Best Women's Erotica giveaway and free Candy Lovers story

November has been busy: I turned 43, started writing about book publishing for Forbes.com, visited gorgeous Beacon, New York and am now gearing up for my December book release of Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4. I've got a lot of exciting things planned for the December 11 launch and afterward, but for now, I wanted to share that I'm giving away 10 signed copies over at Goodreads (sorry, U.S. only, but subscribe to my newsletter now for giveaways open to all, including a big November birthday giveaway).

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And for more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and I'm posting lots of sexy, fun stuff on the Best Women's Erotica Instagram.

Also exciting is that Rose Caraway has posted another free Candy Lovers: Sugar Erotica story on her podcast, The Kiss Me Quick's! Listen to "Forbidden Fruit and Honey" by Salome Wilde! The other free story is "Lemonade" by Melina Greenport. Subscribe to The Kiss Me Quick's for more, including my "Sugar Mama." Get all 35 sexy food lover stories read by Rose on Audible. Reviews are always appreciated and help me reach more listeners and readers as well as make decisions when selecting stories for future anthologies!

Enter now to get Best Women's Erotica of the Year 4 before it's in stores

I'll never forget the acceptance from editor Marcy Sheiner I received for my story "Doing the Dishes" for Best Women's Erotica 2004. I was so thrilled to finally be published in this major series in the erotica world. And now I get to edit that same series. One thing I promised myself is that I would push myself to be the best editor I could be, to both apply everything I've learned since my own first co-edited anthology was published in 2004 and to push myself to be better, to dig deeper as an editor, to publish more diverse authors than I did when I started and to try to reach as many readers as possible.

I'm so proud of what the Best Women's Erotica of the Year series has become and can't wait to see what you think about Volume 4, which has totally hot, sexy stories as well as heartfelt, also arousing love stories. There's torrid affairs, kinky sex, forbidden passion and much more. Since it's Election Day, I'll share that my inspiration for the outsiders theme (the other theme is risk) was Donald Trump's scary and dangerous rhetoric about outsiders, not just immigrants, but anyone who isn't like him.



I'm giving away 10 signed copies of Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4 at Goodreads. Enter to win by November 9 (U.S. only; for giveaways open internationally, subscribe to my monthly newsletter - and yes, after this month's deadline mania is over, my website is getting a much-needed overhaul on Squarespace.) The photo above features galleys from an earlier giveaway, but this is to win finished copies, which will be in my hands and then in the mail very, very soon. And if you have a spare moment, I'd love if you'd add the book to your Amazon wishlist. Entering and adding it help the book reach more people before it's published on December 11, which helps it sell more copies, which helps me get to keep editing this series (yes, if nobody buys it, I'm sure I will be given the heave ho as the editor). But I don't think that will happen.

Stay tuned because I'm working on booking readings for this volume and there will be some fun promos and giveaways, especially on our Instagram, where I'm posting everything from sex toys to sexy women to hot Friday reads. Thank you for reading and supporting this series. I didn't start it and am humbled to be its third editor and honored to publish so many writers from around the world. My dream is to get to edit 10 volumes. I'm wrapping up my initial round of edits on Volume 5 now, for publication next December.

Without you reading, reviewing, following and spreading the word (and, of course, all the amazing bookstores and libraries who stock it!), I wouldn't get to do this, so THANK YOU. I don't take that lightly, and I edit every anthology like it's going to be my last and I need to go out with a bang, because that could be the case. But I hope it's not, and today, on a day when I hope for positive changes in the world, I'm also hoping that the powers that be like my work enough to keep believing in me as editor. In return, I vow to work on this series every day, to make it a little more visible, to bring in more authors from around the world, to have these stories reach the people who need them.

May erotica book giveaway at Goodreads - enter soon!

It's new(ish) month, so I've got a new erotica book giveaway at Goodreads open to U.S. readers. The deadline to enter is May 31, 2018. I'm once again giving away five signed copies of Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3. I also encourage you to follow me on Goodreads (and all your favorite authors) for updates on my writing and books. Good luck!

