My interview with Julie Maroh, author of graphic novel Blue Is the Warmest Color

Blue Is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel, originally published in French and out this month from Arsenal Pulp Press, about two women who fall in love, and the movie version is getting a lot of buzz. I interviewed author and artist Julie Maroh at Salon about her artistic process, the sex scenes in the book, feminism, her message for queer youth and more. If you like the interview, I'd love it if you'd spread the word and like it on Facebook. I hope to have more author Q&As coming up soon too, because I'm reading lots of fascinating books.

The Advocate calls Best Sex Writing 2012 a "must-read book"

Look what The Advocate said about Best Sex Writing 2012! I'm finalizing the West Coast tour dates very soon. Excited!

Best Sex Writing 2012 Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, selected and introduced by Susie Bright This is no collection of erotic fiction but rather a presentation of year's most challenging and provocative nonfiction essays on all things sex. Bright writes in the foreword, "We're here to reveal the well-sharpened pitchforks of sexual hypocrisy," and the book does just that with sources as diverse as Salon, The Village Voice, Newsweek, and The Chronology of Water. Nearly every piece is excellent, but some are clearly heads above others: Thomas Roche's look at the biased science around anti–sex work studies, Camille Dodero's "Guys Who Like Fat Chicks," and gay former soldier Tim Elhajj's "An Unfortunate Discharge Early in My Naval Career" chief among them. A must-read book, regardless of what kind of sex you like. ($16, Cleis Press)

What readers are saying about Best Sex Writing 2012

The reviews are in and I figured I'd let you take their word for what's inside Best Sex Writing 2012 (click to read my introduction), aka the book of mine I'm most proud of and think is, ahem, the best. I know that's totally subject but I'm just super excited about this book and the readings we're planning - so far on tap are readings in Portland, Oregon and Seattle and San Francisco and NYC. Also stay tuned for more contributor videos (I'm working on those) and in non-Best Sex Writing news, I'll be in Milwaukee doing an erotic writing workshop February 9th.

And thanks to everyone who participated in the BOGO offer! Stay tuned for more special offers.

But what I wanted to share were these reviews, which I think get at the heart of what the book's all about:

Five Stars - Fascinating, Engaging, Thorough, January 6, 2012
By mjims
This review is from: Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today's Sexual Culture (Paperback) The 2012 edition of "Best Sex Writing" is one of the most thorough compilations of journalistic writing I have ever encountered. Rachel Kramer Bussel and Susie Bright have done an excellent job of selecting pieces that address the year's most newsworthy events, as well as issues that I knew nothing about until I read this collection. Pieces that I was surprised to find in this collection (and are well worth reading) in particular were: a discussion of a ballot initiative to ban circumcision in San Francisco; a thorough examination of the John Ensign sex scandal, and the involvement of current presidential candidate Rick Santorum therein; an article comparing and seeking out the correct definitions of `premature ejaculation'; a fascination explanation of conflicting age of consent and child pornography laws. The list goes on and on. Also included are a large number of personal essays, both humorous and profound. Among them are an open letter to butch lesbians from the point of view of a femme, a touching treatment of sex at 66 years old, and a user's manual for a particularly complicated penis.

This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the current state of the American sexual landscape. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is worth reading cover to cover; every piece in this book has something to offer for the curious and open-minded.

Provacative, bold, and well-curated, January 5, 2012
By Victoria Bloom
This review is from: Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today's Sexual Culture (Paperback) Erotic writer and anthology megaeditor Rachel Bussel and smart-ass sex activist Susie Bright have pulled together an intelligent, spirited, and thought-provoking collection of political and personal essays about sex in America today that makes you want to read in a private place. Not because you are embarrassed to read a sex book in public or because you're going to be aroused, but because you're going to want to talk back out loud to the strong-voiced authors of these no holds barred commentaries, either to yell "Hell, yeah" (for me, that was Camille Dodero's "Guys Who Like Fat Chicks"), argue back with the author (Marty Klein's "Criminalizing Circumcision"), cry a little (Joan Price's "Grief, Resilience, and my 66th Birthday Gift"), or just giggle outrageously (Susie Bright's "Why Lying About Monogamy Matters"). Tough topics like rape, sex work, queerness, STIs, sex and the military, and statutory rape get unapologetic coverage here, and though you won't agree with everything you read here, you'll certainly find that each and every essayist has been eloquent about saying their piece. Overall, an excellent collection, and worthy of the title "Best Sex Writing". I'll follow this series in the future!

