Should erotica writers include safer sex in their fiction?

That's the question I pose at Salon, where their subtitle is "Erotica authors don't degree on safe sex demands. I answer by way of opinions from blogger Reading with Analysis, Angie Lynch of review site Shameless Book Club, as well as erotica and erotic romance authors KD Grace, Tamsin Flowers, Tiffany Reisz, Lucy Felthouse, Nicola James, Remittance Girl and Solace Ames. Thank you to everyone who responded to me for this article, those I could include and those I couldn't, and as always, feel free to pitch me on article and column topics at rachelkb at gmail.com - I've got lots more on the way this month!

For the pubic hair lovers: an excerpt from "Topiary" by KD Grace in Obsessed

An excerpt from the story "Topiary" by KD Grace in Obsessed: Erotic Romance for Women.

At first Aden simply strokes my heavy curls, his face in deep concentration. His creative juices, like my own, are flowing. I begin to thrust lightly against his stroking, impatient for him to get on with it. But he won’t be rushed. There’s a stroke with the comb here, a shove of my leg there, a shivering with his fingers as he plumps and fluffs. “Yes, I see it now,” he breathes. “I know exactly how it’s supposed to be.”

He begins.

He combs and snips and says half under his breath, “Mm-hm, uh-huh, just a little more. That’s right. Perfect.” Then he switches to another pair of scissors. I can’t tell the difference, but he says he needs to create texture, depth, a sense of perspective.

“The landscape should always showcase its finest feature.” His fingers press in around my clit, and he rubs and strokes it to prominence.

I try to sit still as he clips and combs, but I’m slippery and swollen and all of the fantastical shapes in Aden’s exquisite topiary now appear orgiastic, spreading wide, thrusting upward, pouting and arching. The bench is damp beneath me and Aden’s trousers look as though they’re about to lose the battle for containment. He breathes like there’s a windstorm in his lungs, and with each snip, he squirms and shifts.

Read the whole story in Obsessed!



Order Obsessed from:

Amazon

Kindle edition (available August 15th)

Barnes & Noble

Powells

IndieBound (search for your local indie bookstore)

Cleis Press

Sh! recaps

Me being me, my last day is super hectic, but I've had a brilliant time and definitely want to come back for all the places/people I've missed seeing. I spent last night in bed with lovely supermarket foodstuffs watching and being inspired by Working Girl and reading a book I'm writing about after so much running around and didn't feel guilty about not being out and about in the least. I could use less guilt, more me. Trying trying trying...2011 is all about overhauling my life, or if it's not, it should be. Reluctant to go home just yet but hoping I'll be back while I still somewhat know my way around London a bit more, having taken the Tube lots, plus the overground and the train out to Hitchin.

Thanks to everyone who showed up at Sh! and made the evening so wonderful and did recaps! Who needs MSM anyway? (I say jokingly, but of course, cause I'm a media whore and always will be. But in this case, I was so moved by the people who came out and what they said about my work. When I visited England in 2002 for my friend's wedding, I never ever could've predicted books with my name on the spine would be on shelves. Next stop, Waterstone's, who are big on YA. A girl can has to dream.)

Justine Elyot

Lucy Felthouse

KD Grace

Janine Ashbless

More when I'm back. As always, make sure to visit Cupcakes Take the Cake for reports on cupcake adventures.


cupcakes at You Don't Bring Me Flowers

Free champagne and cupcakes July 2nd at Sh! in London - please RSVP

If you plan to join me for a very sexy reading from my books Smooth, Orgasmic, Best Bondage Erotica 2011 and Gotta Have It at Sh! in London July 2nd, please RSVP to shop at sh-womensstore.com so they know how much bubbly to carry, and if you'd do me a giant favor and let your London friends know (you can do so via this handy Facebook invitation) I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm taking a bit of a gamble with this pricey trip but I think it's going to be fabulous and am very excited to meet these booksellers who are excited to host me and all these authors whose work appears in my anthologies. More info about them and their stories TK. I'll be joined by Janine Ashbless, Jacqueline Applebee, Justine Elyot, KD Grace, Kay Jaybee and Carmel Lockyer, all very accomplished authors in their own right, do look for their books. I just ordered some and have a few more to catch up with before my trip. And if you have any London press contacts please let me know at rachelkb at gmail.com with "London" in the subject because we are happy to send books, press release, etc. There will also be a July 4th event, location TBA, and I will be available for interviews July 1-5.

Official reading details:

Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium
57 Hoxton Square
London N1 6PB

Join New York-based author and erotica editor Rachel Kramer Bussel for her first UK reading. She will be joined by authors, reading steamy selections from books such as Orgasmic, Smooth, Best Bondage Erotica 2011 and Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex.

Free cupcakes and bubbly while supplies last!

Books will be available for sale and signing.

True to our female focused ethos, we ask that male guests are accompanied by a woman.

Spaces are limited, so make sure to book your space early as this FREE event will fill up quickly! Email us at shop at sh-womenstore.com and we'll add your name to the guest list!

You can listen to some of them (you'll know) in the Gotta Have It book trailer below!