided to watch the old ABC Family Christmas movies on Disney+. Figured – why not dive into some wholesome, family movies with just a touch of romance?

Boy, was I wrong. These old films are filled with female stereotypes that any woman who has stepped out of the kitchen in the last eighty years might find offensive. I know – harsh words, but let me give the rundown of the two (and only two) I struggled through - 12 Dates of Christmas and Snowglobe.

Zack Morris meets Working Girl in the worst way

Yes, I chose 2011’s 12 Dates of Christmas because it had Mark Paul Gosselaar in it, and as a girl who grew up watching Saved by the Bell, I couldn’t resist.

Quick plot description – Kate is hung up on her former boyfriend, Jack, but has a blind date with Miles (MPG), a recently widowed gentleman and the godson of Kate’s stepmother. Kate “Groundhog Day”s it for their first date and has to get it right in order to make it to Christmas Day.

It’s a decent set-up, except Kate’s dad is recently widowed (less than 2.5 years) and already remarried, and Kate and Kate’s stepmother (whose name I can’t even remember) don’t get along.

The movie solely puts blame on Kate for this strained relationship, which exists because Kate misses her mom. But Kate’s stepmother doesn’t make an effort. She even tells Miles to call Kate “Katie,” knowing it annoys Kate. (And Miles does it.) Evil Stepmother also tells Miles that Kate can’t bake, and the story makes that sound like a dig. (“What woman can’t bake?” asks the narrative. Excuse you, but I don’t even an own an apron.)

Later – we hear good things from the stepmother about Kate through Miles, but does Evil Stepmother actually ever talk to Kate?

Nope. It’s all Kate’s fault for not reaching out and…y’know, missing her dead mom.

But let’s back up. As aforementioned, Evil Stepmother tells Miles that Kate can’t bake, and Miles is all okay with that. He did the cooking in his household with his wife, so no worries, Kate…except, y’know, Miles’s wife died cleaning gutters.

Now, I grew up with a single mother who said to me, “You haven’t lived until you’ve shopped for toilet parts,” so I absolutely love that Miles and his wife swapped traditional gender roles. Except…MPG’s wife dies from the swap.

I know you’re saying, “But Leigh. Miles does the cooking, and he’s alive!”

Yeah, but you know what Kate has to do before finding love with Miles? You guessed it! She has to learn how to bake – like any good (living) wife who plays perfectly to her traditional gender role. So no worry! Miles won’t have to do that in his second marriage.

Of course, Kate makes up with Evil Stepmother and apologies because her stepmother delivered Kate – now Katie – what every traditional, stereotypical woman wants for Christmas – a husband.

Oh - and now that Kate’s properly trained in her stereotypical female role, she’s rewarded by getting to Christmas Day.

(Trapped in a) Snowglobe

Going back even further, to 2007, Snowglobe has Christina Milan as Angela, the younger daughter of stereotypical Brooklyn family, accents and all. She’s working in a deli owned by her mom and living in an apartment owned by her dad. Despite tight shirts and short skirts, she just can’t find The One, but that doesn’t stop her mom and dad from renting the apartments in their building to single guys of questionable hunk-ness. And all Angela wants is a traditional Christmas meal, not her family’s usual lasagna, and she finds that happiness in a snow globe. Seriously. She gets sucked into the snow globe, which celebrates Christmas every day (with a goose).

(My opinion might be biased because my family has lasagna on Christmas, and it’s amazing.)

I enjoyed this movie less than MPG’s for its overall terrible family plotting. Gina, Angela’s sister (or sister-in-law?), is given Angela’s apartment since she’s pregnant, and since her husband is out of work, Angela is expected to still make the payments.

As mentioned previously, the apartment is owned by Angela’s dad. So…why doesn’t he just not charge Gina and Jamie rent? Why is Angela expected to pay her dad for her sister’s apartment?

But forgoing that annoying tidbit – Angela eventually falls for Douglas, a snow shoveler who lives in the snow globe. But Douglas already has a girlfriend - Marie - whom the narrative doesn’t confirm until the movie is almost over. And Douglas, being portrayed at some points as a child-in-a-man’s body faces no consequences. In fact, there’s never any point in the movie where he really seems to care who he’s with.

And Marie is just…okay with that. She’s got her man back, so it doesn’t matter that he unabashedly two-timed her. Great lesson, Disney!

Of course, Angela ends up with the latest suitor in her building, Eddie.

Honestly, I don’t have many problems with Eddie and Angela ending up together – except Angela screamed for most of the movie that her parents butted into her life too much and they were wrong to bring in all these gentleman suitors.

So by ending up with one, she actually proves her family wasn’t wrong to dismiss her very vocal wishes. They just hadn’t found the right suitor.

