From buying my first vibrator at Eve's Garden in 1997 to teaching erotica writing there in 2015

Way back around 1997, when I was in, I believe, my first year of law school at NYU, I decided it was high time I got myself a vibrator. Beyond that, I don't recall the specifics, save that I had been reading erotica since high school and was highly curious. I lived in the law school dorms at 240 Mercer Street in Greenwich Village, near some porn stores on 6th Avenue, but didn't feel comfortable buying a sex toy from one of them, so off I went to Eve's Garden on 57th Street. It was, and still is, located in an otherwise innocuous looking office building. You don't have to say "I'm going to the 12th floor" to anyone as you get on the elevator and proceed to a similarly innocuous door that welcomes you into a cozy women friendly sex toy store. This was at least a year, and probably two years, before I ever thought about, let alone tried my hand at, writing erotica.

I know the first vibrator I bought was a rabbit vibe, and that I spent many an hour enjoying it. I truly don't remember that much about that early visit to Eve's Garden, but I can tell you about my recent visit during my trip to New York. I walked in on an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon after taking the bus from Atlantic City. I was there because I'll be teaching an erotica writing workshop at the shop on Thursday, October 15th, and wanted to check in and see what was on sale and get a copy of founder Dell Williams' memoir Revolution in the Garden. Well, lo and behold, not only do they stock my erotica anthologies such as Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, The Big Book of Orgasms and Anything for You: Erotica for Kinky Couples, they gifted me a copy of the book I'd gone there for. I was overjoyed, and awed at how full circle I'd come, from being a confused, frustrated law student who wasn't sure what her professional future held, to carving out this path for the last fifteen or so years of writing, editing and teaching. I spent a good while browsing, and bought massage oil and a massage candle to use at home, and took some photos. I can't wait to return to Eve's Garden for my workshop and inspire others to get writing! Workshop details:

October 15, 7-8:30 pm
Erotica Writing 101 workshop
Eve's Garden, 119 West 57th Street, Suite 1201, New York, NY
Facebook event page Rachel Kramer Bussel, professional erotica author and editor of over 50 erotica anthologies, such as Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, The Big Book of Orgasms, Best Bondage Erotica 2015 and more, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type. You'll discover how to incorporate everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing, and make them fit for particular magazines and anthologies. She'll also talk about submitting your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market (including anthologies, ebooks, magazines and websites). Whether you're writing to that special someone, penning longtime fantasies, or want to earn cash for your dirty words, this workshop is for you. Please bring paper or writing implements or a laptop to use for in class writing exercises. A bibliography with erotica resources will be provided. $20/person. Limited to 20 people. Register at Eve's Garden or by calling 212-757-8651. Doors at 6:45, class runs from 7-8:30 p.m. and includes a handout with resources.

Here's some photos I took during my recent visit, and I'll take more before my workshop.


Yes, that's an Eiffel Tower dildo!


There's a great books section - I promise I'm not just saying that because they stock my titles!










pretty glass dildos






A fitting display for Revolution in the Garden, a fascinating feminist memoir, which I recommend and will be posting more about soon!

Open bar NYC book party for Sex & Cupcakes and bloggers wanted for virtual book tour

4 big pieces of news: my essay collection Sex & Cupcakes is now for sale on iBooks as well as Kindle (both are just $4.99 and if you buy on Kindle and send me your receipt by October 31st, I'll send you any of my other Kindle books free; click here for details), there's an audiobook version coming out and I want to celebrate with you November 17th in New York City! The official book party, sponsored by my publisher Thought Catalog Books, takes place Monday, November 17th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sweet Revenge, 62 Carmine Street, which if you haven't been to is a delightful and delicious little restaurant with cupcakes, food and drinks (also be sure to go for brunch: their red velvet waffles are to die for!). It's open bar from 6-7 and the first 25 attendees will get a free copy of the ebook. No need to RSVP, just show up, bring friends if you like, and cash for cupcakes (they also take credit cards). It's fitting that the party is in New York because so much of the book takes place in New York, though I also hope to do an event in my home state of New Jersey as well!

What else? The virtual book tour kicks off in a few days and I need a few more bloggers to join us! You get a free copy of the book and can post an excerpt, review, do a giveaway, riff on some of the ideas in the book, whatever you like. The open dates are listed on Tumblr and you can email me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "Tour" in the subject line and your URL and what type of post you plan and any preferred dates, and I'll send you a copy and sign you up.

