The Waiting Room [Kindle Edition]

Remittance Girl (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“…We are all animals, Sophie, all of us. We think we are so smart—masters of our destinies, yes? We lie to ourselves that we have control. But if it does not rain, we die of thirst. If it rains too much, we drown…”

Everyone needs to discover his or her own special place in the world, but Sophie has found it almost impossible. Late one night, in the tumbledown waiting room of a derelict Cambodian train station, she meets a stranger who offers to change her life.

Having seen how fleeting and cruel life can be, Alex has found his own way to deal with its uncertainty. With the help of Marcus, his mentor, he has come to believe it is only through artificially imposed order and physical discipline that one can find a semblance of serenity.

Alex is certain he knows how to cure Sophie of her existential angst. But lurking beneath his altruism, does he have his own agenda?

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 234 KB
• Print Length: 115 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Republica Press (February 9, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003980WAS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,173 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Remittance Girl is the pen name of a Canadian writer who inherited and then squandered the talents of both her mother, the composer, and her father, the writer. She produced her first piece of erotic fiction at the venerable age of 36.

Born in Toronto, Remittance Girl spent her childhood at bullfights and in Catholic churches in Madrid, Spain. Her adolescence passed locked away in a selection of chilly boarding schools in the south of England. In her early twenties, she was a vocalist in a number of alternative bands. These experiences proved to be an excellent recipe for the formation of a rather perverse imagination.

The persona of Remittance Girl was born on the web in 1998 when she moved to Southeast Asia and began writing in earnest. As a perpetual expatriate, her stories often take the point of view of an outsider looking in. They examine eroticism in the face of personal and moral dilemma, and cultural disorientation. The express purpose of the work is to both arouse and disturb, often at the same time.

Remittance Girl's influences are broad in scope: from the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, the novels of Jane Austen and Kobo Abe, the music of Erik Satie and Metallica, to the films of Ridley Scott and the murky deviance of Japanese hardcore animation.

Her short stories have been published in M. Christian & S. Vivant's 'Garden of the Perverse', Lisabet Sarai's 'Cream', Violet Blue's 'Girls on Top', D.L. King's 'The Sweetest Kiss' and M. Jakubowski's upcoming 'Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, Vol. 9', among others. Three of her books, 'Gaijin', 'The Waiting Room' and 'The Splinter', are available through Republica Press. An anthology of her short stories is available: 'Remittance Girl' from Coming Together Press.

Remittance Girl now lives in a house with a giant mango tree in the garden and a cat named 'seven'. She writes, teaches, and grows orchids.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, Dark Angst Fiction, July 12, 2010

By 

Claudia D. Christian (Gainesville, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Waiting Room (Kindle Edition)

I find myself in a mental flurry because there is so much to say about The Waiting Room I am unsure where to begin. I want to approach this review as less of a personal experience and more of a review but it is very difficult Let's see how I do.

Remittance Girl (RG) uses language in a way I can only describe as sticky. The words remake a crumbling, crude backdrop into a poetic extension of the characters Sophie and Alex. The settings stick to you, exposing this grimy world with poetic simplicity. I have never been to Cambodia but I feel like I would know Battambang Central Station, the dingy room, and the dusty streets at first glance. The setting is a mirror of opposition. The uglier the backdrop, the more honest Sophie and Alex's interactions. It is definitely a third character in this wrenching tale.

So what happens?

Sophie, a woman who practices surface-normality with discomfiting ease, meets Alex, a German tourist, in a broken-down train station. What begins as a daring masturbatory encounter in an empty room morphs into an introspective study of walls. Walls that people put up and walls that others are inspired to climb.

Sophie is the builder who continuously stacks brick after brick. Alex is the architect who can see her structure's weakness.

The narrative flows between Sophie and Alex's experiences and Alex's recollection of those experiences to his mentor Marcus. We soon see Alex is not an accidental tourist of sorts who stumbles over Sophie. Chance happened, Fate stepped in, and Alex seized the moment.

Alex saw Sophie--the secrets, the numbness, the WHY as to what she is.

Alex wants to free Sophie. He uses his body and hers in ways that on the surface can be seen as kinky play but in reality is the language of true communication. Alex doesn't allow Sophie to hide from him. He sees her anger for what it is. He sees her pleasure the same. Alex is always searching for the truth, for another brick to slide out.

Eventually, he offers her three days of giving herself over to him. Sophie, despite her misgivings, accepts. Thus the tale of self-love begins.

The D/S between Alex and Sophie is a beautiful dance to watch. The dance isn't about hiding our flaws or searching for perfection. It's about honesty and how truth is an ever-fluid thing. Alex believes he knows exactly where and how far to take her. He missteps. Sophie, trusts him even when she may not trust herself, and finds her faith tested. When she falls she hits the ground hard. If you enjoy reading about D/S then you'll find yourself seduced.

Which brings me to the erotica. It is hot. Hot y'all!

RG proves herself to be the master of all things wonderfully dirty. She takes these sexual acts, ones we've either all read or experienced a million times, and makes it fresh. I felt trepidation as Sophie lay over his knee for the first time. When Alex finally slid into Sophie, I felt the long-ago thrill of welcoming a new lover again. Their last scene together...oh, my!

End thoughts? Alex wiggled into my mind. I came into The Waiting Room expecting a hot D/S story. I left it stripped. The story stirred up questions in me, ones that had been there for years. Just like Alex didn't allow Sophie to turn away from her truths, I wasn't allowed to turn away from mine. I strongly, strongly suggest anyone who is looking for erotica with depth to read The Waiting Room.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Multilayered and intensely erotic, March 5, 2010

By 

Monocle (On the Periphery) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Waiting Room (Kindle Edition)

From the first scene, this intensely hot novella shows us Sophie's not-quite-place in the world, and her search for identity and some kind of internal peace. It is not an easy journey. The path she takes - that she choses to take - after Alex's offer is twisty, dark, and deeply erotic. Trust, submission, sensuality, and their place within one's self all come in to play in this story, and Alex's own history and desires run through and give the reader an additional perspective.

A truly excellent read, and a story that is far more than simple erotica.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected, May 12, 2010

By 

@FallenDepths - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Waiting Room (Kindle Edition)

Some authors are such high quality that I don't need to know what the book is about before I read it. I have just started to enjoy stories by Remittance Girl and I have added her writing to the list - I will be reading everything she puts out if only to learn something about myself. Remittance Girl takes me by surprise with her endings...I don't know why but I'm always taking the story in another direction and then find that I have been outdone by an outstanding writer. This author understands something about human psychology - about domination and submission - that I am still fighting to grasp. If you enjoy spanking, sodomy, the psychological aspect of domination/submission, or you're just looking for a book with great sex you will enjoy The Waiting Room. If you enjoyed The Waiting Room you can also try Gaijin which was also an incredible read. Check out my other reviews as well - there are some really awesome authors out there right now on Kindle.