But even dismissing that - when alone in in an empty bar with Eddie, Angela accepts two drinks from him. Angela asks what it is in them, and Eddie refuses to tell her until she tries them. Wrong move, Disney.

I knew it was an ABC Family movie, so I didn’t worry for Angela. But if I were watching this with a younger female family member, I would have explained to her how women should be cautious when accepting drinks and when in doubt – as Angela was – walk away.

Typically, I would do a third review – but I’m not watching another ABC Family Christmas movie. I can only imagine what going back to a 2003 movie would bring.

#christmas movies #disney+#snowglobe #12 dates of christmas #ggfj84 #movie reviews #abc family

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biofunmy · 5 years

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The Work Diary of an Audio Erotica C.E.O.

Gina Gutierrez gets a lot of blank stares when explaining her start-up to people: It’s called Dipsea, and it sells subscriptions to immersive, short-form audio erotica. Venture capitalists, though, get it. They want to capitalize on dual booms in digital audio and sexual wellness, and some view Dipsea as the next Calm or Headspace. The start-up has raised $5.5 million in funding.

Ms. Gutierrez, 29, and her co-founder, Faye Keegan, created Dipsea when they realized that while there were plenty of companies offering tech-enabled vibrators, no one seemed to be addressing the mental aspect of female sexuality. In December 2018, Dipsea began publishing erotica podcasts, saying, “We think it’s downright powerful for people to discover the most turned-on versions of themselves.” The company charges subscribers $9 a month or $48 a year for access to a library of 10- to 15-minute stories in categories like “open relationship,” “hookup,” “crush” and “voyeurism.” Dipsea’s app also offers guides and exercises that can be done alone (“self love sesh”) or with a partner (“erotic meditation”).

Now the company, based in San Francisco, has 16 employees, 180 stories and 300,000 downloads. Ms. Gutierrez boomerangs between “I’ve never done this before” moments, she said, while juggling investor meetings, podcast appearances, script edits, Instagram caption-writing sessions and “Sacred Planning” meetings. She also has to deal with borderline puritanical rules from the big tech platforms while brainstorming about hunks, discerning what a hug sounds like, and puzzling over why people are so into stories about threesomes.

Monday

6:30 a.m. I hate the notion that the most successful people are up at 4:30. No thanks. I work on the couch for an hour before heading into the office.

9:35 a.m. My adrenaline surges when our social media and content manager, who started less than two weeks ago, Slacks me to say she has an urgent personal update. That’s never good.

She tells me she’s accepted another role. I’m shocked. We care so much about Dipsea being a great place to work, and have had zero attrition. So, 35 minutes into my workweek I’m dealing with my first “I’ve never done this before.”

The idea of kicking up the hiring process again so quickly after we’ve ended it makes my head spin. I spend the morning figuring out the transition plan. I really don’t want to go back to writing Instagram captions in the back of Lyfts between meetings.

2:30 p.m. I owe my editing team the final signoff on this week’s scripts before they pass them to the producers for recording. A section of dialogue on this one reminds me of a part from “A Star Is Born.” I send the movie scene to the team as an awesome example of realistic dialogue.

4 p.m. I hole up in a room with Faye and two other executives to brainstorm. We block 30 minutes per idea, throw out thoughts, sketch out designs, argue trade-offs. One idea we come up with is so good, I stand up to dance.

6:45 p.m. I debate bailing on plans to see “Hustlers” with some colleagues because I’m so behind. But I go. It’s an important piece of content for women right now, for God’s sake! I’m back at my computer on the couch by 9:45.

11 p.m. Quick Slack to Faye about a lead for the social media manager role before I shut my computer. I’m tired. When’s the last time I had a sip of water? Did I eat lunch today?

Tuesday

10 a.m. I talk with our audio production team about an article on aftercare, which is essentially affection and communication after sex. It’s the default in the BDSM community, but a good ideal to aspire to in all sexual encounters. We talk about not ending our stories too abruptly.

11 a.m. We have a monthly meeting called “Postpartum” where we discuss what we learned from our last month of stories and how people reacted. Most of our narratives are crafted so a female listener can identify with the woman, but one of our recent stories is about three men at a gay club, and we discuss whether listeners identify with one character, or if they’re more of a voyeur, excited to have eyes into the whole relational dynamic.

1:15 p.m. Over tacos I get book recommendations for my upcoming vacation — the first real one I’ve taken since starting Dipsea — from our content editor and writer. The whole team is voracious. Books lie in stacks around the office, especially Dipsea-relevant reads like “Conversations With Friends,” and “A Billion Wicked Thoughts.”

