5 spots left in my June 12 Berlin, Germany erotica writing workshop (in English)

Heads up that if you've been wanting to take my June 12th Berlin, Germany erotica writing workshop at feminist sex toy store Other Nature, there are five spots left! The workshop runs from 18:30-20:30 and while it doesn't require any prior writing experience, it does require pen or pencil and paper or a laptop so you can write during the exercises. And I'll be giving out a timely handout on where to submit your writing. Plus selected erotica anthologies of mine will be available for sale in English and German. See you soon, Berlin!

May madness

In a few short weeks I fly to Berlin for my erotica writing workshop at feminist sex toy store Other Nature. I'm excited to teach there and meet Berlin readers and see my books in two languages (I do have a few copies of some of my German translations, but have never seen them in a store before).



When looking at flight options, I had to decide if I was finally going to make this trip, or let all my fears about money overwhelm me. Clearly, I chose the trip, and I'm still not sure if it was the "smart" thing to do given that I am paying off debt and have an unpredictable income. But I made the decision partly because I knew having an impending international trip would force me to finish projects that I've lingered over.

This week, unless I get so frustrated I give up, my self-published anthology Candy Lovers will be published. I'll post the buy link the second it's ready, I promise; this book has been more time-consuming and expensive than I could ever have imagined, which is probably a good thing or I wouldn't have tried to put it out myself. I've almost got my Word document finalized with all the authors' edits; then I will need to convert it to be read by Kindle and whatever other steps (probably many of them) need to happen so you can click and buy it on Amazon.

I've been quiet here because I'm trying to get that ready, finish writing deadlines, revise Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4, out November 19 (ebook, which will be reflected at retailers soon), book BWE4 readings, work with private clients, take swimming lessons and a bunch of other tasks. I've got a lot of travel coming up this year; several months, I'll be away every or almost every weekend. So I'm just reminding myself that I love what I do, I'm very lucky to get to do it and make a real living at it, and that my job now is to learn how to do things differently.

I've also booked my first big advertising campaign that will launch in January ("big" in my world). I'm excited about that; there's a sweepstakes involved. It's all thrilling, but just as easily overwhelming, so I try to balance those two out. Then when I'm back from Berlin I plan to finally tackle the other big project, my online writing classes. So stay tuned. I'm honored and humbled that I've already had so much interest, but that also makes me want to make these classes as amazing as they can be.

Smut Slam Berlin coming up April 16

Berlin readers, with my upcoming June 12 Berlin erotica writing workshop booked, I've been researching other cool events in Berlin. I wanted to make sure you know about Smut Slam Berlin on Monday, April 16, with the theme of "BOOTY," hosted by the wonderful Cameryn Moore. You can get tickets here and spread the word using the Facebook event page. I won't be in Berlin for it, but I wish I could attend! Here's the official description:

BOOTY. Maybe you have it. Maybe you want it. Either way, it's all here at SMUT SLAM!

This April, Berlin's only dirty storytelling open mic--based on real life, real lust, real sex--is putting out that steam heat at Lovelite (Haasestraße 1, Berlin), with the theme of "BOOTY." Be as literal or metaphorical as you like: Treasure. Ass. Late-night hook-up call. Just bring us your story, and we'll be behind you 100%!



Here's a video to give you a little taste of Smut Slam:



Created and hosted by professional perv Cameryn Moore, the Smut Slam features real-life, first-person sex stories, guest stories from our panel of celebrity judges, and also THE SMUTBUCKET, a convenient receptacle for all your anonymous questions and confessions!

Cameryn is also hosting BEDx Berlin on Tuesday, April 24. It's described as: "BEDx is a new night dedicated to current research, art, and education about topics in sex and sexuality. BEDx brings local and international researchers, artists, and educators to the stage for 10-minute presentations about their pet topics, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A."

