Email: rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com



 

Lusty Lady

BLOG OF RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL
Watch my first and favorite book trailer for Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica. Get Spanked in print and ebook

Thursday, May 31, 2007

BEA!


Always Good Advice
Originally uploaded by publishersmarketplace
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday you can find me at the Javits Center at BEA. My book did not win a Lammy but you can still get a free copy of it Saturday at 1 pm at the Haworth booth, #1503. It was great to see so many fabulous writers all at once, people like Tristan Taormino, Hillary Carlip, Michelle Tea, Kate Bornstein, Barbara Carrellas, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, and I'm sure a ton of others I'm forgetting. Greg Herren introduced the erotica categories, drunk, to much hilarity.

As for BEA, I think it's my 6th one. I'm totally psyched but we'll see how long my crazy energy lasts. At a certain point, I hit a wall, and just want to go home and curl up in bed with my new books. But still, there's something intoxicating about all those books, all those people there who care about books, all those writers. It's also kindof scary because you wonder how the hell your book will ever even be seen by a single reader amidst all those others but it also makes you see how there's room for everyone in the literary marketplace. That may sound like an exaggeration, and yes, there are barriers to entry, but increasingly less so. I like to wander around the self-published and small press areas just to see what's out there. There's such a vast array and as much as I have certain yummy beachy fun books I definitely want to get, part of the fun of BEA for me is discovering new, often random books, which sometimes will sit on my shelves for a year before something urges me to check them out. These days, I'm never at a loss for a stack of books, not to mention my own that I'm banging out the last pieces of, but there's always room for more. Always more to see and be excited about and look forward to. See Publisher's Marketplace's Flickr for more pics. I'll be taking many myself.

I generally plan to be in the autographing area quite a bit, and have some friends I want to see, and a few agents and editors I've corresponded with who I want to meet. Trying not to get overwhelmed by it all before it even starts. And gifts, I love finding great books for gifts. Sandra Boynton tomorrow at 2!! Because, you know, my baby-wanting hormones need that extra pus. And, just for the juxtaposition, I have to hit the Goliath booth for Pulp Fetish and Naked Girls Smoking Weed. Will report back on the madness, right now have to finish some work and get some sleep so I can be ready to be on my feet all day.

Also come on out Monday night at 8 to Galapagos to hear me and Audacia Ray read. A little birdie told me that Molly Crabapple might be in the house too. Yes, I am luring you with the eye candy that is Molly, cause I adore her.

"The Joe Buck Show" on Bud.tv with Christian Finnegan

A while ago, I went to do this crazy and fun shoot in a NYC taxicab for the Bud.tv's "The Joe Buck Show." I've been waiting for my episode to air, and am not sure it ever will (or maybe there's hope), but for now, do go check out the three episodes they've got up, including one with comedian Christian Finnegan and spread the word. Yes, selfishly, I want them to get enough traffice so my episode airs. You do have to login and go through their age verification, but it's worth it. See Bud.tv and once you do that, click on or search for "Joe Buck." Also, now I can see where the "sex educator" bit may have come from, and, indeed, Joe asked me all about what to do at a sex party and other sex etiquette questions. I still don't think that makes me any kind of educator (I just really shy away from that because I don't consider myself an expert at all, I'm just as clueless as anyone else, I've just tried a lot of stuff and am willing to talk about it). Also, a non-sequitor, but I'm excited: Best Sex Writing 2008 is now available for pre-order on Amazon. I'm almost done with it, still working out the last few entries, but it's gonna be amazing.

Do we really need another talk show? The answer is a resounding yes if the host is legendary Emmy award winning broadcaster, Joe Buck and the creator/director is Emmy award winner and former Saturday Night Live writer, Matt Piedmont.

Oh, and did we mention it all takes place in the back of a New York City cab?

Joe Buck, along with his sidekick, actual NYC cab driver from Ethiopia, Abebe Adamassu interviews a wide range of guests from celebrities like Paul Rudd, Jason Patric and Ana Gasteyer to people like sex educator, Rachel Kramer Bussell and Rufus, prize winning pooch of the Westminster Dog Show.

It's a no holds barred, compelling ride as Joe asks the questions you won't hear on Letterman or Leno. Watch guests really be themselves as Joe provides a (finally) fresh take on the traditional talk show...


Me with Rufus from the shoot (he really stole the show, at least the part I heard):

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Dacia on balls

I couldn't resist this adorable photo of the lovely Audacia Ray in Amsterdam; check out all her pics from her trip.

Wish me luck!

Tonight's the Lambda Literary Awards, and my book Glamour Girls: Femme/Femme Erotica is a finalist for the Lesbian Erotica category. Wish me luck...and get your FREE, SIGNED copy on Saturday at 2 pm at BEA booth 1503 (Haworth).

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No comment

Okay, except one tiny one: I think this is the first time I've been called "white trash," though I could be wrong. Other than that, I think the post speaks for itself.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

WikiRKB

I don't know who really cares enough about my life enough to post stuff on Wikipedia, but...as far as I know I have never called myself a sex educator and certainly don't consider myself one. I'm not offended, I just don't think it's accurate in any possible way. I'm not a sex educator, don't want to be, and frankly, would be awful at it. Just saying.

Also, gotta love the completely random Technodyke article. I am still totally up for chasing cute girls, but beyond that, sex and dating are just imaginary in my life right now. It's the nature of the Internet, I get that; there's plenty I wish I could erase from Google, and many a day when I wish I had never started all this using my real name. But I did, and I can't really complain. It's not regret so much as wistfulness, and remembering back to a time when, evem though I didn't know it and couldn't conceive of it, so many doors were open to me. Now, many still are, but a lot are closed. Which really has nothing to do with Wikipedia, it's just that same old disconnect between seeing random words about yourself on a page, and who I really am inside. In many ways, I'm much more Caroline Knapp (without the interest in dogs) than I am any "sex-positive" writer. Not literally, but inside. That merry recluse thing? So me.

But whatever. No webpage, whether it's Wikipedia or your own, is ever going to really be able to capture your humanity. Mine has some of it, but at the end of the day, it's a professional thing, another job duty in a laundry list of them. I love what I do, don't get me wrong, but I also recognize the drawbacks, the disadvantages, the assumptions. Maybe that's just my way; to dive in headfirst, and think about the consequences later. Well, later is now and I guess I just have to live with...myself. Always the toughest part, eh? For me, anyway. I'm always looking for ways to not have to be myself, some magic escape route where I can find some stunt that'll plant me in some other life, some other brain. I know that can't truly happen, but maybe those momentary meanderings help me survive the day-to-day. And soon this pace will hopefully seem like history, but living through it, sometimes it's hard to see the so-called "big picture." It's little pictures, specks, practically, all blurring together with no discernible pattern or meaning.

Cupcake lust

I'm speechless, breathless, and more than a little horny (not to mention hungry) after seeing this photo and hearing about this brand new sexy bakery, Sweet-N-Sassy Cupcakes. It's in Newark, Delaware, and their motto is "We make donuts look ugly." I'm told they also sell edible panties and cheeky greeting cards and totally delicious cupcakes. I almost can't stand the HOTNESS.



In an article about the bakery, they say:

One of the biggest downfalls of the cupcake is, people associate it with kids and Disney,” Tara said. “When we explained the idea to our friends who have kids, they automatically categorized it as kids’ shop, with Barney and Elmo and Big Bird. I have children, and God bless them, I love them. But we wanted to show that cupcakes could be elegant without being Dora the Explorer. It can be more sophisticated than that.”

