Tag Archives: erotica reading

Smut By The Sea! It’s Almost time!

SBTS 2014 posterYES! That’s right! It’s almost time for Smut by the Sea Year Two! Look out Scarborough, here we come!

I’ve been waiting anxiously for Smut by the Sea 2014 ever since, well ever since I attended the first SBTS and had such a fantastic time meeting other writers and readers and vendors, and then there were readings and a Tombola and panels and tea and biscuits and wine and a launch party and karaoke and …*takes deep breath* Well you get the picture.

Year two, and the fabulous Team Blisse, Victoria and Kevin Mitnik Blisse have done it again with even more exciting offerings this year than last.

Here’s what the lovely Victoria Blisse has to say about Smut By The Sea:

When you think of Scarborough, many good things jump to mind. From the beach and many arcades to fish, chips and ice cream but I don’t suppose erotica is automatically one of those things. Well on the 14th June this year for the second time Smut by the Sea will take place at Scarborough library and it’s going to get really smutty.

What is it? Good question. It’s a gathering of authors and readers of erotica and erotic romance. There will be talks on Inspiration from Victoria Blisse, Writing Better Erotica from KD Grace and Social Media and promotion with Lucy Felthouse.

There’s also an afternoon stuffed full of sexy snippets read by the authors themselves, a free lunch and the unique and much loved Erotic Tombola and book stall, to feed your need for smut! If you ask nicely you can get your favourite authors to sign the books for you.


What you can expect:

Smut by the Sea is an Erotic Social Get-Together taking place at Scarborough Library on the14th June SBTS 2014 poster 22014, it’s a chance for erotica readers and writers to gather, share ideas and interact with one another in a friendly smutty enviroment.

In the morning there’ll have a few simple workshops where the authors will pass on their advice to those who have a desire to start writing, or to improve their existing writing endeavours, you’ll be able to ask questions and share your own experiences and gain some valuable knowledge from these talented authors.

The afternoon will consist of the erotic reading & poetry slam, authors will get up to 6 minutes on stage (and not a moment longer, the trusty timekeeper and her pesky paddle will see to that!) to read a short excerpt from one of their stories; with excerpts spanning the wide world of erotica you never know just what you might hear next and what ideas it might spark 😉

Throughout the day we’ll have refreshments on hand, and if you are feeling lucky you can try your hand on our Erotic Tombola  with some fabulous prizes on offer. We’ll also have our Book Stall where you’ll be able to pick up some special smut to tale home and maybe even get it signed by the author themselves.

 So come along, and bring your friends. It’s going to be a very special day and a great first step to take if you are wondering about breaking into the world of Erotica and Erotic Romance and even if you just come along for the Reading Slam it’s a chance to maybe experience something a little different if you’ve never heard erotica read aloud before.

A snippet from my experience at SBTS 2013:

For a writer, sharing a story is like breathing. We can’t NOT do it. That’s why we write. And to be able to read it out loud to an audience that’s there specifically to hear our words is like the rich, thick, butter cream icing with sprinkles on the cake. It’s a very physical reminder of why we do what we do.

I love to hear the stories other writers are reading, and I especially love to listen to first-time readers. I love to share their excitement, and I love to be one of the old timers who can encourage them and tell them not to worry it’ll be amazing. I love the looks on their faces when they’ve finished their first ever reading for an audience, the look that always tells me they’re hooked, just like I was, just like every one of us who has stood on that stage is.

In between the readings there was another key component that made SBTS such a fantastic experience, and that was the chance to chat, to share ideas, to meet people face-to-face who we had only ever talked to online before and to discover that they were just as amazing face-to-face as they are on social media.

And, of course, the thing writers love to do almost as much as they love reading their work out loud is to talk craft with other SBTS post1writers, and there was a lot of animated talking shop that went on in Scarborough.  We talked fears and pleasures, we talked nuts and bolts, we talked failures and successes. We talked works in progress, we talked new and old publishers, we talked self-publishing and self-promoting, we talked about our characters and about our plots, we talked about what fun it was to be who we are and do what we love most. The celebratory atmosphere was very contagious.

