Blog Archives
Sex Hell Seems Fairly Natural
Sex Hell is a madcap, bizarro romp through the sex lives of four people caught up in a witch’s spell. One thing that really stands out for me is the creativity in the characters and situations. How do you start to write something as wild as Sex Hell?
I think it starts with my influences. I’m a big fan of writers like Christopher Moore, Douglas Adams, and Tom Robbins. To someone with my tastes Sex Hell seems fairly natural.
In one of the defining moments of the story Debbie is given the opportunity to trade in the last three years of her life and get great sex in return. This is a great contrast to her character, but where did the idea for this deal come from?
I believe the witch starts out with ten years but starts getting more desperate as Debbie rejects the offer and eventually drops the price down to three years. The idea came from considering different things that people want; in this case better sex and more youth.
Were you aiming for the bizarro fiction genre when you wrote Sex Hell, or was that something that developed as you were writing?
I set out to write an absurd comedy. I like this term “bizzaro fiction” and might start using it. Maybe it will steer more appropriate readers to the book.
Where do you think Debbie and her boyfriend Mike are a year after the story ends?
Debbie and Mike had certain issues and those issues would probably remain.
What is the next book that you’re writing and when can your fans expect that to come out?
I’m writing a “light” sci-fi book based on one of the characters in Sex Hell. There will be humor in the book, but unlike Sex Hell and my previous novel, Magno Girl, (which the Hungry Monster was also nice enough to review), this new book will not feature the humor quite so front-and-center. The story will be more grounded. The book is called Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody. I’m making fast progress so far, and I have a semi-realistic publication date of June 30 in mind.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Booklikes
When Debbie de La Fontaine tries to spice up her love life by supernaturally tampering with her sex life, she is cursed to spend every future encounter in a magical place called “Sex Hell,” where the sex is ludicrous and amazing–but the romance is scarce. Her only chance for escape is through the stingy clues supplied by a laughing demon, and the only way to obtain the clues is by returning to Sex Hell again and again to have outrageous sexcapades with the man she most wants to avoid–or does she? Sex Hell is an absurd comic fantasy about the confusion of relationships. How is love related to sex, and how is sex related to love–and do love and sex need to be related at all?
Sex Hell
Sex Hell is a madcap, bizarro romp through the sex lives of four people caught up in a witch’s spell. Debbie has a boyfriend, a hunk of a man named Mike. Debbie’s problem is that she’s more turned on by the idea of popcorn and a book than she is by her muscle-bound boyfriend. When a witch shows up in the diner where Debbie works as a waitress, the old woman makes her an offer. Debbie can trade in the last three years of her life and get great sex in return. Anxious that Mike will see through her excuses for not having sex, she agonizes over the offer. Her friend and co-worker Cynthia is all for it, and after Mike leaves town for work, much agonizing and a bit of shady bargaining, the deal is done.
Before the night is over, Debbie finds herself in a car crash—and then in bed—with Juan, a handsome guitar player. She feels terrible, Mike seems to know that she cheated on him, and she wants to find a way to get out of the deal. This setup topples the dominoes in a hilarious chain of events involving demons, bizarre sex, a Love Goddess, magical bongos, bad German accents, true love, and a road trip from hell.
If you’re looking for something wildly out of the ordinary, Sex Hell is right up your alley. The book reads like a 1930’s screwball comedy gone horribly awry in a so-wrong-it’s-right way, and if you’ve read anything described as “bizarro”, you’ll find plenty to like here. It’s definitely not for readers who are put off by graphic sex and language and you have to completely suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy the delightful absurdity of the whole thing.
Debbie de La Fontaine is a geeky, overly-anxious woman who takes “overthinking” to a whole new level. She’s the kind of hot mess who wonders if she should rush to change her clothes as soon as her boyfriend knocks on the door. Mike adores her, but Debbie goes to extreme lengths to keep from having sex with him. Cynthia is a good friend, but as a wing man, she’s terrible, and prone to leaving Debbie hanging.
Her boyfriend Mike is a caricature, superhero-like in his quest to save Debbie from the “evil witch” but equally tone deaf to the realities of the situation. Juan is handsome and cocky and desperate to avoid any kind of commitment, but since the demon sentenced him and Debbie to Sex Hell, he can’t get away from her, no matter how hard he tries. Their quest to get out of Sex Hell is the best part of the book. The situations they get into, and out of, and back into, are utterly cartoonish, but what else would you expect of a woman who keeps a portrait of Wile E. Coyote on her wall?
I’d recommend this as a great vacation read. It’s a fun, totally illogical but ultimately satisfying romantic adventure. Take it to the beach where you won’t be afraid to laugh out loud.
Pages: 320 pages | ISBN: 9780990636557
LITERARY TITAN 