Sex in books Twitter chat December 7th!

Join us December 7th from 7-8 pm on Twitter with the hashtag #sexinbooks - I'll be moderating, so if you have questions for these authors, email me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "#sexinbooks" in the subject line. See you there!

Rachel Kramer Bussel (@raquelita)


Women in Lust

Anna David (@annadavid)


Falling for Me

Beth Griffenhagen (@thathaikugirl)


Haiku for the Single Girl

Kiri Blakeley (@kiriblakeley)


Can't Think Straight

Sascha Rothchild (@sascharothchild)


How to Get Divorced by 30

Judy McGuire (@hitormissjudy)


How Not to Date

Can't Think Straight author Kiri Blakeley on professional jealousy

I liked this column by Kiri Blakeley on professional jealousy, such as bookstore placement of Rachel Shukert's books (my sex column tomorrow is on jealousy regarding relationships) - it's funny because I'm jealous that her publisher got her video of her reading at In The Flesh posted on Barnes & Noble while Amazon basically has ignored my Passion video that I had recut just for them. But then I tell myself that the two are unrelated, and that it's true, there is literally not a thing I can do about that, except choose whether or not making book trailers is worth it financially in future. Here's what Kiri had to say:

When it comes to other women, however, I merely ask myself the questions. I don’t have the answers. Why one person gets something that you don’t is entirely out of our control the vast majority of the time, and there have been plenty of times I have accomplished something that other writers haven’t. Somewhere, some woman might even be thinking, “Why does that Kiri Blakeley get to rant on Forbes and I don’t?”

Women, however, are not supposed to be jealous of other women. It’s petty, it’s immature, it’s damaging to the notion of sisterhood. Men don’t get jealous of each other—men give each other jobs. Men don’t get “jealous,” they get “healthily competitive.”

But I say hoo-ha to all of that. Let’s call it what it really is.

“Jealousy, if channeled positively, can do wonders,” says Hannah Seligson, author of New Girl On the Job: Advice From the Trenches. Seligson, for example, was jealous of people who got their bylines in the New York Times (the newspaper of record also seems to be the newspaper of bitter envy). So Seligson made it her goal to get her name in there too. Eventually, she became a regular Times contributor.

And if you missed it, you can read my interview with Kiri Blakely at SexIs.

Don't miss the Last In The Flesh Reading Series or you'll be sorry*

I'm working on a piece about why I'm ending In The Flesh, may not get it done til after Thursday, because let me tell you, running a reading series takes way more time than you could ever, ever imagine. I certainly don't regret it and am very proud of the almost 300 readers we've had so far (will be just over 300 when we're done), but I also know that I can't in any way afford to put my time/energy into things that aren't lucrative or moving me forward. I'm just utterly burnot out, on a lot of things, but definitely on this. I am very exciting to go all out, and I do mean all out, with bondage burlesque, pop songs, 500 cupcakes, so many giveaways it's insane (I'm donating a sex pillow! and penis and vulva candles!) and general revelry, with an afterparty before I go collapse.

*we are taping it, even though there really isn't a logical reason for me to spend money on taping it, but I am, cause I'm sentimental like that. Crazy, yes, but sentimental.


In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Last In The Flesh event listing. Note early start time of 7:30. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
LAST IN THE FLESH
December 16, 2010, 7:30 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Both floors of Happy Ending Lounge will be open for this event. We recommend arriving when the doors open at 7 for a good seat.

After 5+ years, over 200 readers, countless cupcakes and sexy moments, In The Flesh Reading Series is ending. Join us for a free, festive, sexy, cupcake-filled last hurrah, with erotica, memoir, burlesque and 500 free cupcakes to celebrate! Featuring erotic writer Laura Antoniou (The Marketplace series), memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performers GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco) and Stormy Leather (Webster Hall, The Box), photographer and photocomic CulutrePOP creator Seth Kushner, memoirist Stephen Markley (Publish This Book), In The Flesh alum and famed letter writer Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Love of Letters), Lambda Literary Award winner Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and romance novelist Kama Spice (Sehra's Honor). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Prizes include sex toys from EdenFantasys, vibrator We-Vibe, porn DVDs from director Tristan Taormino Rough Sex 2 and Expert Guide to Advanced Fellatio, books Oysters & Chocolate: Erotic Stories of Every Flavor, Mastering Your Man from Head to Head and Sexy Slang's Bedroom Challenges: 69 Ways to Spice up Your Sex Life and free Sliquid lube samples. Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Giveaways include copies of SexIs Magazine and 500 cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Laura Antoniou is the author of the best selling Marketplace series of erotic novels, now published by Circlet Press and coming out in exciting e-book formats. A long time member of the smut world, she has edited over a dozen anthologies and an assortment of magazines, written far too many short stories under far too many pseudonyms to remember. In 2010, she even started re-releasing her gay male porn, written originally under the name Christopher Morgan. A popular sexuality educator, she has traveled the world teaching a variety of relationship workshops and delivering keynote speeches to generally horrified (yet amused!) audiences. Her website is
www.lantoniou.com; she is on Facebook ad Fetlife as well and invites new friends.



Nancy Balbirer's memoir, Take Your Shirt Off and Cry, was published by Bloomsbury in April. She is the author and star of the critically acclaimed solo show I Slept With Jack Kerouac and Other Stories, the co-creator of the cult reading series, Cause Celeb!, and has co-starred on Seinfeld and MTV’s Remote Control. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is the co-owner, designer and doyenne of the West Village boite, Pasita. She lives with remarkably few regrets in Manhattan with her husband and daughter.
takeyourshirtoffandcry.com


photo by Rob d'Entremont

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited over 30 anthologies, including the kink-themed Spanked, Bottoms Up, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, He's on Top, She's on Top, Rubber Sex as well as Fast Girls, Orgasmic, Peep Show, The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and the non-fiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books won 3 2009 Independent Publisher Awards. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. Rachel conducts nationwide readings and erotic writing workshops. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Michele Carlo is a writer/performer and comedic storyteller who has lived in four of the five boroughs of New York City and remembers when a slice of pizza cost fifty cents. Her stories have been published in Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood’s Lost & Found: Stories From New York, Chicken Soup For The Latino Soul and SMITH Magazine. Her memoir, Fish Out of Agua: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks, was published this summer by Citadel Press.
www.michelecarlo.com



Since 2005, GiGi La Femme has been named one of New York City’s sultriest striptease stars and is also the co-producer of the monthly show Revealed Burlesque at the Under St. Mark’s Theater. A Golden Pastie Award winner for Best Booty Shaker 2009 and Miss Coney Island 2010, the multi-talented bump ‘n’ grinder, go-go girl, chanteuse and pin-up model has traveled the nation performing signature acts such as "Spanking", "Princess Leia" and "Sweet Leaf". She is also the host of Wasabassco Burlesque at venues around New York, New England and Washington, DC.
gigilafemme.com


photo by Greg Brophy

Seth Kushner shoots portraits of celebrity-types for such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, L'Uomo Vogue and others. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. His next book, Leaping Tall Buildings, will be released in 2101.
Currently, he co-edits GRAPHIC NYC (www.NYCGraphicNovelists.com) and is working on CulturePOP, his photocomix series on ACT-I-VATE.com.
Seth resides in Brooklyn with his wife, baby boy, and too many comics.
www.SethKushner.com



Stephen Markley is an Ohio transplant, who graduated from Miami University in 2006. After an eight month, 12,000 mile cross-country road trip that left him completely broke, he made the daring decision to move to Chicago. As far as he knows, he is the only person from that school in this city. He writes for Cars.com's blog KickingTires and his freelance work has appeared in the Chicago Reader, RadarOnline, the Populist Progressive, 10,000 Tons of Black Ink, Private Investigator's Magazine, Midnight Times, and the Weber Studies Journal. Most importantly, he is an author. His first book, Publish This Book, can be found on Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.
www.stephenmarkley.com



Samara O’Shea has written two narrative non-fiction books—one on the art of letter writing and the other on the importance of keeping a journal. On her website, LetterLover.net, she offers to write letters and wedding vows for those struggling to find the right words. This is Samara’s fourth time reading at In the Flesh. She is honored to have been a part of this wonderful reading series. Samara will be reading from her unpublished book, Don’t Make Me Defriend You, about losing her cyber virginity.
www.letterlover.net



Rakesh Satyal is the author of the novel Blue Boy, a gender-bending comedy about a young Indian American boy's fascination with the Hindu god Krishna. He is an editor at HarperCollins, where he works with such authors as Paulo Coelho, Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin, and Paul Rudnick. A member of the planning committee for the annual PEN World Voices Festival, he sings a popular cabaret show in the city. He lives in Brooklyn.
rakeshsatyal.com



