In The Flesh Erotic Reading Series

The July readers

2008-07-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken by Stacie Joy, who has a set from the July 17th reading. There will be more soon, but wanted to get this adorable one up (Jeremy Edwards not pictured).

Back row: Scott D. Pomfret, Rachel Shukert, Samara O'Shea, Susan Wright.
Front row: D.L. King, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Anna David

Scroll down for their bios and links.

July 17th is the next In The Flesh

2008-07-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

There are some serious snacks too, including chocolate peanut butter pretzels, dark chocolate covered pretzels, tortilla chips (blue corn and spicy), mini cupcakes, mini brownies, and lots more!

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
July 17th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676

In The Flesh features a range of authors, from erotic writers D.L. King, editor of Erotica Revealed, and Susan Wright (A Pound of Flesh) to letter lover Samara O’Shea (Note to Self, For the Lover of Letters), memoirist Scott Pomfret (Since My Last Confession), Jeremy Edwards, (Clean Sheets, F is for Fetish), novelist Anna David (Party Girl) and playwright/memoirist Rachel Shukert (Have You No Shame?). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Spanked, Rubber Sex, Dirty Girls). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Tracie Egan, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, HoneyB, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, conducts interviews for Mediabistro.com, and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Her erotic stories have been published in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited numerous anthologies, most recently Spanked, Rubber Sex, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, Dirty Girls, and Best Sex Writing 2008. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York and Velvetpark.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

HarperCollins released Anna David's novel, Party Girl, in 2007, the same year that an essay of hers appeared in the Dutton anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. Harper Perennial will release Anna's second novel, Kept Waiting, in March of 2009. Anna is also the sex and relationship expert on G4’s Attack of the Show, appears every month on the Fox News cult favorite Red Eye as a cultural commentator, has been featured regularly on The Today Show, Hannity & Colmes, and Showbiz Tonight, and occasionally pops up on MTV News, VH1 and E. Her Sirius radio show on the Maxim channel, "Sex Files," is the network's number-one specialty show. A former magazine writer, Anna is now the dating columnist for the Women's Entertainment Network's website, wetv.com, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of musician will.i.am's political blog, Dipdive. She's written celebrity cover stories, first-person essays, and reported pieces for The New York Times, The LA Times, Vanity Fair, Cosmo, Redbook, Self, Stuff, TV Guide, Movieline, Women’s Health, Ocean Drive, Vegas, The Saturday Telegraph, Esquire UK, Teen Vogue, Variety, LA Confidential, Tatler (Hong Kong), Emmy, msn.com and Maxim, among others.
www.annadavid.com

Jeremy Edwards is a pseudonymous sort of fellow whose efforts at spinning libido into literature have been widely published online (at Clean Sheets, Good Vibrations, Erotic Woman, and other sites). Some of his many anthology trysts have occurred within the pages of A Is for Amour; F Is for Fetish; Got a Minute?; J Is for Jealousy; K Is for Kinky; Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 7; Open for Business; and Rubber Sex. Out on the newsstand, his lascivious prose has been seen in Scarlet. Jeremy's greatest goal in life is to be sexy and witty at the same moment—ideally in lighting that flatters his profile. Drop in on him unannounced (and thereby catch him in his underwear) at http://jerotic.blogspot.com

D. L. King is the founder and editor of the critical review site, Erotica Revealed. Her second novel, The Art of Melinoe, was published by Renaissance E Books last October. Her short stories can be found in several anthologies, some of the most recent being Best Lesbian Erotica 2008, Yes, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission and Yes, Ma'am: Erotic Stories of Male Submission. She is currently editing a new anthology for Cleis Press.
www.dlkingerotica.com

Samara O'Shea is an outspoken advocate on behalf of the written word. She is the author of the forthcoming Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits (July 2008) and For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing. For more information or to order a letter that Samara will gladly write on your behalf, visit LetterLover.net.

Scott D. Pomfret is author of Since My Last Confession, an irreverent and lighthearted memoir in the style of Michael Moore’s Roger & Me describing three years of stalking the Archbishop of Boston during the Massachusetts same-sex marriage debate. Pomfret’s other works include Romentics gay romance novels, The Q Guide to Wine and Cocktails, and dozens of short stories.
www.scottpomfret.com www.sincemylastconfession.com

Rachel Shukert is an author, playwright, and performer. Her first book, Have You No Shame? And Other Regrettable Stories, was published in April 2008 by Random House/Villard. Rachel's plays include Bloody Mary, Johnny Applefucker, The Worshipped, The Red Beard of Esau, and Sequins for Satan have been produced and developed extensively throughout New York City, Massachusetts, and the Netherlands. She is currently starring in the live soap opera "Wasp Cove" which she co-creates and writes with Julie Klausner. She is also a co-founder of the theater group the Bushwick Hotel. Her writing has appeared in Nerve, Heeb, McSweeney's, and Babble, and featured in Best Sex Writing 2008 (Rachel Kramer Bussel, ed.), Best American Erotic Poems: 1800-present (ed. David Lehman) and The Future of Misbehavior (Chronicle Books) alongside Rick Moody, Douglas Rushkoff, and Will Self. She was born in raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and now lives in NYC with her husband and her cat.
www.rachelshukert.com

Susan Wright's latest erotic fantasy novel is A Pound of Flesh, the sequel to To Serve and Submit, published by Penguin Books. Susan is also the founder and spokesperson for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. She's written over 25 novels and nonfiction books on art and popular culture.
www.susanwright.info

My Spanked book trailer

2008-07-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

This isn't directly related to In The Flesh, but I'm too excited not to sharethis. And on August 21st I'll be reading alongside several contributors to Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, and will have copies available for sale July 17th and August 21st.