Wow. Drool away.

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June!

June is almost here, thank goodness. I'm just passing along the info about these events, for more info, visit the URLs or use Google, though I totally endorse them. I'm just going to update this post as opposed to new posts all the time so if you have cool stuff going on, let me know and I'll see what I can do (but be extra patient as I'm barely reading email these days). I suck and will likely always suck with calendars so this is a reminder for me too.

Cool stuff in June (and one in May)

May 31 - Hex Education reading by Emily Gould and Zareen Jaffery, with fellow YA writers YA authors Bennett Madison, Jenny Pollack and Maureen Johnson

5:30 pm, Borders in the Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle

June 1-3 - Book Expo America - Saturday, 2 pm, me signing FREE copies of Glamour Girls: Femme Femme Erotica, 1 pm, booth 1503 and free vegan cupcakes from Marlow at 4 pm in booth 4205 - more picks coming soon

June 4 – me at SMUT at the moving-to-Dumbo-but-still-in-the-hood-for-now Galapagos

June 5 – Melissa de la Cruz book party for Masquerade, (RSVP, see her blog) Jessica Valenti on The Colbert Report (see also Feminists for Colbert)

June 6 – Lynn Harris’s Death by Chick Lit party at Rapture Café & Books (see her site to RSVP), also, Seal Press event at McNally Robinson with Audacia Ray (Naked on the Internet), Helen Boyd (She’s Not the Man I Married) and Jessica Valenti (Full Frontal Feminism), fresh off The Colbert Report the night before, I believe

June 7, 7 pm, Leibya Rogers, "My Nipples Taste Like Tofu" EP release party, Mo Pitkin's, 34 Avenue A

June 7, 7 pm, Luna Lounge, Murray Hill's 7th Annual Miss Lez Pagaent

MURRAY HILL, "nightlife impresario" and "reigning patriarch of downtown performance" (NY TIMES) is proud, damn proud, to present and host THE 7TH ANNUAL MISS LEZ PAGEANT. THE MISS LEZ PAGEANT is a wildly provocative, insane, jaw-dropping beauty pageant for gay women in NYC that blows the lid off of "gender representation". The infamous pageant itself is highly competitive, loads of fun, gangbusters, and occasionally meaningless with a touch of high camp. Seven contestants compete in categories PLATFORM, SWIMSUIT, EVENING GOWN, INTERVIEW, and TALENT for "the title", cash, and drink tickets. The winner is decided by a panel of CELEBRITY JUDGES. There will be a headlining musical act, and DJ's to keep the party going post-pageant.

June 10, 3-7, Loving Day Celebration supporting the 40th (!) anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriages, with free BBQ, beer, and Ben & Jerry’s

June 12 – I Love Female Orgasm reading

Whether you're celebrating your thousandth female orgasm, searching for your first, or cheering on your girlfriend or your wife, I Love Female Orgasm is crammed with everything you want to know about the big O, from multiple orgasms to that mysterious G-spot. Sex educators Marshall Miller and Dorian Solot have taken their incredibly popular workshops and created a fun, sex-positive book for people of all sexual orientations. Come meet the authors, get your copy signed, and get a taste of some of the info packed into this great guide. Ten percent of author royalties are donated to Breast Cancer Action.

New York City
Tuesday, June 12th, 7:30 p.m.
Babeland (Lower East Side location)
94 Rivington Street, between Ludlow & Orchard
New York, NY
(212) 375-1701

June 20 – GLBT Night at In The Flesh

Mediabistro From the Editors interview with Jaime Levine

My latest Mediabistro From the Editors interview is with Jaime Levine, Senior Editor at Grand Central Publishing (was Warner Books).

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Miss Meghan talks shoes

Miss Meghan, who read at the very first In The Flesh and is the author of The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You, has taken the media world by storm with her shoe-savvy. Here, she explains the history of the stiletto:



Megan's also doing a great series of "Shoe Are You?" interviews with the likes of Kathryn Finney and Patricia Field and knows everything there is to know about shoes (shoe-tinis, anyone?), and even has a podcast.

Best veggie burgers?


Veggie burgers in my freezer
Originally uploaded by rkb1
I used to be vegan (and yes, now I'm an omnivore) but still, I love me my veggie burgers and other fake meat products. They are a huge staple of my diet and in many ways are a comfort food because I ate so many as a teenager. Anyway, as you can see from my freezer, I like Gardenburgers (black bean chipotle!) and Boca Burgers (esp. the Boca sausage and the vegan ones) but I'm curious; what are your favorite veggie burgers or other frozen fake meat treats? I'm especially looking for the higher protein/lower fat versions, but spicy and tasty are things I like too. Yes, this is what my blog has come to, blogging about my freezer, but so be it.

Letter lovers, How to Kick People closer, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys

I keep waiting to post here and then it's too late and events are over. Will do a big roundup of the madness that is June very soon, basically there's so much going on it makes me want to take off for somewhere, anywhere else and hide away. But I'll fight it and try to emerge when the book stuff's done and I'm a little better in the head. I love New York but sometimes it makes me want to toss my computer out the window and hear it crack wide open. Maybe that's just me though. I'm glad there's so much cool stuff going on, but sometimes I really don't want to know cause it just makes me feel guilty when I can't make things, and then guilty when I do go and neglect work.

In the meantime, I am taking my single self out on a hot date Friday night after the reading to see Knocked Up on opening night, just so I don't completely lose my mind in the whirl of BEA/NYC (coming soon will be my insane guide to all the YA/chick lit/feminist/comics/pop culture/chess/relationships/memoir books you can handle at BEA). Anyway...yes, right now, my life's kinda crappy so I will just tell you about things that are interesting until I can try to be again:

The lovely Samara O'Shea, author of For the Love of Letters, who some of you heard read a totally dirty James Joyce letter at In The Flesh, is at pretty paper store Papyrus tonight:

Reading and discussion on writing love letters
and thank you notes at the Papyrus store in Soho, 6:30 p.m.
73 Spring Street (between Crosby and Lafayette streets)
New York City
Admission: Free

HOW TO KICK PEOPLE FAREWELL

From Bob Powers and Todd Levin: (see also: The Apiary)

Our long-recurring monthly "visitor" is coming to an end. For now at
least.

This month will be the last How To Kick People for quite some time.
After three and a half years, Bob and Todd will be taking a much-needed
hiatus from the (cut-throat!) world of reading humorous things off of a
page in front of people. So join us on May 30th for "Parting Advice,"
the final installment in the HowToKickPeople Reading Series.