Kama Spice has lived in the East and the West and merges both in her stories. She considers herself a pro-sex feminist who likes to explore the point where spirit and eros converge to create power. Kama is published in various genres and has two erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave, with a third forthcoming.
KamaSpice.com



Sweeping in from the the plains of Oklahoma, Stormy Leather has breezed through the ranks of the New York City burlesque scene to find herself both in demand and in the spotlight. A regular by request at top clubs, including The Slipper Room, Webster Hall, and The Box, Stormy has been blowing away audiences with a whirlwind of elegance, ingenuity, and seduction. Her repertoire of original material is a cyclone of genres: fan dancing, tassel twirling, sexually ambiguous drag, rock n' roll, and even rope bondage and hot wax fetishism. A Stormy Leather strip tease showers you with sex and talent, leaving you breathless, winded, and wet. Playing in a storm has never been so much fun...
www.stormyleathernyc.com



You will hear from the following books:

Best Bondage Erotica 2011

Fish Out of Agua

Publish This Book

December 16 - last In The Flesh, going out with a bang!

In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Last In The Flesh event listing. Note early start time of 7:30. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
LAST IN THE FLESH
December 16, 2010, 7:30 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

After 5+ years, over 200 readers, countless cupcakes and sexy moments, In The Flesh Reading Series is ending. Join us for a free, festive, sexy, cupcake-filled last hurrah, with erotica, memoir, burlesque and 500 free cupcakes to celebrate! Featuring erotic writer Laura Antoniou (The Marketplace series), memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performers GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco) and Stormy Leather (Webster Hall, The Box), photographer and photocomic CulutrePOP creator Seth Kushner, memoirist Stephen Markley (Publish This Book), In The Flesh alum and famed letter writer Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Love of Letters), Lambda Literary Award winner Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and romance novelist Kama Spice (Sehra's Honor). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Giveaways include copies of SexIs Magazine and 500 cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Laura Antoniou is the author of the best selling Marketplace series of erotic novels, now published by Circlet Press and coming out in exciting e-book formats. A long time member of the smut world, she has edited over a dozen anthologies and an assortment of magazines, written far too many short stories under far too many pseudonyms to remember. In 2010, she even started re-releasing her gay male porn, written originally under the name Christopher Morgan. A popular sexuality educator, she has traveled the world teaching a variety of relationship workshops and delivering keynote speeches to generally horrified (yet amused!) audiences. Her website is
www.lantoniou.com; she is on Facebook ad Fetlife as well and invites new friends.



Nancy Balbirer's memoir, Take Your Shirt Off and Cry, was published by Bloomsbury in April. She is the author and star of the critically acclaimed solo show I Slept With Jack Kerouac and Other Stories, the co-creator of the cult reading series, Cause Celeb!, and has co-starred on Seinfeld and MTV’s Remote Control. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is the co-owner, designer and doyenne of the West Village boite, Pasita. She lives with remarkably few regrets in Manhattan with her husband and daughter.
takeyourshirtoffandcry.com


photo by Rob d'Entremont

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited over 30 anthologies, including the kink-themed Spanked, Bottoms Up, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, He's on Top, She's on Top, Rubber Sex as well as Fast Girls, Orgasmic, Peep Show, The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and the non-fiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books won 3 2009 Independent Publisher Awards. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. Rachel conducts nationwide readings and erotic writing workshops. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Michele Carlo is a writer/performer and comedic storyteller who has lived in four of the five boroughs of New York City and remembers when a slice of pizza cost fifty cents. Her stories have been published in Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood’s Lost & Found: Stories From New York, Chicken Soup For The Latino Soul and SMITH Magazine. Her memoir, Fish Out of Agua: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks, was published this summer by Citadel Press.
www.michelecarlo.com



Since 2005, GiGi La Femme has been named one of New York City’s sultriest striptease stars and is also the co-producer of the monthly show Revealed Burlesque at the Under St. Mark’s Theater. A Golden Pastie Award winner for Best Booty Shaker 2009 and Miss Coney Island 2010, the multi-talented bump ‘n’ grinder, go-go girl, chanteuse and pin-up model has traveled the nation performing signature acts such as "Spanking", "Princess Leia" and "Sweet Leaf". She is also the host of Wasabassco Burlesque at venues around New York, New England and Washington, DC.
gigilafemme.com


photo by Greg Brophy

Seth Kushner shoots portraits of celebrity-types for such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, L'Uomo Vogue and others. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. His next book, Leaping Tall Buildings, will be released in 2101.
Currently, he co-edits GRAPHIC NYC (www.NYCGraphicNovelists.com) and is working on CulturePOP, his photocomix series on ACT-I-VATE.com.
Seth resides in Brooklyn with his wife, baby boy, and too many comics.
www.SethKushner.com



