Since this is my first time posting here it seemed like a good time to talk about first times. There are a lot of firsts in a lifetime, many of which we don't remember ourselves, such as our own first smile or laugh or word or steps. We have to rely on other people to remember them. It's a toss-up whether or not we want to hear about them later, of course.
At any rate, I was trying to come up with some firsts from my life that I can actually remember and I realized that some that are meant to be significant are really very spotty in my memory. Things that you're taught to expect to remember, like you first kiss or the first time you have sex, are totally vague for me. But that's what you read in books, you know? Some hero or heroine remembers their first kiss or first copulation and it's wonderfulromanticmessywetstickypainfulstrangeneatnew. For me, not so much. My "first time" memories are less about an event than the circumstances of the event. Like when I first met my husband—at in Indian restaurant watching a mutual friend bellydance. Now that's memorable. Or the first time I saw Star Wars--in the big domed theatre with the curved screen and the speakers that circled the whole house. Wow. Just...wow.
Then there are the firsts you remember because they're a bit nerve-wracking. Like the first time I tried writing an m/m sex scene. It was a total hand-in-the-cookie-jar experience. Wondering if I would be caught at it and by whom. Wondering what that person would think or do or say. Then I finished the scene and it was liked I'd eaten that cookie and enjoyed every bite and there was no one to tell me I was naughty or to remind me how many calories were in it. Good times, yeah.
And now I get to remember the first time I sold a manuscript. It was 27 December 2007 and I was downing my second cuppa java and catching up on emails that came in over the holidays. That's a first I'm pretty sure won't get lost in my head for a long, long time.
So what are some firsts you can remember? Do you remember the big stuff or the little stuff? The personal or the global? What makes a significant "first" for you?
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4 comments:
I like that hand in the cookie jar way you described your first time. I really had no idea when I wrote my first m/m story 16 years ago that I'd ever find a community of women who liked reading and writing it, too. I'd never heard of slash or fanfic. Imagine my surprise when I learned I could get paid for it.
I came to writing m/m through fandom. The fact that I can get paid for it is indeed a delightful discovery. :)
I totally get what you're saying. I'll be sitting and talking to my mom and mention something that happened when I was a kid, something that I thought was important at the time, and she'll be like "I don't remember that at all". It's funny.
Hmm... Some of my most memorable days are when I received the acceptance for my first novel (of course *g*), my wedding day(I'm told I was the orginal bridezilla), and my first real party. That one stands out cause it's where I met my husband. :)
Ah yes, one's wedding day. I have specific moments from that day indelibly etched in my memory. True to form, they're none of the emotional or romantic moments, though. Instead they're all funny ones: the CD player skipping on the recessional music; the theatre friends starting "cleavage cam" with the disposable cameras... :)
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