My next erotica writing workshop is in Berlin, Germany in June

Updated May 6 with new registration URL While I'm in the process of launching my online erotica writing workshops (and some others around various aspects of writing), I'm still teaching the occasional live workshop. The next one will take place June 12, 2018 at Berlin, Germany feminist sex toy store Other Nature. I'm very excited about this for a few reasons, namely that Other Nature sounds amazing and I can't wait to shop there, I've never been to Berlin and German is the only language my books have been translated into. This is how the store describes itself on their site: "Other Nature is a feminist, queer-oriented, eco-friendly, vegan sex shop in Berlin Kreuzberg. We’re not your average sex shop. Bring your mum." Need I say more? I am leaving room in my suitcase for my shopping finds (and will be sharing photos and stories on my Instagram and the Best Women's Erotica Instagram so make sure you're following both!).

The workshop details and registration are on Other Nature's website. Class size is limited to 18 people so if you'd like to take it, please register sooner than later. If you know anyone in Berlin who might be interested, please pass this on. Thanks! And if you want an individual consultation on your erotic short story, novella or novel, you can work with me via my site EroticaWriting101.com - I'll be available to work with new clients starting April 1, 2018.

Buy my erotica books in Berlin at vegan sex shop Other Nature

Yesterday, I read an article at Upworthy about feminist sex shops, specifically Other Nature in Berlin. They describe themselves on their site as "Other Nature is a feminist, queer-oriented, eco-friendly, vegan sex shop in Berlin Kreuzberg." Well, imagine my delight when I discovered that they carry my women's erotica anthologies Dirty Girls and the German translation of Fast Girls, which has a much sexier cover than the U.S. version, which is hot in its own way and is one of my favorite of my books:


on the Other Nature site

Both editions side by side:



Naturally (pun intended), I Tweeted about it, and here's what they said:



To inspire you wherever you are in the world as we head into Valentine's Day, here's my naked bubble bath book trailer for Fast Girls, whose title was inspired by the song of the same name by one of my favorite bands, Sarge (read more about that in the introduction to the book). Watching this again makes me miss making book trailers. People ask me sometimes whether they help sell books. Short and succinct answer: I have no idea, but I really enjoyed the process. As someone whose only real artistic talents lie with words, getting to work with images, to be onscreen and plan out these videos, was a lot of fine. It's not feasible to do these days, but I consider them a fond memory and wonderful learning experience.



For those outside Berlin, here's where you can grab a copy in print, ebook or audiobook form:

Amazon.com

Kindle ebook edition

Bn.com

Nook ebook edition

Powell's

IndieBound (find your nearest local bookstore)

iBooks

Google Play

Audible audiobook

Cleis Press

Hotel sex in Germany with Zimmerservice inklusive: Erotische Hotel-Storys!

Actually, I've never been in Germany, but I am in a hotel room right now and just discovered that my anthology Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories has now been translated into German. I still love hotels as much as I ever did, which is good because I'm staying in hotels for the next week as I make my way on my little tour, moving on from Charlottesville to Baltimore and then Arlington. Here's the German and U.S. covers. Fittingly, every one of my German book covers has been so much sexier than the U.S. version! See Fast Girls and Please, Sir in German (although the original U.S. bold magenta cleavage baring Please, Sir cover is one of my all-time favorites of mine).





It takes a while for me to get a copy of the print edition, but I just bought the Kindle edition because seeing my books and words in another language was a longtime dream of mine, and now it's come true several times and I couldn't be happier. As you can see, my story "Special Request," about a woman whose job is being a unique kind of hotel clerk and planning an orgy, has become "Sonderwünsche" in the German version. If you want to buy Zimmerservice inklusive: Erotische Hotel-Storys, you can do so for American Kindle or Kindle Germany. Fun fact: so far, Germany is the only country that has reprinted my erotica anthologies, though I know other Cleis Press books have been translated into French, Spanish, Turkish and other languages. My goal for a long time was to sell foreign rights; my new goal is to sell them in a language besides German (hint hint, universe!). Below are some screen shots I took using my phone plus the table of contents.









Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories
Introduction: Sex Magic (read it free and here)

Two-Way Ariel Graham
Selfish Donna George Storey
Air- Conditioning. Color TV. Live Mermaids. Anna Meadows
Proof of Desire Remittance Girl
Soundproof Emily Moreton
An Inspector Comes Suzanne Fox
Surrender with a Twist Suleikha Snyder
Unbound at the Holiday Inn Lily K. Cho
Travelodge Tess Justine Elyot
Business Expenses Elizabeth Silver
Return to the Nonchalant Inn Erobintica
The Deacon Tahira Iqbal
Love, Loud as a Bomb Steve Isaak
Night School Valerie Alexander
Feel So Dirty Andrea Dale
Please Come Again Tenille Brown
Dirty White Envelope Ellie Vokes
Tailgating at the Cedar Inn Delilah Devlin
Stiletto’s Big Score Michael A. Gonzales
Special Request Rachel Kramer Bussel

Easy to do (Fast Girls) and Let me be your slave (Please, Sir), or my German translations Leicht zu haben and Lass mich deine Sklavin sein

My first few days in my new home have not exactly gone as planned, between asthma, majorly stubbing my toe tripping down the stairs (I will spare you a visual how purple it is) and a sadly checkless mailbox, but I'm still so happy to be in a home with the most amazing boyfriend I could ask for, and basics like a bed, bathtub and wifi I did not have before. When times are tough financially I try to think of what I can do to fix that. I'm digging in to new articles and book projects, but am also sending out good vibes into the universe that foreign publishers like my books and buy them. There are 4 German translations in the works, two of which, of Fast Girls and Please, Sir are, according to Amazon, for sale. I'm hoping to get a copy in my hands by this summer. I wanted to share the US and German covers, so you can see the difference, but mostly, put it out there, for whatever it's worth, that I'd love some more foreign sales. Getting one was on my editorial bucket list for a long time so I'm very very grateful. It's one of those weird things that I really wanted to happen but had zero control over, other than wishing and hoping, and that finally worked. It's awesome, but if you're a control freak, it's very challenging to want something badly and have it be something so utterly out of your control. I know the only thing I can do is focus on creating the best anthologies I possibly can (I will put another plug here that I need more stories for all 3 new anthologies, deadlines are fast approaching). Through other anthologies I've written for, my writing has also been published in Italian, Japanese, and the language I come closest to being able to speak, Spanish (Kristina Wright's Best Erotic Romance, with my stripping story "Our Own Private Champagne Room," was just released as Bajo las sábanas.)

Next week at the Javits Center is Book Expo America, which I'll be skipping for the first time in 12 years, but maybe, just maybe, my books will catch someone's eye and another sale will happen and I will be that much further along the path to not pouncing on my mailbox every day and instead, focused on creating. In the meantime, it's still exciting and gratifying to know that readers in a language I don't speak can now read my dirty books. The rest, like so much, is out of my hands, but I'm doing my best to focus on what I can change, do, think and make happen. Moving was one step in the right direction. And I truly believe that the universe will reward you if you keep taking those steps. So, here's one very very teensy tiny one. Your move, universe.


Google translate tells me Leicht zu haben: Heiße Stories means Easy to do: Hot Stories
Blurb via Amazon:

Sündige Storys – von Frauen für Frauen

Sie sind lüstern, frech und schamlos. Sie werden bewundert, kritisch beäugt oder begehrt. Manche rümpfen die Nase über sie und bezeichnen sie als »leicht zu haben«. Aber was man auch immer über die Heldinnen dieser prickelnden Story-Sammlung sagen kann, schwach sind sie nicht. Denn sie wissen ganz genau, was sie wollen – und wie sie es bekommen.

US cover:


Fast Girls: Erotica for Women


Google translate tells me Lass mich deine Sklavin sein: Heiße Stories means Let me be your slave: Hot Stories

Blurb via Amazon:

Fesselnde Begierde und unbedingte Hingabe an die Liebe

Sich zu unterwerfen, bedeutet nicht nur Kontrollverlust. Es ermöglicht auch, sich völlig fallen zu lassen und sich dem Partner ganz hinzugeben. Wenn man bereit ist, so viel Vertrauen zu geben, dann ist das der Weg zu den höchsten Gipfeln der Lust. Lassen Sie sich inspirieren, und verfolgen Sie die sinnlichsten Erlebnisse von Herrschaft und Unterwerfung. Denn beim Sex und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt.

US cover:


Please, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission