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, June 29, 2012

Talking Fifty Shades of Grey, kinky erotica and hotel sex live tonight on Sex Out Loud Radio!

I'm very excited about being on Sex Out Loud Radio live tonight at 5 pm PST/8 pm EST with Tristan Taormino. I've interviewed her probably 5 times for various publications, so I'm curious what she'll want to ask me about Fifty Shades of Grey, kinky erotica, hotel sex and more. I published my very first erotica story, "Monica and Me," in her anthology Best Lesbian Erotica 2001 and more recently, the gay trans male boxing story "Punching Bag" in her Lambda Literary Award winning anthology Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica. You can listen here live or after the show (it's recorded) and call in at 866-472-5788. Follow @SexOutLoudRadio on Twitter for show updates.

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The last extension of the anal sex erotica anthology, get me your hot stories ASAP

I'm very close to being done but still need a few stories for my anal sex anthology, so if you were planning to write something but didn't have time, now's your chance. Thank you! I still need a few more stories to complete this book, by July 14th, but submissions will be considered on a rolling basis and earlier ones are welcome. I do not need any first time anal sex stories, or any lesbian or gay stories, but would consider bisexual or transgender stories. I am looking for creative settings, scenarios and characters, BDSM stories, anal sex along with other types of sexual activity, threesomes or group stories, masturbation stories, sex toy stories, from butt plugs to use of other types of toys in conjunction with anal sex, and anything out of the ordinary and extremely hot.

Anal Sex Erotica Call for Submissions
To be published by Cleis Press in 2013
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is looking for hot and sexy anal erotica that will inspire those looking to explore backdoor sex. Everything from intercourse to analingus, strap-ons to butt plugs, bondage, spanking, self-pleasure and more. Stories will range from new practitioners of anal sex to seasoned anal lovers, and recipients of anal pleasure of any gender. Final book will contain a variety of scenarios related to anal sexuality. All characters must be over 18; no scat, incest or bestiality. No poetry. Original, unpublished stories only. 2 submissions maximum per author.

How to submit: Send double spaced Times or Times New Roman 12 point black font Word document (.doc or .docx) with pages numbered OR RTF of 1,500-3,000 word story. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing, do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). US grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) required. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, and 50 word or less bio in the third person to analantho at gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. You will receive a confirmation within 72 hours. I will get back to you by November 2012.

Payment: $50 and 2 copies of the book on publication

Deadline: July 14, 2012 (earlier submissions are strongly encouraged and preferred)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Penis photo sending, age differenct and lust in this week's sex diary

Check out this week's sex diary: The 38-Year-Old Woman Lusting After a Homeless, Jobless 22-Year-Old"" and if you're so inspired to want to write your own, email me at sexdiaries at nymag.com for details. (I'm the editor.)

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Sex sex sex diaries

I'm writing because I would love it if you'd pass on my call for sex diarists for the Daily Intel weekly sex diary series to anyone you know who might make a good candidate. You can be single, in a relationship, in New York, not in New York; there's no minimum or maximum amount of sex. Rather, I want you to be able to tell us why you like who and what you like and what a week in your love like looks like. After you've read a few diaries, if you're still interested, email me at sexdiaries at nymag.com and tell me in a few sentences why you would make a good diarist (could be anything from having a thing for redheads to dating two people at once to being back in the dating game after a divorce, to name just three of an infinite possible list of things we're looking for). All diaries are anonymous. Thank you!

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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Free Big Handsome Man erotic romance story from Obsessed: "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

Updated February 29, 2016

For a limited time, for the week of February 29th, I Want You Bad: Obsessed Erotic Romance for Women (formerly titled Obsessed) is on sale in ebook form for only $1.99 on Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo. You can still read the free story below and I hope you'll want to read all the other amazing writers in this collection. The sale will probably end on Friday, March 4th, so act fast to get them for a bargain price.

Updated September 27:

Obsessed has been reissued as I Want You Bad.

Iwantyoubadcover

In conjunction with the super bargain sale price of $1.99 for Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women on Kindle, here's my entire Big Handsome Man story (yes, taking its name from the Beatles song, part of a series of song title stories), "I Want to Hold Your Hand," FREE! You don't need a Kindle to take advantage of this big bargain. My book Passion: Erotic Romance for Women is also for sale for $1.99 on Kindle, both for a limited time!



I Want to Hold Your Hand from Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women
by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Shelly looked over at her husband, Ron, across their gleaming lawn, finding him instantly amidst their party guests. She smiled slightly, then set her lips into a straight line; not a frown, but more of an adjustment. Adjustments were what she’d been making for the last two years, ever since he set out to, and did, lose over a hundred pounds, going from severely overweight to big but in shape, the kind of guy who could help push a car out of the snow or carry a heavy box or other tasks that required bulk, strength, power. Now instead of being fat and cuddly, a sexy teddy bear of a giant, he was more like a linebacker, thick and stocky⎯and sexy, at least, by conventional standards. While it seemed to Shelly that men had more leeway than women in acceptable weight gain, the old Ron had crossed over into invisibility in the sex appeal department, though not for her⎯never for her. Now, people, especially women, were fawning over him like he’d cured cancer, while she, in her same old not-too-big, not-too-small size-six jeans, smiled along, trying to adjust to the new man she was now married to.

