Why I picked it: "Jailbait Torch Song" by Valerie Alexander in Hungry for More

Welcome back to Why I Picked It Wednesday, a peek into my editorial decisions when selecting stories for my erotica anthologies, and a chance to highlight some favorites I've published over the years. Here I want to talk about "Jailbait Torch Song" by Valerie Alexander in Hungry for More: Romantic Fantasies for Women, whose title already pushes the envelope.



Jailbait. It's a taunting, teasing word. Are we supposed to be repulsed? Intrigued? Repulsed because we are intrigued? Yet it's the combination of the entire title that truly gives the story its meaning. As a reader, I often find it challenging to go toward the taboo, to not stop myself from enjoying it, to not think, In real life, would I be squicked or condemn these people? Powerful writing humanizes those society would deem sick or wrong, and in this case, even grapples with some of the ostracism the characters face for acting on their desires.

Dictionary.com defines torch song as "a popular song concerned with unhappiness or failure in love," with its origins coming from "the phrase to carry a torch for (someone)." That, far more than the taboo nature of a 29-year-old single mother having a torrid romance with an 18-year-old young man, is what this story is about, to my mind. Publishers Weekly called the story "unexpectedly poignant" and that captures part of what I loved about it, why I knew I wanted it in my book even though I also knew it would likely throw at least a few readers off with the way it employed its tenderness, its desire, its romance through an often socially unacceptable lens. What Alexander does is build both the tension and the taboo, weaving them, playing Tanner's teenage lust against Lyla's mix of propriety and hunger. The story starts off telling us exactly what she's strived to do for the last decade: "Lyla tried to be a good single mother." That principle guides her, yes, but she is also a woman, and has natural human desires, and the story forces the reader, and the characters, to question whether what we've been told about age differences is in fact correct. It doesn't give us an answer, but lets us decide, and pulls on our heartstrings in the process. Here's an excerpt of one of their earliest moments:

From "Jailbait Torch Song" by Valerie Alexander

He leaned into the car. “I just wanted to tell you that we have a home game tomorrow night. You should come.”

“Yeah, I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t have a reason to be there,” she said. “Because it would look weird.”

He walked away. Puzzled, she waited for him to return and say good-bye. Then the passenger door swung open and he climbed in the car.

Oh no. Quickly she elevated her window. “I have to pick up my son,” she said.

Then his hand was in her hair, hauling her across the seat and onto his long body as if she were weightless. He was shaking. His arms went around her, pulling her against his chest so hard she could feel his heart thumping. He kissed her with almost feverish desperation, his cold hands sliding up under her sweater and under her bra. “Don’t stop me,” he muttered into her mouth and then she was grinding all over the promise of his hard cock, humping him with abandon.

I don't want to give away the whole story, because it's a beautiful, tender, sexy, romantic one. It's one of the most memorable stories I've published, in my opinion, and one I could reread any time and find new nuances. I hope you'll check it out, and I hope I get to publish many more like this.

Buy Hungry for More from:

Amazon

Bn.com

Kindle ebook

Nook ebook 

Powells

Books-a-Million

iBooks

IndieBound (find your local independent bookstore)

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

Amazon Germany

Cleis Press

Audible audiobook (click through to listen to a free sample)

Here's the other stories in the book:

Introduction: Getting Explicit

Submissive Jacqueline Applebee
Happy Endings Giselle Renarde
Craig’s List Greta Christina
Bringing the Heat Tiffany Reisz
Madam Secretary Jaye Markham
Kitchen Slut Olivia Archer
Just Once Jocelyn Dex
Boat Rocking D. L. King
The Sleeper’s Beauty Jade A. Waters
Upstairs at the Ava DelovelyOlive
Organically Grown Brandy Fox
The Room of Guarantees Jessica Lennox
Redrawing the Lines Bren Emile
Tickle Day Jeremy Edwards
Relief Katya Harris
Jailbait Torch Song Valerie Alexander
Red Lipstick Erzabet Bishop
Something Sleazy Elizabeth Coldwell
The Instructor Rose de Fer
My Pillar-Box Red Cock Tilly Hunter
A First Time for Everything Rachel Kramer Bussel

Publishers Weekly praises my female fantasy erotica anthology Hungry for More!

I was looking up something else about Hungry for More and found this mostly wonderful review from Publishers Weekly! I'm working on a post listing all 21 fantasies to be found in the book, but for now, I'll share this - and there's another book of fantasy erotica in the works too. I must also say that "Jailbait Torch Song" is one of my favorite stories I've ever published in all 50+ anthologies, because it takes a taboo topic and makes it vivid and real and tender and sweet and sexy all at once. I know it will push buttons, but those are about social norms, and if erotica is good at anything, it should be questioning social norms and giving readers something to think about as well as entertain and arouse them. In other things I love about this book: the title and story in "Kitchen Slut." Join me for 2 free readings from the book (and other stories too from The Big Book of Submission and The Big Book of Orgasms) on Saturday, September 6 from 3-4:30 at Center for Sex Positive Culture Annex, 1608 15th Ave. W., and Wednesday, September 10th 7:30-9 pm at sex toy store She Bop, 909 N. Beech Street, Portland, Oregon, where the renowned Tiffany Reisz, author of The Original Sinners series, will read her m/m baseball erotica story "Bringing the Heat."

