An Elegant and “Brainy” Debut Novel: Kirsten Menger-Anderson

I recently finished a novel-in-stories that was truly one of the most thought-provoking, elegantly written works of literary fiction I’ve read in a long time. The title is Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain (Algonquin Books, 2008), the debut novel of author Kirsten Menger-Anderson. The book has received glowing reviews from The Washington Post, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle…and some of the stories have also appeared in Ploughshares, the Southwest Review, Post Road and the Maryland Review. I tend to regard mainstream critics with a critical eye myself, but in this case, I’m in hearty agreement with their praise. Literary fiction should always be so fresh, relevant, and provocative.

Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain follows the lives of twelve generations of New York City physicians who are trying to better the human condition, each in his or her own misguided way. Rich in historical information, the book offers a light-handed education in medical history as well as an insight into the mixture of arrogance, delusion and faith that still lurks at the heart of medical science today. It grabbed me from the first paragraph and never let go!

Kirsten Menger-Anderson has a real gift for choosing the perfect resonant detail, creating prose that is both evocative and admirably spare. Each story illuminates the experience of the struggling outsider in some way, nudging us to contemplate racism, feminism, poverty, the pain of the immigrant experience, even the modern-day beauty business. What happens in the silences and shifts between the stories is as intriguing as the narratives themselves, and I was reminded again what a pleasure it is for a reader to make her own connections and enjoy “aha” moments. This, of course, is only possible when the author crafts her tale skillfully and with respect for the intelligence of her audience. Most impressive of all was the way the disparate voices “slur” together in a conclusion that works brilliantly to unify the stories.

You can hear excerpts from the book here, performed by professional actors as part of Sally Shore's "The New Short Fiction Series" in L.A.

Fortunately for us, Kirsten has agreed to stop by today to talk about her novel, the writing process and seductive literary dinners.

DGS: How did you come to write a novel-in-stories about the history of medicine in America?

KMA: First off, thanks for inviting me to your blog! It's a pleasure to be here.

The history of medicine has intrigued me ever since I looked up "phrenology" in the dictionary and marveled that reading human characteristics in the contours of the skull was once common belief. What other (now discredited) medical ideas have we held, I began to wonder. I discovered the works of Jan Bondeson, Carl Zimmer, and several other medical historians and science writers who tell captivating tales of practices that read like fiction: curative radium, lobotomy, therapies requiring ground millipede and mercury. These techniques and the contemporaneous debates about life, death, and the soul took hold of my imagination. Who were the people who believed humans could birth rabbits? Or that routine bleeding could cure the common cold? I began to look at how doctors and the medical philosophies of previous generations impacted daily life, and I ended up with a book that covers 350 years of medical history.

One of the many pleasures of reading Dr. Olaf van Schuler’s Brain is the wealth of historical detail about New York City over the centuries, which clearly represents a lot of background research. Can you tell us about your process? Do you have any tips for historical research for fiction writers?

Much of my research about New York began with Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace's amazing book Gotham, which tells a detailed history of New York City up until 1898. I looked at maps from different centuries; old documents such as newspaper articles, ship manifests, inventories of various sorts, old family trees; and at drawings and photographs of people and places taken at different points in time. All provided nice windows to the times.

Do you have a particular favorite among the stories? Any that was a special challenge for you to write?

I'm fond of all the stories and characters--I'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite. The last piece was definitely the hardest to write. I tried a number of different final stories: one about a woman in a persistent vegetative state, one set in the future, one that involved captive monkeys. "The Doctors", when I finally managed to write it, felt like the proper ending. But it took me a long time to get there.

That's interesting, because I thought it was a perfect and powerful ending! Now Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain is certainly not erotica, but there were a number of memorable scenes where eroticism plays a key role. This scene from “Salk and Sabin” struck me as an interesting commentary on adolescent sexuality and power play. Joanie, the voyeur, and Walter, the exhibitionist, don’t fully understand what they’re doing, which makes the interaction all the more poignant in the context of what’s going on with the adults in the story. Here's a teaser from the story (the really erotic scene comes later):

I couldn't answer when Mr. Wharton called on me; I didn't even hear his question. I was folding the [note that said "Communist"] in my palm, imagining how I would reinvent myself, how my skin would clear, and how one day I'd return to this school, and whoever had done this would seek me out and beg me to teach about the unions and the strikes. The reason communists weren't more popular, I believe, was entirely aesthetic. Even I acknowledged that my father, with his long chin, thick brows, and hairy nose was particularly unnattractive.

Mr. Wharton tapped his pointer on a wooden chair, staring at me, his jacket missing a button, his trousers so short that his socks showed. The chalkboard was covered with notes I noticed only then: battle diagrams and years, without any indication of significance.

"I don't know," I said.

Katherine, who sat behind me, laughed.

"Joanie's wet her underpants," she said softly so that only I and a handful of others heard. I realized then that she'd scrawled the note and placed the gum in my textbook. Her tone revealed it, and the fact that she knew I was upset. I can picture her placing the gum between her lips, cheeks wide and fat as a pregnant belly. People think she is beautiful, but she laughs like hard change in a beggar's cup, her pale hand sporting Walter Thompson's class ring. I know she lets him touch her. Secret places, dark places. After school, after she lingers at the back of the room to apply the red lipstick my father forbids me to wear, I follow them to Central Park and watch as Walter slips his hands under her skirt. She's never seen me, but he did once. He was kissing her, but looking at me. He was watching me and I him and for the first time I was equal. I, too, had a chance at winning his heart. I'd felt such a thrill then, I'd turned and run.

What was your experience doing the “sex scenes” for the novel?

The scene with Joanie, Walter, and Katherine is probably the most erotic in the book! I tend to write sex scenes that have a witness because I like the tension that interlopers bring to intimate moments. So yes, Joanie watches Walter and Katherine having sex, and I enjoyed writing/narrating that scene from her perspective. Other characters caught in the act (the innkeeper and the servant girl in "The Burning") don't fare quite as well.

What’s next for you?
I'm currently working on a novel about a field ecologist who travels to Ecuador to study butterflies.

Name a writer (or two, living or dead) you’d like to have dinner with, one you’d most like to trade talents with, one with whom you’d most like to spend a week in the Catskills golfing and trout fishing.

F. Scott Fitzgerald! Probably not for a week in the Catskills, though. For that I'd have to think of someone who prefers hiking to golf. Or someone who might want to blow off both the trout fishing and the golf and just spend a week reading and writing.

I'm a Fitzgerald fan, too--and I definitely hear you about the lure of reading and writing over fishing. Now for our last question, please describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you—into a deep conversation about the writing life, if not something even juicier!
For me, the perfect meal has a lot to do with location. I love to eat outdoors—a picnic in the park or a dinner on a roof top. Wine, bread, cheese, fresh fruit. And tomatoes (good tomatoes. The best ones I know of in the Bay Area are the dry farmed ones from Two Dog farm). And some chocolate, of course.

Thanks so much for the interview, Kirsten! Doctor Olaf van Schuler’s Brain is a book that leaves a reader with more questions than answers, but I certainly appreciate the insights you gave us today. For more on Kirsten’s experience promoting the book, check out the interview at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association blog.

Interview with a Virtuosa: Catherine Lundoff

Catherine Lundoff is unquestionably one of the top names in erotica today. Not surprisingly, her latest collection of lesbian erotica, Night’s Kiss, offers a feast of pleasures for lovers of smart and arousing fiction. These stories were first published in such places as Best Lesbian Erotica (four stories from a highly competitive anthology!), Ultimate Lesbian Erotica, Sex and Candy, Clean Sheets, and many others making this a true “best of the best” compilation.

Each of the sixteen stories offers the reader a trip to a different world in time or space, yet these escapes from the ordinary are all grounded in emotional and sensual authenticity. I found them uniformly intelligent, fearless, humorous, and satisfying. Equally impressive is the range of genres and tones. The encounter with the Elvis impersonator in “Viva Las Vegas” had me laughing, as did the witty exploration of pagan female-empowerment spells in “The Goddess Within.” The poetic “Left Bank,” set in Paris of course, had the dusky feel of a French film, while “On the Spanish Main” had the fierce energy one might expect from the union of the two famous female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonney. Lundoff can travel deep as well as wide. One of my favorite stories was “The Model,” where a familiar erotica scenario—a nude photo session—is humanized and transformed into a moving and fluid connection between artist and model. Another favorite was “Cowgirls and Science,” surely one of the hottest cowgirl stories on the rodeo circuit.

