Rachel Kramer Bussel's Blog, page 66

My essay collection Sex and Cupcakes will be out next week!

I'll post the cover as soon as I get it, but I wanted to tell you that my first book written all by me, my ebook essay collection Sex and Cupcakes, will be published by Thought Catalog Books next week and I'm on the cover! I'm bursting with excitement to share it with you. I'll come back to this post to share the cover and buying links very soon but I really hope you'll spread the word; this is a big deal for me, both because it's mine mine mine, and because the royalty payments are higher.

Here's a sentence from the tattoo essay I especially loved: "The skin where the pink word lives is raised and itchy, a constant reminder of what I've done to it, what I'm asking it to do for me. My tattoo heart is on its way to healing, just like my real heart is."

Here's what's in it, a mix of older and brand new essays all about sex, cupcakes, politics, dating, tattoos, love, body image, monogamy, a career in sexuality, technology and more:

Sex and Cupcakes by Rachel Kramer Bussel
Introduction: Writing What You Know When You Write About Sex

I Have Trouble With Orgasms
I’m Pro-Choice and I Fuck
What Kind of Submissive Are You?
Wearing My Tattooed Heart On My Sleeve
My Boyfriend’s Fat
I Don’t Want or Need an App to Measure My Sex Life
Sex and Cupcakes
Champagne Sex
Monogamishmash

Want to wish me a happy birthday? Request a free copy of my essay collection Sex and Cupcakes and review it by November 10th

My birthday is coming up next month; I turn 39 on November 10th. What do I want for my birthday? Well, on a personal note, I'm getting exactly what I want which is a date to a restaurant in my town that serves amazing Italian and Japanese food. Not fusion, just each done wonderfully. I usually order Japanese food and get to eat off my boyfriend's plate.

Professionally, what I'd love are at least 39 reviews (I'm aiming for 100!) of the first book written all by me, Sex and Cupcakes, which comes out October 16th from Thought Catalog Books. I'll be able to reveal the cover soon (it's also the first book with my photo on the cover!) and what I'm asking right now is pretty easy. The ebook is around 20,000 words and I'm looking for fabulous early reviewers who'd like a copy now and then you promise to post your review on Amazon.com (and anywhere else you'd like if you're so inclined, but Amazon is the one I'm asking you to post on) by November 10th, my birthday. It can say anything you like as long as it's clear you've read the book.

What to do

1. Email me at rachelkb at gmail.com with "Review" in the subject line. Include your Amazon profile URL OR a link to a review on Amazon.com clearly written by you. (This ensures that I know you're eligible to leave a review on Amazon.com because you've made a purchase from them. Sorry, but in order for me to give away my work, I need to be getting something in exchange, and if I don't know that Amazon will post your review, I can't send it to you.)

2. Read the ebook I will send you.

3. Any time from October 16 to November 10th, leave your review on Amazon.com. I'll send you a reminder email on the 16th. It can be long, short, focused on one essay or all of them. The only thing it can't have is curses, so even though "Fuck" is in the title of one essay, you cannot use that in the review or Amazon will reject it.

4. Enjoy my thanks!

I'll be deleting this post soon (sometime this week, once I've received up to 39 review requests) so please request your copy now if you're interested. If you've enjoyed the essays in the Best Sex Writing series I edited for a few years, you will probably appreciate these pieces. This book is a big step for my career, because it's all written by me (unlike the anthologies I edit), I make more in royalties per book sold than I do from my other books, I'm working with a new publisher, Thought Catalog Books, and it's launching around the same time as my new weekly sex column (more on that soon) which means I get to do more of my true writing love, nonfiction. All of these add up to: your review means a LOT! Amazon reviews, especially for an ebook like this, can mean the difference between making a few hundred dollars and making thousands of dollars. (Tim Grahl has an excellent post quoting an Amazon employee emphasizing that reviews are the key to selling books on the site.) This matters beyond just that specific amount of money, but extends to future opportunities. If this book does well, it can help lead me to new books and projects, and conversely, if it doesn't, it may hinder future prospects. This has been an incredibly challenging year and the message I internalized was diversify, diversify, diversify, so this is my step one in doing that. So if you want to support my writing in an easy way that shouldn't take too much of your time, please consider doing this.

