Showing posts with label burlesque. Show all posts

I'm reading about stripper shoes Friday at Happy Ending Lounge

I'm reading Friday from an erotica story I wrote about stripper shoes, inspired by a gorgeous pair I saw once in St. Paul, for free at Happy Ending Lounge, former home of In The Flesh Reading Series, at Ravenous Nights. Join us free from 8-10 pm! Very excited to read again with the gorgeous and talented Jo Weldon, and hear all the stripping and burlesque stories. I'm not doing too many readings these days so this is my only one this month.

May 6, 8-10 pm
In the old days, we would’ve barked, “Girls! Girls! Girls!”

That’s because May’s Ravenous Nights celebrates the daring dazzle of burlesque and stripping, and it’s shaping up to be a great night. Joining host Lori Perkins: authors Logan Belle, Rachel Kramer Bussel, and Aimee DeLong, all of whom will share risque tales with us.

And we’re fortunate that head mistress of NY School of Burlesque, Jo “Boobs” Weldon, will join us. She authored The Burlesque Handbook and has teasingly offered to give us a lesson or two!

So help us extol the thrill of stripping, give away door prizes galore — and maybe expose a secret or two in the bump and grind!

Event details:
Free. 8 to 10 pm. Dress: street casual.

Happy Ending Lounge
302 Broome Street (between Eldridge and Forsyth)
New York, NY
www.happyendinglounge.com

And happy memories...one of my favorite nights from five years of In The Flesh, and one of the few we didn't get captured on film, so truly a you had to be there moment...come see Jo on Friday. She'll be worth it, I promise! I might be working on a fall NYC event, will update you if that goes through. For now, deadline and Seattle and London event promotion madness own me.

Naked Girls Reading Gotta Have It live, free, Seattle, June 27th!

2011 is the last year I will be doing readings all over the place like a crazy woman unless they are very special (or someone else pays for me) so I really am excited about this very special reading. PLEASE do me a giant favor and tell anyone in Seattle who might be interested. I want to pack Babeland. Here's a too-racy-for-Facebook photo of Naked Girls Reading Seattle, who will be joining me, along with erotica writer extraordinaire Shanna Germain, author of the story "Genesis" and editor of the upcoming Bound to Lust. Shanna is also featured in the Gotta Have It book trailer. I'll get to work on some yummy cupcakes - I'll be in Seattle mid-April for CupcakeCamp Seattle and it's a huge cupcake city so I'm sure that won't be a problem.

Facebook invite
June 27, 6 to 8 pm, FREE
Join Gotta Have It editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, contributor Shanna Germain ("Genesis") and burlesque performers from Naked Girls Reading for a fun, fabulous event at Babeland Seattle for short, sexy readings from Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex, plus free cupcakes!

GiGi LaFemme performing burlesque to "Joyful Girl" by Ani DiFranco at last In The Flesh Reading Series

You're welcome. Do check out GiGi LaFemme and go see her at Revealed Burlesque and all over NYC!

This photo makes me happy

This was from the first set of GiGi La Femme's performance at the last In The Flesh. And in a few months I hope to do a cool multimedia event. I don't know what yet because I'm getting through some other events first, but I loved hosting burlesque so much I want to do it again! Photo by Anya Garrett.

GiGi La Femme and me, post-performance

The beautiful and talented GiGi La Femme and me, photo by Shell Sheddy. I highly encourage you to check out GiGi's monthly show Revealed, and Wassabassco Burlesque. You won't be disappointed.

Joyful girls

I still have chills from GiGi La Femme's closing burlesque act, to Ani DiFranco's "Joyful Girl." In part because on my way home from a very bizarre trip to LA, which gave me a lot to think about and soul search over, I was thinking about that song, about "everything i do is judged/and they mostly get it wrong," about what I'm supposed to be doing. Usually when I see burlesque, there's nonstop cheering, the audience is part of the act. But last night, during that song, GiGi captured our attention. It was hauntingly beautiful and she said so much with her body, and it made me think about what gives me joy, what gives me pride, what I built over five years at In The Flesh, but too, what I've built out of this fallen law school ashes life.

There was something about the way GiGi danced, the smile on her face, the hint of mystery as she moved, taking off some clothes, being, for a few seconds, topless, yet as if she was holding onto a secret as she slipped on a gorgeous white gown. It made me think the song was about masturbation, or a girl with a secret that she is so proud of but doesn't want to totally share. She was inviting us to peek, but not get too close, and that air of mystery stayed through the end.

From Righteous Babe:

Recorded in December 1995 and January 1996, you almost want to wipe the snow off the CD before placing it in the player and grabbing a beer or seven. But when you are laid out, Ani has pre-meditated the final chapter “I ended the album with ‘Joyful Girl’ because I see it as a song of redemption; you travel down this really steep slope until you hit bottom, then you’re in the valley where it’s green and you can rest”.

I spend so much time lamenting what I haven't done, the mistakes, the problems, and I forget, sometimes, that it can be simpler, purer, less fraught, it being life. I'm so honored and awed by the entire night last night, but especially that. So thank you. I needed to be reminded of that song, of what I felt like coming home from LA and trying to shake off other people's expectations and hype, good and bad. November was a very rough month for me, and the last week I've been pretty listless, depressed, melancholy, like life is literally passing me by and I am just watching and not participating, save for a few brief blips. Seeing GiGi dance, and hearing everyone last night, helped bring me back a little bit.

i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to

Don't miss the Last In The Flesh Reading Series or you'll be sorry*

I'm working on a piece about why I'm ending In The Flesh, may not get it done til after Thursday, because let me tell you, running a reading series takes way more time than you could ever, ever imagine. I certainly don't regret it and am very proud of the almost 300 readers we've had so far (will be just over 300 when we're done), but I also know that I can't in any way afford to put my time/energy into things that aren't lucrative or moving me forward. I'm just utterly burnot out, on a lot of things, but definitely on this. I am very exciting to go all out, and I do mean all out, with bondage burlesque, pop songs, 500 cupcakes, so many giveaways it's insane (I'm donating a sex pillow! and penis and vulva candles!) and general revelry, with an afterparty before I go collapse.

*we are taping it, even though there really isn't a logical reason for me to spend money on taping it, but I am, cause I'm sentimental like that. Crazy, yes, but sentimental.

In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Last In The Flesh event listing. Note early start time of 7:30. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
LAST IN THE FLESH
December 16, 2010, 7:30 pm - 10 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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Both floors of Happy Ending Lounge will be open for this event. We recommend arriving when the doors open at 7 for a good seat.

After 5+ years, over 200 readers, countless cupcakes and sexy moments, In The Flesh Reading Series is ending. Join us for a free, festive, sexy, cupcake-filled last hurrah, with erotica, memoir, burlesque and 500 free cupcakes to celebrate! Featuring erotic writer Laura Antoniou (The Marketplace series), memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performers GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco) and Stormy Leather (Webster Hall, The Box), photographer and photocomic CulutrePOP creator Seth Kushner, memoirist Stephen Markley (Publish This Book), In The Flesh alum and famed letter writer Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Love of Letters), Lambda Literary Award winner Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and romance novelist Kama Spice (Sehra's Honor). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Prizes include sex toys from EdenFantasys, vibrator We-Vibe, porn DVDs from director Tristan Taormino Rough Sex 2 and Expert Guide to Advanced Fellatio, books Oysters & Chocolate: Erotic Stories of Every Flavor, Mastering Your Man from Head to Head and Sexy Slang's Bedroom Challenges: 69 Ways to Spice up Your Sex Life and free Sliquid lube samples. Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Giveaways include copies of SexIs Magazine and 500 cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. 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 Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, 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, Julie Powell, 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, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Laura Antoniou is the author of the best selling Marketplace series of erotic novels, now published by Circlet Press and coming out in exciting e-book formats. A long time member of the smut world, she has edited over a dozen anthologies and an assortment of magazines, written far too many short stories under far too many pseudonyms to remember. In 2010, she even started re-releasing her gay male porn, written originally under the name Christopher Morgan. A popular sexuality educator, she has traveled the world teaching a variety of relationship workshops and delivering keynote speeches to generally horrified (yet amused!) audiences. Her website is
www.lantoniou.com; she is on Facebook ad Fetlife as well and invites new friends.

