My new book is in Cosmopolitan!

I'm so thrilled that Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 gets this amazing shoutout in the May 2017 issue of Cosmopolitan, all thanks to Bea and Leah Koch, the owners of amazing romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice in Culver City, California. I wish I lived closer to their store because it's so amazing, so the admiration is mutual. Check out Volume 1 and Volume 2 and stay tuned, because Volume 3 hits stores in December.

My 40th birthday photo shoot on why my boyfriend and I sleep in separate beds is in the New York Post

I've been 40 for 4 days, and they've been a whirlwind! On Tuesday, my 40th birthday, I woke up very early, around 5 a.m. (I was born at 3:59 a.m., and was a preemie; I was supposed to be born in February 1976), then spent the day celebrating the release of my new erotica anthology Dirty Dates, writing two articles for Salon, teaching my LitReactor class, going to dinner with my boyfriend and a coworker, and having my photo taken for this New York Post article on couples with separate beds. I only have a few photos of my boyfriend and I from our almost four years together, so that was fun and special, all the more so because he's pretty camera and press shy (yes, my opposite!), but did it for me. Thank you to Anna Davies for writing the article and contacting me to be interviewed, and to Alex M for the great photos. This is what a 40-year-old writer with a stuffed animal in her bed looks like!

The article got a lot of buzz, including a mention on In The Papers on NY1, a discussion on Live with Kelly and Michael, another interview with me at Yahoo Health, a Jezebel post and a great exploration at The Frisky on your ideal cohabitation situation. The most amusing part to me is that the original New York Post headline changed during the day to the current one. If my life is boring (which, I admit, parts of it are), I say, the more boring, the better!

Goodbye, Philadelphia City Paper sex column, I've learned so much from writing you

Updated October 2Last September, I woke up on the Sunday morning of CatalystCon West to an email asking if I'd like to start writing a sex column for Philadelphia alternative weekly newspaper Philadelphia City Paper. It had been eight years since my Lusty Lady column in The Village Voice ended, and I was game. I've since written 51 columns, the latest on "Sexual Politics" and featuring a photo of Donald Trump, is my final column, and next week's, my 52nd, will be my last, because the paper is being shut down. As they wrote yesterday, in what had to be an almost impossibly tough news story to cover:

You may have read this afternoon that Philadelphia City Paper had been sold and would cease publication as of next Thursday, October 8.

This came as a surprise to us, too.

I want to thank Lilian Swanson for plucking me out of everyone else she could have chosen. Writing a weekly sex column was an incredible learning experience. You have to always be on top of your subjects and what's happening in the world in a way I had never been before. I got to see what it was like to have a column, and its subject, OrgasmQuest, go viral. I got to approach Valentine's Day from a polyamorous perspective on metamours. And so much more. Writing that column made me feel part of the writing world in a way I remembered from my Voice days, let me profile fascinating people and kept me on my toes. It let me feel part of a city where I don't live, but now live in its vicinity.

So what's next for me? I'm still writing my Shameless Sex column at DAME on everything from baby-making sex to questioning "orgasm equality" to sapiosexuals to being offered $3,500 for one night of sexual adventure, and looking for as much freelance writing as I can handle.

If you're an editor, I'd love to talk to you about contributing to your newspaper, magazine, website, etc., and can be reached at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com. I actually am looking for topics beyond sex, though of course I will always write about sex and dating, but I like to expand my beats of books, pop culture, body image, hoarding and whatever else strikes my fancy. I have several projects and essays I've been wanting to work on but haven't had the time, so I will be looking into those, and preparing to teach my next LitReactor online erotica writing class, which starts November 3rd, and prepping for the release of my 40th birthday and the anthology that publishes that day, Dirty Dates. So I have a lot on my plate, but will miss the challenge of this weekly column, and wish all the staff of Philadelphia City Paper the best.

"Where Have All The Blowjobs Gone?" I respond to Esquire

Over at Open Salon, I've written "Where Have All The Blowjobs Gone? Why Esquire is Wrong" (I would have added "About The Death of Fellatio" but I didn't have room in my title.) Check it out and if you like it I'd love if you'd click "rate" at the top, comment and pass it on!

