A little over two years ago I got an idea for a story involving a Dom rescuing a non consensual slave, but honestly I had no idea how such a story would be received. I didn't want the story to take a more traditional therapy route. I wanted to, instead, explore how BDSM could help my non consensual slave find herself again.
I had little knowledge of BDSM so I set out to do some research. The web did help get me started with this story, but it also left me with more questions than I ever began with. Eventually, I started to converse with some who live this lifestyle. Their knowledge and help have been invaluable to me and has helped to make this story much more realistic.
Finding Anna was never meant to be a how to manual for BDSM. I have found through research and through talking to Doms, subs, Masters, and slaves that each relationship is as different as those who participate in it. This series of books is about Stephan and Brianna. It is about their lives together, their families, and their friends. Hopefully you will come to know and love these two as much as I do.
Stephan has lived the lifestyle of a Dominant for five years. After several rebellious teenage years, it gave him the stability and control he had been seeking after his parent’s death.
As president of a not-for-profit foundation, he knows what his future holds and what he wants out of life. All that changes when a simple lunch with his college friend and Mentor, Darren, leads him to buying a slave.
Thrust into a situation he never thought he’d be in, Stephan can’t walk away. He is compelled to help this girl in the only way he knows how.
Brianna knows only one thing, she is a slave. She has nothing. She is nothing.
Can Stephan help Brianna realize that she is much more than just a Slave?
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ReplyDeleteHello and greetings from Germany
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have found your blog, I believe your story that I ever as edward and bella fanfiction at fanfiction.de on your (ekimmuh) acount have read but with a different title. I was totally sad that the story was taken out of there. if I've lost me there, so you are not the Jeniger what, I did not hurt you and then I am truly sorry
but anyway I am glad I read your great story and I'm thrilled there must be excited to see what you get zulesen.
hopefully soon Lara1
Oh boy. NSFW photos on the background, typos all over, and the wonderful world of rape, torture and degradation being perfectly OK. Welcome back Sherri. Can't wait to see how you justify rape, imprisonment, kidnapping and torture and make a romance out of it. Nice to know abuse and rapefic still have a home on TWCS.
ReplyDeleteDear Tuchu,wow you sure got up early to post this message. Or are you having sleepless night's hunting for blogs that upset you and those pesky typeos?? Like people that have had bad experinces in their life they try to rise above or get over. There is great good in the world and also great evil, as an adult human I have excepted this fact, you should try. Enjoy your day !!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWell I guess I'll say that again. Excusing the sale and trafficking in minor girls, encouraging the thought that the rape, torture and imprisonment of girls by men to be used for sex and abuse is inexcusable.
ReplyDeleteSherri should be ashamed of herself. She's a housewife that doesn't have a clue what she's writing about, and is advised by a man who believes that a "Dom" that buys a slave that is unwilling but abuses them anyway has done nothing wrong. These are criminal acts, and in fact her hero is a criminal. Rape, torture and trafficking are crimes, not romance.
tuchulcha,
ReplyDeleteI will say this once and only once. I expect you to keep your comments civil. I will not have this be a hostile place for my readers. If you can not be civil, I will delete every post you make no matter the content. You've made it very clear that you do not agree with this story, and that is your right. However, your bullying will not be tolerated on my blog.
~Sherri
I'll never understand how calling out the glorification of rape and trafficking is "bullying". I am not the one endorsing the sale of human beings for sexual gratification and torture. I'm not the one who is excusing illegal behavior and creating a romance out of kidnapping, torture and rape. This story not only condones the actions of both traffickers, but encourages the degrading of unwilling women for the perverse pleasure of criminals. The readers deserve to understand exactly what this story includes. Trafficking, rape and torture are all a huge part, along with the normalization of the buying and selling of human beings.
ReplyDeleteI do feel compelled to ask, what did poor IslandWoman do to get deleted?
Yay! I finally made it back to help put back my comment that accidentally went away! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see the publishing date fast approaching! I can't wait to take this journey and see where it ends. I'm certain it will be an emotional and thought provoking journey.
Most fiction also explores, "what if." "What if this were different," or "what if this is what could happen" is the basic premise of most fiction. Seems to be the case here.
ReplyDeleteThis story seems to be taking the approach of: Modern science treats allergies by injecting a bit of the toxin/allergen just under the skin repeatedly over time thereby building a tolerance and allowing the sufferer to lead a more normal life. They are never not allergic, but they have desensitized their bodies from having the extreme reactions, and so can choose how to live their lives without being controlled by the allergies to such a large degree.
At one time it was a therapy that was considered preposterous and is a therapy that is falling out of favor, but it is a therapy that has been effective for some people. I'm not saying "Finding Anna" is proposing a therapy that should be widely adopted, but it does examine a what if, which requires a certain suspension of disbelief and openness for the nuggets of truth that will present themselves during the story that is meant to be an entertaining romance.
It steps over the line of bullying when after you have expressed your opinon, you continue to try and 'pound' it into the heads of others that may not share your opinon. It comes across that others are stupid and need your help to get it through their heads.
ReplyDeleteI am not excusing ilegal behavior. It is only your opinon that I am, which again is fine, but that doesn't mean that everyone, including me, has to share that opinon.
A local librarian told me once that 90% of the people who come into their library demanding that a book be pulled from the shelves have never read the book in its entirety. You are doing the same thing. You have read some of this story, not all of it as it's not even finished yet, and are making a judgement.
When a story I come across has questionalble content and I share information about that story with others, I advise them of the questionable content and then leave them to make a decision after that whether or not to read it for themselves. I have left many reviews for storys over the last two years and even the ones I didn't like, I say why I didn't like it, give it a rating, and then I move on. I understand that what I may not like, others may. What I find offensive, another might not. It is personal choice, and I respect that.
Bullying is when difference is not tolerated. My story is not of the norm. I knew that when I started writing it. And again, I say that you have every right to not like or approve of its content, however, you do not have the right to make that decision for others.
When you present a hero who buys a woman who has been brutalized, tortured and raped, and that hero "keeps" the woman in question giving her no choices, but instead decides to "train" her to fulfill his own needs that is absolutely glorifying trafficking. No amount of suspension of disbelief can cover up the fact that this man trafficked this woman, and by continuing to "train" (aka abuse) her he is in effect keeping her enslaved.
ReplyDeleteI realize that entertaining stories of slavery and alternate approaches to dealing with it get people empassioned, but they also get them thinking, and caring. I also believe these readers are then MUCH more likely to take action against slavery in RL when they encounter it, since the stories of RL slavery DON'T match up (99% of the time) with fiction they found some modicum of enjoyment in reading about - and so it gets them much more up in arms. Fiction makes a taboo subject approachable so the readers are more likely to care and get involved whereas the dark non-dramatized depictions of slavery puts them off and makes them think it can't involve them - or is too depressing for them to feel like they can devote their energy to it. BOTH types of stories have value!
ReplyDeletetuchulcha,
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with you that she doesn't have choices, they just aren't made as obvious as you might like. There is something that you seem to be missing and it's very important. A good Dom will always put the needs of his submissive before his own. Wants are an entirely different story, but needs, always.
You seem to want a fairytale story where my characters always do everything right, text book if you will. Quite frankly that's boring and not realistic. Stephan is not a professional therapist. He is a businessman and a Dom. It would not be believable if he always made the right choices with Brianna. Being in a D/s relationship, just like a vanilla one, is a learning experience for both people involved.
I also know you have issues with her consent, and again, I think that is subjective and needs to be left up to the individual reader. You do not think she is able to consent, I do.
IslandWoman221,
ReplyDeleteThat is so true. Since begining this story, I've talked to so many people who were amazed it takes place in the US with a woman who was born in this country. Too many think that human trafficing is a third world problem, but it's not. It is very real, even in the US.
I am soooo looking forward to reading this! I loved it when you still had it up as a fanfic. <3
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is a survivor of sexual abuse, I have to say, I enjoyed reading FB. My abuser was a "Dom". He was evil and completely twisted everything D/S is. *He* came first, not me. There were no safety measures, only what he wanted.
ReplyDeleteIs Sherri's story 100% accurate to RL? No one can know. Each person has to decide for themselves if it is or not. My personal story is unbelievable for the same reason tuchulcha is taking such offense to Slave: it's not the norm. I was abused by someone who manipulated me. What started out as a friendship led to a romantic relationship that became a perversion. You can either blame me for not noticing something was "wrong" before hand, or blame the man who knew how to twist a mind of someone who'd been molested for months as a child. personally, I blame him.
The point is that Sherri's story is her own interpretation of what she sees in her mind. It's called freedom of speech and creative licence, tuchulcha. (at least in the USA) We all have our own lives--our own realitys and perceptions of the "shared" reality/events around us.
Oh, and by the way: as a two-time survivor, as someone who was a slave to the point I now have DD-NOS with a slave alter...I also have a situational Dom. Unlike this story, I knew my Dom before hand and we've been friends for years. Also: we love each other. Have for years. I'm in a seperate romantic relationship but that doesn't change our feelings. So tuchulcha, don't think that life is black and white. This "fiction" story may very well be someone's life and Sherri might not know it. There's how many people in the word that goes through these sort of situations? You can't tell me you know every last one of them and know for a fact this fiction could never happen.
-Ena
Thank-you Ena. Very well said! :D
ReplyDeleteEna I'm sorry for your experience, but I have to say you'd be far better to tell a story like this. Sherri fails every single time to show that her heroine has any choice, which by definition portrays her relationship with her "owner" as a continuation of the heinous abuse. After reading her failure to explain her characters which led to huge posts with authors notes and blog posts I shudder to think how this will work out. Sherri does not appear to understand BDSM enough to portray it believably. Sad, but true.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'm pretty sure that this "novel" will be read by a tiny number people given the traffic here and the interest I've seen around the community. I can only hope that somehow she crafts more complete characterizations and portrays something other than abuse for the few readers she'll have.
I see no point in posting any more comments, as it's clear that the readership will be tiny and the likelihood of people being desensitized to abuse by portraying it as a consensual relationship (which FB was most definitely not) is very small. It's unfortunate that a good topic for a story is being done by a writer with less than adequate skills to tell it. My opinion, nothing more.
I'll be shocked if this comment is approved, as Sherri can't stand criticism of any kind. Pity. The criticism might help her, but god forbid anyone express anything but fawning praise.
Ena,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I appologies for taking so long to respond to you. Blogger has been giving me fits this past week and a half trying to post comments.
I look forward to your perspective on future posts.
~Sherri
tuchulcha,
ReplyDeleteI do not have problem taking constructive criticism from those whose opinon I respect.
I will say that I find your comments to Ena above interesting when she is clearly supporting my story and you are not. Did you research what she said and find out what a situational Dom is? I did.
~Sherri
For some reason, blogger won't let me post the whole thing even though it's under the character limit. So I'll have to post in peices.
ReplyDeletetuchulcha, I too have reservations about this story. I too understand that in FB, it wasn't portrayed that she had a choice. What I don't think you realize is that in her mind, she doesn't. She does not *understand* choice.
Is abuse wrong? Ab-so-lutely. However, the lines of right/wrong are blurred for victims and survivors. Here is how, from my experience, I see this being a "valid" relationship. Now, please remember this is a summary. My full explanation would take many hours and a true conversation.
Brianna is a slave, stripped of all sense of self, right/wrong, morals and understanding of human righs (free will, speech, food/water/shelter, safety, contact, etc.) Her mind is a creation of someone who knows how to break and remold a person. She, in essence, is a living robot. She lives on orders and nothing more.
Stephan is someone who has experience as a Dom and with consensual slaves. He understands how the mind of a healthy slave works, and this gives him an edge a non-Dom therapist wouldn't have. A normal therapist would never be able to comprehend a broken slave's mind, regardless of how much training they have.
It human trafficking wrong? Yes. But as you said, it happens, and as I said, there's a chance situations like *this* (being saved) can happen.
ReplyDeleteStephan buys Brianna. To Brianna, this leads to ultimate confusion. Her Master is changed, and with it, so has her orders. Her entire life as been turned on it's head. She's not allowed to do what she was trained to do. Actions which are literally how she survived, how she avoided being beaten more and possibly killed, are now not allowed. In fact, they are discouraged.
Over time, the twisted love she has for masters--the blind devotion--begins to grow. As she slowly learns what it means to be a *person* again, her emotions begin to return. Healthy, tentitive love takes it's place.
Emotions are not logic, they do not follow the same rules as logic. The "accepted" emotions of someone who's mind that haven't been twisted--to hate an abusive sadist--is not the same of one whose mind has been twisted. Hating leads to pain. Loving leads to less pain, and sometimes even "pleasure". The mind and body are completely rewired.
I know I might not be making much sense. It's hard to summarize something this...delicate. There's too many variables to this subject, and taking one away unbalances everything.
-Ena
Thank-you tremendously for sharing your insight, Ena! Your explanation has been tremendously valuable to me.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more that the delicate subtleties are very hard to explain, though for many of us easy to grasp on an intuitive level while we wait to partake of the full story/journey.
Just finished "Slave" Finding Anna: Book 1 and found it to be a lovely Romance story from the subgenre of "Love Blooms in the least expected places". Or at least that potential is there. Few concrete answers have been presented, but isn't that true to life, we can suspect and hope for the best, but don't really know?
ReplyDeleteI liked that the best intentions can go astray when we don't communicate effectively and assume our motives are transparent.
I felt that Anna might actually have been/be on the road to an unhealthy mental attachment to pleasing Stephan, but got a few hints that she may yet move past it. I could see it being utterly natural for the human mind to go there in RL, but like the "what if" of what if for these two people, love is enough to help heal the most appalling of wounds. I didn't find this story to be a statement on modern day slavery, but an examination of these two individuals.
The way we as humans can make mistakes with the best of intentions when we allow our feelings too much control over our actions was a very interesting sub-theme. It ticked me off with Stephan several times, and made me had empathy (which is different than sympathy, mind you) for his judgement.
This was a very thought provoking and entertaining story that makes me have so much concern for real modern day slaves. They don't have someone with whom they feel inexplicably safe despite their well earned panic, but then I read Romance for stories of hope and redemption where little chance of it can be seen in the beginning.
Can I just say how (oddly) glad I am that Ian wasn't into forcing orgasms from Anna during her torture? A good friend of mine was raped and achieved orgasm during the trauma. She now has great difficulty having, let alone enjoying orgasm. If Ian had been into tying a Hitachi wand to her as she was tortured, I don't think she COULD enjoy much of a physical relationship again, or at least not one worthy of a Romance novel. :S In this case his sadism may have spared her some small portion of her sexuality... and I would think a critical one for her to have any chance of reclaiming any enjoyment in sex in the future - even if it's enjoyment alone.
ReplyDelete