Email: rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com



 

Lusty Lady

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Watch my first and favorite book trailer for Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica. Get Spanked in print and ebook

Friday, October 30, 2009

Gorgeousness: "You Blink" by Elizabeth Elmore and Bob Nanna

If you are/were a fan of Sarge and/or The Reputation and/or Braid or just want to hear a gorgeous song, check out "You Blink" by Elizabeth Elmore and Bob Nanna. It's a hauntingly gorgeous song that I can't stop listening to, with the kind of lyrics that Elmore does exquisite justice to. I guess it's a sad/bittersweet song, but it's so beautiful as well. Bittersweet.

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Big in Canada: Globe and Mail article on me

Check out this great article about me, "Forget porn, gimme my smut" in today's Globe and Mail. Thanks so much to everyone who made that happen!


photo by Jennifer Roberts for The Globe and Mail

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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Peep Show author interview with Kissa Starling



How did you come up with the idea for your story “Busted” in Peep Show?

I have a wild imagination and I constantly think up story plots. Public displays of affection are sexy hot and I couldn't resist the urge to submit something for this anthology. The back row of a deep, dark movie theater or hotel by the hour? The only difference I see is the audience and I loved writing about how both sides would react to blatant, in your face, public sexual interactions.

Did the story change as you were writing it from your original conception of it?

I had most of the plot mapped out in my head before I ever tarted typing. I'm sure I embellished once the words transferred to the computer screen but my original thoughts stayed pretty much intact.

What’s your favorite line or paragraph from your story?

Lydia squirmed around on the seat, trying to make sure no bare skin touched the fabric. They weren’t the first to play like this and they certainly wouldn’t be the last. The thought of what might be on the stadium seats made her shudder. I like this look into Lydia's personality. She's getting ready to “perform” in front of an audience full of movie watchers but she takes the time to think of other exhibitionists that came there before her. The shudder is actually kind of funny considering she's preparing to do something similar to the crushed-velvet, theater seats.

Is your Peep Show story similar to or different from your usual erotic writing style?

I believe that readers will find this to be very similar to my usual erotic writing. A lot of my writing includes elements from the BDSM lifestyle. Voyeurism and exhibitionism are both rampant in dungeons all over the world where people practice the lifestyle so this wasn't a huge stretch for me.

What do you think is sexy about exhibitionism and/or voyeurism?

Exhibitionism is the freeing of ones mind from the preconceived sexual moral notions most of us are brought up with. There's nothing more exciting than looking up to find someone sharing a moment with you. Voyeurism is the flip side. Anyone who's watched an X-rated movie or spied on another couple's intimate moment is labeled a voyeur but what about those 'people watchers’ out there? I know a lot of people who go to the mall or out to dinner with the sole purpose of 'people watching.' It's a fun activity; I've done it myself. If those same people we love watching so much began kissing, groping or rubbing would we look away? Um, I can speak only for myself but of course not! Watching others gain pleasure from one another can bring the watcher his or her own pleasure and nothing is sexier than self pleasure.

If you care to answer, are you more of a voyeur, exhibitionist, or neither?

I definitely lean toward the exhibitionist end of the spectrum. I'm more of a get in the action type than a watcher but I can see the fun on both sides.

Do you think there’s something inherently exhibitionistic about writing, especially writing erotica?

There just may be. I mean it's not like an author can deny knowing about certain sexual ideas or proclivities if he or she writes about them. We authors insert a little part of ourselves into every story we create. Writing is often a form of anonymous exhibitionism and it can be truly titillating!

What are you working on next?

I am currently working on the fourth book in the Lifestyle Series for Red Rose Publishing. Chalan's Story is about a trainer and his pony. This is the first time I've written about the interesting fetish of pony play and I've learned so many things already. I hope to finish and submit it one before the end of the year.

I'm so glad to be a part of this anthology. Working with Cleis Press, and the famous Rachel Kramer Bussel, is fantastic! Learn more about me at www.kissastarling.com

Kissa Starling "Busted" (www.kissastarling.com) is a woman of many words. Her stories range from sweet to sizzling and everything in between. What started as a few words written in a diary has turned into a full-fledged writing career. She spends time each and every day dreaming up plots, researching settings, and dreaming up characters.

Below is an excerpt from "Busted" by Kissa Starling. To read the whole story, check out Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 stories in Peep Show by clicking here.

“What are you wearing?” My man is such a perv. No wonder we get along so well.

“Everything that you requested. Why don’t you let me drive and then you can see what I’m wearing in person?” She laughed into the phone but Andy stayed silent. At times she wondered what she was doing with such a serious lover, but then she remembered the way he made her feel when he…

“Lydia. Are you there?”

“Yes, I’m here.” She squinted against the glare of the car traveling opposite her.

“Tell me what you’re wearing.” Lydia swerved to the right to avoid going over the yellow line.

“A short skirt…”
So short that my ass peeks out.

“No panties, right?”

“Of course not. My black thin silk shirt…”

“No bra, right?”
Why can’t I ever finish a sentence?

“No, Andy, no bra. Listen I have to drive.”

“Don’t hang up that phone.” Silence. “Tell me about your bush.”

“Again, just as you like it. I haven’t shaved in weeks.”
Ten million men like bare pussy and I get an Indian guy who loves hair!

“Mmm. I can’t wait till you get here. You have me hot already. Now get off of that phone. You shouldn’t be talking and driving at the same time.” Just thinking of the night ahead spurred tingles throughout her body.

“Really? Well than maybe you shouldn’t be calling me. See you soon.”

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Peep Show author interview with Donna George Storey



Rachel's note: Donna George Storey is one of my favorite writers and is such a huge inspiration. Her plots are always creative and blow me away with their detail and heat. Her story "Clean and Pretty" is so realistic, and plays a role in the Peep Show book trailer.


Donna George Storey

How did you come up with the idea for your story “Clean and Pretty” in Peep Show?

When I was in Tokyo in the spring of 2008, my partner and I stayed in boutique Japanese-style inn right in the middle of Ginza. It was a bargain at $400 a night, but every detail was just right, including the shower stall which was a floor-to-ceiling glass cubicle set in the corner of an elegant bathroom. The golden wood paneling and romantic lighting made showering a special experience—in Japan the bathing ritual is elevated to a religion. The possibilities for an erotic story dawned on me when I caught my husband admiring me through the steamy glass.

I’ve also always been intrigued by Japan’s commercial sex industry and was especially inspired by a book of photographs called Pink Box: Inside Japan’s Sex Clubs by American lawyer Joan Sinclair, whose patience and sincerity gained her access to this hidden side of Japanese culture. I knew from friends’ reports and my own research that new clubs come and go in Japan’s red light districts, but they all rely on a creative gimmick. Peeping into the woman’s bath is a common sexual fantasy in Japan, if porn comics are any indication, so I put that peeping Toshi proclivity together with the fancy shower to make up a pink box of my own.

