All About Pleasure: The Ultimate Writer's Romance

After fifteen years in the writing business, you'd think I'd be a total cynic when it comes to publishing.  Well, I thought I was until an encounter with a certain manuscript made me realize that I'm still a romantic deep down in my heart.  How about you?  Do you think the publishing marketplace brings us the best?  Does the market give us what we deserve?  Do you believe that good writing will always find a publisher?  Read my column, "The Ultimate Writer's Romance," and let me know what you think!

All About Pleasure: Beyond the “Wet Test”

We read erotica to get off, right?  That's why people always preface comments about my writing with, "I don't usually read this kind of stuff, but...."  Admitting you do read a lot of erotica is tantamount to a public proclamation you indulge in--gasp--self-pleasuring activities.  And I don't mean eating fine chocolate.

This month at the ERWA blog in "Beyond the 'Wet Test,'" I talk about the ways that assumption is often reflected in casual reviews of erotica anthologies.  And it's not that there's anything wrong with listing the stories you "like" best in an anthology.  It's just that sometimes it seems that's the chief means by which erotica is judged, so that it serves as a kind of code for what personally turns someone on.

You may disagree.  Read the post and let me know!

Write Like a Rock Star!

April is here, and with it arrives the second installment of my column at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, "Cooking Up a Storey." This month, in "Write Like a Rock Star: Making Magic on Stage, on the Page, and in the Kitchen," I share one of my most popular cookie recipes and the insights I've gained about how to reach an audience with your writing from watching kids perform on stage.  If you Google the term "rock star," you'll see that it's currently used for a wide variety of things not necessarily related to music: not only energy drinks, clothing, and other consumer goods, but also generally performing an activity in such a way that you rise above the ordinary with your energy and charisma.  I'd dismiss it as another symptom of our society's celebrity worship, except that my son plays in a rock-and-roll band, and I've come to appreciate all the hard work and skill that is involved in performing on stage.  But there's another--almost magical--ingredient that can be used by artists of every kind.  Check out my column, and see if you agree!

All About Pleasure: The Politics of Arousal

Pornography.  You know it when you see it, right?  It's the stuff that's created to arouse you.  But is that the only entertainment that targets our natural instincts and vulnerabilities?  Today at Erotica Readers and Writers Association blog, in All About Pleasure: The Politics of Arousal, I discuss how literary and mainstream fiction also manipulate our emotions and our sexual desire, for often less than noble purposes, and why they get away with it.

It's a provocative topic, and I'd be curious what you think!

Now We Really Need Courage to Write Erotica

One of my projects for 2012 is to contribute a monthly post to The Erotica Readers and Writers Association blog, along with many other erotica writers whose work I greatly admire.  This morning when I went to Facebook to link to my current post, they refused the URL as inappropriate or "spammy."  This has never happened before, and I don't see it as a good sign.  We live in a society where our House of Representatives believes it's okay to ask a panel of old men to decide on women's health issues and their right to access birth control without allowing a single woman to be part of the dialogue.  Is Facebook's sudden blocking of ERWA a similar effort to allow the most reactionary, fearful opinion prevail over freedom of speech and thought?

I hope I'm being paranoid.

Unfortunately, history shows that the forces of reaction can roll back progress, as impossible as that might seem.  Remember that Jim Crow kept southern blacks in virtual slavery for over a century after the Emancipation Proclamation.  There are obviously many people out there who would like to outlaw contraception and anything that celebrates the enjoyment of sexuality.  As my blog post argues, writing erotica is an important way to assert the truth about the human experience rather than buckle under to what makes a small minority of fear-mongers comfortable.  Apparently Facebook is part of that minority.

The problem is, once you start censoring for the "common good," where do you stop?  I find violence very objectionable, and in fact some PG-13 movies offend me with their portrayal of terrible violence without realistic consequences.  Does that mean Facebook should censor all violent material? 

Ironically, my ERWA blog post about changing the world is even more salient than I thought when I wrote it last week.

An Irresistible Offer

My year has started off quite nicely with some exciting new anthologies hitting the stores.  Just in time for Valentine's Day is Irresistible, an anthology of couples erotica edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel.  My story, "Pink Satin Purse," is one of my naughtier endeavors--for daring couples only.  Plus Rachel has a very sweet deal going for anyone who purchases Irresistible before January 31--you'll get your choice of another of her awesome erotica books, signed, for free!  Check out the terms at her blog, Lusty Lady.  Seriously now, can you resist this?

All About Pleasure: Eat Chocolate!

One of the many exciting new developments of 2012 is a new feature on the ERWA blog--a rotating roster of some of erotica's sexiest authors will post a column on specific days of the month.  I get the 18th--my 18th year was a memorable one--and I plan to make it an exercise in self-indulgence.  This month I explain how eating two different kinds of chocolate in one sitting will improve your writing and your sex life.  Check out "All About Pleasure: Stimulate Your Senses."  Now it's time to go out and buy some good chocolate!