The truth was, she had preferred him bigger; it went with his outsized personality, not to mention the way he held her down in bed, the way he kept her warm, the way she curved up against him, the way he looked at her, like he was the Tarzan to her Jane. Now, even though technically he weighed more than her, Shelly had trouble getting into that same submissive mindset, perhaps because his personality seemed to have changed too. She didn’t like to think that all the recent adoration had gone to his head, but maybe it had, because even when he was on top of her, even when he pressed her hips deep into the mattress the way she liked it, even when he spooned her at night, curling up around her, she couldn’t quite recapture the magic. She wanted to, but she liked her men bigger, brawnier, huskier. It was hard to fantasize about him being the brute who ravaged her when she could sense that soon she’d be able to feel his ribs. Soon she might not be able to pinch the inches she so welcomed, and would have to twist and squirm to find ways to fit into him, rather than just next to him. She still loved Ron and had no intention of leaving him, but seeing all the girls fawning over his new muscles made her want to gag. Where had they been when he’d stared unhappily at himself naked in the mirror, when there was nothing she could do to make him see what she saw in him? She felt like the heart of their relationship had slipped away along with the pounds; why didn’t Weight Watchers ever tell you about this possible side effect?

At least he had two body parts that hadn’t lost their heft: his hands and his cock. She knew that saying about a man’s feet predicting his size below the waist, but with Ron, his hands and his cock were both, well, manly, while his size-nine feet were what she considered average. His hands, though, were big, strong, powerful; there was nothing he could do about his man hands. Ron had always been able to speak to her with his hands, even on their first date, when he’d reached for one of hers and massaged it, his thumb tricking along her palm, his fingers tickling her skin, making her curious about him, about what he could do to her. They were soft, and seemingly tender, but when she dared to try to get to know them, he’d crushed her fingers within his own, letting her know that he would be the one to master their manual dexterity.

She was still curious, as she’d been then, eager to get to know him by running her lips along his skin, by listening to his heartbeat, though the parts that everyone else was so eager to talk about and salivate over were not the ones that interested Shelly. His abs, his biceps, all sounded like clichés to her ears. Her Ron wasn’t the macho bodybuilder they were making him out to be, and if he were, she wasn’t sure she would want him anymore. She’d caught a couple of college girls, home on break, whispering about what he might look like underneath his clothes, and had huffed her way through their conversation, stalking right in between them and giving them the stink eye. Who were these brats and why didn’t they find someone their own age?

“Honey, I want to go to the movies,” she said, pulling him aside, not caring how petulant she might sound.

“Now?” He looked at her in confusion.

“Well, tonight, yeah.”

“What do you want to see?”

“I don’t care,” she said, then lifted his right hand and brought it to her mouth. With that, she sucked on his index finger, making sure his eyes stayed on hers, taking it all the way before releasing it to lick his palm, not caring if any of their guests saw. Let them watch; let them see that she wasn’t impressed by Ron’s trimmer body, but by the things she knew his body could do, things that had nothing to do with how much he weighed. She knew what she was doing tickled from the way his hand quivered, and she liked making him squirm. Then she moved down to his wrist, where she thought she could feel his pulse racing. “I just want to hold your hand. You know, like we used to.”

It sounded innocent enough, but they’d done a lot more than hand holding back in the day. There was one movie date in particular she recalled, though not the actual movie itself. They’d gone to the theater at 12th and 2nd Avenue in the East Village, during the middle of the afternoon, back when they’d lived in the city, rather than the ’burbs in Jersey. It hadn’t been too crowded, with just a smattering of people. She’d been sitting on the aisle and he’d been next to her, his arm taking over the armrest⎯not that she minded. Shelley was drawn to Ron for his size, for what it symbolized, for how he used it. He could dominate her space any time, especially when his hand reached for hers and then held it, lightly at first, but enough to let the pressure seep into other parts of her body, so it almost seemed as if he were touching her pussy. The tingling increased as he lightly stroked his fingers along her palm, and by the end of the movie, she was shocked she’d been able to restrain herself from dipping her fingers into her panties.

He looked at her and paused, as if she’d said she wanted to go to the movies in Paris. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

With those three words, Shelly knew she hadn’t lost her man completely to his newfound popularity with the ladies. He could tell, from her innocent-sounding suggestion, what it was she was talking about, and that she wanted an escape. He could tell she didn’t mean holding hands like in a romantic 1950s photo, but in a way that signaled so much more. He took her hand in his and squeezed it hard, squeezed all of his love into the press of his palm against hers, his fingers digging deep. He’d lost some of his size, but none of his strength, and when she looked down at their joined hands, she smiled, and reached for his other. They stood there, smiling and squeezing, until he upped the intensity a notch, squeezing so hard her breath came out in gasps.

Trying to ignore the twinges, she sputtered out, “It’s just⎯all these girls⎯they don’t care that you’re married, they don’t care about who you were before. They just see, well, the new you, and it makes me wonder if we can hold onto us when you’re so different.”

