From buying my first vibrator at Eve's Garden in 1997 to teaching erotica writing there in 2015

Way back around 1997, when I was in, I believe, my first year of law school at NYU, I decided it was high time I got myself a vibrator. Beyond that, I don't recall the specifics, save that I had been reading erotica since high school and was highly curious. I lived in the law school dorms at 240 Mercer Street in Greenwich Village, near some porn stores on 6th Avenue, but didn't feel comfortable buying a sex toy from one of them, so off I went to Eve's Garden on 57th Street. It was, and still is, located in an otherwise innocuous looking office building. You don't have to say "I'm going to the 12th floor" to anyone as you get on the elevator and proceed to a similarly innocuous door that welcomes you into a cozy women friendly sex toy store. This was at least a year, and probably two years, before I ever thought about, let alone tried my hand at, writing erotica.

I know the first vibrator I bought was a rabbit vibe, and that I spent many an hour enjoying it. I truly don't remember that much about that early visit to Eve's Garden, but I can tell you about my recent visit during my trip to New York. I walked in on an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon after taking the bus from Atlantic City. I was there because I'll be teaching an erotica writing workshop at the shop on Thursday, October 15th, and wanted to check in and see what was on sale and get a copy of founder Dell Williams' memoir Revolution in the Garden. Well, lo and behold, not only do they stock my erotica anthologies such as Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, The Big Book of Orgasms and Anything for You: Erotica for Kinky Couples, they gifted me a copy of the book I'd gone there for. I was overjoyed, and awed at how full circle I'd come, from being a confused, frustrated law student who wasn't sure what her professional future held, to carving out this path for the last fifteen or so years of writing, editing and teaching. I spent a good while browsing, and bought massage oil and a massage candle to use at home, and took some photos. I can't wait to return to Eve's Garden for my workshop and inspire others to get writing! Workshop details:

October 15, 7-8:30 pm
Erotica Writing 101 workshop
Eve's Garden, 119 West 57th Street, Suite 1201, New York, NY
Facebook event page Rachel Kramer Bussel, professional erotica author and editor of over 50 erotica anthologies, such as Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, The Big Book of Orgasms, Best Bondage Erotica 2015 and more, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type. You'll discover how to incorporate everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing, and make them fit for particular magazines and anthologies. She'll also talk about submitting your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market (including anthologies, ebooks, magazines and websites). Whether you're writing to that special someone, penning longtime fantasies, or want to earn cash for your dirty words, this workshop is for you. Please bring paper or writing implements or a laptop to use for in class writing exercises. A bibliography with erotica resources will be provided. $20/person. Limited to 20 people. Register at Eve's Garden or by calling 212-757-8651. Doors at 6:45, class runs from 7-8:30 p.m. and includes a handout with resources.

Here's some photos I took during my recent visit, and I'll take more before my workshop.


Yes, that's an Eiffel Tower dildo!


There's a great books section - I promise I'm not just saying that because they stock my titles!










pretty glass dildos






A fitting display for Revolution in the Garden, a fascinating feminist memoir, which I recommend and will be posting more about soon!

Sex toys, sex toys, sex toys!

If you like sex toys, you may like my ebook anthology Instruments of Pleasure: Sex Toy Erotica, for sale for $3.99 on Kindle, $5.49 on Nook, $4.61 on Google Play and $3.99 on iBooks. Want to get your own sex toy erotica published? See below for my anthology call for submissions with an April 1 deadline (all my anthology calls can be found at my website).

I can't think of a better way to add more fun to sex than sex toys—after all, the word "toy" is right there, and today's sex toys come in all sorts of playful designs, from Hello Kitty vibrators to sparkly harnesses, light smackers to heavy paddles. Whatever you can dream of, you can probably find—or make your own!