Stephen Markley is an Ohio transplant, who graduated from Miami University in 2006. After an eight month, 12,000 mile cross-country road trip that left him completely broke, he made the daring decision to move to Chicago. As far as he knows, he is the only person from that school in this city. He writes for Cars.com's blog KickingTires and his freelance work has appeared in the Chicago Reader, RadarOnline, the Populist Progressive, 10,000 Tons of Black Ink, Private Investigator's Magazine, Midnight Times, and the Weber Studies Journal. Most importantly, he is an author. His first book, Publish This Book, can be found on Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.
www.stephenmarkley.com



Samara O’Shea has written two narrative non-fiction books—one on the art of letter writing and the other on the importance of keeping a journal. On her website, LetterLover.net, she offers to write letters and wedding vows for those struggling to find the right words. This is Samara’s fourth time reading at In the Flesh. She is honored to have been a part of this wonderful reading series. Samara will be reading from her unpublished book, Don’t Make Me Defriend You, about losing her cyber virginity.
www.letterlover.net



Rakesh Satyal is the author of the novel Blue Boy, a gender-bending comedy about a young Indian American boy's fascination with the Hindu god Krishna. He is an editor at HarperCollins, where he works with such authors as Paulo Coelho, Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin, and Paul Rudnick. A member of the planning committee for the annual PEN World Voices Festival, he sings a popular cabaret show in the city. He lives in Brooklyn.
rakeshsatyal.com



Kama Spice has lived in the East and the West and merges both in her stories. She considers herself a pro-sex feminist who likes to explore the point where spirit and eros converge to create power. Kama is published in various genres and has two erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave, with a third forthcoming.
KamaSpice.com



Sweeping in from the the plains of Oklahoma, Stormy Leather has breezed through the ranks of the New York City burlesque scene to find herself both in demand and in the spotlight. A regular by request at top clubs, including The Slipper Room, Webster Hall, and The Box, Stormy has been blowing away audiences with a whirlwind of elegance, ingenuity, and seduction. Her repertoire of original material is a cyclone of genres: fan dancing, tassel twirling, sexually ambiguous drag, rock n' roll, and even rope bondage and hot wax fetishism. A Stormy Leather strip tease showers you with sex and talent, leaving you breathless, winded, and wet. Playing in a storm has never been so much fun...
www.stormyleathernyc.com



You will hear from the following books:

Best Bondage Erotica 2011

Fish Out of Agua

Publish This Book

Free candy cane cookies, plus cupcakes, blue corn chips, BBQ potato chips & more 11/18 at Comedy Sex Night

Because I'm the product of two Jewish grandmothers and don't have any kids to foist food upon...so I do it to you. And I get sucked into Trader Joe's yumminess. Plus 100 Baked by Melissa cupcakes, blue corn chips, BBQ and salt and vinegar potato chips and an outstanding lineup of comedians and writers. Lucky you, because I'll be entertained by JetBlue while you're LOLing. Please spread the word!




In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the November 18th In The Flesh event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
COMEDY SEX NIGHT
November 18, 2010, 8:00 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Our popular Comedy Sex Night returns! Featuring Marty Beckerman, Sara Benincasa, Kiri Blakeley, Kim Brittingham, Jessica Delfino, Matt Koff, Sara Schaefer and Mandy Stadtmiller, Jacquetta Szathmari and Elon James White. Plus special guests! Hosted by Carolyn Castiglia (Splurge!). 5 copies of the book Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk and 1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex will be given away. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman is the author of Generation S.L.U.T. and Dumbocracy. He has written for Playboy, Salon, and The Daily Beast.
www.martybeckerman.com