Win a signed copy of Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3

Over at Goodreads, I'm hosting a Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3 giveaway for U.S. readers. Enter by April 15 to win one of 25 signed copies. Good luck! And follow @BWEoftheyear on Twitter and bestwomenserotica on Instagram for more giveaways around the year. As always, your reviews anywhere and everywhere (suggested locations: Goodreads, Powell's (where you can sign up to be entered to win a $20 credit if your review is selected to highlight in their Daily Dose newsletter), Amazon, Bn.com, Kobo, Audible), adding the books to your wishlists and sharing posts about the Cleis Press Best Women's Erotica of the Year series help our books reach new readers and ultimately help the series grow and thrive.

I've also posted the Volume 5 call for submissions on the theme of "Outrageous." You've got until August 1, 2018 to get your stories in for consideration! I'm pouring all my editorial energy into making this series everything I've dreamed it could be. Volume 4 will be out December 11 of this year and I'm working on making Volume 5 as hot as can be too!

3 erotica book giveaways - enter now!

I've been busy promoting my favorite thing I've ever worked on, the Best Women's Erotica of the Year series (check out our blog), prepping for my February 13 reading at Politics and Prose at The Wharf in Washington, DC and getting that much closer to launching my new online erotica writing class (stay tuned, it's happening in the next month or two!) so this blog has gotten neglected. But there are three book giveaways happening right now I wanted to share, and I'll be doing a newsletter giveaway for January of Flying High: Sexy Stories from the Mile High Club so make sure you're subscribed. Here's the current places where you can win, all U.S. only:

Win Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3 from Romancing the Book! Enter by January 13.

Win Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 signed by me at Goodreads! Enter by January 31.

Win On Fire: Erotic Romance Stories signed by me at Goodreads! Enter by January 31.

And if you've won a book of mine or read it otherwise, your reviews are very much appreciated. They help me reach new readers and guide me in making selections for future books.

Help me edit my next erotica anthology!

Right now I'm in the process of wrapping up the manuscript I'm submitting to my publisher, Cleis Press, for Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 3 (they have final approval over all stories), and then later this month I'll be issuing the call for submissions for Volume 4 (first to my newsletter subscribers, then everywhere else; if you're not a subscriber, you can get on the list on the left-hand side of this blog or at rachelkramerbussel.com). In the meantime, though, what would be very helpful is to know what those who've read Volume 1 or Volume 2 thought: the good, the bad, the ugly. Why? Because without readers, I wouldn't edit anthologies. The readers are the whole point, and the only way I really know which stories resonated and which didn't is from reader feedback.



The ideal way to let me know is by leaving a public review, which also lets other potential readers glean your opinion. You can leave a review of Volume 1 on Amazon or Goodreads and of Volume 2 on Amazon or Goodreads. You don't have to have bought the book on Amazon to leave a review there; you just need to have an Amazon account you've purchased from before. Now, when I say "help me edit," I don't mean I'm crowdsourcing which story to pick over another. I use my instinct and intuition and what I think makes for a good anthology to do that.

Rather, I like to know which stories resonated most with readers; which they liked, which they didn't, what they want to see more of, what they want to see less of. Yes, even reviews that praise some stories and savage others are helpful. Obviously, I'm a fan of all the stories I publish, but I do take into account the most liked and the least liked as I make decisions for future anthologies. Yet the only way I can know which ones are popular is from reader opinions, which helps guide me in my general selections. So if everyone loves the historical stories, I will consider adding more; if people want to see more femdom, or more queer stories, or more literary stories, or longer stories, or whatever it is, I want to take that into account when I make my selections. Right now, I'm only contracted to edit up to Volume 4, but my dream is to get to edit 10 volumes in the series and publish 200+ authors in the process, and your reviews help me with that goal because more reviews equals more discoverability equals more sales, equals I can make a better case for why I'm a kickass editor. When I say "make a better case" I mean both to my publisher and to myself. Plus it gives me more funds to pay authors (pay is going up to $200/story for Volume 4), organize events and generally spread the word about the series.

