All Comments on 'Political Abuse'

Another fascinating, remarkable, brilliant story from KeithD! I am in awe of your talent and storytelling.

You are one of my favorite authors. However, I prefer your Mike Kavanagh stories. Mike Kavanagh is my man...love those stories. I'm not a big fan of Hardesty. Can't ever seem to get into them.

Thanks. I agree that Mike Kavanagh is easier to take for some people--that Hardesty is more than a bit over the edge, coming from the need to push the boundaries with the stories--and I've enjoyed writing about Kavanagh, but what it seems to come down to is that I know Washington, D.C., a whole lot better than I do New York, so plotlines come easier with that. And on New York, I think I enjoyed writing the Clint Folsom character more than Kavanagh. I'll have to take another look at Kavanagh though--not as wild and off the map as Hardesty.

I’ve been reading your stuff for years, heck a lot of what I read on literotica is your stories so I definitely like your work.

But I’ve noticed a lot of recurring descriptions of sex, of men etc it’s still hot but it’s a bit harder to enjoy the smut when it’s nearly all the same in terms of descriptions like “blond and perfectly formed”.

And while more Hardesty stories are always a treat, it’s become repetitive. Hardesty never seems to learn from “fuck twink/pretty boy for information and let them leave” only ends up with said fuck dead come the morning or following week. Then his relationship with Toby is always given the same paragraphs of exposition. For readers who’s never read your other Hardesty stories it’s fine but for long time readers it’s become predictable. Toby getting put in danger was a breath of fresh air, but otherwise it’s become somewhat formulaic and predictable ie new case, some sex scenes with the rent boy with rough cruel men, then with Hardesty which has 50/50 chance of them dying after Hardesty still lets them go despite who knows how many times this has happened, Toby comes in with the exposition of their relationship and eventually Hardesty solves the case.

I apologize if I’m coming across as rude.

Legitimate points. Think you'll see it's the same in the mainstream with prolific authors, though. There are only so many ways of describing Tab A in Slot B and you have to provide the variety in the setup to that. And there are only so many ways you can describe recurring characters too if you want to stay true to what/who they are. Even in the mainstream there is significant repetitive explanation in every book of a series. They have to stand alone for reader understanding. It's not particularly unusual for characters to be in ruts and make the same mistake over and over again. That's pretty much the way it is with real people. The basic problem, of course, is the volume of production. Some aspects of story writing can't be new and fresh in an author's 1,300th story outing (might check Anne Perry to see what I'm saying). Pointing out the repetition of phrases, descriptions, and character behavior is legitimate, but the only answer to this, of course, is just to stop writing. I don't see that happening with me this side of a coffin.

I understand the points you raised and I certainly enjoy your writing

I started out with Books 10 (on Amazon) and 1 and was super impressed! They swept me up. Plenty of vivid rough sex that blended seamlessly with the plot. Books 2 and 3 were very good, but it's a high bar, and I dropped "out of the moment," too often. Too many times when Hardesty or his sidekick knock on a door for reasons other than sex and are met with an immediate "Please fuck me" from a stranger. And they're off. But Political abuse is back in the flow. Highly recommended. Now I'm off to Book 5.