Sara Benincasa is a comedian, writer and radio talk show host. Her outspoken, sexually-charged comedy has won praise from the Chicago Tribune, CNN, The Guardian, and The New York Times, among others. Sara is the host of *Get in Bed* on Cosmo Radio, the world’s #1 brand for women, every weeknight at 8PM ET (Sirius 111/XM 162). She was a citizen journalist for the 2008 MTV Choose or Lose Street Team, part of MTV’s 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign. Her political blog and video news reports can be found on MTV’s social justice and activism website, ThinkMTV. During the 2008 election, Sara created a splash with her original Sarah Palin vlogs on Huffington Post's humor site, 23/6, a web series for which she won an ECNY Award and
was nominated for a Webby for best performance. Sara was also the host of Nerve.com's Tub Talk with Sara B, a show she has revamped into Gettin' Wet with Sara Benincasa, a series in which she interviews artists in her bathtub. Sara’s solo show, Agorafabulous, is based on her experience with panic attacks and combines the sharp hilarity that's made her a hit on the web with the nutty magnetism that's made her a rising star in the alternative-comedy scene. Sara has taken Agorafabulous to theaters across the country and to LAFF, WICF, Sketchfest, and the Norwegian Storytelling Festival in Oslo. Sara is a regular blogger for Wonkette.com and the Comedy Central Indecision blog, and is currently working on a book based on her critically acclaimed solo show for William Morrow (a division of Harper Collins).
www.sarabenincasa.com



Kiri Blakeley was a writer for Forbes magazine for ten years where she covered entertainment, celebrities, fashion, lifestyle, technology, wealthy people, travel, and entrepreneurs. She has profiled celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Sandra Bullock, Padma Lakshmi, and Heidi Klum, and written about directors such as Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). She is the author of the memoir Can't Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love. She has a regular column that appears on Forbes.com. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Two of her love letters appear in Bill Shapiro’s anthology Other People’s Love Letters.
kiriblakeley.com



Kim Brittingham is reading a chapter from her memoir Read My Hips which is forthcoming from Crown in 2011. You can learn more about her, read her blog
and get in touch at www.kimwrites.com.



Carolyn Castiglia has appeared on Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, NBC and Nick-at-Nite. She's an ECNY Award nominated stand-up and musical comedian best known for her funny freestyle, which has won her numerous championships at UCB's The BEATdown. Carolyn's voice has been heard by millions on YouTube in the Key of Awesome parodies Telephone (as Beyonce) and Bieber Fever (as Justin Bieber). KOA's Telephone parody was featured in two issues of Entertainment Weekly. Her solo show Brown Ambition premiered at Ars Nova theatre in February 2009. It went on to run Off-Broadway at 59E59 and played for a month at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Three Weeks said, "Carolyn Castiglia was the funniest female comedian I've seen at the fringe." Her writing has appeared in Life & Style magazine, MarieClaire.com, and she blogs daily for Babble, a parenting site recently voted one of Time magazine's 50 Best Websites.
carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com



Jessica Delfino has been publicly denounced by the Catholic League for her dirty folk music, praised by Thurston Moore, Michael Musto and other VIPS (or very important pens) and travels the world singing songs about vaginas. However, tonight, she will read you a totally true tale from her sexual repertoire. Visit her online at jessicadelfino.com or google her all night long.



Matt Koff is a writer/comedian who has lived in most boroughs that are not Manhattan. He is a contributing writer for the Onion News Network, as well as the Onion Sports Network television show which debuts next year on Comedy Central. He co-writes and voice acts in the barely-animated webseries 9 AM Meeting (9ammeeting.com). In his spare time, he enjoys listening to Charles Mingus records, eating pound cake, and ruminating on how his best days are likely behind him.
www.mattkoff.com



Sara Schaefer is the head blogger for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Interactive Media in both 2009 and 2010. Prior to joining Late Night she was an editor for BestWeekEver.tv and hosted AOL’s on-line show, The DL. She has been featured in New York Magazine, Backstage and The New York Post, and has appeared on Vh1, E!, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She regularly performs all over New York City.
www.saraschaefer.com



Mandy Stadtmiller is a comedian and an entertainment writer for The New York Post, the fifth largest newspaper in the country. She’s won the title of Funniest Reporter in New York and placed in the semi-finals of the Funniest Stand-Up in New York. In 2010, she went undercover as a client to hire the nation’s first legal male prostitute. Published in the Rejected anthology which Publishers Weekly noted as “remarkable” and highlighted her contribution, Stadtmiller has contributed to Playgirl, The LA Times, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and Comedy Central as a featured comedian blogger. Her TV appearances include The Insider, Howard Stern TV, The Joy Behar Show, Fuse’s Ten Great Reasons, FOX’s Good Day New York, Fox’s Red Eye, VH1’s Rockumentaries and NBC-LX.
mandystadtmiller.com



