Amorous Woman is Erotically Revealed!

Well, I have to say 2008 has started off exceptionally well for my novel, Amorous Woman with a fabulous review posted by Ashley Lister at Erotica Revealed in the January issue.

I’ve been in many Cleis anthologies with Ashley (who often writes under a pseudonym although his best-selling expose on Swingers was published under his own name) and have followed his columns on ERWA for years. I don’t think I’ve ever read any of his prose, fiction or non, without laughing out loud at his cleverness and wit, not to mention that I always know immediately I am in the hands of a master of the craft. He KNOWS his stuff.

So, it is especially thrilling that Ashley liked my novel. It’s hard to stop smiling about this, which is not a bad way to start the new year. And it’s hard to pick my favorite excerpts, although I’ll have to settle on something for my promo materials, but I can think of worse problems. In keeping with the more “intellectual” quality of Erotica Revealed (which you could argue is The New Yorker of erotica reviews), Ashley highlights the literary precedents of my novel—my direct model, Ihara Saikaku’s The Life of an Amorous Woman as well as the more amorphous inspirations of Japanese literary style.


“The first thing that struck me about this book is the fact that the author is maddeningly clever. The eloquence of Donna’s writing matches the elegant style of Japanese culture (as it is probably perceived by those who aren’t boorish bukake/karaoke/Godzilla louts). As I mentioned before, I’ve previously encountered Donna’s work in her wonderful short stories. Amorous Woman is similarly presented in a series of short and manageable chapters which, despite their brevity, are each exciting, arousing and carry the narrative along with startling swiftness.”

Clever, elegant, page-turner—this is good, right? Or perhaps it’s best to go with haiku-like brevity as in the following?

“…it’s a bloody good read.”

The review is a good read, too, so head on over to Erotica Revealed and help me toast the new year!