The late military historian Sir John Keegan posed a question about soldiers in war: How do they do it? How do they function under horrific, terrifying stress? His conclusion in his landmark work, “Face of Battle,” was that soldiers don’t die for their country; they don’t sacrifice themselves, risking death and debilitating injury, for Mom, apple pie, or even the girl/boy next door. They do it for their friends, their band of brothers and recently sisters who face the same perils together. Platoons become families, as much as one’s biological family, and perhaps even more so.
Imagine the sense of betrayal, then, when a family member turns on you? I’ve been a frequent contributor to the Coming Together series. Can’t think of better ways to put licentious literature to work. When I found that “In The Trenches” would be dedicated to Protect Our Defenders, I was onboard in a heartbeat. They are the folks who are trying to expose and prevent sexual violence in the military. I can only hope that soon the culture that looks the other way when a soldier is violated will come around and see that everyone ought to have the right for defend his and her country, notwithstanding gender or sexual orientation, no more than having a different color skin precluded heroic service.
My story, “Once Upon a Thursday,” focuses on a military family too. During the American Civil War a squad of federal soldiers is assigned to protect a train of supply wagons. The wagons carry the makings of a feast for the first official Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
Unfortunately, they get separated from the wagon train and become lost in the woods of Northern Virginia. Taking another cue from Keegan, who determined that the sphere of combat is actually very small and limited to the average soldier, my soldiers are lost, unable to see what’s ahead or behind them, even unsure of what direction to follow. But, as they blunder blindly through the forest they encounter another family, a young woman and seven elderly men, living in a ramshackle tobacco barn.
There is no logical reason for these people to be in the middle of nowhere, but really, there’s no logical reason why young men from faraway places should be blundering through there too. Like war itself, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
That these two groups join in a family feast speaks to the human need to make connections, especially in the midst of the chaos of war.
I am very proud to be in this anthology and in the company of some outstanding, imaginative writers.
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Grab your copy of Coming Together: In The Trenches here.
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Robert Buckley is a frequent contributor to the Coming Together series of anthologies, including a single-author “Coming Together Presents Robert Buckley.” His stories have also appeared in multiple editions of “Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica.” He is senior fiction editor for the Erotica Readers and Writers Association http://www.erotica-readers.com/ERA/index.htm, where many of his stories are archived.
Friday saw us wandering East London in search of the venue, the Tobacco Dock shopping centre, which we’ve since discovered was actually built by Harrods. Fortunately, I have a good sense of direction and am handy with a map, so we found it with no trouble. We picked up our passes and went in search of our stand, which gave us a peek at the venue – a real place of two halves. Downstairs is all vaulted ceilings and is very dungeon-like, which fit in really well with the kinky stalls and shows. Upstairs is much lighter, and that’s where we were. In a fabulous spot opposite the Television X and Get Adult stands, to be exact.
Victoria and I were alone to start with, setting up the stand and putting up posters, laying out promo materials, etc. But soon we were done and the show opened with crowds filtering through straight away. We were soon joined by the fantastic 
Saturday was always going to be the busiest day. The most visitors and the most authors appeared that day, including Zak Jane Keir, 
Sunday was busier than Friday, but not as busy as Saturday. As our sales were so fabulous on Saturday, we put out an SOS to K D Grace’s lovely hubby to bring more books to sell, so we popped them on the stand and we were away! We were joined once again by Aoife Brennan and Ashe Barker, and we also had good friend and 
So, our stand was all about erotic fiction and spreading the smutty word, but I suppose you want to know what the strippers and submissives were all about, don’t you? Well, okay, here goes…
Other things I remember seeing – a man with actual fangs, which was probably the most surprising thing I saw all weekend. A pony and trap, with the pony being human. Guys in rubber puppy outfits, including collars, leads and tails. Lots and lots of flesh, some of it a bit too much, I must confess. A random lap dance which was not very sexy at all, sorry. Some very cool outfits, and also some totally wacky ones. Fire play, knife play, wiggling and thrusting, spanking… the list goes on. If you weren’t there, I’m sure you can use your imagination 😉
But, lest you think the show was all total filth, here’s something to make you change your mind. I met some of the loveliest, most genuine, kind-hearted, generous souls I have ever come across at the show. Including a woman who was looking for gay erotica for her son. He’d just come out and she was incredibly proud and eager to make sure he knew she supported and loved him. That definitely plucked at my heartstrings. The wonderful Chris Hermon, a lovely, lovely man of many talents who was very interested in what we did and how we may be able to work together. The gentleman who works for a charity that 
It was, of course, a fabulous opportunity to put faces to Twitter handles, with sometimes surprising results. I confess to not expecting a priest to be following me on Twitter 😉 I also met people I’d communicated with in the past but never physically met. Spent some time with folk I don’t see very often and generally had a wicked – literally – time. I was incredibly happy to be there – don’t I just have the most fantastic job?!
I know I’m missing stuff out here, but I could go on for ages and ages. So I’ll wrap up with my thank yous. Thanks, obviously, to Victoria, my fellow Northern Bird, partner in crime, for being so awesome. We did it, mate! To Kev, who helped lots with organisation and did the banners, posters, postcards and lots of other things for the cause. Thank you to 
The brief for the hop was that my post should be sexy and scary, not wet your pants scary, which actually, is utterly perfect for me. Because that sums up what I like as a person, and what I like to write. I have such a vivid imagination that I won’t read serious horror books or watch horror films. I wouldn’t sleep – and that’s definitely not a good thing. I’m terrifying when I haven’t had enough sleep!
Then he kissed me. Once my body processed what my brain was screaming at it, I reacted. I pushed his chest as hard as I could, then ducked out of the way, moving for the door.
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