He let go of her hands and she moved into his arms, letting herself relax against his bulk. She smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek, because he was still bulky; she was still shorter and smaller than him and fit into the crook of his arm, even if that arm was more solid and less fleshy than before. Ron patted her smooth hair and let his breath land against her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere, Shell. Those girls…it’s flattering, I’m not gonna lie. I’ve never had that kind of attention, but all it does is make me prouder to be your husband, to be with the woman who’s loved me all these years. But I’m the same, and I love you the same. I want to celebrate with you, not with anyone else.”

He held their joined hands up in front of him, and Shelly stepped back, still sniffling. “So are we going to hit the movie theater? I’m thinking the art house, something with subtitles.” She blushed, because there was that one time when he got down on his knees, not an easy task for a man pushing 280 pounds, and planted his face between her legs. He was doing it because he loved giving head, but also because he knew how loud she usually got when she was close to orgasm. He was throwing down a dare, a challenge that would either make her come or get them kicked out. She loved that he was willing to take such a risk.

“We’re just gonna leave everyone?”

“Leave it to me,” he said, and then took his hand and wrapped it around her wrist. It was still big enough to encircle her there, and she felt the breath whoosh from her body, the blood circle below her waist. She went to get her coat.

She smiled at a neighbor who gave her a quizzical look and didn’t try to answer anyone’s questions as Ron hustled her into his car. “I left Katie in charge; she’s good at that sort of thing.” Their friend was, indeed, the type who could problem-solve her way out of most any situation. Shelly relaxed against the seat and as Ron drove, his hand wandered to her lap. She reached for it, staring down at their entwined hands, his slightly tanner than hers.

They didn’t speak during the twenty-minute drive, and she moved as if on autopilot. This wasn’t the way the afternoon was supposed to go, but she knew they needed it. She especially knew it when, after giving the clerk their ticket order, Ron leaned over and whispered, “Take off your panties and give them to me.”

She didn’t protest, though she did hurry inside and use the bathroom to perform the task. She slipped him the balled-up red mesh and instead of simply tucking it into his pocket, he made a show of slowly letting the fabric flutter loose, just enough for Shelly to stare at him in horror, to look around in an exaggeratedly slow way, to catch his devilish smile in return. “What are we seeing?” she asked, even though she didn’t really care.

She didn’t know the film or the director or the language. Subtitles weren’t really her thing, but they weren’t really here for the story. At least, not that story. Shelly wasn’t there to eat Twizzlers or popcorn or drink Diet Coke either, but she let Ron buy them for her, and let him put his hand on her ass while she carried the soda and Twizzlers.

But it wasn’t until the lights went down that Shelly truly relaxed. She felt herself sink into the seat; this time they were near the wall, with her closest and Ron beside her. He’d made sure to pick a row that wasn’t crowded, and he put the popcorn on his other side, then opened the Twizzlers and fed one to her. She smiled at him as she chewed the licorice while he held it, until she reached his fingers. She licked them gently, enjoying his soft moan, feeling almost giddy at having run off in the middle of their own party to play at being luststruck. Or maybe they weren’t playing at all, because when he reached for her hand with his free one and held it, she felt nothing but love and lust coursing through her.

“I’m always going to be here for you,” he whispered in her ear, so softly that had her hearing not been as sharp as it was, she might have missed it. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and brushed it away, not wanting to ruin the moment. He took her hand and guided it up under her sundress, the one she’d bought at their local thrift store, the one he’d said made her look like a sexy housewife. They’d both laughed, because she was the chief breadwinner in their home, designing websites and doing consulting while he wrote plays and taught at the local university. But still, she thought of it as her slutty housewife dress, and reaching under its red and white polka-dotted hem to touch her bare pussy, with his hand atop hers, was exquisite. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d used her fingers on herself, certainly not going slow and sensual like this. Usually it was a quickie with her plug-in vibrator and she was lucky if she could focus on it. Usually she was on all fours, and she loved that, but they hadn’t made love in any sense of the phrase in a long, long time. Fucking was one thing, a wonderful thing, but she’d missed this.

“I want to feel you,” he whispered, again, so soft, so tender, and both of their fingers pressed inside her, two of hers, two of his. His thumb managed to find her clit and she forced herself not to lock her legs tight, to stay loose and open, all while trying to look at the screen and produce some semblance of the same laughs or groans as were coming from the other audience members. Thankfully the film had a loud rock soundtrack, because even with her biting her lip, Shelly couldn’t keep from making noise. Ron’s hand, the hand she’d fantasized about holding, was suddenly over her mouth, his fingers inside her overtaking hers. She let her wet fingers drop to her side and he became the king of her body, the invading conqueror intent on his prize. She curled her hand around the seat and this time looked down, watching in the dim light as he pushed and twisted inside her, watching as he crouched halfway down, not caring who saw as he silently but swiftly worked his manual magic on her cunt.

Soon she was shaking, squeezing him tight, closing her eyes as she focused purely on the sensation of her husband, her he-man, her true love giving her something no one, not even she, could. This was no longer about the girls at the party, or his weight, or even him proving himself to her. It was a reminder that they’d neglected this side of their relationship for too long, and the orgasm that shook through Shelly made her feel like she’d never come before in her life, not like that. And after, when Ron kept his fingers inside her, insisting they stay for the whole movie, even though she was desperate to go, desperate to see him fully, to pay proper homage to every inch of him, the new muscles and the old favorites, they sat there, with three fingers of his left hand gently inside her, and his right holding hers until the lights came up.

