Bad Romance: Walkthrough (Seven Deadly Sins)

PRAISE for Jess C Scott

“Dear Jess, I just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed your writing: your writing reflects something genuine, something real, about our generation that few writers have had the talent or the courage to uncover. Thank you.” — Reader/Customer Email, 2010

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“Ever since I came across Jess C Scott’s teenage blog novel, EyeLeash, I’ve known that some very talented writers will emerge from the epublishing revolution.” — Joseph Grinton, October 2011

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“Just read Real Love Versus Romance...loved the ideas & compilation of ideas...great!! :) i agreed with many of the points of how romance has been commercialized for effect instead of portraying the actual depth of true romance...i roll my eyes at what is considered “love stories” nowadays...even being a guy (haha), i can appreciate a story that portrays real love & shows depth in what romance is (means)....a lot has been lost to appease a tween generation or to generally confuse people of all ages on the expectations of romance...” — P.H. / Chesapeake, OH, April 2012

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BAD ROMANCE: WALKTHROUGH

By JESS C SCOTT

Published by jessINK | Smashwords Edition

Jess’s Website: www.jessINK.com Orangeya’s Website: www.flickr.com/people/0rangeya 1. Education—Reference 2. Social Science—Popular Culture

Summary: In this promotional eBook, Jess C Scott talks about the themes and inspirations behind her (unintentionally satirical) Bad Romance “7 Deadly Sins” Anthology.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

I. Introduction

II. Excerpts + Commentaries

1. Blind Leading Another (Lust) 2. Literary Heroin: A Twilight Parody (Gluttony) 3. The Champion (Sloth) 4. “I’m Pretty” (Envy) 5. Poor Little Rich Dude (Greed) 6. Heart’s Blood (Anger) 7. Never Gonna Give [You] Up (Pride)

III. Bad Romance “7 Deadly Sins” Anthology

Teen Guide Interview Other Books Author Bio

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BAD ROMANCE: WALKTHROUGH

Preface:

The Bad Romance anthology by Jess C Scott is a pop culture inspired short story collection, which links star-crossed lovers to each of the seven deadly sins. Bad Romance: Walkthrough is a freebie mini compilation. In this promotional eBook, Jess talks about the themes and inspirations behind her (unintentionally satirical) project.

P.S. The “deadly sins” definitions in my commentary were kindly provided by Adam at DeadlySins.com

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Introduction: Hello, my name is Jess and I’m an author/artist/non-conformist. I’m also the founder of jessINK, an innovative publishing company that focuses on substance over current fads and marketing hype. I’m in my mid-twenties at the time of this writing. There are some things in life that have always fascinated me: love, sex, writing, the mass media, pop culture, so on and so forth (anything that has to do with society and/or the “human condition”). The impetus for the Bad Romance anthology actually stemmed from the severing of a pseudo- relationship I’d been in for about ten years. The range of negative emotions I felt throughout that (rather toxic) relationship got me thinking about the concept of the “seven deadly sins,” a concept I’ve always found intriguing—much more intriguing than the seven heavenly virtues. That being said, I’m currently working on a seven virtues short story collection in order to “cleanse” my mind from the material in Bad Romance. Bad Romance is pop culture inspired (it’s contemporary, realistic, and makes many media references). I’ve had a longtime interest in pop culture and the mass media as I’ve always been aware of the massive influence and power of the media. It’s both amazing and troubling to see real values being compromised in the name of commoditization (where literally life and everything is a popularity or hype contest, regardless of any intrinsic merit or true underlying substance). I do find the “sheeple programming” of media conglomerates to be disturbing. Another thing I find annoying is how the sordid and prurient tales often get more media coverage than decent and/or principled people who actually do good things. One would think the pervasive and powerful mass media would have “nobler” aspirations, than to use sensationalism to appeal to the baser instincts of people for ratings. For the Bad Romance anthology, I wove in the element of “star-crossed lovers” to each story to keep to the “bad romance” theme. Often, it is the “bad” person in a relationship that drags the other person down with them. Perhaps Bad Romance was an authentic exploration of the dark side of human nature. The sins are the seven “deadly” sins after all. I wanted to keep to a concept and storylines where the characters did not receive redemption, and were “rewarded” accordingly as to how they decided to live their lives. I’ve written a few short commentaries to accompany each deadly sin that features in the Bad Romance anthology. In each section, I elaborate on the choice of characters and setting in each of the stories that’s linked to a specific deadly sin.