 

 

The good news is that Smut by the Sea 2014 is only two weeks away! 

The even better news is that you can still get tickets so you won’t miss out on the fun. 

Click here for tickets, and details. 

 

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I’m Taking Over at The SubClubbers FaceBook Page!

SubClub FB pate takeover imageI’m very excited to have been asked by Nina and the fabulous folks over at The SubClub to do a takeover of their yummy FaceBook page this Tuesday, 18th March. If you’re in the US, I’ll be taking the reins at 7:00 pm Eastern Time.  That means for my UK friends, slumber party time! I’ll be settling in with choccie a glass of wine and my warm jammies … er, I mean my corset and satin robe (Oh stop laughing already!)

I hope you’ll join me and all the lovelies at SubClub and ask me questions and tell me naughty things, because I’ll be doing the same to you.

You can find me here all ready to chat At 7:00 Eastern Time. https://www.facebook.com/subclubbers I’ll be ready to talk writing, reading, and sexy stuff, and I hope you will too! See you at the SubClub!

 

London by Accident, or the Long Way to Get to the Sexy Summer Reading at Sh!

shoreditch2Friday night we ended up in London by accident. That’s right, by accident. Oh we knew where we were going and we had a plan. We were going to hear Justine Elyot and Kristina Lloyd read at Sh! I was so excited. I love it when I get to sit in the audience and listen to my favourite authors read from their works. I’d been looking forward to this event for weeks. Now as you might imagine, I can find my way to Sh! from my house with my eyes closed, I’ve been there so often. It’s the place I love to go for a good time and a friendly natter and a cuppa. That meant, we hopped the train without checking for directions, times. Or DATES!

I had it in my head that I would work on the train both coming and going to London. Oh, I was going to enjoy listening to the readings and being at Sh! and having some catch-up time with some of my favourite people, but I’ve got a short story that I need to write and another novel that needs to be mapped out. I quite often work on my BlackBerry and email the results back home. I was confident I could accomplish a lot and then get back to work on the final rewrite of The Exhibition after we got back home. All business-like — that would be me. Anything to eke out a few more minutes writing or PR time. A writer’s work is never done.

We were nearly to Clapham Junction, enjoying a relaxed ride on an uncrowded train when an email exchange with Kay Jaybee in which I mentioned what we were doing resulted in her email equivalent of clearing her throat and saying, ‘Sweetie, I don’t want to alarm you, but the Sexy Summer Reading event at Sh! is tomorrow night.’

Shoreditch 1imagesEeep! Noooo! Surely I couldn’t have made such a stupid mistake, not super-anal me! But oh yes! I f*cked up majorly! My long suffering husband only offered me a lazy smile and said, ‘Well it’s a good thing you didn’t decide to get a hotel room for the night.’

The Shadow is responsibe! I have no doubt. Anyone who knows a tidbit about Jungian psychology knows that the shadow is the part of our personality that bites us in the butt when we’re taking ourselves too seriously. Well, all I can say is that I have huge bite marks all over my backside!

We were almost there, so the question became what to do when you find yourself accidentally in London on a Friday night? We tubed it up to Leicester Square to check the half-price ticket booths and found nothing that really jumped out at us, nor was there anything at the cinema that we really were dying to see, so we tubed it on over to Shoreditch in spite of the definite lack of a reading at Sh! that night. There’s a kebab place just around the corner and up the street a bit from Sh! that serves the best kebabs this side of Turkey, and I have to admit it, I love a good kebab. We’ve been there often enough the owners always recognize us and greet us with a smile and yummy food. A chicken donner kabab, baklava to die for and a double espresso later and I’m not feeling quite so stupid.

Sh!We decided to drop by Sh! anyway and say hi to the lovely Renee and the delish Jo, who were very busy with the Friday night rush and very sympathetic and kind to the crazy woman who showed up a day early. They were sorry they couldn’t offer us accommodation for the night in the yummy Sh! basement, a place we both agreed would be great fun to be shut up in overnight.

With no real plan in the works and an exquisite warm night ahead of us, we decided to wander about Shoreditch for a little while, especially since I have plans to set another novel there. Then we’d find a nice pub for a pint. If you’ve read my novella, Kinky Boots, then you’ve got a flavour for Shoreditch on a Friday night. Vibrant is the single word I’d used to describe it. Here’s a bit of description from Kinky Boots.

Still, she was in Shorditch on a Friday night. If she were going to end up alone, she couldn’t think of any placeKinky_Boots she’d rather be. It was easy to get caught up in the excitement along the streets lined with bars and clubs and interesting shops. She loved the higgledy-piggledy architecture that often involved glass and steel in the personal space of very accommodating Victorian brick and stone which had already gone through who knew how many marriages of convenience before. All around the concrete ugliness of the sixties groped and nuzzled solicitously at streets that could have come straight from a Sherlock Holms novel. It was a great patchwork of a place, heaving with frenetic humanity all bound and determined to enjoy the hell out of every last drunken, chaotic, celebratory second of the weekend. She was jostled by the enthusiastic spill-over of people with drinks and fags in front of Juno. A hen party pushed past into an off-license. People on the busy pavements crowded onto the narrow side streets impeding the odd taxi or limo.

We spent a little time exploring Shoreditch Box Park – the world’s first popup mall, which was heaving with after-work revellers enjoying the warm night, the gorgeous summer sky and myriad alcoholic beverages. Then we wandered past the intriguing mix of old and new buildings to end up in the Water Poet Pub with a bazillion other Londoners who were enjoying the summer night. We actually found a table and had a pint of Truman’s wonderfully hoppy ale while watching people come and go. People-watching in London is the best, especially in a pub in Shoreditch on Friday night.

box parkimagesFrom there we wandered down the Crown and Shuttle Pub, ending up enjoying a pint of Best Bitter out in the heaving beer garden that was surrounded by a vertical history of Shoreditch in brick and stone. We both decided we needed Kay Jaybee to give us a little industrial archaeological tour of what we were looking at in the mish-mash of bricked up windows and replastered stone walls and the spaghetti bowl of wrought iron stair cases and balconies hanging above us. It was standing room only, and we found a place next the foosball table, leaning against an aging brick wall with a strange blue door that was locked and bolted. It conjured all kinds of speculation on just what might be hidden behind. We watched people and listened to the music and laughter and clinking of glasses as everyone celebrated the beginning of the weekend. Not the night we’d planned, but as we crawled onto our train back home, sleepy and smiling we both decided maybe this was a situation in which the Shadow’s nip in the hiney was well worth it.

If you’re worried that I missed a fabulous evening with Justine and Kristina last night, don’t be! Last night, reassured of dates times, travel cards, venues, and shoe size, we made it to Sh! just in time to celebrate with Justine, Kristina, and the amazing new talent, S. M. Taylor. You may remember a short story competition Black Lace ran last year with The Daily Mail, well it was S.M. Taylor’s wonderful short story, Forbidden, which won the competition. Portia Da Costa, Kristina, and Gillian Green were judges in that competition and S.M.’s story is now published at the end of Kristina’s new novel, Thrill Seeker.

Sh! was fabuouls, as always, and last night was even better because not only were Renee and Jo there but so was the totally awesome Shelly. It was almost like a Sh! family reunion, complete with the indomitable Renee thwarting a shoplifting attempt during one of the readings. Seiously, the Sh! women are a stunning combination of goddesses and super heroes. Move over Wonder Woman!

The evening started with a special guest appearance from Primula Bond, who read from her new novel, The Silver Chain, then romped on with Kristina reading some fabulously evocative and sexy scenes from Thrill Seeker. Then Justine made the room warmer still with two very fun, naughty readings from her collection, Seven Scarlet Tales, spanking stories extraordinaire.

Oh yes! It was SO worth another trip to London! And what have I learned from this adventurous weekend? 1) If one trip to London is good, two is better! 2) Always double-check dates of events. 3) Some things are worth coming back for. 4) Life is short. Take time to play.

Hope you’re all having a playful weekend!

Grand Openings, Reading Slams and Why I Love my Job!

Note: I apologise for the lack of original photos. My hubby, and event photographer, was home working on a paper this time. Fortunately Kay Jaybee got a shot or two. Thanks Kay!  Otherwise, I hope the word pictures will stimulate your imaginations to share in the fun.

I’m on the bus now heading for Waterloo Station and home. As most writers do, I’m reflecting. So much has happened in the past two days that I only now really have time to take it in. It’s so often the case that I can only take in events after the fact. The pace is too fast, the experience too multi-layered to unravel and sort through when it’s happening.

Canterbury240px-River_Stour_in_Canterbury,_England_-_May_08I’m talking about two readings at two fabulous venues in eight hours, and a whirlwind journey in between. And the best bit, as always, is the people. It’s hard to write when I just want to take it in, let it flow over me again and find the places that stand out, that leap from the canvas of the weekend’s adventure, so I can savour them. London flows by me as I think of sitting in the bar at the Chaucer Travelodge in Canterbury for a late- night planning session with Kay Jaybee in which the words are flowing, inspiration is thick in the air. We ignore the telly whispering softly in the background as we talk plot, characters and sexy reflections, lost in the trance of story that is only yet the seed of something that really excites both of us. We plan and scheme until we’re too tired to continue and they we trundle off to bed.

La Boudoir logoThe next day over coffee with a view of the cathedral, we’re still talking story, even as mentally we prepare for what we’ll read at the La Boudoir Boutique grand opening, preparing for what we’ll wear in the sticky close heat that’s so unBritish. It’s always exciting before a reading, and to have been invited as VIPs is even more exciting. We wonder what to expect and we look forward to finding out.

We arrive in a flutter of excitement, luggage in tow, with Nymphomaniac Ness, who shared our Taxi just in time Kent- kdto watch the photo shoot for the calendar La Boudoir Boutique are doing, with a yummy glass of punch, with a punch in hand, we stand oohing and awing over the amazing lingerie, and I’m chuffed to find a copy of Body Temperature and Rising on the table in the beautiful boudoir that has been created for the photo set. It goes very well with sexy lingerie.

We are given the grand tour by the amazing Violet Hall, who looks lovely in lace, and who has fabulously pulled the event together and invited us to be a part of it all. We chat with Dale Bradford from ETO Magazine, who is there to help celebrate, we meet Jo Hemmings and Victor Ebuwa. We have a few minutes to chat with Cara Sutra and Digital Harlot before we are introduced to all the wonderful people from Adult Sex Toys who have made La Boudoir Boutique a reality, and my mind is a blur of names and faces I wish I had time to connect to a little better.
la boudoir 2DSC08099Kay reads one of my fave passages from The Perfect Submissive to an enthralled audience, and it’s hard to tell just how much of the perspiration on people’s brows is from the hot weather and how much is from Kay’s sexy reading. I read from The Pet Shop, breakfast with Tino, and we all sweat in solidarity as we think of new and sexy ways to eat breakfast.

 

Kay and I admire the changing room with the big sign above the door that reads confessions in stern black letters. The displays are gorgeous, the set-up has a warm and playful feeling to it, with a warehouse brimming with toys, books and other delectables sandwiched in between the office and the main shop. We are told that the striking pole dancing manikin was difficult to find, but on eBay, you can find anything. It’s interesting having her leaning over my shoulder with her long hair tickling my bear arm as I read. Everyone is excited and enthusiastic and friendly. Bubbly is flowing. There are nibbles. And there’s cake! The place is abuzz with the feel of new beginnings, and it’s very easy to get caught up in the playful spirit.

When the readings are finished, Kay and I are led back to the office where we are seated on a comfy leather sofa Kent- kd and signwhile Dale from ETO Magazine interviews us about the trials and tribs of erotica writers in a post 50 SoG world. There’s never enough time, and we share a few more moments with Cara Sutra and Digital Harlot, who is snapping photos with a professional eye. And then it’s time to don our travelling togs and catch the taxi and the fast train back to London for part two of our exciting day.