Many of these stories make masterful use of the frameworks of genre fiction, such as sci-fi, historical romance and paranormal fantasy, but Lundoff’s talent for storytelling and her smooth, elegant prose never fails to bring her complex, passionate characters to life. For example, I’m not a regular reader of vampire tales, but the gritty “She Who Waits” definitely seduced me to the dark side. “The impossible just came calling” says the narrator of her encounter with a blue-eyed, cold-skinned temptress—and isn’t that what we all want from good erotica?

Best of all, in these financially strapped times, Night’s Kiss offers a sweetly indulgent selection of mini-vacations to satisfy any wanderlusting spirit. There is so much more to praise, but perhaps it’s best to pause here to chat with the author herself about her work and her writing career.
DGS: How did you get started writing erotica?

CL: Well, around the time I started writing, I ran a small feminist/queer bookstore, small enough that I tried to read a lot of what I sold. I initially started out reading various erotica magazines and anthologies like On Our Backs, Best Lesbian Erotica and Herotica. Back then, it didn’t really occur to me to write my own erotica, at least not initially.

But the first few volumes were kind of a gateway drug and I started checking out a whole range of erotic writing, some of it terrific, some not so much. It was the latter that got me writing my own. The exact phrase that inspired me is etched in my brain forever. It was: “Blonde and blue, her skin was magnificent.” The story was neither science fiction nor BDSM, just to put this in perspective. After reading that particular story, I thought I could do better so I started committing fantasies to paper.

And now you’re one of the most respected names in the field! Can you tell us more about your trip from newbie to pro?
My first published story was actually a nonerotic lesbian historical romance. I'm one of those writers everyone loathes--I sold the first short story I ever wrote. And award-winning fantasy artist Alicia Austin did a cover based on the story. This was, not surprisingly, quite a confidence builder, not to mention a squee meltdown since I love her work.

After that, I started writing in multiple genres. I made early erotica sales to various Circlet and Alyson anthologies, then to Cleis and other presses as well, including multiple volumes of Best Lesbian Erotica and The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. Once I had about 40 stories or so in print, I queried Torquere Press and asked if they were interested in seeing a collection from me. They said yes and that became my first erotica collection, Night's Kiss back in 2005.

While I was out promoting Kiss, Steve Berman from Lethe Press approached me about doing a collection for him so I sat down and gathered some of my available lesbian erotica reprints, then wrote a bunch of new stories. That became Crave: Tales of Lust, Love and Longing (Lethe Press, 2007). After that, Steve asked me to edit an anthology of nonerotic lesbian ghost stories which was released last year, Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories (Lethe Press, 2008). Then most recently, Lethe Press released the new version of Night's Kiss: Lesbian Erotica, revamped and with new stories, in January of this year. And, of course, there were few other short stories, novellas and whatnot along the way.

What I'm skipping in this summary is immense amounts of verbiage committed to paper/computer screen and a tremendous amount of butt in chair, writing and rewriting. When I first started writing fiction, I also wrote a lot of articles and a column for a local newspaper. I tried to explore different genres: romance, science fiction, nonfiction, literary fiction, essays and mysteries, as well as erotica. I spent a lot of time learning to do promotion via readings at local bookstores and open mics as well as chats, blogs and panels at science fiction conventions. While I was at it, I applied for writing residences and was accepted for several, including one at the Atlantic Center for the Arts to study with award-winning science fiction/erotica writer, Samuel Delany.

When I got to the point where editors solicited stories from me, I worked at giving them my best, turned in within their deadlines. I tried for every Best of I thought I could get into. And I did a fair amount of networking, mostly online but also at conventions. For me, writing is a business, albeit not one that is as remunerative as my day jobs, but I still try to treat them both the same way.

One of the many things that impressed me about Night’s Kiss was the wide variety of settings that whisk the reader off to another place and time, from the bittersweet romance of Paris’ Left Bank and a rough-and-ready Western rodeo to colonial Mexico and Jack the Ripper’s London. Did you do a lot of research for your stories either through travel or “library” work?

Well, in some cases, I’m writing about places I’ve traveled to like Florence, Italy or Paris or Managua, Nicaragua for one of the stories in Crave. Travel is definitely helpful for getting an authentic feel for a place, as you demonstrate so beautifully in Amorous Woman.

But if I’m going to use a place I’ve never been to, I try and do some research to get a good feel for it. I have a great fondness for reading historical and geographical trivia; all of that gets filed away for future use in the corners of my reptile brain. The Web is also very helpful for details about what a place looks like now, so then it’s more a matter of using those details to establish a feel for the time period.

It’s hard to pick a personal favorite from among your stories, but since I’ve recently celebrated the allure of hotel sex here at my blog, I thought I’d treat my readers to a pensione scene from your exquisite story “A Room with a View,” a modern-day nod to E.M. Forster but with a lot more hot sex.

“You stand at the window, watching Florence’s glorious merchant palaces spread their pale orange wings on the other side of the Arno. I get up to lean against you, wrapping my body around yours, my hand reaching down of its own accord to ease its way under your blouse. I can’t help myself.

“Stop.” You breathe the word like a sigh, like you don’t mean it. It’s as though you want to hear what it sounds like to say “no.” But your eyes are still fixed on the green Arno and the centuries old palaces turned hotels and restaurants and trendy boutiques on the opposite bank so I continue my exploration.

My hand finds the silky skin between your bra and skirt and I lean over to take the lobe of one ear between my teeth. I work the tender flesh with my tongue, rejoicing at the quickening of your breath. My fingers find and close on a hardened nipple and you squirm against me. “Stop,” you hiss the word insistently between gasps.

All right, I will. My fingers reluctantly loosening, I step back with a courtier’s bow. But you’ll beg me for it later. I can see it in your eyes when you turn around. You know it, too. I grin down at you, my smile more a baring of frustrated fangs than anything else.

“C’mon, don’t pout. Let’s go look at something. I don’t want this to be one of those trips where we never leave the hotel room.” Your lower lip thrusts out slightly with the words as though I’m going to deprive you of a treat. I almost expect you to stomp your foot for emphasis.

As if I could deprive you of anything....


Night’s Kiss begins with the alluring glitter and laughs of “Viva Las Vegas” and ends with the sultry, dream-like “Beso de la Noche” [Night’s Kiss] which spans a woman’s lifetime—and more. Was there a particular method or mood to the arrangement of your stories in the collection?

I’d love to say there was a grand plan, but honestly, it came down to things like voice and setting more than anything else. Apart from that, “Viva Las Vegas,” my drag king Elvis story, is more humorous than some of my other work and I always like to lead with laughs. “Beso” is the title story so it made sense to put that one last. I was trying to avoid having too many stories that sounded alike or had similar settings one right after the other. I know that can bore me as a reader so I try to keep things as entertaining as possible for my own readers.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on several short stories and a novella, all either romance or science fiction and fantasy at the moment. My brain is full of lesbian pirates, feminist steampunk and a theater romance I just started. The current big project is a nonerotic fantasy novel about menopausal lesbian werewolves. It does have an evil twin of sorts in the works, about hot gay werewolves in medieval Russia; that one will have lots of sex in it, needless to say. I do like to multitask. In fact, I can’t not multitask; keeps things exciting.

Name a writer (or two, living or dead) you’d like to have dinner with, one you’d most like to trade talents with, one with whom you’d most like to spend a lost weekend in Paris.

Hmmm. Dinner – Jane Austen. I’m an unrepentant Austen fangrrrl and I’d love to have gotten a glimpse of what made her tick. Trade talents is a tough one. I think writing is a deeply personal headspace sort of thing so I’m not sure whose head I’d rather be in than my own. I can think of several writers I’d like to trade career trajectories with, of course, but that’s just not the same thing. Paris –Dorothy Allison. Trash just leaves me all aflutter.

Finally, describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you.

Sushi. I adore spicy mango tuna rolls; they’re the specialty of one of my local sushi restaurants.

Thank you so much for all the great questions!

We do sushi here--I'll order up some spicy mango rolls right now. And thank you for stopping by to chat, Catherine. It was a real pleasure!

Sex Through the Zodiac UNZIPPED: An Interview with Neve Black

It’s a very tempting idea, appealing to the same basic lust that makes your eyes gleam and your mouth water at the fragrant vision of a beautiful smorgasboard feast. A taste of this, a nibble of that, no commitment necessary to any one dish. You can try it all!