Read this: The Junket by Mike Albo

I highly recommend the new Kindle Singles essay "The Junket" by Mike Albo!



Mike Albo would have every reason to be bitter - he agreed to go on a junket that is only very thinly veiled in this piece, that was covered extensively in NYC media sites, which resulted in his losing his column in the paper he refers to here as The New York Paper. Instead, he uses this essay as an opportunity to look back at his life as a writer in New York and the things he's had to do to make a living. What makes this such compelling reading is that Albo uses the humor he brought to The Underminer but he is as much the target of his sharp wit as anyone else, although his other targets certainly come under much-deserved scrutiny.

This particular junket's destination wasn't revealed until they reached their destination. Albo writes, "I wasn't so psyched to go to Jamaica, where gay people are maimed and killed and the prime minister made a special point to declare that LGTB rights would never be recognized, but on the plane the organizers got us all psyched. 'Can you believe it? I can't hear you! Jamiaca! Woooo!'"

He weaves in the story of the junket with his various jobs in Manhattan media, from working at "the Death Star for magazines but gayer" and learning not only how to cover high fashion, but how to covet it. Ultimately, this is a story that would make perfect reading for anyone considering writing as a profession, because Albo shows that even at the highest levels, at the pinnacle--and his description of not only what he did at The New York Paper but how it felt, as well as his continuing reverence, though not unreserved, for it, is one of the high points of this piece--it is still a struggle to survive.

Albo juxtaposes all the swag his colleagues received at various other magazines as well as his efforts to make the right decision about the junket with the outcome, in which The Paper first absolved him of wrongdoing, then changed its mind once it came under more minute scrutiny. But whether or not you agree with their decision, this piece has plenty of other merits, because Albo is not using it to settle a score or argue that he was in the right. In fact, he never points fingers, or this would read much differently and more as a way to settle a score than to explore why it is that he writes.

He concludes with a question about New York City that I think almost anyone who's lived here has been forced to ask themselves: is it worth it? "I have forgone something lasting to continue my long-term relationship with the most exciting but unreliable boyfriend of all--New York City. Maybe it's time to break up with it, to emancipate myself from the teasing, taunting, sexy metropolis that has kept me within its grip my entire adult life. But how do I break up with a city? How long am I supposed to believe I can 'make it' here? Or does none of it matter because it's all about advertising?" Once again, my biggest takeaway was how much Albo wants to write, and will go to whatever lengths he can to do it, not for the money per se, but for the expression. What you think that expression is worth is what's explored here, but I can safely say this essay is worth the $1.99.

And when you're done with it, I highly recommend my favorite piece of his: a tribute to a Katell Keinig concert that will wipe the idea of swag or writing about cravats right out of your mind, because it's so beautiful (in Sean Manning's anthology The Show I'll Never Forget).

"So What If Monica Lewinsky Is Single? An Open Letter to the Daily Mail"

I wrote "So What If Monica Lewinsky Is Single? An Open Letter to the Daily Mail" at Huffington Post. And yes, people like Perez Hilton and others picked it up, but it's a tabloid story, and a dumb one at that.

Dear The Daily Mail,

I understand that you need to sell newspapers, but I read your article on Monica Lewinsky twice and, after coming away with no new information about her each time, am puzzled over why you would print this. Is her single status really news?

While you thoroughly rehashed the fact that Bill Clinton basically had an affair with her then threw her under the bus, we already knew that. You quote her extensively from 2004... seven years ago. The only new quotes come from a "friend" of hers in the National Enquirer.

Read the whole thing

Media Sex Night tonight! Memoir, burlesque, erotica, cupcakes, chocolate-covered pretzels and more!