To say goodbye, we'll be joined by an unusually huge lineup of old
friends and first-timers we've been dying to have on the show,
including:

Brian Stack (writer/actor, Late Night with Conan O'Brien)
Tom Shillue (Comedy Central Presents Tom Shillue)
Christian Finnegan (Best Week Ever, Comedy Central Presents Christian
Finnegan)
Amelie Gillette (writer, The Onion's 'AV Club')
Chris Deluca (former writer, The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn)
and a video from Steve Burns (former host of Blue's Clues, current
musician) & Paul Ford (associate editor, Harpers.org; author, GARY
BENCHLEY, ROCK STAR)

HOW TO KICK PEOPLE: "PARTING ADVICE"
Wednesday, May 30th, at 7:30pm
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
34 Avenue A, b/w 2nd and 3rd Streets
Admission: $8 (advance tickets here: http://tinyurl.com/39swp7)
for more information, visit www.howtokickpeople.com

The anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, edited by Melissa de la Cruz and Tom Dolby, which has a website that pretty much puts any other anthology-specific websites to shame, is being read from tonight and there are a bunch of other dates, including, sadly, one at Soho House that I can't make cause it's the Lammys tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Barnes & Noble, Chelsea
675 Sixth Avenue, 212.727.1675
7pm Reading
Tom Dolby, Melissa de la Cruz, Andrew Solomon, Simon Doonan, Zach Udko,
Elizabeth Spiers, Karen Robinovitz

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Polly Frost's Deep Inside: Extreme Erotic Fantasies is out now



Deep Inside: Extreme Erotic Fantasies by Polly Frost is out now. I blurbed it, along with Maxim Jakubowski and Ron Jeremy, and while they only used a tiny bit of the blurb, I thought you might want to read the whole thing. And really, I am SO not a sci fi kind of person, I have never been able to get into aliens or otherworldly anything, my mind is too literal, but this one is hot hot hot! She's doing some events and teaching an erotic writing class June 13th at The Pleasure Chest in Chicago, amongst other things, so check out her site too.

With Deep Inside, Polly Frost turns erotica on its head, making readers expect the unexpected from page one. Her stories' twists and turns make them all the hotter, from piercings and blood-suckers to magical dildos and futuristic sex machines, all featuring characters whose fetishes will dazzle you with their originality. Kinky to the extreme, these horny perverts know the brain is the biggest sex organ, so be prepared for mind-fucking extraordinaire as they leave their mark, often literally, on their lovers. However fantastical her scenarios, though, one thing Frost doesn't forget is the very human power of lust for another which pushes us along our individual erotic paths. Frost will very likely change the way you think of sex with this collection—it's never as simple as it seems. Go deep inside her exotic world of dirty dreams, and you may never want to come out.

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Sugasmic

Sugasm #81

The best of this weeks blogs by the bloggers who blog them. Highlighting the top 3 posts as chosen by Sugasm participants. Want in Sugasm #82? Submit a link to your best post of the week using this form. Participants, repost the link list within a week and you’re all set.


This Week’s Picks

Do / Do Not (lafillemariee.blogspot.com…)

“Do – stop in the hallway to kiss and fondle me before even getting to the room.”


The Red Cross of Fucking (perverselypoly.blogspot.com…)

“They can pay her a “finder’s fee,” and everybody will be happier.”


Review: The Amputee’s Guide to Sex (www.radicalvixen.com…)

“When he first mentioned it he turned his disability into a fetish.”


Mr. Sugasm Himself

Meet Lin Chong, Dong Assistant (sugarbank.com…)


Editor’s Choice

Mothers day 3 (joeheather.blogspot.com…)


More Sugasm

Join the Sugasm


See also: Fleshbot’s Sex Blog Roundup each Tuesday and Friday (Fleshbot.com)


(Sugasm participants should re-post all the links above. The following links may be excluded as long as you include all the above links.)


Erotic Writing and Experiences

Agly (theadulteress.livejournal.com…)

All Day Love (talktovanessa.com…)

Do You Know? (fexual-strustration.blogspot.com…)

Heartbeats and Breaths (bikersballsandteacherstits.blogspot.com…)

Hidden Desire - Submission #1 (confessionjournal.blogspot.com…)

Horny Sales Girl Giving Pleasure (humandigest.blogspot.com…)

Joshua Three - Part Three (junohenry.wordpress.com…)

Lay With You (www.smuttydirt.com…)

One More Night pt. 3 (kislee.naughtyblog.net…)

Overtime With The Boss (eroticjournals.blogspot.com…)

The Pussy Slayer (confessions112.blogspot.com…)

Room Service (gentlygently.blogspot.com…)

Watch Me Squirm (drtycplinva.blogspot.com…)

Welcome home honey (orangeuglad.blogspot.com…)


Sex News & Reviews

Ow! You’re On My Hair! (aslipofagirl.blogspot.com…)

Since when is stripping news? (deliciously-naughty.typepad.com…)


NSFW Pics, Videos & Audio

Aria Giovanni Nude (eroticandy.blogspot.com…)

Audio: Pussy Lickin’ Good (www.taratainton.com…)

Girlfriend of “Sexual Expression” in the Kitchen (kitchen-girls.blogspot.com…)

Half-Nekkid and Guilt-Free Hiney (www.tarasnaughtyshop.com…)

Happy HNT - Hand spanking video (darkside-journey.blogspot.com…)

Irina & Alena (viviane212.blogspot.com…)

Natali Demore and Lady Dalbin (video) (thebootcam.com…)

Presenting Avril (onlymet.blogspot.com…)

Supermodels from Peru (myhotbox.blogspot.com…)

Titty Tuesday (imelda-imelda.blogspot.com…)

Video #1/”Sexual Nostalgia” (sexualnostalgia.blogspot.com…)


Sex Work

A Day In The Life Of A Professional Fetish Blogger (www.quipsandchains.com…)

Madeleines (thismuse.blogspot.com…)


Thoughts on Sex and Relationships

Alpha & Beta (smart-girls.blogspot.com…)

Defining Erotic (www.thenaughtychick.com…)

Friday (sexcakes.blogspot.com…)

I loved this then and still love it now… (darkdaughta.blogspot.com…)

The Problem with Porn Part II: Manifestations Online (un-cool.blogspot.com…)

The Sex Kitten History; The Sex Kitten Future (www.sex-kitten.net…)

Spanked by Robin Byrd, or not that innocent (lustylady.blogspot.com…)

A Strange New World of Emotion (practicalpolyamory.blogspot.com…)


Sex Humor

Man Gets Out Of Traffic Ticket, Potential Threesome Cited (funnyextreme.com…)


BDSM & Fetish

Art, human condition and spanking (www.spankingwriters.com…)

Darkness (transformher.blogspot.com…)

I’m Easy (Sort of) - Reflections on Cuckolding (mrsemmakelly.blogspot.com…)

Star Trek and BDSM (twentyfoursevends.blogspot.com…)

Wednesday Session (www.sub-burbs.com…)

Wolves vs. vampires (lastbreath.wordpress.com…)


Titty Tuesday courtesy of Imelda Imelda.

Free smut (with purchase), books and more


My tall book stack
Originally uploaded by rkb1
Firstly, the FREE smut - between now and May 31st (though it's going so well I may extend it), if you buy a copy of He's on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission from Amazon.com and forward the receipt to me at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with Amazon in the subject line, I'll send you a copy of Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2. Lots of people have been taking advantage of it which is really cool; I think anyone who likes He's on Top would like NSS2. Click here for basically the same info on my Amazon blog.

Have been immersed in words of late as I try to finish up my novel (which is gonna be awesome, very very soon), Best Sex Writing 2008, which is 75% done and I couldn't be more excited about my first non-fiction book, now it's a matter of tracking down the last few pieces and getting permissions and filling some holes, Yes, Sir and Yes, Ma'am, which I'm also psyched about and will be early, a word that is rarely if ever a part of my life or vocabulary. The novel writing still feels surreal as ideas hurtle their way toward me when I'm sleeping or just waking up and I have to find ways to work them in and make them make sense. It's the biggest challenge of my life and I will be so happy to be done but am trying to enjoy the process.

