Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Check and Mate

UPDATE, Thursday afternoon: The Swing! blog tour will continue for one additional day, with a May 1 tour stop at the blog of Claudia Moss.

Last week saw the release of Jolie du Pre's Swing!—in which I'm proud to say I can be found partying with writers such as Neve Black, Amanda Earl, Emerald, Jolene Hui , D. L. King, Ashley Lister, Alicia Night Orchid, Rick R. Reed, Donna George Storey, and Sage Vivant!

The Swing! tour has been swinging from blog to blog all month, and it's winding up here with yours truly. Read on for an interview and an excerpt ... and use the link above to catch up with other stops on the tour!

***

JOLIE: Why do you write erotica and what do you love best about it?

JEREMY: I’m strongly drawn to narrative as a means of giving expression to my erotic imagination. By getting cozy with my internal literary apparatus, I strive to evoke the sorts of sexual connections that I find beautiful and compelling to contemplate. This is a very fulfilling form of creative activity for me. And I love having the opportunity to share the delicate thrills of erotic prose with the readers who find their way to my work and respond to it.

JOLIE: Tell us about your story in Swing! Adventures in Swinging by Today's Top Erotica Writers and please feel free to give us an excerpt.

JEREMY: My Swing! story, “Check and Mate,” is about a planned evening of chess and swinging arranged between two couples. Though the story centers on a planned event, I wanted to explore a texture of spontaneity, discovery, and unpredictability as the four characters allow this special evening to unfold. What will be the personality of the chemistry that develops? In what directions, specifically, will the erotic currents flow? Here’s a taste of what Gail, my protagonist, experiences, sitting with her friend Clement to watch their spouses play chess:


No two chess games, Gail reflected, were ever the same. What had Livia said? It is as rich with ambiguity and possibility as human endeavor. Gail had teased her for sounding pretentious, but the observation returned now, with more weight. