Do You Remember The First Time....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Our holiday was spent with my mom and the rest of my side of the family as we laughed and shared memories of all those who have gone before us. It's been a rough year as we lost two: my dad and one of my uncles. Some were worried it would be a very sad occasion, however it turned out to be a fun way to remember all the things we remember and love about them.

The last two weeks have been extremely busy for me with the holidays and with wrapping up the edits on my upcoming romantic suspense novel, Behind Closed Doors. Thankfully, I just sent the final edits back to my editor. All I will have to do is sign off on the formatting and it will be ready for its February 9th release date.

I've also spent the last two weeks working on Book 2. It's been somewhat slow going as I've had to stop and start with finishing Behind Closed Doors, however, I'm hoping now that thing are coming to a close with that one, I can spend more time with Stephan and Brianna. She threw me a curve ball yesterday in writing. As happens so often in my writing, what I'd planned got sidetracked by what the characters want. You really never know the journey they'll take you on.

My unexpected turn with Brianna made me think back and made me wonder what other's experiences were and do you remember? Thinking back, I'm not sure I can pinpoint that moment. What moment? The moment you first saw the male anatomy live, in person, and...awake. ;)

So do you remember?

The Playroom - The Beauty of Shibari, Japanese Rope Bondage

This week we are welcoming author Kallypso Masters, author of the Rescue Me series. While researching her next book, Nobody's Hero (which I will be reading the minute I can get my hands on it), she delved into the world of Japanese Rope Bondage otherwise known as Shibari. Today she is going to share with us a little of what she's learned about this amazing art form.

Welcome!

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In researching scenes for my Rescue Me BDSM erotic romance series, I delved into Shibari (rope bondage; known as Kinbaku in Japan) for a character who is a master at this skill. Shibari originated in Japan as a form of martial arts and was used to restrain prisoners and as a method of torture back in the day. Today, it is most often associated with the BDSM community as a form of intense and artistic bondage.

 

I find Shibari to be an art form that is beautiful to watch and looks as if it would be very erotic to participate in, although I haven't done so (yet). For a lovely introduction to the art of Shibari, you might like to view this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4VCuI2k6J8. (They're advertising the book, The Art of Shibari (Kinbaku) and its History, by Master K.

Some rope masters are more skilled than others, but for the submissives, bottoms, or models who are restrained by the ropes, I am told it leaves them totally vulnerable and at the mercy of whatever the Dom/Master wants to do. *shivers* Please don't allow yourself to be tied like this unless 1) you are in a safe place where others can intervene if necessary (such as a fetish club) and 2) you trust the person tying you up without reserve. But they also say the experience of being restrained by ropes is very freeing when the submissive "embraces the rope" and surrenders completely.

Of course, there are many inherent dangers to rope bondage, including permanent nerve damage, sprains, broken bones, and even death. Even the simple tying of a submissive's wrists can lead to nerve damage, so it is imperative that those wanting to explore this type of bondage learn all they can—preferably at the hands of another master. (Not virtually online or in videos, although I will be showing you some videos here, just to give you an idea of what this form of bondage can entail.)

A guide for rope bottoms and bondage models (http://rope-topia.com/downloads/tutorials/rope_bottom_guide.pdf), by "Clover," is an excellent guide telling of the precautions to take, especially with bondage of wrists, armpits, and neck. Please read this fairly short tutorial before you proceed even with simple rope bondage.

 

For a scene in Nobody's Angel (Rescue Me #2), Master Adam, my Marine Dom who is my Shibari master in the series, performed the Teppou technique, which means "gun," seen in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gy2JyfHFfs. I used this video to inspire the scene, although I wrote more about the emotions of the act rather than a "tutorial."

In a scene in Nobody's Hero (Rescue Me #3), I am sharing an inverted suspension Shibari scene. (Inverted means the sub will be suspended upside down—this is extremely dangerous and not for amateurs to attempt). I'd love to share an excerpt, but that scene is still being reviewed by my rope master to make sure it's safe and sane before I share it with readers later this month. The video that inspired this scene is very long and breaks up a lot, which can be frustrating to watch—but the expression on the model's face in the early part of the video shows how sensuous Shibari can be. http://vimeo.com/30842482 (Warning: Some nudity in this one and wax play.)

I also found this video of a woman who suspends herself. This is the first time I've seen this done, but it seems more like a rope trick to me. I like watching the play between the master and the sub/bottom/model. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Torrg5yjBd8&feature=related.

To read two connected blogs I wrote with back-to-back excerpts of the Teppou scene from Nobody's Angel, go to http://kallypsomasters.blogspot.com/search/label/Teppou. There's also a video posted in the second blog—scroll way down—showing how to do a hair corset with rope, which Master Adam also does on Karla to get her hair out of his way. (Warning: Master Adam was in the Marines for 25 years and he does use the F word, but only to himself in this scene.)

I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of the possibilities of Shibari with the right rope master. (There also are other forms of rope bondage that are equally beautiful, but my research has been focused on the Shibari type.)

You can find me as Kallypso Masters on Facebook (personal and author pages), Twitter (@kallypsomasters), and Goodreads. Thank you, Sherri, for inviting me to share some of my Shibari research with your readers!

Revisiting Old Friends

If you're following me on my other blog, www.sherri-hayes.blogspot.com, then you already know that I've been hard at work again on Book 2 in my Finding Anna series while I wait for the second round of edits to come back to me from my editor for Behind Closed Doors.

This past weekend, I spent most of my time with Stephan and Brianna. The first eleven chapters are written and tweaked.

It was great spending so much time with these two again. I love the connection they have, and the way they relate to each other.

One of the things I've found in people not understanding BDSM comes in relation to the D/s. Many can't understand why someone would willingly give up control to another. What does the submissive get out of it?

 

If we take this question and apply it to Brianna, we find that she, in fact, gets a lot. In Slave, Stephan provides her with a safe place to live. He is her protector. Her shoulder to lean on. He makes sure her needs are taken care of while helping her to grow emotionally in an environment where she doesn't feel threatened. Isn't this what most Doms provide for their submissives?