Email: rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com



 

Lusty Lady

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Watch my first and favorite book trailer for Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica. Get Spanked in print and ebook

Friday, July 12, 2013

Anal sex excerpt: "Delivery" by Emerald from Baby Got Back: Anal Erotica

Here's the third installment from Baby Got Back: Anal Erotica, my new anthology out this month (the first two excerpts were of "Brenda's Booty" by Tenille Brown and "Rectified" by Tiffany Reisz. My copies arrive very soon and I will be sending out 50 of them to Amazon.com reviewers (U.S. only). I have 6 copies not yet spoken for. Want one? You must have an Amazon.com account you've made a purchase from AND agree to post your review within 6 weeks of receipt. If you're okay on those counts, Email analantho at gmail.com with "Amazon" in the subject line and your name and mailing address in the body, and in a few weeks you'll get an autographed copy! Want to help the book? Rate it on Goodreads!

This excerpt is from "Delivery" by Emerald, and is set in that very sex-filled city, Las Vegas.
"Delivery" by Emerald

That was my cue. Subtly, I slid my hand up my dress and gripped one side of my thong, sliding it down a few inches before reaching for the other side, alternately slipping it lower ever so slowly so as not to evidence what I was doing. Once it was past my knees, I worked it over one ankle and then the other with the pointed toes of my boots. Reaching under the table, I snapped it up and slipped it into my handbag, all the while responding to my sisters with nods and murmurs at the appropriate times.

After a few seconds, I excused myself and stood up, heading for the hallway across the room. The heels of my boots clicked on the marble floor as I entered and headed down the dim passageway. I could see through the shadows that there was no one at the end of it, so Wesley must have ducked into the men’s room.

As I approached that door, it opened. Wesley stood leaning against the door frame, looking me up and down for an instant before opening it farther and backing up to let me in. I entered into his hard kiss before the door was even shut, Wesley gripping my waist with one hand as he flipped the lock on the door with the other. Then he plunged both hands up my dress, pushing me back against the cool counter. I held myself away from him, aware that I was wet enough to make a mess on his black suit, but he grabbed my ass and gave it a hard smack, promptly earning my uncontrolled press against his body. I ground myself against him as he spanked me twice more, making me push harder into him each time. By then I was panting in his ear, feeling the hard cock beneath his pants against my bare skin.
Table of Contents

Introduction: Prepared for Pleasure (read it here)

Brenda’s Booty Tenille Brown
Rectified Tiffany Reisz
Delivery Emerald
My Turn Anya Levin
A Winter’s Tail Veronica Wilde
No Rest for the Sick Medea Mor
Vin Rouge Pour Trois Erobintica
The Support Group Fiona Curtis
Lights Out Angela R. Sargenti
Bar None Mina Murray
Seat Belts Kate Dominic
Better Than a Massage Annabeth Leong
Body Heat Shoshanna Evers
What You Feel Like Talon Rihai and Salome Wilde
Her Kingdom for Her Ass Maggie Morton
A Taste of Jamaica D. Fostalove
Hard Astern Thomas S. Roche
In Training D. L. King
Everybody Knows Giselle Renarde
With Lucy in the Middle Kathleen Tudor
Keeping the British End Up M. Howard
Two-Timing Laura Antoniou
Plugged In Rachel Kramer Bussel

Buy Baby Got Back: Anal Erotica from (ebook links will be added when they're for sale):

Amazon

Bn.com

Books-a-Million

Powell's

IndieBound (find your local independent bookstore)

Cleis Press

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Friday, December 23, 2011

"Do you like dick or vag?" and other negging pickup lines I heard in Vegas

Haven't had a chance to catch up on everything here, but my latest pieces (other places I post my links at Google+ and my Facebook fan page), for whatever reason posting everywhere else but Lusty Lady has been easiest for me) but here's a piece I wrote for The Frisky, "Let's Talk About Negging", about a guy I met in Vegas (of course it was in Vegas!) who told me my dress was ugly, my name was fake, and asked "Do you like dick or vag?" Really.

Instead, he asked me my name three times, each time demanding to know if it was my real name. I’m no expert on fake name etiquette but I’ll go out on a limb and say that if a girl’s going to make up a name, it’s not gonna be as generic as “Rachel.” The more he asked if my name is real, the more accusatory he sounded, and if he thought I was making up my name, surely anything else I said would probably sound just as ridiculous.

I didn’t need to worry, though, since he wasn’t big on small talk, and every question I asked him he managed to evade. “What do you do?” I asked, not in the New York one-upmanship kind of way, but out of genuine curiosity, considering I knew absolutely nothing about him. “You don’t need to know,” he told me, like I’d just asked him for a trade secret. True, but it seemed like a pretty basic question a guy trying to pick up girls might expect.

Instead, he pounced on the idea that he’d somehow managed to interrupt an incipient lesbian tryst with my friend simply with the power of possessing a cock. He asked me over and over, any time there was a lull in the meager conversation, whether I was “with” her, as in, on a date. I told him repeatedly that she was just a friend (if she was my date, why would I suddenly ditch her?), but he didn’t believe me. Then he busted out with “Do you like dick or vag?” At first, I wasn’t sure what he said, since no one has ever asked me whether I’m bi in quite that gross a way before. When it sunk in, I told him, truthfully, “Both.” He acted like this was a more offensive answer than either of the others I’d come up with, including my “fake” name. Up unil then he had his arm around me, but he moved as far apart from me as he could while still be seated in the chair next to me.


Read the whole thing

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Thursday, September 15, 2011

I would indeed write shoplifting erotica, and Vegas photos

Great article in Las Vegas Weekly by Lynn Comella: "Seeing erotica in everything...even shoplifting - read to the end for the shoplifting scenario, which I just may use in my spanking book:

“You can write erotica about anything,” Rachel Kramer Bussel tells me over brunch at Hash House a Go Go. “You could even write about that Bloody Mary,” she says, pointing to our friend Tess’ cocktail. The drink has such a commanding presence, with its thick slice of bacon, red slab of tomato and protruding celery stalk, it almost needs a table—or a room—of its own.

Before I know it, I’m spinning a tale in my head about the busboy, the waiter, the waitress and cook, a tangle of arms and legs, a not-so-secluded pantry off a busy kitchen and … well, you get my point: Anything, from food to feet, can be eroticized and used as a jumping-off point for a hot, steamy tale of sexual seduction and arousal.

At least that’s what Kramer Bussel thinks. She has edited 39 anthologies of erotica—with six more in the works—that explore everything from plane sex and hotel sex to spanking and bondage. She’s written dozens of short stories, including “Monica and Me,” her first published piece of erotica based on her fantasies about former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The world is her erotic muse, and it’s clear from talking with her that she wouldn’t have it any other way.


Some photos from Las Vegas, where I had a wonderful time, met fascinating writers, got inspired, soaked in a hot and cold tub and generally enjoyed myself.


Flamingos at The Flamingo



Hash House a Go Go granola waffle



Salmon skin roll at Hamada (Japanese restaurant at The Flamingo that was SO good)



Dragonfruit - didn't taste it, but learned what it was



Condom dress at Erotic Heritage Museum



my friend Tess Danesi's amazing shoes!



Sex shop in The Flamingo

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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Vegas, baby! I'm speaking at the Sex in Sin City conference

I will post when I have exact panel details, but I will be speaking about erotica editing at this awesome Sex in Sin City conference in September. And it's my chance to revisit Vegas - I haven't been since 2002, well before I became a cupcake blogger, and Las Vegas is a big cupcake city.

Sex in Sin City

Las Vegas
The Erotic Authors Association’s Inaugural Conference
September 9-10, 2011
The Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Join authors, artists, publishers and fans for an amazing weekend of readings, panels and industry networking. The conference will be capped by a reception at the Flamingo’s Terrace Balcony. This is the first convention designed for readers, authors and those who enjoy the erotic side of life.

When: Sept. 9-10 2011, Flamingo Las Vegas
Registration: The cost will be $165 until August 1. After August 1 $185. No refunds 30 days before the event.
Rooms: $99 a night, double occupancy (room registration link coming soon!)

Flamingo Las Vegas
The Flamingo
September 8-10, 2011
3555 Las Vegas Blvd. South,
Las Vegas, NV 89109
888-902-9929


The Flamingo has graciously reserved a block of deluxe rooms at the price of $99.00 per night.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Free BDSM erotica: "Vegas Treat" by me from Best Bondage Erotica 2011

For those who've already read Best Bondage Erotica 2011, I'll have to come up with something else, but for the rest of you, as a little holiday treat (ha ha), here is my story "Vegas Treat," which you can also read about (and see a photo of me tied up) at CulturePOP by Seth Kushner and hear more about live at In The Flesh and Heeb Storytelling. Obviously the story is copyrighted, so don't steal it, but feel free to link here.



Vegas Treat
by Rachel Kramer Bussel

I fingered the metal clamps, my body already seizing up in reaction to them. “You want me to wear…all of them?” I asked softly. I’d been the one to volunteer for the bondage photo shoot, it was true. I’d never done anything quite like that before, but when he’d seen me strolling around Las Vegas while on vacation with the boyfriend I was pretty sure I wanted to break up with, Tyler had picked me out and approached me. I felt like a modern-day Lana Turner, but instead of a drugstore counter, I’d been approached at a slot machine where I was well on my way to losing many quarters.
I guess I’d looked the part of bad girl gone wrong: bright red hair, freshly dyed; eyeliner galore; black rubber bracelets circa Madonna 1984; dark, tight jeans and a white tank top with a flimsy black bra; hot pink platform sandals and an I-could-care-less look. Well, the look wasn’t just an affectation; I wasn’t really into the whole Vegas mystique, but Eric had offered to pay to get us out of Michigan for the weekend, flush from a win at Internet poker and eager to try his hand at the real thing. When I told him a stranger wanted to photograph me, maybe nude, he merely grunted and asked me to get him another soda from down the hall. I stalked off to get his soda and run some ice over my neck. The room was air-conditioned, but I was bored. So I pulled out my phone and hit DIAL after letting my finger hover over Tyler’s number. We should’ve been celebrating my twenty-first birthday three months before, but Eric’s not the type to notice anything like that; I’d been drinking with him for the last two years and had the fake ID to prove it. I didn’t want a surprise party, but a little attention would’ve been nice. The slot machines were kind of fun, but not enough to make up for feeling like I was so undesirable my boyfriend was more interested in money than me.

And that’s how I wound up topless, wearing just my skimpy white panties with pink flowers on them, one of the most girly items I owned, while Tyler dangled a pair of nipple clamps in front of me. Actually, it wasn’t a pair, it was a trio, because there was a clamp to go on my clit. I wasn’t a virgin or anything, obviously, but maybe I’d been meeting the wrong men because none had ever proposed so much as a threesome, let alone bondage and sex toys.

Here was Tyler, barefoot, in a ripped black Violet Femmes T-shirt and holey jeans,, assessing me like I was a piece of meatæa very sexy, tender, juicy, delicious, lucky piece of meat. And just then, I wanted to be the rarest cut of all, the one whose taste lingers not just on your tongue but all through your insides long after it’s been swallowed and discarded. I didn’t want to fall in love with Tyler and live happily ever after, but I wanted to make my mark, wanted him to remember me not just as some random girl who spread her legs for his lens. I was sick of guys looking right through me, or seeing only what part of me they could grab, use and walk away from.
Tyler seemed to be hungry for a part of me that he couldn’t get just by fucking me, As if he wanted something deeper and, full of youthful bravado, I wanted to give it to him. “Now, Rina, you know this is going to hurt, right? It’s going to hurt a lot…maybe not at first, but when I take them off, the blood’s going to rush back to your nipples and clit. It’s going to look so hot; trust me,” he said, then flashed me the grin that had made me talk to him in the first place. “And I have a feeling you’re going to like it. You have something about you that tells me you need a little pain to rile you up. Not to tame you, because nothing could do that, but to somehow give you back all the energy you bring to your life.” That was deeper than I was expecting from a twenty-five-year-old UNLV dropout, but I liked it. I was sick of people treating me like a baby, assuming that I had nothing going for me simply because of my age or how I dressed. Even if Tyler was just bullshitting me, it made me feel good, like maybe this photo would catapult me out of my small-town, dead-end life and going-nowhere relationship.

“How’d you know I’d never done this before?” I asked. I could’ve been referring to the modeling or the clamps, but he went right ahead and answered.

“I just know. Girls who’ve done this before just roll right with it. They don’t look at the clamps the way you are.” Did I look scared? Was I scared? I was so used to being bored that scared never even entered into it. Maybe I looked scared and that was a good thing; maybe he wanted me to look scared, to make a better image. I didn’t think about it too much; after all, he hadn’t asked me to act, but to model. I wasn’t sure if he was paying me, but I didn’t really care. I was doing something I was sure no girls back home were doing.

