Rose Caraway interviewed me on her Sexy Librarian podcast!

Last night I had a long chat with Rose Caraway about everything from erotica writing, editing and consulting to my tips on doing erotica readings, like we're doing on Monday, September 15th at 7:30 at The Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco (join us, it's free and I love The Booksmith), my love of coffee, my favorite and least favorite erotic words and much more. Listen here:



Last time Rose interviewed me it was in her studio and we discussed sexy remote controls, nipple clamps and more.

Catch more of her wonderful author interviews on her blog.

And of course, read "Book Swap" and 20 other sexy stories, complete with fun card catalog entries, in her new anthology The Sexy Librarian's Big Book of Erotica! It's out now in print and ebook, and of course the best narrator in the business is going to be narrating her own book, out very soon from Audible!

On sexy librarians and book nerds

I'm honored that my story "Book Swap," about strangers who swap books on an airplane and what happens afterward, opens Rose Caraway's debut anthology The Sexy Librarian's Big Book of Erotica, out now in print and coming soon as an audiobook recorded by Rose and, I believe, Kindle and Nook versions. The book has card catalog images before each story, and the one for mine has it tagged Cougar, Airplane, Spanking. That pretty much sums it up. I'll be reading the story alongside Rose, whose story in the book is called "The Mating Chamber" (tags: Shackles, Breeding, Matriarchal) and sharing other erotica tidbits live at our free event on Monday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at The Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco. They haven't put it on their site yet, but it's confirmed, and I will also be signing copies of my two new summer books The Big Book of Submission and Hungry for More. See you there! You can also check out Rose's sexy librarian blog and Sexy Librarian podcast as well as her The Kiss Me Quick's podcast

Free Best Sex Writing 2012 reading tonight: polyamory, why atheist sex is better, female orgasm and more

Tonight at 7:30 pm come enjoy free cupcakes and some of the smartest thinkers and writers about sex at the Best Sex Writing 2012 reading at Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco. Facebook invite here and below find excerpts from all of your readers: Susie Bright, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Greta Christina Tracy Clark-Flory and Thomas S. Roche. And yes, of course I want you to buy the book, and come to the reading, and get your book signed, but I am also linking to the pieces so you can read them in full (and then buy the book for all the pieces you can't read online and to support the series). If you like any/all of these, please let someone know about the reading, tweet about it (@bestsexwriting or I'm @raquelita), give it as a gift, let your San Francisco and Santa Cruz and NYC friends know about tonight, April 12th, April 25th; anything you can do to support this series is wonderful. And a reminder: I am in search of submissions for Best Sex Writing 2013. Original pieces, reprints, suggestions are all welcome as long as they arrive by May 1 and I will be announcing which San Francisco writer is our guest judge very soon! Thanks for reading and see you at Booksmith and Bookshop Santa Cruz and Housing Works. For my full event schedule, visit my website.



"Why Lying About Monogamy Matters" by Susie Bright

It must make Ross pout that unrelenting evidence proves abstinence programs are not only "ineffective," they actually cause higher pregnancy rates than in places where young people have info and access to birth control. Eww!

It can turn a smiley-face upside-down, if you're a Christian religious fanatic, but sometimes the truth is... proof-y.

As for women having an infantile essential nature, which desires innocence and vacuity above all other sexual traits, leading to an unparalleled state of happy brainlessness -- gosh, how do you even begin to document that, outside of scripture and tattered Catholic catechism pamphlets?

Douthat's faith is based on the tenets of unapologetic misogyny, sexism, gender determinism, and an all-around "Daddy Knows Best" approach. I'm sure you've heard how well the Catholic clergy has led in this regard.

In Christianity, men are the natural leaders, and must stand guard against their carnality. Grrr!

Women must follow man, doting on him, caring for the hearth. Women have a lot to atone for, because they're the reason human beans got tossed out of the Garden of Eden. That's where God created everything in Seven Days and there was a Magic Apple and it really tasted good... which was premature and ill-advised. To say the least

"Penis Gagging, BDSM, and Rape Fantasy: The Truth about Kinky Sexting" by Rachel Kramer Bussel

“You don’t want to gag a woman with your penis unless you have some serious issues with the way you see women.” So says Kirsten Powers, ex-girlfriend of sex-scandal star Congressman Anthony Weiner, in a piece for The Daily Beast. She is referencing his sexting relationship with a Las Vegas blackjack dealer. The transcript of their texts was posted by Radar Online, including one bit that prompted Powers’ musing: “You will gag on me before you c** with me in you” and “[I’m] thinking about gagging your hot mouth with my c***.”

