Rachel Kramer Bussel's Blog, page 51
April 5, 2015
My new book Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica is out!
My new anthology Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica is out now!
Well, it's in stock on Amazon.com and literally on its way to other stores right now. I have a spiffy new website new website for it and launched it with Q&As with several of the authors (more are coming): Jillian Boyd, author of "Dare You To," the opening story about an engaged couple having some fun with toys, including nipple clamps with bells on them; Malin James, author of "The Prototype," one of a few stories about fictional sex toys, and Katya Harris, author of "Surprise," and I will keep her tale's sex toy, fittingly, a surprise. Stay tuned for events, including the online Facebook book release party, a June 3 reading in Portland, Maine, and hopefully a mid-September reading in San Francisco.
I've been posting some photos on Twitter (@comeagainbook) and Facebook featuring images of toys similar to the ones in the book, like this:
Here's the cover:
and the back cover:
and the table of contents in its final form:
Well, it's in stock on Amazon.com and literally on its way to other stores right now. I have a spiffy new website new website for it and launched it with Q&As with several of the authors (more are coming): Jillian Boyd, author of "Dare You To," the opening story about an engaged couple having some fun with toys, including nipple clamps with bells on them; Malin James, author of "The Prototype," one of a few stories about fictional sex toys, and Katya Harris, author of "Surprise," and I will keep her tale's sex toy, fittingly, a surprise. Stay tuned for events, including the online Facebook book release party, a June 3 reading in Portland, Maine, and hopefully a mid-September reading in San Francisco.
I've been posting some photos on Twitter (@comeagainbook) and Facebook featuring images of toys similar to the ones in the book, like this:
Here's the cover:
and the back cover:
and the table of contents in its final form:
April 2, 2015
My Pennsylvania erotica writing workshops: State College and Philadelphia
My State College, Pennsylvania Erotica 101 writing workshop has been rescheduled and will now take place Monday night, April 27th from 7 to 9 p.m. It's $20, which also gets you my erotica market resources handout. Register on Eventbrite or else at the door.
Then I will teach a 90-minute version of my workshop at the SEXx Interactive conference in Philadelphia on Friday, May 8 from 3:45-5:15 p.m. I'm looking forward to doing an event in the city where I write my sex column (I will also be doing a conference preview for my column and interviewing some of the speakers, including one I'm most excited about, keynote speaker Feminista Jones). I also highly recommend hearing Morgan Thorne speak on asexuality, which I just did at CatalystCon. Register here for SEXx Interactive.
Then I will teach a 90-minute version of my workshop at the SEXx Interactive conference in Philadelphia on Friday, May 8 from 3:45-5:15 p.m. I'm looking forward to doing an event in the city where I write my sex column (I will also be doing a conference preview for my column and interviewing some of the speakers, including one I'm most excited about, keynote speaker Feminista Jones). I also highly recommend hearing Morgan Thorne speak on asexuality, which I just did at CatalystCon. Register here for SEXx Interactive.
My May-June LitReactor erotica class is has 9 spots left
Just a heads up that my next 4-week Between the Sheets erotica writing class at LitReactor, which has a maximum of 16 spots, has 9 spots left.
I wanted to give you some notice even though it's a few weeks away, because once it sells out, which it's expected to (the previous two did), then the class will be full. They cap their classes in order for students to get the maximum learning out of them, and that makes perfect sense to me. The class becomes its own little group, part of which I facilitate, part of which happens spontaneously. The full details about the class are here and if you have any questions about what will be covered or if you'd benefit from it, feel free to email me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "LitReactor" in the subject line.