Intelligent and Satisfying Writing about Sex (At Last!), January 4, 2012
By Donna G. Storey "writer and Japan scholar"
It seems every headline you see online or in the grocery store is a sexual come-on, promising the top ten secrets for superstud bedroom techniques or the inside scoop on the latest Hollywood nanny sex scandal. Invariably these articles fail to deliver anything but shallow clichés, leaving me to wonder why I wasted my time. Best Sex Writing 2012 is different. I could barely put the book down, and its power still lingers. The articles always made me think and often brought me to tears. Just as promised, the editors' wide variety of offerings--from humorous to poignant to fiery truth-telling--brilliantly reflect the complexity of sexuality today. And like all the best writing, these articles allowed me to empathize with people whose experiences are different from my own, yet also realize that these issues directly impact me. Joan Price's powerful memoir about the vitality of sex in our later years should be an inspiration to us all as we grow older. Hugo Schwyzer's unforgettable piece on the male desire to be wanted brought a new understanding of how both sexes are deprived of full personhood in our current sexual climate--and resulted in a very touching conversation with my husband. The fascinating variety of male desire, the dangers of shoddy journalism, the horrifying injustice around sexuality in our legal system, it's all here. I could go on and on with examples, but I'll conclude by saying I was very, very glad I read this book and would recommend it highly to anyone craving a thoughtful, provocative treatment of sexuality in our time.

sexy, powerful, hilarious & thought-provoking, January 3, 2012
By J. Kelley (Macon, Georgia)
I could not get enough of this book: exceptional writing, intimate conversations, and mind-expanding viewpoints on familiar controversial topics. A lot of sex scandals break all the time ... we're used to them by now. But these stories explain how the emotional hype and judgment over sex scandals keeps everyone from exploring sexuality safely and pleasurably. And in between serious stories about political cover-ups, careless and criminal language used in reporting, and criminalizing teen sexuality, there are stories that make you laugh, smile, feel sexy and dream about how great sex can be. Adrian Colesberry's piece is NOT to be missed. And "Love Grenade" by Lidia Yuknavitch was probably the hottest story I've read all year.

This anthology opens the door for more honest discussions around sexuality -- if we could talk more about the emotions, laws & the gray areas of sexuality, it wouldn't be so easy to judge & criminalize any part of sex that scares people.

Impressive collection of the year's best, December 31, 2011
By Robert T Bakie
Typically, I'm much more of reader of stories of sex (erotica anthologies) than stories about sex, but I've really enjoyed Best Sex Writing 2012 as evidenced by last night's speed read through it.

I guess I like to focus on the happy side of sex, without worrying about how someone's hang-ups somewhere are making someone's else's life miserable and so on. That's a pretty short-sighted view, I'll admit, and this book has plenty of content that doesn't fit that view at all. From the funny and honest "Adrian's Penis: Care and Handling by Adrian Colesberry" to Rachel Kramer Bussel's story on Sexting, it covers a lot of ground. Some stuff I'd caught as the year went on and some I'd missed out entirely.

Basically, it's a great book if you're any kind of sex geek, which, apparently, I am. :)

Eye-catching, informative, funny, entertaining, and sexy...best writing indeed, December 29, 2011
By Sam Chupp "sambearpoet"
This review is from: Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today's Sexual Culture (Paperback) I tend to read collections such as this in a non-linear format, thumbing through the book until something catches my eye. Well, every piece featured in this book edited by Rachel Kramer Bussell and selected by Susie Bright has its own eye-catching hook. My empathy was aroused reading Amber Dawn's butch/femme memoir in "To All The Butches I Loved Between 1995 and 2005: An Open Letter about Selling Sex, Selling Out, and Soldiering On," realizing that I have heard similar regrets from vanilla, straight folk. The cold terror of a pre-Don't Ask, Don't Tell Navy was made clear in "An Unfortunate Discharge Early in my Naval Career" by Tim Elhajj - which just makes me even more glad for DADT's repeal. There are humorous pieces as well: Love Grenade by Lidia Yuknavitch made me laugh at its sheer honesty and ebuillience about young lesbian road trips, Adrian's Penis: Care and Handling by Adrian Colesberry was gentle and sweet and funny in a sympathetic manner. There are topical pieces, explications of complex subjects like elder sex and child pornography and writings of slices of life in the Latina Drag community and the New York Meat Packing District gay leather community.

I enjoyed reading the work of so many curated for my attention and I am now left wishing it were 2012 and I could start to read the best of 2013.

