Happy Holidays!

I make no bones about it: I'm a terrible blogger! I always seem to have something to advertise when I blog, and I really don't mean to do that. It was just that, for a while there, I had a lot going on--with appearances and books and calls for submission.

Speaking of which, if you haven't sent me a spanking story, please get off your tush and get to it! As a reminder, this is for the Spank! antho for Logical Lust. Send me your submission as a .doc (not .docx) or .rtf to spankantho@gmail.com. The deadline is January 15th.

But see, you made me write about

business again. And I said I wasn't going to do that...

I wanted to post these pictures of the holiday decorations at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The stars slowly change color. It's

mesmerizing--so I took a few

pictures. Hope you enjoy them.

But what holiday shopping day would be

complete without the requisite Santa Convention on the street? And I don't really know who the ice princess/queen is, but I guess she keeps the Santas entertained.

Now, I did take these pictures before Christmas, it's just due to laziness that I haven't gotten around to posting them until now.

I attended one of my favorite annual events shortly after this shopping spree--PN's holiday

party. It happened to be the day of the first great snow storm of the season and so, after lots of great food, a bloody mary, some wine, a glass of Port and several shots of Rumplemintz, to toast the holiday, I headed home through the snow. Here's a picture of my street (see, I had enough wherewithal and presence of mind to take a few pictures...).

Here's my door.

I managed to make it inside and had a pleasant night's sleep, even if I was a bit toasted the next day. Figuring I'd have to shovel my way out when I woke up, I was extremely happy to find my landlord had come in and done the work for me!

Tomorrow I'm going to see The Tree and a few 5th Avenue window displays before everything comes down after the New Year's celebration. If my iPhone doesn't freeze, I'll post more pics!

Here's hoping you're enjoying the holidays! Have a happy new year and, please, don't do anything I wouldn't (as it would definitely be illegal and would probably kill you)!

Best Lesbian Erotica 2010

It's that time of year: Time for the annual Best Lesbian Erotica reading at KGB Bar in NYC! I'm thrilled to be in the book this year and reading again at KGB. If you're in NYC Thursday, December 17th, please come by!

Here's the poop:

Drunken Careening Writers - HO HO HO: Best Lesbian Erotica 2010

December 17, 2009

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Molly Bloom is a pseudonym for New York playwright, Theresa Diamond. Her plays, including most recently “Waiting for the Show,” have been presented in NYC venues including the Neighborhood Playhouse, the WOW Café Theater (Rose Toibin), Nuyorican Poets Café, Dixon Place, La Mama (Relationship) and Centered Margins at Chashama.

R.G. Emanuelle is a writer and editor living in New York City. Most of her writing has been nonfiction (food and travel), but she recently returned to writing fiction and has many projects in the works. She is co-editor of Skulls and Crossbones (an anthology of female pirate stories), and her short stories can be found in Lesbian Lust: Red Hot Erotica and the January 2010 issue of Khimairal Ink.

The editor of The Sweetest Kiss and Where the Girls Are, D. L. King also publishes the review site, Erotica Revealed. Find her stories in Girl Crazy, Broadly Bound, Best Women’s Erotica 2009, Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 8 and Best Lesbian Erotica 2008, among others. She’s published two novels.

Natt Nightly is a genderqueer, semipassing, androgen of faith, and all-around Boy who writes, thinks, dreams, and is absolutely fascinated by sex. His earliest perversions came straight from the Good Book, informing lust long before he got anywhere near his first erotica. Natt shares his exploits, and the growing pains of a radical political awareness at nattnightly.wordpress.com.