The details of my “masturbation in the shower” club are based on what really goes on, but there aren’t any clubs exactly like this as far as I know. However, if any sex industry entrepreneurs are interested in developing the idea, please get in touch!


photo by Joan Sinclair from Pink Box


cover of Pink Box

Did the story change as you were writing it from your original conception of it?

The title of the story refers to the English translation of the Japanese word kirei, which means both “clean” and “pretty.” I’d always been fascinated by the dual meanings—they’re not mutually exclusive, but certainly suggestive of Japanese cultural values. So I thought it would be a good title, but as I wrote the story I discovered lots of new possibilities for the meaning of that word, both in English and Japanese, culminating in the story’s climax. I came away feeling I’d learned something about language, Japan and sex—three of my favorite topics.

What’s your favorite line or paragraph from your story?

I enjoy layers in clothes, cookies and stories, so this moment of “layered voyeurism” is a favorite in “Clean and Pretty”:

“For a moment I feel dizzy, disoriented. There are too many eyes here. I’m watching Hiro watch a stranger watch me slide my soapy genitals over the glass. Only then do I notice his right arm jerking in an odd motion. I step closer and peer over his shoulder. Hiro’s fly is open, his ruddy erection pokes up through his jeans, nestled in his clenched fist. His other hand holds a wad of tissues at the ready. Suddenly he stops. I freeze. I’ve been caught spying and will surely pay a price.”

Is your Peep Show story similar to or different from your usual erotic writing style?

For some reason, my stories that are set in Japan like “Clean and Pretty” have a special magic for me. The erotic element is always heightened, perhaps because my own thirty-year relationship with the country involves an unsatisfied yearning. No matter how far I’ve penetrated into the culture, I remain an outsider peering through the paper screen. I can definitely feel that passion in this story, which ranks among my very favorites!

What do you think is sexy about exhibitionism and/or voyeurism?

Well, whatever it is, I have to say, every single story in Peep Show really pushes all the right buttons for me. Sex is supposed to be private and hidden, so there’s that delicious sense of breaking a taboo inherent in a public display. It’s also supposed to be shameful, so to have that “dark” side of ourselves seen, accepted, and ultimately shared by the viewer feels satisfying on a deep level. It also occurs to me that we don’t spend all that much of our erotic lives actually having sex. A much greater percentage is spent thinking about it and responding to visual provocation of all sorts whether it’s a sexy media image or a smile from an attractive stranger. Peep Show takes that teasing gap in the raincoat and pulls it all the way open to bare all.

If you care to answer, are you more of a voyeur, exhibitionist, or neither? Do you think there’s something inherently exhibitionistic about writing, especially writing erotica?

I confess I’m both a voyeur and an exhibitionist. It’s impossible to write erotica and not expose a great deal about my fantasies and turn-ons, even if my characters don’t exactly mirror me in every way. Readers are obviously voyeurs, but I think a writer needs to be a voyeur as well. Watching people gives me my material and I’m certainly there in the corner spying on my characters as they do their dirty deeds, scribbling notes all the way.

What are you working on next?

I have a novel simmering, which will peep into the sex lives of famous Americans in past centuries. It’s a very voyeuristic project, and I’m having lots of fun with the research.

Donna George Storey "Clean and Pretty" (www.donnageorgestorey.com) is the author of Amorous Woman (Neon/Orion). Her fiction has been published in numerous anthologies, including Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories and X: The Erotic Treasury. She writes a column, “Cooking up a Storey,” for the Erotica Readers and Writers Association.

Below is an excerpt from "Clean and Pretty" by Donna George Storey. To read the whole story, check out Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 stories in Peep Show by clicking here.

Is Hiro watching now?

My nipples tingle, and I feel a gush of wetness between my thighs. It’s not water, no, and it’s not for the man jerking off outside the stall. It’s for Hiro gazing at me through the hidden surveillance camera.

I squeeze out more soap, rub it over my breasts and push them together as if I’m wearing some obscene bargirl’s bustier. It’s time to move on to the “Breast Soap Show.” I lean forward and press my upper body against the glass. In spite of the heat and steam, the wall itself is cool. Yet, as I rub my nipples against it, the mild sting sends sharper pangs of arousal to my cunt. I shake my shoulders slowly, sliding myself along the hard, slick surface. This is no act. I am genuinely turned on.

And Hiro? Does he feel that chilly fire in his body, too?

A face emerges from the steam, inches from the glass, eyes fixed and bulging. I shimmy faster. A tongue darts out, desperately flicking at the glass. I moan. Hiro’s tongue would be just like this, cool and unyielding. He’s a cool man in every sense of the word. He never touches his girls, he told me. Mixing work and pleasure dirties things.

But I want to be dirty. I want to be touched.


For more on Donna George Storey, see her Bottoms Up guest blog post, "Spanking for Soccer Moms" and my interview with her about The Mile High Club anthology

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Win this $325 24-karat gold vibrator from JimmyJane November 19th at In The Flesh!

Yes, the In The Flesh Reading Series 4-year anniversary party/reading is going to be OFF THE HOOK. The latest sponsor is JimmyJane with this 24-karat gold Little Gold vibrator, worth $325. I will be thinking up a good way to give away this prize.

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If you missed me on the Hella Fabulous show this morning...

You can listen to me here.

Sorry, was crazy getting back from trip and didn't have time to post, but it was so fun. What you won't catch on the radio is all of us opening our legs and flashing First Avenue, or me showing off my hot new shoes (below). BIG thanks to Hella and Ruth for having me on Hella Fabulous on East Village Radio.

My hot new Steve Madden shoes

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BlogTO covers my Toronto sex and cupcake adventure

Big thanks to Toronto blog BlogTO for such a great writeup of my entire weekend adventures! I myself very stupidly didn't put batteries into my brand-new digital camera and still don't have them in so don't have photos of my own, though BlogTO got some great ones. And on Friday, I think, the Globe and Mail is also running a story. There are many reasons i want to go back to Toronto, and one of them is the fabulous sex toy store Come As You Are, which is not only a worker-owned cooperative, but also had some very cool toys. I'd have shopped but was busy getting ready for the workshop.

What do you get when you mix smutty writing and extreme cupcake enthusiasm? You get Rachel Bussel (renowned erotica author and cupcake connoisseur), who was recently in Toronto promoting all of sex, sugar highs and buttercream frosting.

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Please, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission table of contents finalized

Also a reminder that the deadline for my anthology Orgasmic (click here for call for submissions - female authors only, but in December I'll be posting the pansexual call for Best Bondage Erotica 2011) is this Sunday, November 1st!



I just got the finalized table of contents for Please, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission from Cleis Press and am excited to share it. The book's not out until May (you can pre-order it on Amazon), and will be paired with Please, Ma'am: Erotic Stories of Male Submission, which is being finalized now. I'm SO thrilled with this very hot cover and can't wait to get postcards made.