Here's what's in it, a mix of older and brand new essays all about sex, cupcakes, politics, dating, tattoos, love, body image, monogamy, a career in sexuality, technology and more:

Introduction: Writing What You Know When You Write About Sex

I Have Trouble With Orgasms
I’m Pro-Choice and I Fuck
What Kind of Submissive Are You?
Wearing My Tattooed Heart On My Sleeve
My Boyfriend’s Fat
I Don’t Want or Need an App to Measure My Sex Life
Sex and Cupcakes
Champagne Sex
Monogamishmash

BDSM, sex addiction, gender and pop culture: my first piece for Substance.com

I wrote my first piece for Substance.com, an article entitled "Women, Kink and Sex Addiction: It’s Not Like the Movies." Please check it out and I hope to be writing more for them soon!

$2.99 Kindle erotica ebook sale on Fast Girls and Crossdressing

I love when my books go on sale, especially a book like Crossdressing: Erotic Stories that I am very proud of and I think says a lot about queer identities (and even straight ones that don't conform to our culture's ideas about what heterosexuality should look like) but are out of print (publishing powers that be, I'd love it to come back in print after all these years!). For now, though, it's only $2.99 on Kindle through October 31, as is Fast Girls: Erotica for Women on Kindle. Both are ones I highly recommend. More info below on each. And both Crossdressing and Fast Girls are available as Audible audiobooks, both narrated by Lucy Malone!


Fast Girls: Erotica for Women (click here to watch me naked in a bubble bath in the book trailer)

Official blurb, table of contents and introduction:

Fast girls don’t mind being the girl everyone is talking about, as long as all eyes are focused their way. They are wanton, daring, shameless, and bold. Fast Girls celebrates the girl with a reputation, the girl who goes all the way, and the girl who doesn't know how to say "no." Featuring writing by Tristan Taormino, Kayla Perrin, Donna George Storey, D. L. King, Kristina Wright, Saskia Walker, Jacqueline Applebee, Tess Danesi, and others, Fast Girls is a racy, provocative collection of erotica by the cream of the crop of female erotica writers. They take readers on unexpected journeys, from a bedroom with every toy imaginable to a sex club, a communal shower, on set with a personal porn star, and more. These characters revel in their sexual excesses, boldly doing what others only dream about. Race through Fast Girls once, and you will come back again and again.

Table of contents:

Introduction: Fast Is a (Sexy) State of Mind

Temptation Kayla Perrin
Waxing Eloquent Donna George Storey
Five-Minute Porn Star Jacqueline Applebee
Winter, Summer Tristan Taormino
Playing the Market Angela Caperton
Panther Suzanne V. Slate
Communal Saskia Walker
Fireworks Lolita Lopez
Flash! Andrea Dale
Waiting for Beethoven Susie Hara
Confessions of a Kinky Shopaholic Jennifer Peters
Let’s Dance D. L. King
That Girl Cherry Bomb
Oz Isabelle Gray
Married Life Charlotte Stein
Princess Elizabeth Coldwell
Chasing Danger Kristina Wright
Whore Complex Rachel Kramer Bussel
Lessons, Slow and Painful Tess Danesi
Speed Bumps Tenille Brown

Introduction: Fast Is a (Sexy) State of Mind

I like the fast girls best/they do whatever they wanna do.—Sarge, “Fast Girls”

I named this book after a song called “Fast Girls” by an indie pop/rock band called Sarge*. That song is a feisty, punk-rock ode to a hot girl who is captivating in all kinds of ways.

I’m sure you know a girl like that. Or a woman. Or a lady. Or a butch. Or a femme. Or…you get the idea. She’s the kind of babe who takes no prisoners, who owns her life and her sexuality and not only doesn’t apologize for them, makes sure you notice her and what she’s all about.

Two definitions of “fast,” according to Merriam-Webster are “wild” or “sexually promiscuous,” and while that is the seed of what I was angling for here, I didn’t just want to read about slut after slut after slut. I wanted to read about women who in some way defy the conventional norms-whatever those are in this day and age. That doesn’t mean being shocking for shock’s sake, but following their passion, seeking out what it is that they need to be truly pleasured.