If you liked this story, please check out ALL the stories in Obsessed, by authors including Kayla Perrin, Bella Andre, Portia Da Costa, Logan Belle, Justine Elyot, Charlotte Stein, Kristina Wright and more!

Buy Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women:

Amazon

Kindle ebook edition

Barnes & Noble

Nook ebook edition

Powells

IndieBound

Google Play

Cleis Press

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I still need anal sex erotica stories ASAP (or by June 30th)

I'm looking for the last few stories to round out my almost done anal sex erotica manuscript. Here's what I need, the sooner the better (new deadline is June 30th but earlier stories have a better chance). Also, keyword: lube. Use it in your stories (or some variation on lube that is not spit; I received a LOT of stories that use spit and I'm not sure what shape the final book will take but I definitely don't need any more stories that use spit as lube). Also: first page, first thing I should see is your story title and byline. And please follow the guidelines: I know they're long, but they aren't superfluous. "50 words or less" means 50 words or less! And those are just suggestions; I need HOT HOT HOT stories that are different from what I already have, that are memorable and mindblowing and sexy and outrageous and dirty and sweet. I can't be too much more specific as it's very much an "I know it when I see it process" (and obviously my editorial selections are 100% subjective, which is why I never give author feedback, aside from not having time; what I don't accept another editor might grab in a hot second). But I can tell you the book is wide open as of today. Might be my last erotica anthology for a while (probably not, but I will see what the bookbuying public decrees and whether it's worthwhile or I should focus my energies elsewhere).

The nitty gritty: I do not need any first time anal sex stories, or any lesbian or gay stories, but would consider bisexual or transgender stories. I am looking for creative settings and scenarios, BDSM stories, anal sex along with other types of sexual activity, threesomes or group stories, masturbation stories, sex toy stories and anything out of the ordinary and extremely hot.

Anal Sex Erotica Call for Submissions
To be published by Cleis Press in 2013
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is looking for hot and sexy anal erotica that will inspire those looking to explore backdoor sex. Everything from intercourse to analingus, strap-ons to butt plugs, bondage, spanking, self-pleasure and more. Stories will range from new practitioners of anal sex to seasoned anal lovers, and recipients of anal pleasure of any gender. Final book will contain a variety of scenarios related to anal sexuality. All characters must be over 18; no scat, incest or bestiality. No poetry. Original, unpublished stories only. 2 submissions maximum per author.

How to submit: Send double spaced Times or Times New Roman 12 point black font Word document (.doc or .docx) with pages numbered OR RTF of 1,500-3,000 word story. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing, do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). US grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) required. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, and 50 word or less bio in the third person to analantho at gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. You will receive a confirmation within 72 hours. I will get back to you by November 2012.

Payment: $50 and 2 copies of the book on publication

Deadline: June 30, 2012 (earlier submissions are strongly encouraged and preferred)

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

$1.99 erotic romance anthologies: Passion and Obsessed

My anthologies Passion: Erotic Romance for Women and Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women are only $1.99, a huge bargain, on Kindle right now! Not sure how long this sale lasts, but check it out. They even made the Amazon erotica bestseller list (they've been shifting, but as of this posting, Passion is #18). And you do NOT need to own a Kindle to read Kindle books; just download Kindle for your computer (I actually read largely on Kindle for Mac, because I like the layout). Yay for happy news! I still have getting a book trailer on Amazon on my editorial bucket list, but I think it will have to be far far afield of erotica for that to happen. That is in the works too, if I can motivate. Fingers crossed.


Passion: Erotic Romance for Women



Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women

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Friday, June 15, 2012

You Oughta Know about tonight's Alanas Morisette tribute

I'm really excited about this Alanis Morissette tribute tonight at Joe's Pub celebrating the 17th anniversary of You Oughta Know. It's got an amazing lineup and is sure to be a lot of fun! I wasn't sure if I could make it until yesterday, and am excited about it after a week of insomnia nonstop work around the clock.



Featuring the best and brightest comedians, musicians and storytellers on the New York scene,You Oughta Know will pay wild tribute to the Canadian who changed your life when she burst onto the scene with the infamous lyric, "Every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back I hope you feel it," the one and only Alanis Morissette. Hosted and curated by Carolyn Castiglia (Comedy Central, VH1, Our Hit Parade) and Mindy Raf, aka Leibya Rogers (College Humor, VH1). Like rain on your wedding day, you'll never forget this night.

With:

Katina Corrao (Comedy Central)
Jessica Delfino (Edinburgh Fringe, Montreal Comedy Festival)
Ophira Eisenberg (host of NPR's Ask Me Another, The Moth, recently featured in the NYT)
Erin and her Cello (resident at Rockwood Music Hall, Ars Nova)
Eliot Glazer (author, My Parents Were Awesome, creator of Sh*t New Yorkers Say, editor at New York magazine's Vulture blog)
Jen Kwok (Comedy Central)
Ben Lerman (Keith and the Girl favorite)
Arthur Lewis & the Geniuses (Ars Nova, Freestyle Love Supreme)
Carla Rhodes (Glasgow Comedy Festival, residency at Arlene's Grocery)
Rachel Sklar (Huffington Post, Mediaite, Change The Ratio)
Stuckey and Murray (FUSE, MTV, Last Comic Standing)
Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme)