BETTY is a five-piece pop rock alternative band from New York City, fronted by Amy Ziff, Alyson Palmer and Elizabeth Ziff. Friends since an unfortunate incarceration, fierce Elizabeth (vocals, guitar), funky Alyson (vocals, bass) and funny Amy (vocals, cello) began performing as BETTY in the late ‘80s. In the fall of ‘87, the women relocated to New York City. Their debut album was Hello, BETTY! and other full-length albums include Limboland, betty3, and Carnival. BETTY’s turned up on TV, from MTV to The Food Network. BETTY fights fiercely for causes in which they believe: equal rights, finding cures for breast cancer and AIDS, Planned Parenthood, the Pro-Choice movement, an end to sexual violence and everybody’s inalienable right to dance naked in the streets. In 2000, BETTY began collaborating with Michael Greif, director of Rent, on a theatrical piece with music. That show became BETTY RULES, which ran for seven months Off-Broadway. The hit Showtime series, “The L Word” featured a theme song written by BETTY and band members appeared both individually and collectively in several episodes. Elizabeth Ziff signed on as the show’s Musical Composer, and eventually became a writer and co-executive producer of the series. Their latest CD, Bright & Dark debuted in September, 2009. For more, go to www.hellobetty.com.

Drunken! Careening! Writers! is a reading series based on the proposition that readings should be by 1) good writers; 2) who read their work well; and 3) something in it makes people laugh (nervous laughter counts). And 15 minutes tops.

Boston Reading at Good Vibrations!

On Sunday, November 15 at 3:00 p.m., join D. L. King, Sacchi Green, Maggie Cee, Cecilia Tan, Ana Watson and Teresa Noelle Roberts for an afternoon of lesbian erotica at Good Vibrations in Boston, MA!

We'll be reading stories from Girl Crazy: Coming Out Stories, edited by Sacchi Green, Where the Girls Are: Urban Lesbian Erotica, edited by D. L. King and Lesbian Cowboys: Erotic Adventures, edited by Sacchi Green and Rakelle Valencia.

If last weekend was any indication, this will be great fun. Hope you can make it. Good Vibrations is located at 308A Harvard Street, Brookline, MA. (617) 264-4400.

Call for Submissions!

Spank!

Edited by D. L. King

To be published by Logical Lust late summer or early fall 2010

Deadline: January 15, 2010

Payment: $25 and a copy of the book in available electronic formats, plus a copy of the print edition, if the book does well enough to go into print.

D. L. King is looking for hot spanking stories.

Sometimes all you need to get hot and bothered is a good bottom warming... Whether getting or giving is your passion, this book is designed to create the same blush on your face as the one found on your bottom after a few good, hard whacks.

What makes for a sexy spanking story? Short, plaid, Catholic schoolgirl skirts? Bent at the waist, a bare bottom with the boxers and pants down around his knees? A stern schoolmarm, or head master, standing in front of a blackboard, holding a rattan cane? A dungeon wall covered with all sorts of paddles, floggers and canes? A scolding? A punishment? A pert bottom settling over charcoal gabardine trousers? A ritualized display of dominance? The crack of a hand coming down on already heated flesh? Send me something guaranteed to make naughty girls and bad boys, the world over, squirm in their seats when they read this book!

I envision this anthology as being primarily heterosexual, but I’ll happily consider GLBT stories, as well. Remember, no underage characters, please. Stories should be between 2,500 and 5,000 words, double-spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman or Courier New. Please indent the first line of each paragraph one-half inch and do not include extra lines between paragraphs. Please make sure your document contains no other pre-set formatting.

Send your story as a .doc (not .docx) attachment and include the title, pseudonym (if applicable) and your legal name and mailing address to. spankantho@gmail.com. (If you are unable to send a Word attachment, I will accept an RTF.) Subject line should read: Submission: TITLE. Please include, as a second attachment, a 50 to 75-word bio, along with ways you might help promote the book should your story be accepted for publication. Direct any questions to the same address. Original stories only. You must own all rights to any reprints.

A Book Trailer Worth Your Time

I just watched this trailer for the new anthology, Peep Show, from Rachel Kramer Bussel and Cleis Press and I just had to tell you about it. This is the perfect example of what makes for a great book trailer.

I've seen my share of book trailers and have been singularly unimpressed by them. I keep thinking it sounds like it should be a good idea. . . but put into action? It just never seems to turn out the way you want it to.

No, not mine. I don't have any book trailers--yet. You can deride them when I finally make them, but for now, we'll just have to deride others.

But back to Rachel's trailers: Rachel's trailers are very Rachel. They're sweet and sexy--and kind of innocent. They're also actually entertaining. They're the perfect trailers for erotica anthologies. Her first trailer was for her latest spanking anthology, Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, and I loved it. I think she's out done herself with the new one.

Now, if only I could do something like this...

Washington State Needs Your Vote!

Here's a story guaranteed to make you weep--or scream in frustration. Please read this story about what happened to a close, loving family from Seattle who were unlucky enough to be caught in Florida when one of the members was struck down with a devastating illness. It's a story about human rights, common decency, civil rights and the American Constitution. It's a story about fucking crackers in the American South and evil.

Read this story here.

Then, if you live in Washington State, get your ass to the polls and vote yes on Referendum 71 to reconfirm expanded domestic partnership rights. By the way, if you live in Maine, vote No on 1.

Rick, I know you'll vote yes! Peter, the same goes for you. And if anyone reading this knows people in Washington, pass this story along. There isn't much time left. Times have changed. We no longer have to be a country of morally depraved, fundamentalist idiots.

Three Erotic Writing Competitions

Here's an opportunity for erotica writers from Sensuality Magazine that recently came across my desk. So, check it out and, if your interested, don't be shy!

Sensuality Magazine

An online erotic journal for the over 40s in the UK which includes feature articles, stories, readers’ confessions, and erotic writing competitions.

URL:

www.sensualitymagazine.co.uk

Three Erotic Writing Competitions:

A: Open Theme Story:

to write an erotic story of up to 5000 words with a theme of your own choice.

1st prize: £200 2nd prize: £100 3 runners up: £30 each

Closing Date: 31st December 2009

B: Foriegn Adventure:

to write a story of up to 5000 words with a setting somewhere other than your country of residence.

1st prize: £200 2nd prize: £100 3 runners up: £30 each

Closing Date: 31st December 2009

C: True-Life Experience:

to write a piece of up to 1500 words in a readers’ letter format and written in the 1st person point of view which describes

a sexual encounter or a fantasy. This should be presented as a believable true-life situation written in a conversational tone.

1st prize: £120 2nd prize: £75 3 runners up: £25 each

Closing Date: 31st December 2009

Entry fee for each competition:

£7.00 GBP

All entries posted online via Sensuality Magazine website:

www.sensualitymagazine.co.uk

GUIDELINES for writing sensuality competitions:

The content of your submission should appeal to adult readers with a variety of tastes and sexual preferences. Straight, gay, lesbian or BDSM themes are acceptable providing they have a positive view of sex (see restrictions below). The piece should aim to arouse and may be sexually explicit with a well developed theme, interesting scenarios and believable characters but do try to avoid any clichés. Remember also that humour can also be a great turn-on.

PLEASE NOTE

We do NOT accept any writing which depicts or implies sex with persons under the age of 18, sex with animals, non-consensual sex or any extreme violence.

For further details please contact Lisa Davies at

sensualitymagazine@live.co.uk

Just a Little Restraint, Please!

Alison Tyler has this amazing blog, Trollop With a Laptop. Perhaps you've seen it? Well, if you haven't, you really should check it out, but I warn you, it's extremely addictive.

I was just perusing it before heading off to bed (I have to get used to going to bed at more reasonable hours since I'm starting back to work in the middle of the week) when I got all tied up reading a few hand-picked dungeon excerpts from some of the best erotic authors going--people like Rachel Kramer Bussel and Michael Hemmingson. Anyway, I get to the end of the post and she invites people to post their own dungeon excerpts on their blogs and report back. Well, you know me: you can't swing a dead cat around my stories without hitting a dungeon scene or three.