In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Media Sex Night event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook. Note early start time.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
MEDIA SEX NIGHT
July 15, 2010, 7:30 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

Media superstars invade In The Flesh. Featuring Kevin Allison (The State, RISK show), Penny Arcade (Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!), Twanna A. Hines (FunkyBrownChick.com), Jillian Lauren (New York Times bestselling author of Some Girls: My Life in a Harem), Paulie & Pauline (Off The Set), Jerry Portwood (New York Press), Rachel Shukert (Everything Is Going to Be Great) and reading plus performance from Jo Weldon (The Burlesque Handbook). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Fast Girls, Please, Sir, Please, Ma’am). Sponsored by New York Press. Books will be available for sale by Mobile Libris. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

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 Mike Albo, 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, Julie Powell, 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, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Kevin Allison is a member of the legendary sketch comedy troupe The State, whose series on MTV in the mid-90s was influential for many of today's comics. He is the creator and host of RISK!, a popular live show and audio podcast where people tell true tales they never thought they'd dare to share. The live show won the ECNY Award for Best Variety Show in New York of 2009 and the podcast version of RISK! has been downloaded nearly 700,000 times now. Kevin's recent film and TV appearances include Reno 911!: Miami, The Ten, Wedding Daze, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Comedy Central’s Viva Variety and Stella, and HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. Behind the scenes, Kevin has written for Blue Man Group Productions and JibJab. In the print world, Kevin’s writing has appeared in The Village Voice, Giant, Premiere and Film Journal. He has served as the Artistic Director of The Peoples Improv Theater in New York and teaches comedy writing there, at New York University, at The Philly Improv Theater and online at www.filmlab.ca. He can be reached at Kevin at risk-show.com .



Penny Arcade aka Susana Ventura is an internationally acclaimed and respected performance, theater, video artist, as well as a writer, poet, essayist, and cultural icon. She is one of the few performance artists to gain international renown in the mainstream entertainment world. Bad Reputation [Semiotext(e)] is the first book about Penny Arcade and her work.


photo by Jasmine Hirst

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 Fast Girls, Orgasmic, 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

Twanna A. Hines is a sex, dating and relationships writer. She has written for Huffington Post, Lifetime, Nerve, New York Press, Fast Company and others. She has appeared on CNN, NPR, Sirius Satellite Radio as well as CBC, and she has been quoted in the Village Voice, New York magazine, Gawker Media, The San Francisco Chronicle,
EbonyJet, The Baltimore Sun, Vibe and elsewhere. AOL recognized her award-winning site, FUNKY BROWN CHICK®. She attended New York University and other schools. Her B.S. and M.A. degrees are in sociology. Having lived in London, Chicago, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and The Hague, she speaks English and Dutch fluently as well as conversational French. She enjoys passionate love affairs with faraway lands and intelligent men. Get down with the funky brown! ™
www.funkybrownchick.com



Jillian Lauren’s is the author of the memoir Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, Plume 2010. She has an MFA from Antioch University and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Flaunt Magazine and Opium Magazine, among others. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. Her novel, Pretty, is scheduled to be released from Plume in Spring 2011.
www.jillianlauren.com



Paulie & Pauline seek out candid moments in the human experience with a curiosity that is heavily influenced by their backgrounds in journalism and sociology. Mostly, though, their photos reflect their voyeuristic fascination with people and their stories. Photos from Off the Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners have been published in print and online, appeared in several group exhibitions of fine-art photography, and are included in the permanent collections at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the art gallery at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.
www.paulieandpauline.com

Jerry Portwood is the editor-in-chief of New York Press. He is also the founding editor of CityArts, an arts-only newsweekly focused on arts and culture in NYC. His short fiction and essays have appeared in regional and international publications. He keeps saying he's working on a book.



Rachel Shukert is the author of Everything Is Going to Be Great and Have You No Shame? and Other Regrettable Stories. Her work has been featured on National Public Radio, as well as in Salon, McSweeny's, Slate, The Daily Beast, and Gawker, among others. She has contributed to several notable print anthologies, including Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists, Best Sex Writing (Rachel Kramer Bussel, ed.) and Best American Poetry. She is a contributing editor at Tablet Magazine. Her first feature screenplay is currently in development with Yarn Films.
rachelshukert.com



Jo Weldon is the Headmistress and Founder of the New York School of Burlesque. Internationally renowned as burlesque personality Jo Boobs, she's rounded her heels on stages from Coney Island to Las Vegas. She's the winner of such exotic titles as Best Bump N Grinder, Best Teacher and Mentor, and Biggest Cougar in Burlesque! She has worked with performers from Leonard Cohen to Spinal Tap, and has been featured on television shows from CBS Sunday Morning to Gossip Girl. Her book, The Burlesque Handbook: A Backstage Guide, featuring a foreword by Margaret Cho, was released by HarperCollins/ItBooks in June 2010.
www.schoolofburlesque.com



You will hear from the following books:


The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon


Some Girls: My life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren


Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour by Rachel Shukert


Off The Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners by Paulie & Pauline

(see Madison Young reading from Off the Set at In The Flesh here)

Next In The Flesh July 15th - Media Sex Night with NYT bestsellers, comedians, bloggers, burlesque & more!

