See you February 13 in Washington, DC for my Best Women's Erotica reading!

I hope to see many of you at my February 13 reading in Washington, DC at Politics and Prose at The Wharf, 70 District Square SW. It's for the love of my literary life, the Best Women's Erotica of the Year series. I'll be reading with Volume 3 contributors Thien-Kim Lam, Sommer Marsden and Lynn Townsend. I've never met any of them in person and only heard Thien-Kim when we recorded a podcast together, so I'm especially excited. Plus I got to visit Politics and Prose in November and it was lovely and in a charming area (visit The Wharf's website to learn more).

Now for favor time: even if you're not in DC, could you let anyone you know in the area who'd like a sexy evening before Valentine's Day know? Here's a handy Facebook event page link. Even if you can't make it, please indicate you're interested on Facebook so more people see the listing.



We'll be sharing story excerpts, writing inspiration and I'll be dishing tips on how to get published in the series and revealing the theme for Volume 5. I decided not to run myself ragged and do a book tour, which was too much for me last year and that showed in turnout. Especially since I now work part-time, I have to balance having a job with book promotion.

I also swore last year I wouldn't do events at this time of year because the cold often keeps people away but I couldn't resist the chance to do a Valentine's Day timed event. I truly appreciate any help you can give in spreading the word! I am excited for my book to be displayed front and center in the store in the time leading up to the reading and to hopefully entice those curious about the genre to try it. My other goal, though, is to get more bookstores to see that erotica isn't something people only read on their e-readers in private. That people want diverse, creative, hot and sexy stories and aren't ashamed of it. So getting a good turnout at this reading will show both this particular bookstore and others that the genre is thriving and should be far more visible than it usually is.

And I want to say thank you to everyone who's read or listened to any part of the series. I'm working on making it even bigger and better and drawing more readers so that down the road I can afford to do even more readings and giveaways and outreach and all of those things that take time and money. But for the next 13 days, I'm focused on making this reading as successful as I possibly can. I'll be posting photos and video on the Best Women's Erotica Instagram account if you can't make it.

Los Angeles loves erotica - see you tonight 1/31 at Skylight Books for my book tour kickoff!

Firstly, tonight is the kickoff of our Best Women's Erotica of the Year book tour at Skylight Books in Los Angeles at 7:30 pm (1818 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz).



I hope you can make it, or else let someone in the LA area who might be interested know. I've heard through the grapevine that some cool folks will be in the audience and I and my authors Jocelyn Bringas, Melina Greenport and Jade A. Waters are all going to read you very sexy stories and answer your questions and sign books! If you want to invite friends easily, here's the Facebook event page. It's free and we will be sharing behind the scenes secrets as well as our hot words. And a special shoutout to Skylight because they treat their authors so well - the book is in the store window, in a special display with other upcoming authors and in the area where we're going to read! Plus they have a beautiful tree in the middle of the store.





I'll do a fuller recap when I'm home but I also got to visit two other amazing bookstores. On Sunday, I taught a wonderful, enthusiastic and smart group at romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice in Culver City. Their store is a treasure trove of sexy books, cards, lingerie and other cool items and they have this amazing personal touch. They recommended a book by a new to me author, Tamsen Parker, that I'm enjoying (Craving Flight, about a woman who converts to Orthodox Judaism and is kinky). They also have an utterly adorable bookstore dog named Fitzwilliam Waffles, who even has his own Instagram account. I highly recommend the store and they also host lots of cool events, like Romantic Comedy (comedy night) and movie nights and book events and such. Oh, and they have book art hanging in the air (my photo doesn't really do it justice because when you are standing in front of it, they're just right there), book pages as wallpaper and just a generally beautiful design, including couches to sit on and read! They also have fiction and memoir and YA and various genres, and romance subgenres by category, like Cowboys and I Love Rock N Roll. Perhaps coolest of all, their bathroom has tons of books you can read and a Post-It wall where you can write whatever you want, and one on the mirror saying "Nasty Women Read." Indeed!







I visited Pasadena for the first time and the first thing I saw after getting out of my Lyft car was this free speech art, which seemed quite apt.



Then I promptly fell in love with Vroman's Bookstore and pretty much want to move in there. I wandered around and pretty much swooned over their displays. I love that they have an erotica section, that they are playful and political and had four amazing signs about writing that encouraged me to get back to it. They also have fun book-themed pillows and mugs and other items and it's a bookstore you can get lost in and wander for hours.





To recap, I hope you'll come out to our Skylight Books reading tonight and tell your friends, and if you're in LA or will be, all three of these stores are amazing and there's lots to see in the surrounding neighborhoods as well (I may have bought some crystals at the store next to Skylight, because I feel like I need all the help I can get these days).

Free BDSM erotica inspired by real life: "Two Doms for Dinner" from Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1

I love being able to offer free stories to you, especially from the book that's my pride and joy and highlight of my career, Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1.



Podcaster and audiobook narrator Rose Caraway has recorded the inspired-by-real-life-kink story "Two Doms for Dinner" by Dorothy Freed and it's gorgeous. Listen for yourself.

Also check out Rose's interview with Dorothy and for more free sexy stories, listen to Rose's "The Carnalarium" and read my open marriage travel sex story, "Flying Solo.". And of course, listen to all 22 stories in the book read by the perfect voice for the job, Rose Caraway, in the Audible audiobook.

A new free BDSM erotica story by me and a new cover for my 40th birthday book Dirty Dates

Maybe you've noticed from my wordy subject line I know shit about SEO and have trouble sticking to word counts. That's me, and what I've learned about myself is that I am not likely to change the core things that make me unique. I spent a long time trying to, and now I'm learning to embrace all my quirks and oddities and even my flaws.

I shared a brand new free BDSM erotica story up at Lady Smut called "Indoor Voices." Lemonade from a writing rejection: I had a contract for this story for an anthology and had even blogged that it was in an anthology, because that's where I thought it was being published. I found out yesterday I was incorrect, and after a few moments of disappointment, I decided to publish it. It's also a taste of my BSDM erotica that I hope will get you excited about my anthology that pubs on my 40th birthday, November 10th: Dirty Dates: Erotic Fantasies for Couples, which is available for pre-order and now has a way hot new cover! Read the introduction and table of contents on Tumblr and subscribe to my monthly newsletter at rachelkramerbussel.com for writing tips, event info and giveaways!

This is what book fetish erotica looks like

Would you sniff a book? Lick a book? Take a bite out of one? One of those happens in book fetish erotica story "Book Lover" by Donna George Storey, which you can now listen to for free at Rose Caraway's podcast The Kiss Me Quick's. Another freebie podcast listen is "Pushing Boundaries on Public Transport" by Victoria Blisse and for 69 stories, including those, listen to The Big Book of Orgasms: 69 Sexy Stories audiobook narrated by Rose Caraway. I love so many things about this story, but most especially that it highlights a fetish that's a bit unusual and makes it seem plausible, whether you've ever wanted to get that intimate with a book or not. It's sexy and a little funny and creative and features a fetish being shared by lovers. It's everything I look for in an erotica story and I'm so glad you can now listen to it for free. You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you don't miss any episodes.

Free story slam and storytelling in New York tonight

It's the How I Learned/Best in Show Blender tonight and it's free! Full details in my New York Observer writeup - I don't think I've heard of another event where you can tell a story and get professional feedback on it for free! Plus it benefits the wonderful folks at Housing Works, whose mission is "to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts."

5 free audio stories from Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex narrated by Rose Caraway

The amazing Rose Caraway has done it again! She's the narrator of Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex Audible audiobook and has generously made five stories available free! Listen below (the embedded players should work but if they don't for some reason, the links above them should). A huge thank you to her and everyone who's listened and purchased Audible audiobooks - I know how many of you there are because I am part of their Author Services program and I get $1 for each Audible purchase of my books, which is pretty much the best free money program I've ever seen. I'm analyzing that data and my sales figures to help me figure out what kinds of books to edit next!

Laugh by Sommer Marsden

Click here to listen to the free mp3





Police Dogging by Elizabeth Coldwell

Click here to listen to the free mp3





Remembering the Wrinkles by Penelope Friday

Click here to listen to the free mp3





Not Just a Myth by Heidi Champa

Click here to listen to the free mp3





The Dirty Things She Says by Sinclair Sexsmith

Click here to listen to the free mp3

Seattle, Seattle, Seattle! Get your FREE cupcakes and sexy erotica Monday night

This is the kind of question I am fielding from my readers from Naked Girls Reading:

By the way, do you know if it would be possible for us to wear sheer lacythings with nothing underneath? So it would still show our nudie bits but technically be clothing? Just trying to figure out how to make it the most like Naked Girls Reading as possible.




What will they wear? I don't know, and I wouldn't tell even if I did. You have to show up Monday night to find out! Extra special karma points to those who spread the word about this fun, free event. I do plan to visit Seattle again for fun but I probably won't do more readings so please do check it out! I will be offering up teasers of the stories we plan to read. I'm open to suggestions, so if you liked Gotta Have It and have a request, I'll read any of the 68 stories (Shanna will presumably read her own, "Genesis")! Free tote bags will also be given out courtesy of EdenFantasys.



Baby raspberry rhubarb (rhubarb cake w/raspberry cream cheese frosting)
Baby gay (vanilla funfetti cake w/vanilla buttercream and rainbow sprinkles)
Baby peppermint on chocolate
Baby salted caramel
Baby triple threat

Get your free cupcakes and hot smut:

June 27, 6-8 pm, FREE
Babeland, 707 E. Pike Street, Seattle, 206-328-2914 (get directions here)
Gotta Have It reading

Join Gotta Have It editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, contributor Shanna Germain ("Genesis") and burlesque performers Jesse Belle-Jones, Polly Wood and Heidi Von Haught from Naked Girls Reading for a fun, fabulous event at Babeland Seattle for short, sexy readings from Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex, plus free cupcakes! Free copies of SexIs Magazine will be given away.


Salted caramel is the one on the top; see more of my photos from Cupcake Royale Capitol Hill on Flickr.

Free dance performance in lower Manhattan

I went to see this dance piece Laura Peterson Choreography: everyone in Battery Park today. It's going on through the 25th as part of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Sitelines program. I can't say I really understood it but was interesting to watch.

Official description:

Laura Peterson Choreography is a New York City based dance company that creates highly physical and dynamic pieces with a deep sense of design and detail. Inspired by mass games, flash mobs, swarms and flocks everyone explores the visual elements of choreography with a cast of thirty dancers, changing locations, costumes, and sounds.