Nancy Balbirer's memoir, Take Your Shirt Off and Cry, was published by Bloomsbury in April. She is the author and star of the critically acclaimed solo show I Slept With Jack Kerouac and Other Stories, the co-creator of the cult reading series, Cause Celeb!, and has co-starred on Seinfeld and MTV’s Remote Control. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is the co-owner, designer and doyenne of the West Village boite, Pasita. She lives with remarkably few regrets in Manhattan with her husband and daughter.
takeyourshirtoffandcry.com

photo by Rob d'Entremont

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited over 30 anthologies, including the kink-themed Spanked, Bottoms Up, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, He's on Top, She's on Top, Rubber Sex as well as Fast Girls, Orgasmic, Peep Show, The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and the non-fiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books won 3 2009 Independent Publisher Awards. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. Rachel conducts nationwide readings and erotic writing workshops. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

photo by Anya Garrett

Michele Carlo is a writer/performer and comedic storyteller who has lived in four of the five boroughs of New York City and remembers when a slice of pizza cost fifty cents. Her stories have been published in Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood’s Lost & Found: Stories From New York, Chicken Soup For The Latino Soul and SMITH Magazine. Her memoir, Fish Out of Agua: My life on neither side of the (subway) tracks, was published this summer by Citadel Press.
www.michelecarlo.com

Since 2005, GiGi La Femme has been named one of New York City’s sultriest striptease stars and is also the co-producer of the monthly show Revealed Burlesque at the Under St. Mark’s Theater. A Golden Pastie Award winner for Best Booty Shaker 2009 and Miss Coney Island 2010, the multi-talented bump ‘n’ grinder, go-go girl, chanteuse and pin-up model has traveled the nation performing signature acts such as "Spanking", "Princess Leia" and "Sweet Leaf". She is also the host of Wasabassco Burlesque at venues around New York, New England and Washington, DC.
gigilafemme.com

photo by Greg Brophy

Seth Kushner shoots portraits of celebrity-types for such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, L'Uomo Vogue and others. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. His next book, Leaping Tall Buildings, will be released in 2101.
Currently, he co-edits GRAPHIC NYC (www.NYCGraphicNovelists.com) and is working on CulturePOP, his photocomix series on ACT-I-VATE.com.
Seth resides in Brooklyn with his wife, baby boy, and too many comics.
www.SethKushner.com

Stephen Markley is an Ohio transplant, who graduated from Miami University in 2006. After an eight month, 12,000 mile cross-country road trip that left him completely broke, he made the daring decision to move to Chicago. As far as he knows, he is the only person from that school in this city. He writes for Cars.com's blog KickingTires and his freelance work has appeared in the Chicago Reader, RadarOnline, the Populist Progressive, 10,000 Tons of Black Ink, Private Investigator's Magazine, Midnight Times, and the Weber Studies Journal. Most importantly, he is an author. His first book, Publish This Book, can be found on Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.
www.stephenmarkley.com

Samara O’Shea has written two narrative non-fiction books—one on the art of letter writing and the other on the importance of keeping a journal. On her website, LetterLover.net, she offers to write letters and wedding vows for those struggling to find the right words. This is Samara’s fourth time reading at In the Flesh. She is honored to have been a part of this wonderful reading series. Samara will be reading from her unpublished book, Don’t Make Me Defriend You, about losing her cyber virginity.
www.letterlover.net