Here's one from a story called "A Public Spectacle." It's one you've most likely never seen since the story is, as yet, unpublished. Actually, this particular story is one big dungeon scene, but I'm just posting a short excerpt. Hope it pushes all the right buttons.

~~~

“Ready?” Janice nodded her little nod. “Climb up on the horse, girl.”

My girl walked back into the light and, rather indelicately, climbed onto the black leather spanking horse in the center of the spot. She rested her feet and hands on blocks placed at the sides of the horse for her comfort. I followed her into the spot and clipped one ankle to a ring on the side of the horse and moved up toward her head. I clipped her wrist then made my way around the front of her and did the same to her other wrist and ankle.

I paused to admire her spread cheeks, with the white thong separating them, bottom slightly raised. I ran my hand over an ass cheek and gave it a little smack. No overt reaction. That’s all right. Working my way back up again, I took a handful of hair and lifted her head, enabling me to attach the snap hook to her collar, then to the ring at the head of the horse. “Make me proud,” I said—only for her ears.

* * *

It’s at this point, when I finish fastening her to whatever piece of furniture I wish to start with, I feel the low buzz of electricity. It starts in my chest and begins to spread. It spreads up to my head and down to my balls and puts me in the proper frame of mind for the game ahead.

My girl is beautiful in her submission. Fastened, as she is, in this posture, she is the most beautiful girl in the world. She will be even more beautiful and desirable as we go on. I can sense people around us. I know they have felt the transformation too. They have seen the girl transformed from a plain-Jane you wouldn’t look twice at on the street to an object of desire. As her submission deepens, she will become even more desirable, and I will become even more desirous of her.

There’s something about public play that does it for me. When I hear the watchers breathing, becoming a bit restless, waiting for my play to begin, my feeling of power jumps to the next level. I know once I get started, I will cease to notice the crowd, but for now, for the beginning, it’s a powerful aphrodisiac.

Excerpt from "A Public Spectacle"

by D. L. King

All rights reserved.

My West Coast Book Tour Part I

Yikes! I've really been remiss about posting, but I think I mentioned that that might be a problem for me early on. What can I say? I'm a bad girl. I also promised I'd post about my West Coast tour for Where the Girls Are (actually, the tour was for my book, Where the Girls Are and Sacchi Green's books, Girl Crazy and Lesbian Cowboys.) so here's the first installment:

Beginning with the end, I just wanted to put this to you:

Seatac--Seattle-Tacoma Airport

I was on my way back to LA to hang out with Kathleen Bradean for one more day before returning home to New York. The above is a picture of the airport decor just before my Jet Blue gate. I'd been dragging myself, my laptop and my luggage around for a week. I sort of collapsed into a chair to wait for my flight but kept thinking about it and, though I was really tired, I just had to drag all my stuff back to take some pictures because I couldn't stop wondering why Seattle would want to decorate their airport with disembodied, bloodless stomachs?

'Cause really, that's what this is, right? I'm just sayin'...

There were other bizarre occurrences on the trip. Like, what's the deal with Segway tours? When I was in Toronto this line of people on Segways came gliding, single-file, down the sidewalk as we were parking the car. The very same thing happened in San Francisco, except they were on the buddy plan.

Actually, I think these things look like fun--geek fun, but definitely fun. And I'm a geek girl. One of these days someone'll take a picture of me gliding by on a Segway tour.

I'll be back later with the next installment and this time, I promise, it won't take me so long!

Oh, by the way, The Center for Sex Positive Culture in Seattle is a very cool place. Be sure to check it out if you're in the area.

I'll Be in DC

