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.
Co-opting the comments to tell you about a new ezine called Plunge, which describes itself as "short stories, poetry, and non-fiction focusing on queer women within any genre, besides literary or mainstream." The first fiction issue just came out and they are currently accepting submissions for their first non-fiction issue. I hope their submission form is accessible but I don't know if it is.
ReplyDeletehttp://plungemagazine.com/
I do want to watch your reading, but I'm at work so it will have to wait!
Hi Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info about Plunge! I just checked out the site. I have a couple of sf stories in the works, but I don't know if they're queer or not (the characters haven't really been concerned with that so far), and I have lots of queer women stories that might otherwise fit the bill, but they have explicit sex, so, we'll see if I'm able to submit something or not. I was trying to figure out from the rights page if you take previously published if it was not published online.
I do have a story that definitely is queer and definitely is a "Chase(d)" theme (and unpublished) but I'm not sure if it's genre enough. It's only a bit weird. Sometimes I'm not sure what's mainstream and what's genre.
But I will spread the word to the sff writers I know.
Did you read my interview with Lynne Jamneck, editor of Periphery? It's here: http://sharonwachsler.blogspot.com/2012/07/interview-with-lynne-jamneck-editor-of.html
If you haven't read Periphery, I think you'd like it -- it's lesbian sf.
Hi again, Sharon:
ReplyDeleteI hate (hate!) giving readings, mostly because I also have a disability but it's in my vocal cords (spasmodic dysphonia) so speaking out loud in front of a group is not my strong point, sigh, sigh.
The video, and especially the story, is sensual and lovely. I didn't think your voice sounded odd but then again, I'm not sure how your voice normally sounds. What I loved most about the story was the cadence of the words as you read, each one so full and fat and slippery. Really nice job!
Wow, thank you so much for commenting -- I have spasmodic dysphonia, too! Mixed type, intermittent.
DeleteTo make the recording, I waited for a day when my voice was not affected, and recorded the reading then.
I have actually attended readings by speakerphone and sent a recording ahead that I made on a "good voice day" because I never know on a given day what my voice will be doing. Sometimes it sounds quiet and scratchy, sometimes it's like a CP accent, sometimes I cannot produce any speech sounds, and sometimes it's not affected at all.
I actually wanted to write about my experience of giving readings as a disabled writer, but I got cold feet. Now that I've read your comment, I've decided to post about it. Thank you.
Wow, Sharon, what a lovely and sensual experience. Loved your voice and didn't think it was odd at all (but then again, I have no idea how your voice normally sounds). What I loved most about the story and the reading was how round and full and slippery many of the words sounded; I could almost feel them slide across my skin. So lovely! Can't wait to read more.
ReplyDelete