Update - Vimeo took it down (as did Flickr) so here's the YouTube version:

I'm so proud of this book trailer, I can't even tell you. Thank you to everyone who helped, especially Heidi for lending me her apartment and What That Noise Productions for your stellar camera and editing work. Many of the paddles used are by Leather Thorn Paddles. If you have a blog, I'd love it if you'd repost it. Below is ~~the Vimeo version;~~ we've also got it up on YouTube, Blip, Flickr, and MySpace. Thanks to Tubemogul for ease of distribution.

Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotic Book Trailer from Rachel Kramer Bussel on Vimeo.

Great writeup in New York Press

2008-07-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

In The Flesh got a great writeup in the New York Press blog by Ashna Ali, who came to cover June's event...on her birthday:

Last month, I realized that I have by now lost the heeby-jeebies associated with pervy little boys. The time had come to dig my hands into the wide world of New York erotica that awaited spread-eagle at the appropriately named Happy Ending lounge at Rachel Kramer Bussel's "In the Flesh Erotica Series: LGBT Night." The next one takes place tomorrow (with free candy and cupcakes), and although it won't highlight girl-on-girl action in particular, it's sure to expose plenty of kinky secrets.

The small basement lounge was packed for the previous event with amorous gay and lesbian couples lining the bar, cliques composed of various gender and sexual identities and a group of nervously pacing men, obviously tourists to things overtly sexual and LGBT. No pervy little boys in sight. To celebrate the happy, healthy, slippery sex that was about to be described in loin-tingling detail, the tables offered free candy and delicious chocolate cupcakes...

I left with a tingle in my spine I simply couldn't shake, seeds planted for a flurry of possibilities. Isabel Allende wrote in Aphrodite, her memoir about food and sex, "For women, the best aphrodisiacs are words. The G-spot is in the ears. He who looks for it below there is wasting his time." A friend who accompanied me asked, "So, is it time for this little Catholic school girl to head to a bookstore?" Oh yes. And make a phone call or two perhaps.

Read the whole thing

Samara O'Shea's must-watch Note to Self book trailer

2008-07-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've had the wonderful Samara O'Shea at In The Flesh twice now, both times to rousing applause as she read naughty letters (watch one appearance here).

In this book trailer (via Galleycat) for her wonderful new book Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits, she dishes about an ex and why journaling is so important. Comedy fans, be sure to watch for a standup cameo. And please come out July 17th to hear Samara tell us something dirty about journaling.

August 21st lineup and book trailers

2008-07-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
AUGUST 21st at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676

Summer heats up as In The Flesh celebrates the release of host Rachel Kramer Bussel’s latest anthology Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, with readings from contributors M. David Hornbuckle, Andy Horwitz, and Madlyn March. Also featured are novelist Jessica Anya Blau (The Summer of Naked Swim Parties), comedian Sara Benincasa, erotic poet Monica Day (host of A Taste of Sex) and filmmaker Tony Comstock. Copies of Spanked will be available for sale and the book trailer will be shown. Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

Sara Benincasa is a Manhattan-based writer and comedian. For a year and a half, she wrote for the Nerve.com Blog-a-Log under the name "SJ1000." She also contributed to the 2008 Nerve/Chronicle Books release Sex Position of the Day: Expert Edition. She hosts the weekly storytelling show "Family Hour with Auntie Sara" at Comix. She covers politics in New York for the MTV News Choose or Lose Street Team, and has appeared on "Total Request Live," MTV News, and "Brian Lehrer Live." She is a frequent guest on the Sirius Satellite Network channels Maxim, Cosmo, and Indie Talk.
www.sarabenincasa.com

Jessica Anya Blau's debut novel, The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, was recommended summer reading in The New York Post, New York Magazine, and The Today Show. She has published over twenty-five short stories and optioned a screenplay. Currently, she is teaching at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where she graduated from The Writing Seminars.
www.jessicaanyablau.com/

Rachel Kramer Bussel’s most recent edited anthologies include Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, Rubber Sex, Dirty Girls, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am and Best Sex Writing 2008. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York and Velvetpark. She also co-edits the cupcake blog Cupcakes Take the Cake.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Tony Comstock came to New York City in the early 90’s as a journeyman commercial photographer and advertising copywriter. In short order, New York City decided his talents were better suited to film and video, and over the course of the next dozen or so years he directed films for Fortune 500 companies, international relief agencies, and circled the world several times on both commissioned and self-financed documentary projects. In 1995 he and his wife Peggy began shooting experimental erotic shorts that were to become the conceptual and technical foundation for Comstock Films. When not shooting or editing he enjoys spending time with his family and splashing in the sea. His sixth erotic documentary feature, Bill and Desiree: Love is Timeless, is slated for release in early Winter '08.
http://www.comstockfilms.com

Monica Day wears many hats: entrepreneur, mother, writer and poet, performer, coach, trainer, and community leader. Her new online publication, The Sensual Life, features erotic writing and ideas about how to infuse your day-to-day life with more intimacy, sensuality – and yes, raw, hardcore sex. She is a sensuality coach who works with both couples and individuals. She also hosts “A Taste of Sex,” an erotic poetry open mic night at the OneTaste Urban Retreat Center in New York on the first Wednesday of every month.

M. David Hornbuckle is a full-time writer and musician, originally from Birmingham, Alabama. His fiction has been published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Isms, Peek, Air in the Paragraph Line and Astarte. His novella The Salvation of Billy Wayne Carter was published as an e-book by Cantarabooks in October 2007. Hornbuckle now lives in NYC where he is finishing up a novel and is the leader of the M. David Hornbuckle Dixieland Space Orchestra.
www.mdhornbuckle.net

Andy Horwitz is a writer/performer/producer in NYC. He has performed his comic monologues and spoken word pieces to sold out houses all over New York in such venues as P.S.122, Dixon Place and Here Arts Center. His writing has appeared frequently at Nerve.com, Heeb Magazine and other outlets. In 2005 he ran for Mayor of NYC, a campaign which is documented in the film The Promise of New York. He is the founder and editor of Culturebot.org.

Madlyn March is the pseudonym of a writer whose work has appeared in the anthology First-Timers, Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, Black Table, AfterEllen, AfterElton, Complete Woman, The New York Post, Time Out New York, and others.

And a bonus - book trailers for The Summer of Naked Swim Parties and The Salvation of Billy Wayne Carter respectively. The Spanked book trailer is coming very soon!

July 17th is the next In The Flesh!

2008-06-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
July 17th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676

In The Flesh features a range of authors, from erotic writers D.L. King, editor of Erotica Revealed, and Susan Wright (A Pound of Flesh) to letter lover Samara O’Shea (Note to Self, For the Lover of Letters), memoirist Scott Pomfret (Since My Last Confession), Jeremy Edwards, (Clean Sheets, F is for Fetish), novelist Anna David (Party Girl) and playwright/memoirist Rachel Shukert (Have You No Shame?). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Spanked, Rubber Sex, Dirty Girls). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Tracie Egan, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, HoneyB, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, conducts interviews for Mediabistro.com, and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Her erotic stories have been published in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited numerous anthologies, most recently Spanked, Rubber Sex, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, Dirty Girls, and Best Sex Writing 2008. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York and Velvetpark.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

HarperCollins released Anna David's novel, Party Girl, in 2007, the same year that an essay of hers appeared in the Dutton anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. Harper Perennial will release Anna's second novel, Kept Waiting, in March of 2009. Anna is also the sex and relationship expert on G4’s Attack of the Show, appears every month on the Fox News cult favorite Red Eye as a cultural commentator, has been featured regularly on The Today Show, Hannity & Colmes, and Showbiz Tonight, and occasionally pops up on MTV News, VH1 and E. Her Sirius radio show on the Maxim channel, "Sex Files," is the network's number-one specialty show. A former magazine writer, Anna is now the dating columnist for the Women's Entertainment Network's website, wetv.com, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of musician will.i.am's political blog, Dipdive. She's written celebrity cover stories, first-person essays, and reported pieces for The New York Times, The LA Times, Vanity Fair, Cosmo, Redbook, Self, Stuff, TV Guide, Movieline, Women’s Health, Ocean Drive, Vegas, The Saturday Telegraph, Esquire UK, Teen Vogue, Variety, LA Confidential, Tatler (Hong Kong), Emmy, msn.com and Maxim, among others.
www.annadavid.com

Jeremy Edwards is a pseudonymous sort of fellow whose efforts at spinning libido into literature have been widely published online (at Clean Sheets, Good Vibrations, Erotic Woman, and other sites). Some of his many anthology trysts have occurred within the pages of A Is for Amour; F Is for Fetish; Got a Minute?; J Is for Jealousy; K Is for Kinky; Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 7; Open for Business; and Rubber Sex. Out on the newsstand, his lascivious prose has been seen in Scarlet. Jeremy's greatest goal in life is to be sexy and witty at the same moment—ideally in lighting that flatters his profile. Drop in on him unannounced (and thereby catch him in his underwear) at http://jerotic.blogspot.com

D. L. King is the founder and editor of the critical review site, Erotica Revealed. Her second novel, The Art of Melinoe, was published by Renaissance E Books last October. Her short stories can be found in several anthologies, some of the most recent being Best Lesbian Erotica 2008, Yes, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission and Yes, Ma'am: Erotic Stories of Male Submission. She is currently editing a new anthology for Cleis Press.
www.dlkingerotica.com

Samara O'Shea is an outspoken advocate on behalf of the written word. She is the author of the forthcoming Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits (July 2008) and For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing. For more information or to order a letter that Samara will gladly write on your behalf, visit LetterLover.net.

