Is “Destined to Play” Australia’s very own “Fifty Shades”?

Grazia magazine has credited Fifty Shades of Grey with sparking a baby boom. Could first-time Australian author Indigo Bloome’s new steamy three-part series Destined to Play have the same fate?

As reported in The Sydney Morning Herald this week “the first in the Avalon trilogy may be Australia’s answer to the Anastasia Steele plot that has blown open the hunger for erotic fiction – and Destined looks set to please those who enjoyed the escapism afforded by the raunchy BDSM of Fifty Shades.”

Women are proving to be thirsty when it comes to more Anastasia-esque explicit fantasy. While I have read the first in the Fifty Shades trilogy, I just couldn’t continue reading Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. It wasn’t so much the poor writing or constant use of “he touched my sex” and “oh my” – it was more that there was so much sex it became dull. It’s no secret that I enjoy talking, reading and writing about sex – I have written about my personal sex life, but I have tried to maintain that fine line between exposing myself and respecting other people’s privacy. And, so far so good. But do I think sex is the be all and end all of a relationship? No.

It certainly is the dessert of any good relationship but it takes more than good sex and chemistry to make a relationship work. Being each other’s best friend, encouraging relationships outside of the partnership and supporting each other’s silly dreams are what relationships are about.

Now you might say people are paying money for sex – it’s erotic fiction after all. And I agree but I think it’s possible, even in this racy genre, to say too much. Nothing is left to the imagination. I don’t know about you, but I prefer a bit of mystery and I felt overwhelmed with the amount of sex in Fifty Shades. This might have more to do with the lack of action I was getting at the time of reading it than anything else. I have high hopes for Bloome’s book (a pseudonym, naturally) who is a financial consultant based in Hobart, but hails from Sydney.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports

The 40-something-year-old author made economy and finance her life after a visit to Wall Street when she was just 15. A recent spell in bed with glandular fever saw Bloome dip her toe into a whole new pastime.

A dip into a world of adultery and no-strings-attached fantasy, suspended reality and submission, Destined to Play sees Dr Alexandra Blake revisit a past lover.

“A 36-year-old psychologist specialising in visual perception comes to Sydney to give a series of lectures and meets up with Dr Jeremy Quinn, an ex-lover whom she hasn’t seen for years,” reads the publisher’s spiel.

“After a few glasses of champagne in his luxurious hotel penthouse, he presents her with an intriguing offer: stay with him for the next 48 hours and accept two extraordinary conditions.”

“The main difference between this plot and Fifty Shades’ is that its heroine is a virgin. Indigo’s heroine is a mum with two kids, a household and a husband,” explains a Harper Collins spokeswoman.

I wonder if the heroine’s family life will help or hinder the success of the Avalon trilogy. It’s no secret that we all have fantasies in our lives. Some people explore them and others keep them as just that, fantasies. It intrigues me what makes people jump off the edge and explore their sexuality. I’m not talking about affairs, cheating or not believing in monogamy – I’m talking about the violence and submissive qualities in sex.

I’ve always wanted to dabble in erotic fiction and I do believe someday I will. I was disheartened after reading Fifty Shades as it wasn’t what I expected, and if I don’t place a book on my colleague’s desk (we’re both big readers) then it means I don’t recommend it. I’ve only just parted with the first of the Fifty Shades trilogy because another colleague asked to borrow it. I usually hate when my books go missing but if this one got lost I wouldn’t care.

The Avalon trilogy is being “rushed” into print after pre-orders in iTunes saw the title, announced on May 24; shoot straight to 7th on Apple iBooks bestsellers’ chart. It debuted at number two in the romance category and went on sale on July 1.

“The way people look and dress an act, what you do, what you earn, how well educated you are, means nothing when you are stripped bare, desperately naked, vision violated, symbols of slavery strapped to your ankles, wrists and neck”, reflects Blake at one stage, deep into the ‘experiment.’

What do you think of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon? Will you be reading the Avalon trilogy? Why do you think the world is obsessed with erotic fiction?

Image Image2

Similar Posts:

• Is This the Future of Publishing? by Tamsin Howse
• I Should Write About Vampires by Monique Fischle
• Has Fiction Sold Women a Lie? by Hayley Ashman
• 50 Shades of Lust? by Rose Russo
• I Have A New Secret To Tell You… by John James