It's Valentine’s Day, so what better time to look at the romantic side of some of my stories?
**Contains spoilers for the Naked Girl books, so you may wish to read the books before this blog**
The Naked Girl series is primarily a love story between the two main characters; albeit with the added factor that one of them is a passionate nudist and frequent exhibitionist, while the other… isn’t.
In Best Friends With a Naked Girl, Lisa falls in love with Becky and battles with what she thinks is an unrequited crush on her best friend. This might be something that she could cope with, were it not for the fact that, during the course of the novel, Becky increasingly makes Lisa part of her exploration of nudism and exhibitionism, which unavoidably alters the dynamic of their relationship and makes it difficult for Lisa to ignore her true feelings. Their friendship is threatened and the girls drift apart, until Lisa makes peace with both her own awakening bisexuality and her attitude towards Becky’s exhibitionist side.
When Lisa finds herself moved to defend Becky’s unconventional behaviour first to her family and then to the girls’ former friends, who have ostracised Becky after she chose to dramatically ‘come out’ to them as a nudist in perhaps an ill-thought-out manner, she realises she can’t ignore or keep her feelings secret any more, and they come tumbling out; only, to her surprise, for Becky to profess her own love for Lisa, a love which she has harboured unknown to both Lisa and the reader (who sees the story from Lisa’s point of view) for in fact a far greater length of time than Lisa has!
It’s a big coincidence, and some readers may find it contrived, but I always wanted a happy ending for the girls. I actually wrote an alternate ending where Lisa and her friend Jacqui, with whom she has her first same-sex experience, pair off, but it didn’t feel right for the narrative for her and Becky not to end up together. The whole theme of the story is the reward of honesty; Becky is able to be open and honest and be herself with Lisa with regards to her naked side, and for that she attains Lisa’s affection. And when Lisa is honest with herself and with Becky about her feelings, she has those feelings reciprocated. The whole point is two people who are maybe quite different from one another can, through shared understanding and open-mindedness, achieve a lasting bond.
For the sequel, Love Life Of a Naked Girl, I wanted to explore more the relationship that has followed between the two girls, and also look at events, both in the previous book and in the present, from Becky’s perspective rather than Lisa’s. So we learn how Becky gradually developed her own feelings for Lisa, how she shared the same fears that voicing her crush would damage their friendship, but how in Becky’s case that led to a feeling of desire to unburden her other secret (her naked self) to Lisa.
In Love Life... though, the relationship isn’t safe. It’s under threat from external pressures; specifically the challenge of maintaining a relationship at distance, which many university-age people have to cope with as their studies keep them apart from their partners. While such relationships are quite possible, they require a degree of commitment on both sides, and it can sometimes be the case that it seems that one person is making more effort than the other. So it is with Becky and Lisa; we see Lisa’s commitment to travelling to be with Becky far outweighs Becky’s to go the other way; not because Becky does not want to see Lisa, but because Becky does not want to leave the comfortable and accepting world she has built around herself as a student.
It’s intended to be the idea of being able to be yourself tipped over balance into something almost selfish – a refusal to compromise that requires others to make a compromise for you, one they are more than happy to make because of love but which risks exhausting them. As Becky’s sense of identity becomes more tied up in her nakedness, she goes from being a relaxed nudist to someone who is almost obsessed with nudity, and without realising it, her behaviour begins to drive a wedge between herself and Lisa, and pushes her dangerously too close to someone with sinister motives. Indeed, Becky’s self-centred view is what finally pushes Lisa to the point of wanting to take a break from their relationship; not because she is mad that Becky has posted explicit photos of herself online, but that she never told Lisa about her ventures into nude modelling, or about her friendship with Harry.
Having Becky physically cheat on Lisa with Harry was a hard decision to make. If, after all, these two are meant to be a great love, a one true pairing, why would I as the author have my character do something so hurtful to the other?
But in real life, no matter how good they are for each other, people make bad decisions every day. Becky is emotionally vulnerable and, I hope, the narrative has communicated her deeply insecure side, the flip-side to her exhibitionist confidence that somehow also informs that; and the way Harry has fed and nurtured that side. When she and Harry strip together in the pub, she thinks she’s found a kindred spirit, one who is willing to try and understand her the way Lisa can’t, not realising that it isn’t Lisa’s willingness to be a fellow exhibitionist that she needs but the acceptance and understanding she already has from her (she’s also drunk; not too drunk to consent, but certainly outside her normal inhibitions). And in the morning she instantly regrets what has happened and does everything she can to distance herself from the act; first by acquiescing to Harry’s wishes, then by involving herself in Jacqui’s outlandish plot to avenge herself on him, and then finally, with maturity and empathy, to understand that she needs to be honest with Lisa so they can both move on from this, whatever the outcome.
I hope that the ending chapter makes clear, for all the characters, that honesty and a greater openness about feelings hold their own reward. Jacqui and Penny’s honesty with one another about their desires leads to a much more entertaining date. Carl’s honesty with Mary has seen her become more open to fulfilling his fantasies. Martin, the PR guy, and his assistant, find potential new romance in realising hidden feelings, feelings which have grown out of the ability to be honest with one another. And Becky and Lisa are back together and stronger, after a lot of hard work, as a result of both being honest, Becky especially.
Of course, honesty is not all that is needed in a relationship for it to work. But in romance, so much strife can be avoided if couples simply tell the truth, and listen to one another’s feelings.
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