Introduction: Risk and Reward

Anticipation Shanna German
Because He Can Elizabeth Coldwell
Avery Says Sommer Marsden
The Sub Fairy Mercy Loomis
I Breathe Your Name Tess Danesi
Long Time Gone Heidi Champa
Power Over Power Emerald
Knot Here! Yolanda West
Veronica’s Body Isabelle Gray
The Negotiation Remittance Girl
A Night at The Opera Evan Mora
Mommy’s Boy Doug Harrison
No Good Deed Alison Tyler
Masochist on Vacation by Aimee Pearl
Lil’ Pet Brat, aka Lily Guangli Kissa Starling
Pleasure Keeper Charlotte Stein
Welcome to the World Ariel Graham
Stroke Lisabet Sarai
Sunday in the Study Justine Elyot
Walking the Sub Salome Wilde
Just What She Needs Donna George Storey
Your Hand on My Neck Rachel Kramer Bussel

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Peep Show author interview with Angela Caperton



How did you come up with the idea for your story in Peep Show?

My partner Drake is fascinated by sexy popular culture from the mid 20th Century – pulp magazines, exploitation films, and pin-up art. He’s always sharing his finds with me, so when I saw the collection title, Peep Show, it was natural for me to try and write something set back in that “Golden Age” of pin-up art and photography. I imagined a girl, innocent of her own sexuality, seduced by the power of erotic imagery into taking some chances and exposing herself. From there, the story mostly wrote itself.

Did the story change as you were writing it from your original conception of it?

The twist at the end came to me while I was writing it. My original concept was more romantic.

What’s your favorite line or paragraph from your story?

Probably this one. I think I caught something of the essence of tease in it.

All the time, the other five men clicked intently, spellbound as she was, their cameras touching her, chasing the light along her curves, fondling her breasts and bringing the nipples to explosive sensitive peaks, molding the tight curve of her thighs and hips. She turned before them, showing her bare bottom, aware that if she bent only a little, they would see the spread lips of her treasure.

But she kept that from them.


Is your Peep Show story similar to or different from your usual erotic writing style?

I am slowly learning all the different voices I have inside me (did that sound psychotic?) but for the most part, I really write two kinds of story, mostly depending on whether I am writing for an erotic market or a romantic one. I love writing both kinds, but erotic stories are a little less bound by convention. “Calendar Girl” is similar to my other erotic work. I have a story coming up in the indie pulp mag Out of the Gutter that is, in some ways, the counterpoint to this story – more about voyeurism than exhibitionism.

What do you think is sexy about exhibitionism and/or voyeurism?

So many things…

I believe all writers and artists are voyeurs. We spend much of our time watching the world and interpreting it in our heads and hopefully in our work and turning the fantasies into words or art. Exhibitionism is at least in part about the promise of aesthetic fulfillment and, when we’re lucky, erotic fulfillment, as well. The standard belief is that men are more aroused by visual stimulation than women, but I know a lot of women – including myself – who are turned on by a good-looking guy or girl showing some skin and, of course, the perfect pairing may well be a voyeur who enjoys looking and an exhibitionist who enjoys showing off. It’s wonderful foreplay.

If you care to answer, are you more of a voyeur, exhibitionist, or neither? Do you think there’s something inherently exhibitionistic about writing, especially writing erotica?

I am probably more of an exhibitionist than a voyeur. Although I appreciate naked people and I am sometimes turned on by explicit visual erotica, it’s not something I pursue often. I have a little bit of experience with exhibitionism and it is a turn-on, but again, not something I have done often. And, sure, writing erotica is exhibitionistic though many of my characters do things I would never do. Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t fantasize about them…

What are you working on next?

Several things. I love writing short stories for specific markets, including your books. I find the submission calls irresistible (make of that what you will!) and they stimulate me to think of stories that I might not ever write otherwise. I’m also working on a couple of pieces that would probably be best categorized as erotic horror. Finally, when other urges don’t compel me, I’m making good progress on a sequel to my Eppie-winning erotic fantasy, Woman of the Mountain. The sequel is called Woman of the Water and it’s more focused on dominance and submission than the first book. I’m having a lot of fun writing it.

See also: guest post "Visually Aroused" by Angela Caperton on Bettie Page and her story inspiration.

Born in Virginia and later raised on a sailboat, Angela Caperton (“Calendar Girl”) has traveled extensively and appreciates the world in all its forms. Her erotic fantasy, Woman of the Mountain, won the 2008 Eppie for Best Erotica, and she has short stories in Lust at First Bite and Girls on Top.

Below is an excerpt from "Calendar Girl" by Angela Caperton. To read the whole story, check out Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 stories in Peep Show by clicking here.

Charlie appeared like a genie to take the roses and she stood and walked to the screen, her breath faster and the line between her legs sodden and dripping. Desi paused beside the screen, looking at the lurid curtains and the sofa, like something in a sultan’s harem. She thought of the Arabian Nights and the woman who kept herself alive by telling stories, by enchanting a man with her talents.

She thought of April and her nipples tightened.

She shed her blouse, camisole and bra without hesitation, and before she put the blouse back on, she looked at the costumes on hangers behind the screen. Some of the shining fantasies were no bigger than her hand, and her nipples grew as hard as marbles as she imagined herself in glossy black and white, shining patches of satin. She stole a glimpse of herself in the mirror, unable to look directly at her image, the rising curves with dark rigid tips, and her face that of the woman in Bobby’s photos.

She slipped on the sheer blouse and buttoned it to the place Mr. Bentley had asked for, aware of every place the linen touched her, its cling no more than mist, but intense as a warm finger. She stepped from behind the screen, her blood pulsing in her ears, her throat, and her treasure. Almost giddy, she walked toward the men and their cameras.

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Book trailer of the day at Shelf Awareness!

Thanks to free publishing industry newsletter Shelf Awareness for naming the Peep Show book trailer book trailer of the day! And to Andie East for recommending I contact them.

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Snapshots from Toronto

I'd post more but I'm rushing off to a big meeting, then at 3 I'm on Naked News and at 7:30 teaching erotica at Come As You Are. Navigating and visiting Toronto and my friends has been a blast, cupcake meetup at The Drake Hotel rocked, but today I have to go to Don Mills for my meeting and...it's far. So a little uncertain how I'll do. I've otherwise walked and the fact that this is such a walking city puts it on my list of Cities To Potentially Move To.

Below two photos are of the windows of the Bata Shoe Museum - sadly, while it was interesting, I'd say the windows were the most attention-getting part of it.





More photos on Flickr and postings on Twitter and Tumblr = only read those if you can handle lots of personal info/blathering/brain dumping, if you can't, stay here. TRUST ME.

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Peep Show author interview with Jennifer Peters




Jennifer Peters

How did you come up with the idea for your story, “People in Glass Hotels,” in Peep Show?

Like my main character in “People in Glass Hotels,” I got the idea by watching Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe on The Travel Channel. I was planning a trip to Germany—which I have yet to take—and the host of the show was visiting Berlin. The hotel she stayed in, the Velvet Hotel, had floor-to-ceiling windows, and the first thing I thought when I saw it was, “Wow, that’s an exhibitionist’s dream!”

Did the story change as you were writing it from your original conception of it?