My goal with the series hasn't been just to throw any old books out into the world, but to learn as much myself about the anthology editing process as I can with each one, to better amplify the voices of my authors online and offline, and to bring these stories into the mainstream in every way I can. I would love to see more stores stocking erotica, like the 52 independent bookstores that have stocked Volume 2. I would like to see erotica treated as legitimately as any other genre. And I want to encourage women who might not think of themselves as "erotica writers" (or even "writers" necessarily) to submit work to the series. That's why I only allow authors who haven't been published in prior Best Women's Erotica of the Year books to submit work; I'm sure past authors have brilliant stories to tell, but my aim is to publish as many authors as I can. So your reviews also help me with that goal because the more readers who know about the series, the greater the pool of potential people who'll consider sending me their work.

I do my best to improve with each book, both with the breadth of stories, what I provide for my authors and how much I do to get the books out into the world. I'll soon be going into brainstorming mode for Volume 3 so I can have it make even more of a splash than 1 and 2, and then will be crafting Volume 4, so your feedback counts greatly. If you'd prefer to email me, you can at bweoftheyear@gmail.com - thank you! I truly appreciate everyone who's shared their thoughts.

For those who want a free sample of Volume 2, here's some ways to get a peek:

Listen to sexy San Francisco erotica story "Taste" by Jocelyn Bringas as read by Rose Caraway on her podcast The Kiss Me Quick's!



Read a free sample of lesbian BDSM erotica story "Wordless Surrender" by Janelle Reston.



Read an excerpt of kinky opera erotica story "Performance" by Jordan Monroe.

Orgasmic, one of my favorite erotica anthologies, is on sale for $1.99 this week

My birthday month started by finding out that my anthology Orgasmic is on sale for just $1.99 for e-readers! Get it ASAP before the sale ends (which I think will be on Sunday but I'm not totally sure) for Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.



As you can see from the cover, the subtitle is "Erotica for Women" but I 100% believe this anthology, featuring 25 women and 25 different types of and motivations for orgasm, can be enjoyed by anyone. It's one of my favorite books I've ever edited because it has such variety and amazing authors. You can also get it as an audiobook narrated by the wonderful Lucy Malone, which isn't officially on sale but if you have the Kindle edition the audiobook is only $3.99. You can read my BDSM story from the book, "Belted," for free. Here's a tiny snippet; I wanted the belt itself to be a main character and focused the kink around that.

The belt is able to speak in ways that even the both of you, wordsmiths by trade, cannot always do. The belt is not a “toy” for “foreplay” but a separate part of your sex life, one that may appear at any moment. Its presence lurks while you casually sip your drinks at the bar, hidden but powerful;, your fingers are itching to stroke it, if only so they can be slapped away. You never know if he will bring it out, how he will use it, how much of the belt, and himself, he will give you.

If you like Orgasmic, please consider passing on the news of the sale and/or adding a review, which can be as short as a sentence ("I liked the story ____ because ____" or whatever you want to write), to Amazon or Goodreads. It might seem like it doesn't matter, but the truth is, those reviews are one of the top ways people learn about my books due to Amazon's algorithm, so they truly do help, the positive, the negative, the neutral. It shows that people are reading them. And stay tuned: another book of mine goes on sale next week!

Here's the full table of contents:

Introduction: Let Me Count the Ways...
The Waiting Game Elizabeth Coldwell
What's in a Name? Jacqueline Applebee
Chemistry Velvet Moore
The Chair Lolita Lopez
Fixing the Pipes Susie Hara
Share Dusty Horn
Hurdles Rowan Elizabeth
Seeing Stars Louisa Harte
Old Faithful Sylvia Lowry
Paying It Forward Kendra Wayne
The Big O Donna George Storey
Moon Tantra Teresa Noelle Roberts
Feet on the Dashboard Rachel Green
Frosting First Lana Fox
All She Wanted Andrea Dale
Making Shapes Lily Harlem
Rapture Angela Caperton
Belted Rachel Kramer Bussel
Rise and Shine Heidi Champa
Taking the Reins Vanessa Vaughn
First Date with the Dom Noelle Keely
Animal Inside Neve Black
The London O Justine Elyot
Fight Charlotte Stein
Switch Jade Melisande

You can keep up with all the sales by following me on BookBub and do the same for other authors so you can always save money on our titles. Want to enter to win free books? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter - in October I offered every single one of my 2,000+ subscribers a free copy of my next anthology, Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 and many of them took advantage of it (I'll be going to the post office next weekend with some very heavy bags of mail!). I plan to do the same with Volume 3 next year, and do other special subscriber giveaways each time. Next up are audiobook giveaways in November and December.