Scott D. Pomfret is author of Since My Last Confession, an irreverent and lighthearted memoir in the style of Michael Moore’s Roger & Me describing three years of stalking the Archbishop of Boston during the Massachusetts same-sex marriage debate. Pomfret’s other works include Romentics gay romance novels, The Q Guide to Wine and Cocktails, and dozens of short stories.
www.scottpomfret.com www.sincemylastconfession.com

Rachel Shukert is an author, playwright, and performer. Her first book, Have You No Shame? And Other Regrettable Stories, was published in April 2008 by Random House/Villard. Rachel's plays include Bloody Mary, Johnny Applefucker, The Worshipped, The Red Beard of Esau, and Sequins for Satan have been produced and developed extensively throughout New York City, Massachusetts, and the Netherlands. She is currently starring in the live soap opera "Wasp Cove" which she co-creates and writes with Julie Klausner. She is also a co-founder of the theater group the Bushwick Hotel. Her writing has appeared in Nerve, Heeb, McSweeney's, and Babble, and featured in Best Sex Writing 2008 (Rachel Kramer Bussel, ed.), Best American Erotic Poems: 1800-present (ed. David Lehman) and The Future of Misbehavior (Chronicle Books) alongside Rick Moody, Douglas Rushkoff, and Will Self. She was born in raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and now lives in NYC with her husband and her cat.
www.rachelshukert.com

Susan Wright's latest erotic fantasy novel is A Pound of Flesh, the sequel to To Serve and Submit, published by Penguin Books. Susan is also the founder and spokesperson for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. She's written over 25 novels and nonfiction books on art and popular culture.
www.susanwright.info

Snapshots from last week's In The Flesh

2008-06-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

There are more photos by the wonderful Stacie Joy, but for now, a few from last week's In The Flesh:

L to R: Carly Milne, Amie Evans, Bob Smith, Aimee Herman, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Cecilia Tan
in front: Charlie Vazquez, Cris Beam

My Vagina is for Lovers t-shirt can be purchased from the fabulous cookie maker Dana Taylor at www.vaginaisforlovers.com

Cris Beam read her "dyke" entry from Ellen Sussman's anthology Dirty Words

Carly Milne reads from Sexography:

Charlie Vazquez:

Some of the swag I gave away:

See more pics in Stacie Joy's photo set

And just for fun, my wonderful friends Allison Bojarski, Desiree Moodie, and Twanna Hines (Allison and Twanna have read at In The Flesh, and I'd love for Desiree to read someday):

More photos coming soon!

In The Flesh is this Thursday, 6/19!

2008-06-17T08:00:00.001-07:00

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
GLBT NIGHT
THURSDAY, June 19th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676

In The Flesh’s third annual GLBT Night offers up a wide range of the queer writing, from Cris Beam reading her entry “dyke” from Ellen Sussman’s anthology Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex, to Selfish and Perverse author Bob Smith, In The Flesh: LA host and Sexography author Carly Milne, spoken word performer Aimee Herman, and erotica writers Amie M. Evans and Cecilia Tan (reading from her new collection White Flames), both based in Massachusetts, and Charlie Vazquez (Best Gay Erotica). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (editor of First-Timers, Glamour Girls: Femme/Femme Erotica, Up All Night). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, HoneyB, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane, and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Cris Beam is an author and educator living in New York City. She wrote the book Transparent: Love, Family and Living the T (Harcourt, 2007) about transgender street kids in Los Angeles and has written for several national magazines as well as the public radio program “This American Life.” Cris currently teaches creative writing at Columbia University, New York University, the New School and Bayview Women’s Correctional Facility in New York. She’s now working on a book about foster care in the U.S.
www.crisbeam.com

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, conducts interviews for Mediabistro.com, and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Her erotic stories have been published in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited numerous anthologies, most recently Rubber Sex, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, Dirty Girls, and Best Sex Writing 2008. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York, Velvetpark, and Zink.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Amie M. Evans is a widely published creative nonfiction and literary erotica writer, experienced workshop provider, and a retired burlesque and high-femme drag performer. She also writes gaymale erotica under a pen name. Evans is on the board of directors for Saints and Sinners LGBTQ Literary Festival. She graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Literature and is currently working on her MLA at Harvard. Evans has offered workshops at numerous conferences and universities, including Golden Crown Lesbian Conference; Plattsburgh State University; Wellesley College; Brandeis University; Cornell University and MIT. Evans is currently working on her full length memoir. She offers private and group writing instruction. She can be reached at pussywhippedproductions@hotmail.com.