Indeed debut erotic novelist Neve Black gives us a buffet of celestial pleasures in her book Sex Through the Zodiac, recently released through Ravenous Romance. As the story begins, her feisty and newly single heroine Roxanne is doing bridesmaid duty at her friend’s New Year’s Eve wedding, and the sight of the happy loving couple has her pondering love and sexual chemistry. According to the zodiac—Roxanne is an expert in the field—the bride and groom aren’t supposed to be a good combination. “But maybe her water bearer air sign had a large cock and a strong tongue, and in that case, who really cares what his zodiac sign was?” That’s been my credo, but Roxanne decides she does care, and the adventurous Scorpio vows she’ll break free of her Virgo male fixation and seek out erotic encounters with all twelve signs in the zodiac in the year to come.

A woman’s journey of sexual self-discovery is the classic theme of many erotic novels (including mine), but Neve Black’s celestial twist adds an interesting dimension. You’ll get a quick refresher course on the erotic predilections of every sun sign and will no doubt smile in recognition, as I did at the Capricorn with the hard-earned gorgeous view from his office, at the way Roxanne satisfies your own sign according to his—or her—desires. Yet at the end of her light-hearted romp, Roxanne finds she’s opened her mind as well as her legs. Clearly hands-on education is a good thing!

Neve has graciously consented to stop by and answer a few questions about her novel, the writing process, and “chocolate gelato” lovers.

DGS: I read in another interview that you wrote Sex Through the Zodiac in two months. Were there any challenges and surprises you faced in completing your first novel in such a short time? Or has the idea been simmering for a while?

Neve Black: Well, let me first start by saying how much I appreciate your interest in Roxanne, the book and my novel, Donna. And these are really terrific interview questions. You really are a woman of many talents.

Yes. I did write this story in less than two months. It was actually just shy of five weeks’ to be precise. Similar to my character in the book, I’ve also been fascinated with astrology for as long as I can remember. I’ve always thought the topic of the zodiac is fun and often a great ice breaker when meeting new people. I’ve found that most people like to talk about themselves too, and the topic is light enough that it gets people sharing stories about one another.

I had originally pitched my story idea to Lori Perkins, who I met out here in blogland via Alison Tyler in fall of last year. At that time, I hadn’t written a story that was longer than 6K words. I had originally envisioned this story at 12-15K words. I was in heaven when Lori said she loved the idea, but instead of my novella word count, Lori said I’d have to step it up and write close to 50K. I think I had a stroke at the initial idea of writing that many words. I didn’t want to shoot myself in the foot, and of course, I didn’t want to miss out on the fantastic opportunity, but I certainly didn’t want to over-promise and under-deliver either. I asked Lori if I could have a week to contemplate making that kind of time commitment, and to also start writing and get a feel for word flow. She was more than accommodating. That first week, I wrote over 7K words. And Roxanne was on her way. I was very diligent with my time and focused on writing this story.

Your heroine Roxanne is impressively focused on her goal to sample the delights of every sign in the zodiac. Is this characteristic of the Scorpio? Could Roxanne work as a character if she were any other sign? (And, if I may get personal, are you a Scorpio?)

Yes. Scorpios are supposed to be goal oriented and very focused once they set their minds on something. There were several times within the story that Roxanne met lovers she could have settled down with, but instead she chose to romp onto the next zodiac sun sign; focusing on her goal of having sex with each of the twelve sun signs. Roxanne of course was also trying to work through a failed relationship with her Virgo-lover boyfriend, which was also fueling her desire to move forward. Yes, my sun sign is Scorpio. I thought it best to write this story from the sun sign perspective I knew best, which is my own. I do however feel Roxanne could have been another sun sign too, because Scorpios are certainly not the only zodiac signs with ambitious, sexual natures.

I'm hoping you include Capricorn in that list, right ;-)? I found it interesting that each encounter Roxanne orchestrates is exactly suited to the sun sign of her partner. Here’s one of my favorite scenes, with the home-loving Cancer, Ben, who’s prepared a delicious dinner which concludes with a home-made lemon meringue pie.

“I know you like sweets. I saw you eat two pieces of cake at the wedding, “ he said, smiling at me.

God. I could go for second helpings of him as the dessert tonight. My mind raced, and I turned my head and smiled back at him mischievously.

“Do you like it?”he asked. He was stalling on making a move.

Of course, why didn’t I think of it earlier? It must have been the wine, the food, and being in close proximity to him that I didn’t think of it earlier. Cancers are shy. I would have to make the first move and Cancers were okay with that type of arrangement. My thoughts became clear.

“Ben?” I said slowly and seductively as I put my half-eaten piece of pie down onto the coffee table.

“You want coffee, don’t you? Coffee is always good with pie,” he said, putting his pie plate down and getting ready to stand up to once again dote on my every whim.

“No. No. No. Please, I don’t want coffee, Ben,”I said turning toward him and placing my hand on the top of this thigh, guiding him to sit back down.

“Oh. Can I get you anything?” he said moving closer to me now.

“Yes. I’d like to taste you now,” I said as I closed my eyes and kissed his lips very gently, careful not to intimidate him, or else he’d run and take cover somewhere and my moment of seduction would be lost.

Fortunately, Ben responded to my lips pressing against his and I heard a moan escape somewhere from the back of his throat. He pulled me closer to him; opened his lips up and plunged his tongue inside my mouth.

We sat on the couch and kissed for what seemed liked hours. My pussy was so wet and I wanted to show my appreciation for all his hard work in the kitchen. My mouth wanted a taste of his cock.

I pulled my lips away and started unbuttoning his shirt. He leaned back into the couch and let me continue seducing him. His chest felt smooth and hard at the same time. I felt his heart beating as I unfastened each button. I pulled his shirt away and kissed the nipples on his sensitive chest and then ran my tongue down the middle of his belly; stopping at his belly button, I inserted and circled my tongue. He closed his eyes, let out guttural moan and lifted his hips up to me, begging me to continue.

I did.

I'll leave you to imagine what comes next. Now I’m not sure how Roxanne could give up a guy who is so very good at satisfying oral urges of every kind, but then again, she would have missed the Italian “chocolate gelato” lover which would have been a shame! Was it difficult to decide on the perfect setting for each encounter? Can you share some stories about your process?

Isn’t Ben a slice of heaven? Surprisingly, creating each sexual encounter based upon her lover’s sun sign characteristics wasn’t difficult at all to conjure up. I did have a number of astrology books scattered across my floor for reference though. Using your example above, the zodiac sun sign, Cancer are very sensitive and romantic. They also tend to be homebodies, so for Ben to want to make Roxanne a home-cooked and romantic dinner seemed like the perfect scenario. Not to mention adding a little romance into her sexcapade episodes struck a nice balance not only for me, but I think Roxanne appreciated the romance also.

I’ve noticed that jazz music plays a big role in Roxanne’s seductions. Are you a jazz fan? Any plans for a “soundtrack” for Sex Through the Zodiac?

Thanks for picking up on the classic jazz that weaves throughout the story, Donna. I think classic jazz music is raw, exciting, and very smart… and well, it’s just sexy as hell…which is a lot like a fantastic lover, wouldn’t you agree? No plans for a soundtrack, but I like how you think Donna.

There’s also plenty of humor in the novel, but I have to ask: what is it with fire signs and public restrooms?

Roxanne does have a good sense of humor. Public restroom and Fire signs – yeah, clearly there was a pattern there in the book, eh? Fire signs are generally very spontaneous and impetuous when it comes to sex. Okay, I’ll confess. A few years ago now, I had been involved with a Fire sign and we, well, ahem, we christened a number of public restrooms for awhile. He’d look at me from across a crowded room; eyes sparkling with mischief and almost instantly chills would run down my spine. Before too long we would both be in the bathroom going at it, as if it were the very first time. It was fun and crazy. And the bathroom door; it was always unlocked.

It is always interesting to hear how life informs art. While I'm being nosy--tell us what’s next for you?

I’m continuing to write erotica and submit stories for various editors and publishers. I’m also currently writing copy for a sex toy company; evoking a visceral response for their customers to help boost sex toy sales. It’s been said that sex sells (wink, wink). I’m also working on a screenplay because one of my passions is film. The screenplay is of course sexually related.

Of course! Now we get to our trademark questions here at Sex, Food and Writing. Name a writer (or two, living or dead) you’d like to have dinner with, one you’d like to trade talents with, and one with whom you’d most like to have quickie in a public restroom.

May I choose you for all the above, Donna? (smile). I have such a long list of writers I admire. First, I feel so lucky to have met many talented writers out here in the blogosphere and I couldn’t possibly choose just one or two. I don’t think I could choose just one or two writers that have passed on either. How does one choose? I’m choosing not to choose, but instead, I’m offering a solution: I create these incredible scenarios in my head where groups of multi-genre writer’s get to spend a long, glorious weekend together; drinking, eating, laughing and telling stories. I’m sure there would be sex involved, and probably not much sleeping.

Well, I am flattered and certainly wouldn't expect the talent behind Roxanne to want to choose just a few partners in pleasure! But maybe you could describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you (is lemon meringue pie involved?)—into a deep conversation about the writing life, if not something even starrier!

It’s incredibly sexy to me to prepare a meal with my lover: Can you hear and smell the hot olive oil and garlic as it dances in the pan? “Chhhhop, chhhhooop,” that’s the sound of the sharp blade slowly cutting through vegetables picked from the garden earlier today. “Thwaaorkkkkk” is the meticulous, but glorious uncorking of a great bottle of wine. Oh my, suddenly all my juices are flowing inside me. There’s of course classic jazz playing in the background as we both move around the kitchen in synchronicity; touching, laughing, talking and creating. I imagine we’d sit on the couch; nothing too fancy-shmancy; plates in our laps; pouring more wine and talking for hours about our shared passion for culture and art – later over more wine, there’d be dark, rich bittersweet chocolates for dessert - fed of course from the other’s finger tips.
All this talk about food and sex has me…well feeling very hungry. Thank you so much for the interview, Donna. This was a lot of fun!

P.S. Roxanne also wanted to say, “Thank you!”

Wow, you (and Roxanne) really do know how to get the juices flowing--no wonder you two had such success in your mission. Thank you so much, Neve and Roxanne, for this delicious and sparkling interview. I think we're all a little hungry after talking with you! Best of luck with your novel and your future projects and come back to tell us about your further adventures soon.

Brushing Up with M. Christian

I’ve been an admiring fan of M. Christian’s work since well before I began writing erotica myself. He’s edited twenty anthologies and written over three hundred stories, four novels, and four short story collections, with numerous appearances in Best American Erotica and other Best of’s as well as being an annually returning alumnus of The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. His narrators and protagonists come in a rainbow of sexual preferences, yet the stories are always incandescently erotic and convincing. On top of this, his work spans a range of genres, from literary to horror, science fiction and a soupcon of erotic romance.

I’ve always wondered what the “M” in M. Christian stands for, but I’m pretty sure it stands for “Maestro”!

I recently had the pleasure of reading one of his most recent novels, Brushes. A multi-layered treat for the mind and the senses, Brushes reminded me how a well-written novel can really draw you into a totally different world and keep you there, enchanted. M. Christian transports us to glittering Paris where we follow the adventures of eight denizens of the art world, from an acclaimed artist and his muses to desperate wannabes. As their lives brush up against each other, serendipitously, inevitably, all experience a compelling sexual encounter that changes their lives forever. The variety of sex scenes is like a tempting buffet, the prose as silky smooth as a pot de crème. The novel definitely raises fascinating questions about the artist’s life and the silliness of the business surrounding it. This tale of mystery will definitely provoke and entertain anyone who’s intrigued by the power of the creative--and the erotic—spirit.

That’s me, baby—how about you?

And now, I have the even greater pleasure of inviting the Maestro to my blog to chat about writing, erotica and sensual indulgence of the culinary persuasion.

DGS: I’ve always been amazed at your versatility as a writer, your virtuoso ability to cross genres and genders. How do you do it? Or are you actually a shapeshifter from another galaxy?

MC: Nah, I’m just a classic hack, though being a shapeshifter from another galaxy would make it a lot easier to find a date on Saturday night.

How did you get started writing erotica?

Well, I’ve always wanted to be a writer – in fact I first remember deciding it would be the life I wanted to live when I was in the fourth grade or so – but I had zero luck with it for, oh, about fifteen years. Tired of rejection slips, I signed up for an erotica writing class from Lisa Palac, who used to edit a magazine called Future Sex. My thought at the time was something like: why the hell not?

Turns out I was pretty good at pornography – who knew? – and Lisa bought my first story, which was subsequently published by Susie Bright in her Best American Erotica 1994. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

You’ve been publishing erotica for a long time now. In your view, how has the genre and the publishing environment changed over the years.

Lordy, that’s a big subject! Right off the top of my head I’d guess the biggest change has got to be the death – or imminent death, to be polite – of the traditional publishing model of business. Printed books are simply way too expensive to produce, especially these days, and far too difficult to sell. Sure, there will always be big houses operating like we’re still in the ‘50s but going forward we’re going to see far more small-to-medium-sized publishers connecting with very specific audiences. That’s good news for readers, as a publisher’s profit doesn’t have to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Only having to make a few thousand means they can take risks and produce books for very narrow-focused interests. The bad news, though, is that the days of huge – or even large – advances for authors are gone … bummer. Don’t despair, though. Because the smaller publishers don’t have huge overhead, they can pay better royalties, and because of Amazon – the sort-of-great literary equalizer -- a small-time author has about the same ‘shelf’ space as a big-time one … the trick, of course, is to get yourself noticed.

You’re now blogging at Imagination is Intelligence with an Erection, Frequently Felt, Meine Kleine Fabrik and The New Café (Racer) Society. What do you like about blogging? How does it fit into your fiction writing schedule?

Actually The New Café (Racer) Society is a two-wheeled, one-man enterprise run by my brother, S.A. – who works with me on Meine Kleine Fabrik. I like blogs because they’re a way to get yourself out there. With Meine Kleine Fabrik, which is German for “My Little Factory,” the name of a jewelry company S.A. used to have, it’s a kind of commonplace book; a way of sharing the fun and wild and weird and silly and cool things we’ve come across. Frequently Felt is kind of the same thing but with a sexy twist – and is also a place where authors can share their work as well: my way of opening the door for new erotica writers. Imagination is Intelligence with an Erection, is my writing site: the place where I post reviews, announcements about new projects, new books and suchlike.

I kind of cheat, to be honest, with these blogs: I usually just post or repost stuff I find. Sure it makes them a bit less ‘rich’ but I simply don’t understand writers who spend hours posting and no time on their craft. Working on stories and books is what I love to do, so they will always be my top priority.

One of the pleasures for me while I was reading Brushes was the chance to come to my own conclusions about the shadowy central figure, the artist Escobar, based on the clues provided by the perspectives of the different narrators. It’s also fun to see how the different characters “brush up” against each other in different ways on the streets of Paris. But what might be pleasure for the reader could present a real logistical challenge for the author. Did you have a particular strategy to plan and keep track of all the “brushes” in the novel?

Thank you so much – it means a lot to me that you liked it!

While it was a tad challenging, it was also a lot of fun to do. My motivation was to try to put together something showing our various ‘faces:’ like the Donna I know isn’t the Donna other people know, etc. In the case of Escobar these multiple ‘faces’ are amplified because of his fame: the people around him have their own perspectives on him, twisted by jealousy, fear, unreasonable admiration, and all those other lovely emotions. Occasionally I’d find myself ‘painted into a corner’ especially since I was trying to tell the story from different perspectives but also taking place at the same time. Although there are some things I wish I’d done better, I thought it came out pretty well. I guarantee I’ll do better with the next book, and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that ….

Your novel has countless wonderful examples of how an erotic scene reveals character—this is really the heart of the book. I’ve chosen this excerpt from chapter 4, told from the point of view of Marcel, a snobbish, fastidious gallery owner, who has called in a paid companion to “celebrate” after a long day in the art business. Here’s a tasty sampling of the scene:

"I love my breasts," she said. "I love they way they look, but I really like the way they feel." Purple painted nails slid over the slopes, stroked under, and deliberately hesitated over the rises of her nipples. One hand went behind, reaching for another clasp, preparing for another revelation.

More than at any time in recent memory, he was aroused. With Josephine it had been there, but more abstract, more a quality of the whole experience than a pulse-matched deep down, stirring where he wasn't Marcel the gentleman, the rich man, the owner of L'Art, but rather just a man and a very demanding desire. He might still be struck by silence, but he could move.