The very special stories in Instruments of Pleasure highlight the many ways we use sex toys to make our fantasies come true. Sometimes, there's a lesson involved, such as "Like This," where a woman uses what many consider the "Cadillac of vibrators," the ultra-powerful plug-in vibe Hitachi Magic Wand (or "electric miracle," in the story), to show her lover exactly what she does when she's alone. For others, toys are part of BDSM play, especially spanking, and you can read about the intense strokes of a cane in "Getting It Right" and the power of "The Spanking Machine." The dildo in "A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy" almost makes it a foursome, while in "The London O," using a pair of remote controlled panties with a built-in vibrator in public brings new heights to the thrill of sightseeing. In "Strapped" and "The Inner Vixen," women take charge, using a strap-on dildo and harness and a whip, respectively, exulting in the power they hold, and the delight their partner gets in being on the receiving end. Other times, rather than adding sensation, we take away a sense, such as the use of a blindfold in "Princess." Without being able to see, the heroine can simply feel. In "The Apiary," there are multiple toys, including a collar and chains, but the main "toy" is a chair, a piece of furniture that can be surprisingly erotic, if you use your imagination.

I hope these stories serve as their own kind of sex toy for you, and inspire you to break out your favorite toy, or perhaps discover a new one. You can never have too many sex toys, or have too much fun with them!

And the table of contents:

Like This Rachel Kramer Bussel

The London O Justine Elyot

Princess Elizabeth Coldwell

Strapped KD Grace

The Apiary Megan Butcher

Undercover Kink Louisa Harte

The Inner Vixen Saska Walker

A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy Kristina Wright

Getting It Right Teresa Noelle Roberts

The Spanking Machine by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Call for Submissions: Sex Toy Erotica anthology, April 1 deadline
To be published by Cleis Press

Erotica editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is looking for your hottest sex toy erotica stories. Sex toys can include items such as vibrators, dildos, butt plugs, as well as items like handcuffs and other restraints, nipple clamps, paddles, cock rings, whips and canes, sex furniture, etc., but feel free to get as creative as you can with the definition of "sex toy" and its use in your stories. The story can focus on the sex toy or simply incorporate the use of a sex toy into the narrative. Sex toys should be given context and description, but shouldn't read like catalog copy. Let the story you're telling drive the detail used to convey exactly what the sex toy/s is/are and their purpose within the story.

The final book will contain a wide range of characters, scenarios, sexualities, locations, motivations and toys, from the types listed above that you'd find at a sex toy retailer, to everyday household objects, to fictional sex toys. The sky's the limit! All characters should be over 18. No nonconsensual scenes. No bestiality, scat or incest. No poetry. Please see my anthologies Orgasmic, Women in Lust, and Fast Girls for examples of the kinds of stories I'm looking for. Unpublished stories only (this includes blogs and websites).

How to submit: Send double spaced Times or Times New Roman 12 point black font Word document with pages numbered (.doc, not .docx) OR RTF of 1,500-4,000 word story. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing, do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). US grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) required. Only submit your final, best version of the story you are submitting. Do not send multiple versions of the same story. Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, and 50 word or less bio in the third person to sextoyantho@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name as well as your pseudonym and make it clear which one you'd like to be credited as. For the smoothest editorial process, please double check that the byline you are using with your submission is the byline you'd want published. You will receive a confirmation within 72 hours. I will get back to you by September 2014. I cannot give any feedback on rejected submissions.

Payment: $50 and 2 copies of the book on publication

Deadline: April 1, 2014 (earlier submissions strongly encouraged)

NOTE: I've been seeing numerous recent submissions that do not conform to my guidelines. They are there for a reason. Please read and follow them. If you have any questions, please contact me at sextoyantho@gmail.com

My Hitachi Magic Wand essay at Salon and Hitachi Magic Wand erotica story in Instruments of Pleasure

I'm ending the year on a high note with an essay at Salon called "Is My Vibrator Ruining My Relationship?" about buying a second Hitachi Magic Wand. I know I look a bit weird in the photo below; I'm not that great at self-portraits, but it's the only photo of I have of me with a Hitachi.



Speaking of this beloved vibrator, my story "Like This," about a woman who shows off her use of a Hitachi Magic Wand, kicks off my 10-story ebook Instruments of Pleasure: Sex Toy Erotica, now available for Kindle ($4.99) and Nook ($5.39, I don't set the prices because if I did these would be equal!). More info about it below, and stay tuned for more erotica ebooks from me.