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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Teaching Erotica 101 at CatalystCon in September in Long Beach, California

I don't know too much about my upcoming schedule, which will largely depend on whether I land a full-time job or keep on freelancing full-time (I'm looking for editorial jobs in NYC, if you know of anything), but the weekend of September 14-16 I will be attending and speaking at CatalystCon in Long Beach, California. I'm teaching my Erotica 101 workshop, and very much looking forward to it. See the full lists of speakers and sessions.
Erotica 101
Rachel Kramer Bussel

Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of over 40 anthologies, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing, from getting started, finding your voice, writing against type, erotic love and lust letters, to submitting your work keeping up with the thriving erotica market. You’ll learn how to incorporate everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing, and make them fit for particular magazines and anthologies. Whether you’re writing to that special someone, penning longtime fantasies, or want to earn cash for your dirty words, this workshop, taught by the editor of over a dozen erotic anthologies, is for you. Paper and writing implements will be provided.

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Free erotic writing workshop July 25th at Babeland NYC

I'm giving erotic writing tips for free at Babeland, a few blocks down from my first NYC home on Mercer Street, on July 25th. No RSVP necessary! There is an Eventbrite listing if you want to pass it on.

July 25, 7 pm
Easy Erotica Writing With Rachel Kramer Bussel
In this mini-workshop, Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories and Best Bondage Erotica 2012, will teach you her top ten tricks for getting your reader’s knickers in a twist. You’ll be bangin’ out your own book in no time! Free. No RSVP required. Babeland, 43 Mercer Street, NYC

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Sign up for a free, autographed copy of Anything for You: Erotica for Kinky Couples to review

My Amazon reviewers are very special because they get my books pretty much before everyone else, save for me and the publisher; I get my editor copies shipped directly to me and the first thing I do is send them off to those of you who are kind enough to agree to review them on Amazon. I love that feeling of knowing my books are going to eager readers all across the country, and seeing your extremely thoughtful, detailed reviews helps remind me why I'm doing this, and, hopefully, encourages those who might be interested in checking out a certain book to give it a show. The reviews don't have to be long; a few sentences are fine, though many people go deeper than that, sometimes highlighting their favorite stories, or even every story. Whatever you want to say is fine; I do request that reviewers post within 6 weeks of receipt.

So with that said, I'm making a list of 20 people to send the very first hot off the press copies of Anything for You: Erotica for Kinky Couples in mid-July. It's a book with a wide mix of types of couples, types of kink, and ways of exploring BDSM, in the home and outside of it (my femdom story "Petting Zoo" takes place at a party). If you'd like to get one and have made a purchase at some point from Amazon.com and are in the U.S. and agree to review it within six weeks of receipt, please email anythingforyou at gmail.com with "Amazon" in the subject and your name and mailing address in the body. The first 20 of you will be added to my list and will get your autographed copies via media mail as soon as they arrive! (I'll update this post when I've reached 20 reviewers, though follow me @raquelita on Twitter because I sometimes post reviewing opportunities there too).

I'll be posting excerpts and more information about the book next month, but wanted to give you a heads up here in case you're interested. Anything for You: Erotica for Kinky Couples is edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and will be published by Cleis Press. It is available for pre-order on Amazon (more purchasing links tk).



Introduction: As Kinky as They Want to Be

Like Riding a Bicycle Lisabet Sarai
Borrower Beware Heidi Champa
Anything She Wanted Neil Gavriel
Tails Deborah Castellano
Teppanyaki Janine Ashbless
Greasing the Wheels Madlyn March
Interview Talon Rihai and Salome Wilde
I Tend to Her Justine Elyot
Apple Blossoms Emerald
Big Night D. L. King
The Guest Star Sinclair Sexsmith
Exposure Elizabeth Coldwell
New Games on a Saturday Night Teresa Noelle Roberts
Notes from Her Master Kathleen Tudor
Lap It Up Kay Jaybee
What If Angela R. Sargenti
Petting Zoo Rachel Kramer Bussel
Normal Charlotte Stein
Everything She’d Always Wanted Ariel Graham


Introduction: As Kinky as They Want to Be

“My wife is on her knees.” That is how the first story in this book, “Like Riding a Bicycle,” by Lisabet Sarai, starts off, and in some ways, it’s why I don’t think I even need to introduce these stories, although I am about to. What I like most about this book is that its authors, in each of these nineteen titillating stories, assume that the reader is already aware of the world of BDSM. That’s not to say that if you’re a curious newcomer to the world of bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism you shouldn’t keep turning the pages, but just to point out that there is an ease with which these couples embrace their love of kink, in its varied forms, even when they are uneasy about the particular acts they are about to engage in. That push/pull, love/hate relationship with what turns us on is part of the beauty of BDSM and is a recurring theme here. In the course of these erotic vignettes, you will indeed learn about why, say, someone would want to be “forced” onto her knees, or bent over a bed or used as a plaything.

In these stories, you will find pain, and pleasure. You will find service and devotion. You will find Masters and Mistresses and curious onlookers⎯and so much more. You will find a dinner party where food is used for foreplay, and learn what CNFM stands for (hint: Clothed Female, Naked Male). But more than any particular scene or setup you’ll read about⎯and they are quite dazzling in their ingenuity⎯what stays with me the most from these stories is the longevity of the couples, the way they can read each others’ moans and sighs and screams so well, discerning a lover’s desires based on years of practice.

