I have a new short story coming out next week called Don't Touch Me in the UnCommon Bodies anthology. It's a story about a guy named Beau who has a severe touch disorder. It's not erotic. Not gay. Just plain ol' fiction with a lot of heart.
It's a departure from my norm, but I feel like I've said that so many times now that I'm not going to say it anymore... I don't think I have a "norm". I just write what comes to mind, I guess.
Who is Beau? Where did the story come from?
Well, he's named after a guy I went to high school with. Stocky, muscular, handsome but sort of brooding. We lifted weights together some. He just had this unexpected, straightforward sweet/nice-guy side to him that I liked. But, I don't know what happened to him. I just flipped through the yearbooks I have for the last two years of high school, and he's only in the first one... his name's not even in it, just his picture. Hell, I can't even remember if he spelled his name Beau or Bo, and no recollection of his family name.
The touch aversion thing... Well that's my problem. As far back as I can remember, I've had problems with people touching me. Unexpected touch is the worst - I've punched a few friends accidentally when they had the misfortune of startling me awake with a touch. Thankfully, no hard feelings. If I know that I need to be touched, I can steel myself. Blasting music in my headphones on a busy bus works too. By overwhelming another sense, I can limit the effects of human contact. It's probably why I don't mind concerts... dark, loud, and I'm usually with my friend Mike who also likes standing in the back where it's less crowded. Alcohol helps. :) I can get downright cuddly depending who I'm with and how much I've had to drink. But generally? Yeah... no touchie.
It's me. Not you.
I can't even really explain it. It just feels wrong. Makes me slightly nauseous. My whole body cringes. My mother said that as a newborn, I would rather lay by myself than be held, and, as Beau says about himself, one of the first things I did was push her away.
Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person that people like to touch. Whether it's my tattoos or my hair or just... reaching out to pat or squeeze my arm while we're talking (it's overwhelmingly women who do this heh), people seem drawn to touch me. Then I'm torn about whether telling them how much it bothers me (after which most people either take offence and/or start treating me like a freak) and just putting up with it.
I'm nowhere near as bad as Beau in Don't Touch Me, however.
Anyhoo... that's the story of the story. You should check out the book, available for preorder through Amazon. It'll be live on the 24th of November, and if you haven't already, you should enter the giveaway... the authors have gotten together to give away a Kindle.
Enter to win a Kindle, hang out with some of the authors, read about the anthology. You know you wanna. :)