Jacquetta Szathmari is a NYC-based screenwriter and comedian. A native of extremely rural Maryland, she escaped to a Delaware boarding school where in the face of crew races and bold Laura Ashley floral prints, she developed a unique comic style. Her act is a witty, acerbic and candid commentary on race/class relations and the failures of modern society. Her one-woman show That’s funny. You didn’t sound black on the phone., based on her childhood in Coleman’s Corner, Maryland was nominated for “Best Comedy” at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival and garnered praise from both LA Weekly and Backstage. Her latest project, Hey you know it, with comedian Katie Kazimir is now available on iTunes.



Elon James White, Editor in Chief of ThisWeekinBlackness.com is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and host of the award-winning web series This Week in Blackness, a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America. White has been a featured commentator on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, VH1's “Black to the Future” & “The Great Debate.”His commentary on race and politics has been featured on CNN.com, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Giant Magazine, Alternet & The Root. Praised as "The perfect comedian for the Obama era, talking race while exploding racial stereotypes" by Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry on Politco.com & as "Precise, thought provoking and hilarious" by Daily Show creator Lizz Winstead, White continues to win accolades from critics, academia and audiences alike. White was the recipient of four 2009 Black Weblog Awards, including Best Humor Blog, Best MicroBlog (Twitter), Best Video Blog and Blog of the Year. He has been featured in The NY Observer, NY Post, Gothamist, Newsweek and Gawker and has appeared on ComedyCentral.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. White’s festival appearances include the 2010 SF Sketchfest, 2010 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, 2010 NC Comedy Arts Fest, 2009 LA Comedy Festival and more. He is currently on a Post-Racial College Tour and a featured contributer on Salon & Newsone.

Giveaways!


5 copies of Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk by the Association for the Betterment of Sex


1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex by Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist

Carolyn Castiglia guest hosting In The Flesh Comedy Sex Night November 18th

I have good news and bad news; the good is that I'm going to be flying out to LA from November 19-21 for something very cool I will tell you about when I can. The bad news is I have to miss, yet again, Comedy Sex Night at In The Flesh. But don't let that stop you. I have the wonderful Carolyn Castiglia of Splurge! fame guest hosting and a truly rockstar lineup. Mark your calendars.


In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the November 18th In The Flesh event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
COMEDY SEX NIGHT
November 18, 2010, 8:00 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Our popular Comedy Sex Night returns! Featuring Marty Beckerman, Sara Benincasa, Kiri Blakeley, Kim Brittingham, Jessica Delfino, Matt Koff, Sara Schaefer and Mandy Stadtmiller, Jacquetta Szathmari and Elon James White. Plus special guests! Hosted by Carolyn Castiglia (Splurge!). 5 copies of the book Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk and 1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex will be given away. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman is the author of Generation S.L.U.T. and Dumbocracy. He has written for Playboy, Salon, and The Daily Beast.
www.martybeckerman.com



Sara Benincasa is a comedian, writer and radio talk show host. Her outspoken, sexually-charged comedy has won praise from the Chicago Tribune, CNN, The Guardian, and The New York Times, among others. Sara is the host of *Get in Bed* on Cosmo Radio, the world’s #1 brand for women, every weeknight at 8PM ET (Sirius 111/XM 162). She was a citizen journalist for the 2008 MTV Choose or Lose Street Team, part of MTV’s 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign. Her political blog and video news reports can be found on MTV’s social justice and activism website, ThinkMTV. During the 2008 election, Sara created a splash with her original Sarah Palin vlogs on Huffington Post's humor site, 23/6, a web series for which she won an ECNY Award and
was nominated for a Webby for best performance. Sara was also the host of Nerve.com's Tub Talk with Sara B, a show she has revamped into Gettin' Wet with Sara Benincasa, a series in which she interviews artists in her bathtub. Sara’s solo show, Agorafabulous, is based on her experience with panic attacks and combines the sharp hilarity that's made her a hit on the web with the nutty magnetism that's made her a rising star in the alternative-comedy scene. Sara has taken Agorafabulous to theaters across the country and to LAFF, WICF, Sketchfest, and the Norwegian Storytelling Festival in Oslo. Sara is a regular blogger for Wonkette.com and the Comedy Central Indecision blog, and is currently working on a book based on her critically acclaimed solo show for William Morrow (a division of Harper Collins).
www.sarabenincasa.com



