Join me March 21 in New York for a FREE Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4 reading

I try to do at least one reading from my Best Women's Erotica of the Year series books for each volume as a way to meet the authors I otherwise just correspond with via email and share their stories live. For Volume 4, I'm thrilled that The Pleasure Chest on the Upper East Side (1150 Second Avenue) in Manhattan is hosting our reading on March 21 from 7-9 pm. It's free and there will be snacks and beverages and free bookmarks and we'll answer your questions and sign your books afterwards! If you know anyone who might like to hear some sexy stories, please let them know. There's no need to RSVP but if you want to do so or spread the word, you can use the Facebook event page. Questions about the reading? Contact The Pleasure Chest or email bweoftheyear@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer. All 18 and over are welcome! I sometimes get questions about whether these events are "for women" and the answer is no. They're for any adult who wants to hear some erotica out loud!

March 21, 7-9 pm
Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4 reading
Join editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Calliope Bloom, Tamsen Parker and Sofia Quintero for a sexy reading from the new anthology, Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 4. Hear about everything from erotic role-playing and BDSM, to a hot professor who gives some sexy extra credit and more! Book signing and Q&A to follow. There is no advance registration or reserved seating for free workshops or events. Attendance is on a first come, first served basis. Early arrival is recommended to secure your spot!
The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue, New York, NY, 212-355-6909
Lexington Ave./59 St. (4, 5, 6, N, Q, R)
Lexington Ave./63 St. (F)

The only reasons I go to New York are...

When I first moved back to New Jersey in 2013, the state where I grew up and lived until age 17 (although I was born in New York City and spent my first three and a half months in the hospital there), I experienced a lot of FOMO. There was always something cool happening in New York and while I lived in Red Bank at the time, and we had some cultural offerings, they were nothing compared to New York, and nothing book-related save for one very short-lived literary event production company.

I was very wasteful when I lived in Red Bank, hopping on that hourly New Jersey Transit train to Penn Station whenever I felt like it. I can't change that, but now that I live much closer to Philadelphia than the Empire State, I've realized that I can live without everything New York has to offer. Do I miss my friends? Of course, but I do my best to stay in touch by email and phone and text and social media, and see them when I do travel there.

Which brings me to the rule I made for myself, which is part of my nesting and saving plan to put some action with my words of the year: I'll only go to New York for family, flights, work or with my boyfriend. See, it's two and a half hours each way and $42 dollars, not to mention somewhat draining to rush to catch the bus. I just did the calculations and realized that 10 trips to New York cost, at minimum, $420, not counting subway fare and any money I'd spend there. There's dozens, probably hundreds, of amazing cities and places I've never been, so why go to one I lived in for over a decade all the time when I could take that same money and save up for an actual vacation?

In June, I broke that rule because I wanted to see some dear friends. It was a lovely visit, but one better suited to someone in a far better financial situation than I am. I miscalculated my schedule because I normally work my hourly job on certain days, but had rearranged it because of a family trip to Denver (I paid for the flight using JetBlue miles and scored part of our stay for free with Kimpton Karma Rewards). So I left work two hours early, adding on to the cost of the trip in lost income. Now, in that one case, was it "worth it?" Yes, but the price tag reminded me that until I'm entirely debt free, I have to make seeing friends part of my other trips.

So today, I'm hopping on an 8 a.m. bus because my grandfather is being given an award by the French Legion! Now that's a reason to make the trip. I'm also going to see a friend, who's joining me at Untitled Space Gallery for an exhibit, Secret Garden, I really want to see (if I can take photos of the art, I'll post them on Instagram. Would I have FOMO if I never got to see that exhibit? Maybe a little, despite my promise to myself to cut that emotion out of me once and for all, but I'd be fine. What I've learned becoming a Jersey girl again is that there is real life happening all around me. I volunteer at my local food bank. I work out at my local gym. I got to lunch with my neighbor. I take walks in my neighborhood. I try to ignore the big box store that treats its workers like shit that's opening nearby.

I'll be in and out of the Big Apple a few more times this year, the next two times to head to JFK for family trips (a bachelorette party in New Orleans and a quick summer visit on Martha's Vineyard with family members who lived across the globe), then in September when I'm teaching an erotica writing class at Sexual Health Expo (SHE) in Brooklyn. I may have one more flight out of JFK, though I'm doing my best to fly from Philadelphia these days. My hope is that I can winnow down my New York trips to a handful a year, not because I don't love certain aspects of the city, but because the whole point of nesting and saving was to have enough profit to decide where I want to go next, to have financial freedom. Spending so many hours on a bus or in a car just to go to the same place ad nauseam isn't my idea of a good time. It may sound obvious: Find New York draining? Don't go. But old habits die hard, especially for me, so figuring out how to stay more focused on the life I have now rather than the life I used to have is challenging. There are still services I use exclusively in New York, a city where almost every block I walk down has a memory attached.

Today I'm looking forward to seeing family, friends and art...but also to getting back home where I belong. The other big thing that's changed is that I'm a tourist. I have to look up which subway to take to get places. There are always unfamiliar sites. I got disoriented and overwhelmed by a city I used to think I'd never leave. It's a compelling and always buzzing and gorgeous city, but it's not mine anymore. My way of thinking and acting is slower, calmer, out of sync with the pace of NYC life. I used to think it was a shame that I changed, but now I see that it was just part of growing up. I'll be doing another post about how my business has done the first half of 2017 and how much I've nested and saved (spoiler alert: not as much as I could have), but I think it's safe to say it would've been a hell of a lot harder to do as well with all the distractions, wonderful as they are, of New York. I'm glad I live close enough to see my family who live there and who travel through there, and to occasionally catch up with my friends, but I am very happy with my Jersey girl life and whatever comes next with it.

See you soon in Baltimore, New York and Jersey City for the Best Women's Erotica book tour!

This past week I've been home after our wonderful Best Women's Erotica of the Year book tour kickoff in Los Angeles has flown by, so I'll keep this short and sweet: I'm hitting the road again Thursday in Baltimore at sex toy store Sugar, then heading to amazing Lower East Side bookstore Bluestockings in New York on Saturday (where I organized my very first reading for my very first short story way back in either 2000 or 2001 - it's been so long I can't remember!) and then Monday, Galentine's Day, our panel on women, writing and erotica at WORD Bookstore in Jersey City. You'll get free baked goods in Baltimore, the first 24 people will get a free cupcake from my favorite NYC bakery Sugar Sweet Sunshine, and at WORD on Monday we will be raffling off a bag full of sexy goodies from Brooklyn sex toy store Shag! All the details are below - plus at each we will be dishing on the inspiration behind our stories and answering all your burning questions about how to get published, pseudonyms and anything else you want to ask! And we will sign your book to you (or as a gift) if you are looking for a sexy Valentine's Day present.

And I do have a favor - these readings are funded and organized entirely by me, and while they are something I hope to continue in future years, I can only budget for that if we get good turnouts. So if you know anyone in the Washington, DC/Baltimore or NYC/Jersey City areas who might like an evening of free sexy entertainment as we lead up to Valentine's Day, please let them know. All the details and links are at bweoftheyear.com/events or the individual store links below. I'm thrilled that I get to hear my amazing authors and support these wonderful independent stores.

February 9, 6:30 pm
Best Women's Erotica of the Year reading
Join Best Women's Erotica of the Year series editor Rachel Kramer Bussel along with contributors to Volumes 1 and 2 including Abigail Ekue, Annabeth Leong, Jordan Monroe, D.R. Slaten for a rousing reading, followed by a Q&A and book signing. You'll hear some of the sexiest stories around starring women characters who travel the world in search of satisfaction, and find out what it takes to be successful in the thriving erotica genre. Light refreshments will be served. Free. Wheelchair accessible.
Sugar, 1001 W. 36th Street (corner of 36th and Roland Ave.), Baltimore (Hampden), 410-467-2632
Facebook event page



February 11, 7 pm
Best Women's Erotica of the Year Volume 2 reading
Join editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and contributors Ella Dawson, Abigail Ekue, Annabeth Leong, Stella Watts Kelley and Vierra Lai for a rousing reading from hot new anthology Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2. The authors will participate in a Q&A and book signing immediately following the reading. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Free cupcakes to first 24 guests.
Bluestockings, 172 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002, 212-777-6028
Nearest subways: F to 2nd Avenue, J/M/Z to Essex Street, B/D to Grand Street
Facebook event page




Can you really resist a free cupcake?

February 13, 7:30 pm
Galentine’s Day women, erotica and writing panel
Join editor Best Women's Erotica of the Year series editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and BWE Volume 2 contributors Abigail Ekue, Stella Watts Kelley, Vierra Lai, and Annabeth Leong for a fun Galentine's Day panel on erotica, writing and culture. We'll chat about what makes a story sexy, the writing process, how to get published, and the cultural impact of writing stories that reflect a wide range of women's experiences. Free. Wheelchair accessible. Win a sexy Temptation bag from sex toy store Shag in our raffle.
WORD, 123 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ, 201-763-6611
Facebook event page



One lucky winner will take home a prize worth $56 from Williamsburg, Brooklyn sex toy store Shag, which contains Temptation bag (see below), Shag mini massage candle, clothespins for sensation play, Shag coffee mug and a $10 gift certificate to Shag.

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!

2 New York erotica writing workshops: September 20 and October 15 and one October 21 in Portland, Maine

I'll be doing two erotica writing workshops soon in New York, and then won't be doing any for the foreseeable future since it's pretty far from where I live, so I hope you can make these. If you can't, I'd love it if you can spread the word about them, and I'm also teaching another online erotica writing class at LitReactor.com November 3-December 3 that you can take from anywhere in the world, on your own schedule, anonymously or not. That one is limited to 16 people and is already starting to fill up, so check out the link above if you're interested. I also offer personal consulting on erotica and nonfiction sex writing; rates are on my website (scroll down). Want updates on all my events? Sign up for my newsletter on the left-hand side of my site, rachelkramerbussel.com

If you're in New York and want to hear some hot readings, I recommend tonight's Between the Covers reading at People Lounge, 163 Allen Street, at 8 pm with Laura Antoniou, D.L. King and, all the way from the UK, Lucy Felthouse!

Here's the details on my workshops:

September 20, 11 am - 11:30 am Erotica 101 writing workshop at SHE (Sexual Health Expo), NYC
I'll be teaching my erotica writing workshop followed by a book signing. Admission to SHE, which runs September 19-20, is $25. See sexualhealthexpo.com for schedule and details.
Millennium Broadway Hotel, 145 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036



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.



October 21, 7:30-9 pm
Erotica Writing 101 workshop
Nomia, 24 Exchange Street, Suite 215, Portland, Maine
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. Call 207-773-4774 or visit Nomia to register. Limited to 20 people.

My Brooklyn life as a "crazy garbage lady"

I resurrected this essay, "How I Became a Crazy Garbage Lady," that never got published when I wrote it in 2013 because it's one of my favorites, falling into the "laughing at myself" and "truth is stranger than fiction" categories. Here's the opening:

This morning, I stepped outside my apartment on Williamsburg’s busy Metropolitan Avenue to find my worst nightmare come true: my discarded bra, t-shirt, gym shorts, empty CD cases and other bits of garbage I’d carefully placed in a plastic bag were strewn across the grate in front of my building, apparently not even worthy of being collected by New York City’s sanitation department. I’m not sure what I did to violate the rules, considering that I discarded dozens of CD cases and only a few were lying there, displayed like some bizarre conceptual art piece, but it’s precisely the fear of this scenario that’s turned me into a woman I jokingly call “crazy garbage lady.”

Read the whole thing at Thought Catalog.

I still love New York, even in freezing cold winter

Even though I believe moving out of New York and living in New Jersey has been why I'm doing well this year in my freelance writing career, I will always love New York and all that it has to offer. I still go there to get my pubic hair waxed and for manicures and pedicures, because I'm loyal and the prices are much cheaper. I go there for theater and food and friends. Yesterday I sat in a cozy theater on St. Mark's Place and escaped the cold for 45 minutes and was incredibly impressed; I'll be writing more about the show I saw, Cootie Catcher by Lucas Brooks, in next week's sex column. I loved New York because it is always full of the unexpected. I was craving dumplings, but Mimi Cheng's is closed on Mondays and I didn't have time to wait at other places. On my walk from the theater to the subway, I found a food truck that sold me 5 steaming hot spicy vegetable dumplings for just $3.50. I ate them as I shivered my way to the train.

Since I can't show you how cold it was, I will share a few snapshots from yesterday. I'm now back home and on deadline and very happy to have a warm office from which to do my work.



Pretty stained glass on a school; the kids playing nearby seemed oblivious to the cold. I wasn't.



Sticky's Finger Joint is an actual chicken finger restaurant on 8th Street in Manhattan.



I discovered the artwork of Chris Uphues when I was living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and going to my favorite coffeeshop, Gimme Coffee, every day (I still miss that place and look forward to stopping in when I'm in the neighborhood March 14th for the Dirty Diaries screening at Spectacle Theater). His art was on the wall and I bought one of his heart paintings and have it hanging on my bedroom wall. I had forgotten he was doing a collaboration with Ann Taylor Loft. I went there to look around and was so pleased to find his window display. They're selling his heart t-shirt too.

Finally, at Penn Station, I had a little time to kill before my train. I read the odd New York magazine story about Ellora's Cave, even more oddly called "Amazon's Erotica Problem" on the cover (actual title: "Did Amazon Sink the Queen of Online Erotica?") when really it's about EC blaming Amazon for their low sales. I also deeply coveted both of these magazines, but in my efforts to no longer be such a good hoarder/bad girlfriend, I didn't buy either.

Open bar tonight 6-7 for my Sex & Cupcakes book party in NYC!

Tonight's the night! Yes, it's dreary as can be outside but inside Sweet Revenge at 62 Carmine Street, NYC (subway to West 4th Street) at my Sex & Cupcakes book party tonight from 6-8 (open bar 6-7) it will be sweet and cozy and sexy and fun. Can't make it? Let a friend know! Here's the Facebook invite. Sweet Revenge owner Marlo Scott had this to say. I have to say a giant thank you to Thought Catalog Books for sponsoring this.

Here's me there on Saturday enjoying their ridiculously delicious brunch (if you go, while my burrito bowl was delicious, with wonderful hot sauce, do get the red velvet waffles):



Want to know more about the book? My awesome publisher Thought Catalog Books asked me lots of questions, like whether I write better erotica when my sex life is booming and what I'd tell my future 9-year-old child about sex.



My friend Stacie Joy took this photo below of me on Saturday, and I adore it so much. If you've read Sex & Cupcakes, you know that the book is as much about love as sex, about falling hard and getting my heart broken and falling in love again. While my boyfriend is incredible and amazing and designed this postcard and doesn't mind that I wrote about him in essays like "My Boyfriend's Fat" and "Monogamishmash," it's not one of those happily ever after my-life-is-awesome-cause-I'm-not-single books. My life is awesome because I went through a lot of hard times and tried a lot of things, I dropped out of law school and stumbled my way into an erotica job and a sex column, I went all out, I let my heart lead the way, and still do. If you want to know more about that, this book is my most personal writing ever, and the thing I'm proudest of this year. You can get it for Kindle or iBooks, and if you don't have a Kindle, not to worry; you can read it on your phone, laptop, tablet, etc. Click here for details on that. Thank you for reading and responding; it's still scary, 15 years later, to open myself up in the way I do in this book, but I do it because that's how I'm made, and because I hope it reaches someone with a message that's useful in their lives, somehow.

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.

My online writing class and New York City erotica workshop 10/24 and reading 11/5

After my whirlwind September, I'm settling back into October which is a busy month for writing, with my new weekly sex column debuting a week from today and various articles in the works, though I have a few events coming up. The first is my online erotica writing class, which runs for four weeks, from October 16 to November 13, and will give students a chance to dive deep into the world of erotica. There's much more detail about each weeks topics, assignments and class goals at LitReactor. Yes, this class is more expensive than the in-person ones, but you will get much more individual feedback from me (and other attendees) and the chance to develop characters and plotlines and work on submitting short stories and possibly longer works. If you have always wanted to write erotica but haven't had time, this class is excellent because you can take it any time over the four weeks, using any name you like.



Next I'm returning to the New York Academy of Sex Education October 24th, held on the Upper East Side inside sumptuous sex toy store The Pleasure Chest.

October 24, 7:30-9 pm
Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money, New York City (for New York Academy of Sex Education)
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. $25/person. Advance registration required.
The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue, New York City (Upper East Side, accessible by 4/5/6/N/R/F trains), 646-470-5129



Then on November 15th, I'll be reading with D.L. King from her soon-to-be-released anthology The Big Book of Domination (here's a handy link if you want to pre-order it; it pubs November 11) at Purple Passion, a wonderful shop in Chelsea that has fetish clothes, sex toys and lots of BDSM paraphernalia (much like the items on the cover of the book!), along with a cozy downstairs space excellent for readings.

November 15, 4-6 pm, free
The Big Book of Domination reading
Join D. L. King and friends Laura Antoniou, Rachel Kramer Bussel, David Wraith and more for an evening of pre-dinner, pre-theater, pre-orgasmic erotica. Come hear some of the best authors in the business read in this New York City launch of The Big Book of Domination. And because we know how much you like a party, there will be delectable food and drink. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Whatever you have planned for later, what better way to begin your evening than with hot erotica.
Purple Passion, 211 West 20th street, New York, 212-807-0486

Official blurb about the book:

Not every woman likes to submit. An increasing number like to be on top. And their partners love it! D. L. King, editor of 2013's award-winning Under Her Thumb, curates a scintillating collection with The Big Book of Domination. Filled with surprises and unexpected twists (yes, that kind, too!), this book proves that when lust and desire take control, all bets are off.

Dominants and submissives are not so very different — they both crave that frisson of power. The Big Book of Domination brings you erotic stories to get your heart pumping, like the story of a reporter who likes to experience everything first hand. It’s been said that clothes make the man — can putting on the right clothes transform an ordinary man into a charismatic dom? When Glenn finds the leathers in his friend’s closet, his trip to the bars nets him the perfect boy . . .

Dominance and submission is a dance D. L. King knows well, and The Big Book of Domination rocks your world with stories of sensuous games with male dominants, training and discipline by female dominants, and all manner of sensuous games and pairings.

See you soon in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and at my first online only erotica writing class

I've got a lot going on and am doing my best to make sure each event is as wonderful as it can be. I've been so inspired by the classes I've been teaching and the writing that's come out of them. I'll also be sending out my newsletter closer to the beginning of each month and am giving away free books to subscribers, so if you want in on the free book action and to get my monthly musings and updates in one email, subscribe on the left-hand side of rachelkramerbussel.com. I'm home very briefly in between travels and on deadline, so I will share more as soon as I can about my very first library talk. It was an honor and I think Portland Public Library for having me and Gina Rourke to speak.

I'm gearing up for my erotica writing workshops in Chicago (September 28, save if you bring a friend, tickets online at link below or at the door), Milwaukee (September 30), New York (October 24) and my first online only class which runs for 4 weeks for LitReactor, in which we'll be digging very deep into the world of erotic writing and how to write and get published. I'll be getting the scoop directly from some top editors and sharing it with LitReactor students in this small group (capped at 16). The best part is you can be totally anonymous and take the class at your leisure, at 3 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon, anywhere in the world. More information on all the events are below and if you have any questions, email me at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "Workshop" in the subject line.

September 28, 6:30-8 pm
Erotica 101 writing workshop, Chicago
Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of over 50 anthologies such as The Big Book of Orgasms, Flying High and Best Bondage Erotica 2014, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing, from getting started, finding your voice, and incorporating your surroundings, pop culture, and personal experiences into your stories to crafting a range of characters and settings and submitting your work. In this supportive, welcoming workshop environment, you’ll learn how to write vividly about everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies, and make them fit for particular publications in the thriving erotica market. This workshop will address the recent boom in erotica inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey, provide examples of well written erotica, and will include multiple writing exercises. You’ll be given a handout listing major markets and further reading suggestions. No previous writing experience required. Please bring laptop or pen and paper. $20/person or $35/two people. Register online or at the door.
Early to Bed, 5044 North Clark Street, Chicago, 773-271-1219

September 30, 8:30 pm
Erotica 101 writing workshop, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel 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 learn 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. Paper and writing implements will be provided or you can use your own laptop. $20/person; register online or at the door (call to confirm door sales if it's the day of, they will be available unless class is sold out). Doors open at 8:15 pm.
The Tool Shed, 2427 N. Murray Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 414-906-5304

October 16-November 13 4-week online LitReactor erotica writing class



Online only class limited to 16 people; attend any time and get critiqued by me and fellow students and receive guidance about publishing your work. Click through for more details about what each weekly class will cover, assignments and goals for the class. $325/person.

Let's talk about sex.

Specifically, writing about it.

First, it ain't easy to write. Sex itself can be awkward enough, but describing it? Without sounding like a goofball? That can be tough.

Second, there's this whole big genre totally devoted to sex called erotica, which has turned into a dirty word among writers—especially those who think Fifty Shades of Grey is all it has to offer.

But you can write sex with a deft hand, with skill and grace, in a way that reveals character and emotion. And you'll learn to do that in Between the Sheets with Rachel Kramer Bussel.

October 24, 7:30-9 pm
Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money, New York City (for New York Academy of Sex Education)
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. $25/person. Advance registration required.
The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue, New York City (Upper East Side, accessible by 4/5/6/N/R/F trains), 646-470-5129

2 NYC events: Sex Ed a Go Go tonight and Lost and Found Show July 16th

Since moving to New Jersey last year, I haven't been doing too many New York events, but I have 2 this summer, and here are the details. Tonight I'm answering sex ed questions and July 16th I'm telling a story about the hell that was moving after 13 years in the same Brooklyn apartment!

Sex Ed a Go Go

June 26, 9:30-11 pm

Do you like Go-Go dancing and funny, knowledgeable chatty ladies with amazing cleavage? Then you definitely need to join us for the another installment of Sex Ed. A Go-Go at The Parkside Lounge!!! Sex Ed. A-Go-Go is one part ADULT sex Q & A; one part go-go revue.

We seek to inspire your libido and open your mind to a world of sexual possibilities one question at a time.

We'll be joined this month by special guest Rachel Kramer Bussel!!!! We're to talk about EVERYTHING and ANYTHING your sexy little hearts (and loins) desire!

Make sure you have lot's of singles for our dazzling go-go girl the amazing Foxy Squire and for our awesome raffle sponsored by SHAG brooklyn!!!

The Parkside Lounge, 317 East Houston, New York, $10 at the door or $7 via Brown Paper Tickets

The Lost & Found Show's "Souvenirs and Mementos" Edition

Wednesday July 16th

(Doors 7:00PM) 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

The Gallery at Le Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker St
(between Sullivan St. and Thompson St)
New York, NY 10012

21+ (No Cover)

Featuring stories about old letters, mafia funerals, strange rodeos, spell-casting grandmas, and apartment hoarders.

Tales from Rachel Kramer Bussel, Nelson Lugo, Alan Feuer, Sarah Maslin Nir, and Nathaniel Bates. Special Trivia sponsored by Porcupine Hugs.

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.

All the naked ladies reading literature

and wrote about it for Elle.com. What was it like to hear naked women read from work by Woody Allen, Lorrie Moore, Lolita and more? Check out my piece. Fun fact: the last place I saw naked women in public was at the strip club where I saw Belle Knox strip, and I also interviewed her for Elle.com. The two environments couldn't have been more different.

Ghosts, Bitcoin, a soccer film festival, Hurricane Sandy photos, Emma Goldman and more in this week's Eight-Day Week

I'm so happy that the newly redesigned New York Observer has now put the entire Eight-Day Week section I write in one handy link! This week features ghosts, Bitcoin, a soccer film festival, Hurricane Sandy photos, Dress for Success (started by a student where I used to be a student, NYU Law) and more. Know of an amazing New York City event? Pitch me (as early as possible) by sending the date, time, address, phone number, price and description with the date and event title in the subject line to 8dayweek at observer.com as early as possible (I'll look at it if you don't do that, but it helps a lot). Thank you so much to everyone who's sent me tips. I've certainly learned more about what's happening in the Big Apple in the just about six months I've been writing this than I ever did during the 16 years I lived there! I'm a Jersey girl with a NYC heart and a NJ Transit train nearby (even closer as of tomorrow's move).

May 30 erotica writing workshop in New York, Upper East Side, for New York Academy of Sex

I'm back on the Upper East Side May 30th from 7:30 pm-9 pm, for New Yorkers and those who'll be in town for Book Expo America (where I will also be doing a signing) teaching Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money for the New York Academy of Sex, held at sex toy store The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue. It's $25 and the official description is below. If you know anyone looking to break into erotica writing, I'd appreciate you letting them know. I'm also hoping to teach my new nonfiction sex writing workshop there but don't have a date yet. You must sign up in advance.

Official description:

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.

Watch new Comedy Central show Broad City with the cast and crew tonight

Head over to Videology in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a free public screening of the debut episode of new Comedy Central Broad City, starring Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, tonight. Details in The New York Observer - and please keep sending me NYC events for consideration to 8dayweek at observer.com (I need all the info you see in the listings, date/time/location/description/phone number/price).

Have dinner with Real Housewives of New York star Ramona Singer on Thursday in New York

Tonight's event listing in The New York Observer is one I was proud of finding, a dinner with Ramona Singer, star of The Real Housewives of New York City, along with trying her new wine line, Ramona Singer Pinot Grigio, at Chef David Burke at Bloomingdale's. According to her Twitter account, it's been postponed until Thursday, January 23rd, due to the snow, so if you like wine and reality TV, here's an event for you. Keep sending me your event info - I'm on the hunt for Super Bowl related public events from January 29-February 5, and then anything else from February 5 and beyond, to 8dayweek at observer.com - you can check out the other events the section has covered.

3 kinds of ice cream cake tonight at Yum's The Word

Today for The New York Observer, I wrote up the storytelling and ice cream cake show Yum's The Word, which I hope to attend soon. Who wouldn't want to be part of this? Just found out via their Tumblr that there are the homemade ice cream cakes being served: Nutella/Chunky Monkey with Crushed Ferror-Rocher Pieces, Caramel/Butter Pecan with Crushed Graham Crackers, Boozy Egg Nog Ice Cream Cake with Crushed Gingerbread Men. Yum indeed! Keep sending your listings with full details in the body of an email to 8dayweek at observer.com - thank you!

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.