And I just heard, after many rejections on the erotica front, that Maxim Jakubowski will be using my story "Sharing the Perfect Cock" (NSFW link to the story at Eros Zine) from Caught Looking for the next volume of Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. Yay! You will recall they were published by Carroll & Graf but it's still proceeding so that's good news for the erotica world.

I took this photo of just some of the books sitting around waiting to be read. There are basically books (and papers/clothes/crap) everywhere in my apartment and I'm lucky if I can ever find anything.
Read at SMITH about Flickr's Reading Stack Pool and just had to join in.

Also, you can add Book Expo America (Friday!!!!!) and CrossfitNYC (there are workout videos there too, thankfully I do the weakling versions) on Myspace.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Fun with Fotki, not so much with Flickr

As some of you know, I've had some Flickr issues due to some of the topless pics by Stacie Joy I added a while ago. (And just so that's clear, I love Stacie's work and am overjoyed with the photos, I just meant that in terms of a timeline, when I posted those on my account, that's when my account seemed to get flagged as needing to be on the "moderated" setting.) Certainly not the first topless pics I put up there but I guess they caught Flickr's attention. I got some great advice on the topic, from Violet Blue and other people, but haven't had and don't have time to properly deal with it right now. Wish that I did but in the grand scheme of things, if my account were to be deleted, so be it. Not that I want that to happen, especially since I use it for Cupcakes Take the Cake, but for once in my life I am trying to do this thing called prioritizing.

So to circumvent it, at the advice of Violet Blue, I've joined Fotki. Here are the first two pics I've put up. If you want to see my Flickr pics, add me as a contact and moderate your settings (under Your Account) so SafeSearch is off. Again, I'm not an expert and am slammed with deadlines so hopefully you can see my pics, if not, sorry. Here's an article at LAist (via SMITH) about one user's issues with Flickr. I was bothered at first because I didn't really understand what triggered it and now am just prepared for whatever they want to do, though it seems like they just want people like me to self-moderate so those under 18 (and grandmothers, apparently) aren't exposed to my boobies. Again, I may address this further...when I can, like see out from under the to do list. It's bad but it'll be good when I'm done, let's just say. I'm working on 4 books at once which, even for me, is a lot, not to mention random book proposals that are like shots in the dark, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Am probably too frazzled in the head to be blogging right now, but here you go.

And that's my favorite sadistic Southern belle all clogged out and gorgeous as always, Elise. We heart each others' boobs. I need to find a girl like her...only not married. There's always Mermaid Ball/Pride, which I will be around for this year.



Saturday, May 26, 2007

Once upon a time when I was a fellatrix

Found this site The Fellatrix, with a post praising some of my writing, though all that seems like a lifetime ago. But anyway, was entertaining to see that especially since I feel like I hardly have a social life these days, let alone a sex life. And, perhaps sadly, I don't really mind, it's kindof nice to hole up with my laptop and books and just have some me time when I'm not watching babies eat pizza and things like that. I did go check out the PVC/Chicks and Giggles mashup on Tuesday at Mo's and it was great to see some of my favorite comedy chicas. My friend termed it a very "vagina-centric" show, and indeed, it was. Trying to implant the words "one day at a time" in my mind and make them stick, because I forget all too often to not overwhelm myself.

Today was lovely though. I sat and wrote in Bryant Park and then read the quite riveting NYC cab driver memoir Hack (the book version of New York Hack, written by Melissa Plaut, who, I discovered in the book, is best friends with Ariel Schrag). It's full of fascinating cabbie trivia and also has made me reconsider some of the things I've done in taxicabs, a little less proudly. Things feel kindof surreal lately, like I'm sleepwalking, sometimes literally. Crossfit is my savior, though.

Friday, May 25, 2007

July 18th In The Flesh lineup

Next In The Flesh is GLBT Night on June 20th, after that, we've got this for you:

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18TH at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676


July heats up with a mix of today’s hottest erotic writers delivering sexual demons, erotic fairy tales, and other naughtiness. With Louisa Burton (House of Dark Delights), Myriam Gurba (Dahlia Season), Aimee Herman (If These Thighs Could Talk), Lillian Ann Slugocki (The Erotica Project), Maddy Stuart (Sexiest Soles) and host and curator Rachel Kramer Bussel (He’s on Top, She’s on Top). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city'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, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, 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 PortnoySofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, and many others. The series has gotten press attention from Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, conducts interviews for Gothamist.com and Mediabistro.com, and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Her erotic stories have been published in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited numerous erotica anthologies, most recently He’s on Top: Erotic Stories of Male dominance and Female Submission, She’s on Top: Erotic Stories of Female Dominance and Male Submission, Caught Looking: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists and Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmo UK, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York and Velvetpark.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Louisa Burton is a novelist and the author of the Hidden Grotto series of epic erotic fantasy, in which the beings mythologists call “sexual demons”—incubi, succubi, satyrs, and the like—have lived among us for thousands of years.. The series grew out of Louisa’s fascination with Victorian erotica, history, and mythology. House of Dark Delights, which was released in February 2007, is also being published in Germany. The second book in the series, Bound in Moonlight, comes out in December, and Louisa is currently writing the third, Whispers of the Flesh.
www.louisaburton.com

Myriam Gurba is a high school teacher who lives in Long Beach, California, home of Snoop Dogg and the Queen Mary. Her first novel, Dahlia Season, was published recently by Manic D/Future Tense Books. She graduated from UC Berkeley, and her writing has appeared in anthologies like Best American Erotica (St. Martin's Press), Bottom's Up (Soft Skull Press), Secrets and Confidences (Seal Press), and Tough Girls (Black Books).
www.dahliaseason.com

Aimee Herman has been described as Woody Allen with a vagina. No subject is too risque for her to write. She currently has two chapbooks of poetry out (tastes like cheesecake, if these thighs could talk) and recorded a spoken word CD available through cdbaby.com/AimeeHerman. She does not believe in warnings or disclaimers. All words are meant to inspire/offend/induce perspiration nausea/ and indigestion. Comments, questions, and suggestions for new sexual positions may be sent to:
writerslashpoet@aol.com

Lillian Ann Slugocki, an award winning feminist writer, has created a body of work on women and their sexuality which includes fiction, non-fiction, plays and monologues which have been produced on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway and on National Public Radio. Her work has been published in books, journals, anthologies, and on-line; including Salon.com. She has been reviewed in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Art in America, The New Yorker, The Daily News, The New York Post, and recently in London; Time Out, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The London Sunday Times.

Maddy Stuart paints and programs computers in a cold Canadian city. Her writing has appeared in Sexiest Soles: Erotic Stories about Feet and Shoes and Secret Slaves: Erotic Stories of Bondage, both in the Fetish Chest series.
www.maddystuart.com

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File under "Crazy Bitches"

I was horrified to read that Violet Blue had received an email saying:

You are a dirty, nasty little cunt whore.

May the honey bees die and you and the bastards who lick your dirty little snatch and pound your cunt endlessly die of starvation for lack of food.

I'd truly enjoy your starvation.


in response to her San Francisco Chronicle on HPV and oral sex, "Skin Flutes, Carcinoma and Chasing the Unicorn."

But now I'm even more offended and horrified by this blog post, which is all kinds of crazy:

Sex Guru Violet Blue has been having her cult followers send me all kinds of hate mail in spite of my evidence I forwarded her, that there's an ID thief who stole my e-mail address. On the day of her strategic psychological warfare, Ms. Blue posted these photos in the San Francisco Chronicle that I take as a personal threat she intends on continuing her form of virtual torture over an e-mail the average citizen receives in their SPAM inbox every day.


First off, "cult followers?" Classy. Um, readers? Supporters? People who, um, think the proper way to respond to writing you hate is to, maybe, send a letter to the editor that does not wish death on the author? Also, Violet did not "have" or "instruct" anyone to do anything. She simply reposted what she received.

It's appalling to me that she would call Violet's very understated blog post a "torture threat," but then it's also laughable because she reposts (cause, like, she owns the photo!) Violet's photo and says that she takes a photo that is part of a journalistic exploration of content in her latest column as "a personal threat." Narcissistic, much?

Also, someone personally saying they wish you'd die in such a highly specific way is not what we receive in our SPAM folders every day.

I love how she turns this around so now she is Violet's "victim," as opposed to, very likely (though possibly not if she's being impersonated), the reverse.

Lastly, "white trash bully" - again with the supreme classiness.

I don't know headers from a hole in the wall but if you ask me, the menacing, sex-negative, thoroughly dispicable, obnoxious, delusional, and narcissistic claims Merrill makes in her blog post seem to come from the mind of someone who'd call someone a "dirty, nasty little cunt whore."

I would laugh at the use of the phrase "strategic psychological warfare," except it's not really funny.

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Fleshbot interview, "Magic Wand enthusiast," National Masturbation Month

The adorable Richard Blakely had me stop by the Gawker offices a few weeks ago and grilled (not really, more like gently queried) me about all sorts of topics, including Would I be willing to die for masturbation? (Really.)

Now a short snippet of that video interview is up on Fleshbot in celebration of National Masturbation Month. This time, I am not topless or getting spanked (though I would've gotten topless).

The best part (imo) is that I'm described as a "writer, editor and Magic Wand enthusiast" - exactly!

Tomorrow in San Francisco is the Masturbate-a-thon sponsored by the Center for Sex and Culture. (How can you not love "Sign up to be a masturbator?" I prefer to masturbate at home. Occasionally in moving vehicles.

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Rachel Hills's "6 Reasons NOT To Go Out With Him"

I love the writing of Rachel Hills, especially this piece called "6 Reasons NOT To Go Out With Him." And, of course, my fave (ah, 2004/5/6, I remember you...not so fondly):

He doesn’t like you
There’s nothing more attractive than a guy who doesn’t even notice you. Whether it’s the thrill of the chase or the twisted logic that any guy who chases you is desperate and not worth having, this is one habit you want to get out of. Let’s be honest - a crush on a guy who ignores you will most likely end in tears.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Scarily big Big Quiz Thing

Noah Tarnow thinks you're all big nerds, or at least, he asked me to blog about this. And I have a feeling some of you are just as nerdy as I am. I feel like it was a million, not just four, years ago that I was a regular at Big Quiz Thing. Any time I go nowadays I just feel dumb, but I may check this out just to see how they pull it off in such a large space.

NEW YORK’S BIGGEST TRIVIA SHOW EVER!!!
THE BIG QUIZ THING INVADES CRASH MANSION, MONDAY 6/25,
WITH TREMENDOUS PRIZES AT STAKE.


“It might save us from the hell that is karaoke,” declared MSNBC’s Keith
Olbermann. He was talking about The Big Quiz Thing, New York’s No. 1 live
trivia event, packing in hipster-nerd acolytes since 2002. And on Monday
June 25, the BQT invades the sprawling and swanky Crash Mansion for New
York City’s biggest trivia show ever.

Quizmaster Noah Tarnow (a “geek savant,” according to Gawker), with
sidekick EDP, presents the ultimate meaningless-info test, with a
stupendous grand prize of $200 and other wonderful giveaways (cookies, Big
Quiz Thing T-shirts, stimulating reading material) and the glory of
knowing that you possess more useless intelligence than hundreds of your
peers. And even if players can’t even hazard a guess, there is hope: If a
wrong answer makes the quizmasters (and the crowd) laugh, it’s counted as
correct and is granted a Smart-Ass Point. Between rounds, DJ GB spins for
your musical delight.

And now, the BQT comes to the tremendous Crash Mansion on the Bowery for
New York’s biggest trivia show ever, featuring stunningly original
questions and the video round, “The Bipolar Movie Challenge”—the visuals
from one film are juxtaposed with the sound from another, and contestants
are challenged to name both. Meanwhile, the audio round, “Really, Really,
Really Slow Songs,” tests players’ ability to identify popular songs when
played at an extremely slow and distorted rate. Plus, the famed Lightning
Round, big Four-Part Questions, clever banter, semantic arguments, etc.

Trivial times call for trivial trivia, and in a culture ruled by bite-size
information and prepackaged wisdom, nothing is nobler than a live quiz
show. Come see The Village Voice’s pick for “The Best Place to Show Off Your Inner Nerd.”

The Big Quiz Thing presents New York’s biggest trivia show ever at Crash
Mansion, 199 Bowery at Spring St, Monday, June 25 at 7:30pm. Admission is
$7. For more info, visit bigquizthing.com, or contact quizmaster Noah
Tarnow at noah@bigquizthing.com.

Quiz me this,…

Q: Who’s the only past People’s Sexiest Man Alive who is no longer alive?
Q: What’s wrong with the phrase “Chai tea”?
Q: What New York chain store is named after the cross-streets of its
original location?
Q: In 1987, The Price Is Right’s Bob Barker suddenly stopped doing what?

CHECK OUT BIGQUIZTHING.COM FOR MORE…

Cowboy Lover anthology is apparently oute


Cowboy Lover
Originally uploaded by Livia Llewellyn

From the now-defunct Thunder's Mouth Press/Carroll & Graf (kindof unclear from the Amazon info, but really, what's the difference now?) comes Cowboy Lover: Erotic Stories of the Wild West.My story is called "Reverse Cowgirl." If you're into sexy cowboys, check it out.

Via Livia Llewellyn, though I hope my name is spelled right in the book! It's a little sad that I have to have a google news alert on "Rachel Kramer Bussell" to find out these things. I have gotten used to my name being spelled wrong, in magazines, newspapers, online, etc., but after a while it gets to be a drag. The worst, to me, is when they get my link correct and the name wrong, though I have also come to accept that people just want to add that extra "l." At the end of the day, especially with promo stuff, the point is to get the word out. If that were the worst problem I had, I'd be overjoyed, believe me. I am in the midst of so many projects and deadlines I can barely think about one without another rushing in and brattily clamoring for attention. It's been a loooooong week, let's just say. So glad it's almost over and I can sleep and relax and catch up. Yay for 2 3 day weekends in a row, even if one will be a nonstop blur of books.

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Yay! Also, what a title!

From Publishers Marketplace

NON-FICTION: RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY
Heeb Magazine's SEX, DRUGS AND GEFILTE FISH: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, edited by Shana Liebman, a collection of writings from the irreverent magazine's Storytelling series, detailing funny, touching and downright strange experiences relating to Judaism, to Ben Greenberg at Grand Central, at auction, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (world).