Twenty-one tales of women pursuing and getting what they want make up this steamy collection. Veteran editor Bussel touches on a variety of common fantasies, including threesomes and moresomes, bondage, and voyeurism. Olivia Archer’s “Kitchen Slut,” about a woman aroused by kitchen utensils, is a surprising treat. Jeremy Edwards’s “Tickle Day,” is delightfully playful while Valerie Alexander’s “Jailbait Torch Song” is unexpectedly poignant. Brandy Fox’s “Organically Grown” has a clever twist, though the build-up is bland. On the downside, Greta Christina’s “Craig’s List” reads like a summary of someone else’s spicy story, and Rose de Fer’s “The Instructor” blurs consent issues enough to leave readers questioning its presence in the collection. With many more hits than misses, all long enough to titillate and short enough to leave the reader craving more, this is a satisfying feast for the erotica fan.

Purchase Hungry for More:

Amazon

Bn.com

Kindle ebook

Nook ebook 

Powells

Books-a-Million

iBooks

IndieBound (find your local independent bookstore)

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

Amazon Germany

Cleis Press

Introduction: Getting Explicit

Submissive Jacqueline Applebee
Happy Endings Giselle Renarde
Craig’s List Greta Christina
Bringing the Heat Tiffany Reisz
Madam Secretary Jaye Markham
Kitchen Slut Olivia Archer
Just Once Jocelyn Dex
Boat Rocking D. L. King
The Sleeper’s Beauty Jade A. Waters
Upstairs at the Ava DelovelyOlive
Organically Grown Brandy Fox
The Room of Guarantees Jessica Lennox
Redrawing the Lines Bren Emile
Tickle Day Jeremy Edwards
Relief Katya Harris
Jailbait Torch Song Valerie Alexander
Red Lipstick Erzabet Bishop
Something Sleazy Elizabeth Coldwell
The Instructor Rose de Fer
My Pillar-Box Red Cock Tilly Hunter
A First Time for Everything Rachel Kramer Bussel

Introduction: Getting Explicit

When we fantasize, we give ourselves space to live out the naughtiest acts we can imagine. For me, fantasizing is like taking a trip to another world, where I can be as wanton, selfish and depraved as I like—and for that matter, that’s exactly what erotica writing does for me as well.

Fantasies don’t follow the rules, whether the ones society has set for us—and if you’re a woman, our culture has plenty of sex rules to rein you in—or the ones we’ve set for ourselves. Anything—and everything—goes. In the twenty-one stories in this book, I’ve tried to include both common and unusual fantasies, ones that speak to things you might do or want to do, ones that might unnerve you, ones that touch the edges of our most cherished taboos.

The title Hungry for More has multiple meanings—these characters do indeed want more, but that doesn’t necessarily mean more sex just to have more sex. Getting off isn’t a numbers game to these characters; it’s about accessing more pleasure, pushing more boundaries, trying new things, sometimes with new partners. Even when they get more of whatever it is they crave, they’re still hungry, because fulfilling one fantasy isn’t the end of their pleasure, but the beginning of a new and grand adventure.

The common thread here, whether the characters are having sex with strangers from Craig’s List, the organic produce clerk or the secretary of state, is that these women are unabashed in their desires. They may recognize that others might look at them askance, as in Valerie Alexander’s “Jailbait Torch Song,” but they follow through anyway, not letting anyone stop them from experiencing the ultimate thrill of playing out a dirty dream that’s often followed them through lovers, relationships and plenty of orgasms. These women often surprise their lovers with their adamant affirmations of lust, but they quickly realize the thrills to be found in venturing beyond their usual erotic boundaries.

The women in these pages know fantasies have a way of finding us, even—or especially—when we try to disavow them. They don’t care about propriety, reputations or acceptability. These fantasies—of public sex, BDSM, strap-on play, lesbian encounters, bukkake, watching male lovers and much more—speak so loudly they cannot be ignored. They insist on being heard, seen, touched. While in real life we may keep our most treasured fantasies tucked away for our most secret selves, in these tales, women’s fantasies are front and center, every explicit act laid bare. Luckily, here, in a book that perhaps you’ll enjoy in bed, or the bath, or wherever you do your erotic reading, you get to watch—and live vicariously through these brazen, taboo-busting women, who are willing to go all the way in the name of living out whatever wild, wicked scenarios their lustiest selves have dreamt up. I invite you to come along for the ride.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
Red Bank, New Jersey