Aimee Herman recently had a small volume of poetry with accompanying spoken word cd, self diagnosed lactose intolerance published by Baobob Tree Press. She has two other chapbooks of poetry, tastes like cheesecake (Butcher Shop Press) and if these thighs could talk (RoseWater Publications) and a spoken word cd, performance anxiety, available through cdbaby.com/AimeeHerman. Her erotica has been featured in oystersandchocolate.com and Cliterature Journal. Her three favorite things include peanut butter, black licorice, and Canadians (one in particular).

Carly Milne began her professional writing career at age 14 and hasn't looked back since. Her work has appeared in Glamour, Variety, AOL, Stuff, Maxim, Yoga Journal, Whole Life Times, Bitch Magazine and more. Milne has also had essays published in Virgin Territory (Three Rivers Press), Best American Sex Essays 2005 (Cleis Press) and Hooking Up: You'll Never Make Love In This Town Again Again (Phoenix Books), and curated the anthology Naked Ambition (Carroll & Graf). Her sexual memoirs, Sexography, was published by Phoenix Books in 2007. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is the curator of In The Flesh: L.A.
www.carlymilne.com

Bob Smith has appeared on The Tonight Show and had his own HBO Comedy Half-hour. His first book, Openly Bob, won the Lambda Literary Award for humor. His first novel, Selfish and Perverse, about three gay men and one lesbian in Alaska, was released in September and has been nominated for the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award from the Publishing Triangle. Armistead Maupin has said about his new book, "A thoroughly seductive and satisfying read. It makes you laugh, it makes you horny, it makes you want to fish for salmon."He can be reached at Bobscomedy@aol.com.
http://www.myspace.com/bobscomedy

Cecilia Tan is “simply one of the most important writers, editors, and innovators in contemporary American erotic literature" according to Susie Bright. She is the author of White Flames (due in May from Running Press), Black Feathers, Edge Plays, and Telepaths Don't Need Safewords and the founder of Circlet Press.
ceciliatan.com

Charlie Vazquez is the author of the queer punk adventure novel Buzz and Israel (Fireking Press, 2005), the fiction collection Business as Unusual (Fireking Press, 2007), screenplays, queer art essays and various published erotica stories, including contributions to three Alyson Books anthologies: Straight? 2 (2003), Best Gay Love Stories: NYC (2006) and Fast Balls (2007). He is featured in Cleis Press' Best Gay Erotica 2008 (2007) and the essay anthology Queer and Catholic (Taylor and Francis, 2008). He'll be re-publishing a second edition of Buzz and Israel and finishing his second novel in 2008. He currently resides in his hometown of New York City, where he also manages the website for diva-chanteuse Diamanda Galás. He can be reached at firekingpress@yahoo.com

Video interview

2008-06-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Not about In The Flesh per se, but a little video interview I did with Tango magazine about erotica writing and my book Dirty Girls that I thought some of you might like:

Another review of In The Flesh: LA

2008-06-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Note: I don't like how I look in the photo below, but am posting it anyway. Thanks, Gram, for the writeup, and it was great to finally meet you!

I wish I could attend the next one, on June 26th, as it's Confessions Night with:

Confessions Night with Jenny Block (Open), Pleasant Gehman, Regina Lynn (Sexier Sex), Maggie Marr (The Hollywood Girls Club), Rog Roberge, Eugene Robinson (Fight).

LA people - go to this! It's outdoors and there's cupcakes and just check out this amazing lineup. Very exciting.

Those in New York can catch In The Flesh: LA host Carly Milne Tuesday, June 17th at Bluestockings and/or Thursday, June 19th at GLBT Night at In The Flesh at Happy Ending.

Gram Ponante, writer for Fleshbot and other smutty sources, attended the launch of In The Flesh: LA and wrote:

The readings were an interesting combination of blog-based erotica and the more traditional kind, with a couple of stops in between.

Last night's theme was "Survival" and, though not every reader kept to the theme, cross-dresser Willem Belli started the evening with a bang with a searing story of toe-rape at the nether digits of a male prostitute. Then Bussel read her riveting account of a mostly-zipless fuck at the Atlanta airport, which was the evening's most graphic and evocative story.

British author Maxim Jakubowski read a story called "The Summer of Grant Lee Buffalo," a sexual autobiography as it related to music. The title referred to a crush his lover had on the bass player of Grant Lee Buffalo, Paul Kimble.

There was a generational divide that affected my enjoyment of the story; while two people had just read from blogs (or, as I suspect of Belli, extemporaneously), Jakubowski's reading was a chapter of his book. My attention waned as the litany of music and sex continued (Leonard Cohen, jazz, more Leonard Cohen), through no fault of his own, but through my own inability to pay attention to anything that takes more than two revolutions of a scroll wheel.

