The "X" in January

But there's no "X" in January, you say?

Gentle reader, you are mistaken. January is X month for me, as in X: The Erotic Treasury, a fabulously gorgeous and deliciously addictive anthology of erotic stories edited by Susie Bright. As a long, slow warm-up to Valentine's Day (do you like your warm-ups any other way?) I'll be posting reviews and interviews of some of the stories in the book. For those of you in the Bay Area, you can come hear these juicy tales read aloud by the authors themselves in the flesh, including yours truly. I'll be wearing my lucky cheongsam, if I can shed my Christmas-cookie tummy in time! If you've never seen Susie Bright in person, you are in for a real treat--she's a riveting and entertaining speaker, and my story in the anthology, "Yes," is one of my steamiest.

The X events where I will be reading include:

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore (Oakland, CA)

When: January 22 at 7pm

Who: Greta Christina
Donna George Storey
Pam Ward
Susie Bright

AND

Where: Books Inc. (in the Castro at 2275 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94114)

When: January 29 at 7:30pm

Who: Rachel Kramer Bussel
Greta Christina
Donna George Storey
Susie Hara
Susie Bright


I'm going to start off the X interviews with my own--since interviews with me have been popular around here lately. This one's short and sweet, a sort of quickie for me. Enjoy!

SB: Have you ever won an awards for your talents?

DGS: I like to think I do it all for love, no reward required, but I’ll admit I enjoy a little recognition now and then.

A few years back Sunset Magazine gave me a “Good Cook” award for my recipe for Bavarian Mousse Rice Pudding. That creation has gotten me some of the best in-person reviews of my career—who can resist a rich, fluffy pudding spiked with rum?

I also managed to snag a special mention in Pushcart Prize Stories 2004 for one of my more restrained stories about sex and Japan, but frankly I prefer no-hold-barred sex stories such as “Ukiyo” in Best American Erotica 2006, which is the prettiest jewel in my tiara!


SB: Tell me how you would cast the film version of your story...

I would love to cast "Mad Men’s" Jon Hamm as the narrator who pushes his lover on to ever-edgier adventures. I love how his hair gets all mussed in those scenes of illicit, untrammeled sex.

For the lover who is sweet and proper on the outside, but wild and experimental (even pit bull-like?) in private, well, someone dared me to suggest Sarah Palin. While she seems willing to give in to the whims of her political party, I doubt she’d sleep with her mate’s best friend just because he ordered her to do it. So let’s go with Liv Tyler—lovely and elegant, but that sensual mouth suggests an intriguing sensuality we all want to see more of.

SB: How would you describe yourself in a phrase, school-wise?

An apparently minor incident in my junior year English class may be responsible for my career as an erotica writer. One morning, I overheard a boy behind me say to his friend “Donna George is cute. I’d go out with her if she wasn’t so smart.”

I blushed and pretended not to hear, but I heard all too well. He’d summed up a well-accepted dilemma in our society, bookish women (and men) are not considered sexy. I think I decided then on some level that I would prove smart and sexy DO go together. And so I went on to assemble a date-defying list of academic credentials.

I’m a Phi Beta Kappa Princeton graduate with a Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Stanford. I know, you wanted to fuck me— but now you have second thoughts?

Fortunately, somewhere along the way men did consent to sleep with me, thus giving me plenty of material for my erotic writing. My readers may not know it, but every time one of my stories makes them spring a boner or get nice and wet down there, it’s a victory for girls-who-wear-glasses everywhere!

SB: Any interesting felonies or misdemeanors you'd like to mention?

Not quite to that level. But I prevented a miscarriage of criminal justice. I once spent a summer working at the IRS, copying the tax returns of British rock stars about their US income—and I saved The Moody Blues from an audit.