2:50 p.m. A construction company works in our building and I chat with one of the workers in the elevator. The contrast between their mostly male, neon-vest-wearing crew with our almost all-female team of erotic content creators is funny, but we’re strangely symbiotic.

Wednesday

9 a.m. I get coffee with an investor that we’ve been talking to since our seed round. Meetings like this are a mutual way to keep the relationship warm even when we’re not actively raising.

10 a.m. At the office, Mel Scott, our head of growth, tells me she’s spoken to a few podcast hosts who are going to run our ads. This is exciting. Facebook makes it very challenging for us to advertise as a sexual wellness business, and it’s frustrating. Sometimes our ads perform really well; other times we discover something was disconnected. Ads that were approved mysteriously get disapproved, and we’re left guessing why.

10:05 a.m. Faye and I have a weekly one-on-one meeting we call “Sacred Planning” to remind ourselves never to book another meeting over it.

11 a.m. The founders of an A.S.M.R. app visit our office to learn about how we create our content. I’m curious to learn about their work, too. One of them says the most polarizing A.S.M.R. sound is “mouth sounds.” I tell him mouth sounds can be tough for Dipsea listeners, too.

2 p.m. Our editorial team presents a plan for a new process of developing scripts. No one has ever made exactly what we’re making, so it’s a constant learning game with no instruction manual.

3 p.m. I sit in on a “Hooked on Sonics” meeting, where our storytelling lead and one of our producers talk to the rest of the team. This one covers what feelings sound like: A hug being akin to the sonic experience of going underwater, or anxiety as a high-pitched ring.

6:30 p.m. The entire company goes to a breath-work class at Chorus Meditation. You breathe in a fast, rhythmic way that oxygenates your brain, activating your parasympathetic nervous system and relaxing you. The crazy part is, it can also have effects like tingling, visual experiences or semi-lucid dreams.

I wake up in a jolt, even though I feel mentally present: An hour has passed and it felt like 20 minutes. My body feels amazing, slow and quiet. We all eye each other, while the instructor wraps up, mouthing, “Cool, right?”

10:25 p.m. Faye texts me asking to borrow a shirt. I wonder how many other co-founders sign off with a “Night love you.”

Thursday

10 a.m. All-hands meeting. As our analyst presents which story tags performed the best, the team debates the underlying reasons. We know stories tagged as “group” or “threesome” are highly rated, but we don’t necessarily know why. The novelty? The explicitness? What are the creative differences between “crush” and “hookup” stories? They seem to overlap a lot, so what makes one more successful than the other?

1:45 p.m. I take a call with an investor who’s been persistent. He describes Dipsea as part of the “N.S.F.W. space,” which tells me I have to take a step back and explain our perspective on sexuality: We’re not interested in creating an erotic utility, we’re interested in empowering women with content designed for their pleasure. To his credit, he understands the difference.

4 p.m. “Hunks Brainstorm” session. The editorial team discusses stereotypes about attractive men that still feel relevant, or that we can modernize. A college athlete isn’t necessarily interesting without some other underlying reason. (Ah! Maybe they’re fed up with the extortive system they’re a part of and lean on a female confidante. She sees his depth in a way that her peers don’t get to. Write that down!)

We talk about the way that passionate people are attractive, and especially so if they’re a bit unattainable because of their focus.

Every “Fireman!” is met with an, “O.K., but why?”

5 p.m. I join Faye and Mel to figure out how to meet our greater goals for the quarter. Five hundred Post-its and two hours later, we take a step back to admire our work.

Friday

12 p.m. I meet with Mel to review the past week: how we spent marketing dollars, where it’s working best, trends we’re not sure what to do with yet. There’s one international market that’s going gangbusters.

12:45 p.m. We always order in and eat Friday lunch together.

5 p.m. I find a quiet booth for an interview with Tristan Taormino, host of the podcast Sex Out Loud, which I just found out is airing live. The host, a sex educator who really knows her stuff, gives us advice on creating content for older listeners, shares her favorite story (“Virgo Season”), and asks how I deal with running a women-focused company while also navigating the world of venture capital. I say it took me some time to realize I was more than one thing in different contexts, and that that’s O.K.

6:50 p.m. I find myself alone at Bamboo Hut, a tiki bar, with a blue salt rim mai tai in front of me. I’m evaluating whether this bar will fit our loose holiday party theme of “dive bar fancy.” The bartender tells me that yes, the lamps over the bar are real taxidermied puffer fish.

7 p.m. A friend texts, “‘Blue Salt Rim’ should be the name of a Dipsea story!” It’s a joke I probably hear once or twice a week but still haven’t gotten tired of.

Interviews are conducted by email, text and phone, then condensed and edited.

Sahred From Source link Business

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