“Relax,” he said and touched my arm, sending sparks the likes of which I’d never felt before shooting along my skin. I hated feeling young and naïve usually, and anyone who suggested I was either would get a scowl and the finger. But Tyler didn’t sound like he was laughing at my inexperience. He was more like a teacheræa very sexy teacher. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, and if you don’t like it, we’ll stop and do something else. But something tells me you’re going to like it, Rina,” he finished, then stood and stared at me, his face so close and bold and open, I had to look away after a few seconds. No one had ever looked in my eyes like that, not even Eric. They looked at my body or my face or my hair, they looked long enough to know, maybe, that my eyes were a murky hazel, that I could win a staring contest, that I was tough on the outside, but not enough to see beneath that brash surface. Tyler saw and asked for me to peel it away to give him something else, something deeper. Tyler seemed to want to know everything, even though this was supposed to be a work thing for him, and all of a sudden my nipples were standing at attention, getting ready for their journey. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to see all of me, but it turned me on that he wanted to, so I decided to go with it.

His voice was so sensual, so smoky and intense, the aural equivalent of rich Texas barbecue, that I melted into it the way barbecue melts on my tongue. “Now this is a cute little outfit,” he said, fingering my panties, “but I think we need to take these off. Maybe I can stuff them in your mouth later,” he said. His voice was deadpan but it still sent shivers along my skin. He was so close I could smell the smoke lingering on his breath and I whimpered. “Can I take your panties off, Rina? Or do you want to do it?”

I had to answer now. I swallowed, then braved a look at him. “You can take them off.” He didn’t just pull them down the sides of my legs. He reached inside and felt that I was wet, felt that my juices had soaked the panties, before he singlehandedly pull them slowly down my legs, making me aware of the sensation of the cotton tugging against my skin, exposing me. He dropped them on the bed and then I was just naked, bright red hair, big eyes, erect nipples. “Come over here for a minute,” he said, then he showed me the biggest collection of handcuffs I’ve ever seen, even now, years later, and I’ve seen a lot. There must’ve been three dozen sets, from metal ones to padded leather to silk to fur-lined. Some had pink hearts, some had shiny black bows, some had Velcro. One pair said BRAT across them. I didn’t even know that handcuffs came in such assortments; I’d truly never given it any thought. I’d barely had anyone even hold me down. I shivered.

“You like what you see, Rina?”

“Yes,” I said softly. Already, he’d taken me down a notch; I wasn’t vulnerable because I was naked, but because this was so new, and I suddenly wanted it so much. Seeing all those cuffs let me know that plenty of other people did these kinds of things too, otherwise there wouldn’t be such an array; manufacturers wouldn’t bother. Silently, that drawer full of restraints spoke to me and calmed my fears. “We’re here for you,” they said. “We want you, we welcome you. We’ll take care of you, even when if feels like we’re not. We need you.” Maybe that was melodramatic, but I’d always felt more kinship with things than people, with the clothing I used to adorn myself, the books I lovingly read and reread, the bike I used to zip as far and fast down the street as I could. But these belongings came with an owner, a man who was quickly making me melt. He was the real force behind what I was experiencing.

I lifted a pair of black leather cuffs, admiring their heft. He reached for them and dangled them before me. “These are ankle cuffs,” he said, “in case I really want to immobilize you. Let’s stick with your wrists for now. I want you to spread those pretty legs wide for me.” His words could’ve sounded dumb or cheesy, but they didn’t. They made me wet.

I reached for a pair of purple padded cuffs; it’s always been my favorite color. They were soft to the touch, nothing menacing about them…nothing except the look on Tyler’s face, like he could read my every pervy thought. Was I that easy? Was every girl’s first time like this? I’d prided myself on being so different for so long, but now, I wasn’t so sure. My heart was pounding as I handed the cuffs over to Tyler.
“Good choice,” he said, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. He paused and just watched me, and I got the impression there was no right answer, but that each action of mine would trigger one of his, would let him know what I was up foræor thought I was up for. His trusting patience, his interest, his sexy eyes watching me, more than anything else, made me relax, even as I became more and more excited. My body was primed for almost anything, but my heart was calm. Tyler would take care of me. I pawed through his offerings, adding to the pile like we were shopping. Pink bondage tape, the cuffs, the clamps…

“What’s this?” I asked, holding up a metal contraption with a wheel full of spikes attached to a silver handle.

“It’s called a Wartenburg wheel. I’ll show you,” he said, then he took it and lightly ran the metal spikes along my arm. It didn’t hurt, and he did it so lightly at first that I didn’t think it could, but then he did it again, a little harder, before turning my arm over and tickling the underside of my wrist with it. “This can be used anywhere.” He let the possibilities dangle in the air.

