Come see me on my last trip to San Francisco*

I'll be doing the one and only live reading from the best book I've ever edited and probably the best book I will ever edit, The Big Book of Orgasms: 69 Sexy Stories, on November 6th at 6:30 at Good Vibrations, 1620 Polk Street in San Francisco. It's probably my last trip to San Francisco for many, many years*, and it features both authors I know and authors I'm meeting for the first time, several of whom have their first published erotic story in the book. I hope you can make it, and I also hope you'll pass this on to others in the Bay Area who might want to check it out. Hoping to make it a standing room only event!

November 6, 6:30, FREE
The Big Book of Orgasms reading at Good Vibrations
The Big Book of Orgasms: 69 Sexy Stories (Cleis Press) is editor Rachel Kramer Bussel's latest and greatest erotica anthology. This climactic collection of pansexual short shorts are perfect for bedtime reading to a lover or on your own. Whether getting off from exhibitionism, voyeurism, hot wax, dirty talk or a very special pair of blue jeans, the characters in The Big Book of Orgasms go all out for the Big O. From vanilla to kinky, and everything in between, there's something for all erotic readers here. At this special reading, Bussel will be joined by contributors Lily K. Cho, Malin James, Crystal Jordan, Sinclair Sexsmith, Donna George Storey, B.D. Swain, Virgie Tovar, Jade A. Waters and Xan West for an evening of steamy stories that's sure to leave you hot and bothered.

*I'll totally come back to San Francisco if my trip is paid for or I win the lottery. Otherwise, my travel philosophy is all about visiting new places and doing my best to build RKB Enterprises, Inc.

March 18th BDSM lineup (with Julie Powell, Madison Young and more!)

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
BDSM NIGHT
March 18, 2010, 8 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

Get kinky with memoir writers, BDSM educators, erotica authors, a porn star, and more at In The Flesh. Featuring Melissa Febos (author of dominatrix memoir Whip Smart), blogger Selina Fire (Pleasure Salon), rope bondage expert Monk (Twistedmonk.com), Julie Powell (author of Cleaving and Julie and Julia), erotica writer Xan West (contributor, Best SM Erotica 3), Mollena Williams (author, "BDSM and Playing with Race" in Best Sex Writing 2010, BDSM educator Lolita Wolf (LeatherYenta.com) and feminist porn star Madison Young (MadisonBound.com). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Sex Writing 2010, Bottoms Up, Spanked, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am). Prize giveaways sponsored by Kink Academy (shirt, journal, purse, aftercare blanket, memberships and more) and Eden Fantasys (suede flogger and faux fur bondage cuffs). Authors' books will be available for sale by Mobile Libris. Free cupcakes by Baked by Melissa along with chips, candy and other snacks will be served.

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 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, 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, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

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 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

Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart, (St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books). Her writing has been featured in The Southeast Review, Redivider, The Rambler, Storyscape Journal, Bitch Magazine, and Smut Magazine, among others. She co-curates and hosts the Mixer Reading and Music Series at Cake Shop, and teaches at SUNY Purchase College and The Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. More information about her work and projects can be found at melissafebos.com.



Selina Fire is a native New Yorker whose passion is sex. She blogs about her sexual adventures at selinafire.com. She co-hosts New York City's Pleasure Salon, a monthly gathering of sex-positive activists. Her 2007 column, "On The Edge," in Penthouse Forum, was banned in Canada because officials found it too obscene. She is currently working with artist Madame Cindy on a very dirty comic book.



Monk is dubbed “a unicorn” by his friends, because he is so many things that aren’t supposed to exist. Before launching his bondage rope company, this former Eagle Scout and evangelical missionary was a software cowboy, an actor/stuntman, and a filmmaker. Six years ago, Monk’s mother-in-law gave him Midori’s rope bondage book, and a ropemaker was born. Today, in addition to running the world’s largest bondage rope company, Monk enjoys a career as a sex worker, writer, activist, educator, and entertainer.
www.twistedmonk.com



Julie Powell thrust herself from obscurity (and an uninspiring temp job) to cyber-celebrityhood when, in 2002, she embarked on an ambitious yearlong cooking (and blogging) expedition through all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She detailed the experience in her critically acclaimed 2005 New York Times bestselling memoir, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, which was adapted into a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in August 2009. Julie has made appearances on national television shows from ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’s The Early Show to The Martha Stewart Show and Food Network’s Iron Chef America, and her writing has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers including Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and more. She is a two-time James Beard Award winner in Journalism, was awarded an honorary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and was the first ever winner of the Overall Lulu Blooker Prize for Books. Her highly anticipated second book, Cleaving, published in December, 2009.



Xan West is the pseudonym of an NYC BDSM/sex educator. Xan’s story “First Time Since”, won honorable mention for the 2008 National Leather Association’s John Preston Short Fiction Award. Xan appears in Best SM Erotica Volumes 2 and 3, Best Women’s Erotica 2008 and 2009, Hurts So Good, DADDIES, Biker Boys, and Leathermen.

Mollena (Mo) Williams, “Delicate, Trembling Flower of Submission”© is a NYC born and raised writer, actress, BDSM Educator and Executive Pervert. She is extremely honored, humbled and proud to serve as Ms. San Francisco Leather 2009. Active in BDSM since 1996, she speaks at Leather events across the US on many kinkcentric topics. A founding member of Crowded Fire Theater Company, she blogs on http://mollena.com. Mo is also author of the upcoming Toybag Gude: Taboo Play and of the essay "BDSM and Playing with Race" which appears in Best Sex Writing 2010.



Lolita Wolf is a native New Yorker, who discovered the BDSM scene back in the late 80's when “online” meant being on the phone sex lines. She is an activist who defends the sexual freedom for all consenting adults, spreads the word about BDSM, sex and poly, and helps the community grow and flourish. However, her primary goal is "to have fun." Her writing has appeared in On Our Backs and Prometheus magazines and The Lust Chronicles anthology and she has authored two books: Spanking and CBT in a Nutshell. Recently, she was featured in the New York Times' One in 8 Million series: http://vb.ly/255f, Her website can be found at http://www.leatheryenta.com/.



Madison Young is an international award-winning porn star, director, gallerist, and published author. She has been directing BDSM and erotic films since 2005 and has won great acclaim for her video line, Madison Young Productions, which has been awarded the 2008 Feminist Porn Award and at the 2009 Feminist Porn Awards was awarded Indie Porn Pioneer of the Year and Best Kink Film for her 2008 release Perversions of Lesbian Lust. In 2009 she was also awarded Best BDSM Movie by AEBN for Perversions of Lesbian Lust and nominated for Best BDSM Release by AVN. She has recently finished her book of memoirs, Breathe: The Sexual Evolution of Madison Young, based on her experiences in the adult industry, due out in spring of 2011. When she isn't documenting hot sex on film she is running her own non profit community art gallery in San Francisco, Femina Potens Art Gallery, which focuses on the expression of Art, Sex and Gender.
www.madisonbound.com



You will hear from the following books, which Mobile Libris will have for sale:


Behind the Bedroom Door (featuring Julie Powell's essay "Lost in Space")


Whip Smart


Best Sex Writing 2010

Two sex toy prizes will be given away courtesy of EdenFantasys, a suede flogger and bondage cuffs:


Fulfill-a-fantasy flogger from EdenFantasys


Crave wrist restraints from EdenFantasys

Prizes will be given away courtesy of Kink Academy, listed below.

1) A Kink Academy shirt, journal, scene starters deluxe set & one year membership to www.kinkacademy.com.

2) Bible purse and 1 year membership to Kink Academy.

3) Aftercare blanket & 1 year membership to Kink Academy.

March 18th BDSM lineup (with Julie Powell, Madison Young and more!)

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
BDSM NIGHT
March 18, 2010, 8 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

Get kinky with memoir writers, BDSM educators, erotica authors, a porn star, and more at In The Flesh. Featuring Melissa Febos (author of dominatrix memoir Whip Smart), blogger Selina Fire (Pleasure Salon), rope bondage expert Monk (Twistedmonk.com), Julie Powell (author of Cleaving and Julie and Julia), erotica writer Xan West (contributor, Best SM Erotica 3), Mollena Williams (author, "BDSM and Playing with Race" in Best Sex Writing 2010, BDSM educator Lolita Wolf (LeatherYenta.com) and feminist porn star Madison Young (MadisonBound.com). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Sex Writing 2010, Bottoms Up, Spanked, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am). Prize giveaways sponsored by Kink Academy (shirt, journal, purse, aftercare blanket, memberships and more) and Eden Fantasys (suede flogger and faux fur bondage cuffs). Authors' books will be available for sale by Mobile Libris. Free cupcakes by Baked by Melissa along with chips, candy and other snacks will be served.

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 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, 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, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

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 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

Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart, (St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books). Her writing has been featured in The Southeast Review, Redivider, The Rambler, Storyscape Journal, Bitch Magazine, and Smut Magazine, among others. She co-curates and hosts the Mixer Reading and Music Series at Cake Shop, and teaches at SUNY Purchase College and The Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. More information about her work and projects can be found at melissafebos.com.



Selina Fire is a native New Yorker whose passion is sex. She blogs about her sexual adventures at selinafire.com. She co-hosts New York City's Pleasure Salon, a monthly gathering of sex-positive activists. Her 2007 column, "On The Edge," in Penthouse Forum, was banned in Canada because officials found it too obscene. She is currently working with artist Madame Cindy on a very dirty comic book.



Monk is dubbed “a unicorn” by his friends, because he is so many things that aren’t supposed to exist. Before launching his bondage rope company, this former Eagle Scout and evangelical missionary was a software cowboy, an actor/stuntman, and a filmmaker. Six years ago, Monk’s mother-in-law gave him Midori’s rope bondage book, and a ropemaker was born. Today, in addition to running the world’s largest bondage rope company, Monk enjoys a career as a sex worker, writer, activist, educator, and entertainer.
www.twistedmonk.com



Julie Powell thrust herself from obscurity (and an uninspiring temp job) to cyber-celebrityhood when, in 2002, she embarked on an ambitious yearlong cooking (and blogging) expedition through all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She detailed the experience in her critically acclaimed 2005 New York Times bestselling memoir, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, which was adapted into a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in August 2009. Julie has made appearances on national television shows from ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’s The Early Show to The Martha Stewart Show and Food Network’s Iron Chef America, and her writing has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers including Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and more. She is a two-time James Beard Award winner in Journalism, was awarded an honorary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and was the first ever winner of the Overall Lulu Blooker Prize for Books. Her highly anticipated second book, Cleaving, published in December, 2009.



Xan West is the pseudonym of an NYC BDSM/sex educator. Xan’s story “First Time Since”, won honorable mention for the 2008 National Leather Association’s John Preston Short Fiction Award. Xan appears in Best SM Erotica Volumes 2 and 3, Best Women’s Erotica 2008 and 2009, Hurts So Good, DADDIES, Biker Boys, and Leathermen.

Mollena (Mo) Williams, “Delicate, Trembling Flower of Submission”© is a NYC born and raised writer, actress, BDSM Educator and Executive Pervert. She is extremely honored, humbled and proud to serve as Ms. San Francisco Leather 2009. Active in BDSM since 1996, she speaks at Leather events across the US on many kinkcentric topics. A founding member of Crowded Fire Theater Company, she blogs on http://mollena.com. Mo is also author of the upcoming Toybag Gude: Taboo Play and of the essay "BDSM and Playing with Race" which appears in Best Sex Writing 2010.



Lolita Wolf is a native New Yorker, who discovered the BDSM scene back in the late 80's when “online” meant being on the phone sex lines. She is an activist who defends the sexual freedom for all consenting adults, spreads the word about BDSM, sex and poly, and helps the community grow and flourish. However, her primary goal is "to have fun." Her writing has appeared in On Our Backs and Prometheus magazines and The Lust Chronicles anthology and she has authored two books: Spanking and CBT in a Nutshell. Recently, she was featured in the New York Times' One in 8 Million series: http://vb.ly/255f, Her website can be found at http://www.leatheryenta.com/.



Madison Young is an international award-winning porn star, director, gallerist, and published author. She has been directing BDSM and erotic films since 2005 and has won great acclaim for her video line, Madison Young Productions, which has been awarded the 2008 Feminist Porn Award and at the 2009 Feminist Porn Awards was awarded Indie Porn Pioneer of the Year and Best Kink Film for her 2008 release Perversions of Lesbian Lust. In 2009 she was also awarded Best BDSM Movie by AEBN for Perversions of Lesbian Lust and nominated for Best BDSM Release by AVN. She has recently finished her book of memoirs, Breathe: The Sexual Evolution of Madison Young, based on her experiences in the adult industry, due out in spring of 2011. When she isn't documenting hot sex on film she is running her own non profit community art gallery in San Francisco, Femina Potens Art Gallery, which focuses on the expression of Art, Sex and Gender.
www.madisonbound.com



You will hear from the following books, which Mobile Libris will have for sale:


Behind the Bedroom Door (featuring Julie Powell's essay "Lost in Space")


Whip Smart


Best Sex Writing 2010

Two sex toy prizes will be given away courtesy of EdenFantasys, a suede flogger and bondage cuffs:


Fulfill-a-fantasy flogger from EdenFantasys


Crave wrist restraints from EdenFantasys

Prizes will be given away courtesy of Kink Academy, listed below.

1) A Kink Academy shirt, journal, scene starters deluxe set & one year membership to www.kinkacademy.com.

2) Bible purse and 1 year membership to Kink Academy.

3) Aftercare blanket & 1 year membership to Kink Academy.

Feminist porn star Madison Young to read March 18th at BDSM Night, free

photo by Violet Blue.


photo from Madison Young's Facebook page

Just booked: feminist porn star and Femina Potens curator (among many other things) Madison Young will read March 18th free at BDSM Night at In The Flesh Reading Series. Full bios/photos TK.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
BDSM NIGHT
March 18 at 8:00 PM (doors at 7, we recommend arriving at 7:30 to get a seat)
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

With Melissa Febos (Whip Smart), Selina Fire (Pleasure Salon),Monk (Twistedmonk.com), Julie Powell (Cleaving), Xan West (contributor, Best SM Erotica 3), Mollena Williams, Lolita Wolf (LeatherYenta.com), feminist porn star Madison Young (MadisonBound.com). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Sex Writing 2010, Bottoms Up, Spanked, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am). Snacks along with free cupcakes by Baked by Melissa will be served. Authors' books will be available for sale.

Bluestockings' Sexy Pride Erotica reading was a success!

Many thanks to Brooke at Bluestockings for inviting me to read there. The store is awesome; there were so many books I coveted, but I settled on Ariel Schrag's amazing senior year of high school in comic form Likewise and a copy of $pread magazine.


I bought 100 mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa for the reading and they were a huge hit, plus I heard about two new (to me) places to get cupcakes, in Queens and Brooklyn.


Bluestockings had a fabulous selection of my and the readers' books


Sinclair Sexsmith read hot poetry (and has a chapbook for sale)


Charlie Vazquez read a hot gay erotica story about street baseball from Fast Balls: Erotic Stories About America's Favorite Pastime


Kathleen Warnock read about old friends who share a very steamy phone call


Bevin Branlandingham read about fisting in the woods (sorry about the blurriness)

Thanks to everyone who came out!

I read my story "Fist First" from Up All Night: Adventures in Lesbian Sex, my very first book (and it shows) from back in 2004. I had brought two other potential stories, but when I saw the book there, I decided to read that. That story is pretty old, and took place in, I think, 2001, but still held up. One woman told me afterward that she related, which made me feel like it had done its job.

It was so strange to see it in the store. I don't blog about it much because I was very naïve and took a $1,000 flat fee from Alyson to co-edit the book with Stacy Bias (though in reality, I did almost all, if not all, the selecting and editing). It was presented to me as a done deal (Stacy had signed her contract that way). In retrospect, I'd be thousands of dollars better off had I taken no advance and asked for royalties, but I didn't know back then. I also have no idea how it's sold...because I don't get royalty statements, though a few years ago I had someone check on Bookscan and had heard via word of mouth that it was doing well.

The point is, I'm so glad I know better now, and that Cleis Press would never think of asking me to edit books for no royalties. (I do get royalties for my Alyson anthology First-Timers, and would on the Fetish Chest series of Ultimate Undies, Sexiest Soles and Secret Slaves...if anyone had bought them. Oh well.) That's why I like editing anthologies, because even if you mess up, there is always a next time, a chance to figure out what went wrong, sales or marketing or topic-wise, and do better.

And even though I only got that measly $1,000, having that book become a Lambda Literary Award finalist and just having it out there helped put me on the map as an erotica editor and get me other gigs, so in many ways, it was worth it, but is a shame and I wouldn't recommend anyone agree to those terms unless it's strictly a work-for-hire type thing, or you don't expect it to sell, or whatever. Also, having someone advise you in those situations (not necessarily an agent for $1,000, that also doesn't really make financial sense), but someone to look things over and point out anything you may have missed in the contract, is probably a good idea too. Said all in hindsight, of course.

I'm working on finalizing a date for a fall reading at WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and would love to teach Erotica 101 in NYC again, if I can find a host. I'm reading at Charlie Vazquez's PANIC! reading series at Nowhere Bar (14th Street between 1st and 2nd) on August 26th too.

100 free cupcakes at my Bluestockings reading TONIGHT!

photo by Stacie Joy

Tuesday, June 23, 7 pm - 8:30 pm, FREE!
SEXY PRIDE EROTICA READING
Erotica editor and author Rachel Kramer Bussel (First-Timers, Glamour Girls, Up All Night) brings you a very special sexy Pride reading!
100 mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa (http://www.bakedbymelissa.net) will be served.

True stories and hot queer erotica from the city’s boldest, naughtiest writers. Featuring Bevin Branlandingham (Femmecast, Gayety), Sinclair Sexsmith (Sugarbutch.net), Charlie Vazquez (PANIC! reading series), Kathleen Warnock (Drunken! Careening! Writers!), Xan West (Hurts So Good, Best SM Erotica 2). Free cupcakes will be served and authors' books will be for sale.
Bluestockings Bookstore, 72 Allen Street, NYC
http://www.bluestockings.com
Email rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com if you have any questions.

100 free cupcakes at Tuesday's Sexy Pride Erotica Reading

photo by Stacie Joy

Tuesday, June 23, 7 pm - 8:30 pm, FREE!
SEXY PRIDE EROTICA READING
Erotica editor and author Rachel Kramer Bussel (First-Timers, Glamour Girls, Up All Night) brings you a very special sexy Pride reading!
100 mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa (http://www.bakedbymelissa.net) will be served.

True stories and hot queer erotica from the city’s boldest, naughtiest writers. Featuring Bevin Branlandingham (Femmecast, Gayety), Sinclair Sexsmith (Sugarbutch.net), Charlie Vazquez (PANIC! reading series), Kathleen Warnock (Drunken! Careening! Writers!), Xan West (Hurts So Good, Best SM Erotica 2). Free cupcakes will be served and authors' books will be for sale.
Bluestockings Bookstore, 72 Allen Street, NYC
http://www.bluestockings.com
Email rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com if you have any questions.

Sex toys, smut, cupcakes are FREE tonight at In The Flesh!

In The Flesh alum Diana Cage is "reading about ex boyfriends who liked to wear my knickers" and Xan West is reading from "Nervous Boy:"

'Come on, boy. You can take it. I know you're strong enough.'

I drive my bootheel into the bruises on his thigh. I ram my elbow into the bruises on his pecs. He grunts, clenching his jaw. He's not sure he can do it, but he'll never admit it.

'Yes, Sir, I can take it,' he spits out, glaring at me, promising himself as much as me.

I build him up with punches and kicks. Show him I can see his strength by how hard I pound into him. My face is full of ferocity and pride and I pour all that into him, until it streams out in tears running down his face."


It's raining, but there will still be 100 FREE cupcakes from Baked by Melissa! (photo by Stacie Joy)



All of the above sex toys, courtesy of Good Vibrations, will be given away, along with queer erotica from Cleis Press and e-book gift cards from Ravenous Romance.



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
3rd ANNUAL GLBT EROTICA NIGHT
June 18th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
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://inthefleshreadingseries.blogspot.com

In The Flesh celebrates Pride with our 3rd annual GLBT Erotica Night! Featuring GO editor Diana Cage, comedian Kelli Dunham, and erotica writers Madlyn March, Kimberly “Q”, Rob Stephenson, and Xan West. Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Glamour Girls, First-Timers, The Mile High Club). Free candy and cupcakes by Baked by Melissa will be served.

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. 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 Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, 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, 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, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

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 numerous anthologies, two of which (Up All Night and Glamour Girls) have been Lambda Literary Award finalists, most recently The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Best Sex Writing 2009, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and Spanked. 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. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Diana Cage is the author of three hilarious books on sex and dating: Girl Meets Girl: A Dating Survival Guide, Box Lunch: The Layperson’s Guide to Cunnilingus, and Threeways: Fulfill Your Ultimate Fantasy. She is the former host of The Diana Cage Show on Sirius XM and still pops up on the radio a couple of times a month to give advice on sex and love to lonelyhearts everywhere. Her writing has appeared in countless journals, anthologies and magazines and she currently writes on sex and politics for Shewired and Velvetpark. She is featured in the Here! Television series Lesbian Sex and Sexuality, and is now trying to figure out what's left to write about.
www.dianacage.com

Kelli Dunham is a genderqueer Fresh Fruit award-winning comic, ex-nun and a Wisconsin farmgrrl gone very bad. She has two comedy CDs to her credit: I am NOT a 12 Year Old Boy and Almost Pretty and is the co-producer of Gayety, Brooklyn's experimental queer comedy cabaret. She is on the organizing board of the Butch Voices
(www.butchvoices.com) and is the author of four published books of light hearted nonfiction and a frequent contributor to humorous anthologies. She is currently touring Pudding Day, an irreverent one boi show about her partner's struggle with cancer. In June she is launching the first of episode of Queerhouse Rock, an animated parody of the 1970 kids' cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock. She has performed at the Risque strip club in Philadelphia, at numerous churches, Lacrosse Wisconsin Pride, and a livestock auction. She once taught a nun to masturbate. With great success.
www.kellidunham.com

Madlyn March is the pseudonym of a writer whose work has appeared in the anthology First-Timers, Black Table, AfterEllen, AfterElton, Complete Woman, The New York Post, Time Out New York, and others. Toni is based on a bully who once tortured her, but the sexual part is all wishful thinking.

Kimberly "Q" (aka The Lesbian Goddess) is the writer, creator and author of Orchids: African American Lesbian Erotica One Night Stands, Orchids II: Reality or Fantasy and her just released Lesbian Funk A Journey Into The Oblivion. She formed her company Women of Choice to signify the choices of life that we as women dare to explore with a mission to go beyond the realm of women's comfort zones and normalcy by providing them with exotic adventures, unexplained pleasures, new and exciting ideas and inexplicable desires. Her books are episodes presented to entice, entertain and broaden the thoughts, actions and creativity of the lesbian sexual experience.
www.womenofchoice.com

Rob Stephenson's novel Passes Through will be published by Fiction Collective 2 in Spring of 2010. His novella U will be published later that year by Rebel Satori Press : Queer Mojo. Rob and Mikael Karlsson have made a CD called dog, now available from Please MusicWorks. They are currently working on new music that will be part of the Terry Riley Remixed CD released later this year by Innova Recordings.

Xan West is the pseudonym of an NYC BDSM and sex educator and writer. Xan's work can be found in Best SM Erotica 2, Got A Minute?, Love at First Sting, Best Women's Erotica 2008 and 2009, Men on the Edge, Leathermen, Backdraft: Firemen Erotica, DADDIES, Frenzy, Best Gay Erotica 2009, and the upcoming Cruising for Bad Boys, Pleasure Bound, and Sextime. Xan's story, "First Time Since", printed in Hurts So Good, won honorable mention for the 2008 National Leather Association's John Preston Short Fiction Award. Xan wants to hear from you, and can be found at xanwest.livejournal.com/ or emailed at xan_west at yahoo.com.