July 17th lineup

2008-05-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
July 17th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676

In The Flesh features a range of authors, from erotic writers D.L. King, editor of Erotica Revealed, and Susan Wright (A Pound of Flesh) to letter lover Samara O’Shea (Note to Self, For the Lover of Letters), Jeremy Edwards, (Clean Sheets, F is for Fetish), novelist Anna David (Party Girl) and playwright/memoirist Rachel Shukert (Have You No Shame?). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Spanked, Rubber Sex, Dirty Girls). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Tracie Egan, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, HoneyB, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, conducts interviews for Mediabistro.com, and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Her erotic stories have been published in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited numerous anthologies, most recently Spanked, Rubber Sex, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, Dirty Girls, and Best Sex Writing 2008. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York and Velvetpark.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

HarperCollins released Anna David's novel, Party Girl, in 2007, the same year that an essay of hers appeared in the Dutton anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. Harper Perennial will release Anna's second novel, Kept Waiting, in March of 2009. Anna is also the sex and relationship expert on G4’s Attack of the Show, appears every month on the Fox News cult favorite Red Eye as a cultural commentator, has been featured regularly on The Today Show, Hannity & Colmes, and Showbiz Tonight, and occasionally pops up on MTV News, VH1 and E. Her Sirius radio show on the Maxim channel, "Sex Files," is the network's number-one specialty show. A former magazine writer, Anna is now the dating columnist for the Women's Entertainment Network's website, wetv.com, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of musician will.i.am's political blog, Dipdive. She's written celebrity cover stories, first-person essays, and reported pieces for The New York Times, The LA Times, Vanity Fair, Cosmo, Redbook, Self, Stuff, TV Guide, Movieline, Women’s Health, Ocean Drive, Vegas, The Saturday Telegraph, Esquire UK, Teen Vogue, Variety, LA Confidential, Tatler (Hong Kong), Emmy, msn.com and Maxim, among others.
www.annadavid.com

Jeremy Edwards is a pseudonymous sort of fellow whose efforts at spinning libido into literature have been widely published online (at Clean Sheets, Good Vibrations, Erotic Woman, and other sites). Some of his many anthology trysts have occurred within the pages of A Is for Amour; F Is for Fetish; Got a Minute?; J Is for Jealousy; K Is for Kinky; Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 7; Open for Business; and Rubber Sex. Out on the newsstand, his lascivious prose has been seen in Scarlet. Jeremy's greatest goal in life is to be sexy and witty at the same moment—ideally in lighting that flatters his profile. Drop in on him unannounced (and thereby catch him in his underwear) at http://jerotic.blogspot.com

D. L. King is the founder and editor of the critical review site, Erotica Revealed. Her second novel, The Art of Melinoe, was published by Renaissance E Books last October. Her short stories can be found in several anthologies, some of the most recent being Best Lesbian Erotica 2008, Yes, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission and Yes, Ma'am: Erotic Stories of Male Submission. She is currently editing a new anthology for Cleis Press.
www.dlkingerotica.com

Samara O'Shea is an outspoken advocate on behalf of the written word. She is the author of the forthcoming Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits (July 2008) and For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing. For more information or to order a letter that Samara will gladly write on your behalf, visit LetterLover.net.

Scott D. Pomfret is author of Since My Last Confession, an irreverent and lighthearted memoir in the style of Michael Moore’s Roger & Me describing three years of stalking the Archbishop of Boston during the Massachusetts same-sex marriage debate. Pomfret’s other works include Romentics gay romance novels, The Q Guide to Wine and Cocktails, and dozens of short stories.
www.scottpomfret.com www.sincemylastconfession.com

Rachel Shukert is an author, playwright, and performer. Her first book, Have You No Shame? And Other Regrettable Stories, was published in April 2008 by Random House/Villard. Rachel's plays include Bloody Mary, Johnny Applefucker, The Worshipped, The Red Beard of Esau, and Sequins for Satan have been produced and developed extensively throughout New York City, Massachusetts, and the Netherlands. She is currently starring in the live soap opera "Wasp Cove" which she co-creates and writes with Julie Klausner. She is also a co-founder of the theater group the Bushwick Hotel. Her writing has appeared in Nerve, Heeb, McSweeney's, and Babble, and featured in Best Sex Writing 2008 (Rachel Kramer Bussel, ed.), Best American Erotic Poems: 1800-present (ed. David Lehman) and The Future of Misbehavior (Chronicle Books) alongside Rick Moody, Douglas Rushkoff, and Will Self. She was born in raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and now lives in NYC with her husband and her cat.
www.rachelshukert.com

Susan Wright's latest erotic fantasy novel is A Pound of Flesh, the sequel to To Serve and Submit, published by Penguin Books. Susan is also the founder and spokesperson for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. She's written over 25 novels and nonfiction books on art and popular culture.
www.susanwright.info

June 19th is GLBT Erotica Night!

2008-05-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Cherry Bomb's hauntingly beautiful words

2008-05-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Cherry Bomb and me

We'll have video up soon, so you can hear Cherry Bomb read her True Sex Confession in her sexy, gorgeous voice, but I'm so glad she put up the piece she read. It was hauntingly beautiful, the kind of piece I could get lost in, the kind of piece I'd love to publish. Read it now, here's an excerpt:

I am the girl that wants everyone and everything. The girl with the uncontrollable lust and insatiable hunger.

