Erika Leonard James has some previous form as a screenwriter and TV producer. Some have described her oeuvre as of 'negligible literary merit' but I doubt that they have millions rolling into their bank accounts.
All literature speaks to the emotions. What's the difference between these two texts?
A. His healthy lifestyle was known to all but there was a wicked gleam in his boss's eye as she steered him to the fast-food restaurant. They were weary and famished after the long drive and has just checked into the cheap motel – business expenses had dropped through the floor.
She thrust the menu in front of him: burger and fries - how long since he had tasted such fare? So many years counting the calories, cutting back on the carbs and red meat, living with pulses and lentils. His resistance ebbed as the odour of freshly-cooked chips swirled about him. A last desperate thrust of conscience was repulsed with self-excuses: ‘Just this once’, ‘Can’t offend the boss’.
His mouth closed on the bun, teeth penetrating the sizzling meat with its griddled surface; the chips were as crunchy and delicious as he remembered. He closed his eyes in bliss, savouring the moment, all consequence fled.
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B. His boss called him into her office. He was puzzled – her normally dominant, authoritative manner seemed to have altered subtly in recent days. She had been, well, looking at him and there had been an odd hesitation in her manner.
As he entered the room, an instinct led him to close the door behind him. Their eyes locked as she came around to the front of the desk and slowly slid off her blouse ...
Yeah, well, ... we could all go on from this point but I fear it's zero points for originality and I forfeit my million pounds.
What makes the second text so charged compared to the first? Could it be that males are typically well-fed but chronically deprived sexually?
If you tried to sell erotica to the well-serviced owner of a harem, demand would be slight ... while they say food-porn has an audience amongst the starving.
You would not have thought females were similarly deprived, but Ms James suggests I’m utterly wrong.