My personal two cents is: you don't need any prior writing, including erotica writing experience. What you do need is time. I'd estimate 5 hours a week, but probably 8-10 hours is better. After all, if you are paying $350 a week, you ideally want to get the most of out it. That being said, you also have the option to just read along and not do the weekly assignments, but they are designed to get you writing and sharing with your fellow classmates and getting/giving feedback, all of which I think is extremely useful in seeing what works and what doesn't in your own writing, and that of your peers. The way I teach is largely to encourage people to submit their work, not because that's the only thing you can do with erotica, but because I think it gives you a concrete goal to aim for, and if you are looking to get published, that's the only way it's going to happen (sorry, no one is going to magically find your writing on your laptop, because how would they know it's there?). You won't be required to submit your work or do anything else, but I will be giving an extensive overview of the current erotica market, including Q&As with authors (traditionally published and self-published), editors and publishers and sharing what I've been told about what publishers are looking for right now.
I wanted to give you some notice even though it's a few weeks away, because once it sells out, which it's expected to (the previous two did), then the class will be full. They cap their classes in order for students to get the maximum learning out of them, and that makes perfect sense to me. The class becomes its own little group, part of which I facilitate, part of which happens spontaneously. The full details about the class are here and if you have any questions about what will be covered or if you'd benefit from it, feel free to email me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "LitReactor" in the subject line.
My personal two cents is: you don't need any prior writing, including erotica writing experience. What you do need is time. I'd estimate 5 hours a week, but probably 8-10 hours is better. After all, if you are paying $350 a week, you ideally want to get the most of out it. That being said, you also have the option to just read along and not do the weekly assignments, but they are designed to get you writing and sharing with your fellow classmates and getting/giving feedback, all of which I think is extremely useful in seeing what works and what doesn't in your own writing, and that of your peers. The way I teach is largely to encourage people to submit their work, not because that's the only thing you can do with erotica, but because I think it gives you a concrete goal to aim for, and if you are looking to get published, that's the only way it's going to happen (sorry, no one is going to magically find your writing on your laptop, because how would they know it's there?). You won't be required to submit your work or do anything else, but I will be giving an extensive overview of the current erotica market, including Q&As with authors (traditionally published and self-published), editors and publishers and sharing what I've been told about what publishers are looking for right now.
How to have the best date ever
Today marks the 6-month anniversary of my sex column Let's Get It On in Philadelphia City Paper with my best dates column, including my outing myself as a full-on nerd whose top dates included Boggle and going to the boardwalk. Thank you to my interviewees, Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman, authors of the new book 40 Days of Dating (pictured below) and Abiola Abrams, author of The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love.
It may be small in word count (it used to be around 700 words and is now 550 words) but I'd like to think it's mighty in content and reach; after all, one of its topics, OrgasmQuest, spawned tons of media, including its subject's appearance on Dr. Drew's TV show. To me that was a prime example of what I try to do with all my work: make it accessible to a wide range of people, not just those in the "sex world." I know it could end any moment now, so I am doing everything I can to make it interesting, timely and worth reading. I'm trying to apply that same attitude toward my life; if it ends tomorrow, I want to be proud of myself. I don't expect my column or my life to end tomorrow, but really, who knows about either?
If you want to see the column stick around for lots more months (and maybe even years!), please read it, like it at the top, Tweet it, spread the word. And I am always open to suggestions for future column topics (keep in mind my tiny word count!) at rachelkb at gmail dot com with "City Paper" in the subject line.
I think one of the key differences between writing this alt weekly column now and my old Lusty Lady column in The Village Voice from 2004-2007 is that I'm being told that my readership matters. I get told if a lot of people read it and if few people read it. Another key difference for me personally is not living in the city in which the print paper is published. I used to feel honored and uncomfortable in equal measures to be taking the L train home to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and see people reading my Voice column. That was a paper I grew up reading, back when it wasn't free; my friend would bring it back from Manhattan to our suburban New Jersey high school. Now, I live in suburban New Jersey and am quite a different creature than my 17-year-old self. The other difference, and probably the biggest one, is that this is weekly which means the day my new column comes out, I'm filing next week's. It's meant lots of planning ahead and at times has been a challenge, but a welcome one.
