I'm pickled tink to be in another new Alison Tyler anthology and to be reviewing another author's contribution.
I've enjoyed Kiki DeLovely's fiction in a number of lesbian and mixed erotica anthologies, so I was curious what I'd find when I snuggled up with "For the Moment" for the Sudden Sex Blog Tour.
I was not disappointed! It seems that Kiki's narrator and I have a fantasy in common: being the sole femme in a menage with two butches.
My ultimate butch-on-butch fantasy coming to life. I had felt them moving on top of me -- knew it was inevitable and was quite pleased it was happening so soon -- sensed its fruition just in time to catch that first glimpse of my own personal goddess-sent, ambrosia-dripping dream
The story starts out right in the thick of the action -- with hands, mouths, and cocks already in intense, hot action. It's a little breathtaking.
Then Kiki backs up to reveal a bit of how the characters came together (no pun intended) -- the narrator, and her lover, and an ex -- and we get a chance to enjoy the sweetness of their connection. This taste of back story deepened my enjoyment of the hot and heavy action. I also particularly liked the the chemistry between the two butches, who got to get as good as they gave.
I had never before been so filled in my life, had never been able to take so much. But then again, I had never been offered quite so much either.
Like all the stories in Sudden Sex, "For the Moment" is a short morsel. But it is very (ful)filling.
Thanks to everyone who commented on the previous post(s) to enter the Big Book of Bondage giveaway! We have two winners. Since Random.org provides a truly random number sequence, which numbers people are assigned are irrelevant. So I first assigned everyone numbers based on their comments on the various posts by creating this list:
I have two books to give away, so the winners are Kristina Lloyd and Vicki. Congratulations!
I'm not sure if Kristina was commenting to enter the contest or just to respond to my praise of her story, "The Bondage Pig." If Kristina does not want another copy of BBoB, the second copy will go to Cinthia Ritchie. Once I have that sorted I'll get in touch with the two winners to get your snail-mail address for the books, which will be sent by whatever method is least expensive (probably media mail).
Winners, if you are inclined to post a review of the book, that would be greatly appreciated!
Coming up soon, my experience with giving readings as a disabled writer, plus the announcement of the book I'm working on. (Yessiree.)
When a new book arrives with my work between its covers, there's a lot to be happy about.
Sometimes my story is the cause of my excitement. I may have stretched myself creatively or pushed myself physically or had a lot of fun with the characters or the plot.
On occasion I'm jazzed that I've entered a new genre, found a new publisher, or worked with a new editor. Conversely, I may feel a sense of "coming home" when I work with an editor and publisher I know and trust.
Then there are times when the other contributions are so well written that I feel simultaneously grateful and nervous -- glad that my work is in such great company and also intimidated by the talent of the other authors, worried that my piece pales in comparison.
In the case of The Big Book of Bondage, I have many sources of excitement. More of my stories have appeared in books edited by Alison Tyler and published by Cleis Press than any other editor or publisher, which is wonderful for me. This combination virtually guaranteed that my work would be in a book that is high-quality in both its writing and its packaging.
Even so, I am blown away by the writing in BBoB. These are compelling stories -- the characters, the plots, the tone, the language -- whether or not bondage, or even erotica, are your thang. There are several stories that have become some of my new favorite stories. Kristina Llyod's "The Bondage Pig" is a masterpiece -- it's suspenseful, creepy, dirty, and surprisingly sweet. (Kiki DeLovely reviewed "The Bondage Pig.")
Sadly, the more I read and revel in the other stories, the more I struggle with I'm-not-worthy-itis. To get past this place of pointless self judgement, it helps me to remember how I even ended up involved with book. It started with writing a piece for another Alison Tyler anthology.
I got the idea for the piece, oddly enough, from a Harry Potter book. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the Weasley twins set off a huge box of fireworks, including "shocking-pink Catherine wheels." I liked the sound of the words, "Catherine wheel," and started thinking about and researching bondage wheels. Around the same time as I was researching wheels, I watched the documentary, The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. Although I was deeply moved and inspired by Kahlo's work, I had no idea until I'd written most of my story that I'd incorporated Kahlo into my piece.
I'd always liked Kahlo's paintings, and I'd heard about her as a queer and feminist icon since I was 18, but I'd never expected to feel such kinship with her, such compassion and companionship. What we have in common is chronic pain, isolation, and lots of time in bed -- all of which are vividly, passionately, and bluntly conveyed in many of her paintings. Pain, scars, and paint are all part of my story. It seems so obvious now, but at the time I was writing it, I was focused on researching body paint (I watched a LOT of youtube videos on body painting) and finding out who my characters were. I wasn't thinking about Frida Kahlo at all.
Frida Kahlo's "The Broken Column"
As is so often the case, after I finished the first draft, I was convinced it was a total piece of crap -- an embarrassment and a mess. When I gave the story (and myself) a breather and returned to it for the revision process, I discovered there was a lot I liked about it. By the time I was done, I was proud that I'd struggled my way through it. Because I'd been so sick for the previous few years, I hadn't done much creative writing. Thus, the story was a bit of a creative rebirth for me, just as it is for one of my characters.
Along with connecting with care for the story and characters, I discovered the piece was way too long for the anthology for which it was intended. So I cut and cut and cut, and I emailed Alison about whether she had room for a longer piece. It turned out that she was now looking for even shorter stories than before, and I wasn't sure I wanted to pare down "River of Beauty" any further. I sent it to Alison to see what she thought. In reply, she asked me if she could use it for The Big Book of Bondage. I couldn't say "yes" fast enough!
Now, thanks to the generous folks at Cleis Press, I also have two copies of The Big Book of Bondage to give away! For a chance to win a copy here's what to do:
To be entered once in the drawing, comment on this post.