One of my biggest pet peeves about BDSM erotica is when a story leaps too quickly into the “action” and doesn’t give enough insight into who the characters are, what makes them tick, what makes them want to be bound, gagged, stripped naked, exposed, ordered around⎯or be the one doing those things. In every one of these imaginative, racy stories, you will find out why each part of the couple is there, what they get out of their relationship, what pushes their buttons, what animates their kink. You’ll find anal penetration, asparagus sex, an interview with a Mistress and her most eager slave, role-playing, spanking, bondage, exhibitionism and much more. Fantasies are fulfilled, sometimes on command, sometimes in ways their creators never could have foreseen. Most of all, though, what comes through is the passion, caring, and commitment these couples have for one another, the love behind (and alongside) the lust, which is what enables them to do all the wild, wanton things they do.

In the closing story, “Everything She’d Always Wanted,” by Ariel Graham, you will see the word fear over and over; the protagonist, Gwen, also experiences her share of panic. Her journey deep into the world of a Dominant/submissive relationship is captured in expert prose. Graham writes, “She’d adapted quickly, something in her recognizing what she’d been searching for.” When I wrote earlier that there’s a comfort with the topic of BDSM, what I meant is precisely what is shown so dramatically and beautifully in that story. What happens in it is Gwen’s idea, as the title suggests, but she is still nervous, wary, uncertain if her biggest fantasy is actually one she is capable of going through with. It’s this very fear that drives her, that arouses her, that pushes her to keep going. The only thing you have to listen to is David, Gwen thinks to herself at one point. She has to take a leap of faith to get from here to there, and when she does, a whole new sexual world opens up for her.

The same could be said of the other characters, men and women, tops and bottoms, you’ll read about in these pages. In a sense they all have to take a leap of faith and trust their partners to guide them, whether it’s Dan in D. L. King’s “Big Night,” who gets a very special fortieth birthday party, or the narrator of Sinclair Sexsmith’s, “The Guest Star,” who watches as her girlfriend takes a new lover, or Jack in “New Games on a Saturday Night” by Teresa Noelle Roberts, who is used to girls who know their way around the business end of a paddle, but has what he thinks he knows turned on its head by a novice, Serena. For him, “the turn-on wasn’t so much giving the pain as being trusted to give just the right amount of pain.”

I hope these stories will move you as deeply as they’ve moved me. They are rich, varied and incredibly naughty. Many of them have made me wish I could slip inside the body and mind of a given character and act out his or her devilishly dirty delights. All of them have shown me just how powerful a force kink can be, how it can bring couples closer together and show them the true depths of trust and desire they can plumb.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City

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Monday, June 11, 2012

Submissive male bondage and orgasm denial sex diary

This week's sex diary is called "The Submissive Man Who Isn't Allowed to Orgasm". I'm the editor of these weekly sex diaries - this week, bondage and submission and orgasm denial and female domination! Interested in writing a sex diary? Tell me why you'd make a good candidate at sexdiaries at nymag.com and feel free to pass it on. Thanks!

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Snapshot

I'm in the midst of lots of deadlines and reading for reviews and interviews and to do lists and generally figuring out how to prioritize my time and who I want to be, whether any of this is worth it or the ultimate vanity. Freelancing has taken over my life, and some days that feels exciting and amazing; to not have to rush back to a cubicle after BEA was something utterly new, and I am grateful for that, but at the same time, I wonder how long I can sustain this, whether it makes sense or I'm fooling myself that I can "make it," not that I even know what that means. Do I reach for the stars and pursue a nonfiction opportunity that would be lend me credibility outside the sex writing field, would give me access to people and experiences I would never have otherwise? Do I keep pecking away at the project I thought I could blaze through two weekends ago and instead have left to linger? Do I keep editing anthologies because I love it even if the sales sometimes disappoint me or throw in the towel after the latest deadlines and find something more lucrative to do with my time? (I will probably always edit anthologies, but I want to keep doing it because it's fulfilling and wise, not just because I'm so used to it I can't brainstorm anything else to do.)

I have no idea, and sometimes it feels like to take time to even think about it is blasphemous and wasteful. That's why I bought Chris Gillebeau's The Art of Non-Comformity last night at Bluestockings. I saw it sitting on a stack of books while I was feeling like a failure for hosting a reading where there were more cupcakes than attendees, and knew I needed to do something different, not make the same mistake ad infinitum. I know that there are possibilities glimmering just within reach; even when I sit on my ass, sometimes they make their way to me, as if knowing I need them, need someone to believe in me, but the truth is I need to believe in myself, to figure out what I want to do and then, well, do it. So I'm in the process of figuring that out, and trying to purge the extraneous from my life in order to get down to basics.