There was a good reason Zazu would love her breasts. They were phenomenal. Large yet exceptionally firm, they swept gently from the satin of her chest, ending in two saucer-sized, swollen areolas, topped by aggressively firm nipples the color of fresh strawberries and the size of gumdrops. As her bra joined her clothes at her feet, her breasts swung and jiggled, a mesmerizing display.

"Aren't they beautiful? I'm so lucky. But what's even better is that I like how they feel, not just how they look." With thumb and forefinger she tightly plucked at her right nipple, much harder than he'd ever seen a woman do before. She hissed, deep and languid, in response. Then the same, this time to the left, but now the hiss became a moan and her knees seemed to lose a bit of their strength. "Oh, wow," she said through a sharp laugh.

Stroking himself, he realized he didn't care that he was or that she knew he was. It was too good. This woman was beautiful and sexy, and more importantly, he was enjoying himself more than he ever had before. How his zipper had come down, how he'd extracted himself from his underwear, he didn't know, but there it was and he wasn't about to stop. Again, the question -- but this time only the barest of whispers in his mind and nowhere near a loud thought: what am I? The answer came immediately: I am me... and I like this.

The other nipple again; this time she had to catch herself before dropping all the way to the carpet. It took her some time to pull herself up and stand straight. "I like this. It's one of my... things, I guess you could call it." Peering through her purple bangs, she caught his gaze with hers. "Having fun?"

Even before he'd realized he'd broken the silence, he found his voice. "I-I am."

Do you have a particular favorite among the characters or scenes in Brushes? Any that were harder or easier to write?

Once again, I really appreciate your kindness and support, Donna! Writing can be a damned hard life so compliments and kindness – especially from a writer I like and admire – are a real treat!

Each of the characters in Brushes had their challenges, as well as their easier bits. I’m so glad you liked Marcel: he was a particularly fun one as I was trying to use his sexuality as a pretty broad reflection of his personality: removed and controlling in life, removed and controlling in bed. Escobar was probably the hardest because as I was ‘doing’ him, I kept thinking that here he is, the guy everyone’s talking about. A bit of pressure there ….

What’s next for you?

Let’s see … working on a gay horror novel called Monster that should be done in a few months. Have a new collection of straight erotica coming out soon, called Licks & Promises. Both The Bachelor Machine, my science fiction erotica collection, and Dirty Words, which is a gay erotica collection, are being reprinted and should be out soon. I’m also chatting with some publishers about doing some new anthologies – more on those very soon. I’ve also done my first screenplay, the movie for which should be shooting soon, and I’m working on other fun stuff as well. Just keep an eye on my blog for more info and updates and such.

Finally, describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you—into a deep conversation about the writing life, if not something even juicier!

A perfect meal? Hummm … I love a lot of food, and have a long list of great restaurants, but to make any meal perfect I’d have to have the company of my wonderful lady, and soon-to-be-wife, Sage Vivant. As I already mentioned, writing can all-to-often be a brutal and hard life. I am very fortunate to have found the woman of my dreams, and would never do anything without her.

Well, congratulations--that's definitely a match made in erotica heaven!! I wish you both all the happiness in the world (as well as many delicious meals together).

Thanks so much for stopping by to talk shop with me. And for those of you interested in some more hot-and-hot-off-the-presses M. Christian fiction, check out his novel Painted Doll and Hack Work, a series of short story downloads, as well.

American Cool is the Coolest!

Today, I have the great pleasure to feature on my blog one of my favorite short story collections—Susan DiPlacido’s American Cool. Although officially categorized as “erotica,” and previously published in top erotica anthologies like Best American Erotica and the Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, these award-winning stories have it all. They are funny, bold, and insightful, not to mention the prose is snappy, down-to-earth, and wonderfully evocative. This book is very, very cool, even when it’s very, very hot. But there’s tremendous depth and poignancy to the stories. For example, the title story, “American Cool 101” peels back the layers of cool to expose the sad, soft need that is an inevitable part of the human experience. When I finish a Susan DiPlacido story, I always feel a little wiser about the mysteries of the human heart, but the lingering flavor is always bracing and bittersweet--like a good cocktail (Susan favors vodka with fresh pomegranate juice)!

Susan is also the author of four novels, 24/7, Trattoria, Mutual Holdings and the forthcoming House Money, and writes an equally cool and entertaining blog called Neon Fiction. She has graciously consented to come chat about her writing and her travels.

“Neon Nights” is a dark and dream-like story that is a very appropriate opening to the collection. Maria Rossi is one of Sin City’s “living ghosts” and she’s been on a winning streak for 136 nights. She’s upholding the Vegas illusion but she’s not deluded about what’s going on. She knows she’s the statistical rarity that supports the hope of winning: this is what gives the city its life. “It’s not about the money. That’s what the non-gamblers and skeptics and pragmatists will never understand about this place. They blame it on the greed… It’s not just the entertainment. Winning is a buzz. It makes you feel alive.”

I’m definitely one of those clueless skeptics, but when I read this story, I “got” Vegas for the first time! Now that’s a story to change your life. So, I am finally getting to a question for you here:

DGS: What draws you to Las Vegas? Do you have any recommendations for a first-time visitor to get beyond the tourist traps to get an authentic “Vegas Experience”?

SD: I'm a shallow person, and, some would say, a degenerate gambler and a bit of a drunk. So, Vegas is a good fit. I also love sunshine and heat and swimming pools, so it's pretty much perfect for me there, day or night. That's a good question about the "authentic" Vegas experience for a first-timer, and I know when people travel to other places, they like to avoid tourist traps and get a taste of the "real" city. However, what you have to keep in mind about Vegas is that it was built with the exclusive purpose of being a tourist trap. Truly, it wasn't much more than a railway stop until gambling was legalized, and then it boomed. So you can go to the first hotel there to see old west history (The Golden Gate, located right downtown), and then there's The Flamingo, which was the first destination complex which was built by Bugsy and the mob. Beyond that, its history is still mostly up and down the strip, even though most of the hotels have been rebuilt. So the most authentic Vegas experience really is to get drunk and gamble away your life savings in a spiffy casino. Maybe work in a hooker somewhere, too. Or a wedding -- while drunk. And then a quickie divorce. And, so, I guess that's why I love it there.

“Found in Translation” is another transporting and lusciously erotic travel tale, but this time the destination is Bellagio (where, coincidentally, I spent my honeymoon). I know you’ve traveled to Italy often. Do you have any favorite places/sites/restaurants that are particularly inspiring?

Well, you've been to Bellagio so you know what it's like there. It really is mind-blowing beautiful. Venice is strange and sort of cool, and that's where the world's oldest casino is, and it's a really swank place that I like. The Amalfi coast and Capri are lovely. I do prefer the north to the south, which is unusual, as most people prefer the south. But it really is Rome that I love the best. There's just so much there that's breathtaking and historic, but it's all within this incredibly huge and busy metropolitan world-class city, too. You can walk up the Spanish Steps and feel like Audrey Hepburn or you can romantically toss a few coins into the Trevi Fountain or check out the Colisseum and just be in awe.

“Coyote Blues” is simply one of the sexiest stories I’ve ever read—and believe me, I read a lot of sexy stories in my line of work. I seriously just wanted to crawl right through the pages into that bed with Wes and stay there forever. Here’s an appetizer sampling of the “climactic” scene:

“Once I’d calmed he started again. The kissing stopped when the panting started and it wasn’t long before we were all out fucking. We usually moved a lot, but not that night. He kept my hands clamped down by my head and he stayed on top. When I tried to wiggle or thrust, Wes was having none of it. He set the pace, and he set it well. I didn’t care, I was getting high again, getting close. The way he was driving into me I don’t know how he was holding out so long. But I was starting to get an idea of exactly what this was really about.

“That’s when he released my hands and put his arms around me. Instinct, I guess it was, I put my arms around his neck and held him close. As high and hot as I was, I could still feel the details, like his sweat dripping down onto my neck, the rough stubble of his cheek scraping against mine, moist hot breath in my ear, the heat and silken steel of his chest pressed against my breasts, the muscles of his shoulders working and contracting under my hands, and that glorious frenzied fucking going on.

Everything I thought I knew about us changed when I gripped him tight inside, felt the start of another orgasm overtaking me and heard him whisper in my ear. Breathy and low. Urgent. Just my name. ‘Rita.’”