This column is not about Weiner. I’m pretty over political sex scandals and am inclined to think that someone like Weiner wanted to get caught, consciously or unconsciously. The only positive thing I can say about such scandals is that they do help shed light on just how unenlightened we are about topics like monogamy and BDSM. Here we have an example of a woman making a blanket statement about something she clearly doesn’t know the first thing about, simply because it offends her.

You know the phrase, “Taken out of context, I must seem so strange?” That goes double for pulling random bits of erotic conversation, texted or otherwise, and analyzing them as if they told a whole story. Without the motivation of the person sending and receiving them, you really don’t know anything, and yet it seems that a default anti-BDSM reaction is acceptable. Our public squeamishness over the fact that some people can eroticize pain, degradation, and being ordered around, safely, consensually and pleasurably, is nothing more than a prejudice that needs to be eradicated.

"Atheists Do It Better: Why Leaving Religion Leads to Better" by Greta Christina

And sexual guilt doesn't just go up with more conservative religions. It goes up with more religiosity, period. The more religious your upbringing is, the worse your sexual guilt is likely to be. Of people raised in very religious homes, 22.5% said they were shamed or ridiculed for masturbating (to give just one example)... compared to only 5.5% of people brought up in the least religious homes. And of people raised in very religious homes, 79.9% felt guilty about a specific sexual activity or desire... while among people raised in the least religious and most secular homes, that number drops to 26.3%. That's a huge, huge difference.

But one of the most surprising conclusions of this research? Sexual guilt from religion doesn't wreck people's sex lives forever.

Guilt According to conventional wisdom -- and I will freely admit that I held this conventional wisdom myself -- religious guilt about sex continues to torment people long after the religion itself has lost its hold. But according to the "Sex and Secularism" report, that's rarely the case. Once people let go of religion, people's positive experiences of sex, and their relative lack of guilt, happen at about the same rate as people who were never religious in the first place.

Ray was surprised by this result as well. (Surprising results -- a sign of good science!) "We did think that religion would have residual effects in people after they left," he told me, "but our data did not show this. That was a very pleasant surprise. That is not to say that some people don't continue to experience problems, but the vast majority seem to shake it off and get on with their sexual lives pretty well." So letting go of religion means a rebound to a sex life that's as satisfying, and as guilt-free, as a sex life that was never touched by religion in the first place.

"The Worship of Female Pleasure" by Tracy Clark-Flory

Nicole Daedone pulls her long dirty-blond locks into a bun, rolls up the sleeves of her crisp white dress shirt and readies her lube. On the table in front of her there is a woman, naked only from the waist down, with her knees spread wide. The 40-something founder of OneTaste, a center dedicated to “mindful sexuality,” is about to give a live and impromptu demonstration of orgasmic meditation (“OMing” for short) in a conference room at the sophisticated Le Meridien hotel in San Francisco. She takes a long look between the volunteer’s legs and enthuses to the audience of roughly 40 women: “Oh my god, it’s beautiful. It’s an electric rose color. The swelling is already beginning.”

Before long, Daedone is hunched over and vigorously stroking the woman’s most sensitive “spot” — the “upper left quadrant” of the clitoris — with just her forefinger. The recipient moans wildly as though she is being taken over by a spirit and Daedone urges her on: “Good girl. Good, good. Reach, reach, reach, reach.” As the woman’s groans peak, Daedone lets out a throaty exhalation that sounds like it belongs in a Lamaze class. Two audience members overcome by the intensity of the performance are silently crying. The demonstration, which is part of a weekend-long women’s retreat, continues for 15 minutes.

It is both arousing and deeply bizarre.

It isn’t every weekend that I find myself watching a woman being repeatedly brought to orgasm in front of a live audience — but I hardly expected normality when I asked to sit in on the workshop.

"Men Who “Buy Sex” Commit More Crimes: Newsweek, Trafficking, and the Lie of Fabricated Sex Studies" by Thomas S. Roche

Are they joking? Buying sex is already illegal most places — and it also exists almost everywhere. But this group is actually claiming that it must be “criminalized”? How far out of the world we live in do you have to be before you can believe that prostitution hasn’t been criminalized?