Aside from the hotel, I didn’t really have a vision for the story beforehand. When I sat down to write it, I just started typing and let it go wherever it needed. By the time I reached the end, the only thing I knew had happened was that my couple had had sex in the hotel window; I had to go back and read it to find out the finer details of the story.

What’s your favorite line or paragraph from your story?

“Other times, I’d sit down at the computer with my vibrator and let it buzz deep inside my aching cunt while I looked at the hotel’s website, the exterior photos exciting me more than any of the real porn my husband liked to bring home.”

Is your Peep Show story similar to or different from your usual erotic writing style?

Since I spend most of my time writing and editing for adult magazines, my story for Peep Show was much less porny than my usual style.

What do you think is sexy about exhibitionism and/or voyeurism?

There’s something innately erotic about watching and being watched. Not just during intimate moments, but during even the most mundane minutes. Having someone look on as you eat lunch, read a book, pay for a purchase, it makes you wonder what they’re thinking and if those thoughts are dirty. And as the watcher, it’s easy to find ways to eroticize your subject’s every move. Especially if you don’t know the person, it’s exciting to imagine them in a new situation—or have them imagining you in that same position.

If you care to answer, are you more of a voyeur, exhibitionist, or neither? Do you think there’s something inherently exhibitionistic about writing, especially writing erotica?

I’m definitely more of a voyeur, but not just in the erotic sense; I’m a big fan of people-watching, and I love trying to guess who people are, what they do, where they’re going.

Writing erotica can be exhibitionistic if you let it, but for the most part my writing is entirely fictional—or based on someone else—so it doesn’t feel like exhibitionism. But on the occasion that there is a tinge of truth in my stories, I do feel incredibly exposed and can’t help looking around wondering if my editors know that a part of me is in the piece.

What are you working on next?

Most of my writing time is devoted to the family of Penthouse magazines and websites, where I’ve been for almost four years. Outside of that, I have no idea what’s going to happen next.

Hear Jennifer Peters read from "People in Glass Hotels" on Thursday, November 19th, 8-10 pm at In The Flesh Reading Series, Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome Street, NYC. Free, 21+, with 300 free cupcakes, click here for full details.

Below is an excerpt from "People in Glass Hotels" by Jennifer Peters. To read the whole story, check out Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 stories in Peep Show by clicking here.

Felix made the next move, and before I could look away from the glass, he’d pushed me up against it. My breasts were flattened against the cool, smooth surface, and when I looked down, I could see several people looking back up at meæor at least I told myself they were all looking at me; it was hard to tell which window had captured their attention, and I was a bit distracted. I sighed as I stared down at them, and then Felix was pressing his body against mine, his stiff dick nestling between my asscheeks as he kissed my neck and ran his hands up and down my body, eventually wrapping his arms around me and letting his hands wander down toward my pussy. When a finger brushed my wet pussy lips, I moaned and pressed my forehead against the window, my eyes closed tight. When I opened them, however, there were still people staring up at me. And this time I was sure it was me they were watching, because the handful of people from a minute earlier were still there and were now joined by others, some of them pointing up at the window.

“They’re watching us,” I breathlessly told Felix, and he mumbled something in my ear that sounded a lot like, “No, they’re watching you,” though his voice was so rough with passion that it was hard to make out his exact words.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Anything I must see/do in Toronto

I'm trying to have a mellow weekend in Toronto in between all the various press and cupcake events and meetings, and visit with Cory Silverberg, who writes the About Sexuality blog. I'm very excited to be visiting sex toy store Come As You Are, which features my books in the window display, for the first time. Also excited about Saturday's cupcake meetup at The Drake Hotel.

I will post the official events tonight or tomorrow, but for now I'd like to know:

Is there anything I MUST see or do in Toronto? Museums, landmarks, food, whatever.

Am also perusing Torontoist and blogTO for ideas.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Peep Show book trailer!

I'm so excited about this trailer! If you like it too, please consider rating it on YouTube. Big thanks to Ida for letting me use their song "599."

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Peep Show author interview with Nobilis Reed





How did you come up with the idea for your story, “Glass,” in Peep Show?

The story started life as the first segment, all by itself, an inspiration that drew from my job during college as a security guard. Part of my job included manning a camera bank and making recordings of anything I saw that would be of interest to my employers, basically anything illegal or unethical. There was a good deal of debate on the security team about what that actually meant and what we should be recording.

Ever since then I've had little fantasies dancing around in the back of my mind.

Did the story change as you were writing it from your original conception of it?

I dislike stories that don't have some kind of twist in them, and I tend to avoid writing stories that have a clear-cut “victim.” Those two influences, together, guided my efforts in completing the story. Once the inspiration dawned, writing the rest of the rough draft was fairly simple. The fact that I could add in a little meta-voyeurism was a bonus.

What’s your favorite line or paragraph from your story?

The last one, which unfortunately I can't reproduce here without spoiling the story!

Is your Peep Show story similar to or different from your usual erotic writing style?

Usually I write more "speculative" fiction, that is, science fiction or fantasy. I probably could have set this story in a "total information awareness" society but it wasn't really necessary. In retrospect it's probably a better story for having left that element out. The focus on the thoughts and feelings of the characters involved is very much my style, however. Aside from the speculative elements I don't believe this story is much different from what I usually write.

What do you think is sexy about exhibitionism and/or voyeurism?

For the exhibitionist, there's a kind of validation to it. "If a complete stranger likes me like this, then I must be really hot/macho/whatever!"

For the voyeur, it's more like "This person is putting on a show just for me!"

If you care to answer, are you more of a voyeur, exhibitionist, or neither?

Both. I'm not paraphiliac about it -- I don't need to be engaging in it to get off -- but there's definitely a charge for me both in being watched, and in watching. The "shower scenes" from the movies Porky's and Private School were some of the first times I saw naked bodies on screen!

Do you think there’s something inherently exhibitionistic about writing, especially writing erotica?

And yes, there's definitely an exhibitionist quality to writing and publishing erotica. One of the most fulfilling qualities about it is putting aspects of my own sexuality (fictionalized and disguised, of course) out for public consumption, and having them accepted, praised, and even rewarded. It's an incredible rush!

What are you working on next?

Currently, I'm writing the outline for my second novel, Pirates, while I gear up for the publication of my first novel, Scout, which will be coming out in mid-2010 from Logical Lust.

Nobilis Reed (”Glass”) takes care of his disabled wife, teenage kids, and too many cats, occasionally taking flights of erotic fancy that then become enmeshed in his brain until writing exorcises them. His career in smut has so far produced four novellas, which you can find at www.nobiliserotica.com.

Below is an excerpt from "Glass" by Nobilis Reed. To read the whole story, check out Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 stories in Peep Show by clicking here.

The glass dildo, this time. Yes, definitely the glass. Mira unlocked the bottom drawer and selected the hard transparent shape from the jumble of torpedoes and plastic phalluses and laid it on the desk in front of her.

A gentle curve, a pleasant shade of blue, a few tiny bubbles trapped inside: it could almost pass for a work of art. She smiled at the thought of just leaving it on the shelf alongside the walkie-talkie and the heavy ring of keys. Would anyone say anything? She doubted it.