A sexy, cute and thoroughly engaging read!, December 29, 2011
By Patrick M. Whitehurst "Whitehurst"
This review is from: Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today's Sexual Culture (Paperback) Rachel Kramer Bussel gauges hot blood with the accuracy of a thermometer. She's edited more sexy anthologies than almost anyone in the erotic literary scene. And she proves herself a true queen of the sexual word with her non-fiction effort - a smart collaboration with famed erotic author and "sex politician" Susie Bright. Bright chose the journalistic stories collected in the volume and penned a laugh out loud introduction that helps set the tone of the book. "Best Sex Writing 2012" counts as a marker in the world's sexual evolution, indicating the flavor and tempo of the planet's lustful ambitions at this particular point in history. Containing a number of non-fiction stories, some humorous, some sad, many sexy, the book ramps up society's sexual discourse to a new level, beginning with Amanda Marcotte's take on the SlutWalk and ending with Kevin Sampsell's hilarious "Pottymouth," the collection covers everything from transgender latinas, political sex scandals, religion and sex, dating with STDs and much more. I thought it would take me at least a week, with a rum and Coke in hand, to read the book. Instead it took only two nights. Lots of hot fun here.



Order Best Sex Writing 2012:

Amazon

Kindle (out January 10th - pre-order now)

BN.com

Nook (out January 17th - pre-order now)

Powell's

Books-a-Million

IndieBound (find your local independent bookstore

Cleis Press

Bob Smith's gay time travel novel Remembrance of Things I Forgot

Bob Smith has read at In The Flesh and is wonderful and hilarious. I highly recommend his novel Selfish and Perverse and the few pages I've read of his new one, Remembrance of Things I Forgot, are wonderful. Here's the first sentence:

It's safe to say your relationship is finished if the only way you can imagine solving your problems is by borrowing a time machine.

I also liked this sentence:

Powrerful forearms always get me; there's something irresistible attractive about a man who looks as if he could break my heart with his bare hands.

I will warn you that if you're a Republican, especially a Log Cabin Republican...you might not love your portrayal in this book. And hopefully that is actually an endorsement for most people reading this blog!



And you can hear Bob read tomorrow night free at Drunken! Careening! Writers! For so long I couldn't attend because my night and DCW were the same, but now I can attend. And I'm reading in November!

Drunken! Careening! Writers!

Isa Coffey

Joel Derfner

Jenifer Levin

Bob Smith

"Glitter and Be Gay"

Thursday, June 23, 7pm

KGB Bar

85 E. 4th St., NYC

FREE

New column: "I'm Still Bisexual Even Though I'm Dating a Guy"

The more I type that column title, the more "duh" and obvious it sounds but still, it was something I felt was worth writing about. I'm always casting about for new column topics - one will definitely deal with Joan Price and her new book Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex and elder sexuality. Maybe I can find something in London to write about! Still working on my Weinergate kinky sexting essay which I might just blog instead of going through the pitching rigamarole.



In some ways, my embrace of bisexual is also about a rejection of heteronormativity, of all the parts of straightness that feel oppressive to me. Yes, there are privileges accorded to straight people, but I feel there are also burdens; it’s assumed that you want to get married and become a parent and be monogamous. Stepping outside any of those roles messes with the dominant culture’s plans for you. I’d like to think being part of the LGBT community has made me more open and empathetic, and showed me how people are, in fact, so much more than any label.

What’s interesting to me is that this title, bisexual, is important to me, It's something I feel I carry no matter who I’m dating, or not dating, whereas “poly” and “kinky” are not intrinsic parts of my identity. They are things I have been at various times in my life, or rather, my relationships have been. Bisexuality is different for me, perhaps because it feels more primal than either being poly or kinky — not that they need to be pitted against each other. I used to struggle with the word “bisexual” because it implies there are only two sexes or genders, which is not something I believe, but it’s a shorthand that, in general, works for me.

My bisexuality has also played itself out in almost all of my relationships in some form. Often the form it takes is in talking dirty, and sometimes it’s gone beyond that. One girlfriend, who was pretty much exclusively into women, indulged my interest in a male friend of ours with a threesome. With most of the straight men I’ve dated, not surprisingly, they’ve been interested in fantasizing aloud about me with another woman or hearing about my own fantasies. I certainly feel freer when I have a boyfriend sharing my fantasies about women, real or imagined, than I do about other men.

Read the whole column (and if you like it, I'd love it if you'd "like" it on Facebook at the top and/or tweet, blog, etc. - all that really helps!)