And check out the newly designed and blogged-up heebmagazine.com - I'll know in a few months, but I think I'm using a piece from Heeb in Best Sex Writing 2008, which would be awesome. My Monica Lewinsky crush/interest can come full circle! (ha, ha)

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Adventures in book covers: Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant



Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler

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Tonight: Ritalin or Fresh Meat

May 24th is a busy night in New York:

Ritalin Reading Series at 7:30

(Doors at 7)

Hosted by Gabriel Delahaye and Lindsay Robertson
Produced by Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show)

Alex Blagg (VH1 Best Week Ever)
Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show)
Greg Johnson (Comedian)
Adam Lowitt (The Daily Show)
Kristen Schaal (Comedian)
Mandy Stadtmiller (Comedian)

The Ritalin Reading Series
"Sometimes it's good to be quick"
Thursday, May 24th at 7:30 pm
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
34 Avenue A (b. 2nd and 3rd St.)
F or V train to Second Ave.
212-777-5660
$6



Thursday May 24th at 8 pm check out the SEASON FINALE of the
critically-acclaimed comedy variety show, "Fresh Meat with Catie
Lazarus," at Comix. GET $5 OFF FOR ONLINE ADVANCE PURCHASES WITH THE
CODE FMST! Comix, 353 West 14th Street (East of 9th Ave.) (A/C/E/L to
14th and M23) $10 and $5 for students. www.comixny.com or 212.524.2500

In the first half, Catie Lazarus (Daily Show, Fox) hosts Bill Burr
(The Chappelle Show, HBO special); Judy Gold (Emmy Award winning
writer on Rosie; author of 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother), Tom
Shillue (Comedy Central special, The Daily Show), Reggie Watts
(SuperDeluxe, Andy Kaufman award winner and musical genius), Dean
Edwards (former star of SNL, BET, Comedy Central), and Bonnie
McFarlane (HBO Special). In the second half, the stars confess their
worst experiences in the biz, first jokes and there's a Q and A with
the audience. GET YOUR TICKETS NOW… www.comixny.com

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Photos!


IMG_1261a.JPG
Originally uploaded by Brash Lion.
I totally can't decide which of these photos of Courtney is my favorite. This one's a top contender, though.

Speaking of photos, next week will be rockin' over at 365 Portraits, with Mo Rocca on Wednesday and Jessica Cutler on Thursday!

Photos are on my mind because I had a shoot today with Jurgen Frank. SO glad I didn't see who he's photographed before I went. It's for an article I was interviewed for for Glamour UK. About The Orgasm Diet. yes, I really wrote that blurb. The piece is a little more graphic about my sex life than I tend to get nowadays, well, I don't really have one to speak of but I cobbled it together. It's all true and yet...I'm kinda glad it's being published in the UK and not here. I'd rather talk about almost anything else than my ability or inability to orgasm. Best part of the diet? Dark chocolate! I now eat it every day even though I'm not officially doing the diet.

Since I found out about the shoot at the last minute and made the bizarre unusual choice to wear pants, I had to rush out and grab something. Found a magenta dress at H&M that I think shall work well for summer. Was a good treat after I dropped weights all over the gym and had to be taught how to toss them safely. One of those moments where as much as I know it's a psychological block, it's my psychological block, and thank goodness for Allison's patience. She makes me laugh and kicks my ass but also totally has my back (squats).

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Datehole's Knocked Up contest

I meant to post this earlier, but seeing all the posters for Knocked Up and the Datehole shoutout at Jezebel (yes, I'm hooked now too especially because I don't seem to have time to actually read magazines anymore, even the ones I subscribe to, but there's always time for blogs, especially ones with phrases like "breasts like artisan challah") reminded me:

Datehole, a blog with a great name about dating and such in NYC, is having a Knocked Up contest, and one of the prizes is a $20 donation to Planned Parenthood. The others, you can click through and see for yourself.

I like this in part because, well, I'm horrible at dating (I am still in the "is this a date?" phase, even at my advanced age, though I'm glad I'm not the only one: the fabulous Diane Mapes shares that with me) which is why you never see me, like, out on a date. But also because, were it not for BEA, I would be at Knocked Up on opening night. I am still kicking myself for not getting with the program and realizing this was playing at SXSW and that I could've seen it for free. I actually have deliberately shielded myself from knowing too much about what it's about, cause really, they had me at "knocked up."

Speaking of little ones (Judy McGuire, you can stop reading now), at Whole Foods tonight and there was this little kid sitting sideways in the shopping cart and he was just too adorable. His little legs just fit, like it had been made for him, and he kept patting his dad's head while his big sister threatened to tip the cart over with her enthusiasm. And while I was ordering my chicken and spinach, I tried (and failed in my efforts) not to stare too much. Last weekend I went to the park right across from where I used to live, the one on Mercer between West 3rd and Bleecker, with my cousin Adam and his dad. Rain was starting and stopping but he didn't care. "Ba!" he shouted and we tried to kick and throw the ball to him. The cutest thing was any time he got any sand on him he'd quickly wipe it off, as opposed to what I was expecting, which was for him to roll around in the sandbox. I have to say, very little makes me happier than when his face lights up when he sees me. I am trying really hard to resist buying him more toys and books because I could do that pretty much every day. I need to find new babies to dote on ASAP.

Maybe I will get to see this opening weekend, though with next week offering up the last How to Kick People, a reading at Papyrus by Samara O'Shea, the Lammys (will I be the Susan Lucci of the Lammys?), BEA, and a Friday night reading for the Bi Writers Association, I think I may have to go home after that and collapse with my newfound book booty. But the week after, I'm so there. So, um, enter the contest, check out Datehole (naked ladies and lobster, anyone?).

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I still heart Weeds but...

I pretty much never watch TV. Like I watched The Sopranos and Entourage at a friend's on Sunday and it was a MAJOR EVENT. I am just out of the TV loop for the most part.

But, thanks to the first season on DVD, I did get totally hooked on Weeds and have been looking forward to season 3 (which apparently starts August 13th). However, what to make of this news?

Mary-Kate Olsen is returning to television with a co-starring role on Showtime's dark comedy "Weeds," says The Hollywood Reporter.

On the Lionsgate-produced show, Olsen will play Tara, a devoted Christian girl living in the newly developed megachurch community Majestic who becomes a love interest for Nancy Botwin's (Mary-Louise Parker) son Silas (Hunter Parrish). Olsen will appear in 10 of the 15 episodes of the show's third season.


2/3 of the season?? She better get it on with Silas is all I'm saying.

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Interesting legal issues

Yes, despite the quarter of a million dollars I am paying to not have a law degree (I will repeat this until I am not in debt - aka forever: don't be like me! Only go to law school if you really, really want to be lawyer!), I am still interested in legal topics. Like these:

Could Katie Holmes have a case against porn star Katee Holmes?

"If she has it trademarked, then there's going to be a problem there, especially with the adult industry involved," he said. "Whenever an adult performer uses the name of a mainstream star, you can make the argument that the adult star is disparaging the name of the trademark holder."

Walters added that the strength of U.S. trademark laws would make such a case difficult for an adult performer to defend against if the plaintiff has a trademark. Possible defenses include fair use – arguing that the adult star was using the name in a reasonable way – or satire – arguing that the adult star was using the name to make fun of or otherwise spoof the mainstream figure.


Juile Hilden starring in "My Big Fat Weak Lawsuit?"

The plaintiff had sued IMDb for unfair competition, and for violating the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, because it refused to list him in the credits on its website relating to the film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and two other films.

IMDb countered by noting its policy of only listing credits as they appear on screen, and noting that its review of the three films showed that the plaintiff was not, in fact, listed in the credits.