The couple on her monitor stopped kissing and pulled at each other’s clothes. Mira looked up. It wouldn’t be long now, but where was that damned lube? Bit by bit, their bodies came into view. They were beautiful, both of them. Every Friday they showed up, performed their pas de deux, and left again. She had invented a hundred stories to explain their presence in the depths of the darkened parking garage. Not for the first time, she thanked the nameless engineer who’d invented night-vision video cameras.

She leaned back in her chair, pulled open two buttons of her blouse, and moved one hand into the gap.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Dita von Teese asks and answers, "What is a stripteese?"



Dita von Teese via Your It List

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Craig J. Sorensen's first real-life Peep Show



Author Craig J. Sorensen wrote the following guest post.

Growing up in a small town in Idaho, I was raised to believe that the very notion of looking in on the private lives of others was unthinkable.

I secretly loved the idea, but in my little rural subdivision, I never worked up the nerve to try my hand at a peep. I didn’t want to chance getting caught. Everyone knew everyone, and that would be a heinous crime.

As such, my first peep show was as a teenager in New York City. We were on a high-school trip and we four potato-fed Idaho boys crept out of our room at a dive of a hotel near Times Square. Beyond the standard stops that they took students, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, and so on, we found an adult bookstore.

Irresistible!

In the back of the store were booths with the little locks like one would see in a pay toilet. For the price of a quarter, I got my first Peep Show.

This was not a live peep (what did you expect for a quarter, kid?). But the experience was memorable. The show was the grandchild of the nickelodeon, and instead of watching through a small viewer akin to turn of the twentieth century stereopticon, it flashed on the door in front of me. The scene was dimly lit, matching the vibe of the small booth, and featured a young woman slowly working a glowing dildo over her body.

My friends saw much more graphic depictions of sex in their pay-by-the-pump shows.

I felt cheated. I’d never seen an adult movie and the show I saw seemed scarcely more graphic than a spread in Playboy or Penthouse, which was something I’d seen plenty of. But the image of this peep grew on me. In the end, I’m thankful that I saw the show that I did. The image was much more lasting than what was described by my friends. Maybe it says something that when a couple of them went back for another show, I didn’t.

Thirty years hence, I wonder how much of this brief film is as I remember it. Was her face so beautiful, in such rapture? Were the splashes of colors that emerged beside the roaming dildo in the red-is-grey-and-yellow-white surroundings as vivid? Was that crease down the middle of her stomach and the ridges bordering her ribs so tactile? Did her nipples rise so temptingly from her nubile breasts at the trace of the object?

Was her pubic hair, back lit by the dildo when it re-emerged from her folds really sweet-strawberry-blonde?

This was one of those slow-fuse lessons that erupts suddenly on growing perspective. I’ve been known to read the music to a song I’ve listened to for years only to find that certain notes or accents were only in my head.

I now wonder if the dildo even penetrated her body.

I now know that the magic in the peep is not just the show before us, but our investment in the tension it creates.

My story, “Ownership” from Rachel Kramer Bussel’s Peep Show examines the dynamic not only of peeping, but our investment in the peep, and how a peep becomes more vivid, like the light of the dildo along that girl-on-film’s body. The images that stay with us are often the surprise. The strange, magic moment that could never be repeated.

This is the essence of erotica – the essence of a peep.

Until next time, happy peeping!

Craig's bio from the book:

A country boy by breeding, Craig J. Sorensen “Ownership” got his first Peep Show at an adult bookstore in New York City during a senior trip in high school. He’s been peeping ever since, and parlays this fascination into his erotica. His work appears in anthologies and at various online locations including Clean Sheets.

Below is an excerpt from "Ownership" by Craig J. Sorsensen. Read the entire story in Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 stories in Peep Show here.

Troy scooted closer to Kendall and handed the other beer to her.

Her eyes were the deep slate color of storm clouds when a small shaft of sunlight had managed to peek through. Her cheeks were bright red with a bit too much blush and her slim lips were slivers of vermilion. Soft blue eye shadow shimmered like mica in a cool riverbed.

Kendall’s body language remained shy, but her full hip pressed his. The aroma of mint and beer crossed the tiny divide between their faces. She accepted Troy’s first, soft kiss. He moved his lips slowly side to side against hers, and her mouth finally opened a little. His tongue could barely fit in. The tip of her tongue was rough and tasted of malt and honey. She received the kiss awkwardly but a deep moan promised great passion. Troy’s cock was hard as a girder. He kissed along her full cheek then gently licked her ear. She moaned, and her soft curves conformed to his skinny frame like a fitted sheath to a balanced blade.

Kendall pushed him gently away and took another drink. He nuzzled her neck until another breathy sigh issued from her chest. Troy unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. Her hand started to rise as if to push him away again, but relaxed and stroked his forearm as he nuzzled again and moved down the blouse. It fell open. Troy pulled off his T-shirt. Kendall combed his chest hairs with her fingers while he untucked her blouse and peeled it from her shoulders. “Umm, just because we took off our shirts—I mean, I don’t want you to think we’re going to—” Kendall covered her bra with one arm.

“Oh, sure, sure.” Troy smiled reassuringly. His cock pushed at his zipper like a lifer on the verge of a prison break. Troy was a skilled fisherman, and knew the essential value of patience.

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Good Vibrations photo and Peep Show on Fleshbot!

Lots of Peep Show and other news to share, but for now...

Fleshbot ran a very sexy excerpt from Donna George Storey's "Clean and Dirty" from Peep Show, about a very special Japanese shower peep show. Stay tuned for the book trailer in which I act this out (well, I suds up in the shower).

I have some upcoming radio gigs, waiting for all the details but I believe Monday, October 26th, I'm going to be on Naked News, and then Monday night at 7:30 I teach erotica writing in Toronto at Come As You Are. And then when I get back I'll be on Hella Fabulous on East Village Radio - looking like the morning of Wednesday, October 28th. Will update (I learned my lesson with San Francisco - you snooze on the nonstop 24/7 event promotion, nobody comes to your events!).


Donna George Storey, me, Zille Defeu at Good Vibrations Berkeley on Sunday for the Bottoms Up reading

Yes, I wore jeans. And sneakers. I don't think in 9 years of doing readings I've ever worn sneakers, but there's a first time for everything. Audio from the reading coming soon.

Oh, and no time at all to investigate but my lovely little Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica blog that used to be at spanked.wordpress.com got removed for violating Wordpress's TOS. :(

The Spanked book trailer is still going strong on YouTube. An idea was floated to do a PG and an X-rated Bottoms Up trailer. Perhaps...someday I'd love to do 2 trailers, a clean and a dirty version. For now, I am eagerly awaiting the cut of my new trailer. And biting my nails.

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Interview with me about cupcakes and food at Svelte Gourmand

Check it out at Svelte Gourmand, where I answer questions like:

How many cupcakes do you eat a week? And when you do, do you always eat a whole? Any meal/time-of-day you tend to gravitate to/incorporate them?