Rainbow Book Fair, March 26th, NYC

I'm coordinating a day's worth of readings on March 26th at Rainbow Book Fair - featured readers are Christopher Bram, Martin Duberman, Thomas Glave, Raymond Luczak and Felice Picano. Mark your calendars. See the official site for other programming (and please don't ask me about that, I'm just working on the readings part).

Free chocolate, chips, cupcakes, cock ring and vibrator giveaway tonight at GLBT Night, In The Flesh Reading Series

Free barbecue potato chips, regular potato chips, several kinds of tortilla chips, meringues, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-covered espresso beans, mini chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate-covered pretzels, mini Hershey’s chocolates and mini cupcakes in addition to everything below!

In addition to free copies of SexIs Magazine for all attendees and a $50 sex toy gift card giveaway from EdenFantasys, the following c-ring and vibrator are also being given away courtesy of EdenFantasys. All this plus free cupcakes, chips, cookies, chocolate & more! Don't miss June 17th.






In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the GLBT Erotica event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
GLBT EROTICA NIGHT
June 17, 2010, 8 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

In The Flesh goes gay for you! Our annual GLBT Erotica Night is back. Featuring Porno Bingo host and former porn star Will Clark, novelist Dario Dalla Lasta (The Three Red Lines), performer Cas Marino, PANIC! reading series host Charlie Vázquez and Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies contributors Annabeth Leong and Julia Peters. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor, Peep Show, Bottoms Up). 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free cupcakes by Kumquat Cupcakery and chips, cookies and candy will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. 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 Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.


Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited over 30 anthologies, including the kink-themed Spanked, Bottoms Up, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, He's on Top, She's on Top, Rubber Sex as well as Peep Show, The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and the non-fiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books won 3 2009 Independent Publisher Awards. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. Rachel conducts nationwide readings and erotic writing workshops. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Will Clark, a Wisconsin native but diehard New Yorker since the early 90s, has been entertaining for the past 20 years, first as an actor, after having earned a Masters degree from Northwestern University, and then in adult films (1995 – 1999, 2003, 48 films) and stripper at clubs around the country (1996 – 2005, 2007) then touring with his own one man show “Altered Ego” (2002 – 2005, New York, Chicago,
Provincetown, New Orleans). Since 1997, he’s worked non-stop as an MC and producer at over a thousand events featuring LGBT celebs raising money for LGBT non profits. Currently, he can be seen at his weekly “Porno Bingo” event in NYC at Pieces. This spring, he returned to his acting roots and was featured in the off Broadway smash, “When Joey Married Bobby” at the Roy Arias Theatre. You can read his blog at
www.willclarkworld.com.



Dario Dalla Lasta is a graduate of Pepperdine University and Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA (he just wants you to know he’s well-educated and once frolicked on such star-drenched sands). On the roller coaster ride of his life so far, he’s been a lawyer, a divorcee, a music industry pundit, an actor, a go-go boy, and a fetish model. For the past five years, he’s been hitting the queer scene as DJ Dario Speedwagon, spinning “cock rock and pussy pop” throughout Brooklyn and NYC. Dario resides in Williamsburg with his boyfriend Michael Bailey and their adorable dog Chavez. The Three Red Lines is his first novel, but he’s completed a second one entitled The Force of Destiny and is currently begging publishers to read the damn thing.



Annabeth Leong's erotica has appeared on the Oysters and Chocolate website and in several anthologies, including Girl Crush from Cleis Press and Coming Together: As One. Visit her blog at http://annabethleong.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AnnabethLeong.

Cas Marino is an actor, singer, writer, producer and artist living and playing in New York City. He's best known for his stage work in the NYC International Fringe Festival, acclaimed revivals of "Torch Song Trilogy" and "La Cage Aux Folles", as well as cabaret and independent theater performances in and around the city. His film work can be seen in the upcoming independent shorts, "Honey" and "Tu & Eu" due out soon. Now having added Celebrity Blogger to his curricula vitae with his regular contributions to Phrolix.com, Cas is the self-proclaimed "voice of the socio-sexual intelligentsia, if not the fashionistas and the glitterati," all for a good hearted glimpse into the thoughts and actions of one man living his life proud, and out loud, in New York City. Cas’ blogs bring that one-on-one camaraderie to his fans as he discusses the adult themes of love, loss, and low-carb living with great frankness and warmth, plenty of adult language and imagery, and above all, great humor. To read Cas’ blogs, visit http://www.phrolix.com/cas-marino.