New York City erotica writing workshop May 30th at 7 pm, during BEA

A reminder for New Yorkers and those who'll be in town for BEA (Book Expo America) that I'll be teaching my Writing Erotica for Pleasure & Money workshop on Friday, May 30, 7:30-9 p.m. for The New York Academy of Sex Education, to be held at The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It's $25, which includes a resources handout/bibliography and you can sign up right here. If you know anyone who wants to break into erotica writing, please let them know. Each workshop is a little different and I give practical tips on submitting to publishers and anthologies that are looking for your work now. I've been incredibly impressed with the attendees at NYASE and am looking forward to teaching there again. I'll also be fresh off attending RT Booklovers Convention so will probably have some extra tips!

Whether you’re writing to that special someone, penning longtime fantasies, or want to earn cash for your dirty words, this workshop is for you. You are sure to find growth with the very prolific, award winning erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. She will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type. She will talk about incorporating everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing. Rachel will teach you how to groom your writing to fit particular magazines and anthologies. And how to submit your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market (including anthologies, ebooks, magazines and websites). Materials Needed: Please bring a laptop or paper and pen.

Naked Girls Reading spy fiction tonight in New York

Every day at The New York Observer, and twice on Wednesdays, I share something cool going on in NYC. Tonight both events are in the East Village: tech-geared discussion group Lucid NYC, featuring Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, startup Kinsa and a data contractor, as well as Naked Girls Reading, which features just that - naked girls reading, in tonight's case, spy fiction to go with the theme Spies Like Us. I hope to attend both of these soon.

New York reading tomorrow night with Slash Coleman, Sweta Vikram and Donna Minkowitz

Tomorrow night, November 26th, I'm reading at Loft 227; all the details are on Facebook and Slash's site and below. I'll have copies of The Big Book of Orgasms, which I'll be reading from, and a few other books to sell, and postcards and bookmarks to give out.



November 26, 7 p.m.
Loft 227, 227 W 29th Street Suite 4F, NYC
Literary Mischief w/ Slash Coleman: Season 1 Show 5
New York, NY (NYC) - 11/26
Hashtag: #MissLit

Slash Coleman (PBS producer and author of “The Bohemian Love Diaries”) hosts an evening of inspired literary mischief with three of New York City's most eclectic authors: Sweta Vikram, Donna Minkowitz & Rachel Kramer Bussel presenting stories from their latest books, compelling, offbeat interviews with the writers with time to spare for Q&A and stimulating conversation.

Sexy nerds and sex geeks: D20 Burlesque in Space tonight in New York

Tonight on the Lower East Side catch D20 Burlesque in Space at Parkside Lounge - my preview iwth all the detials is at The New York Observer. Please keep sending events for consideration (any kind of events you think would appeal to the Observer audience with FULL details including date, time, location, description, price, phone number) to 8dayweek at observer.com for events from November 27-December 25 (I don't know yet if I'll still be doing these after Christmas, but you can always send to 8dayweek at observer.com). 2 weeks notice or more is ideal. Thank you!

10 things you'll learn in my erotic writing workshops in New York, Milwaukee and Albuquerque

I'm gearing up for 3 erotic writing workshops (hopefully others will be booked soon) and wanted to share some of the things you'll learn in my workshop (which will differ slightly in each city). Those upcoming events (sign up at the links below to secure a spot) are being held:

Friday, September 20, 7:30-8:45 pm, NYC, $25
New York Academy of Sex Education, 81 White Street, Tribeca
All ticket holders are automatically part of the night raffle which includes sex toys, lube and erotic books! Prizes compliments of… The Pleasure Chest, Tantus and Sliquid.

Friday, September 27, 8-9:30 pm, Milwaukee, $20
The Tool Shed, 2427 N. Murray Ave

Tuesday, November 12, Albuquerque, 7:30-9 p.m., $20/person; $35/pair
Self Serve Toys, 3904b Central Ave SE

1. What an erotic story is

2. How much sex you need in an erotic story

3. How much money you can make writing erotica

4. How to incorporate everyday objects into your erotica

5. How to turn your own sexual experiences into erotica

6. How to write about sexual activities you haven't done

7. How to write about characters who are different from you

8. How to incorporate pop culture into your erotica

9. How to extend the life of an erotica story into multiple stories

10. How to widen the number of writing markets where you can sell your work

Want to learn more about erotica writing right now? Read my "5 Ways to Use Technology To Write Erotica" at Medium.

NYC workshop September 20th: Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money

I'm adding a fourth event to my schedule - a New York City class on Friday, September 20th from 7:30-8:45 p.m. at the New York Academy of Sex Education at 81 White Street in Manhattan on Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money. It's $25/person and space is limited. If you know anyone who might be interested, I'd love it if you'd pass it on.

Whether you’re writing to that special someone, penning longtime fantasies, or want to earn cash for your dirty words, this workshop is for you. You are sure to find growth with the very prolific, award winning erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. She will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type. She will talk about incorporating everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing. Rachel will teach you how to groom your writing to fit particular magazines and anthologies. And how to submit your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market (including anthologies, ebooks, magazines and websites). Materials needed: Please bring a laptop or paper and pen.

Free Friday night reading at Purple Passion in NYC

Purple Passion is a wonderful fetish clothing and BDSM shop in Chelsea and I'm reading there on Friday night for the new Cleis Press D.L. King anthology Under Her Thumb: Erotic Stories of Female Domination, along with Laura Antoniou (whose new BDSM mystery The Killer Wore Leather you should also check out), Anne Grip and Lawrence Westerman. Some of my books will be for sale and I'll be giving out free bookmarks, plus it looks like this is my last reading in NYC as a New Yorker. The reading is at 18+, 7 p.m. It's free, and Purple Passion is at 211 West 20th Street. Official details on D.L. King's blog. My story is about a dinner party turned kinky foreplay and what happens afteard, and is called "Subdar" and there's a brief snippet below. See you there!

From "Subdar" by me

Some people like to think they have gaydar; Quinn knew she had subdar. She could tell within a minute of meeting a guy whether he was less interested in sitting across from her, staring passionately into her eyes, or perhaps taking her across his knee for a sadistic spanking, than in kneeling at her feet, head lowered, ready to bend over and grant her access to his beautiful bottom, or bend further and kiss, lick and all-around worship her feet. She had a hunch for which men wanted to be blindfolded, bound, stripped bare in every sense of the word, handing over their autonomy to her to do with as she pleased. She could tell which were the types who wanted her to stop them in mid-sentence with a well-timed pinch of their arm; a warning hand resting on their cheek, threatening to slap it, in private or public; or fingers digging in to the back of their neck, sending them halfway to ecstasy. It was a game she played when she was bored, whether sitting in traffic, at the real estate office amongst her coworkers, shopping in the mall—it wasn’t hard to tell the subs amongst the men waiting with their wives’ purses next to them in the department stores—or, like tonight, at a dinner party she was wishing she hadn’t agreed to attend.

Subdar wasn’t a skill she could teach other women, and even if she could keep, she wasn’t interested in sharing her secrets. It was more of an innate talent, something honed by over twenty years as a practicing dominant woman, from her first lover, Martin, in college, who’d begged to eat her pussy for hours, who she loved to tease by tying him up and using all manner of vibrators while he watched, helpless with desire, to the other men who’d longed to suck the cock she loved to wear – wanted her to spank them hard and put collars around their beefy necks, and generally got off on giving in to her in every way. Something inside her, something more than just her pussy, lit up in the mere presence of such a man, even if he was already under orders from another woman. Seeing a man catering to a woman fed something in her soul, made her feel at home, no matter whether it was an elegant woman in heels towering over her husband or simply one who knew how to twist her man to get her way.

Dominant women aren’t always the bitch goddesses they seemed in pop culture; true dommes know there are infinite ways to get what you want, and sometimes all it takes is a wicked smile or a hint of a whisper. Quinn considered herself a spy when out and about in mixed company, always searching for her peers, or a single man aching for nothing more than a woman to put him in his place. There were few things in life that gave Quinn the same kind of satisfaction as surveying a room and making eye contact with a man who fit her profile, who could feel the energy passing from her body to his. It made her wet every single time.

I'm reading at Grand Central Station November 28th

I will have details soon on the time but I'm reading on Wednesday, November 28th at Posman Books at Grand Central Station from my essay "Kink and Condescension" from the new anthology Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey edited by Lori Perkins, out now from Smart Pop Books! It's shipping now from Amazon and has an amazing lineup of erotic and romance authors, commentators, Fifty Shades of Grey parodists, book industry insiders like Judith Regan and more!

Free erotic writing workshop, Babeland SoHo NYC October 17th

I'm back at Babeland October 17th! No RSVP necessary but be on time; last time people were late and missed it. Short and sweet and free!

Easy Erotica Writing with Rachel Kramer Bussel
Wednesday, October 17, 7pm, Free
Babeland SoHo, 43 Mercer Street
Want to write your own sexy stories just like E.L James? In this mini-workshop, Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of Suite Encounters: Hotel Sex Stories and Best Bondage Erotica 2012 will teach you her top ten tricks for getting your readers' knickers in a twist. You’ll be banging out your own book in no time!
http://rachelkramerbussel.com/
http://easyeroticawriting.eventbrite.com/

Photos from last time: