Sex & Writing: A Trip to the Museum of Sex

I’m currently in the final editing stages for my first fantasy novel Written in the Sky: Rise of the Wadjet Eye Witch. Below is a brief synopsis.

Cover art by : Ronnell D Porter Designs

All, future astronomer, Memphis Holland wanted was to quit smoking. The pressure to complete her dissertation on Ophiuchus the lost astrological sign and receive her PhD in Astrophysics has been high. She goes to a hypnotist to rid her of her cravings and instead is given the ability to see the future, super speed and the gift of flight. This may sound like a good trade, but she doesn’t see it that way. These strange new powers and the fact that there is a serial killer stabbing women in their Third Eye chakras and leaving their bodies all over New York City has her highly stressed.

Yoga doesn’t help and neither does her new position at Sign of The Times, a New Age newspaper. Her mysterious new coworker Lawrence, the reporter covering the murders, puts her even more on edge. He is very friendly but he just seems a little too familiar. He also has this uncanny ability to know exactly what she’s thinking.

Her astrological predictions for the newspaper are quite a hit. But the eerily accurate personal horoscopes that she begins to receive from an anonymous astrogirl88 about her future are not. As the secrets and predicted events from astrogirl88 unfold Memphis is led down a dangerous path to find out who she really is and the unsettling truth that her destiny may have already been written for her.

What I’ve been struggling with is whether or not I should include a sex scene. I’ve always been shy when it comes to discussing sex; I blame it on twelve years in Catholic school. How could I pull the dirty thoughts from my head, put it on paper, stamp my name on it and hand it over to my dad to read?

I decided to immerse myself in sex. Um, no I didn’t organize a marathon of porn or begin to solicit guys on the street. I wanted my writing to be more sensual and artistic so I looked to film, French film.  I watched a few films on Netflix, What Lila Says, Girl Cut In Two, The Beautiful Person and Swimming Pool. They got the creative juices flowing, but I needed something more err stimulating. This is where the Museum of Sex came in.

I brought a few friends along and it became an adult field trip. The museum is located on Fifth Avenue in Flatiron and hosts interesting collections about human and animal sexuality. They currently have an exhibit titled Action: Sex and the Moving Image. It “walks patrons through the rich visual history of sex on the screen, from the first kiss caught on film through the rise of the modern porn industry.” Finally got to see the Tommy and Pam video, I could only watch for a few minutes, I was afraid that my eyeballs would contract Hepatitis. Midnight in Paris was also screening, but I went to school with her so it felt a little too dirty.

The museum has a permanent collection on the second floor, we learned interesting facts such as General Mills and Graham manufactured masturbation inhibitors before hocking carbs.

The third floor of the museum housed the most interesting collection The Sex Lives of Animals, it displayed interesting facts about gender, sexual preference and mating rituals.

We spent about three hours exploring, it was a lot of information to absorb and afterwards we all needed a drink. Luckily the museum now has its liquor license and has opened a sexy little basement bar named Oralfix.

Thanks to a three-hour tour I was able to toast my sexual writer’s block goodbye.

J*

January 23, 2012 | Categories: Inspiration, Must Do: NYC | Tags: French film, Inspiration for Writers, Museum of Sex, Oralfix Bar, Things to in NYC, Writing sex scenes, Written in the Sky: Rise of the Wadjet Eye Witch | Leave A Comment »