Julia Peters is the nom de porn of a very nice lady who lives and works in New York City. Her fiction has been published in Playgirl, Girl Crush, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, From Porn to Poetry 2, and others. She has also been published online at Clean Sheets (www.cleansheets.com), where she was a fiction editor. This is her first published work of erotica in quite some time, and she's so happy she's howling at the moon, which would do the wolves who raised her proud.

Charlie Vázquez is a radical Bronx-bred writer of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent. His fiction and essays have been published in anthologies such as Queer and Catholic (Taylor & Francis, 2007) and Best Gay Love Stories: NYC (Alyson, 2006). His writing has also appeared in print and online publications such as The Advocate, Chelsea Clinton News, New York Press and Ganymede Journal. Charlie hosts a monthly reading series called PANIC! (in the East Village), which focuses on original queer fiction and poetry. He will be reading from Contraband tonight, his second novel, which was just published by Rebel Satori Press.



You will be hearing from:


Fast Girls: Erotica for Women


Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies


The Three Red Lines

Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies out now!

It's June, Gay Pride month, and R. Gay's first anthology Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies is out now. I haven't read the whole thing but did reread part of my story, "Great Lengths," which opens the book, and marveled at the power of a true crush, the way it can push you to do crazy things and still linger in your mind years later, maybe because of the gap between desire and reality. I also loved Gina de Vries's story "Girl Crazy," about a punk rock zinester crush. I also liked that bisexuality is very much a valid identity in this book, and a range of queerness is presented. Visit www.girlcrushbook.com for more on the authors and don't miss June 17th's In The Flesh where I will read from Girl Crush along with Annabeth Leong and Julia Peters. More on crushes from me...tomorrow.


Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies

Here's a tiny snippet from "Great Lengths:" (based on a real crush)

Yet as much as we said everything to each other, I couldn’t say the most simple thing of all: I like you. I want you.

So instead, I said it to other people: her landlord, her roommate. I befriended them because they came with her seal of approval, because I thought maybe if they liked me, so would she.

Here's the table of contents:

ntroduction Diana Cage
Great Lengths Rachel Kramer Bussel
Mirador Teresa Lamai
Craving Madeline Shanna Germain
Call Me Cleopatra Gabrielle Foster
Skinny Dipping Angela Caperton
The Things I Can Do For Her David Erlewine
I Told A Stranger All About You Yesterday Vanessa Vaughn
Cut & Dry Heidi Champa
Cecily Kris Adams
The Leopard Print Menace Melissa Gira
The Bachelorette Julia Peters
Girl in a Gorilla Suit Lori Selke
The Out-of-Towner Delilah Devlin
Rebel Girl Kirsty Logan
The Best Kind of Revenge Geneva King
One Eighty Carrie Cannon
Running Away and Running Home Again Annabeth Leong
An Introduction G.G. Royale
Seduction by Proxy Evan Mora
Discovering Donnie Cheyenne Blue
Good Neighbors Jennifer Geneva
Girl Crazy Gina de Vries
Psychology 101 R. Gay


In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the True Sex Confessions event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
GLBT EROTICA NIGHT
June 17, 2010, 8 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

In The Flesh goes gay for you! Our annual GLBT Erotica Night is back. Featuring Porno Bingo host and former porn star Will Clark, novelist Dario Dalla Lasta (The Three Red Lines), performer Cas Marino, PANIC! reading series host Charlie Vázquez and Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies contributors Annabeth Leong and Julia Peters. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor, Peep Show, Bottoms Up). 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free cupcakes by Kumquat Cupcakery and chips, cookies and candy will be served.

Goodbye In The Flesh - 7 more chances to attend!

There are 7 more In The Flesh Reading Series nights left before I end it! It's been wonderful, but it's time to move on and not waste so much time and money and energy that I don't have. June's lineup is below. And unless you want me to hate you, don't suggest I keep it going. I've tried, trust me. Unless I find a sponsor who can pony up $225/month and a really dedicated intern who is there every month to help with PR and lugging crap all over the city, this decision is final. As it well should be. 5 years is more than enough and I need to focus on my life and making money, not losing it.