Lastly, if you want to know why I'm such a big fan of my publisher, Cleis Press, it's because a book like this, which came out in August 2010, sees new life every day because it's available in so many formats, has a brilliant narrator for the audio version (sadly, some of my books don't and I actually discourage people from buying them because I know if that's the only taste of my work they'll get, they'll never return), and is about a topic that apparently people continue to love. I of course want my books to do well when they launch because that's what helps determine whether I get to edit more (speaking of which I just signed the contract for Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4, which you can read in December 2018!), but when books continue to find new readers long after their release dates, it not only helps support me and my business, it means that the books truly matter. That they aren't just here in a flash and gone tomorrow. It makes me extra proud when that happens and I'm so grateful for these sales because I want all of my authors to be avidly read. I think these stories totally stand the test of time and are as hot today as they were when they were first published and will still be hot in 2026. I've had plenty of books I edited go out of print, never to be seen again, not available in any other format. That's happened less as publishers have realized that ebooks are forever, but it's happened and it's made me incredibly grateful for the books that do stick around, that readers have patience with, that maybe they discover for the first time or rediscover, the ones that remind me to take my copy off the shelves and marvel again at the beauty of the wordplay or wildness. That's useful when I sit down surrounded by huge stacks of submissions and have to whittle them down into a new book. It helps remind me that I can do it, that I've done it before and will keep doing it as long as I'm given that opportunity. Okay, sappy almost-middle-aged rant over. Thank you for your support of Orgasmic and if you haven't read it, now's a great time to try it!

I want you to write your book and get all the readers you can, especially if you hated my new book

Writers are often told not to read our reviews, but for me, I do read my reviews on sites like Goodreads and Amazon. I may use those collectively to guide me as sI edit future anthologies, or simply to know, because knowledge is indeed power (so if you loved or hated an aspect of Best Women's Erotica or there's something you want to see in future editions, I'm all ears!). I actively want to know what turns readers off as much as what turns readers on, because I appreciate every single person who's so much as picked up and read the back cover of one of my books, and certainly am honored when anyone takes the time to truly engage with the stories and give feedback.

I appreciate the opportunity to get a feel for what readers are thinking, what they liked, what they didn't. But sometimes, a review really tells us nothing of the sort. Such as this recent one, which reads, "I will write my own book. This was poorly written and extremely boring."

It's actually not the latter part that I take issue with, although of course I fully believe the 22 stories in Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1, which I consider my best work as an editor and the high point of my 16-year erotica career, has excellent writing and fully realized plots and characters. But I can't argue with someone's opinion; they didn't like it, that's cool. But the part where they wrote "I will write my own book" seems to imply that that's antithetical to this book and my job, and the truth is, it's not.

One of the reasons I love erotica so much is that there's room for everyone. Obviously not in one given anthology, or necessarily with any one publisher, but as a genre, it's an incredibly welcoming one. You don't need any degrees or experience or writing credits. You need a good imagination, creativity and stamina. You need to go deep into the heart of what makes a person tick (not just what turns them on), and spin a story that will make readers keep flipping pages, even if the subject is something they wouldn't normally care about. Some of my favorite pieces of erotica I fell for precisely because they covered sexual acts that squicked me in real life, but the writing was so good, I didn't care.

Ultimately, who I answer to are my readers, and I know that I cannot please everyone with every selection. That's never what I'm trying to do when I edit an anthology. I'm trying to capture something special about sex and storytelling and weave it together with many other special somethings to craft a book that delivers a punch, to have stories that collectively give a glimpse into, in this case, women's sexuality. Not the glimpse or the grand summary or every possibility; that would be way beyond anything one book like this is capable of.