The answer? You just have to be a radical anti-sex feminist, apparently…in which case male-dominated society looks like just one big blur…at least, that’s what I, as a man, take away. Equating a law enforcement structure that can’t manage to stamp out street prostitution with men who frequent call girls and politicians who don’t pass stronger laws is only possible if men aren’t people.

What’s more, places where sex work is most illegal (Saudi Arabia and other Sharia-governed states) are without exception where it’s most dysfunctional (e.g., trafficked women). The nations that have the harshest anti-prostitution laws are the places where there are the greatest social strictures against consensual sexual encounters between men and women. Those countries are also — and this isn’t an accident — the nations where there’s the greatest difference between rich and poor, and the places where women have the lowest status. Oppressive laws disproportionately affect the poor, women, and racial, ethnic and religious minorities, no matter what they’re passed to do.

But it gets way worse. The “hooker-free Utopia” Farley wants to see take root in the U.S. is even more extreme than she’d let you know. In the case of Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, those nations have a documented constancy of homosexual rape in both social and penal circumstances, as well as anti-gay murders for anyone who isn’t “discreet” about same-sex contacts.

Sex diary, sex tip and Best Sex Writing 2012 West Coast and NYC tour dates

A lot of info all at once, and at the bottom, some art I loved at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where I want to go back and spend hours upon hours, it was so incredible, and up top, Valentine's Day appropriate, neon hearts at the restaurant Elsa's in Milwaukee. I'm back, but am planning a return trip to Milwaukee when it's warmer. $98 flight on Frontier Airlines and so much awesomeness. You can read about my erotic writing workshop at Northwestern in The Daily Northwestern. I also did one at The Tool Shed, which has an amazing selection of sex toys.

This week's sex diary involves a busted Hitachi Magic Wand, foreign guys and bad communication, and an expat exploring a new city. (I'm the editor; if you want to write an anonymous sex diary, email me at sexdiaries at nymag.com)

I gave a Valentine's Day sex top to Blisstree.

And in April I'll be going on what is probably one of my last proper book tours unless I suddenly win the lottery or write some kind of blockbuster, so I'm going all out, to old favorites like Powell's, which deserves its own essay about the piece that's only in Best Sex Writing 2012 because of Powell's, Elliott Bay, and Booksmith, and Bookshop Santa Cruz, where I've never been, and the bookstore where I spend the most money and score the most incredible finds, Housing Works. There will also be assorted interviews along the way and hopefully a cupcake meetup in Seattle and attending theater and I'm also reading at Writers With Drinks April 14th. But these are the Best Sex Writing 2012 events, where I'll get to meet a lot of my contributors. And do readings with Susie Bright! See you there. Whether you can or can't make these if you've got a blog, I'd love to have you join the March virtual book tour for Best Sex Writing 2012. These dates are left - email bestsexwriting2012 at gmail.com with "Tour" in the subject and include your URL and mailing address and you'll be assigned a date. Thank you!



Free cupcakes at all readings!

April 6, 7:30 pm
Powell's, 1005 W. Burnside, Portland, Oregon
Free and free cupcakes! Featuring editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Tim Elhajj, Kevin Sampsell and Lidia Yuknavitch. 503-228-4651.
Facebook invite

April 7, 7 pm
Elliott Bay Books, 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, WA
Free and free cupcakes! Featuring editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Kevin Sampsell and Lidia Yuknavitch. 206-624-6600.
Facebook invite

April 9, 7 pm
Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco
Free and free cupcakes! Featuring editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, guest judge Susie Bright and local contributors Greta Christina, Tracy Clark-Flory and Thomas S. Roche. 415-863-8688.
Facebook invite

April 12, 7:30 pm
Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA
Free and free cupcakes! Featuring editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, guest judge Susie Bright, and local contributors. 831-423-0900.
Facebook invite

April 25, 7 pm
Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street, NYC
Free and free cupcakes! Featuring editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Ellen Friedrichs, Lynn Harris, Amanda Marcotte, Joan Price, and Rachel Rabbit White. 212-334-3324.
Facebook invite

Milwaukee Art Museum art:


Nancy by Chuck Close - more info below, and the Nancy Graves piece was adjacent to it




Object Disguised 4 Times by Nancy Graves


St. Dionysus by Kehinde Wiley




Bluffs by Tara Donovan (made of buttons!)