Stories in the Bad Romance Anthology

These stories are available as individual eBook novelettes, or collectively as an anthology (print + digital editions available). I hope you enjoy the Bad Romance: Walkthrough I’ve put together. Maybe you will see a little bit of yourself too, through some of the perspectives I’d explored while navigating the seven deadly sins. After all, the deadly sins cover the base side of human nature, which wall of us mortals shouldn’t have too much trouble identifying with. Thanks to all of you who are checking this out—both new and old readers :)

– Jess C Scott / jessINK, May 2012

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Excerpts + Commentaries:

1. Blind Leading Another (LUST)

a) Summary: A high-schooler getting gangbanged is unaware her secret crush is one of the participants.

b) Excerpt:

Cast:

Loralei (The Star) Dimitri Toby Hyun Jung Charles Amin Fabian

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Scene 1: The Gangbang

[Loralei (The Star)]:

Dimitri said I was “lousy in bed”—he doesn’t have the skills or STAMINA to satisfy a woman. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh PLEASURE TIMES FIVE! Dimitri said, “You take too long to warm up.” Motherfucking prick, that’s why we’re filming THIS right now. MIT—Most International Team, baby. Just take a look around—one cock in my cunt, one drilling my ass God that hits the spot, a peen in my mouth while my two hands are wrapped around a juicy dick each. I’m just a whore pleasuring dicks. What’s wrong with being a slut? Rush Limbaugh called a female uni student a “slut” for speaking out as a birth control activist. Oh yeah, I call him out for being a “hypocrite” and an arrogant, ill mannered narcissistic blowhard closed minded attention whore. . .

c) Jess’s Comments:

Lust is defined as “an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.”

I wrote my first erotic anthology, 4:Play, in mid-2009. I had the idea for one of the stories to be about a “gang bang,” though I wanted the story to be able to stand on its own without graphic depictions of the actual sexual activity going on (not that my erotic fiction is all that graphic to begin with, though that’s another story for another time...). As a writer, I’ve been described as a “relationship-smart person who writes about the subject of authentic feelings and genuine connection in all of [my] fiction.” I decided to go with an unrestrained writing style for Blind Leading Another (Lust), in order to capture the frenzied nature of the gang bang set up. I realized the stories were going to be a bit more challenging than I initially expected, because the theme and subject had to be evident throughout the entire story. Sure, this story was about the deadly sin of “lust,” but what about it? In Blind Leading Another, I wanted to capture the attitude and spirit of “sexual promiscuity,” where sex is purely a commodity and/or something that’s part of a person’s physical entertainment repertoire. In real life, I’ve slowly come to realize and appreciate love and sex going together. Maybe “love” is too much to ask for (depending on one’s level of jadedness), but I think I’ve learned along the way that I personally can’t be satisfied with any kind of sex just for the sake of some physical action. There’s a difference between a loving, respectful, mature, informed, knowledgeable, and skillful sexuality, versus sexuality that is cheapened or devalued (for whatever purpose/s). Blind Leading Another focuses on the latter type of sexuality, where the main character (Loralei) uses her “naughty bits” as her ticket to fame and fortune. Does it end well? It might, on the surface. But all things come at a cost. As Fabian (one of the characters) states halfway through the story: “There is nothing worse than being a whore. No one wants a whore. Except other whores.”

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2. Literary Heroin: A Twilight Parody (GLUTTONY) a) Summary: Isobel’s fanfiction dream comes true when Edwin and Jacobus materialize out of thin air. But the two hunks secretly have the hots for each other...

b) Excerpt:

Ms. Isobel Swann, the English teacher, looked at her star pupil. “So, what did you think of Twue Wuv?” Isobel asked with a sweet smile. “I learned that it’s okay to feel the way I do: that my life has no meaning unless I have a boyfriend,” gushed Stephenie, Renesmee’s BFF. Stephenie was overweight but enjoyed dressing provocatively. She thought the guys couldn’t handle her. Most of them were scared off by her seductive ways and non-stop approaches towards anyone in class who owned a pair of testicles. “A real man is like the perfect vampire-boy and all the perfect guys in Twue Wuv.”

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+ Longer excerpt available @ Jess’s deviantART.

+ Featured in the #VerySpecialArtists group on deviantART (unsolicited).

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c) Jess’s Comments:

Gluttony is defined as “an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.”