On a broader level, the work I've been doing the last few years is precisely about encouraging writers, many of whom have never written erotica or considered it, to push themselves beyond the boundaries they think they're capable of and write, write, write. As I prepare for my final LitReactor online erotica writing class of 2016, I'm thinking about all the students I've taught before, many of whom keep me posted on what they're up to. Some them are self-publishing their debut novels. Others have successfully submitted stories begun in class and are published with independent publishers in anthologies like Order Up: A Menu of Lesbian Romance and Erotica and Sex & Sorcery 2.

Most of all, what I see from those who have kept at it, is that they're writing. They aren't sitting back and taking rejections to heart, or giving up, but they are writing stories and books and pursuing their interests, wherever that may lead. I am a fan of this genre first, before any particular anthology I may be editing at any given moment. If I stop editing anthologies tomorrow, I will still be a huge fan and reader of the genre, and supporter of those making their way as published authors for the first time.

To give you a little perspective: with most of my anthologies, I only have room to publish about 10% of the stories that are submitted. So that figure alone should tell you that even brilliant, exquisite, amazing stories by the very numbers game that is publishing and word counts will get rejected at some point. It's part of life, and part of writing. I have no illusion that my version of "best" is truly "better" than someone else's, but one thing I've learned, by trial and error and plenty of self-doubt and failure along the way, is that all I can ever do is my best. When I try to be someone else's version of "best," I always get myself in trouble. When I assume whoever has hired me for any job wants someone else's talents, or I tell myself I'm a worthless hack and shouldn't have gotten the gig, which has happened both in the past and far more recently, I always falter because it's an impossible expectation to be someone else and do what they would have done. I can't promise that. I can only deliver what I know how to deliver, and when I focus on that job, I do pretty well. When I strive to please some mythical version of perfectionism where I lull myself into thinking everyone will love everything I do, I may as will give up before I've even started.

So in a way, it's actually fabulous for me that someone thinks my new book is "poorly written" and boring because it shows that we all have different tastes and opinions, as we should. If that opinion spurs that reader on to further her own career, I consider that a win for the creative world too. It may not be personally pleasant for me, but it's perhaps a backhanded compliment that I am happy to accept, because I want my books to inspire people to write, whatever their opinion about the content. I was a failing law student when I wrote my first erotica story; I had no clue what I was doing, but I did it anyway. If my little books can be that catalyst for someone, that's awesome.

All that to say, I love erotica for its endless possibilities, for all the new writers flocking to it every day and all the ones who've been doing it for longer than I've been alive. I hope everyone who's ever read anything, be it a book, magazine, newspaper, blog post (ahem) and thought, I could write something better than this stops reading immediately and busts out their pen and paper or computer and gets to writing their story.

It's every bit a work in progress, but I launched eroticawriting101.com because I want to help those who face hurdles, internal or external, to doing exactly that, get over those hurdles, get writing and, if they so desire, get their writing in front of readers. If that's your goal, don't let anyone else's book or words or your own fears stop you. That's what I'm all about, that's what we'll be exploring in my LitReactor class starting next week, and that's what I've been thinking about ever since I read that review, the one I'm supposed to be stoic and pretend I didn't see. But I did; I'm human, and that's another thing I refuse to apologize for. Whatever you like to do with words: writing, reading, speaking, I hope you do it with gusto!

My 40th birthday book Dirty Dates just got its first review!

My new anthology Dirty Dates: Erotic Fantasies for Couples has an official publication date of November 10th, aka my birthday, but I just found out it will be shipping from the printer to stores (and me!) this week, so if you pre-order it, you're likely to get it a little earlier than 11/10.



I'll be posting more about it but wanted to share its first review on Goodreads, in which Dena Hankins, whose novels include Blue Water Dreams and Heart of the Liliko'i, highlights her favorite of these BDSM erotica stores. She also posted the review on her website. Here's a snippet from her review:

One of my favorite experiences reading erotica is grokking the heat of something that doesn’t turn me on at all. "Magic Words" by Emily Bingham lets me feel Daddy/girl play from the point of view of someone it works for, deep and real enough that I really think I get it…even if I’m not about to go looking for it myself.