The ruling - which I will argue was correct - fired a warning shot in the battle over free speech. It did so by giving notice to potential plaintiffs that bringing a meritless lawsuit may carry a very high price tag, for the plaintiff may have to pay the defendant's attorneys' fees.

How to draw comics and other comics tidbits

John Donohue of The New Yorker is teaching a very cool class at Mediabistro - not something that's up my alley, but as a budding cartoon/comics reader, I'm definitely interested in there being lots more fabulous cartoonists out there.

Countless gag cartoons are published daily in a variety of publications and on the Internet, as well as appearing in major magazines. You've seen them in The New Yorker and you've dreamed of creating them yourself -- those single-panel gag cartoons with a drawing and a punch line that make you laugh, make you wonder, and occasionally make it to the front of your refrigerator. Whether you've merely doodled while on the phone or have been drawing since you were a child and have a stack of half-finished drawings at home by your bedside, this class will show you how to complete those ideas and take them to the market.

In this seminar you can expect to learn:

How to come up with ideas
The techniques you can use to express them
Insider tips on developing a personal style
How to find places to sell your cartoons
How to get your cartoons to the right people
What you can expect to get paid
Secrets about what to do with rejected cartoons

I'm also in the middle of compiling my big guide to what I want to get at BEA but can tell ou now that on Friday, there's a graphic novel and comic book salute at 4 p.m. and Adrian Tomine is signing:

Sat 2:30 - 3:00 19 Tomine, Adrian Shortcomings The acclaimed Optic Nerve Cartoonist and New Yorker illustrator/cover artist signing! Drawn & Quarterly/FSG Sep 07



Speaking of comics, last Friday I made my virgin visit to Rocketship on Smith Street (and only got turned around twice after exiting the subway!) We were there for a reading and celebration of Ariel Schrag's awesome new anthology Stuck in the Middle: 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age. Give a copy to your favorite teenager! (I must confess that every time I see Ariel's name, I think of Le Tigre's "Hot Topic," in which she's name-checked. I'm sure she is probably sick of that, but I can't help it, I listened to that song a bazillion times when it came out. She's also a really amazing cartoonist and writer for The L Word and lots of other good stuff you can read about on her site. And she wrote about poop in her book - how can you not adore that?)

I was there with my SMITH magazine pals, but the best comment came from the awesome The Beat blogger Heidi MacDonald (she of the fabulous silver jacket which I will soon post a photo of). I asked her for recommendations of what I should buy (wound up with Stuck Rubber Baby and a copy of Lauren Weinstein's new Vineyland as a gift) and said that I don't really like comic books per se because they don't last that long; I read them and poof, I'm done. I'm more into graphic novels cause they're meatier. And she said, "Comic books are like men. They don't last very long." There may have been a bit more after that I'm not remembering, but it was funny. I'm looking forward to meeting the lovely folks at Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly who I've been corresponding with. July is our comics issue in the Reads section of Penthouse, which I edit, and it has some really great stuff, including a Harvey Pekar interview about Macedonia by the one and only Jahfurry, but I'll post about that when it's on stands.

In The Flesh in Time Out New York

Along with Storyhole, Fahrenheit, and The Liar Show, In The Flesh is in this week's Time Out New York article Cringe and Purge, about erotic storytelling nights. I said the highlights were Jessica Cutler, Gael Greene, and Dan Allen, though there have been many highlights. When things calm down I want to check out the others (Storyhole is in Greenpoint!).

Here's the intro:

It’s never been easier for New Yorkers to unload the lurid details of their lives.

Perhaps it’s the high rent that leaves them cash-strapped, but apparently, growing numbers of Gothamites are substituting (or supplementing) traditional therapy with more-public forms of unburdening—for example, sharing some of their more salacious sexual escapades with roomfuls of eager strangers. Whether your aim is to spout off, shock or just live vicariously, there are now a slew of open mikes, public readings—even a game-show-like event—where you can let your slip show, Freudian or otherwise.—Daniel Derouchie

Read the whole piece

Thanks Daniel and Time Out New York! Next reading is the fabulous GLBT Erotica night on June 20th and I have a LOT of free books to give away!

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Spanked by Robin Byrd, or not that innocent

I'm sitting across a table from Robin Byrd. We're wearing microphones and ostensibly taping a podcast for heretv, but it feels like we're just talking. She's very easy to talk to and as she says when we first sit down, "I feel like we should've met before." So we're talking about erotica and s/m and spanking and she says that she wants to spank me. I giggle politely, totally thinking she's kidding. And I blush. She tells me I come off as shy and I blush more.

I feel like people are always expecting me not to blush, yet they don't seem to realize that I've got things a bit backwards. Well, not completely, but maybe the dirtier I can get in my writing, the more it makes me nervous in real life, especially now. Sometimes I’m so self-conscious of who I’m not, that I forget that it’s okay to be who I really am, which isn’t such a simple equation, or one you can figure out from a MySpace profile or website. That’s me, but not all of me. There is more than a bit of the totally dorky, geeked-out, chess-playing, head-in-a-book nerdy girl of my childhood in me now, to the point that I never know when people are serious about liking me. That, coupled with all that I do for a living, and that whole year or two of almost nonstop rejection, and I feel like I get my signals all mixed up all the time. I still never know what’s a come-on, what’s a date, what’s flirting, what’s not, nevermind not being sure how to react.

"I'm can't tell if X likes me," I tell A. "You mean you don't know if he likes you, or if he likes likes you,” she responds. The latter. And I'm not even sure it matters, but you would think that by now I would know. I usually can only tell when it's Elise, and that's usually because my hands are in her cleavage or she's kissing my breasts. It's kindof a mutual fondling appreciation society when I see her, but it's more than that. I feel completely comfortable with her because she’s a real friend, not someone you just call your friend because you happen to say hi when you run into them. She notices things that other people wouldn't think to and it's always the people who give me the unexpected compliments, the ones that show they've been watching me when I didn't realize it, that I adore.

Usually, I feel like I'm either too confident and fantasizing way, way into the future about people or not confident enough, or at least, uncertain. Sometimes I like the uncertainty, though, that up-in-the-air tension that lets me have my little fantasies, but never have to figure out where they might go beyond that. But ultimately I wish things were a little clearer. I wish I had a little more of a clue so I wouldn’t look so dumb in either case.

Back to the podcast. The room isn’t sexy, but the conversation is getting increasingly heated, not really in content, but I can tell that Robin gets it. She’s not just going for the prurient interest, but wants to know what makes me tick, about the nitty-gritty of what makes a scene hot, what makes it work. So we keep talking, and then Robin says it again, in a way I can’t ignore. And it's totally surreal but awesome because I not only haven't gotten spanked since my book party, but I'm totally right there with her. I don't think that's the kind of thing you can plan. If the producer had been like "Robin wants to spank you…on her podcast" that would've been weird. But bending over a desk, trying to answer interview questions while Robin Byrd, who was a very good spanker indeed, slammed her hand against my ass, was hot. And fun. And made the half hour speed by.

She got really into it and at first was just giving me pretty hard, solid smacks on each cheek but then she just went bam-bam-bam-bam-bam and I couldn't talk at all. She told me I have a good ass for spanking and I tried to play that off as my high heels but really I was thrilled. It was one of those moments that was intimate even though it was public, even though we had to wrap up fast at the end and I had a brief second of embarrassment that I had done that instead of chatting politely across a table. What I love about being spanked is that it can convey a lot; you can tell if someone’s into it or just going through the motions. You can tell if they’re trying to make you feel slutty and dirty (in a good way), if they know precisely what they’re doing with their smacks. I was so, so glad that wasn’t being filmed, and a little disappointed that we couldn’t continue. I could’ve taken a lot more, that’s for sure, but it was actually perfect.