There was sun, snow and water right out the window, and it was beautiful. And below is what I saw when I looked up.



This greets you when you either look down from street level, or right when you walk in from the parking garage:

2 videos from my California readings: Orgasmic mashup and "Manners" at Coco de Mer

I just got emails about these lovely readings - big thanks to Bianca Butler and Dave Naz, respectively, for taping us!


Roundup of the reading at Booksmith in San Francisco featuring me, Violet Blue, Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey - if you want to watch the whole thing, click here from The Campanil at Mills College. Violet Blue read from "The Fugly Ducky" by Thomas Roche, and I read from "Espionage" from Best Women's Erotica 2011, though you have to check the Booksmith link for that, in full. There was a LOT of humor at this reading, as you can tell from this clip above.


Orgasmic: Erotica for Women

Rachel Kramer Bussel reads Manners from Dave Naz on Vimeo.

Dave Naz taped me reading my kinky face-slapping story "Manners" from Gotta Have It - click that link for details on 68 more hot stories! Did I say that 5 members of my family were in attendance? I so almost read something else (and opened the evening with a personal favorite, that I also read at Good Vibes, the last story, "Vacation Pictures" by Robert Peregrine, which I look forward to reading at Bluestockings on Valentine's Day, it's so humorously hot).

I'm hoping to do a reading in Seattle the weekend of June 25-26 - alas, there are no Seattle contributors to Gotta Have It but I have something up my sleeve. And I'm working on (fingers crossed) trying to do a Midwest tour of Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Chicago when it's warmer - maybe even Madison if a venue will have me. Will keep you posted!

Last night at Booksmith, in photos

I have to run a few errands, like buying a case for my pretty new laptop (though I must admit, Tantek showed up and pulled out his 11-inch MacBook Air last night and it was so light, I wondered if that would't have been the better option), then catch a plane to Los Angeles - I'm on the Dr. Susan Block Show tonight, and I want to get me and all my huge amount of belongings settled into my hotel and just write. No dates, no ice skating, no phone calls, at least, for one day. I've been running around nonstop and have been feeling physically off. I Tweeted that the reading would be a success if I didn't cry. I didn't, at least, not on the outside, not there. At Booksmith I was proud of myself for reading that totally fraught story and so happy to hear my fellow authors. The after where I was a little sad, where I could recall exact phone calls made from exact streets, plans and dreams and fantasies, that was, well, after. That's another story for another time, but I was happy to remember some of the good parts, the ones that make anything not-so-good worth it.




photo of me before the reading by Violet Blue via Flickr - to be totally vain for a moment, I love this photo!

I will write more about how Booksmith is the best place ever to do readings; if you want to watch last night's, Click here. Thanks to everyone who showed up, to the guy who had me sign his birthday card with my lips, to the Sarge and Reputation and Wild Flag fan, to all my friends and to the Booksmith staff, who not only hosted a wonderful evening but really know their books. Thank you to Violet Blue, Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey, who all breathed life into their stories that, much as I love the written word, it just doesn't have in the same way on the page. Dusty sold sexy calendars to benefit Lyon Martin Health Services (see photo below and, incidentally, I'll spank you anytime!). One of the highlights for me was chatting afterward with them about all manner of books.






Donna George Storey, Susie Hara, me, Dusty Horn, Violet Blue


Thanks, Josh, I hope you had a fabulous birthday! You were very cute - I kindof wanted to pinch your cheeks and make out with you, but in a friendly way. I was happy to sign your card with my eyeliner (before I was given a lovely purple pen) and lipstick.




Pin Up calendar as sold by the sexy Dusty Horn


I bought these at Booksmith (and they gave me the tote bag for free, which I will wear proudly). Looking forward to reading The People Who Watched Her Pass By by Scott Bradfield, Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin and Stuff: Compuslive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Streketee.

And welcome to my hotel life world (which, I will say, has been greatly improved by the use of Skype):


Since editing Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, I always take these. I've liked the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, but think they don't need to make the staff where crazy uniforms. I booked this via Quikbook for $93/night!


I kicked these off my bed getting comfortable. Oops!

Thank you especially Booksmith, everyone at Cleis Press, especially Kat for driving me to Emeryville, and Violet Blue, for whom I promise to return for a proper vacation and longer stay and mayhem and fun!