I want to be in “Coyote Blues.” Is there a story or stories in American Cool that would you like to step into?

Aw, thank you for the kind words on the story and scene! Coming from a master like you, that's like praise from Caesar! Honestly, though, I have a low tolerance for stress or conflict, and since some sort of conflict is necessary in fiction, I wouldn't want to be in any of the stories! My low-stress tolerance, in fact, is probably to blame for my fiction not being better. I can't even manage to create too much prolonged agita on the page because my need to make everything copacetic is so strong.

Was there a particular method or mood to the arrangement of your stories in the collection?

Well, I use recurring characters or tell similar stories from different perspectives, so I wanted to be sure to not make it chronological. I wanted some of the stories to feel a bit surprising by putting the prequel part after the sequel so it'd have a different feel. Other than that, I just tried to make sure and mix up the erotic and non-erotic and sprinkle some humorous ones in there.

What’s next for you?

I actually already have three more books written. One is with a publisher and I'm not sure when it will be released, but hopefully this spring or summer. It's called "House Money" and I love it. It's a bit of a sequel to "24/7" but with some new characters, and it's a crime caper set in Vegas. The other two books, I'll be looking for a publisher soon.

Name a writer (or two, living or dead) you’d like to have dinner with, one you’d most like to trade talents with, one with whom you’d most like to spend a lost weekend in Vegas.

Oh man! Remember, I'm shallow, so if I'd be given that wish, I'd probably blow off deserving writers and conjure Cary Grant! But, okay, I'd have dinner with Charles Bukowski because we'd have a grand time knocking back the booze. I'd happily trade talents with a plethora of writers: Dorothy Parker, Anais Nin, Jackie Collins, Tom Robbins, Elmore Leonard, but if I had to name one, it would be a writer, but not one who writes books, but rather screenplays. It'd be Quentin Tarantino. He writes exactly what I wish I could write. It's fun, it's a little freaky, got tons of suspense and amazing dialogue. And I'd also spend my lost weekend in Vegas with Quentin, because I know he'd be a great time, and I have truly adorable feet which he'd appreciate. Dostoevsky would be second choice, as he was quite the gambler, too, and I wouldn't mind seeing him go nuts at a single zero roulette table.

Finally, describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you—into a deep conversation about the writing life, if not something even juicier!

Well, you know, this is probably odd for an erotica writer, but I much more equate food and meals with family fun rather than romance or sexiness. My idea of a perfect meal is lots of big platters full of everyone's favorite foods and we all just feast and fight and have fun. There's nothing that could really seduce me into talking about the writing life -- which is what's so clever about your questions. You asked things about specifics in my stories instead of "the process". I can talk about Vegas all day or night. I'll listen to conversations about writing, for a while, then I'm bored. And I won't really talk about it, cause I'd feel like a prize idiot or fraud. But I'm easily seduced into plenty other things with a couple martinis. And I'd sure to love to have a bite and chat with you anytime, Donna, as you've already been an incredibly gracious hostess! Thanks!

The pleasure is all mine, Susan. And any time you're in Vegas and hankering for a middle-aged erotica writer in a slinky Chinese dress to blow on your dice, give me a buzz!

Make A Scene: An Interview with Jordan Rosenfeld

I have a lot of writing reference books in my library—A LOT of writing reference books—and I’m rather picky when it comes to adding another one. But after reading Jordan E. Rosenfeld’s Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time, I happily made room in the easy-access “favorites” section of my bookshelf. This is one of those rare a how-to books that not only makes me feel sharper as an editor, it inspires me to dive back into the creative phase of the process, not to mention the humor and flowing prose made it a true pleasure to read. The book is a great resource not just for scene-building but for all the fundamentals of good writing, with checklists, or “muse points,” to help make characters more compelling and plots--even if you write literary fiction!—into the foundation of a page-turner. Beginners will get lots of new information, while veterans (I guess I qualify?) will benefit from stepping back and examining why they do what they do from instinct. This book is invaluable for the editing phase of novel writing—remember, each scene has to earn its place--and I know I’ll be referring to it often!

I’ve asked Jordan to answer a few questions about her book, her writing process and, naturally, her favorite seductive foods.

DGS: Appropriately, your book opens with a compelling scene where Stephanie, an exuberant salsa dance teacher, inspires you to move your body with a grace and energy you didn’t know you possessed. It turns out Stephanie also teaches writing and was the first person to teach you how to write a scene. I love how you express the writer’s task in a way that pulls your all-important first scene together beautifully: “To write well, you must take the readers in hand and teach them how to move to your beat, or follow a mystery, or care about two lovers whose relationship is coming apart at the seams. Your reader must be able to enter your story as if it were the auditorium of a theater, or an empty dance floor with strange music playing.” Did Stephanie teach you any other lessons that you could pass on to aspiring writers?

JR: Well, Stephanie (who sadly passed away a few years ago at the unfair age of 51) was a very unique character—as a person and writer. I was actually quite intimidated by her at first because she was SO confident and bold and sort of devil-may-care. I’d say what she taught me most was not to try to be like any other writer—in other words, we often see a style or a success story and think, “I’ll do that…” in pursuit of success and ignore our own voices. She taught me to proudly claim your own voice and style even if it seems “hard to sell.”

In your chapter on “The Senses” you mention that one of your pet peeves is a lack of scenes with characters eating. I am on a one-writer campaign to redress this balance and I totally agree with you that “taste provides great moments of potential conflict and intimacy.” Do you have favorite “tasting” scenes from your own work or the work of favorite authors you’d like to share as an illustration?

JR: First I love that you’re on a campaign to redress this balance! Fantastic. In my own work I tend to favor using the preparation of food, actually, more often than the tasting of it—I like kitchen scenes. So much potential for drama—fire! Knives! Hot sauce! Family dysfunction! But in my novel The Night Oracle, my character falls for a bartender who likes to mix creative cocktails and even though she’s not a big drinker, she tastes these drinks of his because she’s drawn to him and I felt it was important that she find his creations both unusual and alluring. The absolute most wonderful food scene I’ve ever read is in a book called How to Cook a Tart, by Nina Killham. The main character is a woman in her 40s—a juicy, shameless chef who believes in flavor over diet—and this teenage boy starts to fall in love with her. But rather than giving in to his advances, she cooks him a meal he will never forget—it’s like she makes love to him with food—and then sends him on his way. Oh, what a great scene!

What challenges did you face in writing a “meta” how-to-write book as compared to writing fiction? Was there any chapter that was particularly easy to write or particularly difficult?

JR: Ironically, I find I’m actually rather good at “meta” how-to, because I’m such a know-it-all. I edit manuscripts for a living, as well, so I’m used to being a bit bossy that way. However, it started out easy and got harder and harder because I did come up against a number of ideas where I thought “What do I really know about this? And how can I effectively show what I mean?” The challenge with how-to writing is that you can’t just generally talk about your subject, you have to illustrate and give directions. My editor was constantly asking me, “So what’s the take-away lesson for the reader?” And I’d slap myself on the forehead and try to figure that out.

The hardest chapter, I think, was 23, Your Protagonist’s Emotional Thread. I couldn’t figure out, at first, how to demonstrate the idea that in order for a character to be successful they must be changing and developing scene by scene. In general, the hardest part of writing this book was that I couldn’t just rely upon my basic craft knowledge; I had to constantly bring back the topic to the scene itself.

One of the many riches of this book are the wonderful quotes and examples of great writers’ work. One of my favorites is Paul Auster’s “Every novel is an equal collaboration between the writer and the reader and it is the only place in the world where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy.” Whew, that’s a real reminder of the power of fiction! Another favorite is Leora Skolkin-Smith’s discussion of the magic of Alice Munro’s work. How long did it take to research and assemble your examples?

JR: Fortunately I was able to pull examples as I went (and it took me a good year to write the book because I did it slowly)—I didn’t have to assemble them in advance. For every chapter where I needed examples I would literally hit the library and check out books I had already read that I knew were in line with the topic. Or, if necessary, I’d buy them from the bookstore where I worked part time (I spent a lot of time just skimming books I’d read). In fact, as an aside, one day I checked out like 20 books at the library and the librarian says, “Are you really going to read all of those?” And I said, “No, I already have!” Needless to say she gave me a weird look. The epigraph quotes were actually harder to find than other examples because I wanted them to really capture the essence of the chapter. The Auster quote is one of my favorites now; I read it to students when I teach workshops as a reminder of that very important truth. I was otherwise really, really fortunate to have some great author contacts and friends willing to give me those “scene-stealer” analyses of fiction they’d read.