It may be small in word count (it used to be around 700 words and is now 550 words) but I'd like to think it's mighty in content and reach; after all, one of its topics, OrgasmQuest, spawned tons of media, including its subject's appearance on Dr. Drew's TV show. To me that was a prime example of what I try to do with all my work: make it accessible to a wide range of people, not just those in the "sex world." I know it could end any moment now, so I am doing everything I can to make it interesting, timely and worth reading. I'm trying to apply that same attitude toward my life; if it ends tomorrow, I want to be proud of myself. I don't expect my column or my life to end tomorrow, but really, who knows about either?
If you want to see the column stick around for lots more months (and maybe even years!), please read it, like it at the top, Tweet it, spread the word. And I am always open to suggestions for future column topics (keep in mind my tiny word count!) at rachelkb at gmail dot com with "City Paper" in the subject line.
I think one of the key differences between writing this alt weekly column now and my old Lusty Lady column in The Village Voice from 2004-2007 is that I'm being told that my readership matters. I get told if a lot of people read it and if few people read it. Another key difference for me personally is not living in the city in which the print paper is published. I used to feel honored and uncomfortable in equal measures to be taking the L train home to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and see people reading my Voice column. That was a paper I grew up reading, back when it wasn't free; my friend would bring it back from Manhattan to our suburban New Jersey high school. Now, I live in suburban New Jersey and am quite a different creature than my 17-year-old self. The other difference, and probably the biggest one, is that this is weekly which means the day my new column comes out, I'm filing next week's. It's meant lots of planning ahead and at times has been a challenge, but a welcome one.
March 31, 2015
My Brooklyn life as a "crazy garbage lady"
I resurrected this essay, "How I Became a Crazy Garbage Lady," that never got published when I wrote it in 2013 because it's one of my favorites, falling into the "laughing at myself" and "truth is stranger than fiction" categories. Here's the opening:
This morning, I stepped outside my apartment on Williamsburg’s busy Metropolitan Avenue to find my worst nightmare come true: my discarded bra, t-shirt, gym shorts, empty CD cases and other bits of garbage I’d carefully placed in a plastic bag were strewn across the grate in front of my building, apparently not even worthy of being collected by New York City’s sanitation department. I’m not sure what I did to violate the rules, considering that I discarded dozens of CD cases and only a few were lying there, displayed like some bizarre conceptual art piece, but it’s precisely the fear of this scenario that’s turned me into a woman I jokingly call “crazy garbage lady.”Read the whole thing at Thought Catalog.
March 30, 2015
Home and blissed out from CatalystCon
After having been away from home for 10 days, I have a lot to process and a few deadlines, plus today my boyfriend and I are mostly playing hooky and might go see While We're Young and just generally enjoy a rare weekday together. But I wanted to mostly share the sense of excitement and possibility I left this CatalystCon with, as I always do. The people I meet there are so inspiring, whether they are talking about asexuality or erotica or sex ed or just Cards Against Humanity and general life. It's hard to summarize in words but was so wonderful to see people from all over the U.S. and beyond talk, discuss, debate, learn, connect, and entertain each other. That is why I go to CatalystCon and why I will be at CatalystCon West in Burbank from September 11-13 (visit their site tomorrow to see the panel pitching details). To get a sense of what happened there this weekend, follow the #ccon hashtag on Twitter and check out the CatalystCon Instagram account.
It was also the perfect place to launch my brand new, hot off the press anthology Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica . I am proud to say that you can now get autographed copies at Red Emma's in Baltimore (they were the official bookseller at CatalystCon East) and that the book is now shipping from Amazon, and will be in stock at other stores any day now and out as an ebook April 14th. I loved being able to hand deliver copies to people who work in wonderful sex toy stores I admire like Forbidden Fruit in Austin and Dynamo Toys in New Orleans and Secret Pleasures in Washington, DC.
I loved that I was launching a sex toy anthology while the Sybian was across the room being demonstrated. I loved that everywhere I looked was someone I wanted to talk to. I loved that people who said things like "I don't know anything about art" sat down and made a card anyway with ArtPulp. It was a wonderful, magical weekend, one that pushed me to get past what is sometimes still my fear of public speaking or saying the wrong thing to be part of the opening keynote panel. I strongly encourage you to go to the next one if you have an interest in learning more about sexuality and activism of all kinds, or presenting. I will recap my wonderful panel on sharing our personal sex stories in various public artistic modes of expression soon, but wanted to share some early morning thoughts (I fell asleep last night at 9 and woke up this morning at 5, so that may give you an idea of how tired I was). Does that mean I have 100% of every thought in common with everyone who attended CatalystCon? Not at all. But I think it's safe to say even though I didn't get to speak with everyone there, anyone attending is someone I have something I could talk about with. The discussions I had outside of formal panels and sessions where among the most fascinating things about the conference. Some were about sex and sexuality related issues, and some were about general life. I truly cannot say enough good things about the conference, and the fact that there were so many first time attendees this year I think reflects that people are hearing about it and whatever their profession or hobbies, thinking, I could see myself as part of that world.
Here's me with my new book; today I will also be sending out copies to everyone who signed up to review it on Amazon. Get on my newsletter (left hand side of this blog or of my site, rachelkramerbussel.com) for new freebies and more info.
It was also the perfect place to launch my brand new, hot off the press anthology Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica . I am proud to say that you can now get autographed copies at Red Emma's in Baltimore (they were the official bookseller at CatalystCon East) and that the book is now shipping from Amazon, and will be in stock at other stores any day now and out as an ebook April 14th. I loved being able to hand deliver copies to people who work in wonderful sex toy stores I admire like Forbidden Fruit in Austin and Dynamo Toys in New Orleans and Secret Pleasures in Washington, DC.
I loved that I was launching a sex toy anthology while the Sybian was across the room being demonstrated. I loved that everywhere I looked was someone I wanted to talk to. I loved that people who said things like "I don't know anything about art" sat down and made a card anyway with ArtPulp. It was a wonderful, magical weekend, one that pushed me to get past what is sometimes still my fear of public speaking or saying the wrong thing to be part of the opening keynote panel. I strongly encourage you to go to the next one if you have an interest in learning more about sexuality and activism of all kinds, or presenting. I will recap my wonderful panel on sharing our personal sex stories in various public artistic modes of expression soon, but wanted to share some early morning thoughts (I fell asleep last night at 9 and woke up this morning at 5, so that may give you an idea of how tired I was). Does that mean I have 100% of every thought in common with everyone who attended CatalystCon? Not at all. But I think it's safe to say even though I didn't get to speak with everyone there, anyone attending is someone I have something I could talk about with. The discussions I had outside of formal panels and sessions where among the most fascinating things about the conference. Some were about sex and sexuality related issues, and some were about general life. I truly cannot say enough good things about the conference, and the fact that there were so many first time attendees this year I think reflects that people are hearing about it and whatever their profession or hobbies, thinking, I could see myself as part of that world.
Here's me with my new book; today I will also be sending out copies to everyone who signed up to review it on Amazon. Get on my newsletter (left hand side of this blog or of my site, rachelkramerbussel.com) for new freebies and more info.
March 29, 2015
Ridiculous but true: "I'm addicted to Google news alerts"
My latest essay is titled "I'm addicted to Google news alerts" and is in the genre of "I do something weird and a little crazy but I can laugh at myself." It's for The Kernel's Essays issue, which has lots of other wonderful pieces you should check out too, such as H. Alan Scott's "What getting cancer looks like on social media" and Samantha Allen's Thank you, Internet, for giving me a vagina." For more about Allen, watch the documentary
Inside Her Sex
, the subject of my recent DAME column, "Why do we feel so ashamed about sex?
March 27, 2015
5 new articles on sex and shame, fisting, adult preschool, Mariel Hemingway and Woody Allen and Becoming Steve Jobs
I've been writing a lot, with more on the way. Usually I post them separately, but this week is crunch time so here are 5 very different pieces I published this week:
"Why Do We Feel So Ashamed About Sex?" at DAME, touching on Monica Lewinsky's TED Talk and the recent documentary Inside Her Sex
Fisting for beginners in Philadelphia City Paper
Why I totally understand the appeal of adult preschool at Thought Catalog
And two topics outside my usual wheelhouse, for Salon (one more is coming for them that's about a topic I've been following for a while):
On Mariel Hemingway and Woody Allen and age and consent
Why Apple executives are wrong to insist Becoming Steve Jobs is a definitive biography
"Why Do We Feel So Ashamed About Sex?" at DAME, touching on Monica Lewinsky's TED Talk and the recent documentary Inside Her Sex
Fisting for beginners in Philadelphia City Paper
Why I totally understand the appeal of adult preschool at Thought Catalog
And two topics outside my usual wheelhouse, for Salon (one more is coming for them that's about a topic I've been following for a while):
On Mariel Hemingway and Woody Allen and age and consent
Why Apple executives are wrong to insist Becoming Steve Jobs is a definitive biography
March 26, 2015
See you at CatalystCon for Erotica and Sex Writing 101 workshops!
I've got a heavy deadline day today so will recap my recent writings as soon as I can, but wanted to share that I will be at CatalystCon this weekend at the Hilton Crystal City, 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia (Crystal City stop on the blue line). Tomorrow I am teaching Erotica Writing 101 from 9:15 am to 12:15 pm and Sex Writing 101 (nonfiction) from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Classes are $45 each or $79 for both. You can register online at Eventbrite through 11:30 pm tonight (March 26) or else in person from 8:45 to 9 am or 12:45 to 1 pm tomorrow with me directly (bring cash). Find out more about the workshops . Otherwise, see you CatalystCon folks at the opening keynote session!
So far, CatalystCon has been the only place I've taught Sex Writing 101 but I plan to bring that class online soon. Almost all my teaching will be moving online after May, save for CatalystCon and possibly a few other very special events. I will send announcements in my monthly newsletter (see blog's left-hand side or my website) and post them on Twitter and Facebook.
So far, CatalystCon has been the only place I've taught Sex Writing 101 but I plan to bring that class online soon. Almost all my teaching will be moving online after May, save for CatalystCon and possibly a few other very special events. I will send announcements in my monthly newsletter (see blog's left-hand side or my website) and post them on Twitter and Facebook.
March 25, 2015
Sexy Spy Games erotica anthology out now
I'm excited to share with you that the new ebook anthology Spy Games: Thrilling Spy Erotica edited by Jillian Boyd is out now for Kindle US and Kindle UK! You can read free excerpts on the book's Facebook page, where I got the image below the cover from, which a quote from the story "Undercover Desires" by Ria Restrepo.
Here's the official blurb:
Here's the official blurb:
From the sunny streets of South Florida, to the bars of Paris, to the backstreets of Rome where a secret club for old spies lies hidden, Spy Games is a collection of nine tantalizing tales in which spies and detectives seduce and deduce in all corners of the world.I don't have a story in it, but two of my LitReactor erotica writing students, Ashton Peal and Jessica Taylor, do, as do 7 others who all brought a thrilling sense of imagination to this unique topic. It's out from House of Erotica, who I recommend to my erotic writing students because they always have such fascinating calls for submissions up. I'll post a proper review of Spy Games soon, but wanted to let you know it's out.
Edited by Jillian Boyd and featuring stories from the likes of Zak Jane Keir, Slave Nano, Emily L. Byrne and F. Leonora Solomon, Spy Games is filled with danger, desire and the thrill of sex and spying. Unleash your inner Mata Hari and devour this collection... should you choose to accept this mission, of course.