Tonight tonight tonight! The BIG night at Booksmith - be there or watch the livestream!

Tonight tonight tonight! 3 dozen free cupcakes from Mission Minis which if what I'm hearing is true are going to go fast! It's also being covered by Litseen.

January 28, 7:30 pm
READING WITH VIOLET BLUE AT BOOKSMITH



Me and superstar author and editor Violet Blue read along with Orgasmic contributors Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey!

Free cupcakes!

Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA
415-863-8688

Official Booksmith link

I think I will read "Espionage" from Best Women's Erotica 2011, a personally challenging story, because I don't know when I'll get the honor of reading with Violet again. And because it's good for me to challenge myself, to read a story that's maybe about something deeper and more important than just sex or kink. Or maybe that's just my imagination, but I think I will read it in my velvet and leather lace up the back show off my tattoo sexy new Kardashian for Bebe dress.

I was going to tell you why it really sucks when you spend a lot of time and effort and do a reading and the store doesn't have the books that they were supposed to, but I think you can figure out why that sucks. What I have to do is be open and remind myself that that is a learning experience to micromanage and double check and make sure make sure make sure for the future.

Not complaining about anything...truly. I had to wake up at 5:30 am to test Skype and now have to try to fit a ton of stuff into my various suitcases. But first, a luxurious bath! I could so get used to this bathtub thing.

West Coast book tour is this week: Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles! All free, all with free cupcakes, and hot, hot stories.

I'll be doing a separate post about my 3 New York City events in February, but as a reminder, unless I'm already traveling or have a special occasion like a panel, this is my last year of doing a bazillion outside readings. I just can't pretend like I can afford them or that I'm rich, and it doesn't make financial sense to be running all over the country when I could be working smarter, better and trying to sell more books. So my point is: come see me in Berkeley, San Francisco and Los Angeles now! I'm hoping to get to a few other cities like Denver, Minneapolis and Milwaukee in 2011 as well, fingers crossed.

A reminder with Facebook links - I'd really love it if you'd spread the word. All these events are free, it's a chance to get the just-released Gotta Have It signed by me and contributors (Denise Hoffner, who wrote census taker erotica story "Concensus" in Gotta Have It, has been added to Thursday's Berkeley Good Vibrations reading) and I'm getting fabulous, unique cupcakes, different ones from different local bakers, for each event.

Saturday night I will also make my third appearance on The Dr. Susan Block Show - listen online! Saturday night, January 29th, 10:30 pm to midnight, PST, I'll be on with Shameless author Pamela Madsen - my interview with her will be up soon at SexIs Magazine.



January 27, 6:30-8 pm
READING AND EROTICA ADVICE WITH DONNA GEORGE STOREY
Join me and prolific local erotica writer Donna George Storey (author, Amorous Woman, contributor, Orgasmic, Gotta Have It) and Gotta Have It contributor Denise Hoffner as we read some of our favorite erotica and share erotic writing advice. Free!
Good Vibrations, 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight Way), Berkeley, CA
510-841-8987

Facebook invite (no need to RSVP though, but if you want to pass it on to friends)

January 28, 7:30 pm
READING WITH VIOLET BLUE AT BOOKSMITH



Me and superstar author and editor Violet Blue read along with Orgasmic contributors Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey!

Free cupcakes!

Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA
415-863-8688

Facebook invite (no need to RSVP though, but if you want to pass it on to friends)

February 1, 7 pm
COCO DE MER READING



Join me along with Eden Bradley (The Lovers), Pamela Madsen (Shameless) and Oriana Small, aka Ashley Blue (Girlvert) for a night of hot readings and free champagne and cupcakes in this beautiful setting!
At Coco de Mer, 8618 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
310-652-0311

Facebook invite (no need to RSVP though, but if you want to pass it on to friends)

Erotic author Donna George Storey in a corset and LIVE January 27th and 28th

I met Donna George Storey via Susie Bright. We both had stories in Best American Erotica 2006 and began emailing and then she started sending me stories and over the years, I've published a LOT of them! We've also read together in New York and Berkeley and...I'm very excited to be reading with her again twice next week. Please please please tell your Berkeley/San Francisco/Bay Area friends. The aspiring writers will especially want to come hear Donna and I read at Good Vibes in Berkeley and share erotic writing tips. Then next Friday there will be free vegan cupcakes and super fabulousness as we read about orgasms and hotness. But the real reason I wanted to talk about Donna is that she did a boudoir photo shoot with my friend Laura Boyd and wrote about her experience.