Washington DC, that is. I'll be at The Crucible's Leather Fleamarket this Saturday, 9/12/09! I've always wanted to visit The Crucible, so I'm really looking forward to this. I'll have copies of both Melinoe books to sell and sign, as well as a few copies of Where the Girls Are.

I'll be sharing the table with Beth Wylde and Amanda Young so, if you're in the DC area, I'd love to meet you. Please stop by!

I Know, I know!

I keep saying I'm going to blog about the west coast tour--and I will, but I was out chatting with Rachel Kramer Bussel over coffee, then on to the Union Square farmer's market, where I bought a lot of heavy vegetables and got really hot (the sweaty kind of hot--no, no, not that sweaty kind of hot, the other sweaty kind of hot--the not fun sweaty kind of hot) and waited forever for a train while practically drowning in sweat, sweat and more sweat. Yes, it was disgusting (but I got some beautiful tomatoes). I finally made it home and am working on cooling off.

I'm meeting friends at our regular bar, Urge. We go early, then maybe remember to eat, then some of us go back for the go go boys and some of us are good, and go home to write... Yes, that's right, you know in which category you fit...

But, so, what I'm saying is that I don't have a lot of time before I have to go back into Manhattan to drink and so can't spend that much time on the blog just now. So I thought I'd mention that the new reviews are up at Erotica Revealed. This month Erotica Revealed reviews five new titles:

As She's Told by Anneke Jacob, reviewed by Lisabet Sarai

Love Notes: A Music and Sex Anthology edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, reviewed by Jean Roberta

Lust in Space by Lisa Lane, reviewed by Steven Hart

Ready to Serve: Arresting Gay Erotica by James Buchanan, reviewed by Kathleen Bradean

Trailer Park Nights 5: LA Women Don't Wear Underwear by Randall Lang, reviewed by Ashley Lister

Check them out.

For those of you who don't know, I publish and edit Erotica Revealed.

D. L. King Reads From "Family"

I've been immortalized on film--well, video!

So, I read at Rachel Kramer Bussel's In The Flesh NYC on Thursday, August 20th and a video was made. I chose an excerpt from my story, "Family" from the Phaze anthology, Broadly Bound.

I think it was well received but you can be the judge. Now you can see me and hear me read the opening to my story. Check out the video and let me know what you think.

Short Story Contest!

The amazing Amie Evans asked me for help spreading the word about a new short fiction contest being sponsored by the Saints and Sinners Festival. I (finally) attended Saints and Sinners this past May and let me tell you, it was a revelation; it was life-changing. If I can possibly swing it next spring, I'll definitely be going again.

If you write, you owe it to yourself to attend Saints and Sinners. Let me say that again: If you WRITE, you owe it to yourself to attend Saints and Sinners. And it doesn't matter what you write. If you're serious about writing as an art, a craft, a business, or if you're a publisher, you will find it the most amazing professional conference around.

The quality of the Master Classes and Panels are more than worth the price of admission. Then there's the camaraderie of time spent with fellow professionals, not to mention the parties. I'm just sayin'... This festival is held in New Orleans: party, anyone? SAS knows what writers like...

Now that my little neophyte commercial is done, on to the writing contest:

First Annual Saints and Sinners GLBT Literary Festival Short Fiction Contest

The Saints and Sinners GLBT Literary Festival’s First Annual Short Fiction Contest is soliciting original, unpublished short stories between 5,000 and 7,000 words with GLBT content on the broad theme of “Saints and Sinners.” The contest is open to authors at all stages of their careers and to stories in all genres. The entry fee is $10 per story with a 3 story limit per author. One grand prize of $250 and two second place prizes of $50 will be awarded. In addition, the top stories will be published in an anthology from QueerMojo, an imprint of Rebel Satori Press. There will also be a book release party held during the 8^th annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans May 13-16, 2010. The deadline for the receipt of manuscripts is January 2, 2010.

Contest details at a glance:
Theme: Saints and Sinners
Entry Fee: $10 US per story. Limit three stories per author.