But color me misunderstood. It’s never just the sex that I want. Fucking just for fucking’s sake is devoid of my trademark longing and romance. It’s base, animalistic, and I am nothing if not emotionally evolved. Sex is an exchange. Sex is what I use to tap people like Maple trees, driving through their bark, and waiting for that delicious, liquid inner core to come slowly dripping out into my hands, into my heart. It isn’t done casually, ever, because I am one half of that attachment. Of that tangle of hands and lips and hearts and tongues. I am excruciatingly devoted; if you let me in, then my heart will never let you go, and all I want is everything...

Sex is my resolution, my bond, my promise for retribution. I dream of wielding sex like Lady Vengeance, enticing my former musician love away from her meek new girlfriend, coaxing her into my bed, and winning her back between my sheets. That's the way it always was for the two of us...love folded over anger, the former triumphing over the latter, rising like a phoenix. We were the story of fucking as survival...

In The Flesh: LA on May 29th

2008-05-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled that In The Flesh is launching an LA version by my friend Carly Milne and that I'll be there for its debut (but sad that Nina Hartley can't make it)! It's a stellar lineup and I am excited to get to be a participant and not my usual psycho scattered host self.

Details from In The Flesh LA blog:

IN THE FLESH: L.A. EROTIC READING SERIES

THURSDAY, MAY 29th at 8 PM
AT FREDDY AND EDDY, 12613 VENICE BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES
(Three blocks West of Centinela on the North side, http://www.freddyandeddy.com)
Admission: Free, $10 suggested donation to RAINN
Freddy and Eddy: 877-915-0380
http://inthefleshreadingseriesla.blogspot.com

On our inaugural evening, a collection of journalists, novelists and various other kinds of ists share tales of sexual survival to tease and expand your mind. Starting with Willam Belli (Nip/Tuck, CSI) sharing his story of toe rape (yes, you read that correctly), Rachel Kramer Bussel (In The Flesh, Dirty Girls) takes over with a little bit of erotica. Both Dana Harris (Variety.com, Naked Ambition) and Shana Ting Lipton (L.A. Times, Salon.com) tell true stories: one funny and sexy about making it through the Hot D’Or Awards in Cannes, the other a peek behind the curtain at Playboy Enterprises. Last but certainly not least, Maxim Jakubowski (Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer) and Stan Kent offer their own stories in lusty, lurid detail. Author’s books will also be on sale.

In the Flesh: L.A. (the West coast version of In The Flesh founded by Rachel Kramer Bussel) is a monthly reading series held the last Thursday of every month at Freddy and Eddy, and features the city's best journalists, authors, scriptwriters and more offering their torrid tales for your entertainment and titillation, hosted and curated by writer/editor Carly Milne (Sexography, Hooking Up, Naked Ambition). From secret dirty confessions to unique sexual insights (and even the odd embarrassment or two), these writers get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Complimentary cookies and cupcakes are courtesy of Schmerty's. The event is free, but a suggested $10 door fee will be donated to the Rape and Incest National Network. This month marks In The Flesh: L.A.’s debut!

Willam Belli, hereforth known as "artist," is a drag sensation and a true Hollywood success story. The artist is quite happy about all his major credits due to that fact that poor people food like Ramen gives the artist yeast infections. Some of the artist's fave appearances include 5 episodes of nip/tuck as murder-inclined, but lovable tranny Cherry Peck, American Wedding, Rock of Ages and guest star appearances on every cop show for the past 5 years (The District, CSI:NY, 10-8, The Shield, Cold Case). He's created his own cop show, Tranny McGuyver, which will be screening at film festivals throughout summer and fall. In addition to writing his blog, the artists work has been published in Out Magazine and porn reviews for Freshmen magazine... but mainly just to hone his grammar skills.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and host of In The Flesh Erotic Reading Series in New York. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She's edited numerous erotic anthologies, most recently Dirty Girls, Rubber Sex, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, and the nonfiction Best Sex Writing 2008. Her writing has been published in AVN, Cosmopolitan, Diva, Fresh Yarn, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, Penthouse, Playgirl, Time Out New York, Zink, and other publications. She's appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, NY1, Naked New York and the Berman and Berman Show. Find her online at rachelkramerbussel.com, lustylady.blogspot.com, and cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com.

Dana Harris is the editor of Variety.com, and contributor to Naked Ambition.

Maxim Jakubowski is a British writer and editor. His novels include IT'S YOU I WANT TO KISS, BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT SHE LOVED ME, KISS ME SADLY, THE STATE OF MONTANA and ON TENDERNESS EXPRESS. His latest CONFESSIONS OF A ROMANTIC PORNOGRAPHER is being published in the USA this winter. His short story collections are LIFE IN THE WORLD OF WOMEN and FOOLS FOR LUST. He is the editor of the bestselling MAMMOTH BOOK OF EROTICA series, which has now reached 13 volumes, and a prolific anthologist in the crime field, where his ROME NOIR will appear this fall. A columnist for THE GUARDIAN, he is also the director of London's annual CRIME SCENE film and literary festival. TIME OUT LONDON recently included him at nr 21 in its top 50 list of best erotic British writers of all time, as one of the only 12 still alive, and he believes Shakespeare, Chaucer, Keats and others defunct talents should have been disqualified, which would have made him nr 5!