She writes:

Although middle-aged women are supposed to be invisible, I knew I felt much sexier, more confident and more me than I was at 25. I certainly felt bold and beautiful as I lounged about on the sets to the sultry sounds of my favorite jazz tunes, responding to Laura’s gentle instructions and encouragement.

You may have seen Laura speak about her experience behind and in front of the camera at In The Flesh; you can read more about her posing experience for Boudoir Divas here.


Donna George Storey in a corset I hope she wears to Booksmith (hint hint); photo by Laura Boyd

Berkeley is where I lived for three years, where I was a very different person, but definitely where I read my first erotica, so it's a special place, and now my publisher, Cleis Press, is based there. So I'm looking forward to heading back to Good Vibrations, where I last read along with Mary Roach and Violet Blue and Tracy Clark-Flory from Best Sex Writing 2009, which, though it has 2009 in the title, is still pretty damn red-hot imo.

January 27, 6:30-8 pm
READING AND EROTICA ADVICE WITH DONNA GEORGE STOREY
Join me and Orgasmic contributor Donna George Storey as we read some of our favorite erotica and share erotic writing advice. Free!

Good Vibrations, 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight Way), Berkeley, CA
510-841-8987

January 28, 7:30 pm
READING WITH VIOLET BLUE AT BOOKSMITH



Me and superstar author and editor Violet Blue read along with Orgasmic contributors Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey!

Free cupcakes!

Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA
415-863-8688

West Coast tour starts in 2 weeks

It's a mini tour, but since I'm flying across the country for it, I'm calling it a tour! After that I'm working to make events happen in other cities too. I'm itching to go back to Denver and Minneapolis and read at The Smitten Kitten and I'll be in Seattle in June and some other events are maybe in the works. I'll keep you posted!

January 27, 6:30-8 pm
READING AND EROTICA ADVICE WITH DONNA GEORGE STOREY
Join me and Orgasmic contributor Donna George Storey as we read some of our favorite erotica and share erotic writing advice. Free!
Good Vibrations, 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight Way), Berkeley, CA
510-841-8987

January 28, 7:30 pm
READING WITH VIOLET BLUE AT BOOKSMITH



Me and superstar author and editor Violet Blue read along with Orgasmic contributors Susie Hara, Dusty Horn and Donna George Storey!

Free cupcakes!

Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA
415-863-8688

February 1, 7 pm
COCO DE MER READING



Join me along with Eden Bradley (The Lovers), Pamela Madsen (Shameless) and Oriana Small, aka Ashley Blue (Girlvert) for a night of hot readings and free champagne and cupcakes in this beautiful setting!
At Coco de Mer, 8618 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
310 652 0311

Dusty Horn reading her lesbian erotica story "Share" from Orgasmic

Please join us, and tell your San Francisco/Bay Area friends, to join us on January 28th; here's the official Facebook invite if you want to let people know about it, but you don't need to RSVP. You'll be among the first to get your hands on Violet Blue's new book Total Flirt and copies of Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex, with stories by me and Donna George Storey, will also be for sale! And free cupcakes, including vegan ones! Below is Dusty reading from her story "Share" from Orgasmic at Orgasm Night at In The Flesh. She also has a very hot story called "Subdue" in Best Bondage Erotica 2011 that I'm sure she'll sign at Booksmith too!

Free cupcakes at San Francisco reading with Violet Blue January 28th at Booksmith

To those who were at our last fabulous reading, it was packed, and we signed lots of books and gave out lots of cupcakes. I hope to do so again so pretty please, tell your SF friends about this one. I'll be reading "Espionage" from Best Women's Erotica 2011 (and it'll soon be available for your listening pleasure). Plus I get to host Dusty Horn (who Violet introduced me to at Litquake in 2009!), Susie Hara and Donna George Storey, both of whom I met via working with Susie Bright. See you at Booksmith! (And Donna George Storey and I also read the night before, January 27th, at Good Vibrations in Berkeley.)

Mention in Publishers Weekly!

This Publishers Weekly article talks about "tech makeovers" and social media use by two indie bookstores, Harvard Book Store and The Booksmith in San Francisco, where I did the Best Sex Writing 2009 reading and video in February.