Rakesh Satyal is the author of the novel Blue Boy, a gender-bending comedy about a young Indian American boy's fascination with the Hindu god Krishna. He is an editor at HarperCollins, where he works with such authors as Paulo Coelho, Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin, and Paul Rudnick. A member of the planning committee for the annual PEN World Voices Festival, he sings a popular cabaret show in the city. He lives in Brooklyn.
rakeshsatyal.com

Kama Spice has lived in the East and the West and merges both in her stories. She considers herself a pro-sex feminist who likes to explore the point where spirit and eros converge to create power. Kama is published in various genres and has two erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave, with a third forthcoming.
KamaSpice.com

Sweeping in from the the plains of Oklahoma, Stormy Leather has breezed through the ranks of the New York City burlesque scene to find herself both in demand and in the spotlight. A regular by request at top clubs, including The Slipper Room, Webster Hall, and The Box, Stormy has been blowing away audiences with a whirlwind of elegance, ingenuity, and seduction. Her repertoire of original material is a cyclone of genres: fan dancing, tassel twirling, sexually ambiguous drag, rock n' roll, and even rope bondage and hot wax fetishism. A Stormy Leather strip tease showers you with sex and talent, leaving you breathless, winded, and wet. Playing in a storm has never been so much fun...
www.stormyleathernyc.com

You will hear from the following books:

Best Bondage Erotica 2011

Fish Out of Agua

Publish This Book

December 16 - last In The Flesh, going out with a bang!

In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the Last In The Flesh event listing. Note early start time of 7:30. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
LAST IN THE FLESH
December 16, 2010, 7:30 pm - 10 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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

After 5+ years, over 200 readers, countless cupcakes and sexy moments, In The Flesh Reading Series is ending. Join us for a free, festive, sexy, cupcake-filled last hurrah, with erotica, memoir, burlesque and 500 free cupcakes to celebrate! Featuring erotic writer Laura Antoniou (The Marketplace series), memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performers GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco) and Stormy Leather (Webster Hall, The Box), photographer and photocomic CulutrePOP creator Seth Kushner, memoirist Stephen Markley (Publish This Book), In The Flesh alum and famed letter writer Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Love of Letters), Lambda Literary Award winner Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and romance novelist Kama Spice (Sehra's Honor). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Giveaways include copies of SexIs Magazine and 500 cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. 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 Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, 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, Julie Powell, 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, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Laura Antoniou is the author of the best selling Marketplace series of erotic novels, now published by Circlet Press and coming out in exciting e-book formats. A long time member of the smut world, she has edited over a dozen anthologies and an assortment of magazines, written far too many short stories under far too many pseudonyms to remember. In 2010, she even started re-releasing her gay male porn, written originally under the name Christopher Morgan. A popular sexuality educator, she has traveled the world teaching a variety of relationship workshops and delivering keynote speeches to generally horrified (yet amused!) audiences. Her website is
www.lantoniou.com; she is on Facebook ad Fetlife as well and invites new friends.

You will hear from the following books:

Best Bondage Erotica 2011

Fish Out of Agua

Publish This Book

September 16th Virgin Night lineup: African-American erotica, Bad Marie, romance, mystery and more!

In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the September 16th In The Flesh event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook. Note early start time. I'm calling this Virgin Night since everyone but Marcy is a first-time reader, and many are first-time authors.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
VIRGIN NIGHT
September 16, 2010, 7:30 pm - 10 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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Featuring African-American erotica, a mystery writer, a burlesque romance writer, a novelist and more! Featuring Logan Belle, author of a forthcoming burlesque romance series, erotica writer Megan Butcher (contributor, Best Bondage Erotica 2011), novelist Marcy Dermansky (Bad Marie), novelist Lee Houck (Yield), Greg Olear (Totally Killer), and Can't Help the Way That I Feel: Sultry Stories of African American Love, Lust and Fantasy editor Lori Bryant-Woolridge and contributors Sasha James and Erika J. Kendrick (Appetites, Confessions of a Rookie Cheerleader). Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Fast Girls, Please, Sir, Please, Ma’am). 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. 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 Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, 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, Julie Powell, 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, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Logan Belle is the pen name of a publishing insider who went to her first burlesque show on her birthday two years ago and has been following and writing about the scene ever since. Her debut erotic novel, The Blue Angel, will be published by Kensington in May 2011. Logan Belle lives in New York City.
www.loganbelle.com