I often dream of escape, make plans to go somewhere--anywhere--else, to get away from it all, but all those never-attempted dreams and goals follow me wherever I go, and always will unless I pursue them. I know that it will require the fortitude to say no, to social endeavors, to professional opportunities, in order to get to that finish line, and I am so used to saying yes I have no idea if I have it in me to learn the art, the blessing, the beauty of no, but I hope I can, so that when I do say yes it's as someone who's proud of herself, not wishing for more time and berating herself for what she hasn't done. That's not a healthy way to live, and I want to be as proud of my work as I am of the people I interview and the people I'm a fan of. I'll get there, if I dedicate myself. It's damn fucking hard, that's for sure. I had a conversation with an editor this week and was glad it was by phone, so she couldn't see me practically choking on my shock that she thought I was up to the task she was suggesting I was. It's exciting but scary, but I guess that's what I get for being adrift in this world where I'm responsible for myself, where there's no paycheck safety net or set path to follow.

Here's a shot from last night's Bluestockings Suite Encounters reading. I am taking a break from events for the most part, save for a July 25th Babeland SoHo writing workshop, and a few assorted ones in other cities, to focus on writing. I hope I have good news to share on the writing front by end of summer! And if I don't, I'll just stay glued to my laptop until I do.


With Erobintica and Suleikha Snyder

Friday, June 08, 2012

I love my spanking erotica but it'll never be worth $13,897.50

When you have books like Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 1 and 2 that are out of print, apparently people do crazy things, like this:



I love all my anthologies but there is no way this book is worth even 1/10th of that! Hilarious, but still. You could buy umpteen erotica books for that price.

As soon as I have some time, I'm going to work on getting both Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z books into ebook and audio form, but in the meantime, you can buy my books Spanked and Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories (more info below) and this fall the very hot Cheeky Spanking Stories will be out from Cleis Press! I just saw the cover at BEA and am SO excited about and just posted the table of contents and introduction. And you should all check out the free ebook Across my Knee: The Delights of Spanking! Yes, it's spanking erotica that's completely free for a limited time, so download it today. Why not? (It's also free for the Nook).



Listen to my Spanked story "The Depths of Despair" being read by Danielle A. Nelson at Nobilis Erotica (mp3)

Buy Spanked from:

Amazon

Kindle

Bn.com

Nook

Powell's

Indiebound (find your local indie bookstore)

Audible audio version

Cleis Press



Buy Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories from:

Amazon

Kindle

Bn.com

Nook

Audible audio version

Cleis Press


Cheeky Spanking Stories will be out this fall! I'm so thrilled with this cover; it might edge out my Women in Lust cover as what I think of as my hottest book cover.

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Listen to Tristan Taormino's new radio show Sex Out Loud, tonight with Susie and Aretha Bright

I'm very excited about Tristan Taormino's new radio show Sex Out Loud, which you can listen to every Friday at 8 pm EST or afterward. It debuted last week with Dan Savage (listen to that one here or on iTunes) and I'll be on June 29th! Today she'll have on Susie and Aretha Bright, authors of the excellent new ebook Mother/Daughter Sex Advice. Tune in! You can also follow the show @SexOutLoudRadio on Twitter. Read more about what you'll find in Mother/Daughter Sex Advice on Susie's blog.



More info on the show from Tristan's site:
Join award winning author, speaker, sex educator and filmmaker Tristan Taormino as she explores the world of sexuality from every angle on her radio show Sex Out Loud™ on the Variety Channel of the VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. Tristan will interview leading authors, educators, artists and icons and give you an uncensored, inside look at alternative sexual practices and communities. She’ll delve into topics from the popular to the taboo, including sex education and sexual health, taboo fantasies, BDSM, non-monogamy, the adult industry, and more. Tristan will answer your questions on the air and share her 15 years of experience and honest, down to earth, sex-positive advice. Open your mind and expand your erotic horizons.

Listen LIVE every Friday at 8:00 pm EST/5:00 pm PST
See a list of guests and show topics
Listen to past shows on VoiceAmerica either streaming or download as an mp3
See the Resource List for a past show
Download and listen to the show as a podcast on iTunes

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Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Sex diary and dating checklists

This week's sex diary (I'm the editor): "The Stay-at-Home Mom With Schoolgirl Spanking Fantasies"

And my essay "I Don't Have a Dating Checklist" at The Frisky, which namechecks Ricki Lake, Meghan McCain and others about their dating checklists and dealbreakers.

Yay for kinky smut: Surrender won the National Leather Association Samois Anthology Award!

My book Surrender: Erotic Tales of Female Pleasure and Submission won the Samois Anthology Award from the National Leather Association! I'm so honored.



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Let the BEA book lovers madness begin: signings, readings and fun

This week is Book Expo America at the Javits Center, my favorite event of the year; I love the energy and excitement of being surrounded all over by books and book people, by people who read. I didn't go yesterday but downtown I did run into author Wendy McClure, Patrick Hughes, who is now with Central Recovery Press, who published the memoir Dopefiend by Best Sex Writing 2012 contributor Tim Elhajj, and someone from UK distributor Turnaround, and am excited to see lots of friends and possibly sneak in to the Natalie Merchant signing today. This year bookstores have been offering $45 Power Reader passes to shoppers and if you like books and can get to New York City, I cannot recommend BEA enough, triple or quadruple that if you're a writer. Seeing the sheer size of what's being published, getting catalogs, meeting authors and publicists and editors, all of it, for me, is energizing in its own unique way. It helps remind me that books are my favorite thing in the world and that I'm honored to be a part of it in a way I wasn't when I started going to BEA in, I believe 2002.