What I love about these fast girls is that even as they are bold, daring and dynamic, they have a thing or two to learn about sex and themselves.

Consider Susie Hara’s fifty-one-year-old protagonist in “Waiting for Beethoven” as she gets it on with a younger man. In current pop culture terms, she’s the cougar, the aggressive older woman seeking her sexy prey. But she is actually nervous and uncertain, as well as aroused. “And now there was no point in telling him she wasn’t going to come when she could already feel a wave of pleasure rolling inside her, kind of a pre-coming feeling, but different than usual; she couldn’t really tell what was her clit and what were the walls inside her and what was contracting and what was releasing and then she realized she must be coming because her body had taken over and been taken over in this luscious finger symphony so she just gave in,” writes Hara, in a description of female orgasm that I think will be familiar to many.

In this book, fast is as much a state of mind as a state of motion. It’s not about trying to slut it up to impress anyone, but about finding what works for you. I was intrigued to find that playing with prostitution, or whoring, came up as a theme in many submissions, as did threesomes with one woman and two men. It makes sense that fast would be associated with women who mix cash and sex, as happens in Angela Caperton’s “Playing the Market,” where the new economy mixes with the world’s oldest profession. In my “Whore Complex,” whoredom is more a state of mind, a go-to fantasy that leaps from the bounds of dirty talk to real life with some unusual consequences. There’s also exhibitionism, such as in Jacqueline Applebee’s “Five-Minute Porn Star,” and submission–there’s a lot of very hot female submission and BDSM play in this book.

These girls are fast when they want to be…and slow at other times. They want to crack their lovers’ secret codes, find out what makes them tick, as happens in Charlotte Stein’s “Married Life.” I like this story because the wife is not just passively accepting her humdrum sex life, but she doesn’t want to have an affair or get a divorce. She wants her husband, the man she loves, but she wants him openly, honestly, freely and when they both give a little of themselves and bravely bare their souls, they find true happiness.

These girls don’t give it up for just anyone. Even the ones who get around have a reason for choosing their lovers, and it’s those reasons, those images, that resonate with me. Here’s Tristan Taormino in “Winter, Summer,” rhapsodizing about the woman she’s about to seduce (or perhaps, who’s about to seduce her is more accurate):

She’s the boy I have dreamed about and jerked off to too many times to count. The one who won’t leave my fantasies, who cruises me in my bedroom, who seduced me months ago in another lifetime with her voice, who plays pool and drinks beer, who grabs my ass in crowded bars just to fuck with my boundaries and catch me off guard, who makes my brain get wet and my pussy explode.

Exactly. Though there are women on the prowl here, women who go after younger men, women who pounce, women who pursue, there are others who are excited about being the object of another’s affection, lust and desire. For them, being fast means courting the man or woman (or more than one person) they are searching for.

These fast girls speak to me on many levels. I admire them, respect them, marvel at them, raise my eyebrows at them, want them. But most of all, I’m excited that they’ve broken free of whatever messages we all receive about how a woman is “supposed” to act and instead they are bent on acting however they damn well please. And that’s my personal definition of a fast, not to mention foxy, girl.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City


Crossdressing: Erotic Stories

Official description:

>From femmes who channel Marlene Dietrich in the sexiest of suits to men who love nothing more than the feel silky panties stretched tight against their skin, these characters boldly indulge their fantasies of being a girl — or a guy — for a night. Drag queens get dolled up for a night on the town, a dyke packs a special surprise beneath her dress, and a devoted husband puts his dress-up skills to the ultimate test in this seductive new collection.

And my intro along with the table of contents

Crossing Boundaries and Bending Genders

Crossdressing spans such a wide range of possibilities, erotic and otherwise, that the only thing we can safely say brings the mélange of its practitioners under one umbrella is that they dress (sometimes or all the time) in the clothing of another gender. In an age when gender is becoming increasingly fluid, deconstructed, questioned, and sometimes abandoned, we can begin to see the idea and reality of crossdressing in a new light.

This book focuses on the erotic pleasures of crossdressing, while also touching on the life-changing, mind-melting, earth-shifting experiences that can come from actively playing with one’s gender. For some characters, crossdressing means transgressing, transforming, subverting the rules to enter another body in order to enter another world, literally or figuratively. Sometimes it gives them permission to go where they’d be unwanted otherwise. For other characters, playing with their attire lets their minds create the fantasy creature they’ve always longed to be. It means acting, homecoming, freedom. Sometimes, it’s a fun, risqué adventure, a break from the ordinary, a chance to see what might happen if you slipped into a dress or suited up. Would you be the same person? Would you feel the same? Would you get turned on in the same way? These questions and more get tackled in Crossdressing, though the answers are as varied as we are.

When these characters don the clothes of another gender, or another gender role, they find not just their bodies but their minds altered in powerful ways. What was once forbidden is now acceptable⎯or maybe it’s still taboo but even hotter because of it. When they literally step into someone else’s shoes, their bodies, minds, and libidos can explore passions they might not dare voice otherwise. Whether it’s the bra, panties, and garter tucked away under the charcoal-gray business suit or the bound breasts flattened under a drag king’s snazzy attire, clothes, as more than one character here can attest, do “make the man”⎯or woman, though the person inside those clothes creates his or her power from within as well.

In Stephen Albrow’s “More Than Meets the Eye,” his businessman protagonist has a secret under his suit that’s his private treasure, until he chooses to share it: “My Brooks Brothers shirt is thick enough to cover up my white satin bra and garter belt, but not so thick that I can’t feel the garter belt’s lace trim as I run my fingertip over my abs. Just knowing this little bit of Suzy is there is enough to calm my nerves.” Part of his narrator’s delight is in fooling those around him. Yet revealing Suzy to her special lover is a bold thrill that yields untold rewards, and it’s this push-pull of discovery and secrecy, of flaunting and hiding, of male and female that makes the story come alive.

These stories are not just about crossing genders but about living with the duality of one within the other, mixed together, mingling—the experience of living as one changing how a person lives as the other. Ashley Laine, the sensual, seductive drag queen narrator of Tulsa Brown’s exquisitely rendered “Temporary,” reveals the fear that haunts her at being found out: “When his thick fingers began to creep under my panties, I edged away, afraid to ripple the surface of his fantasy.” Yet she proceeds, risking rejection for the joy of bringing that duality together into her erotic life. You can feel the shivers Rory delivers to her with the words “Oh, girl”—two simple but powerful words that encapsulate the crux of both Brown’s story and this collection as a whole. When these characters⎯men, women, and those in between or neither at all⎯are finally able to be recognized for their chosen selves, the thrill goes far beyond the sexual.

Yet sex, desire, lust, and longing are front and center throughout, even as more complex gender dynamics come into play. In Debra Hyde’s “Just Like a Boy,” we learn that simply turning oneself into a “boy” is not enough for her narrator. She longs to be the boy of her childhood dreams, not “an androgyne in boy’s clothes.” Yet her venture into male territory isn’t only for her but for her lover, Matthias, as well. Hyde draws out the tension in this dominant/submissive relationship, where power gets exerted in twisted, yet intriguing, ways.

The power of uniform gets invoked in Lisabet Sarai’s humorous “Beefeater,” in which a young British woman mocks family⎯and tradition⎯to dress in the garb of the Yeoman Warders guarding the Tower of London. The secrecy of her mission, combined with the defiant naughtiness of their endeavor, had me rooting for them with all the fervor of anyone who’s deliberately disobeyed, half-hoping to get punished.

Crossdressers themselves aren’t the only ones here with a tale to tell. In T. Hitman’s “Higher and Higher,” Pete pretends to be his naughty alter ego, Nate, when he hires Roni, a “dudette” who shows Pete a few tricks as she turns one, worshipping him in ways nobody else ever has. His internal dilemma, caught between sheer arousal and propriety, between who he thinks he should desire and who he actually does, gives us a peek into how those who lust after crossdressers of any variety also struggle to embrace their wants.

In Crossdressing, you’ll find men in panties, butches in dresses, girls looking like boys, drag queens, drag kings, and those who can’t be tidily summed up by their outer appearance. You’ll find men who want to be men, only prettier, and women who don’t have penis envy per se, but don’t always want to be the little lady. In short, you’ll find people across the sexual-orientation spectrum fucking with gender and gender roles⎯and simply fucking.

At one point, looking at herself in the mirror, Brown’s drag queen says, “Some people might call this a fantasy, but it was my deepest truth.” Here you get hot fantasy, fiction, and the kind of truth that really matters, the kind that gets under our skin, under our clothes, under our disguises to a place that speaks to us deep in our erotic souls. Whatever you’re wearing right now (or not), I hope you’ll join me on this tour across stages real and imagined, where the limits of gender-bending are in the eyes of the beholder.

Rachel Kramer Bussel
New York City
April 2007

Foreword by Veronica Vera
Introduction by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Temporary • Tulsa Brown
Just Like a Boy • Debra Hyde
Halloween • Helen Boyd
More Than Meets the Eye • Stephen Albrow
Tough Enough to Wear a Dress • Teresa Noelle Roberts
The Sweetheart of Sigma Queer • Simon Sheppard
Tori’s Secret • Andrea Miller
Like a Girl • Alison Tyler
Michelle, Ma Belle • Marcy Sheiner
Beefeater • Lisabet Sarai
Phone Fatale • Stan Kent
I Need a Man • Andrea Dale
A Cute Idea • Rachel Kramer Bussel
Higher and Higher • T. Hitman
Birthday Girl • Jason Rubis
The Princess on the Rock • Elspeth Potter
Down the Basement • Ryan Field
Some Things Never Change • Melinda Johnson

My online writing class and New York City erotica workshop 10/24 and reading 11/5

After my whirlwind September, I'm settling back into October which is a busy month for writing, with my new weekly sex column debuting a week from today and various articles in the works, though I have a few events coming up. The first is my online erotica writing class, which runs for four weeks, from October 16 to November 13, and will give students a chance to dive deep into the world of erotica. There's much more detail about each weeks topics, assignments and class goals at LitReactor. Yes, this class is more expensive than the in-person ones, but you will get much more individual feedback from me (and other attendees) and the chance to develop characters and plotlines and work on submitting short stories and possibly longer works. If you have always wanted to write erotica but haven't had time, this class is excellent because you can take it any time over the four weeks, using any name you like.



Next I'm returning to the New York Academy of Sex Education October 24th, held on the Upper East Side inside sumptuous sex toy store The Pleasure Chest.

October 24, 7:30-9 pm
Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money, New York City (for New York Academy of Sex Education)
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.

You are sure to find growth with the very prolific, award winning erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. She will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type.

She will talk about incorporating everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing. Rachel will teach you how to groom your writing to fit particular magazines and anthologies. And how to submit your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market (including anthologies, ebooks, magazines and websites.) Materials needed: Please bring a laptop or paper and pen. $25/person. Advance registration required.
The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue, New York City (Upper East Side, accessible by 4/5/6/N/R/F trains), 646-470-5129



Then on November 15th, I'll be reading with D.L. King from her soon-to-be-released anthology The Big Book of Domination (here's a handy link if you want to pre-order it; it pubs November 11) at Purple Passion, a wonderful shop in Chelsea that has fetish clothes, sex toys and lots of BDSM paraphernalia (much like the items on the cover of the book!), along with a cozy downstairs space excellent for readings.

November 15, 4-6 pm, free
The Big Book of Domination reading
Join D. L. King and friends Laura Antoniou, Rachel Kramer Bussel, David Wraith and more for an evening of pre-dinner, pre-theater, pre-orgasmic erotica. Come hear some of the best authors in the business read in this New York City launch of The Big Book of Domination. And because we know how much you like a party, there will be delectable food and drink. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Whatever you have planned for later, what better way to begin your evening than with hot erotica.
Purple Passion, 211 West 20th street, New York, 212-807-0486

Official blurb about the book:

Not every woman likes to submit. An increasing number like to be on top. And their partners love it! D. L. King, editor of 2013's award-winning Under Her Thumb, curates a scintillating collection with The Big Book of Domination. Filled with surprises and unexpected twists (yes, that kind, too!), this book proves that when lust and desire take control, all bets are off.

Dominants and submissives are not so very different — they both crave that frisson of power. The Big Book of Domination brings you erotic stories to get your heart pumping, like the story of a reporter who likes to experience everything first hand. It’s been said that clothes make the man — can putting on the right clothes transform an ordinary man into a charismatic dom? When Glenn finds the leathers in his friend’s closet, his trip to the bars nets him the perfect boy . . .

Dominance and submission is a dance D. L. King knows well, and The Big Book of Domination rocks your world with stories of sensuous games with male dominants, training and discipline by female dominants, and all manner of sensuous games and pairings.

Talking erotica, true sex stories, my new sex column, pen names and more on Full Disclosure podcast

On Monday night in Chicago, Eric Barry interviewed me for his Full Disclosure podcast. Visit that link for more information and to subscribe and/or listen below. It was a great, meandering, over an hour long chat about all sorts of things, from the reasons we tell true sex stories (which I will be telling many more of when my new alt weekly sex column debuts next week - more on that next week) and some of the pitfalls of it, how much masturbation goes with erotica, sperm wars and more. Thank you so much to Eric for having me on!

Chicago recap and see you at The Tool Shed in Milwaukee tonight!

I've had a wonderful, whirlwind time in Chicago and lucked out with gorgeous weather. I got to meet up with cousins of my cousin when I arrived, heard about an arcade I want to visit next time, taught a wonderful workshop at Early to Bed, met up with a contributor to The Big Book of Submission, explored the splendor of downtown Chicago (next time I want to visit the art museum), got a head start on holiday shopping for my hard to shop for boyfriend and now am off to Milwaukee. Here's the details on that and I'll be sharing some exciting writing news for October soon - I have a new sex column starting next week and I can't wait! Here's what's happening tonight in Milwaukee:

September 30, 8:30 pm
Erotica 101 writing workshop, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel 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 learn 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. Paper and writing implements will be provided or you can use your own laptop. $20/person; register online or at the door (call to confirm door sales if it's the day of, they will be available unless class is sold out). Doors open at 8:15 pm.
The Tool Shed, 2427 N. Murray Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 414-906-5304

Here's a photo from the window of Ikram, a store I visited last Chicago trip because I know Michelle Obama shops there. Whether you like fashion or not, it's worth seeing just for how striking the building is. The clothes are basically only affordable if you're rich but there's also a restaurant there that's lovely. I had kale chips last time. This time I just looked at pretty dresses like this one.




pumpkin patches along the Magnificent Mile

See you soon in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and at my first online only erotica writing class

I've got a lot going on and am doing my best to make sure each event is as wonderful as it can be. I've been so inspired by the classes I've been teaching and the writing that's come out of them. I'll also be sending out my newsletter closer to the beginning of each month and am giving away free books to subscribers, so if you want in on the free book action and to get my monthly musings and updates in one email, subscribe on the left-hand side of rachelkramerbussel.com. I'm home very briefly in between travels and on deadline, so I will share more as soon as I can about my very first library talk. It was an honor and I think Portland Public Library for having me and Gina Rourke to speak.

I'm gearing up for my erotica writing workshops in Chicago (September 28, save if you bring a friend, tickets online at link below or at the door), Milwaukee (September 30), New York (October 24) and my first online only class which runs for 4 weeks for LitReactor, in which we'll be digging very deep into the world of erotic writing and how to write and get published. I'll be getting the scoop directly from some top editors and sharing it with LitReactor students in this small group (capped at 16). The best part is you can be totally anonymous and take the class at your leisure, at 3 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon, anywhere in the world. More information on all the events are below and if you have any questions, email me at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "Workshop" in the subject line.

September 28, 6:30-8 pmErotica 101 writing workshop, Chicago
Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of over 50 anthologies such as The Big Book of Orgasms, Flying High and Best Bondage Erotica 2014, will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing, from getting started, finding your voice, and incorporating your surroundings, pop culture, and personal experiences into your stories to crafting a range of characters and settings and submitting your work. In this supportive, welcoming workshop environment, you’ll learn how to write vividly about everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies, and make them fit for particular publications in the thriving erotica market. This workshop will address the recent boom in erotica inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey, provide examples of well written erotica, and will include multiple writing exercises. You’ll be given a handout listing major markets and further reading suggestions. No previous writing experience required. Please bring laptop or pen and paper. $20/person or $35/two people. Register online or at the door.
Early to Bed, 5044 North Clark Street, Chicago, 773-271-1219

September 30, 8:30 pm
Erotica 101 writing workshop, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Professional erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel 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 learn 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. Paper and writing implements will be provided or you can use your own laptop. $20/person; register online. Doors open at 8:15 pm.
The Tool Shed, 2427 N. Murray Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 414-906-5304

October 16-November 13 4-week online LitReactor erotica writing class



Online only class limited to 16 people; attend any time and get critiqued by me and fellow students and receive guidance about publishing your work. Click through for more details about what each weekly class will cover, assignments and goals for the class. $325/person.

Let's talk about sex.

Specifically, writing about it.

First, it ain't easy to write. Sex itself can be awkward enough, but describing it? Without sounding like a goofball? That can be tough.

Second, there's this whole big genre totally devoted to sex called erotica, which has turned into a dirty word among writers—especially those who think Fifty Shades of Grey is all it has to offer.

But you can write sex with a deft hand, with skill and grace, in a way that reveals character and emotion. And you'll learn to do that in Between the Sheets with Rachel Kramer Bussel.

October 24, 7:30-9 pm
Writing Erotica for Pleasure and Money, New York City (for New York Academy of Sex Education)
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.

You are sure to find growth with the very prolific, award winning erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. She will take you through the ins and outs of modern erotic writing. Learn how to get started, find your voice, and write against type.

She will talk about incorporating everyday scenarios as well as outlandish fantasies into your writing. Rachel will teach you how to groom your writing to fit particular magazines and anthologies. And how to submit your work and keeping up with the thriving erotica market (including anthologies, ebooks, magazines and websites.) Materials needed: Please bring a laptop or paper and pen. $25/person. Advance registration required.
The Pleasure Chest, 1150 Second Avenue, New York City (Upper East Side, accessible by 4/5/6/N/R/F trains), 646-470-5129

I don't sleep naked

Find out what I do instead in the Vice issue of TueNight.

See you in Portland, Maine September 23 and 24

My Tuesday September 23rd 7:30-9 pm erotica writing workshop at Nomia in Portland, Maine is on its way to selling out, so get your tickets now by calling 207-773-4774 ($25/person, limit of 20 people). And for Banned Books Week, I'll be discussing erotica, porn and Fifty Shades of Grey with Nomia owner Gina Rourke at Portland Public Library on the 24th. I'm looking forward to both events and if you know anyone in or near Portland, Maine, please let them know. See also my interview in Maine Today about erotica writing and the genre as a whole (yes, you can write erotica about anything, and I'll be showing you how).

September 23, 7:30 pm
Erotica 101 Writing Workshop, Portland, Maine
Rachel Kramer Bussel, professional erotica author and editor of over 50 erotica anthologies, such as The Big Book of Orgasms, Women in Lust, Please, Sir and Please, Ma'am, 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. $25/person. Seating is limited and we expect this workshop to fill up FAST! Call Nomia at 207-773-4774 or visit store to register. Nomia, 24 Exchange Street, Suite 215, Portland, Maine, 207-773-4774.

September 24, 7 pm - 9 pm
The Guilty Pleasure of Erotic Literature, Portland, Maine
Join local sexuality educator and owner of Nomia’s Portland’s first women owned and operated sensuality boutique, Gina Rourke and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel in a conversation about the role that erotica plays in literature, in the lives of readers, and in society. Bring your questions, your book recommendations, your opinions about Fifty Shades of Grey and join a Banned Books Week discussion about “The Guilty Pleasure of Erotic Literature.” This discussion will be held on Wednesday, September 24th a 7:00pm in the Rines Auditorium.

This program is sponsored by the Portland Public Library’s City of Readers Team and Choose Civility chapter who work to create meaningful conversations and dialogue at the library. Interest in erotica spiked after the publication of Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James in 2011. Fifty Shades of Grey has spent over 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has brought patrons into the Library looking for similar titles, a genre libraries are not known to specialize in. City of Readers leader Jim Charette is curious to learn what it is that patrons most enjoy about 50 Shades, and what else to recommend, while also wondering what critiques might be offered of the book. This event explores the larger genre of erotic literature from the perspective of both reader and writer.
Portland Public Library, Rines Auditorium, 5 Monument Way, Portland, Maine