When you’re not eating cupcakes, what are some of your other food loves?

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Peep Show author interview with M. March



This is the first of several Q&As, conducted via email, with contributors to Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists.

M. March

How did you come up with the idea for your story in Peep Show?

This story, "Missing Michael," was actually from an old novel I was working on. The whole novel was written from the point of view of a gay man, but I chickened out with finishing that novel and decided it was better to write a new novel written from the point of view of someone more like me, i.e., a lesbian. But I had saved the old novel because I really liked parts of it and thought I could salvage it eventually in one form or another. So the story in Peep Show started with the first paragraph of the first page of that old novel, but then I rewrote it so much, it bares no resemblance to that old novel at all.

Did the story change as you were writing it from your original conception of it?

Like I said, I originally planned for this to be a rewrite of that old novel, so that definitely changed. It's kind of difficult to remember, as I wrote it so long ago, but I don't think I had multiple viewpoints in the original conception.

What’s your favorite line or paragraph from your story?

"I’ll eat his ass like it’s a seven-course meal and suck his nipples like they’re a cold milkshake."

Is your Peep Show story similar to or different from your usual erotic writing style?

Definitely different. I never wrote a gay erotic short story before and it seems odd that I would, considering I'm a lesbian. But there's a part of me that can understand the beauty in men, especially queer men, and also a part of me that feels mentally like I am a gay man. Also, I had some experience in my life being in a heterosexual relationship, so I do understand the sexual appeal of a male, and the sexual experience of being with a male.

The multiple viewpoints is also different than how I usually write, and this story is much more poignant than I usually write. I tend to write funnier erotic stories. For me, I think I was trying to write about a breakup I had, which to me felt like a death, and writing about how you move on from that.

What do you think is sexy about exhibitionism and/or voyeurism?

That's a good question. I think there's something sexy about having sex where you could be caught, but likely won't be. (Because I've been caught almost having sex once, and trust me, that wasn't fun at all.) Like if you're in a hotel room and you stare out the window, and you can see all these people below you, but they can't see that you are 10 floors up having sex. It's almost like you're having an orgy, because these other people are sort of involved in your sex scene. I got a few hand jobs in clubs and it was done very discreetly, but I got such a high, thinking, "I'm doing this and all these people are watching me, but they don't realize it." I'm not even sure I can put it into words why it's exciting, but it is.

Voyeurism is not really my bag, though I will admit I like some films where people are having sex. And it's kind of cool in the summertime when my female neighbor decides not to bother with a shirt.

If you care to answer, are you more of a voyeur, exhibitionist, or neither? Do you think there’s something inherently exhibitionistic about writing, especially writing erotica?

I'm more of an exhibitionist, as my last answer illustrates. And I think there is something exhibitionistic about writing fiction, regardless of genre. Although fiction is not true, everyone assumes that what you write is based on your personal life. And with erotica, people think God knows what kind of sex life you have. I am very private about what I tell people, but with my writing I let it all hang out, because I love writing, and to hold back exposing myself in my writing would not serve my writing well at all. It can be exciting being that exhibitionistic in writing. There's a thrill, very similar to the thrill you get being sexual in public. It's exciting to release a guarded part of yourself, very freeing.

What are you working on next?

I have a big Excel sheet with all kinds of deadlines I may or may not ever get to, but I really do hope to have a first draft of my novel written within a year. I signed up with NanoWriMo so I can get going on that. I am also contemplating a creative writing MFA, which I have been contemplating ever since I got the BA.

M. March (”Missing Michael”) is the pseudonym of a writer who has contributed to the New York Post, AfterEllen, AfterElton, Gay City News, Blacktable.com, Self, Complete Woman, Time Out New York, First-Timers and Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica. Nonerotica interests include watching cult movies, browsing in bookstores, drinking strong coffee and listening to obscure disco.

Below is an excerpt from "Missing Michael" by M. March. Read the whole story in Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists. Read excerpts from all 18 Peep Show stories here.

I’ve just gotten a monster erection.

It happened when Gym Boy took off his shirt. I got this terrible craving to pinch his hard, red nipples and then my dick got huge, swollen beyond belief. I was scared someone would notice it, so I went into the bathroom to take care of myself.

And now as I touch my cock, I can’t help but see Gym Boy in swimming trunks. He is kissing me and sticking a finger up my ass and covering my prick with his mouth and I am getting so hard and I am screaming and stroking myself so fast I may have a heart attack. A part of me hopes I will. I need to see Michael again.

Oh God, this feels so good. No, not just good; I am mad with pleasure. I feel like strutting around the gym–no, all of New York–with my giant cock out for every man to see and suck.

I spy a hole in the wall and think it’s the perfect size, and before I realize how ridiculous it is, I’m putting my dick in there, and thrusting my hips, and smacking my bare ass. I am not thinking about moving out of our house. I am not worrying about how to turn down that great guy my sister wants me to date; I am not wondering how I will manage to visit my husband’s grave without having yet another nervous breakdown.

All I am doing is thinking of Gym Boy.

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Sex (reading) in Brooklyn this Thursday

Thursday, October 22, 7:30 pm

Sex Writing Night hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel


With Mara Altman, author of Thanks for Coming: One Young Woman’s Quest for An OrgasmDagmar Herzog, author of Sex in Crisis and contributors to Best Sex Writing 2009 Tom Johansmeyer and Debbie Nathan

Facebook RSVP here. (not required)

At Word, 126 Franklin Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (2 blocks from the G train!). Rumor has it I'm bringing cupcakes!

And if you missed Mara Altman at In The Flesh earlier this year, this is what went down:

Key phrase in Mara Altman's reading from her memoir Thanks for Coming: "beer can of a cock."



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Me reading from Peep Show at Litquake

I read part of my story "I've Only Got Eyes for You" from Peep Show: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists on Thursday at Litquake. It was a fun night with spankings, beds, smut and a Q&A. I was a little nervous about not being at In The Flesh but loved the setting and the crowd.

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I'm back and Please, Sir cover

If you read my Twitter or Tumble over the last few days, you know that San Francisco was not exactly the time of my life. But the good news is I'm home, and I do have plans hatched for my next SF visit, but in the meantime, much to do and more events in NYC and Toronto. I wanted to share the cover of a book that's a ways away (May 2010) but has a stunning image. We're still finalizing the table of contents for this one, so stay tuned. You can pre-order it on Amazon now. And yes, there will be postcards!

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

In The Flesh named Best Reading Series by Our Town

I am so grateful and excited about all the love In The Flesh Reading Series is getting. THANK YOU! To all the papers and blogs and websites that have linked to it, to everyone who's attended and spread the word, to everyone who's joined the Facebook page, etc. Also major thanks to New York Times's UrbanEye newsletter and Melena Ryzik, The Skint (and free gelato all day, unrelated to me, but why you should read The Skint), and MurphGuide.