Lori Bryant-Woolridge, editor of Can't Help the Way That I Feel, is an Emmy award-winning writer and the author of three Essence best-selling novels, including Weapons of Mass Seduction, Hitts & Mrs., and Read Between the Lies. She has contributed to several award-winning anthologies including, A Celebration of African-American Fiction, Brown Sugar #3: Opposites Attract, and Best Black Women’s Erotica. Lori is also a sensuality coach and founder of Stiletto U, a virtual university that advocates healthy, sensuous lifestyles.
http://www.canthelpthewaythatifeel.blogspot.com/

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited over 30 anthologies, including the kink-themed Spanked, Bottoms Up, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am, He's on Top, She's on Top, Rubber Sex as well as Fast Girls, Orgasmic, Peep Show, The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and the non-fiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books won 3 2009 Independent Publisher Awards. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. Rachel conducts nationwide readings and erotic writing workshops. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

photo by Anya Garrett

Megan Butcher is a librarian, sex educator and writer who lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her slightly demented tabby. Co-author of the zine A Guide to the Mannerly Wooing and Winning of the Object of Your Affection, her work has also appeared in several Canadian publications. Look for her forthcoming story in Best Bondage Erotica 2011 due out later this year or check out her smut blog at meganbutcher.com/weeklydose.

Marcy Dermansky is the author of the novels Bad Marie and Twins. Hailed by The Nervous Breakdown’s Gina Frangello as “genuinely sexy, dark and subversive but also freaking weirdly hilarious,” Bad Marie has been selected as a Barnes and Noble Fall 2010 Discover Great New Writers pick. Time magazine pronounced Bad Marie “irresistible.” She serves as a board member of the online literary community Fictionaut and is a film critic for About.com.
www.marcydermansky.com

Lee Houck was born in Chattanooga, TN and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. His first novel, Yield, was the winner of Project Queerlit 2008 and is forthcoming from Kensington Books in September 2010. His other writing appears in numerous anthologies including two volumes of Best Gay Erotica, two volumes of the literary journal Ganymede, the Australian art book Hair, and two limited-edition chapbooks. He has also worked with Jennifer Miller's Circus Amok for many, many seasons.
www.leehouck.com

Sasha James is a prolific writer, who paints pictures with her words. She’s the author of One+One=Two and Two+One=Ecstasy. Previously, she has penned four steamy novels, and is hard at work on the fifth. Sasha divides her time between New York and Chicago.

Erika J. Kendrick, a Chicago native who holds a Stanford degree and an MBA in marketing and international business, is an acclaimed author/writer/producer...on love! Previously an NBA cheerleader for the Chicago Bulls, her first novel, Confessions of a Rookie Cheerleader (Random House) was released in 2007 and the second title in the series, Appetite (Random House) in 2009. Her erotica short story, "The Accidental Escort, is part of the anthology Can’t Help The Way That I Feel (Cleis Press, 2010)." A quintessential mover and maker, Erika has been a guest of The Wendy Williams Experience, BETJ's My Two Cents, V-103, AOL BV and a host of other media outlets. She’s been featured in several publications, including Page Six of The New York Post, The Chicago Tribune, SET (Sports and Entertainment Today), Ebony, Upscale, Black Beat, Uptown, NV, Honey Magazine and several others.
www.erikakendrick.com

Greg Olear is the senior editor of the online literary magazine The Nervous
Breakdown and the author of the novels Totally Killer (Harper, 2009) and
the forthcoming Fathermucker (Harper, 2012). A longtime resident of New
York, he now lives with his wife and two children in his hometown in the
Jersey suburbs.
www.totallykiller.com