In Chapter 17, “Action Scenes,” you write “The American action movie has changed the way people think about action, and not necessarily for the better…actions can be smaller and more personal…” Do you think Hollywood has had a detrimental effect on the expectations of agents, publishers and readers in the current market?

JR: I don’t know if it’s fair to place all the blame on Hollywood for the changing expectations of agents/publishers and readers, but it has definitely had an impact. I think many people now want books to do what movies do, which, to me, means to bypass acts of imagination—after all, when we read, even if there are specific visual details, our minds have to flesh them into being and no two readers will envision the same. I think this has spiked the sales of commercial fiction and put yet another nail into the already heavy literary fiction coffin. I also think that the internet/TV are as much to blame as movies—especially the internet where everything is available instantly. We’re becoming a literal, visual culture that likes shortcuts. Books don’t allow for shortcuts (unless you speed read) so naturally agents/ editors are paying attention to what sells.

I can see myself referring to Make a Scene again and again as I write. Do you refer to it when you write fiction? Is there any particular section you look to most? Or would recommend to a beginning writer to focus on?

JR: I do actually refer to my own book—to refresh myself when I’m stuck somewhere in my own writing (and often I barely remember writing it). For beginning writers I think the first two parts of the book, “Architecture of a Scene” and “Core Elements” are really crucial, especially if the scene is still a murky concept. I wrote this book because I realized that I’d written for a long time before I understood what a scene was, and it wasn’t until I began to actively write scenes that my fiction became sharper, for lack of a better word, a symptom I see often in my clients’ writing. I also recommend the final part of the book, creatively called “Other Scene Considerations,” to new writers. The Scene Types section is going to be more useful to the intermediate and advanced writer.

Describe your dream writing project (marketability doesn’t matter here)—and what is next for you as a writer?

JR: Hmmm. I’ve been really attracted to this crossover fiction often called “fantastic” or “surreal” fiction in which reality gets played with, though the writing is still relatively literary, and it doesn’t get shelved as “fantasy.” Everything I’ve been writing in the last couple years seems to be dipping into this, and though I’ve had a couple good attempts—my agent tried to sell one of my novels and we came really close, but no cigar—I feel I haven’t landed the right concept yet. My dream project is to find that story, write it impeccably well and sell it J So that will also hopefully be my next project. I’m trying to finish the draft of another novel I wrote a year ago that does have fantastic elements, but it’s sort of kicking my butt. For non-fiction, I’d love to be paid to do the kinds of interviews I do for Writer’s Digest magazine but for much bigger money and far more often, and it can extend beyond just authors. Essentially I want Terry Gross’s job, of NPR’s “Fresh Air”—but in print rather than on the radio. I love interviewing people.

Actually, I could probably use some tips from you on that, too! Finally, I can’t let an interview go by on “Sex, Food, and Writing,” without asking you to describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you—at least into an intimate discussion of the writing life by candlelight, if you have other commitments that don’t allow for more....

JR: Truth be told, I’m not a foodie though I love to eat. And I’m a grazer rather than a big ole’ meal type of eater. But the kind of food that would seduce me into a heated conversation about writing and life (being a happily married girl) might involve a salad of warm goat cheese, beautifully ripe sliced apricots and almonds, fresh spinach and balsamic vinegar with freshly baked bread and creamy butter on the side. I’m far more likely to swoon over a dessert though—caramel ice cream with ripe raspberries and dark chocolate shavings or something…

Mmmm, I just bought a new Cuisinart ice cream maker and have several good ice cream cookbooks in my library. If I find a good caramel ice cream recipe, I owe you a great big dish for this delicious conversation! Thanks for stopping by, Jordan, and best of luck with your future projects.

The Seduction of Words: An Interview with EllaRegina

Everyone told me that MySpace was the place to be to promote my novel, but an unexpected benefit has been the chance to connect with other erotica writers, many whose work I've long admired and some who are emerging talents in the field. EllaRegina was one of the first new erotica-writing friends I made on MySpace. I was immediately intrigued by her photo—a ghostly white Washington Square Arch wrapped in apocalyptic gloom. It wasn't until I got my contributor's copies of Best Women's Erotica 2008 that I understood the connection. EllaRegina's fabulous, and I mean fabulous, story, "The Lonely Onanista," is about a woman who lives inside the Washington Square Arch as part of the interior décor project she's been hired to complete for the Department of Parks and Recreation. Her commission: to wallpaper the vertical surfaces in dollar bills and pave the floor with quarters, edge to edge. So, New Yorkers, if you were wondering where your government was spending your tax dollars... When the Lonely Onanista isn't busy wallpapering, she entertains Park Rangers and one particularly special visitor, but hey, I'm not going to give anything else away—you have to read it. And when you do, you'll thank me for introducing you to one of the most exciting new voices in erotic fiction.

It's not just Park Rangers—everyone really does love "The Lonely Onanista." The story is in the Best-of-Craigslist archive, earned a coveted nod from Violet Blue for her best-selling anthology, was featured on Clean Sheets and now has been declared a finalist for the prestigious Rauxa Prize. I've asked EllaRegina to stop by and answer a few questions about her super-hot story.

"The Lonely Onanista" was originally part of a series of personal ads in Craigslist's Casual Encounters. Could you talk about that?

Wow! Thanks for that lovely introduction. I'm virtually blushing. Your description of the MySpace photograph is uncanny—I am ghostly white and wrapped in apocalyptic gloom!

"The Lonely Onanista" began life as the ninth of eleven pieces posted anonymously on Craigslist over a six-month period: Lonely Onanista Living in National Monument Seeks Assistance - w4m. I like to imagine the protagonist as forever inhabiting the cybersphere of their Best-of archive, masturbating (among other things) in perpetuity.

The project started as a kind of personal dare—a challenge. Violet Blue dubbed it "guerrilla erotica" in her initial e-mail to me, a pretty accurate interpretation. The endeavor was part sexual exploration and part seduction experiment combining my erotic imagination with the written word. It was one wild ride. For months I was completely consumed—either writing (and editing and re-editing and re-editing), posting, or dealing with replies. It was exciting, exhilarating and unpredictable. There was instant gratification, which one does not get with conventional (print) publishing, the possibility of receiving immediate reader feedback and the opportunity to respond. It was often titillating.

Initially, the posts were composed as proper ads, then morphed into "vignettes" and ultimately became full-fledged stories. By the fifth ad I incorporated "illustrations" placed beneath the text. Inserted as visual clues, they referred to items described in a story and were arranged in order of their subjects' appearance within the tale. I was inspired by André Breton's Surrealist novel Nadja, which similarly presents object portraits—a rebus keyed to the narrative. As this undertaking was wholly Internet-driven, I limited source material to images found online through Google searches, which I sometimes altered in Photoshop. To my knowledge, these were uncredited photographs of items from product catalogs, and so on, or are in the public domain.

Here, the pictures comprised a sepia-toned 1950s view of the Washington Square Arch; a George Washington quarter dollar heads- and tails-up; a white metal cot with blue-sheeted mattress jutting out from a dark concrete corner; and a pale pink linen "O"-monogrammed handkerchief.

The images were arranged like this:




What was your inspiration for the story?

One day I noticed a little door on the Washington Square Arch, wondered where it led and who had access to whatever lay beyond that lilliputian portal. A staircase and attic space do exist, features unknown to me when I wrote the story. (Marcel Duchamp staged a rebel performance piece atop the monument in 1917—illicitly camping there with a group of artists and actors, declaring Greenwich Village an independent nation—a riotous incident I knew nothing of until a Craigslist reader thought the male character's beret was my sly homage to that famous French Dada/Surrealist artist/chess player. Funny, the things you learn about your own work from other people).

The actual seed for the tale sprouted during a playful e-mail repartee I was enjoying with a particular bachelor on an Internet dating website. He was asking where I lived—was it in this or that place, all of them funny and unlikely locales, growing exponentially more implausible as his guessing game continued—and, being in an especially improvisational no-holds-barred mood, I replied:

"No, actually, I live in the Washington Square Arch, in a little spartan room at the top. There are no windows so it's a bit tomblike and claustrophobic but on the rare occasion that I need oxygen I seek the great outdoors. I egress and enter through a secret opening in George Washington's left jacket pocket, something not patently obvious to the unwitting onlooker."

As you can see, that is the opening paragraph, almost word-for-word. It was truly a proverbial lightbulb-over-head moment and the story just erupted from there. Unfortunately, the bachelor in question inexplicably dropped off the grid several e-mails later. I guess he found my living arrangements off-putting.

Finally, this piece was essentially a love letter to a specific man—one of several "beta-testers" reading these works as I wrote them—and the thought of him propelled my typing fingers.

What sort of feedback did you get there?

In its tenure as a Casual Encounters ad Lonely Onanista Living in National Monument Seeks Assistance - w4m received 157 responses. Like all e-mail replies this project elicited—a total of 1910, to be exact—the range was wide: from the good, the bad to the very ugly. Some were hostile: "See a DR and get some RX PLZ." Homophobic e-mails troubled me the most. For whatever reason, there are male Casual Encounters readers who think women posting in the "w4m" category aren't genuine vagina-owners. A photograph or telephone call was requested of me now and then to prove my alleged gender. Once I quelled a man's doubts by volunteering that my period was due in three days. There is infinite madness and hatred out there. It stunned and depressed me.

Some men read this post as my sexual fantasy and were very sweet and eager to help me fulfill it. There were quite literal interpreters: many requests for the map with its key location. One reader divulged that he was even wearing corduroy (the Arch visitor's trouser fabric); another would bring the beret. I was promised Champagne, pizza and unimaginable levels of pleasure...

Eventually I realized, especially after getting e-mails from men in places as far-flung as London, that Casual Encounters is trolled, not necessarily for NSA [No-Strings-Attached] liaisons, but for arousing reading material. In the string department I'm practically a marionette factory so this was fine with me. With the scenario then shifted towards a more literary direction, I found myself cast as the Mother Theresa of Casual Encounters—scribe variant—providing selfless public service to those in need of sexual release; ultimately, all that mattered was the power of words.

Readers who saw the piece exclusively as a work of fiction thanked me for the erections it produced:

"I've never had more nut on my hands from just reading an erotic essay."

My favorite feedback for this ad: "It put wet my cock."

There were compliments; flattering artistic comparisons—Kurt Vonnegut, if he wrote Penthouse Forum letters, for example; a funny counterpoint e-mail "from the Eiffel Tower." I was sent lengthy erotica—some inspired by mine (one continued where my story left off, "exquisite corpse"-style)—and erotic drawings, in reciprocation. Several "commercial propositions" were relayed.

In the midst of my Craigslist activity a reader told me about other people posting stories: one woman, with a certain following, clued her "audience" in (literally) to new ads via a designated word consistently embedded within every text, so that a keyword search turned up her latest offering. In November The New York Times reported on a related phenom, and its unofficial Craigslist blessing. Jim Buckmaster, their CEO, said "If you haven't established an audience, you can do worse than Craigslist." Given the trajectory of my erotica writing career so far—considering it was jump-started by a short experimental Casual Encounters ad, placed as a dare to myself—I would tend to agree. If I lived in the Bay Area I would buy Messrs. Buckmaster and [Craig] Newmark a few rounds of drinks. What monuments do you have there? Ah, the Coit Tower! Hmmn. All that's missing is "us."

The story has so many wonderful, surprising details. Some I'll never forget: the thin cotton handkerchiefs the narrator must place between her body and her fingers when she pleasures herself; the condom full of quarters her favorite Park Ranger leaves in her posterior orifice as a souvenir; the dozens of George Washington's eyes on the dollar bills watching the lovers at their pleasure. Can you give us some background on one or all of these delicious images?

Well, they say "write what you know!" And what I don't know I can very vividly imagine.

I do happen to have a vintage thin cotton handkerchief in my possession, a bygone birthday present. It even has my initial on it!

I put quarters in my wallet but they could lodge inside a condom placed within one's posterior—why not?—and be safe sex besides. Also, it's "Green"! There must be mountains of discarded lifeless plastic vibrators in "waste management" areas everywhere. Now that won't help us with global warming!

Dollar bills (and quarters) contain portraits of George Washington—logical ornamental motifs for the story's "interior décor project." French toile de Jouy wallpaper scenes bearing silhouetted women in long black coats walking poodles through Washington Square à la Henry James would not have worked in this story. The moving eyes are clearly the result of too many hours spent watching cartoons and "Addams Family" re-runs: "the walls have ears"—eyes in this case; voyeurism greatly interests me, although this tale isn't told from President Washington's point of view. I'm not much of an historian.

Do you really live inside the Washington Square Arch? What do you think of people who assume your writing is autobiographical?

I do not. But a number of Craigslist responders genuinely believed I did. One was amazed I had wireless Internet service! Another pondered how I managed to post the ad, being "cooped up" in there.

Regarding autobiographical writing, this series was tricky because I did, after all, first present these stories as ads on Craigslist, as myself—in some shape or form—so it might make sense for readers of those writings (viewing them online in Casual Encounters), to assume they were autobiographical, but not all did. Best Women's Erotica 2008 provides a different context for the story—and perhaps those readers are less inclined to make such an assumption. However, I think writers of erotic works are regularly faced with this issue—it's often taken for granted that their stories are based on personal experience, which surely isn't a supposition made with writers of other genres. Yet, speculation frequently occurs even with "regular" writers—that fiction is based on things which really happened; and conversely and paradoxically, that memoiristic works contain invented parts...

I know you write literary fiction and have done work in the visual arts. How is writing erotica a different experience for you?

The key ingredient fueling whatever I do is my imagination, which is overactive. And, regardless of media, the same tools are at my disposal: an eye for detail; my peculiar brand of humor, irreverence and sarcasm; a disregard for keeping my crayon within the lines, so to speak; meticulousness and a sense of self-discipline bordering on the Fascistic. With erotica writing another factor comes into play: my erotic imagination; my own fantasies and arousal can become part of the writing process itself—one feeding the other in a sort of hypno-erotic Moebius strip—a distraction, albeit pleasant. This was especially true of the Craigslist posts.

Describe your dream writing project (marketability doesn't matter here)—and what is next for you as a writer?

This covers both questions:

Two book proposals based on my Craigslist adventure—polar opposites as far as concept and execution. I'd like to do either; it would indeed be a dream to see both to fruition. One has potential legal obstacles that may prevent its optimum realization.

About a dozen stories (or scraps thereof), erotic and otherwise, are cooking on the back burner (I have a very large stove).

An idea for an erotica anthology—my first venture as an editor—which I have not formally proposed to anyone. I find its premise and theme exciting and interesting—I'm hoping there is a publisher who agrees with me.

Name a writer (or two, living or dead) you'd like to have dinner with...

(I'm expanding your question beyond writers exclusively. I hope you don't mind.)

An intime soirée mixing the following improbable guest assortment:

Dorothy Parker, though neither of us would get a word in edgewise.

John Lennon, definitely the most fun. Bonus: post-prandial singing!

The Marquis de Sade, but with the request that he leave his sewing kit at home.

Curious George would be the ideal dining partner since we probably share compatible eating habits but, should the meal lead to "more," there's that pesky bestiality issue, and the fact that he's too young for me—pedophilia alert!—(though technically, at 67, too old for me), too hairy and uncircumcised—pet peeves, both.

Someone you'd most like to trade talents with...

A test pilot.

One you'd most like to invite inside the Washington Square Arch to re-enact the scene from "The Lonely Onanista"?...

Henry Miller would know what to do with me. Or Man Ray. Perhaps they'd come together.

Finally, describe a perfect meal that would be guaranteed to seduce you—at least into an intimate discussion of the writing life by candlelight, if not a re-enactment of the climax of "The Lonely Onanista." (Although I'm sure you'd have a few chefs willing to put out in hope of that reward!)

Veuve Cliquot Champagne would be the libation of choice. I don't eat very much—remember, I just wrote a story about a woman who subsists on Balance Bars, Park Rangers' semen and falafel. A formal menu with real food would likely involve grilled wild salmon and vegetables. I suppose that's not very exciting for a food specialist such as yourself. Aphrodisiacs such as oysters and caviar are not on the list of comestibles—I eat neither. My "Happy Meal" is an atypical one but perhaps the ideal candidate to prepare it is waiting in your imagined chef line-up. He can e-mail me a sample menu. I've always had a thing for those toques and checkered pants. If nothing else we could have a costume party.

Thanks for chatting with me, EllaRegina, and best of luck with your new projects.