"Baby Steps" by Justine Elyot got me too. I’m not a parent, but I’ve been through enough life changes during my nearly twenty-year relationship that I recognize this moment. The stakes are high, and I love how this shows the very real way we bring ourselves into the sex we have. This one is a favorite more for the story than the kink and/or sex, though.

"On Location" by D. L. King is fun and flirty, with an absolutely fabulous glimpse into the lives of lovers who don’t share a home. I very much enjoy erotica depicting warm, non-traditional relationships. And the set-up is hot!

"Recipe for Punishment" by Jacqueline Brocker is a-fucking-dorable. The punishment is brutal and glorious, a quick and effective mid-scene check-in is heartwarming, the achievement is his to own, and the love fills them both.

Free erotica by me at Goodreads

I put up a couple free erotica stories from my anthologies on Goodreads. If you like the stories, there are hundreds more stories in my books! Each of the stories I'm posting is from one of my Cleis Press books, and I'll be adding to those to round it out, in between writing new ones for various anthologies as well as my solo short story collection.

Win a signed copy of Best Bondage Erotica 2012 at Goodreads!

FYI the book is obviously edited by me (more info at bestbondageerotica.com) but we're having issues with Amazon credited contributors as the editor, so it says contributor Kay Jaybee.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Best Bondage Erotica 2012

by Kay Jaybee

Giveaway ends November 30, 2011.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Free books at Goodreads - Happy Friday!

This should be approved shortly. I'm a little obsessed with Obsessed, especially because I'm a romance reader. And I plan to do these giveaways with each new book (though if you want to be extra super awesome, I'd love it if you'd be part of my Amazon review team, see my Twitter stream or email womeninlust at gmail.com with "Amazon" in the subject and your name/US mailing address in the body to get a copy of Women in Lust hot off the press next month, in exchange for reviewing it by November 30th).

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Obsessed

by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Giveaway ends September 30, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Chat with me at Goodreads live online Wednesday, March 9th, 7 pm EST!

I'm doing a book club! It all happens Wednesday night at Blog Talk Radio and you can get the official scoop at Goodreads.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011, 4:00pm PT / 7:00pm ET

Introductory broadcast of the Rachel Kramer Bussel Online Book Club featuring discussions, commentary, callers and guests from RKB's list of erotica bestsellers, including GOTTA HAVE IT: 69 STORIES OF SUDDEN SEX (Cleis Press, 2011).

Joining the Online Book Club is easy, just visit Goodreads.com or email info@rarebirdlit.com for more information.

To refresh your memory about Gotta Have It if you haven't read it, more info is below.


Keep up with the latest news about Gotta Have It on Facebook and @gottahaveitbook on Twitter

Rachel Kramer Bussel has collected a wide and wild variety of original erotica stories that are deliciously short — just one orgasmic bite at a time. In 1,200 words or less, these authors explore every which way you can "get it on,” including threesomes, sex toys, public sex, BDSM, fetishes, and much more. Get “Anal-yzed,” learn “The Advantage of Working from Home” and spy some risqué “Vacation Pictures.” There are pecan rolls dripping in caramel and meals where lovers feast on nothing but each other. From crossword puzzles to Godzilla, these tales are perfect for reading aloud before you live out your own frisky fantasy. For those who like their sex quick and naughty, Gotta Have It has a host of erotic offerings to get you going.

Order Gotta Have It from:

Amazon.com

Kindle edition

Bn.com (Barnes & Noble)

Books-a-Million

Borders

Powell's

IndieBound (find your local independent bookstore)