Other changes involve serving emerging writers better. For example, The Booksmith dedicated the month of January to new writers and has begun posting author interviews online, as well as listing some store events. “None of these ideas helps sell books,” Madan acknowledges. “It’s more about having a larger conversation with your community.” Not that he’s unhappy when book sales result, as they did from a YouTube posting by erotica writer Rachel Kramer Bussel, who pointed out her favorite sexy titles (and chocolate) at the store (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRiaXX9_y0s).

“Most bookstores struggle in knowing how to use technology effectively, including us. There is no bookstore, with the exception of Powell’s, that uses the Web well,” Madan says. “We believe that the days when bookstores could ignore the Web are over, as are the days of having boring, static sites that accompany excuses like 'we only use our Web site for informational purposes.’ ” Next month, he and Evans plan to launch a new site that makes better use of social platforms to build a broader, ongoing conversation with readers and writers. They are also creating a new staff position, Web marketer.

And you can watch the video here:

My book recommendations video from Booksmith

How much do I love San Francisco indie bookstore Booksmith? They took me around their store and I blabbed about which books I love...and hate. And they wound up giving me the copy of Kemble Scott’s novel SoMa for free! Check it out, just in time for Valentine’s Day (a holiday I’m trying to remain as oblivious to as possible).

SFGate pick, fwiw

I'm having a kindof rough day. I guess because, um, I was wrong. Spending a little while listening to Joni Mitchell and trying to be even a smidge productive, unlike I have been the last few days.



In happy news, SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle site) listed our reaidng as a pick of the day! So maybe we can get the Daily Cal next time (I would really love that). Also, I have ordered 2 dozen cupcakes from Cups and Cakes Bakery (Cloud nine - vanilla - and bacon/peanut butter/chocolate) so those are free to attendees tonight!

Best Sex Writing 2009

With porn's proliferation on the Internet, writing about sex may seem like an afterthought to some. But there's always a place for good writing, no matter the subject, a fact amply exemplified by Violet Blue's sex column on SFGate.com - the subject may be titillating, but you'd read her even if she were writing about Formica. Blue contributed a chapter to "Best Sex Writing 2009," as did Tracy Clark-Flory, and the two will read from the book Monday, along with the tome's editor, Rachel Kramer Bussel. Free. 7:30 p.m. Booksmith, 1644 Haight St., San Francisco. (415) 863-8688, bestsexwriting2009.wordpress.com, www.booksmith.com.

My Bay Area mini book tour

I'm a bit crazed as I get ready for 5 days in the Bay Area. Just bought gifts for all the kids I'm visiting (baby twins, a 4-year-old boy and a 8-year-old girl). Have been trying to remember what I need to bring...like postcards plugging my Booksmith reading, and my copy of X: The Erotic Treasury to get signed.

Gonna do my best not to be online the entire time there, but I'm sure I'll be checking in. Sunday I think I'm gonna find a hotel, since it was so fun staying in one last weekend. I fly home on a redeye Monday night after the reading, then on Tuesday evening I have to call in about jury duty on Wednesday!

If you're not in the Bay Area, please pass this on to someone who is who might like these events. You can read my introduction to Best Sex Writing 2009 here.

January 29, 7:30pm

Books Inc. for X: The Erotic Treasury with Susie Bright
16th and Market St., San Francisco

Rachel Kramer Bussel
Greta Christina
Donna George Storey
Susie Hara
Susie Bright



January 30, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm (this is the right time)

Best Sex Writing 2009 reading
Rachel Kramer Bussel reads from new anthology Best Sex Writing 2009 with local contributors, including Mary Roach (author of Bonk), Violet Blue (San Francisco Chronicle sex columnist), Mistress Morgana Maye (Sex for America contributor), and Tracy Clark-Flory (Salon.com).
Good Vibrations, 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight Way), Berkeley, CA
FREE

February 2, 7:30 pm

Best Sex Writing 2009 reading
Rachel Kramer Bussel reads from her new anthology Best Sex Writing 2009 with local contributors, including Violet Blue (San Francisco Chronicle) and Tracy Clark-Flory (Salon.com).
Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco
FREE

I'm also gonna shoot a fun video in Booksmith where I check out what they have to offer erotica-wise. Looking forward to that, and to shopping at all 3 stores! I haven't bought a sex toy in a really long time, and books...well, I can always use more books.