In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Media Sex Night event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook. Note early start time.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
MEDIA SEX NIGHT
July 15, 2010, 7:30 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

Media superstars invade In The Flesh. Featuring Kevin Allison (The State, RISK show), Penny Arcade (Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!), Twanna A. Hines (FunkyBrownChick.com), Jillian Lauren (New York Times bestselling author of Some Girls: My Life in a Harem), Paulie & Pauline (Off The Set), Jerry Portwood (New York Press), Rachel Shukert (Everything Is Going to Be Great) and reading plus performance from Jo Weldon (The Burlesque Handbook). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Fast Girls, Please, Sir, Please, Ma’am). Sponsored by New York Press. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

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 Mike Albo, 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, Julie Powell, 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, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Kevin Allison is a member of the legendary sketch comedy troupe The State, whose series on MTV in the mid-90s was influential for many of today's comics. He is the creator and host of RISK!, a popular live show and audio podcast where people tell true tales they never thought they'd dare to share. The live show won the ECNY Award for Best Variety Show in New York of 2009 and the podcast version of RISK! has been downloaded nearly 700,000 times now. Kevin's recent film and TV appearances include Reno 911!: Miami, The Ten, Wedding Daze, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Comedy Central’s Viva Variety and Stella, and HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. Behind the scenes, Kevin has written for Blue Man Group Productions and JibJab. In the print world, Kevin’s writing has appeared in The Village Voice, Giant, Premiere and Film Journal. He has served as the Artistic Director of The Peoples Improv Theater in New York and teaches comedy writing there, at New York University, at The Philly Improv Theater and online at www.filmlab.ca. He can be reached at Kevin at risk-show.com .



Penny Arcade aka Susana Ventura is an internationally acclaimed and respected performance, theater, video artist, as well as a writer, poet, essayist, and cultural icon. She is one of the few performance artists to gain international renown in the mainstream entertainment world. Bad Reputation [Semiotext(e)] is the first book about Penny Arcade and her work.


photo by Jasmine Hirst

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 Fast Girls, Orgasmic, 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

Twanna A. Hines is a sex, dating and relationships writer. She has written for Huffington Post, Lifetime, Nerve, New York Press, Fast Company and others. She has appeared on CNN, NPR, Sirius Satellite Radio as well as CBC, and she has been quoted in the Village Voice, New York magazine, Gawker Media, The San Francisco Chronicle,
EbonyJet, The Baltimore Sun, Vibe and elsewhere. AOL recognized her award-winning site, FUNKY BROWN CHICK®. She attended New York University and other schools. Her B.S. and M.A. degrees are in sociology. Having lived in London, Chicago, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and The Hague, she speaks English and Dutch fluently as well as conversational French. She enjoys passionate love affairs with faraway lands and intelligent men. Get down with the funky brown! ™
www.funkybrownchick.com



Jillian Lauren’s is the author of the memoir Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, Plume 2010. She has an MFA from Antioch University and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Flaunt Magazine and Opium Magazine, among others. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. Her novel, Pretty, is scheduled to be released from Plume in Spring 2011.
www.jillianlauren.com



Paulie & Pauline seek out candid moments in the human experience with a curiosity that is heavily influenced by their backgrounds in journalism and sociology. Mostly, though, their photos reflect their voyeuristic fascination with people and their stories. Photos from Off the Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners have been published in print and online, appeared in several group exhibitions of fine-art photography, and are included in the permanent collections at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the art gallery at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.
www.paulieandpauline.com

Jerry Portwood is the editor-in-chief of New York Press. He is also the founding editor of CityArts, an arts-only newsweekly focused on arts and culture in NYC. His short fiction and essays have appeared in regional and international publications. He keeps saying he's working on a book.



Rachel Shukert is the author of Everything Is Going to Be Great and Have You No Shame? and Other Regrettable Stories. Her work has been featured on National Public Radio, as well as in Salon, McSweeny's, Slate, The Daily Beast, and Gawker, among others. She has contributed to several notable print anthologies, including Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists, Best Sex Writing (Rachel Kramer Bussel, ed.) and Best American Poetry. She is a contributing editor at Tablet Magazine. Her first feature screenplay is currently in development with Yarn Films.
rachelshukert.com



Jo Weldon is the Headmistress and Founder of the New York School of Burlesque. Internationally renowned as burlesque personality Jo Boobs, she's rounded her heels on stages from Coney Island to Las Vegas. She's the winner of such exotic titles as Best Bump N Grinder, Best Teacher and Mentor, and Biggest Cougar in Burlesque! She has worked with performers from Leonard Cohen to Spinal Tap, and has been featured on television shows from CBS Sunday Morning to Gossip Girl. Her book, The Burlesque Handbook: A Backstage Guide, featuring a foreword by Margaret Cho, was released by HarperCollins/ItBooks in June 2010.
www.schoolofburlesque.com



You will hear from the following books:


The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon


Some Girls: My life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren


Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour by Rachel Shukert


Off The Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners by Paulie & Pauline

(see Madison Young reading from Off the Set at In The Flesh here)

New York Times bestselling author Jillian Lauren (Some Girls: My Life in a Harem) reads July 15th at Media Sex Night

My interview with Some Girls author Jillian Lauren will be up soon, and I'm SO honored she is now joining us July 15th for Media Sex Night. There are only 6 more In The Flesh readings left and this ultra-packed with superstars lineup is one you don't want to miss! Note early start time.

In The Flesh postcards arrive soon. Want one? Email rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "ITF postcard" in subject line and your mailing address (US only). These are the last In The Flesh postcards ever (cleaning my apartment I've found umpteen incarnations of them) and cover July-December 2010. Anything you can do to spread the word to those who might like this fun, free, cupcake-filled event would be greatly appreciated. Last night was very sparsely attended and while the readers were excellent, I want to go out with a bang.


In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Media Sex Night event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook. Note early start time.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
MEDIA SEX NIGHT
July 15, 2010, 7:30 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

Media superstars invade In The Flesh. Featuring Kevin Allison (The State, RISK show), Penny Arcade (Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!), Twanna A. Hines (FunkyBrownChick.com), Jillian Lauren (New York Times bestselling author of Some Girls: My Life in a Harem), Paulie & Pauline (Off The Set), Jerry Portwood (New York Press), and reading plus performance from Jo Weldon (The Burlesque Handbook). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Fast Girls, Please, Sir, Please, Ma’am). Sponsored by New York Press. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

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 Mike Albo, 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, Julie Powell, 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, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Kevin Allison is a member of the legendary sketch comedy troupe The State, whose series on MTV in the mid-90s was influential for many of today's comics. He is the creator and host of RISK!, a popular live show and audio podcast where people tell true tales they never thought they'd dare to share. The live show won the ECNY Award for Best Variety Show in New York of 2009 and the podcast version of RISK! has been downloaded nearly 700,000 times now. Kevin's recent film and TV appearances include Reno 911!: Miami, The Ten, Wedding Daze, VH1’s Best Week Ever, Comedy Central’s Viva Variety and Stella, and HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. Behind the scenes, Kevin has written for Blue Man Group Productions and JibJab. In the print world, Kevin’s writing has appeared in The Village Voice, Giant, Premiere and Film Journal. He has served as the Artistic Director of The Peoples Improv Theater in New York and teaches comedy writing there, at New York University, at The Philly Improv Theater and online at www.filmlab.ca. He can be reached at Kevin at risk-show.com .



