The Carter/Johnson Leather Library

I was surprised and thrilled when I was asked to read in the Carter/Johnson Leather Library when I was at Leather Pride Night this year.   I mentioned to Vi Johnson that I was going to be at TES Fest for the book signing and she asked me if I could stop by and do a reading in the library.

For those of you who don’t know, the Carter/Johnson Leather Library travels around the country to various leather and fetish events.  Their motto is: Never again landfill. Never again flames.  Their mission is to protect, archive and share the history of media depicting the history and heritage of leather, fetish and S/M erotica.  It’s an amazing archive and growing all the time.

On Saturday, July 2, I drove out to New Jersey to TES’s 40^th anniversary TES Fest for the book signing and to read in the library.  The signing went really well and I sold and signed more books then ever before at TES Fest.  Other authors at the signing were Laura Antoniou, Susan Wright, Cassandra Park and Kasi Alexander. 

A woman whom I’d previously met at the NELA Fetish Fair Flea stopped by, just as everyone started packing up, to buy a book I’d sold out of at NELA.  She was nice enough to help me pack everything and then even help me bring everything over to the library, since I was about to be late!  (Thanks Aurora!)

When I got to the library, they were setting up cameras to record my reading, how cool!  Vi came in and said she wanted to interview me first because she had lots of questions to which she needed answers.  I had no idea I’d be interviewed first and was completely humbled that she would be interested in hearing anything other than bits and pieces of my fiction.  We had a great conversation and then I read “The Uninitiated Bottom,” from Power Play (Xcite, August 2011).  It was the first time reading the story in public and I very happy to say it went over really well.  (Vi needed to take a break.)  Then I read a chapter from The Marrying Kind, which everyone liked.  At some point, all the footage will be edited and put on the library’s website.  You can’t believe how excited I am about that and I can’t wait to see it.  (Sure hope I don’t look like an idiot!) 

I gave Vi a signed copy of each of the books I’ve edited, as well as each of my novels.  She totally blew me away when she told me that Where the Girls Are: Urban Lesbian Erotica was the most requested title.  I’m totally in awe of all the authors in the anthology.  And for those of you who aren’t in the book, or haven’t read it, you should pick it up.