We share the train journey with Nymphomaniac Ness, saying our goodbyes at St Pancras before we tube it on over to Travelodge Two in Shorditch, a place with which we are quite familiar by now. We chat over a quick sandwich and then it’s time to change clothes touch up lippy, and we’re off to Sh! for the Poetry and Reading Slam we’ve been looking forward to.

Coming to Sh! Women’s Store for a reading event is always a bit like coming home. Renee and Layla are busy at poetry-slamthe till, but not too to give us hugs and a warm welcome. Jo comes up the stairs all aglow from preparing for the event and there are more hugs. Victoria Blisse is there with her fab OH, Kev, neither of whom I’ve seen since Smut by the Sea.  And Victoria has brought snickerdoodle cookies! God, I love that woman! I’m in heaven! Lexie Bay and Doug are there, Lexie in her sexy Lexie shoes, and Jane Fae was there and ready to read.  Jillian Boyd, Meg Phillip, Zak Jane Kier, Mr and Mrs Modesty Blaize are there. There were some amazing poet; Jay Walker, Frantic Ali, Lisa Davies. And it’s a special surprise to have Helen Orford Hula-Hoop Artist affectionately known as Hula-Hoop Girl in the audience, looking lovely and ready to perform later that night.

Wow!I hope I didn’t forget anyone!( I apologise to those for whom I have no links. If you’ll friend me on FaceBook or on send me a Tweet, I’ll add your link, and would LOVE to connect with you. You are all totally amazing!)

Sh! logologo2There’s always something magical about reading the words you’ve written out loud to other people, but there’s even something more magical about doing it with others who are reading their words as well, and there is such an amazing mix of performance poetry and fiction. There are moments of total hilarity and moments that are deeply moving. All of these moments happens in five-minute increments with the lovely Kay Jaybee womaning the stopwatch and the spanker for those who go over their allotted reading time. The pace is fast, the offerings are diverse and spirits are higher than the temperature in the cosy Sh! basement. Though in retrospect, I’m sure the temperature was exceptionally high because of the sizzling readings being offered.  But the lovely Sh! Girlz rose to the occasion keeping glasses topped off with fizz.

As is always the case, reading smut makes for ravenous readers and listeners. The fabulous Bluu Bar, may it rest xmasshop2in peace, has been resurrected as Bill’s Restaurant, and sixteen of us crossed the street from Sh! and descend on the place with lumber-jack appetites ready to eat, drink and chat the night away. The food is eclectic and good and the company is even better. In fact the company is so good that some of us end up over at the bar in the Holiday Inn so that we can keep talking.

Writers talk. They do that a lot when they’re together, and they can’t get enough. I suppose it’s probably because writing is such a solitary vocation, and it often feels like we’re the only ones out there. That’s changed with social media, but still, it’s that time together that inspires us, encourages us, and gets us ready to go back and write on.

It’s well after midnight when Kay and I head back to the Travelodge too exhausted to do much more than nod good night in front of our hotel room doors. It’s been a double whammy for us, and it’s been a good one! I take off my make-up, and brush my teeth while reflecting on being a VIP for the first time and the adrenaline rush of high-speed training from one venue to another to read my stories and how damned much I love my work. I figure it’ll be hours before I am able to slow my mind down enough to sleep. It isn’t. Even in the heat of the unusual warmth and even with the street noise coming in the window from Shorditch night life, I’m asleep almost instantly.

writing image 2In the morning, Kay and I say our good-byes at Liverpool Street Station as she heads off for breakfast with a friend. I meet Victoria and Kevin Blisse at the Polo Bar for a breakfast extraordinaire cheese and mushroom omelette and two, that’s right, count them, two iced coffees while we talk writing and PR and Smut by the Sea and Smut in the City. We linger long after the food is gone because talking never stops when writers are together, unless they all have laptops or notebooks and can spread out at the table and write. As we pay and leave, there’s excitement about going back home and returning to our writing routines. There always is. It’s the thing that binds us together, the thing that brought us together in the first place. We go our separate ways already looking forward to next writing fix and to the next time we come together to read, to talk, to celebrate what we love. I catch the bus to Waterloo Station thinking about the experiences of the day past now that I have time to unwind and hit the play-back button in my head.