Walking out I felt refreshed, like she’d given me back this part of myself that I keep managing to lose or cover up or pretend doesn’t exist. It’s partly that fear of being “too slutty,” or, as Carol Queen calls it in Real Live Nude Girl, which I just started rereading, because I need its message, erotophobia. I’ve got plenty of that in me and sometimes it overtakes me, and the spanking made me realize that that is part of me too. Not all, but definitely part, and I liked slithering onto the subway, even the ultra-crowded 6, with people who, I’ll just take a wild guess, weren’t just spanked (or whatever the equivalent is for them) on their lunch hour (though if they were, that’s awesome too).

After the taping, we took Polaroids (so fun and old-fashioned!) and she was saying how I’d looked so innocent. And I guess I do, sometimes. I feel innocent sometimes, in a good way, in a way that lets me know I’m not jaded, hopefully. I’m probably the opposite of jaded; I’m so hopeful, when I’m not moping and nervous and psyching myself out. I’m starting to feel more confident, so that maybe the next time I’m in one of these weird situations, I’ll know how to read it. I will certainly say yes if Robin Byrd ever asks to spank me again. (I don’t know when the podcast is airing, but as soon as I find out, I’ll let you know, so you can listen to her hand connect with my ass, and how I try to talk in between.)

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Two Mediabistro interviews: Gael Greene and Michelle Goodman

Today I have two pieces up on Mediabistro (the Book Keeping you have to be an Avant Guild member to read).



The first is in an interview with food critic, itymeals-onWheels co-founder, memoirist and In The Flesh reader Gael Greene, author of Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess for their "So What Do You Do?" series (you can read my Insatiable review here)



The second is a Book Keeping interview with Michelle Goodman, author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube

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Monday, May 21, 2007

Feminist film showing June 3rd and 7th, "Slippery Slope"



People keep contacting me about films, which is always a nice surprise, especially when they're ones I don't think I'd have heard about otherwise. I love that Slippery Slope is described as a comedy about feminism and porn - we need more of those! I'll be interviewing Sarah soon too so watch out for that. You can watch a trailer on the site; it's showing June 3rd and June 7th at the Brooklyn Film Festival. Also, something important for writers too: great blurbs. Since being asked to give blurbs and starting to think about getting blurbs, I've become totally obsessed with them. This looks like a perfect way to end BEA weekend.

In the comedy "Slippery Slope," a fierce young feminist filmmaker who is desperate for cash to finish her documentary "Feminism for Dummies" secretly takes a job directing a porn film after her other moneymaking schemes don't pan out. She brings her feminist ideals to the porn set, and the experience unexpectedly awakens her slumbering sexuality, arousing the suspicions of her politically-correct husband and threatening her marriage.

After three sold-out screenings at the 2006 Montreal World Film Festival, the Montreal Gazette called Slippery Slope “a huge success” and said “Montreal audiences are eating up Slippery Slope.

In this feel-good movie a young idealistic director's film is in the can, but not in Cannes unless she can pay the $50,000 film production cost to send “Feminism for Dummies” on its way to the prestigious French film festival. Sarah Scheck wrote and directed this cute screwball comedy based on, well, screwing. Laudable first film. -Judy Edelhoff, The American Magazine (Rome), March 2007.

David Brown (Producer, Jaws, Cocoon, The Player) called Slippery Slope a “fresh and amusing send-up of pornography, funny and well done…good cast and first-rate writing.”

Judith Helfand (Director, Blue Vinyl, A Healthy Baby Girl) said, "I watched Slippery Slope and cheered for filmmaker Sarah Schenck -- for her ability to translate her warmth, wonder, chutzpah, and serious humor to the screen. Slippery Slope shows feminism as a dynamic notion that gets redefined by every generation, much like pornography. Sarah lets us into that world, rife with the sexual, gender, and feminist politics of our time. Moo shu will never taste the same."

Nora Ephron (screenwriter and director, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally) writes: “The movie looks great…and you got great work out of the actors.”

Susan Faludi (author, Backlash, Stiffed) wrote "Slippery Slope was delightful and yes, you did make me laugh in many spots...I admire your verve in tackling a dicey subject."

Shere Hite (author, The Hite Report on Female Sexuality, The Hite Report on Male Sexuality - over 40 million books published) says, “I loved your film “Slippery Slope,” it is hilarious, funny, multi-layered and really warm.”

Academy-award nominated animator Bill Plympton raves "I've just seen Slippery Slope by Sarah Schenck and it's a wonderful and very funny film. You'll love it."

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Feminist film screening and fundraiser Wednesday 5/23

Women's Liberation Birth Control Project

Fundraiser and Feminist Film Screening - Pls Forward Widely!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 8pm
Monkey Town (bar, restaurant, and art space)
58 N 3rd St (btw. Kent & Wythe) Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L to Bedford
Admission: $5
There is $10 drink or food minimum for the art space.

As part of our efforts to raise consciousness and gain momentum in the movement for reproductive freedom, we will screen the 1972 film It Happens to Us, which shows women testifying about their abortions, both legal and illegal, followed by video clips of today's feminist movement in action.

Although progress has been made, reproductive rights are constantly under siege. In mid-April, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold a Federal Abortion Ban that restricts a safe and commonly used abortion procedure. With the right wing chipping away at Roe v. Wade, it is imperative that women respond. Come to this great event to learn about how we won abortion rights in the past and how we can continue the fight today.

Proceeds will benefit The Women's Liberation Birth Control Project.

Make a reservation: www.monkeytownhq.com

Find out more about us: http://www.birthcontrolproject.org

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"let's continue sucking face"

How much do I heart The Hazzards? (and yes, even more than I miss my Lusty Lady column, I miss the chance to contribute to the Best Of, but not to worry, I shall do so here on my blog!)

Here's the video for "Shut Up and Make Out" (this is in lieu of me actually having, like, someone to make out with)

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Adventures in book covers: Sex books



Best Erotic Comics 2008 edited by Greta Christina



Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's The Stranger



Boink: College Sex by the People Having It - I wrote a letter about Boink and college sex columnists that was rejected by The New York Times. This is the book version of Boink, out in February from Grand Central Publishing.

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Tower of Power, or cupcake and cheese queens


Tower of Power
Originally uploaded by editrixie.
I have more to say about this photo of me and three of my favorite people ever, Allison Bojarski (aka my trainer), the most positive/connected/partygoing/hardworking multitasking blogger chick I know, Nichelle Stephens, and cheese lady/erotica writer/multitalented "sadistic Southern belle" L. Elise Bland, but the details of how awesome they are will have to wait. Allison, Nichelle, and I run Cupcakes Take the Cake and we are having our next Cupcake Meetup on Saturday, June 16th at 2 pm in Central Park. It's a picnic, so please come and bring cupcakes if you're so inclined (not required though). The first NYC Cheese Lovers Meetup will take place Saturday, June 2nd at Artisanal at 3 pm. I can't go because I'll be at Book Expo but it sounds like a totally delicious event!

This photo was taken by the wonderful Stacie Joy, who went out of her way to brave the rain on Wednesday, even though she was sick, and you can see the rest of her awesome In The Flesh photos here.

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