‘Deflowered’ tells college women’s sex stories

It was just last summer when IU alumna Abby Kincaid and her friend Ursulla Tadlock exchanged stories with each other about how they lost their virginity.

Now Kincaid’s story and others can be viewed online at defloweredmemoirs.com, an online anthology filled with stories submitted by women, mostly college-aged, who want to tell their stories about that memorable experience.

Kincaid, who is the creator and editor of the site, graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in English and in 2003 with an M.A. in English. The singer/songwriter/guitarist from Los Angeles came up with the idea after sharing her own story with friends.

“I realized that this was something everyone could relate to,” she said. “I knew there were other girls out there with stories to tell.”

Kincaid decided rather than go out and collect the stories herself, she wanted to have people write their own stories and then compile them into an anthology.

She was inspired after seeing “Mortified,” a live show where adults read old journal entries out loud from their teenage years. The show later spawned two books, and Kincaid is hoping to turn her project, “Deflowered,” into a book or film, project as well.
Dave Nadleberg, creator of “Mortified,” offered Kincaid advice on her project and found the two had similar audience appeals.

Kincaid also spoke with Los Angeles writer and editor Joe Donatelli, who offered advice on “Deflowered” and edited some of Kincaid’s pieces.

“I thought it was a great idea; I knew Abby had something,” Donatelli said. “It’s just a matter of getting the right PR and finding the right audience.”

Donatelli mentioned there were a few issues with verifying and making sure submitted stories were accurate.

“I mean, it is a bit of a struggle,” Donatelli said. “You get this story and it sounds great, but then you have to ask yourself, ‘Is this what really happened?’”

As of yet, there are eight verified stories posted on the Web site, with more to be posted Friday.

Having searched for stories in late summer of 2008, Kincaid said she just launched the Web site this January. Just this past week, the Web site was mentioned on the Nerve.com blog scanner.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “I’m just so glad to see it finally going. It’s one thing to have an idea, but to actually make it happen and see it come to life is something else.”

Tadlock said she still recalls the night she and Kincaid first spoke about the project.
“It was crazy. We were sitting there talking about heavy metal rock, and then we started talking about this,” she said. “And now her Web site’s finally up. It’s unbelievable.”