I’ve been invited as a VIP to the grand opening of the wonderful La Boudoir Boutique – a VIP – me! And I’ve been invited to read in a reading slam at one of my favourite places with some of my favourite people, and with some people who are now new friends I look forward to getting to know better. I’m back home now, and as I write this, still tired from the wild two days and still trying to sort through the fabulous play-back in my head, all I can think right now is that I love my job. I really, really love my job!

 

 

 

In the Flesh has its Naughty Re-launch in London

DSC00031Wednesday night in London it might have been cool and raining outside, but inside the fabulous Alley Cat Bar, the atmosphere was hot and steamy. For four years Rachel Kramer Bussel’s In the Flesh was a popular monthly event on the New York street calendar and, to have the event re-launched in London by the fabulous Suzanne Portnoy, author of The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker: The Intimate Adventures of a Woman Who Can’t Say No. was like a blast from the very recent past in a very naughty, very fun way. The event was sponsored by Xcite Books.   

In the Flesh London hostess Suzanne Portnoy, who read at the New York event, said: ‘Although it held its final reading in 2010, In the Flesh is fondly remembered by anyone who has ever written erotica. Authors would share their stories to get the audience hot and bothered. It was a great place where established and new writers/bloggers of erotica could share their work in a relaxed, convivial atmosphere. Many UK based authors performed there and now we are bringing it back to the heart of London, where we hope it will take on a new lease of life.’ And it certainly seems to have done just that.

In the Flesh New York had a reputation for being one of America’s rudest reading events. Plus it had cupcakes! And down the stairs in the basement that is the Alley Cat, there was a wonderful incongruity in the dark, mirrored blues bar with its wall-décor of vinyl records and gigantic version of Barbarella playing against the back wall of the stage behind the drums and the cheerful, brightly-coloured plates of cupcakes set on each table. Rachel might not have been there, but her inspiration certainly was!

The venue itself has quite an amazing history. The Alley Cat is located in the basement of what was once the famous Regent Sound Studios on Denmark Street. Denmark Street has the honour of being the place where the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Elton John and David Bowie recorded songs, but it’s also where serial murderer Denis Nilson worked in the Job Centre on the corner.

I felt a bit like I was making history, being among the readers for the first In the Flesh event in London. And reading with such fab names as Liz Coldwell and Jilly Boyd with Suzanne Portnoy hosting us was a real honour. Also, for me DSC00037it was an even more special occasion for several reasons. First of all, Raymond’s sister, Cindy, brother-in-law Pat, and niece Juanita are all visiting from the States, and they came along to party with us — Juanita having just gotten off the plane from Miami. Second, my multi-talented cohort, Moorita Encantada, closed out the evening with a wonderfully wicked musical scene from our play, The Eye of the Beholder. As always, Moorita was stunning.

We arrived early to find Suzanne already there sorting out the bartenders with her wonderfully naughty blues playlist for the guest to listen to until the readings started. The house-sized Barbarella was then replaced with the sassy In the Flesh London logo just as Moorita with her fab OH, Daniel, showed up to get her sound system set up and make sure she had time to get into her Medusa costume.

The fabulous Liz Coldwell started the evening with a very hot m/m boy meets werewolf story that had everyone squirming in their seats. I followed on with one of my favourite scenes from The Pet Shop, breakfast with Tino, and Jilly Boyd had us all seriously craving fruit … er that should be fruit vendors … in the final reading of the day.

Then after a nice break for much-needed liquid refreshment to cool everyone down and more cupcake chomping for energy, Moorita Encantada took the stage as Medusa, the lead role from our burlesque play, The Eye of The Beholder. As always, Moorita did us both proud.

After the first In the Flesh London was officially over, there was time for more drinks and planning and scheming the next one. As was the tradition of the original, In the Flesh London will happen regularly last Wednesday night of every month in the Alley Cat from 6:30 to 8:00. All erotica writers and bloggers who are interested in reading should contact Alison at Xcite. Alison@accentpress.co.uk