I can't think of a better way to add more fun to sex than sex toys—after all, the word "toy" is right there, and today's sex toys come in all sorts of playful designs, from Hello Kitty vibrators to sparkly harnesses, light smackers to heavy paddles. Whatever you can dream of, you can probably find—or make your own!

The very special stories in Instruments of Pleasure highlight the many ways we use sex toys to make our fantasies come true. Sometimes, there's a lesson involved, such as "Like This," where a woman uses what many consider the "Cadillac of vibrators," the ultra-powerful plug-in vibe Hitachi Magic Wand (or "electric miracle," in the story), to show her lover exactly what she does when she's alone. For others, toys are part of BDSM play, especially spanking, and you can read about the intense strokes of a cane in "Getting It Right" and the power of "The Spanking Machine." The dildo in "A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy" almost makes it a foursome, while in "The London O," using a pair of remote controlled panties with a built-in vibrator in public brings new heights to the thrill of sightseeing. In "Strapped" and "The Inner Vixen," women take charge, using a strap-on dildo and harness and a whip, respectively, exulting in the power they hold, and the delight their partner gets in being on the receiving end. Other times, rather than adding sensation, we take away a sense, such as the use of a blindfold in "Princess." Without being able to see, the heroine can simply feel. In "The Apiary," there are multiple toys, including a collar and chains, but the main "toy" is a chair, a piece of furniture that can be surprisingly erotic, if you use your imagination.

I hope these stories serve as their own kind of sex toy for you, and inspire you to break out your favorite toy, or perhaps discover a new one. You can never have too many sex toys, or have too much fun with them!

And the table of contents:

Like This Rachel Kramer Bussel

The London O Justine Elyot

Princess Elizabeth Coldwell

Strapped KD Grace

The Apiary Megan Butcher

Undercover Kink Louisa Harte

The Inner Vixen Saska Walker

A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy Kristina Wright

Getting It Right Teresa Noelle Roberts

The Spanking Machine by Rachel Kramer Bussel

10 sex toy erotica stories for $4.79 in my new ebook Instruments of Pleasure

I've got a short, sexy new ebook of 10 erotic stories for you called Instruments of Pleasure: Sex Toy Erotica and it's for sale for $4.79 for Kindle! If you didn't know, you don't need a Kindle to view Kindle ebooks, you can download it for your laptop or phone. The ebook is also for sale for Nook, iBooks and Google Play. (Yes, if you're a truly dedicated reader and have read every single one of my anthologies, you will have read these before.) My opening story "Like This" is a masturbation exhibitionism and voyeurism story about the only sex toy I own multiples of, the Hitachi Magic Wand! Here's my introduction:

I can't think of a better way to add more fun to sex than sex toys—after all, the word "toy" is right there, and today's sex toys come in all sorts of playful designs, from Hello Kitty vibrators to sparkly harnesses, light smackers to heavy paddles. Whatever you can dream of, you can probably find—or make your own!

The very special stories in Instruments of Pleasure highlight the many ways we use sex toys to make our fantasies come true. Sometimes, there's a lesson involved, such as "Like This," where a woman uses what many consider the "Cadillac of vibrators," the ultra-powerful plug-in vibe Hitachi Magic Wand (or "electric miracle," in the story), to show her lover exactly what she does when she's alone. For others, toys are part of BDSM play, especially spanking, and you can read about the intense strokes of a cane in "Getting It Right" and the power of "The Spanking Machine." The dildo in "A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy" almost makes it a foursome, while in "The London O," using a pair of remote controlled panties with a built-in vibrator in public brings new heights to the thrill of sightseeing. In "Strapped" and "The Inner Vixen," women take charge, using a strap-on dildo and harness and a whip, respectively, exulting in the power they hold, and the delight their partner gets in being on the receiving end. Other times, rather than adding sensation, we take away a sense, such as the use of a blindfold in "Princess." Without being able to see, the heroine can simply feel. In "The Apiary," there are multiple toys, including a collar and chains, but the main "toy" is a chair, a piece of furniture that can be surprisingly erotic, if you use your imagination.

I hope these stories serve as their own kind of sex toy for you, and inspire you to break out your favorite toy, or perhaps discover a new one. You can never have too many sex toys, or have too much fun with them!

And the table of contents:

Like This Rachel Kramer Bussel

The London O Justine Elyot

Princess Elizabeth Coldwell

Strapped KD Grace

The Apiary Megan Butcher

Undercover Kink Louisa Harte

The Inner Vixen Saska Walker

A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy Kristina Wright

Getting It Right Teresa Noelle Roberts

The Spanking Machine by Rachel Kramer Bussel

10 Reasons the Hitachi Magic Wand is My Favorite Vibrator

Check out my new column, 10 Reasons the Hitachi Magic Wand is My Favorite Vibrator. And single girl/self-employed BFF.

1. It's powerful. Plain and simple, it provides the sensation I like against my clit and along my vulva. I know some women temper the intensity with a towel, but I like it direct and strong.

Read the whole thing

4 free vibrators August 19th at Summer Sex/Sex on the Beach Night!

We're so excited that sponsor EdenFantasys has given us four (yes, four!) waterproof vibrators to give away August 19th, in keeping with our Summer Sex/Sex on the Beach theme. Pay close attention to the readers as winners will be chosen by correctly answering trivia questions!

We'll have the waterproof travel blaster vibrator in purple and red!

Blast your way to pleasure with this discreet waterproof vibrator. Made of smooth and sturdy plastic, this small massager comes with a removable silicone sleeve that is phthalate free for safe and healthy play. This sleeve is covered in raised nubs to tickle and tease any erogenous zone you choose whether in the water or out. With a single push of the button on the underside of the piece, you’ll send waves of vibration throughout this little number, providing powerful but quiet stimulation that’s perfect for travel or secretive fun.





We're also giving away two Nestlin' Bunny rabbit vibrators!



Join us live August 19th to win!

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
SUMMER SEX/SEX ON THE BEACH NIGHT
August 19, 2010, 8:00 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 ready to get overheated at Summer Sex/Sex on the Beach night at In The Flesh! The summer's hottest fiction, a romance novelist, a documentarian, erotica and more. Featuring Abigail Ekue (The Darker Side of Lust), Eric, Hilary Thayer Hamann (Anthropology of an American Girl), Yona Zeldis McDonough (Breaking the Bank), Tony O’Neill (Sick City), Michelle Janine Robinson (Color Me Grey), filmmaker Therese Shechter (How To Lose Your Virginity) and Hope Tarr (The Tutor). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Orgasmic, Fast Girls, Please, Sir). Mobile Libris will sell readers' books. 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!

Free chocolate, chips, cupcakes, cock ring and vibrator giveaway tonight at GLBT Night, In The Flesh Reading Series

Free barbecue potato chips, regular potato chips, several kinds of tortilla chips, meringues, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-covered espresso beans, mini chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate-covered pretzels, mini Hershey’s chocolates and mini cupcakes in addition to everything below!

In addition to free copies of SexIs Magazine for all attendees and a $50 sex toy gift card giveaway from EdenFantasys, the following c-ring and vibrator are also being given away courtesy of EdenFantasys. All this plus free cupcakes, chips, cookies, chocolate & more! Don't miss June 17th.






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 GLBT Erotica event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
GLBT EROTICA NIGHT
June 17, 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

In The Flesh goes gay for you! Our annual GLBT Erotica Night is back. Featuring Porno Bingo host and former porn star Will Clark, novelist Dario Dalla Lasta (The Three Red Lines), performer Cas Marino, PANIC! reading series host Charlie Vázquez and Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies contributors Annabeth Leong and Julia Peters. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor, Peep Show, Bottoms Up). 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free cupcakes by Kumquat Cupcakery and chips, cookies and candy 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 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.


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

Will Clark, a Wisconsin native but diehard New Yorker since the early 90s, has been entertaining for the past 20 years, first as an actor, after having earned a Masters degree from Northwestern University, and then in adult films (1995 – 1999, 2003, 48 films) and stripper at clubs around the country (1996 – 2005, 2007) then touring with his own one man show “Altered Ego” (2002 – 2005, New York, Chicago,
Provincetown, New Orleans). Since 1997, he’s worked non-stop as an MC and producer at over a thousand events featuring LGBT celebs raising money for LGBT non profits. Currently, he can be seen at his weekly “Porno Bingo” event in NYC at Pieces. This spring, he returned to his acting roots and was featured in the off Broadway smash, “When Joey Married Bobby” at the Roy Arias Theatre. You can read his blog at
www.willclarkworld.com.



Dario Dalla Lasta is a graduate of Pepperdine University and Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA (he just wants you to know he’s well-educated and once frolicked on such star-drenched sands). On the roller coaster ride of his life so far, he’s been a lawyer, a divorcee, a music industry pundit, an actor, a go-go boy, and a fetish model. For the past five years, he’s been hitting the queer scene as DJ Dario Speedwagon, spinning “cock rock and pussy pop” throughout Brooklyn and NYC. Dario resides in Williamsburg with his boyfriend Michael Bailey and their adorable dog Chavez. The Three Red Lines is his first novel, but he’s completed a second one entitled The Force of Destiny and is currently begging publishers to read the damn thing.



Annabeth Leong's erotica has appeared on the Oysters and Chocolate website and in several anthologies, including Girl Crush from Cleis Press and Coming Together: As One. Visit her blog at http://annabethleong.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AnnabethLeong.

Cas Marino is an actor, singer, writer, producer and artist living and playing in New York City. He's best known for his stage work in the NYC International Fringe Festival, acclaimed revivals of "Torch Song Trilogy" and "La Cage Aux Folles", as well as cabaret and independent theater performances in and around the city. His film work can be seen in the upcoming independent shorts, "Honey" and "Tu & Eu" due out soon. Now having added Celebrity Blogger to his curricula vitae with his regular contributions to Phrolix.com, Cas is the self-proclaimed "voice of the socio-sexual intelligentsia, if not the fashionistas and the glitterati," all for a good hearted glimpse into the thoughts and actions of one man living his life proud, and out loud, in New York City. Cas’ blogs bring that one-on-one camaraderie to his fans as he discusses the adult themes of love, loss, and low-carb living with great frankness and warmth, plenty of adult language and imagery, and above all, great humor. To read Cas’ blogs, visit http://www.phrolix.com/cas-marino.

Julia Peters is the nom de porn of a very nice lady who lives and works in New York City. Her fiction has been published in Playgirl, Girl Crush, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, From Porn to Poetry 2, and others. She has also been published online at Clean Sheets (www.cleansheets.com), where she was a fiction editor. This is her first published work of erotica in quite some time, and she's so happy she's howling at the moon, which would do the wolves who raised her proud.

Charlie Vázquez is a radical Bronx-bred writer of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent. His fiction and essays have been published in anthologies such as Queer and Catholic (Taylor & Francis, 2007) and Best Gay Love Stories: NYC (Alyson, 2006). His writing has also appeared in print and online publications such as The Advocate, Chelsea Clinton News, New York Press and Ganymede Journal. Charlie hosts a monthly reading series called PANIC! (in the East Village), which focuses on original queer fiction and poetry. He will be reading from Contraband tonight, his second novel, which was just published by Rebel Satori Press.



You will be hearing from:


Fast Girls: Erotica for Women


Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies


The Three Red Lines

Not-to-be-missed In The Flesh 4-year anniversary November 19th

If you have ever attended In The Flesh and had a good time, please tell at least one person about tomorrow night's very special 4-year anniversary blowout event. This is my baby, my labor of love (I get a cut of the door but put that back into photography/videography/snacks) and my longest-running project. I've had 3 sex columns that have all been canned but this free event has been going and going. Here's the master list of everyone who's read (as of I think August).

Tomorrow is truly a not-to-be-missed event. We have sex toys and porn and books and the gold JimmyJane vibrator to give away, and art cupcakes with the drawing Molly Crabapple did of me. I can honestly say that in 2005 I had no idea In The Flesh would become so special. It's a hell of a lot of work - I am constantly booking, promoting, scheming about it, but I love it. Maybe not the being-in-front-of-the-mic-to-read-my-smut part - that still makes me nervous - but the hosting, that I love.

So please come out and join us for a truly special event. Doors are at 7 and that's when I recommend arriving; we will start at 7:30. I even bought a new timer to keep everyone in line. If you're running late, we'll be around until 10.

Also see the upcoming lineups:

Sex and Religion Night, December 17

Sex and Food Night, January 21

Love and Lust Night, February 18

And I don't have the lineup all HTML-ed yet but the March 18 BDSM Lineup (subject to change but pretty firm) is: Me, Melissa Febos, Selina Fire, Monk, Julie Powell, Xan West, Mollena Williams and Lolita Wolf. AKA, AWESOME.

And here's my Amazon.com list of the books we'll be hearing from in 2010 at In The Flesh...so far. April 15 is Nerd Sex Night and May 20th is True Sex Confessions and June 17 is GLBT Night.

You can also keep up with In The Flesh:





And just because, I will repost two of my favorite things that have been said about In The Flesh:

New York Press:

Even though Happy Ending Lounge is most closely associated with its namesake series (which has picked up and moved to Joe's Pub), there's something a bit naughtier brewing at the Broome Street den of debauchery. Now in its fourth year, In the Flesh, hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel, features established and up-and-coming writers sharing their franky, funny, frisky tales of love and lust and manages to do so—for the most part—without veering into creepshow territory. Tension is cut by asking the audience to anonymously submit sexy secrets, and it doesn't hurt that Bussel provides hundreds of cupcakes and not-to-be-missed miniature peanut butter cups to lull everyone into a sugar-induced sense of security. Normally we would avoid an erotic reading series like the plague, but after venturing down here to catch a friend reading her dirty dissertation, we were charmed by the humor of the readers and crowd and not at all displeased by the fact that everything we heard was actually—surprisingly—sexy.

Susie Bright:

I have read and performed at hundreds of venues, all over the world— and in terms of sheer class, generosity, and author-happiness, the only producer who comes close to Rachel, is the British Film Institute. And they don't have cupcakes.


This Molly Crabapple-drawn In The Flesh logo will be on a dozen special cupcakes for the early birds!

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
4-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, SPANKING STORIES, SEX BLOGGER CALENDAR & MORE!
November 19th at 7:30 PM (doors at 7; note early start time)
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

We're celebrating 4 years of sexy smut with a party and reading galore! Bringing back memoirists Lily Burana (I Love a Man in Uniform, Strip City) and Isobella Jade (Model Life, Almost 5'4"), Erica Kennedy (Feminista, Bling), Abiola Abrams (BET, author of Dare), Jennifer Peters (Penthouse Forum), Desiree (contributor, The Mile High Club) along with Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories contributors Tess Danesi and Rosalind Christine Lloyd. You will also hear from the organizers of the 2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar, which Tess and host Rachel Kramer Bussel (Peep Show, Spanked, Bottoms Up) posed for! Copies of authors' books and the calendar will be for sale. 300 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa will be served. Prize giveaways include: 24-karat gold vibrator Little Gold ($325 value) from JimmyJane, paddle and slapper from Extreme Restraints, $100 Babeland gift card from Beyond the Birds and the Bees, 2 copies of the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar (featuring Tess, Rachel, Abiola and others), Abiola Abrams' novel Dare, XXX porn film Afrodite Superstar and hot word game SexySlang.

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 Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Once upon a fabulous time Abiola Abrams was raised by Guyanese royalty in a gorgeous suburban ghetto of New York City, appropriately called the "Queens County." These are her chronicles: Dare is her first novel, and her writing is featured in the anthologies Dirty Words, Behind the Bedroom Door and A Memory A Monologue A Rant & A Prayer. Abiola's films range from Knives in My Throat, about mental illness, to Afrodite Superstar, about sexuality. She has hosted shows for BET, HBO and NBC and is now also a host-producer of The Planet Abiola Show. Recently audiences enjoyed watching Abiola get her dating game together as "Miss Picky" on VH1's Drew Barrymore-produced hit reality series Tough Love.
www.abiolatv.com