I included a warning sign with this story as I wanted to apologize in advance for any offence Twilight fans might take from the caustic descriptions in Literary Heroin. Basically, I passionately disliked (and will always dislike) the Twilight franchise for the following reasons:

1) It is not well-written (purple prose, cardboard characters that don’t really have much depth to them or change much over the course of the story, a not-very-scintillating plot, etc.). 2) When bad art like this is acclaimed, over-hyped and overrated, it damages both society and culture on the whole. As I mention on a page on my website on how ‘Elite is not [being] the same as Elitist’: “There is such a thing as high quality. There is such a thing as low quality. If we fail, for whatever reason, to distinguish between the two we pervert and harm our culture and our language.” 3) It is packaged as wholesome and innocent because the characters have sex after marriage. To me, it does matter that Bella has no personality, and that so many tween and teen girls identify with this disturbing trend where a female is supposed to have no goals in life except to bag a rich and handsome man (whose children she must bear), and therefore be complete because of “her man.” To me, it does matter that the females who identify with Twilight see lust as real love. I read Twilight and saw no hint about the character’s real personalities or intelligence (or some other kind of “real quality”) that they were mutually attracted to, apart from how hot they each found each other.

Real Love Vs. Romance is a free eBook on my website. It’s a small compilation of essays describing the difference between substance and fluff (i.e. between a “real love story” and “commercial romance”). This universal celebration of low self-esteem in females is something I don’t support, even if I’m in the minority, and I do whatever I can to portray (both male and female) characters in realistic, authentic situations where they can really get to know each other and let a real love develop that way (which to me, is what Twilight disguises itself to be, but really isn’t, if one pierces beneath the pretty packaging). These are some comments I’ve had from real Twihards about myself, and/or my writing:

a) “Damn i feel so sorry for people LYK YOU!!” — 14 y/o “Breaking Dawn Fan” | Jan 2010

b) “The hypey-blurb and the Twilight reference actually turns me off from wanting to read [EyeLeash: A Blog Novel]. Just because Bella isn’t good enough for all you feminists doesn’t mean she isn’t a positive role model. I LIKE BELLA.” — Z.E.W., 31 y/o female, Texas | Oct 2011

I’ve heard comments which are from the opposite extreme viewpoint too:

c) “Oh shit, I’m going to go read that now. I love Twilight parodies! And thank you for decimating (I tried to write dedicated but my auto spell changed it that) [the Bad Romance anthology] to me. I am honored and it’s warming the cocks on my heart. Thank you! xMichael” — Michael K | DListed.com [he’s one of the people that Bad Romance is dedicated to ;)]

d) “I thought your parody of Twilight was very funny. (I have only read the beginning so far.) These books would never have become so big without the internet and social media. Trivial things can nowadays be magnified into global talking points in a matter of minutes. Too much trash is touted as worth our while. Things are famous because they are famous and not because of any intrinsic merit.” — J.D. Xavier | reader/customer email (U.K.)

I’ll leave people to read Literary Heroin: A Twilight Parody, in order to judge for themselves what they think about it. It features Isobel Swann (the English teacher encouraging her students to be Twue Wuv disciples), Stephen, Joanne, Edwin, and Jacobus. Stephen from ‘Stephen King’ and Joanne from ‘J.K. Rowling’. For those not in the know, it’s derived from the following comment Stephen King (The Man) made about Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight series): “[J.K.] Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.” (Source: The Baltimore Sun) The dedication to my Literary Heroin is as follows: “For everyone who loathes sparkly vampires—and their predecessors. For anyone who cares about arts, culture, and society. Last but not least: for Twihards.” Because as much as I might loathe the franchise (and many YA franchises, for that matter), I do care for the tween market these franchises exploit (to phrase it more politely, I do care for the tween market these franchises “do their best to appease”). As some of these rabid fan girls mature, I hope they’ll be open to the idea of developing their own personality and a genuine sense of self-worth, instead of allowing their self-esteem and sense of self to be defined by “their man,” or whether they identify as good girl virgins or badass whores (depending on what’s the flavor of the week/month/year)—or whatever else society/the mass media tells them. A blog post on The Fear Girls says it better than I do, so I’ll end this article with an excerpt from the post, ‘Women’s Magazines’:

