The Summer Camp Team

While Summer Camp may have only one byline, it actually takes several people to produce high-quality erotica. The team is an all-volunteer group, and I’m very grateful for their efforts.

Since your thanks are their only payment, please take a moment to send feedback to the team.

Nick Scipio – Author

Nick started writing fiction at the age of sixteen. Using a green pen (it’s a long story), he wrote short stories for English class, but quickly graduated to writing erotica for his own amusement. When he arrived at college in the late ’80s, he discovered the Internet and soon became a devoted reader of online erotica.

After college, he found he had little time to write fiction. He was busy making a life for himself in the professional world, moving up the ladder in a small software company. The small software company grew into a large software company, and was bought by an even larger company. Several mergers later, Nick found himself working for a very large company, the hated makers of unrealistic platinum-haired plastic bimbo dolls. He walked away from that monster company with very few regrets and joined a much smaller company. He is now very happy—so happy, in fact, that he’s writing erotica again.

Strickland83 – Proofreader

Strickland83 had been reading erotica online for a while, but last year, when he stumbled across a story about some teens hiking to a lake, he knew he had found something special. He soon found himself Addicted To Summer Camp. He began lurking on the Forum shortly after it was announced. One day, a call went out for some background information on the story. He had been re-reading the story to pass the time from one Monday to the next, so he had already compiled the information. The time had come to de-lurk. His message about posting the files brought an immediate response from Nick and he became involved. More re-reading resulted as he became involved in the Forum discussions. One day, he asked Nick if he really wanted to know every error in the text and his proofreading career was launched.

In real life, Strickland83’s career involves IT and corporate management. He is similar to Paul in some ways. They were born about a year apart and both experienced a large part of their sexual awakening in the summers of 1978 and 1979. They also both love hiking in the great outdoors. Unlike Paul, he never attended a nudist camp or enjoyed such a wide variety of experiences. Inspired by Nick’s work, he has started writing. You can find his stories at Strickland83.com or StoriesOnline. He is married to his high school sweetheart and they have two wonderful children.

Terry S. – Proofreader

It seems like Terry has been reading erotica forever. (He still has favorite stories from rec.arts.erotica dating back to 1991 which are occasionally re-read.) He really wasn’t trained as a proofreader, being a mathematician by schooling and a computer programmer by career. He has also never found the love-of-his-life, and is still single.

After being away from erotica for a while, he found alt.sex.stories.moderated and found a story that he really liked by this guy Nick Scipio. After Nick requested input from his readers, Terry actually started sending messages to the authors. When he found a mistake in a story, he would generally send a message to the author. Some authors seemed to love hearing about them and others hated it. Nick always seemed to appreciate it.

Terry is currently editing/proofreading for Nick, Chowhound99, and RealLifeDragon. Due to his posting schedule, the latter is done post-release.

…and the rest – Reality Checking

The rest of the team is secret. They’re a diverse and intelligent group of people, and several are authors in their own right. They see each chapter after the first draft, and provide critical feedback on everything from general believability to specific plot points. They also have a wealth of personal experience to offer, which comes in handy.

The team is secret because most of them want it that way. Many of them join discussions in the Forum, and they don’t want their words to have undue weight. They’re privy to all sorts of inside information, after all. And yes, they know who dies and who’s the wife, which is another reason to keep their identities secret.

Think about that the next time you join a conversation in the Forum. You might be talking to someone who Knows. Then again, you might just be talking to an astute reader. Or you could be talking to a clueless idiot. The ratio is something like 2:96:2, but you never know (and I’ll never tell).

MizPattay – Editor (Retired)

MizPattay has been editing erotica for a short time—only since the fall of 2002—but has been a fan far longer than she cares to admit. She vividly recalls reading and re-reading the naughty bits of a certain paperback novel when she was 12—way back in the ’70s. Her curiosity and love for all things sexual blossomed from there, and she’s been expanding on those interests ever since. She loves it because it combines the biological, the social, the political, and the psychological… all in one delicious, fascinating package.

MizPattay likes to attribute her newly-discovered editing skills to her first career—as a secretary for 20 years in various places, both private and public. Her second career is with the government, in the IT field. Speaking of private and public, she hopes to begin writing her own erotica, and has recently been practicing on her “friends.” MizPatty is a hardcore hedonist. She lives in Washington, D.C., with four cats and five tankfuls of fish. She’s newly separated and enjoying a “vigorous” social life.

Once again, your thanks are these people’s only payment. Please take a moment to send feedback.