Saturday, November 27, 2010

The Gift of Sensual Pleasure


The year's end is a time for reflection, thanksgiving and expressing appreciation to our loved ones in many ways, including gifts. What better gift that keeps on giving than a delicious book, in particular an erotica anthology, that is like a box of fine chocolates for the imagination? I say this not only because I'm an author. I've always loved giving books and loved receiving them as gifts. I also love discounts and good deals and it just so happens Cleis Press, the publisher of many of the anthologies in which my stories appear, is having a very sweet sale until the end of the year--20% off all books purchased through their website. This has been a very fruitful year of anthologies for me, and I'll be giving some of these goodies to lucky friends and relatives:

Best of Best Women's Erotica 2 (editor Violet Blue picks her favorite stories from the past five years and they are sizzling hot).

Please, Sir (delicious tales of women who find their power from submission).

Orgasmic (celebrates "The Big O" from the woman's perspective, and that means no refractory period to the endless pleasure)

Smooth (this book has one of my favorite stories of the past year, "Ivy League Associates," and plenty of other fleshly delights)

Passion (a book of erotic romance that will move your heart and leave you panting--great stuff!)

And last, but definitely not least, Best Women's Erotica 2011 (as always the year's hottest, boldest stories are collected by Violet Blue and my story "Fresh Canvas" is another all-time favorite)

All of these books make great stocking stuffers for your loved one--definitely a gift that will keep on giving for many chilly winter nights to come! Oh, and this lovely photograph comes from my fantastic photo shoot with boudoir photographer Laura Boyd. More on that adventure soon!

9 comments:

Emerald said...

Oh that's a fabulous picture. I'm so wanting to see them all! ;)

Danielle said...

that pic is soooo fabulous indeed...more more more!!!

Donna said...

There will be more, maybe more than you want, lol.

Sharazade said...

Books! They're what's for Christmas!

You know, it somehow never occurred to me that a lace-up corset could (and probably should...) be tied in the middle, instead of at the bottom. That would make it fit much better, wouldn't it? Does that mean two laces, though? And they all sort of meet and tie up in the middle?

Donna said...

Now that I own a real lace up one, I've discovered corsets are much more complex than I ever thought! So, Dark Garden, the corset maker, threads up the laces so there's a loop at the waist and you put on the corset, then pull the lower loop to tighten the top and the upper loop to tighten the bottom. I haven't quite figured out how that works, but it does look nice to have the bow at the waist. Your corset pic is stunning though, and it's probably a matter of taste, but perhaps you can google various lacing techniques?

Sharazade said...

I am curious now! Mine hooks all up the front, too, so I just lace it and tie it and then leave it like that, and take it on/off with the hooks. I will have to figure out how to get it tied in the middle, for sure.

Erobintica said...

That is a fantastic picture. And I had to click back and look at it because I became curious how it's laced too. Intriguing!

Donna said...

Thanks, Robin! Shar, I do the same with my Victoria's Secret corset because it's a pain to lace, but the Dark Garden people warned me not to leave it laced and use the hooks as the on-off mechanism. However, I think if you don't lace too tight, it doesn't matter. The problem is that it can put strain on the middle hooks and break the corset, so it must be loosened before you take it off. But again, I think a more casual corseting approach is fine if you don't lace tightly. Complicated stuff! Who knew?

Emerald said...

That is really interesting, Shar (and Donna). I would love to have a "real" corset (like custom-made like yours, Donna), and I don't, but I have around a dozen that I've bought from various lingerie retailers. The way they've almost always come is indeed with two laces—one starts at the top and goes down to the middle, and the other starts at the bottom and comes up to the middle, so there are two bows both tied right at the middle. (Incidentally, they have almost all also come with hook-and-eye or zipper closures in the front or on the side as you guys mentioned, and I have usually used that except that sometimes I need to loosen the laces to get the alternate closure closed, lol, and then re-tighten them—or have someone else re-tighten them.)