Lily Burana is a punk rock girl turned writer and editor. Since starting her writing life as a columnist and editor at punk and alternative 'zines, she has gone on to write for The Washington Post, GQ, The New York Times, Self, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly, Details, The Village Voice, The New York Observer, and others. She has been a Contributing Editor at SPIN and New York magazines. Lily married an active-duty Army officer in 2002. Her latest book, I Love a Man in Uniform: A Memoir of Love, War, and Other Battles (Weinstein Books, 2009) was inspired by the overwhelming response she received to her writing about the domestic side of military affairs--a Slate Diary and a New York Times Op-Ed. Her first non-fiction book, Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America (Miramax Books, 2001) made Best of the Year lists in Entertainment Weekly, Salon, New York Newsday, and Rocky Mountain News.
Lily Burana



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


photo by Hilary McHone

Often based on her own explorations in the world of D/s and BDSM, Tess Danesi explores the darker side of erotica, writing with raw honesty about that shadowy area where pain becomes pleasure and pleasure pain. Tess has been published in several anthologies including Pleasure Bound by Alison Tyler, Do Not Disturb and Bottoms Up by Rachel Kramer Bussel as well as in Time Out New York. CarnalNation.com generously sends her amazing sex toys to review and she can often be found testing them in her high tech masturbation testing facility aka the office ladies room. In between all that and her actual job, for two years running, she’s produced the NYC Sex Blogger Calendar which raises funds for Sex Work Awareness. She blogs about life, death and everything in between at Urban Gypsy (http://nyc-urban-gypsy.blogspot.com).



Desiree is a brainy, sexy, foodie, geeky, writer chick from New York. She lives in Brooklyn with her vampire cat Snarf and has always had an inclination toward the naughty. She never backs down from a Scrabble challenge and once scored seventy six points with the word "clitoris." Her dirty stories have been published in anthologies such as Lust Chronicles and The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories and her musings about sex have appeared in the Huffington Post and The Frisky. She blogs about love, sex, and life at www.baserinstincts.com. For general info on her antics or to find out where to read her stuff, check out www.desireemoodie.com.



Isobella Jade is known as one of the tiniest working models out there. She is also the author of Almost 5’4”, her modeling memoir. In early November her graphic novel Model Life: The Journey of a Pint Size Fashion Warrior debuts. Daily Isobella gives modeling insight and advice on being a shorter-than-average model on her blog, and despite her height she has used what she does have and has modeled for Marshalls, Victoria's Secret, Easy Spirit, Macy’s, Bon Appétit, TLC, Univision, MTV, Women's World, and many, many others. Her story and advocating has been featured in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Allure.com, Page Six, Ad Age, The New York Post, WSJ, Nylon, Mediabistro.
www.isobelladreams.com



Thanks to the aggressive heroine of her second novel, Feminista, Publisher's Weekly as called Erica Kennedy "the pioneer of bitch lit". She is also a screenwriter and blogger who began her writing career by blindly pitching and selling a humor piece on why women love to hate Gwyneth Paltrow to the New York Daily News women's section where she became a frequent contributor. She has written celebrity profiles and style pieces for In Style, Vibe, Paper and UK Elle. She blogs about pop culture and all things FEM at The Feminista Files (thefeministafiles.blogspot.com/).



Rosalind Christine Lloyd is a contemporary fiction and erotica writer (and occasional poet, journalist and music reviewer) whose work has appeared in over fifteen anthologies. She currently has two novels in progress, is working on a compilation of her published short fiction and has one completed screenplay. She lives downtown with her queer version of a nuclear family.
http://rosalindchristinelloyd.blogspot.com



Jennifer Peters is the associate editor of Penthouse Forum and Girls of Penthouse and a contributing editor to Penthouse Magazine. Her work has appeared in several places under numerous names, but her favorite bylines use her real name. Those rare works have appeared in Forum, Penthouse and Rachel Kramer Bussel's Peep Show anthology.



You'll be hearing readings from these books:


Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories


Model Life: The Journey of a Pint-Size Fashion Warrior


I Love a Man in Uniform

Giveaways include (more TK):


24-karat gold Little Gold vibrator courtesy of JimmyJane

From Extreme Restraints:



Strict Leather Black Fraternity Paddle


12" Slapper With Holes

$100 Babeland gift card from Beyond the Birds and the Bees


SexySlang word game


XXX porn film Afrodite Superstar


Abiola Abrams' novel Dare


We're giving away 2 copies of the calendar!