Penny Arcade aka Susana Ventura is an internationally acclaimed and respected performance, theater, video artist, as well as a writer, poet, essayist, and cultural icon. She is one of the few performance artists to gain international renown in the mainstream entertainment world. Bad Reputation [Semiotext(e)] is the first book about Penny Arcade and her work.


photo by Jasmine Hirst

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 Fast Girls, Orgasmic, 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

Twanna A. Hines is a sex, dating and relationships writer. She has written for Huffington Post, Lifetime, Nerve, New York Press, Fast Company and others. She has appeared on CNN, NPR, Sirius Satellite Radio as well as CBC, and she has been quoted in the Village Voice, New York magazine, Gawker Media, The San Francisco Chronicle,
EbonyJet, The Baltimore Sun, Vibe and elsewhere. AOL recognized her award-winning site, FUNKY BROWN CHICK®. She attended New York University and other schools. Her B.S. and M.A. degrees are in sociology. Having lived in London, Chicago, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and The Hague, she speaks English and Dutch fluently as well as conversational French. She enjoys passionate love affairs with faraway lands and intelligent men. Get down with the funky brown! ™
www.funkybrownchick.com



Jillian Lauren’s is the author of the memoir Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, Plume 2010. She has an MFA from Antioch University and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Flaunt Magazine and Opium Magazine, among others. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son. Her novel, Pretty, is scheduled to be released from Plume in Spring 2011.
www.jillianlauren.com



Paulie & Pauline seek out candid moments in the human experience with a curiosity that is heavily influenced by their backgrounds in journalism and sociology. Mostly, though, their photos reflect their voyeuristic fascination with people and their stories. Photos from Off the Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners have been published in print and online, appeared in several group exhibitions of fine-art photography, and are included in the permanent collections at the Museum of Sex in New York City and the art gallery at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.
www.paulieandpauline.com

Jerry Portwood is the editor-in-chief of New York Press. He is also the founding editor of CityArts, an arts-only newsweekly focused on arts and culture in NYC. His short fiction and essays have appeared in regional and international publications. He keeps saying he's working on a book.



Jo Weldon is the Headmistress and Founder of the New York School of Burlesque. Internationally renowned as burlesque personality Jo Boobs, she's rounded her heels on stages from Coney Island to Las Vegas. She's the winner of such exotic titles as Best Bump N Grinder, Best Teacher and Mentor, and Biggest Cougar in Burlesque! She has worked with performers from Leonard Cohen to Spinal Tap, and has been featured on television shows from CBS Sunday Morning to Gossip Girl. Her book, The Burlesque Handbook: A Backstage Guide, featuring a foreword by Margaret Cho, was released by HarperCollins/ItBooks in June 2010.
www.schoolofburlesque.com



You will hear from the following books:


Some Girls: My Life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren


The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon


Off The Set: Porn Stars and Their Partners by Paulie & Pauline

(see Madison Young reading from Off the Set at In The Flesh here)

Lindsay and Sam in the media

I've been following the Lindsay Lohan/Samantha Ronson coverage pretty closely, and there's some interesting commentary from Kate Aurthur at the Los Angeles Times:

While many celebrities themselves have stopped hiding their same-sex relationships, the media have not until Lohan followed suit. Michael Musto, an openly gay columnist for the Village Voice, who himself has never engaged in that kind of self-censorship, has noticed a change. As Musto sees it, we've reached a moment in which the Lohan-Ronson pairing can simply be reported as a fact because people have, you know, eyes.

"Traditionally, the media has been as interested in closeting celebrities as the celebrities themselves have been," Musto said. "I've read things in gossip columns that would never go there in the past and realized, 'Wow, they're going there now.' They don't consider gay a dirty thing anymore. And it's very cool."

Jared Shapiro, the editor of Life & Style, said that the Lohan-Ronson story has indeed presented a unique set of issues for celebrity magazines. "Why is this couple different than every other couple?" Shapiro asked rhetorically recently on the telephone. "We know they're not friends -- we know they're in love, we know they're dating.

But for every interesting article like that that actually has something to say, there are umpteen headlines like this one:

"Lindsay can't stop cuddling lover Sam as they go on ANOTHER public date"

Call me crazy, but...aren't all dates public? I get that it's The Daily Mail and all, but come on. We've either come a long way or...we haven't. These are the kinds of headlines and incredulousness I think we're going to see a lot more of. Oh, and comments like this one:

Are you sure Samantha Ronson is a woman? She looks looks like a man!

- Ama Hinson, Luton Bedfordshire, 18/7/2008 17:15

Pretty much every site that allows comments has gotten some like this. Maybe same sex couples are getting treated with a teensy bit more tolerance in celebrity media, but butch/femme? Not so much.

What's also been interesting, with neither Lohan or Ronson officially talking about their relationship status, is the media's reliance on their social networking profiles (not without criticism). Apparently, the first of these Facebook pages is the official Ronson one. She reportedly changed her Facebook status to "in a relationship," much has been made of her official MySpace photo, and Lohan reportedly changed her name on Facebook to "Lindsay Ronson."

Arizona Republic cupcake shoutout

You know cupcakes have really taken over the world when you start getting emails about cupcake bakeries opening in South Africa. (check out their boobs and bra concoction!)

Our blog gets a mention in "Creamy, dreamy cupcakes" by Jaimee Rose in The Arizona Republic:

Nationally, this frosting frenzy has been mounting for ages. New York went cupcake crazy about four years ago after Carrie and Miranda gobbled Magnolia Bakery's confections on Sex and the City. Sprinkles opened in Beverly Hills in 2005, and customers still wait in line for 30 minutes to buy a single red velvet cupcake heaped with cream cheese icing.

Oprah passed them out on her TV show. Tyra Banks confessed to being obsessed.

Now you can buy Sprinkles mixes at Williams-Sonoma, and the country has reached critical cupcake mass. There are a cupcake blog (cupcakestakethe cake.blogspot.com), a cutesy "cuppycake" song circulating on YouTube and even Starbucks offering two-packs to take home.

Come September, when Sprinkles opens at Scottsdale and Camelback roads, we'll have our turn to wait in line for cake.

SXSW plans and "Super Glossy!" opens March 9th

I'll be going to Courtney McLean's solo show "Super Glossy!" on March 9th, before heading off to Austin for SXSW Interactive on March 10th. The one productive thing I did last week was book my plane ticket, so I'm in Austin March 10-13, my panel "Do You Blog on the First Date?" is Monday, March 12th at 5 pm. Full Interactive schedule is posting tomorrow night. Also, my friend Rachel Fershleiser of SMITH is looking for a place to crash during SXSW Interactive - if you have space on your hotel room floor or something like that, email her at rachelfershleiser at gmail.com - thank you!

Anyone wanting to meet up or join me for probably a Sunday trip to Babycakes, please get in touch. Sex blog types I know are going are Violet Blue, Cory Silverberg, and Seska Lee, and my fellow panelists, Alyssa Shelasky, Emily Listfield, and Melanie Boyer, though I'm not sure all would call themselves "sex bloggers." I guess Tucker Max too, but my one interview with him was probably more than enough to suffice, though I do want to check out his panel on turning blogs into books, especially since we need to bust our collective asses ASAP to get out cupcake blog a book deal. I'm also very excited to get to meet Rebecca Woolf of Girl's Gone Child, go to one of Neal Pollack's panels, and hang with Annalee Newitz for more than five seconds. I'm really hoping some of the Happy Corp. crowd will be out there as well. They are everywhere, including showing up at Sexytime Comedy on Friday night and being some of the most enthusiastic audience members.

I will definitely be blogging my way through my first SXSW. Anyway, do check out Cory's (he's the co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability and also a co-owner of Canadian sex toy store Come As You Are) response to this week's Village Voice cover story "Something In The Way He Moves." (I'll join Cory in not even llinking to it, I'm sure you can easily find it yourselves.)

Here's Courtney's show info:

Get tickets for "Super Glossy!" here

And here are the dates/times:
Friday, March 9 @ 9pm
Saturday, March 10 @ 2:30pm
Sunday, March 11 @ 8:30pm
Thursday, March 15 @ 6pm
Saturday, March 17 @ 8:30pm

Tickets are a measley $10. TELL EVERYONE!!

Cosmopolitan (the magazine and the drink – 3 or 4 of them) meets The
Stepford Wives meets The Venture Bros in this science fiction satire on
women’s magazines. “Super Glossy!” is the story of Jane Fuller, a
self-proclaimed adversary of the beauty industry who finds herself in a
downward spiral after a “chance” meeting with the extremely famous
husband of Melinda D’Alteo, uber-celebrity and Jane’s middle school
best friend. Inspired by Heather Woodbury’s living novel plays, “Super
Glossy!” is told through the context of a women’s magazine, complete
with Reader’s Letters, advice columns, and advertisements for useless
beauty products.