To be entered up to three more times, comment on any of the posts below. Each comment gets you an additional entry.
I love giving readings. Recently, I took part in a reading here in Western Massachusetts. Organized by Jeremy Edwards, the reading ("Sexy Scribes Speaking") was in conjunction with the opening of a local art show, Triple S: Sensual, Sexy, Smut. The show was organized by Nina Rossi, the owner of Nina's Nook art gallery in Turner's Falls.
Because I've been dealing with a downturn in my health recently, I wasn't able to attend the reading n the flesh. However, thanks to the terrific creativity, talent, and dedication to inclusion of Nina Rossi and her partner Caleb Wetherbee, my voice was present.
Using slides from the show and my reading from "River of Beauty," Caleb created the gorgeous video below. It's a triple layer of sensual art: my voice, reading my story; the diverse paintings, drawings, and photographs of the visual artists; and instrumental classical music in the background. Due to language and some images, this video is NSFW. Please be 18 or older to watch it.
Enjoy! And please let me know what you think of the video -- below or on youtube -- I'm very curious. (Also, does my voice sound weird to you? A friend of mine who went to the reading didn't even recognize me!)
To read the rest of my story, pick up a copy of The Big Book of Bondage, edited by Alison Tyler. I highly recommend it! And not just because I'm in it. It's full of excellent writing. Literary erotic fiction has come so far in the last two decades! It just keeps getting better.
And now it just keeps getting better for you, too! I have two extra copies of The Big Book of Bondage, and Cleis Press has given me the green light to do a giveaway! Please stay tuned. I'll get a post up about that shortly.
Peace, Sharon
P.S. I have not yet been able to caption this video. I uploaded it to dotsub, but they deleted it. If I get this problem solved, I will post the captioned version at that time. Meanwhile, here is the transcript.
Sacchi's review is on Alison Tyler's blog as part of the Big Book of Bondage Blog Tour. I'm grateful to Sacchi for the review in its entirety. But these two sentences were particularly squee-inducing for me:
Sharon’s fiction has a way of taking you places you’d never thought of going, and making you glad you did.
The story itself is crafted by a true artist of the written word.
Come back here in a few days for my post up that will include a really awesome video featuring an excerpt from the story Sacchi reviewed. It's a multimedia piece that combines images of erotic art from a local gallery show with me reading the first part of "River of Beauty." The video's up now on Youtube, but I'm hoping to also caption it and post it on Dotsub, then post both versions here.
For this blog tour, Alison has asked each contributor to review a piece by another author. I got early dibs in choosing from the very impressive roster that includes some of my favorite erotica writers (such as D. L. King, Shanna Germain, and Alison Tyler, herself). Giselle Renarde's name in the Table of Contents caught my eye. I flipped right to her story. Although I enjoy good smut across genders, lesbian erotica makes my, um, heart swell. When I saw that "Double Dutch" had an all-female cast, I was sold.
Although Giselle has written scores of stories and a few books, it was when I read her story, "Blood Lust," in my contributor's copy of Best Lesbian Erotica 2012 that I truly became a fan. It haunted me with its perfect economy of language and utterly unique plot. I loved how she blended seemingly oppositional elements in a way that felt totally natural -- the fantastical with the real, the mysterious with the know-it-in-your-bones, the creepy with the homey. While the plot and characters in "Double Dutch" are very different from those in "Blood Lust," the writing has the same strong, distinctive voice and engaging characters.
The tension in "Double Dutch" starts with the word go. Actually, it starts with the first two words: "Damn, girl!" and draws the reader in with the lively language of four passionate teammates.
"Damn, girl!” Nakesha tore Jansey’s rope away. Hurling it to the ground, she stomped on it with the ball of her foot like she was crushing a cigarette. “How many times we been over this? It’s Crouger first, then into the Awesome Annie.”
“I know, okay? I made a mistake.” Jansey bent to pick up her jump rope, but Nakesha’s foot wasn’t moving. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Ruby and Beatriz skulking at her sides.
I was also very curious about how a story that seemed to start out with four girls getting into an argument over a jump-rope game could possibly turn into erotica.* Well, it did! Given the book's title, you've probably figured out that the jump rope gets used for more than skipping.
Jansey was too shocked to react. They’d tied her arms behind her back? Why would her skipping team do that to her? . . . A dull ache began in her shoulders and bled down her back. As the other three girls took up their ropes, Jansey eased herself down on her knees. That was better—or, at least, the best she could hope for in such a strange circumstance. . .
.
When Nakesha turned on the boom box, the beat soared through the gymnasium floor, rocking Jansey’s calves. The music ran up through her thighs. It got right inside her spandex one-piece, vibrating inside her pelvis, making her instantly wet. Music could do that for her. That’s why she’d always been an easy lay at dances. The beat made her hot.
I don't want to spoil what comes next, but rest assured: this is not a simple girl-meets-girl/girl-gets-girl story. Jansey gets a lot more than that!
In addition to being sexy, "Double Dutch" brings a lot of sweetness and fun into the mix. The characters have a camaraderie that is infectious, carried in the fast beats of their dialogue and the familiarity of their clothes, their gear, and the space they inhabit. A deeper connection than you'd guess at the beginning is revealed in looks and touches and unfolding history.
I am making my way through the Big Book of Bondage and thoroughly enjoying the variety. Even so, Renarde's story has stuck with me. In fact, it even made me curious about competitive Double Dutch! Below are two (G-rated) videos of Double Dutch delights. These ladies -- and dudes -- are having so much fun, just watching them put a big silly grin on my face. What else can do that? Oh yeah, reading this book can.
