My name is not really John Tagliaferro, but my real e-mail address is DiscreetDomCC@gmail.com

I began with the idea of writing a much kinkier story than what is in the finished product. Many of the basic elements stayed the same, but it evolved into a slightly hotter than vanilla love story. I suppose I could go “recycle” it and make a kinky version and I probably will, since I am buying 10 ISBNs.

The character John is a lot like me, but not exactly. The first name is generic, the last name is the maiden name of a relative of mine.

NotSuki mentioned a virtual cleanup of my condo in the story. She (and other women I know) has been telling me for years to get more shelving, pick up my junk, throw things out, the whole list, because it “scares women away”. I began with John being a regular guy with a messy place, working in defense.

NotSuki said the messy place had to get cleaned up. It might be a fantasy story but some things are just too crazy, even for fiction. The job was just fine.

Around that time I had a disaster. A flood, similar to what is mentioned in the story but not exactly, ruined much of my stuff and condo. I was also informed that I was getting laid off in three weeks. The scene where John is telling Suki about it contains accurate details of my life at the time of the writing and I did win seven dollars in the Megamillions lottery too, but the other winnings did not happen in reality. Instead, I was put on a new project right after earning a modest raise and bonus.

But, to get the place cleaned up I imagined winning the lottery, which NotSuki said ruins everybody. I told her what I thought I would do if I had actually won at that time and that is what went into the story.

During college I tutored athletes, as a university athletic department employee. I also like to work on cars and am restoring one. Have looked at trucks like the one John drives, but would probably restore an old International as a car hauler.

Not sure if it is going to get into the story or not (as I write this, the couple just finished making love for the first time “raw”), but if I did become financially independent I would build cars for my son and mom first, then finish mine. Not sure if I would go into the resto-mod business or not.

NotSuki thought it would be more interesting if John ended up with the daughter rather than the mother. If they existed in reality I would be more attracted to the mother. Jung is loosely based on a lady who worked in the same building as I. But we never dated.

I did not consciously base Suki on anybody. I just started with my likes, smart, nice, dark hair and dark eyes. She was almost Hispanic, then almost Italian, but I kept thinking about people I dated who fit that and it did not work out very well, so I made her Asian. By the time I had her described and meeting her friends after her first tutoring session, I realized that I had loosely described a lady I dated briefly in college. Different national background, but much the same physical description. That relationship ended nice enough, and I ask people back home how she is doing when I visit, so I left her that way.

I used the name Suki from a waitress I met in Alabama by the same name. The waitress was not mononameonic, but I thought that would be a unique touch. Behind the scenes, Jung named her that for the same reasons.

NotSuki contributed much more than what she takes credit for on her page. Trish and Sam were inspired from friends of her she has told me about, who sounded similar to people I knew. Actually, a girl I dated in college, who became a CPA, would constantly accuse (not to their face) any woman in law enforcement, firefighting or the military of being a ‘lesbian’. I sort of separated the CPA from the basher and made Trish and Sam, with other traits supplied by NotSuki.

As NotSuki notes, I softened up Trish by using some of the reasonable feminist attitudes of Tammy Bruce. That is why she asked Suki what happened at John’s, rather than accusing John of attacking Suki.

The unique style of marriage that John and Suki seek is not really that unique, but certainly not mainstream. I was introduced to the concept when I dated a woman who was estranged from, not divorced from, her husband. I wanted to get married, but she had the attitude that we should not mess up the way we had things with all that legal stuff. Still, she tried to get divorced and her husband refused, so we kept dating until I was transferred to another State.

Eventually that idea evolved into what I describe in Suki I and I have read much more detailed versions in discussions on Slashdot and the Reason.Com/Blog. The situation came up other times with other women. Rarely did a lady insist on actual marriage and when they did they seemed to have other motivations in mind, plus a history of multiple divorces.

The hypnosis vehicle stayed in the story from the racier version just because I could not see me getting involved with a twenty-five year old, especially one who is a client/student. Seemed easier to steer me to the daughter that way too.

The element of Suki “picking” John comes from both mine and my son’s dating experiences. It seems like the women we get involved with long-term pick us, nit the other way around, and we go along with it. At least from what we have discussed it seems the same for him.

The long journey to safe sex without a condom and the agony the couple experiences came from several experiences of mine. The sex scenes, especially guiding a sub into a Dominant role, came from online role play with NotSuki, when she was “switch curious” and found me to chat with. She is almost always sub, I am almost always Dom and neither of us seems to mind switching when the other wants to.

The story is set in the near future and I am about to go through and add some more gadgetry that should be just around the corner. Nothing crazy. Everything will be some sort of improvement on gear I have experience with.

Certain things in the story were left generic, like café’s instead of brand names, but the places described in Crystal City do exist at the time of this writing and something with the same function should be in the same place in the future.

Clarendon and Rosslyn are a slightly different matter. I completely made up the hangout for Suki and her friends. If there is a location in that area that matches then it is pure coincidence. I have been to a bar in Rosslyn like the one I describe for John and his friends and expanded off of the general impression I had of the crowd, and the giant bill from happy hour wine being one-third the price of regular.

Like NotSuki mentioned, the stuff about Suki having abusive relationships with women in her past is not meant as any attack on any group, it is just part of a story and something that is certainly not unheard or, we just rarely hear of it unless it is a close friend that it happens to. I should have some mention of therapy for Suki, other than the self therapy she gives herself. Any abuse victim should get professional help.

I really hope that it is not lost on the readers that although Suki had bad experiences with certain people she does not lump everybody together as potential abusers. She liked much of her experiences, she just did not like being abused and changed her preference for partners.

In describing scenes, I stuck with giving vivid descriptions of the things that truly matter and sparse descriptions of things that can be imagined by the reader to give the reader “ownership” of their interpretation of the book. Also, I wanted it to be shorter than it turned out, so a detailed description of Trish’s one bedroom apartment seemed a bit much. I was thinking Bob and Emily’s apartment from the Bob Newhart Show, if anybody is curious.

Suki’s first description of a METRO train ride came straight from overhearing one lady talking to another the day before that was written. At least the guy checking out her legs, some woman rubbing on her and her impression of women “staring daggers” at her. She was a very attractive young woman too.

Not sure what else I can cover that NotSuki will not delete, so I will leave this here for now.

John