“The reality of it is this: these [mass media publications] embody everything that we as intelligent, empowered women consciously fight against on a daily basis. They cater to the idea that women should value appearance over substance, please our partner before pleasing ourselves, and that the best way to achieve fulfillment in life is to make sure that our cleavage is displayed with just the right amount of visibility that we avoid being branded as ‘slutty’ while maintaining enough sex appeal to keep us from being viewed as ‘butch’. There is no escaping the media and its influences, so instead we must remember to pace ourselves. Though it may at times be fun to turn the rational brain down for a while and amuse ourselves. . .these fluffy periodicals are the jelly donuts of literature; if we allow ourselves to consume them with too much frequency, we will become intellectually lethargic, driven by a need to refuel our damaged confidence with another dose of sugary garbage. In short, the next time you find yourself turning that first page, make sure you’ve fed your self- esteem for the day, and remember that junk food is nothing without that grain of salt.”

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3. The Champion (SLOTH)

a) Summary: A gaming addict attempts to win at life when he meets his match and marries a fellow gamer.

b) Excerpt:

“POW!” More guts, more green alien blood splattering all over the screen. “Are you winning or losing?” Madge couldn’t tell which of the characters on the screen Winslow was controlling. “Duh, winning.” Madge was troubled. He’d said it the exact same way when a probably drunk or stoned Charlie Sheen had said so on TV. What next? That she’d discover a bottle of Tiger Blood in Winny’s room which he believed would give him supernatural amazing powers? The difference was that Charlie Sheen had money. He had talent, a nice big house, he was in showbiz. He was entitled to party and make a mess out of his life if he so wished, since he’d already done it all. What about Win? At least the kids who auditioned for American Idol had a chance. Win hardly wanted to get off his ass to do anything. He seemed to just live, breathe, and be one with his arsenal of computer games. . .

c) Jess’s Comments:

Sloth is defined as “the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.”

This story was inspired by a certain show on Spike Channel (U.S.). If you know what show it is or make an accurate guess, please contact me for a complimentary eBook copy of The Champion ;) This was one of the more straightforward stories to complete. It’s what potentially happens when a gaming obsession takes over a person’s entire life. I enjoyed playing computer games during my teenage years (especially Diablo, Quake III, Heretic II, Tomb Raider, and a few others). The longest I’ve played was maybe 10 hours at one go. I remember my sister and I were playing Tomb Raider. We finished an entire tin of mint chocolate chip Girl Guides cookies in the 10 hours. I couldn’t envision myself just playing computer games all the time for the rest of my life though. I enjoy having some kind of purpose in my life, which enriches my life (so that it’s not so limited to “material contingencies” where happiness is determined by how much stuff one has or is able to buy). I like how sloth is defined by DeadlySins.com as the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. I don’t know about others, but perhaps that’s the reason why I’ve always enjoyed physical exercise. If I don’t get a little bit of exercise done throughout the day, I tend to end up feeling lethargic and/or “irritated” by the end of the day. The four spheres of a person do tend to be interlinked (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual). And if a person starts to get lazy in one section, well...

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4. “I’m Pretty” (ENVY)

a) Summary: A beautiful reality TV star indulges a new obsession when she rekindles an old flame.

b) Excerpt:

Cast:

Kimi Kazandjian (31 years old) Kobi Brown (33 years old) Valencia (29 years old; Kobi’s wife)

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Kimi:

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall Who’s the fairest of them all?” Me, me, me, of course—that goes without saying! Kourtnee is tiny but she’s looking old. Khloee is the tallest of us Kazandjian sisters though she looks like an ogre. Hey, what can I do? I inherited the good genes. It’s just TOO BAD. Even with all the plastic surgery which haters say make me “fake,” it’s the real me that my fans are in love with. Everything we put out there on our reality TV show is 100% real, even when it’s scripted (we live and act out the scripts, so how can it be fake?). Plastic surgery isn’t any different from plonking pounds of make-up on your face anyway. You’re still enhancing looks. Look at my boobs, my ass, my perfect face. My mama was right: Looks are Worth.

c) Jess’s Comments:

Envy is defined as “the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or situation.”

