That Reminds Me

Sometimes exploring balloon fetish forums and monitoring Tweets that mention balloon fetishes makes me think of something I should have remembered, but didn't. For example, a recent Tweet that started out being about the show Strange Sex turned out to be from someone who once dated a balloon fetishist.

It was one of those "duh!" moments when I realized that I hadn't even thought about attempting to interview partners and former partners, not to mention friends and family, of balloon fetishists. But it's an important part of the story. How we share, or choose not to share, our fetish depends a lot on the reactions those around us have to balloons and, assuming they know about them, our feelings toward balloons.

And so I'm asking for stories and opinions for anyone out there who is or has been the partner of a balloon fetishist, or knows one as a friend or family member. I want to know how you feel about it, what if any problems it's caused, how you cope if you do. And although this book is written by a balloon fetishist, sympathetic to my fellow fetishists, I'm also looking for the truth of the matter, because understanding this special love we have for balloons is not going to be the results of painting it in the best of all possible lights. It will come from telling the facts as they are, as best I can.

And while I'm thinking about it, I'd also like to hear from fetish models who do balloon pictures and videos, phone sex workers who have dealt with balloon fantasies with customers, and prostitutes who have indulged balloon fantasies. Everything is completely anonymous, of course.

If I'm going to do this, I should get the whole picture.

Collecting Stories

I have already gotten a few emails from balloon fetishists telling me how their fetish started, and what they like to do with balloons, and what other fetishes (if any) they have, and I can already, at this early stage in the process, discern two important facts:

First, I really have my work cut out for me. These stories are detailed and intimate and open and honest, but they elicit even more questions. And I think I have only gotten a tiny hint, even with all the years I've spent in online forums with other balloons fetishists, of the enormous variety of interests and experiences that I am going to be exposed to.

Second, this is going to be a fascinating experience. Even over the course of reading just these few emails, I have found myself thinking things like, "I never thought of that," and "I thought he was leading to something just like my own experiences, until he said that."

I think that by the time I have finished researching this book, I will have changed a lot of my own conceptions about what it is to be a balloon fetishist, in ways I never imagined. And while I usually start a book or story with some idea of what the end product will look like, I have a feeling that for this book, the final form will bear little resemblance to what is currently in my head.

It might be the most interesting writing experience I've ever had.