Filthy Friday: Justine Elyot
I’d like to welcome Justine Elyot to Filthy Friday. She shares some insight into the choice of location and subject for her bittersweet story in Smut by the Sea. Take it away, Justine!
An End of the Pier Affair by Justine Elyot
I knew when I saw the call for Smut By The Sea that I had to send something in. I live in a seaside town, after all. My problem came in deciding which of the many and varied aspects of resort life I wanted to include in my story.
In the end, I found my inspiration at the end of the pier. Every self-respecting seaside town has its Winter Gardens or its Pavilion – the palace of delights built to entertain the summer masses during the sultry evenings of their holiday. An ‘end of the pier show’ is part of the British lexicon, describing a mix and match variety performance of cruise-ship singers, spangly-tight-wearing dance troupes and comedians unsuitable for younger audiences. (‘If easily offended, please stay away,’ the handbills often recommend.)
A lot of these theatres are in financial difficulty now. A night out at a show is no longer an integral part of the British seaside experience – besides, the camping and caravan sites offer their own on-site entertainment for nothing. The summer revenues can’t pay for maintenance of the draughty, ageing buildings. I went backstage at my local specimen earlier this year and was shocked by the dilapidated state of the dressing rooms and corridors. The ‘famous names’ aren’t so famous any more. As my opening paragraph says: “There was a saying in the business that you played Goldsands Winter Gardens twice in your career – once on the way up, once on the way down. This was Mark’s second appearance there.”
The male protagonist of my story, Love In The Low Season, is a faded singer, once popular, now only able to make a bare living in cabaret-style shows at obscure provincial venues. He’s exactly the kind of man who appears in front of eight people on a Wednesday night in February at my local theatre, poor fellow. But I appreciate him, and I appreciate the efforts that are made to keep these places open.
More and more of them are closing every year. I hope mine won’t be next.
Find out more about Justine at http://justineelyot.com
Light hearted, sexy fun by the sea is the theme of this erotic anthology, edited by Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse.
From the sun soaked bays of Australia to the rainy coastal towns of England, Smut by the Sea has it all. Whatever your interpretation of naughty seaside fun, there’s something nestling between the covers for you. Surfer boys, sea creatures, pirates and the fairground abound in this exciting collection of stories from erotica’s finest authors.