Deadline: January 2, 2010
Word Count: 5,000 to 7,000

Send 2 copies of each story with a completed entry form. Submissions should be in standard manuscript format. Your name and contact information should NOT appear on the manuscript.

Entry forms available at: www.sasfest.com

I Was Interviewed--Twice!

Well, actually, I've been interviewed three times recently, but I already talked about the first one by Ily Goyanes. But just today (OK, it's tomorrow now. Yes, I realize it can never be tomorrow but you know what I mean. Or maybe you don't.

All right, I'll start over. Two interviews with me went up online on Monday (that would be 8/24--in case somebody wants to know the actual date--you know--for legal reasons...). They're both pretty cool and somewhat similar. After all, I'm the same person in both of them. I'm just sayin'...

Alan Chin, the San Francisco GLBT columnist for the Examiner.com interviewed me here.

(Art is always nice to have and since I didn't have any pictures in my last entry, I thought I'd add this picture I took in San Francisco while I was on the book tour. I promise to write about that. It'll be next, I swear!)

And the publishers at Logical Lust interviewed me here. Logical Lust put the subtitle of "Smut Specialist" under my photo. Pretty cool, huh?

Have a look and let me know what you think because, after all, I crave knowledge of all kinds!

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Actually, the west coast book tour wasn't a "Frying Pan." It was quite a good time! I met a lot of people, did a lot of reading and ate a lot of Jack In The Box Tacos.

What the blog title refers to, actually, is the weather here in New York. I'd been keeping in touch with friends back here while I was on the road and they'd been telling me how hot it was (like, "It's three hundred and seventy nine thousand degrees.") and I knew it was hot and disgusting, but man, it's hot and disgusting! (This is where I'd insert a lot of *expletives deleted*)

I'm going to sit down and write some good entries about the tour, but right now I really just want to chill for a while. I did want to remind people about In the Flesh on Thursday, though.

Yes, I'll be reading here in New York tomorrow night, Thursday, August 20th at 8:00. I'm not completely sure what I'll be reading, but it might be something from my story in Broadly Bound since it got such a terrific review! So, here are the particulars:

Thursday, August 20th

8:00 p.m. (get there early if you want a seat...)

Happy Ending Lounge

302 Broome Street, NYC

Click here for the link to the In the Flesh blog

Book Tour!

My first official book tour starts in two days. I have a lot to do, not the least of which is get a pedicure. I'm just sayin'...

But I'll be winging my way across the country, to the left coast (I, of course, live on the 'right' coast) on Wednesday. My good friend, Kathleen Bradean, will be picking me up at LAX and then, with a stop for Jack In The Box tacos, it's off to In the Flesh LA to read. Hopefully, after that, there'll be alcohol and more tacos* before hitting Kathleen's couch.

The tour is for my new book, Where the Girls Are, along with Sacchi Green's books, Girl Crazy (which I'm in) and Lesbian Cowboys. (I'll tell you what, Cleis books are known for their nice covers but Lesbian Cowboys has one fucking great cover!) So, if you're near any of the venues, please come out and say hi and get your books signed.

*I'm addicted to Jack In The Box tacos. Je les adore! But there are no Jack In The Boxes in New York, so when I go to California I make people take me to as many Jack In The Boxes as I can squeeze in. I collect Jack In The Box antenna toppers. Remember antenna toppers? I even have a scuba diving Jack. I decorate my Christmas tree with JITB antenna toppers.

Tour Dates and Locations

First stop-Los Angeles

Wednesday 8/12 @ 8pm

In the Flesh LA-Hustler Hollywood

8920 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood

San Francisco

Friday 8/14 @ 7pm

The Center for Sex and Culture at 7pm

1519 Mission Street

Portland

Sunday 8/16 @ 2pm

The Q Center

4115 N. Mississippi Avenue

Seattle

Monday 8/17 @ 7pm

Center for Sex Positive Culture

1602 15^th Avenue

I'm back in NYC and reading at In the Flesh!

Thursday 8/20 @ 8pm

In The Flesh

302 Broome Street