4 cookbook authors DISH tonight at Housing Works Bookstore in New York

Check out the following cookbook authors at DISH tonight at charity bookstore Housing Works, which is also a great place to find holiday gifts. See my New York Observer writeup for details and please keep sending me Eight-Day Week event listings to 8dayweek at observer.com - right now I'm considering events from December 11-January 8, and event organizers, add that email address to your update lists!

Free story slam and storytelling in New York tonight

It's the How I Learned/Best in Show Blender tonight and it's free! Full details in my New York Observer writeup - I don't think I've heard of another event where you can tell a story and get professional feedback on it for free! Plus it benefits the wonderful folks at Housing Works, whose mission is "to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts."

A wonderful night for Best Sex Writing 2012 at my favorite bookstore, Housing Works

What an amazing, packed night at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe last night for Best Sex Writing 2012! I was blown away by the turnout, since, it being New York City, a bunch of other cool readings were also happening at the same time. THANK YOU to everyone who came out, ate cupcakes, asked questions and were so interested in our topic. I hope many of you will submit to Best Sex Writing 2013; the deadline is Tuesday, May 1st, and it's shaping up to be another very smart collection. Here's a recap by Capital New York; I loved that Village Voice staff writer Camille Dodero not only told us how her article "Guys Who Like Fat Chicks" came about, but brought its star up to the stage to give his side.




Housing Works made a sex books table for us!


They also had a special where if you joined Housing Works (which I recommend; I use my membership all the time for a discount) you could get any of these books free: Best Sex Writing 2012 or Taschen's The Big Book of Breasts or The Big Penis Book


Back row L to R: Abby Tallmer, Amanda Marcotte, Ellen Friedrichs, Rachel Kramer Bussel
Front row L to R: Rachel Rabbit White, Camille Dodero, Joan Price
And no, it's not all white ladies in my book nor do I want it to be, so see the guidelines above and SUBMIT! I also very much welcome suggestions and recommendations, and I accept published and unpublished submisisons.

Housing Works Best Sex Writing 2012 reading

Housing Works is my very favorite bookstore I've ever been to. I love all the galleys they have, I love the atmosphere, I love that I often run into people I know, I love that it's a nonprofit and I'm very excited to be hosting such an amazing lineup. The official Facebook invitation is here if you want to let anyone know about this special event with free cupcakes and below the listing are the titles and links, where applicable, of what you'll be hearing, along with some probing questions by me and a Q&A by the audience. See you there!

Wednesday, April 25 at 7:00 pm Best Sex Writing 2012 reading Join Best Sex Writing 2012 editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Camille Dodero, Ellen Friedrichs, Lynn Harris, Amanda Marcotte, Joan Price, Abby Tallmer, and Rachel Rabbit White for readings from this year's collection of the best journalism and essays about sexuality and a Q&A on wide-ranging topics, include SlutWalks, aging and sexuality, teenagers and sex laws, dating sites for people with STDs, drag shows, men who prefer fat women, and the gentrification of the West Village. Free and free cupcakes. Housing Works Bookstore Cafe proceeds go toward the fight to end AIDS and homelessness. Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby Street, NYC
B/D/F/M to Broadway/Lafayette
212-334-3324

What you'll hear from (though it's possible I may not be able to resist one last public reading of "Adrian’s Penis: Care and Handling" by Adrian Colesberry):

"Sluts, Walking" by Amanda Marcotte (original to Best Sex Writing 2012)

"Grief, Resilience, and My 66th Birthday Gift" by Joan Price (excerpted from her book Naked at Our Age)

"Latina Glitter" by Rachel Rabbit White

"Dating with an STD" by Lynn Harris

"Guys Who Like Fat Chicks" by Camille Dodero

"Losing the Meatpacking District: A Queer History of Leather Culture" by Abby Tallmer (original to Best Sex Writing 2012)

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

"The Continuing Criminalization of Teen Sex" by Ellen Friedrichs (original to Best Sex Writing 2012)

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

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

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

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

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



Free cupcakes at all readings!

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

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

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

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

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

Milwaukee Art Museum art:


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




Object Disguised 4 Times by Nancy Graves


St. Dionysus by Kehinde Wiley




Bluffs by Tara Donovan (made of buttons!)


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



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