Here's what I'm up to this week:

June 5 - Book Expo America signing 11:30-12:30 in the autographing area, signing 1-2 at the PGW booth, Javits Center

June 6 - lesbian erotica reading, 7 pm, at Bluestockings, 72 Allen Street, NYC, featuring authors and editors from The Harder She Comes: Butch Femme Erotica, Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica and Girl Fever: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex for Lesbians

June 7 - noon, speaking at Blog World YouSayToo Booth Speaker Series “Building Audience & Community Around Your Passion.” Javits Center.

June 8 - 7 pm, Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories reading and free cupcakes! Bluestockings, 72 Allen Street, NYC

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Monday, June 04, 2012

1,200 word or less orgasm anthology deadline extended to June 13

Another shot at my orgasm anthology, which is rapidly filling up! Here's my update (the anal sex anthology is closed):

I am especially looking for stories dealing with more than one partner (threesomes or group scenarios), stories from male POVs, stories about submissive males, stories about male masturbation, bisexual stories, sex toys that aren't vibrators, and anything unusual, over the top, extremely creative. Stories should ideally be between 1,000-1,200 words but I will consider shorter stories. Please make sure to include your story title and byline at the top of the first page. If you have previously submitted, I will get back to you by November 2012 at the latest (probably sooner) with a final response.

Short Short Orgasm Erotica Anthology Call for Submissions (title TBA)
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
To be published by Cleis Press in 2013

Orgasm…let me count the ways! Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is looking for short short stories of 1,200 words or less focused on the theme of orgasm. The more creative, varied and hot, the better. While these are extremely short stories, I still expect character development, exciting plots, and as many types of orgasms as possible. Surprise me! (For an excellent example of an offbeat orgasm story, see "Chemistry" by Velvet Moore in my anthology Orgasmic.) Sex toys, group sex, outdoor sex, masturbation, BDSM, roleplaying, dirty talk, anal sex, oral sex, exhibitionism, voyeurism, quickies, vacation sex—the sky's the limit. Orgasm should be either the focus of the story or play a major role. For an idea of the kinds of short stories I enjoy, see my previous anthologies Orgasmic and Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex. Final book will contain a very wide range of types of orgasm, motivations, scenarios, etc. All genders and sexual orientations welcome. All characters must be over 18; no scat, incest or bestiality. No poetry. Original, unpublished stories only. 3 submissions maximum per author.

How to submit: Send double spaced Times or Times New Roman 12 point black font Word document (.doc or .docx) with pages numbered OR RTF of 1,200 words MAXIMUM. Note that this is a hard maximum and theme of the anthology and stories that are over 1,200 words will not be considered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing, do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). US grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) required. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address to orgasmantho at gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. You will receive a confirmation within 72 hours. I will get back to you by November 2012.

Payment: $20 and 1 copy of the book on publication

Deadline: June 13, 2012 (earlier submissions encouraged and preferred)

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Friday, June 01, 2012

Lolo Jones, virginity, feminism and sexual freedom

I wrote "Leave Lolo Jones And Her Virginity Alone!" for The Frisky. Here's a snippet:
Maybe it seems strange for someone who makes a living writing about sex and who has been sexually active since age 17 to be sticking up for a 29-year-old virgin, but I see this as a wider issue. To me, sexual freedom means being able to make your own sexual choices for whatever reasons you like and not be shamed for them. Saying that you have the right to make your own decisions but that your reasoning is faulty is like being pro-choice but saying a woman should only have an abortion for a “good” reason. The problem is that “good” is subjective, as is “gift.” If Jones is a role model for other virgins, I don’t see why that’s a bad thing, as long as being a virgin isn’t being upheld as the only way to be “good.” At The Washington Post, Rahiel Tesfamariam laments the media’s desire to focus on black women at the extremes of celibate or promiscuous, and writes, “Our abstinence is presented as a superhuman, radical break from the norm, one made only by devout Christians — when factors such as sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and infidelity make it a far more commonplace choice than the public realizes.” To that end, I’m glad that Jones acknowledged that being a virgin isn’t necessarily easy (in a statement ready-made for headlines, she said being a virgin has been “harder than training for the Olympics”).
Read the whole thing

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10 hours of trivia and one fun "Eye of the Tiger" video montage

I am super excited about Sunday's 10-hour Big Quiz Thing trivia bonanza! I don't remember when I started going to Big Quiz Thing, but it was likely 20012, because I used to go with my ex K in 2003 at The Slipper Room. I have bounced around from various teams, dated my share of trivia players, once gone up in the final round and was so excited about knowing Justin Bieber's age it was okay that I somehow missed the answers related to an issue of Us Weekly I had just read, and so much more. BQT is a trivia night, yes, but it's also a community of friendly nerds. I interviewed Quizmaster Noah Tarnow in 2004 for Gothamist. I am not the person who tends to know a lot of answers (although, hilariously, I correctly guessed George R. R. Martin last time, though we wound up putting something else) but I always have such a fun time. BQT is one of my very favorite things to do in New York City and if you are at all curious, I think it's safe to say this will be an incredibly memorable, one-of-a-kind marathon event. Get your tickets here. Whether or not you're in New York or don't care about trivia but do enjoy 80's pop culture, check out this video:



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