And to Our Town for naming it Best Reading Series! This is such a huge honor. I've always said we should get "Best Snacks" but really, this review says more than I ever could. I so want In The Flesh to be a friendly, fun, perhaps surprising and/or enlightening event for EVERYONE.

Best Reading Series: In The Flesh Reading Series
Third Thursday of every month at Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome St. (betw. Eldridge and Forsythe)
212-334-9676
Even though Happy Ending Lounge is most closely associated with its namesake series (which has picked up and moved to Joe’s Pub), there’s something a bit naughtier brewing at the Broome Street den of debauchery. Now in its fourth year, “In the Flesh,” hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel, features established and up-and-coming writers sharing their frank, funny, frisky tales of love and lust. Even more impressive: the series manages to do so—for the most part—without veering into creepy territory. Tension is cut by asking the audience to anonymously submit sexy secrets, and it doesn’t hurt that Bussel provides hundreds of cupcakes and not-to-be-missed miniature peanut butter cups to lull everyone into a sugar-induced sense of security. Normally we would avoid an erotic reading series like the plague, but after venturing down here to catch a friend reading her dirty dissertation, we were charmed by the humor of the readers and crowd and not at all displeased by the fact that everything we heard was actually—surprisingly—sexy. —BVB

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Watch me very briefly in the Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish trailer

This is an amazing book that Grand Central Publishing is putting out in 2 weeks, with me, Noah Tarnow, Wendy Shanker, Allen Salkin, Todd Levin, Lynn Harris and many other very talented folks. More on it soon. Oddly, my essay "Unprotected: A Confession" is in the Drugs not the Sex section.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

What I've Learned in Four Years of Running My Erotic Reading Series

I wrote something new for the first time in ages for the Huffington Post. It's called, shockingly (too tired to make up something different for this post's title) "What I've Learned in Four Years of Running My Erotic Reading Series.

Also check out HuffPo's new books section.

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200 free cupcakes at Sex and Comedy Night this Thursday October 15th!

Yes, we are having our first guest host while I'm in San Francisco for Litquake. I promise you LOTS and LOTS of laughter! Please come out and show Carolyn and everyone else how funny sex can be!


And yes, OF COURSE, there will be free cupcakes! 200 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa, in fact! So picture the photo above, times two, but be warned - they go fast.

In the ultra swanky, sexy former massage parlor that is Happy Ending Lounge:



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
SEX AND COMEDY NIGHT
October 15th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com


Sex and Comedy Night is back with guest host Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, Funniest Mom in America) filling in for Rachel Kramer Bussel. Featuring comedians Seth Herzog (Sweet), Dan Hirshon (Lampshades and Ottomans), Shayna Ferm, Shawn Hollenbach (Miss Fag Hag Pageant), Margot Leitman (Stripped Stories) and Mindy Raf (Best Night Ever), as well as writers Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy) and Megan Carpentier. 200 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman, 26, is the author of Dumbocracy, Generation S.L.U.T. and Death to All Cheerleaders. He has written for Playboy, Discover, Huffington Post, New York Press, mediabistro and The Daily Beast, and has been featured by the New York Times, Gawker, MSNBC, ABCNews.com, Salon.com and National Public Radio. Christian Lander, bestselling author of Stuff White People Like, said of Dumbocracy: "Beckerman uses the deft and subtle touch of a sledgehammer. If you can read this entire book without being offended, then there is a good chance that you are illiterate. If you can read this entire book and not enjoy it, then there's a good chance you take yourself too seriously."
www.martybeckerman.com



Megan Carpentier is a freelance writer and a former editor of Jezebel.com whose work has also been published in The Daily Beast, Glamour and Ms.


chaoticmegan.blogspot.com

Carolyn Castiglia has been seen and heard nationally on VH1, MTV2, NBC's Last Comic Standing, Nick-at-Nite's Funniest Mom in America, The Maury Show, ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Sirius/XM Radio. She performs stand-up all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Internationally she's appeared at the Comedy Cafe in Amsterdam and most recently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she filmed a pilot for BBC3 with Brown Eyed Boy called Laughter Shock, showcasing the 14 edgiest International stand-ups at the Fringe. Her solo show, Brown Ambition, has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theatres and premiered at Ars Nova. Her joke writing has appeared in Time Out New York, the New York Post and The Idiot's Guide to Jokes. http://carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Shayna Ferm performs solo, with her band and also with her sketch comedy group, Fearsome, at music and comedy venues all over NYC. Her band, "Shayna Ferm and the Upper Deckers" released their first album, Blonde, last year. She is currently working on a video project for one of her latest hits.
www.shaynaferm.com



Seth Herzog has been a professional actor since elementary school and performing stand up since the 5th grade talent show. After doing a lot of theater as a youth (and 5 summers at Stagedoor Manor), he found stand up again once he moved back to NY in 1994, and since than has a been a vital force in the thriving downtown scene. He's the creator and producer of Sweet, a long running, popular show at the Slipper Room. Sweet has hosted some of the greatest talents in the country, along with his Mom. On the big screen, Seth has appeared the films, Role Models, The Ten, The Baxter, Safe Men, In the Weeds and upcoming The Winning Season. On the small screen, Seth has been a regular pop culture pundit on VH1's Best Week Ever and All Access series for the last 5 years. Also, he's had some memorable turns on Comedy Central's "The Chappelle Show" & "Stella" as well as, CBS's Love Monkey, E! #1 Single, and AMC's Date Night.



Though incapable of doing his own laundry, Dan Hirshon is able to leave audiences in hysterics. Since taking the spotlight in Boston's Theater District several years ago Dan has performed at the Boston and Las Vegas Comedy Festivals, co-written and produced the sketch comedy album, Lampshades and Ottomans, and shared secrets about his traumatic childhood with strangers from Maine to South Africa. If you are looking to laugh or just looking for a 90-pound basket case with a Jewfro who dresses like a seventh grader, then you'll love Dan.



Shawn Hollenbach is a New York based stand-up comedian, improv actor and songwriter. You may have seen him on Logo's Gayest Week Ever or hear him occasionally on The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirus/XM's OutQ Radio. He has been featured on two episodes of Hot Gay Comics Live on here! TV and was the host of a celebrity video podcast, Busted. Shawn is the producer of Closet Cases, a Critics' Pick for Time Out NY and a Homo Must for HX Magazine. He was the creator and co-producer of the Miss Fag Hag Pageant featuring Caroline Rhea, Hedda Lettuce and Michael Musto. He also co-produces The Back Room at Comix Ochi's Lounge and The Skip and Sparkle Variety Show as Skip Lickdale with Katina Corrao. Shawn has also been on the Comedy Central at Crash Mansion Showcase and has performed with the Funny Gay Males 20th Anniversary Show at Gotham Comedy Club.
www.shawnhollenbach.com



