LUSTY LADY: My birthday wish is for you to read my new book, Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3

I've been on a break from blogging and much of social media due to life and work and trying to figure a lot of things out but now that I have two books coming out in back to back months, I'm easing back into things. I turned 42 on Friday and while it was the opposite of a celebratory day, it was a day that made me realize life is short and I need to sure I'm living it as fully as I can. I had even taken a break from my newsletter but now that's back and I encourage you to subscribe because I do monthly giveaways just for subscribers - I'll be sending November's this week with a Tasting Her: Oral Sex Stories giveaway.

The book that I'm gearing up to release next week is Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3; the ebook edition pubs on Tuesday, with the print and audiobook to follow in December. There's still a part of me that can't believe I get to edit this series that I've been reading since the very first volume edited by Marcy Sheiner, because I'm still the woman who cried tears of joy when I finally broke into the series after several tries with my "Doing the Dishes" story.

I feel like in many ways this series reminded me why I got into erotica editing in the first place: because I'm a social creature, because I believe that more is more, because I love the short story form, because I want to give other writers the chance I was given when I published my first story. There have been many moments in the last few years when I've wondered if what I do is pointless; that feeling has certainly been amplified since the last election.

What I always come back to is the realization that an anthology isn't just about me; without authors writing vibrant, sexy, deeply creative and timely stories, I'd have no books. So I owe it to them, and of course to myself and my publisher, to make sure their words are read as wide and far as possible. Real talk: it's scary to care too much, whether we're talking about people or books. I am so proud of this book and my deepest fear is that it will be released into the world with a resounding flop. Because with a series, the pressure is amplified: it's not just about this one book doing well, it's about me wanting to have a future as the editor of the series for as many years as possible.

I'm probably not "supposed" to say that on my blog or anywhere else; I often get the impression that we are supposed to be only cheerful and positive about every aspect of publishing. But I see putting out books more as a gamble, except that there's far more passion and energy devoted to each title than there is to most gambling. Ultimately, though, the outcome is a gamble. I don't know if one person or one thousand or many thousands will read this book. For my career's sake and my authors' sake, I hope it's the latter. What I do know is that while I can't control that outcome, I can make sure that even if it's just one person, that I provide them with a knockout book that makes their eyes widen on every page, that features a diverse group of women who are bold and provocative and surprising, who are mix of straight and bisexual and lesbian, many of whom I'd call feminist, who are tender and loving and also wild and daring.

I hope you'll enter this giveaway (which is U.S. only due to the prohibitive costs of overseas shipping) and, if you want to support the book with just two clicks, add it to your Amazon wishlist and Goodreads want to read list. And, of course, if you want to read all 21 crazy hot stories, I'd love if you'd purchase it or request it at your local library (yes, many libraries carry erotica and many will order books if their patrons want them). I'll be sharing more about all the hotness in the book soon, but for now, good luck and please let people know about the giveaway!