“I’ll help you get ready.” He hummed as if to himself as he bound my arms behind my back with the cuffs. The first thing I did was tug on them to make sure they were tight enough. He noticed but just stood there, waiting. My breath came heavily as I realized that there was no turning back now. I stood upright, at attention, proudly looking back at him as I offered him my breasts, the nipples now harder than ever. Tyler took the clamps and fastened them one on each nipple. He knelt down before my clit and just stared for a moment, then spread the hood so it popped out. “Are you ready, Rina?” he asked.

“Yes,” I whispered as he pressed the padded edges of the clamp against my clit, prodding it, teasing it. If such a thing was possible, I was ready. I breathed through my nose, tears aching to surface.

“Don’t breathe through the pain, breathe into it,” he told me.

“Can I tape your mouth?” he asked, holding up the bondage tape.

I surprised myself by moaning. Yes, it all hurt, but even more, it felt wonderful to have my wrists warm and snug in the leather, the heat coursing through all three points of contact with the clamps. It made me focus on the parts of me I could move—my tongue, my head, my toes, my hips—before darting back to that heat, that pain with pleasure edging up underneath. I nodded, then sealed my lips. “You can make noise through the tape, but that won’t be your safeword. Shake your head back and forth three times in a row if you want me to stop,” he said. “Do you understand?” Tyler looked directly into my eyes. I nodded.

I should’ve been nervous and scared, but I wasn’t. I was wet, remembering his promise to make me part my legs. The tape was almost gentle as it sealed my lips. I swallowed hard and without any warning he started shooting. I stared back at him, bold, direct, my green eyes fixed on him, hoping he liked what he saw. Tyler was so focused on whatever he saw through his lens I didn’t know if he even realized all the emotions I was going through. I was wet, turned on, unsure if it was from being bound or because of him or both.

“I’m gonna zoom in, Rina. Show me what you’re feeling. Show me everything.” He made it sound so easy. I didn’t focus too much on being a “good model” but rather thought about all the things the toys were making me feel, all the things my body had clearly been yearning for but would never experience with Eric. They made me want to cry and grin at the same time, to curl up into a ball and to roar like a lion (once the tape came off). Every time panic started to set in, I willed myself to be calm, knowing there was a great reward awaiting me at the end.

I became the brat who wanted to get her punishment, the girl whose body was blatantly exposed to not just Tyler, but the world. I thrust my chest out, pushing my bound wrists behind me and downward as best I could. I shook my hips, smiled, bit my lip. I stepped closer to the camera, wishing I could run my hands up and down my body, give Tyler a real show, but from the constant clicks, I knew he was getting what he needed.
That made me relax. He didn’t want to see me in distress, just to see me. Maybe he was a pervert, but maybe pervert wasn’t such a bad word. Tyler muttered things under his breath like, “Give it to me, Rina,” and “Struggle against those cuffs,” and “Snarl at me,” then other words that rumbled together into a kind of sexy song, like background music. I realized that though he had been the one to physically tie me up and put the clamps on, I was the one bringing the real show. Amidst so much fake glamour, this was real.

I twisted and turned as much as I could, spreading my legs while he zoomed in. While the pain had plateaued after the first rush of intensity, now it was back and I longed to bite my lip, my favorite coping mechanism, but of course I couldn’t. I focused on his mantra to breathe into the pain, and I did, every second of it. The tears came unbidden as I took deep breaths through my nose, walking close to Tyler’s camera until I could toss my hair back, feel it tickle my bound wrists, and expose my clamped nipples right to the eye of his camera. His clicks came fast and furious until they stopped, and he put the camera down and took me in his arms.

First he undid the tape. “I have to do this fast,” he said and tore it right off. My lips were a little numb, but I didn’t mind. He traced a finger over them and then let me rest my head on his shoulder. I could tell he was hard, but he wasn’t trying to simply screw me; our encounter had gone far beyond that. “Now I’m going to take off the clamps, but let’s have you sit down right here on the couch first,” he said softly. “You were amazing. I got so many good shots and I’m going to send them to some bondage and fetish magazines. They’re gonna love you.”

Now I bit my lip, because I knew something big was coming. First the clit clamp came off. I let out a cry as the blood came rushing back. “Good girl,” he said and lightly trailed his fingers over my wetness. I had barely realized it but I was very, very wet. “You’re beautiful,” he said softly, with no trace of the tough guy I’d glimpsed previously. Then the nipple clamps came off. I watched as he eased the lever down on what I now know are tweezer clamps and saw my flattened nubs come to life again.
He dropped the clamp on the floor and leaned down to suck one bud, lightly tracing his tongue against it. The wetness made me squirm, in a good way. His fingers again found my wetness, plunging deep inside. Now I could talk, but I didn’t have anything to say other than a series of insensible moans. There was too much to feel, and I was glad my wrists were still bound. Too much freedom all at once would’ve been a shock to my system.