If I were the parent to a tween or teen, I would make sure they had better role models than the Kardashians. The Kardashian clan (or is it spelled ‘Klan’?) seems to exist to broadcast vapid, materialistic drivel 24/7. This, however, takes secondary priority because they are portrayed and marketed as the definition of physical “beauty,” albeit being completely void of character. And one wonders why young tweens and teens can suffer from low self-esteem. This story was inspired by a Daily Mail UK article: ‘Divorcing Kobe Bryant linked to Kim Kardashian’s best friend Carla DiBello’, published some time in December 2011. I understand that Kimi has since moved on to Kanye West. I wonder if her mother (aka Pimp Mama Kris Jenner) paid him a huge chunk of change for that. As David Letterman says in the May 14, 2012 issue of In Touch: “Kim Kardashian is dating Kanye West. Her publicist says it’s for real. In fact, they’re already planning the sham wedding.” Still, maybe things play out fairly in the end. In an era where the music industry is more about soft porn than singing ability (Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Lana Del Rey, etc.), where looks matter more than anything else, aging is the cruelest fate. Aging is also something that’s pretty much inescapable. Where’s a person in the limelight, who’s famous or popular for their youth/looks/sex appeal, supposed to go once their looks start fading? “I’m Pretty” was a bit difficult to complete because I tried to pack a lot of (mostly factual) information into the story. Maybe the message at the end of the day was along the cliché of, “Be careful of what you wish for—because you just might get it.” I’m a fan of clichés (when it comes to phrases, not storylines!). They may be overused, but I appreciate how easily they manage to sum something up in a succinct way that rings true.

P.S. Since I mentioned the “music industry” above, I’d just like to make a note here that the music scene wasn’t always like what it is today. In the past, artistes and bands like Tina Turner, Etta James, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, and Guns ’N Roses (and many more bands from the 60s to the late 90s) actually made up “mainstream music.” If you’ve never listened to any of these people, check out their live performances on YouTube for a good dose of REAL music ;)

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5. Poor Little Rich Dude (GREED)

a) Summary: A young man leaves his lover behind when a winning lottery ticket transforms his life.

b) Excerpt:

He was itching to do something for himself, something he’d been meaning to do all morning. His palms were itchy too—a sign of good fortune? Was the old superstition true? That some money was going to come his way? “I’m headed to the restroom—I’ll be back soon,” Desmond whispered to Marie as he excused himself from the cinema. A slight wave of delirium overtook him when he stepped out. Now that he had just turned 18, he was able to legally gamble. He’d been eying the Lotto Prize and other lottery tickets for the past few days. He’d surf around online, and think of the gas stations and supermarket counters where one could purchase the tickets. Desmond quickly made his way to the superstore in the mall. He didn’t have much money to spend, but felt like throwing down whatever he could afford anyway. The tobacco counter at the end lured Desmond in like a charm. Happy 18th Birthday, Desmond! he could almost hear the counter and the gleaming red-and-white tickets calling out to him. Even the little pencils for customers to shade in their lottery numbers seemed to support his need to try his luck in a rousing chorus of approval. He dropped the pencil the first time he picked one up. Get a grip, Desmond! c) Jess’s Comments:

Greed is defined as “the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual.”

Poor Little Rich Dude was a fun piece to complete (I borrowed the title from Jackie Collins’ Poor Little Bitch Girl). Post-modern society has become so materialistic, that greed is actually respectable and rewarded. Money worship is a cult. According to The Free Dictionary, a cult can be defined as an “obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.” By the way, doesn’t that bring to mind the obsession with franchises like Twilight (and all its predecessors) too? It becomes really twisted when materialism becomes spirituality itself, where a person’s sense of identity and self-worth is solely determined by how much money they have. In the past, greed was seen as the practice of villains such as Charles Dickens’ money-obsessed Scrooge, a psychologically and spiritually unhealthy man in need of conversion. Money has always been a big deal, but through much of history, the money-centrism of the greedy has not had the social acceptability that it has recently gained (from the early 1990s onward). I see people’s eyes glaze over when they talk about playing the lottery. There is always that underlying hope to the heavens that they’ll be lucky enough to win the ultimate pot of gold (or ‘check’, if we’re not speaking metaphorically). I’ve chipped in to buy lottery tickets a handful of times in my life, though I just feel this sense of emptiness sometimes from others that I’m not even sure if they’re aware of. Emptiness in the sense that their life truly is all about plastic goods and money, with no real passion or purpose towards living life. In Poor Little Rich Dude, the “bad romance” subtle love triangle is between Desmond, his girlfriend, and his love for money. He makes certain choices and has to deal with the consequences, whether or not he wants to. This piece was completed quite quickly, and I had a lot of fun writing it :)

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6. Heart’s Blood (ANGER)

a) Summary: A student plots to annihilate the cheating player that broke her former tutor’s heart. A rape and revenge story. b) Excerpt (Kahlia’s Letter):

“Little girl,” you’d say, cradling my head and matted hair in your hands after brutally anal raping me. “Daddy’s here...everything’s all right...” And my eyes would glaze over and shut once more, where I thought each new breath that I took was going to be my last. You’re a twisted motherfucker who preys on younger people, impressionable younger people who can actually be made to believe that they’re the criminals whining or feeling ashamed/broken/whatever for being The Victim. Now that you’re truly dead, I sometimes wonder whether you’ve been reincarnated as a rotten cockroach, destined to roam the earth in dumpsters and rat-infested dirt-caked ramshackle abodes until someone sees you and squashes you with the sole of their foot. Or maybe God (if there is one) will cast you to Tartarus alone with the other damned souls, where you’d be stripped, gagging on the stench of your singed flesh as these words were branded onto you via a red hot iron: Always was a coward. Never was a man.

With Gratitude, Little 15 / Fuckface (your charming pet names for your enslaved teenage captive)

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c) Jess’s Comments:

Anger is “manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury.”

Of all the deadly sins, anger is one of my favorites (I have several favorite deadly sins). I like the energy of anger, and when anger is channeled constructively, it can result in fantastic creative achievements (as with the case of Eminem). Heart’s Blood ended up being a rape and revenge story because of the way the story was structured (entirely through a series of email exchanges). It’s a bit more vicious than most of my earlier work, though I would like to work on some “crimes of passion” type of stories some time in the future. I guess I didn’t want the email exchanges to be random rambles and nothing else. I mean, it is authentically “random” at points, but I guess I wanted the two gal pals to bond over something they shared in common. I left it open to the reader’s interpretation whether Zara and Kahlia have any romantic feelings for each other. I’ve written GLBTQ-friendly stories in the past, though I wanted this story to focus on the underlying “rage” in the character(s). In one email, Kahlia mentions the past abuse she experienced which involved a paddle called “Mr. Awesome.” Unfortunately, that was based on fact (as reported by in this article by Daily Mail UK). Some of the content was also inspired by Sada Abe, who caused a sensation in 1930s Japan with certain “incidents” she was directly involved in, with regards to her love life. I hope fans of rape and revenge stories enjoy the storyline in Heart’s Blood.

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7. Never Gonna Give [You] Up (PRIDE) a) Summary: A supermodel’s 7-year marriage breaks down when her musician husband tires of being in the shadow of her spotlight.

b) Excerpt:

Another thing he began to loathe was how Hilda’s industry rewarded aesthetics, in the form of beautiful people or the beautiful works of art they wore. She seemed to sail ahead, month after month, season after season, year after year, catchphrase after catchphrase. “Gotta have it!” “Make it work!” “I like it.” “I just can’t.” “Wow me.” “LOVE.” English wasn’t even her first language, yet she was doing just fine all the time. She seemed to be born that way, with everything going for her. Saul thought he’d been born that way too. It aggravated him to think he could be wrong, as life constantly proved to be a reminder of.

c) Jess’s Comments:

Pride is defined as “excessive belief in one’s own abilities, that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God.”

This story was also quite straightforward—I’d been following the story of Heidi Klum and Seal for some time. Never Gonna Give [You] Up is fictitious, though I found the dynamics of Heidi and Seal’s relationship to be too interesting to not explore. Pride was quite a tricky dead sin to navigate, because of the scope of ego issues that a person can be driven by. At 7,000 words, this story was the shortest in the Bad Romance anthology (the longest was Literary Heroin, as reflected in the “long” commentary for that particular piece in this walkthrough). The stories in Bad Romance are arranged in the traditional order of the seven deadly sins (from “least severe” to the “most severe” sin). I guess the story covering pride wraps up the anthology on a short and sweet note. Pride is the most deadly of all the sins—a gateway sin that leads to a host of other human weaknesses. That was the trickiest thing to keep in mind when completing this short story. There’s a short section at the end of Chapter 2 where all the seven deadly sins are actually mentioned in order. I’m guessing that only really perceptive readers would catch this (I wouldn’t, if I wasn’t familiar with the seven deadly sins :P!). I chose to capture the sin of ‘pride’ via depicting a (fictitious) person who was so motivated and consumed by his larger-than-life ego, that it blinded him to everything else in life. Including good and genuine things that money just can’t buy. This story ends the Bad Romance anthology on the following simple philosophy (which embodies the essence and definition of ‘karma’): “What you do comes back to you...”