Margot Leitman’s off beat, brutally honest, fearless comedy has earned her two ECNY “Best Female Stand Up” nominations and the “Joke of the Week” in Time Out New York. Margot now regularly appears as various characters, including the cult favorite Gynoblast on Late Night With Conan O’ Brien, in addition to appearances on VH1’s Best Week Ever, ESPN’s Cheap Seats, AMC, the Style Network, E!, Comedy Central, MTV and NBC Broadband. Most recently she can be heard as the voice of “Fox” on the new Spike TV cartoon The Team, as a featured comedian on Comedy Central.com’s Weekly Evil, and dancing in the current Mohegan Sun ad campaign. Every month she and Giulia Rozzi co-host the wildly popular, monthly, sex-themed storytelling show Stripped Stories. Margot has been featured in Glamour magazine, and the books Fifty Dates Worse Than Yours and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes. She has written online for the Lifetime Network, College Humor.com, EHow.com and in print for Playgirl magazine.
www.margotleitman.com



Mindy Raf has appeared regularly on VH1's Best Night Ever, and has contributed her comedy and voiceover work for WACB, The Daily Comedy Network, and Embraceyourgrace.com. Mindy also authored a widely-read relationship column on College Humor.com that has been featured in The New Yorker and the New York Post. Mindy performs stand-up and musical comedy as well as sketch characters all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Her most popular character being chick rocker/vegan activist Leibya (Labia) Rogers, who she played recently in her solo show Leibya Fair! Mindy is currently working on her first novel which is set to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin.
www.mindyraf.com

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4-year anniversary blowout bash and reading November 19th



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
4-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, SPANKING STORIES, SEX BLOGGER CALENDAR & MORE!
November 19th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com


We're celebrating 4 years of sexy smut with a party and reading galore! Bringing back memoirists Lily Burana (I Love a Man in Uniform, Strip City) and Isobella Jade (Model Life, Almost 5'4"), Abiola Abrams (BET, author of Dare), Jennifer Peters (Penthouse Forum), Desiree (contributor, The Mile High Club) along with Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories contributors Tess Danesi and Rosalind Christine Lloyd. You will also hear from the organizers of the 2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar, which Tess and host Rachel Kramer Bussel (Peep Show, Spanked, Bottoms Up) posed for! Copies of authors' books and the calendar will be for sale. 300 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa will be served. Prize giveaways include: paddle and slapper from Extreme Restraints, $100 Babeland gift card from Beyond the Birds and the Bees, 2 copies of the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar (featuring Tess, Rachel, Abiola and others), Abiola Abrams' novel Dare, XXX porn film Afrodite Superstar and hot word game SexySlang.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Once upon a fabulous time Abiola Abrams was raised by Guyanese royalty in a
gorgeous suburban ghetto of New York City, appropriately called the "Queens
County." These are her chronicles: Dare is her first novel, and her writing
is featured in the anthologies Dirty Words, Behind the Bedroom Door and A Memory A Monologue A Rant & A Prayer. Abiola's films range from Knives in My
Throat,
about mental illness, to Afrodite Superstar, about sexuality. She has hosted shows for BET, HBO and NBC and is now also a host-producer of The Planet Abiola Show. Recently audiences enjoyed watching Abiola get her dating game together as "Miss Picky" on VH1's Drew Barrymore produced hit reality series Tough Love.
www.abiolatv.com



Lily Burana is a punk rock girl turned writer and editor. Since starting her writing life as a columnist and editor at punk and alternative 'zines, she has gone on to write for The Washington Post, GQ, The New York Times, Self, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly, Details, The Village Voice, The New York Observer, and others. She has been a Contributing Editor at SPIN and New York magazines. Lily married an active-duty Army officer in 2002. Her latest book, I Love a Man in Uniform: A Memoir of Love, War, and Other Battles (Weinstein Books, 2009) was inspired by the overwhelming response she received to her writing about the domestic side of military affairs--a Slate Diary and a New York Times Op-Ed. Her first non-fiction book, Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America (Miramax Books, 2001) made Best of the Year lists in Entertainment Weekly, Salon, New York Newsday, and Rocky Mountain News.
Lily Burana



Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited numerous anthologies, two of which (Up All Night and Glamour Girls) have been Lambda Literary Award finalists, most recently The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Best Sex Writing 2009, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and Spanked. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Hilary McHone

Often based on her own explorations in the world of D/s and BDSM, Tess Danesi explores the darker side of erotica, writing with raw honesty about that shadowy area where pain becomes pleasure and pleasure pain. Tess has been published in several anthologies including Pleasure Bound by Alison Tyler, Do Not Disturb and Bottoms Up by Rachel Kramer Bussel as well as in Time Out New York. CarnalNation.com generously sends her amazing sex toys to review and she can often be found testing them in her high tech masturbation testing facility aka the office ladies room. In between all that and her actual job, for two years running, she’s produced the NYC Sex Blogger Calendar which raises funds for Sex Work Awareness. She blogs about life, death and everything in between at Urban Gypsy (http://nyc-urban-gypsy.blogspot.com).



Desiree is a brainy, sexy, foodie, geeky, writer chick from New York. She lives in Brooklyn with her vampire cat Snarf and has always had an inclination toward the naughty. She never backs down from a Scrabble challenge and once scored seventy six points with the word "clitoris." Her dirty stories have been published in anthologies such as Lust Chronicles and The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories and her musings about sex have appeared in the Huffington Post and The Frisky. She blogs about love, sex, and life at www.baserinstincts.com. For general info on her antics or to find out where to read her stuff, check out www.desireemoodie.com.



Isobella Jade is known as one of the tiniest working models out there. She is also the author of Almost 5’4”, her modeling memoir. In early November her graphic novel Model Life: The Journey of a Pint Size Fashion Warrior debuts. Daily Isobella gives modeling insight and advice on being a shorter-than-average model on her blog, and despite her height she has used what she does have and has modeled for Marshalls, Victoria's Secret, Easy Spirit, Macy’s, Bon Appétit, TLC, Univision, MTV, Women's World, and many, many others. Her story and advocating has been featured in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Allure.com, Page Six, Ad Age, The New York Post, WSJ, Nylon, Mediabistro.
www.isobelladreams.com



Rosalind Christine Lloyd is a contemporary fiction and erotica writer (and occasional poet, journalist and music reviewer) whose work has appeared in over fifteen anthologies. She currently has two novels in progress, is working on a compilation of her published short fiction and has one completed screenplay. She lives downtown with her queer version of a nuclear family.
http://scribevibe.blogspot.com/



Jennifer Peters is the associate editor of Penthouse Forum and Girls of Penthouse and a contributing editor to Penthouse Magazine. Her work has appeared in several places under numerous names, but her favorite bylines use her real name. Those rare works have appeared in Forum, Penthouse and Rachel Kramer Bussel's Peep Show anthology.



You'll be hearing readings from these books:


Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories



Model Life: The Journey of a Pint-Size Fashion Warrior



I Love a Man in Uniform


Giveaways include (more TK):

From Extreme Restraints:



Strict Leather Black Fraternity Paddle


12" Slapper With Holes

$100 Babeland gift card from Beyond the Birds and the Bees


SexySlang word game


XXX porn film Afrodite Superstar


Abiola Abrams' novel Dare


We're giving away 2 copies of the calendar!

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