Mediated Desire and the Technical Evolution of Epistolary Intimacy
This article examines how communication mediums shape romantic tension, focusing on latency, materiality, and perception.
The Monroe Papers
This is where the ideas are finished.
The Monroe Papers are long-form essays on storytelling, structure, and the discipline of writing well. Each piece is built deliberately—examining not just what works, but why it works, and how it can be applied.
If the Monroe Minute (my blog) is exploration, the Papers are conclusion.
Mechanics of the Erotic Arsenal
A mechanical analysis of how deliberately emphasized objects introduced early in a sapphic narrative can build and discharge erotic tension.
Translations of Heat
By examining Sappho’s Ode to Aphrodite alongside Anaïs Nin’s psychological erotica, we can develop a flexible framework for writing high-tension sapphic encounters.
The Unwritten History of Desire: Global Trajectories in Erotic Literature
This essay compares several ways erotic expression becomes indirect, playful, or layered, from Edo-period woodblock prints and framed tales to magical realism and digital algospeak.
The Tectonic Shift: Re-Engineering the Sapphic Enemies-to-Lovers Arc
A craft framework for distinguishing sustained, high-stakes opposition from conflicts built primarily on irritation or misunderstanding.
The Semiotics of Undressing: Wardrobe as Foreplay in Sapphic Romance
An analysis of Sapphic Sartorial Pacing, drawing on fashion semiotics and gender performativity to explore how clothing, touch, and its consensual removal can shape an intimacy scene.
How to Build Tension in Sapphic Erotica for Maximum Impact
Practical craft techniques for using anticipation, sensory immersion, and emotional stakes in sapphic erotica.
The Observer and the Observed: How to Write the Female Gaze in Erotica
Use the female gaze as a flexible craft lens for considering who observes, who acts, and whose experience shapes an erotic scene.
The Warm Ink of the Unsaid: A Reader's Guide to Lesbian Erotica That Feels Real
This guide introduces seven volumes of Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year and the historically significant Coming to Power, while offering adaptable questions for reading erotic craft.