Cleis Press



Introduction: Short, Sweet and Totally Sexy

Seven-Letter Word Heather Lin
No Blame, No Shame Jeremy Edwards
Wasn’t It Good? Andrea Dale
The Things a Woman Will Make a Man Do for Her Isabelle Gray
Special Collections Fiona Curtis
Wonderland Madeline Elayne
Red Light Angela Caperton
My Femme Evan Mora
Genesis Shanna Germain
Serious Moonlight Michael A. Gonzales
Too Wondrous to Measure Salome Wilde
Hors d’Oeuvre Stan Kent
Missed Connection Tigress Healy
Ties That Bind Daniel Burnell
Eat Me Marina Saint
Jarret Shane Allison
Lucky Number Fifty-One Jennifer Peters
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler Tara Young
Spunk Sylvia Lowry
Time Cecilia Tan
Dining in the Dark Elizabeth Daniels
Downpour Elle
Need-Leash Mike Kimera
Crushed Satin Organza Carmel Lockyer
Not on the Mouth Cole Riley
Hot Buns on a Sunday Afternoon Erica Rivera
Feel the Burn Thomas S. Roche
Trixie Jen Cross
Police Dogging Elizabeth Coldwell
Tip Me Kiki DeLovely
Marxist Theory Elizabeth Hyder
The Dirty Things She Says Sinclair Sexsmith
Laughter in Hades Teresa Noelle Roberts
The Quick Stop Shashauna P. Thomas
Pain Surfer Cate Ellink
After Ten Years Christen Clifford
Over His Shoulder Maximilian Lagos
Manners Rachel Kramer Bussel (read it in full here)
Veronica’s Ass Matt Conklin
Punishment Befitting the Crime D. L. King
Lies Kristina Wright
A Forced Witness Vampirique Dezire
Concensus Denise Hoffner
Don’t Struggle Valerie Alexander
Plotter Monocle
Intercept Burton Lawrence
Not a Bang, but a Whimper Jacqueline Applebee
Suggestion Emerald
Hands Free Effie Merryl
Remembering the Wrinkles Penelope Friday
Leaves Elise Hepner
The Copilot Mike Bruno
Pierced Kirsty Logan
Last-Time Lesbian Geneva King
Anal-yzed Donna George Storey
Independence Day Kate Pearce
Going Bald Craig J. Sorensen
Continuing Education Anya Levin
Meet Me in the Kitchen Giselle Renarde
Over the Line Helia Brookes
Not Just a Myth Heidi Champa
Hunger Maria See
The Tipping Point Lolita Lopez
The Advantage of Working from Home Kay Jaybee
For Dessert Jordana Winters
Good Neighbors Mercy Loomis
Laugh Sommer Marsden
A Good Stiff One Kathleen Bradean
Vacation Pictures Robert Peregrine

Introduction: Short, Sweet and Totally Sexy

Everyone needs a break from his or her everyday life sometimes, and what better way to escape than with a short story that gets right to the point? The authors of the sixty-nine stories you hold in your hand understand exactly how to pique your interest and get you off , and they do it all in 1,200 words or less. You don’t need long to get drawn into the drama, tension and lust.

I received close to three hundred submissions for this collection, more than I ever have before, and I think that’s because no one, writer or reader alike, can resist a short story that seduces instantaneously. These stories aren’t all about quickie sex, though there’s plenty of that. There are strangers who meet and know right away they must have each other, neighbors, travel mates, coworkers and long-term couples such as those in “After Ten Years” and “Remembering the Wrinkles” who are looking for ways to hold on to that spark. There are stories of sex in libraries, vacation sex and lots of outdoor sex—in the rain, in the street, all over. There are lovers with pecan rolls dripping in caramel, and meals where lovers feast on nothing but each other. There are even a few stories with no actual sex in them at all--you’ll have to hunt those down and see why anticipation can be the sexiest act of all.

There’s humor, kink, flirtation, Godzilla, missed connections, sex toys, and one very bold census taker. But I don’t want to take up too much of your time that could be better spent getting intimately acquainted with these short but incredibly sexy stories. I hope you will savor them, read them aloud and return to your favorites again and again. Because all of us have a few minutes set aside for a quickie, don’t we?

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City

I'm on Goodreads

I am indeed on Goodreads (not totally accurate but I like adding the books that find their way into my bags/home) but had no clue you could embed your blog or that there's an iPhone app. Oh, and they're hiring.

Rachel Kramer's book montage

Rachel Kramer Bussel's favorite books »