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BAD ROMANCE “7 DEADLY SINS” ANTHOLOGY

CONCLUSION:

I initially intended to complete Bad Romance in a week, at a rate of one story per day. I think I took a total of seven weeks (or slightly less) to complete the anthology. One of my aims with Bad Romance was to capture the dark side of pop culture and “the cult of celebrity.” It’s almost like the mainstream masses have a “bad romance” with pop culture, where they can’t help being mesmerized and hypnotized by Hollywood glitz and glamour. To borrow a quote from Lesley Pocock, editor of the MEJB International Board:

“The cult of celebrity is a symptom of our sick society. Once heroes were clever, or wise, or courageous, or kind and decent; not those who ‘got a boob job’ or who cleaned up on the stock market or ‘got their face on television or Facebook’—which has to represent the most shallow and worthless sentiments of humanity.”

I felt kind of sullied after completing the anthology, so I’ve begun work on a “seven heavenly virtues” anthology titled SELF (which is 10% done, as of May 10, 2012). I must admit that the deadly sins are much easier for me to relate to. I can feel myself struggling with the SELF anthology, where I have to think things over while trying to grasp the concept of the virtue. I hope you’ve enjoyed this walkthrough. If you’d like to check out Bad Romance in its entirety, here is some information about it.

SUMMARY: A pop culture inspired short story collection which links star-crossed lovers to each of the seven deadly sins. SYNOPSIS:

Murder, intrigue...vengeance.

Lovers whose relationships are doomed to fail.

Bad Romance delivers a crazy delicious double whammy, with the intertwined themes of star- crossed lovers and The Seven Deadly Sins.

Eat your heart out.

GENRE: Fiction (pop culture / satire / dark humor)

LENGTH: 90,000 Words

Product Page (with links to Amazon, B&N, and other retailers):

http://www.jessINK.com/badromance.htm

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Teen Guide Interview

Matt and Jess co-authored the no-nonsense advice book: “Teen Guide to Sex and Relationships” (Spring 2012).

This interview was originally posted on Unwritten on 28 April 2012.

MYSTI PARKER: I’m thrilled to have Jess C Scott here today, talking about the first non-fiction book featured on Unwritten. Along with Matt Posner, who I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing and hosting for contests, Jess has written the Teen Guide to Sex and Relationships. Long ago and far away, I was a teenager myself, and this book might have come in handy! Let’s see what it’s all about.

Welcome to Unwritten, Jess. First, please tell us what you do when you’re not writing about teenage angst.

JESS: Thanks for having me today, Mysti (and “hello” to all your blog readers too)!

Great question. When I’m not writing about teenage angst, I guess I’m writing about adult angst (there’s usually some kind of interplay between love and sex, thought and emotion, and other “conflicting desires/motivations”).

MYSTI: I’m always interested in how collaborations come about. First, how did you meet Matt, and where did this idea come from?

JESS: Back in 2010, Matt saw a message I posted on Amazon (I think it was a request for some proofreaders for one of my books). We exchanged some emails and supported each other’s novels in terms of cross-promotion on our various social media platforms.

Matt and I enjoy writing in different genres (fiction as well as non-fiction). One of the genres I specialize in is relationship-based erotic fiction (where the focus isn’t solely on “graphic scenes” meant to titillate the reader).

In late 2011, Matt asked if I’d be interested in co-authoring a book he’d had on the back-burner for a while. He described it as a book that offered “straight talk about sex to teens” via both a male and a female perspective on similar issues.

The concept was cool and sincere—I’d have to be insane not to have jumped at the opportunity to contribute to the project.

MYSTI: I snooped around your website, jessINK publishing, and see that the book is in a Q & A format. Did you ask teenagers to send in the questions for this book or did you just do research to find out what concerns teenagers have in this area?

JESS: The questions are based on informal knowledge and experience, with no attempt to be particularly scientific or thorough. We wanted to provide mostly common-sense and basic information, written for those who know very little or are confused.

We did enlist the help of some teens who were kind enough to beta-read the first draft and provide us with some feedback. We ended up incorporating a couple of questions that were requested by the very insightful beta readers.

MYSTI: I know Matt is a NYC teacher, so how big of a role did his vocation play in this project?