I rocked against him as he gave me what I hadn’t known I’d been missing, his fingers going deep, his mouth switching from one tormented breast to the other. This was my initiation ritual, my belated birthday present, my kinky debutante ball featuring just the two of us. I gave myself to him as I’d done before and in return, Tyler gave me the best orgasm of my life, one that rocked me from the inside out, spiraling through my body like a tornado. I cried when I came, and he kissed my neck, then my lips, placing his over mine so he could take my breath from me too.

Tyler made me come I don’t know how many times, then he showed me some of the photos he’d taken. Only much later, after I’d had some water and fruit and cheese, after he’d removed the cuffs and shown me another pair, did he even show me his cock. Then it was my turn to select a pair of cuffs for him. I fumbled a little putting them on, but when I got them secured behind his back, I sank to my knees and toyed with his cock, savoring every second of his stern, stiff heat as I discovered that blow jobs could be a lot more fun when I was in charge.

Tyler gave me so many gifts on that first trip, and the photos were, indeed, a hit, necessitating many more trips back to Vegas. It was easier to get there once I moved to L.A. and started a new life, far from Eric and Michigan and the innocent girl I’d once been. Every time I slip into a cage or offer myself up to a lover to bind, there’s still a part of me that remembers the treat Tyler gave me, and what he saw in me before I could see it in myself. I hope every girl is lucky enough to have a Tyler in her life.

Order Best Bondage Erotica 2011 from:

Amazon.com

Kindle edition

Bn.com (Barnes & Noble)

Books-a-Million

Borders

Powell's

IndieBound (find your local independent bookstore)



Cleis Press

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bondage, Vegas and cupcakes in my photocomix profile in Seth Kushner's CulturePOP

I'm so honored to have worked with photographer Seth Kushner on his latest installment of his real-life character photocomix series CulturePOP, called "Bound." He not only interviewed and photographed me, but had people act out my story "Vegas Treat" from Best Bondage Erotica 2011. Click on images below to check it out - a little hint: I'm tied up in the piece, and I eat cupcakes (but not at the same time!





Seth wrote in the comments:

I've been working on this week's epic installment since last August.

I was excited to work on Rachel's short story, 'Vegas Treat' because I've been wanting to try my hand on a fictional work, rather than a "real-life profile." Since Rachel's writing feels so visual to me, this was the perfect opportunity for me to experiment.

I thank Rachel for trusting me to adapt her writing to comix script and then to photocomix. She trusted me to do it justice and gave me no interference or criticism.

In creating this big, experimental piece, I received help from a number of sources, so many thanks to -

Walshmetalworks.com for use of the bondage bed.
EdenFantasys.com for supplying the props.
Elena & Welland Scripts for posing.


And...if you want to see and hear Seth Kushner live, do join us for the epic, blowout, not-to-be-missed last In The Flesh Reading Series - I'm still adding to the giveaways, which will also be huge.


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 memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performer GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco), 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.

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



You will hear from the following books:

Best Bondage Erotica 2011

Fish Out of Agua

Publish This Book

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Monday, November 30, 2009

Harlequin cover art exhibit takes Vegas

The Los Angeles Times had a great piece on the Harlequin cover art exhibit that I dumbly missed while it was in New York. Now it's in Vegas. We even learn Fabio's last name! (Lanzoni)

Inside a small room is a chronology of representations of desire.

The earliest covers draw from film noir and are rife with -- in hindsight -- unintentional comedy.

"Virgin With Butterflies" (1949) shows a brunet in thigh-high stockings encircled by five male heads sprouting butterfly wings. "Men Cast a Net for Her," the cover promises.

A decade later, women apparently dreamed of romance amid danger. In 1959's "The Yellow Snake" -- one of Semmelhack's favorite covers -- a gun-wielding, professorial man and a blond woman in pearls gasp at (as the placard helpfully explains) an "overtly phallic snake."

As women gained financial and political power, the coverboys were portrayed more as playthings than saviors. By the '70s, they were waiting to whisk away their ladies in helicopters and Austin Healeys. By the '80s (the era of Harlequin's signature bodice-ripping romances), they were groveling before corseted damsels.

And it's curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack, author of Heights of Fashion: A History of the Elevated Shoe cover below.

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