Stan Kent is a chameleon hair colored former nightclub owning rocket scientist author of hot words and cool stories. A dedicated voyeur and world traveler, Stan has penned nine original, unique and very naughty full-length novels including the Shoe Leather series and dozens of quickie reads on everything from spanking with shoes to cupcake sex to voyeuristic orgies to techno-rave group spankings on the dance floor. He gets the inspiration for his titillating takes while staying, watching, fucking, eating, drinking, dancing, carousing, sometimes sleeping and mostly writing in everything from The Ice Hotel in the Arctic to the Standard Hotels in Los Angeles to the Carlton in Cannes to various five-star establishments the world over, not to mention a sleazy selection of bed and breakfasts where the emphasis is on bed. When not globe-trotting and jet-setting, Stan has hosted an erotic talk show night at Hustler Hollywood. The Los Angeles Times described his monthly performances as “combination moderator and lion tamer.” To see samples of his works, his latest hair colors and travels, visit Stan at www.StanKent.com or email him at stan@stankent.com.

Born in London, Shana Ting Lipton is a pop culture journalist and consultant, who lives and works in her native Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Salon.com, Radar online, Wired, Variety and BlackBook's magazine and guide (she is editor of the Blackbook Guide to Los Angeles 2008). She has lectured and consulted on pop culture for Media Bistro, as well as global marketing firms and advertising agencies.

True Sex Confessions was amazing!

2008-05-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last night's True Sex Confessions reading was AMAZING! Thank you to everyone who read - video coming soon. I think my favorite line of the night was Giulia Rozzi's "I wanted to suck his dick so hard all his issues came in my face."

We covered everything from airplane sex to pregnant sex to rape fantasies come to life to bad sex and donuts and more.

Here's a group photo by Stacie Joy. More coming soon.

L to R: Ilona Paris, Cherry Bomb, Will Doig, Giulia Rozzi, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Andrea Askowitz, Tracie Egan.

May 15th is True Sex Confessions Night!

2008-05-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
TRUE SEX CONFESSIONS NIGHT
THURSDAY, May 15th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676

Our third night of True Sex Confessions promises lots of revealing, naughty, crazy sex stories. Featuring Andrea Askowitz (author of the memoir My Miserable, Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy), burlesque babe Cherry Bomb, Will Doig (Editor, Nerve.com), Tracie Egan (Editor, Jezebel.com, One D at a Time), Ilona Paris (author of You Know You Love It), and comedian Giulia Rozzi (Stripped Stories). Free candy and cupcakes will be served. Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Dirty Girls, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am). Free candy and cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane, and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Andrea Askowitz is the author of the just released book My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy (Cleis Press). You gotta read it. She is also the producer of the true stories reading series, Lip Service in Miami, Florida. And she's sometimes an adjunct professor at Florida International University. And she's a mom.
http://www.andreaaskowitz.com

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, conducts interviews for Mediabistro.com, and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Her erotic stories have been published in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited numerous anthologies, most recently Rubber Sex,Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am, Dirty Girls, and Best Sex Writing 2008. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York, Velvetpark, and Zink.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Conceived in the throes of a passionate one-night stand between bell hooks and RuPaul, art, activism, and a love of glitter is built into Cherry Bomb's sordid DNA. She currently holds the crown as The Bad Girl of Brooklyn Burlesque, and you can catch her raising eyebrows at the likes of The Slipper Room, Mo Pitkins, and with Wasabassco Burlesque. She also writes dirty/sexy/emo at her blog, The Queen of Cream, at www.cherrybombnyc.com.

Will Doig is the editor of Nerve.com. His work has appeared in New York magazine, The Advocate, Out, and Highlights for Children. He lives in Brooklyn.

Tracie Egan is an editor at Jezebel.com and writes the blog One D at a Time.

Dominatrix and therapist Ilona Paris holds a master's degree in counseling psychology from Cambridge College in Massachusetts ad is the author of You Know You Love It: Lessons in Sexual Mischief. She has a private practice outside Boston, where she specializes in alternative sexual lifestyles. She is on the advisory board committee for the National Leather Alliance Domestic Violence Project.
http://ilona-thekinktherapist.blogspot.com/2007/06/accepting-your-kink.html

Giulia Rozzi is a NYC based comedian, writer, and actress originally from Boston. She is the co-host/producer of the popular sex-themed monthly storytelling event Stripped Stories at Comix NY and has been seen on Mtv, Vh1.com and in sketches on Jimmy Kimmel. As a writer she's contributed to Playgirl, Glamour, Lifetimetv.com, Huffingtonpost, 236.com, and Gawker. She is also a co-producer of the East Coast incarnations of the hit national show Mortified and was an associate editor and a contributor for Mortified books.
www.giuliarozzi.com