Kiri Blakeley was a writer for Forbes magazine for ten years where she covered entertainment, celebrities, fashion, lifestyle, technology, wealthy people, travel, and entrepreneurs. She has profiled celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Sandra Bullock, Padma Lakshmi, and Heidi Klum, and written about directors such as Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). She is the author of the memoir Can't Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love. She has a regular column that appears on Forbes.com. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Two of her love letters appear in Bill Shapiro’s anthology Other People’s Love Letters.
kiriblakeley.com



Kim Brittingham is reading a chapter from her memoir Read My Hips which is forthcoming from Crown in 2011. You can learn more about her, read her blog
and get in touch at www.kimwrites.com.



Carolyn Castiglia has appeared on Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, NBC and Nick-at-Nite. She's an ECNY Award nominated stand-up and musical comedian best known for her funny freestyle, which has won her numerous championships at UCB's The BEATdown. Carolyn's voice has been heard by millions on YouTube in the Key of Awesome parodies Telephone (as Beyonce) and Bieber Fever (as Justin Bieber). KOA's Telephone parody was featured in two issues of Entertainment Weekly. Her solo show Brown Ambition premiered at Ars Nova theatre in February 2009. It went on to run Off-Broadway at 59E59 and played for a month at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Three Weeks said, "Carolyn Castiglia was the funniest female comedian I've seen at the fringe." Her writing has appeared in Life & Style magazine, MarieClaire.com, and she blogs daily for Babble, a parenting site recently voted one of Time magazine's 50 Best Websites.
carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com



Jessica Delfino has been publicly denounced by the Catholic League for her dirty folk music, praised by Thurston Moore, Michael Musto and other VIPS (or very important pens) and travels the world singing songs about vaginas. However, tonight, she will read you a totally true tale from her sexual repertoire. Visit her online at jessicadelfino.com or google her all night long.



Matt Koff is a writer/comedian who has lived in most boroughs that are not Manhattan. He is a contributing writer for the Onion News Network, as well as the Onion Sports Network television show which debuts next year on Comedy Central. He co-writes and voice acts in the barely-animated webseries 9 AM Meeting (9ammeeting.com). In his spare time, he enjoys listening to Charles Mingus records, eating pound cake, and ruminating on how his best days are likely behind him.
www.mattkoff.com



Sara Schaefer is the head blogger for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Interactive Media in both 2009 and 2010. Prior to joining Late Night she was an editor for BestWeekEver.tv and hosted AOL’s on-line show, The DL. She has been featured in New York Magazine, Backstage and The New York Post, and has appeared on Vh1, E!, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She regularly performs all over New York City.
www.saraschaefer.com



Mandy Stadtmiller is a comedian and an entertainment writer for The New York Post, the fifth largest newspaper in the country. She’s won the title of Funniest Reporter in New York and placed in the semi-finals of the Funniest Stand-Up in New York. In 2010, she went undercover as a client to hire the nation’s first legal male prostitute. Published in the Rejected anthology which Publishers Weekly noted as “remarkable” and highlighted her contribution, Stadtmiller has contributed to Playgirl, The LA Times, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and Comedy Central as a featured comedian blogger. Her TV appearances include The Insider, Howard Stern TV, The Joy Behar Show, Fuse’s Ten Great Reasons, FOX’s Good Day New York, Fox’s Red Eye, VH1’s Rockumentaries and NBC-LX.
mandystadtmiller.com



Jacquetta Szathmari is a NYC-based screenwriter and comedian. A native of extremely rural Maryland, she escaped to a Delaware boarding school where in the face of crew races and bold Laura Ashley floral prints, she developed a unique comic style. Her act is a witty, acerbic and candid commentary on race/class relations and the failures of modern society. Her one-woman show That’s funny. You didn’t sound black on the phone., based on her childhood in Coleman’s Corner, Maryland was nominated for “Best Comedy” at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival and garnered praise from both LA Weekly and Backstage. Her latest project, Hey you know it, with comedian Katie Kazimir is now available on iTunes.



Elon James White Bio TK

Giveaways!


5 copies of Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk by the Association for the Betterment of Sex


1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex by Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist