Home and blissed out from CatalystCon

After having been away from home for 10 days, I have a lot to process and a few deadlines, plus today my boyfriend and I are mostly playing hooky and might go see While We're Young and just generally enjoy a rare weekday together. But I wanted to mostly share the sense of excitement and possibility I left this CatalystCon with, as I always do. The people I meet there are so inspiring, whether they are talking about asexuality or erotica or sex ed or just Cards Against Humanity and general life. It's hard to summarize in words but was so wonderful to see people from all over the U.S. and beyond talk, discuss, debate, learn, connect, and entertain each other. That is why I go to CatalystCon and why I will be at CatalystCon West in Burbank from September 11-13 (visit their site tomorrow to see the panel pitching details). To get a sense of what happened there this weekend, follow the #ccon hashtag on Twitter and check out the CatalystCon Instagram account.

It was also the perfect place to launch my brand new, hot off the press anthology Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica. I am proud to say that you can now get autographed copies at Red Emma's in Baltimore (they were the official bookseller at CatalystCon East) and that the book is now shipping from Amazon, and will be in stock at other stores any day now and out as an ebook April 14th. I loved being able to hand deliver copies to people who work in wonderful sex toy stores I admire like Forbidden Fruit in Austin and Dynamo Toys in New Orleans and Secret Pleasures in Washington, DC.

I loved that I was launching a sex toy anthology while the Sybian was across the room being demonstrated. I loved that everywhere I looked was someone I wanted to talk to. I loved that people who said things like "I don't know anything about art" sat down and made a card anyway with ArtPulp. It was a wonderful, magical weekend, one that pushed me to get past what is sometimes still my fear of public speaking or saying the wrong thing to be part of the opening keynote panel. I strongly encourage you to go to the next one if you have an interest in learning more about sexuality and activism of all kinds, or presenting. I will recap my wonderful panel on sharing our personal sex stories in various public artistic modes of expression soon, but wanted to share some early morning thoughts (I fell asleep last night at 9 and woke up this morning at 5, so that may give you an idea of how tired I was). Does that mean I have 100% of every thought in common with everyone who attended CatalystCon? Not at all. But I think it's safe to say even though I didn't get to speak with everyone there, anyone attending is someone I have something I could talk about with. The discussions I had outside of formal panels and sessions where among the most fascinating things about the conference. Some were about sex and sexuality related issues, and some were about general life. I truly cannot say enough good things about the conference, and the fact that there were so many first time attendees this year I think reflects that people are hearing about it and whatever their profession or hobbies, thinking, I could see myself as part of that world.



Here's me with my new book; today I will also be sending out copies to everyone who signed up to review it on Amazon. Get on my newsletter (left hand side of this blog or of my site, rachelkramerbussel.com) for new freebies and more info.

On being at a sex conference without your significant other

I was spoiled at Momentum this year, because my boyfriend was with me, doing a public art project. I kept walking by and saying hi and kissing him and if people asked me about my dating life I'd tell them that's who I'm dating. It was our first little adventure out of the tri state area, and since most of my travel is on my own, it was nice to unwind after a long day with him. While I will probably never not enjoy a hotel stay. I would be lying if I said seeing couples just being couply at Catalyst didn't make me a little jealous, and I don't get jealous very easily.

At the same time, when I haven't been conferencing, I've been working trying to cupcake blog and sex diary edit and basically do a lot in advance of my trip to Dubai and an utterly unexpected opportunity came up Monday (yes, I do know it's Rosh Hasahanah, but I'm a far better media whore than I am a Jew, sorry, not to mention, I don't want to have to atone for not doing everything I possibly can to sustain this haphazard so often feels crazy career) that meant I went to Nordstrom rack to buy a brightly colored dress and the shoes seen below. I never want to jinx things (learned that lesson long ago) so if it happens, I will let you know tomorrow, but anyway, I've had a lot to occupy my mind and my time and am not sure how much alone time we would have actually had, but still. What's funny is that for the most part I enjoy being alone and that's how I spend most of my time when I'm in NYC or traveling, and I love the freedom to change plans at the last minute and rearrange and follow whims, which you can't do as much with someone else by your side. It's how it is, but I definitely miss my guy and maybe if he hadn't gone to Momentum his absence wouldn't have seemed so prominent. I know, I should get used to it, like the heat, as I prepare for my 10-day trip, but still, I am looking forward to seeing him and being utterly boring and suburban as we go get my eyes checked at Costco. And in all honesty, he would've detested the heat, not to mention the plane ride, and I wouldn't want to subject him to those, but that doesn't mean I can't miss him.


my utterly cozy if a little lonely hotel bed


Hot tub!!


I don't know why palm trees make me happy but they do


public art also makes me happy


and foundtains!


I've eaten several huge and delicious meals at Potholder Cafe Too




Catalyst does NOT mess around. They fed us fried ravioli and made-to-order pasta on Friday night, and at my erotic writing workshop, which gave me lots of ideas and I hope people enjoyed, there were notepads and pens at every seat! That's a sign of a well organized conference.


my new shoes that I broke in at Bawdy Storytelling (catch them October 25th in NYC and regularly in the Bay Area) last night, where I told the story of how writing my first erotica story, "Monica and Me," way back in 1999, led me to one of the best relationships of my life. You truly never know where writing something down will lead, and that's part of writing's magic, in my opinion. Catalyst, baby!

I'm teaching Erotica 101 at MOMENTUMCON

In addition to my SXSW Interactive panel in March 2012, at the end of the month I'm doing something I rarely do these days: teaching Erotica 101, at MOMENTUMCON, the conference that last year featured Susie Bright, Tristan Taormino, Jenny Block, Twanna A. Hines (who's back this year) and tons of other amazing people working in various arenas of the world of sexuality, and this year has an amazing, amazing lineup. I'm extremely impressed and honored to be part of it. I always tailor my erotic writing workshops to my environment, so expect a few feminist erotica exercises in the mix, and I especially enjoy getting anthology submissions from people who've taken my classes (that's where Megan Butcher's story in Best Bondage Erotica 2011 had its genesis).



I'm interested in everything being offered, but especially this, because I need to learn more:

Blogging 202: Take Your Site to the Next Level
Dangerous Lilly & AAG

Are you working with a small, free blog on Blogger or WordPress and are ready to take your site to the next level? Attend this hands-on training to learn how to use your site to make a bigger statement with a focus on better accessibility for readers and greater appeal to potential advertisers. Topics covered include:

* Do’s and don’ts of design, layout and content
* Dealing with paid advertising
* Making the switch to a self-hosted platform
* What to expect in terms of effort and cost
* Maintaining professional and engaging interactions with peers, readers and advertisers

Join long-time veteran bloggers Lilly (dangerouslilly.com) and AAG (aagblog.com) for a session that will give your site a boost.