In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the True Sex Confessions event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
GLBT EROTICA NIGHT
June 17, 2010, 8 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

In The Flesh goes gay for you! Our annual GLBT Erotica Night is back. Featuring Porno Bingo host and former porn star Will Clark, novelist Dario Dalla Lasta (The Three Red Lines), performer Cas Marino, PANIC! reading series host Charlie Vázquez and Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies contributors Annabeth Leong and Julia Peters. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor, Peep Show, Bottoms Up). 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free cupcakes by Baked by Melissa and chips, cookies and candy will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited over 30 anthologies, including the kink-themed Spanked, Bottoms Up, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, He's on Top, She's on Top, Rubber Sex as well as Peep Show, The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and the non-fiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books won 3 2009 Independent Publisher Awards. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. Rachel conducts nationwide readings and erotic writing workshops. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Will Clark, a Wisconsin native but diehard New Yorker since the early 90s, has been entertaining for the past 20 years, first as an actor, after having earned a Masters degree from Northwestern University, and then in adult films (1995 – 1999, 2003, 48 films) and stripper at clubs around the country (1996 – 2005, 2007) then touring with his own one man show “Altered Ego” (2002 – 2005, New York, Chicago,
Provincetown, New Orleans). Since 1997, he’s worked non-stop as an MC and producer at over a thousand events featuring LGBT celebs raising money for LGBT non profits. Currently, he can be seen at his weekly “Porno Bingo” event in NYC at Pieces. This spring, he returned to his acting roots and was featured in the off Broadway smash, “When Joey Married Bobby” at the Roy Arias Theatre. You can read his blog at
www.willclarkworld.com.



Dario Dalla Lasta is a graduate of Pepperdine University and Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA (he just wants you to know he’s well-educated and once frolicked on such star-drenched sands). On the roller coaster ride of his life so far, he’s been a lawyer, a divorcee, a music industry pundit, an actor, a go-go boy, and a fetish model. For the past five years, he’s been hitting the queer scene as DJ Dario Speedwagon, spinning “cock rock and pussy pop” throughout Brooklyn and NYC. Dario resides in Williamsburg with his boyfriend Michael Bailey and their adorable dog Chavez. The Three Red Lines is his first novel, but he’s completed a second one entitled The Force of Destiny and is currently begging publishers to read the damn thing.



Annabeth Leong's erotica has appeared on the Oysters and Chocolate website and in several anthologies, including Girl Crush from Cleis Press and Coming Together: As One. Visit her blog at http://annabethleong.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AnnabethLeong.

Cas Marino is an actor, singer, writer, producer and artist living and playing in New York City. He's best known for his stage work in the NYC International Fringe Festival, acclaimed revivals of "Torch Song Trilogy" and "La Cage Aux Folles", as well as cabaret and independent theater performances in and around the city. His film work can be seen in the upcoming independent shorts, "Honey" and "Tu & Eu" due out soon. Now having added Celebrity Blogger to his curricula vitae with his regular contributions to Phrolix.com, Cas is the self-proclaimed "voice of the socio-sexual intelligentsia, if not the fashionistas and the glitterati," all for a good hearted glimpse into the thoughts and actions of one man living his life proud, and out loud, in New York City. Cas’ blogs bring that one-on-one camaraderie to his fans as he discusses the adult themes of love, loss, and low-carb living with great frankness and warmth, plenty of adult language and imagery, and above all, great humor. To read Cas’ blogs, visit http://www.phrolix.com/cas-marino.

Julia Peters is the nom de porn of a very nice lady who lives and works in New York City. Her fiction has been published in Playgirl, Girl Crush, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, From Porn to Poetry 2, and others. She has also been published online at Clean Sheets (www.cleansheets.com), where she was a fiction editor. This is her first published work of erotica in quite some time, and she's so happy she's howling at the moon, which would do the wolves who raised her proud.

Charlie Vázquez is a radical Bronx-bred writer of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent. His fiction and essays have been published in anthologies such as Queer and Catholic (Taylor & Francis, 2007) and Best Gay Love Stories: NYC (Alyson, 2006). His writing has also appeared in print and online publications such as The Advocate, Chelsea Clinton News, New York Press and Ganymede Journal. Charlie hosts a monthly reading series called PANIC! (in the East Village), which focuses on original queer fiction and poetry. He will be reading from Contraband tonight, his second novel, which was just published by Rebel Satori Press.



You will be hearing from:


Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies


The Three Red Lines

100 free cupcakes at my Bluestockings reading TONIGHT!

photo by Stacie Joy

Tuesday, June 23, 7 pm - 8:30 pm, FREE!
SEXY PRIDE EROTICA READING
Erotica editor and author Rachel Kramer Bussel (First-Timers, Glamour Girls, Up All Night) brings you a very special sexy Pride reading!
100 mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa (http://www.bakedbymelissa.net) will be served.

True stories and hot queer erotica from the city’s boldest, naughtiest writers. Featuring Bevin Branlandingham (Femmecast, Gayety), Sinclair Sexsmith (Sugarbutch.net), Charlie Vazquez (PANIC! reading series), Kathleen Warnock (Drunken! Careening! Writers!), Xan West (Hurts So Good, Best SM Erotica 2). Free cupcakes will be served and authors' books will be for sale.
Bluestockings Bookstore, 72 Allen Street, NYC
http://www.bluestockings.com
Email rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com if you have any questions.

100 free cupcakes at Tuesday's Sexy Pride Erotica Reading

photo by Stacie Joy

Tuesday, June 23, 7 pm - 8:30 pm, FREE!
SEXY PRIDE EROTICA READING
Erotica editor and author Rachel Kramer Bussel (First-Timers, Glamour Girls, Up All Night) brings you a very special sexy Pride reading!
100 mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa (http://www.bakedbymelissa.net) will be served.

True stories and hot queer erotica from the city’s boldest, naughtiest writers. Featuring Bevin Branlandingham (Femmecast, Gayety), Sinclair Sexsmith (Sugarbutch.net), Charlie Vazquez (PANIC! reading series), Kathleen Warnock (Drunken! Careening! Writers!), Xan West (Hurts So Good, Best SM Erotica 2). Free cupcakes will be served and authors' books will be for sale.
Bluestockings Bookstore, 72 Allen Street, NYC
http://www.bluestockings.com
Email rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com if you have any questions.

Sex toys, smut, cupcakes are FREE tonight at In The Flesh!

In The Flesh alum Diana Cage is "reading about ex boyfriends who liked to wear my knickers" and Xan West is reading from "Nervous Boy:"

'Come on, boy. You can take it. I know you're strong enough.'

I drive my bootheel into the bruises on his thigh. I ram my elbow into the bruises on his pecs. He grunts, clenching his jaw. He's not sure he can do it, but he'll never admit it.

'Yes, Sir, I can take it,' he spits out, glaring at me, promising himself as much as me.

I build him up with punches and kicks. Show him I can see his strength by how hard I pound into him. My face is full of ferocity and pride and I pour all that into him, until it streams out in tears running down his face."


It's raining, but there will still be 100 FREE cupcakes from Baked by Melissa! (photo by Stacie Joy)



All of the above sex toys, courtesy of Good Vibrations, will be given away, along with queer erotica from Cleis Press and e-book gift cards from Ravenous Romance.



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
3rd ANNUAL GLBT EROTICA NIGHT
June 18th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://inthefleshreadingseries.blogspot.com

In The Flesh celebrates Pride with our 3rd annual GLBT Erotica Night! Featuring GO editor Diana Cage, comedian Kelli Dunham, and erotica writers Madlyn March, Kimberly “Q”, Rob Stephenson, and Xan West. Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Glamour Girls, First-Timers, The Mile High Club). Free candy and cupcakes by Baked by Melissa will be served.

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

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

Diana Cage is the author of three hilarious books on sex and dating: Girl Meets Girl: A Dating Survival Guide, Box Lunch: The Layperson’s Guide to Cunnilingus, and Threeways: Fulfill Your Ultimate Fantasy. She is the former host of The Diana Cage Show on Sirius XM and still pops up on the radio a couple of times a month to give advice on sex and love to lonelyhearts everywhere. Her writing has appeared in countless journals, anthologies and magazines and she currently writes on sex and politics for Shewired and Velvetpark. She is featured in the Here! Television series Lesbian Sex and Sexuality, and is now trying to figure out what's left to write about.
www.dianacage.com

Kelli Dunham is a genderqueer Fresh Fruit award-winning comic, ex-nun and a Wisconsin farmgrrl gone very bad. She has two comedy CDs to her credit: I am NOT a 12 Year Old Boy and Almost Pretty and is the co-producer of Gayety, Brooklyn's experimental queer comedy cabaret. She is on the organizing board of the Butch Voices
(www.butchvoices.com) and is the author of four published books of light hearted nonfiction and a frequent contributor to humorous anthologies. She is currently touring Pudding Day, an irreverent one boi show about her partner's struggle with cancer. In June she is launching the first of episode of Queerhouse Rock, an animated parody of the 1970 kids' cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock. She has performed at the Risque strip club in Philadelphia, at numerous churches, Lacrosse Wisconsin Pride, and a livestock auction. She once taught a nun to masturbate. With great success.
www.kellidunham.com

Madlyn March is the pseudonym of a writer whose work has appeared in the anthology First-Timers, Black Table, AfterEllen, AfterElton, Complete Woman, The New York Post, Time Out New York, and others. Toni is based on a bully who once tortured her, but the sexual part is all wishful thinking.

Kimberly "Q" (aka The Lesbian Goddess) is the writer, creator and author of Orchids: African American Lesbian Erotica One Night Stands, Orchids II: Reality or Fantasy and her just released Lesbian Funk A Journey Into The Oblivion. She formed her company Women of Choice to signify the choices of life that we as women dare to explore with a mission to go beyond the realm of women's comfort zones and normalcy by providing them with exotic adventures, unexplained pleasures, new and exciting ideas and inexplicable desires. Her books are episodes presented to entice, entertain and broaden the thoughts, actions and creativity of the lesbian sexual experience.
www.womenofchoice.com

Rob Stephenson's novel Passes Through will be published by Fiction Collective 2 in Spring of 2010. His novella U will be published later that year by Rebel Satori Press : Queer Mojo. Rob and Mikael Karlsson have made a CD called dog, now available from Please MusicWorks. They are currently working on new music that will be part of the Terry Riley Remixed CD released later this year by Innova Recordings.

Xan West is the pseudonym of an NYC BDSM and sex educator and writer. Xan's work can be found in Best SM Erotica 2, Got A Minute?, Love at First Sting, Best Women's Erotica 2008 and 2009, Men on the Edge, Leathermen, Backdraft: Firemen Erotica, DADDIES, Frenzy, Best Gay Erotica 2009, and the upcoming Cruising for Bad Boys, Pleasure Bound, and Sextime. Xan's story, "First Time Since", printed in Hurts So Good, won honorable mention for the 2008 National Leather Association's John Preston Short Fiction Award. Xan wants to hear from you, and can be found at xanwest.livejournal.com/ or emailed at xan_west at yahoo.com.

Nina Hartley's French Toast and other links

Nina Hartley shares her recipe for French Toast! (via fabulous Chicago sex toy shop Early to Bed))



Amazon's showing that Carol Queen's latest anthology, More Five Minute Erotica, is finally out! This collection of ultra-short stories features my stories "Nurse Feelgood" and "Our Little Secret" (hint: the "secret" is a butt plug).



Two more men freed in the Genarlow Wilson case: (AP)

Two more young men have been freed after serving time in jail for a case involving a 17-year-old who had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Ryan D. Barnwell and Cortez Robinson, both 22, were released from prison Friday morning after spending 3 1/2 years behind bars. The two pleaded guilty to child molestation after attending a 2003 New Year's Eve party with Genarlow Wilson, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having oral sex with the girl.

Wilson, now 21, was freed Oct. 26 after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that that his sentence was "cruel and unusual punishment." Georgia law at the time of his trial required a minimum of a decade in prison.

Slightly old (December 6th), but..."French erotica...at the library:"

Ribald and X-rated, a new exhibit at France’s national library is banned to anyone under 16.

The exhibit that opened this week offers a peek at France’s long-secret library of libido, where, starting in the 1830s, librarians hid books and other documents from the national collection that they deemed dangerous for public morality. They called it L’Enfer, or Hell, and kept it under lock and key.

In 1849, library director Joseph Naudet described L’Enfer as “a hiding place … in which we lock up certain books that are very bad but which are sometimes very precious for book-lovers and have a great monetary value.

There's been much ado about drag queen bingo in Tampa, Florida:

The drag queens were reined in and very nearly ladylike.

Succumbing to pressure from City Hall, prizeless drag queen bingo debuted at the Canvas Cafe on Monday night, to a capacity crowd of about 100 who came out to see the suddenly famous show.

But the bullhorns were gone after neighbors complained about the volume and the profanity of the trio of drag queen entertainers.


Photo of XuXu Fontana by Rod Millington

If there's a GLBT teen in your life (or you want to keep up on issues of relevance to them), check out my friend Ellen Friedrichs's About.com page on GLBT Teens, answering questions such as How Do Gay Teens Lose Their Virginity? and interviewing Muray Hill. You may also know Ellen from her webiste Sexedvice.com (also see my Gothamist interview with her)

And Happy Holidays to everyone! Here's another shot of me in my friend's Santa hat, taken by the fabulous Stacie Joy, who will be shooting me in January. I can't wait! My dream is to do a naked shoot in the snow, but that will require snow and extra courage. We'll see what happens...