JESS: Yes, and he’s a very hardworking teacher. I think his vocation was one of the motivating factors for the project. As a city teacher, it’s tough for Matt to give straight talk about sex to teens without the risk of being accused of sexual harassment. Teachers may observe teens engaging in risky/dangerous behavior without understanding how to handle the minefield of 21st-century sex and relationships, but it’s difficult for teachers to directly intervene. As a writer, though, Matt knew he could still put his ideas out there and potentially help someone.

MYSTI: It’s been a while since I’ve been in high school. Have you discovered that things have changed over the past twenty years when it comes to teenagers and intimate relationships, and if so, how?

JESS: I grew up in Singapore and graduated from high school about ten years ago—I think the “speed” of life tends to increase with each new generation. There are smart phones and an endless amount of entertainment being produced (in the form of books, movies, music, magazines, etc), though I think these things can sometimes be a form of “information overload.”

A person (whether they’re a teenager or an adult) isn’t exactly encouraged to reflect on things or pay attention to their emotional health, so to speak. People might be connected via social media and technology, but this doesn’t necessarily mean the actual quality of their relationships is better. In the long run, it is important not to sacrifice quality for quantity (whether it’s with human relationships or anything else in life).

MYSTI: Jess, I hate to break it to you, but no one is immune to my random questions, not even non-fiction writers. So, here’s your, though you may find it not-so-random: If you could go back and give your teenage self one piece of advice, what would that be?

JESS: Randomness Rules (it keeps things fresh and interesting).

I think I’d tell my teenage self to “carry on” with the way she’d done everything. As a teen, I’d do whatever I was passionate about because I liked giving my 100% when I cared about something. It’s a “tradition” I’m proud to continue into my mid-twenties.

MYSTI: Lastly, would you give us an excerpt from the Teen Guide?

JESS: Sure—here’s a short excerpt:

Qn. Should I undergo plastic surgery to look more attractive?

Matt:

A girl may think that if she has bigger breasts, boys will like her, or that if her nose were smaller, she would be more admired. She may think she is ugly and that plastic surgery is necessary to make her beautiful. However, a genuine smile or a laugh can make even a relatively unappealing face attractive. I have met plenty of women over the years whom I did not consider attractive but who had husbands and children. Confidence, happiness, and sincerity are attractive. Being in good health helps, too. Your physical look does matter, and some girls get overlooked while others get a lot of attention, but eventually, this always sorts itself out.

Jess:

Looks eventually fade—aging is a part of life. One might spend a lot of money and/or many hours a day (or week/month) on looks, but those hours are not going to help a person become a better person.

I’ve always thought that there’s more to human life than external looks. One has a mind and personality and heart to cultivate. I think these things deserve as much, if more attention, than one’s physical appearance. Just because vain and shallow values are prevalent doesn’t mean they’re good values for society. And you don’t have to buy into any message or brand or product, if you decide not to. MYSTI PARKER: Thank you very much for stopping in, Jess, and I hope you can return! For videos and more information on Teen Guide, visit Jess’s website at: http://www.jessINK.com/teenguide.htm

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Selection of Other Books by Jess C Scott

EYELEASH: A BLOG NOVEL (teenage memoir / coming-of-age / sexting)

4:PLAY (a contemporary cocktail of erotic short stories)

1: THE INTERN (Book #1 [Lust] in the Sins07 series)

LITERARY HEROIN (A Twilight Parody)

PLAY / BDSM (non-pornographic BDSM)

REAL LOVE VS. ROMANCE (essays)

TROUBLE (poetry collection)

NAKED HEAT (incubus/succubus anthology)

THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy)

BAD ROMANCE (seven deadly sins anthology)

SELF (seven virtues anthology)

TEEN GUIDE TO SEX & RELATIONSHIPS (co-authored with Matt Posner)

# # # # # About the author:

Jess is an author/artist/non-conformist who’s dedicated to writing original stories that are both meaningful and entertaining.

Jess writes in a diverse range of genres such as urban fantasy, erotic/contemporary fiction, YA fiction, poetry, and cyberpunk. She focuses on substance over short-term success with current fads and marketing hype.

Most of Jess’s work is fueled by an intense drive to inspire others to favor social/spiritual values over shallow values.

Connect with Jess Online:

Facebook: (www.facebook.com/jesscscott) Twitter: (www.twitter.com/jesscscott) Website: (www.jessINK.com) E-mail: [email protected]

Last Words…

If you have any comments/feedback/questions, Jess would love to hear from you!

E-mail: [email protected]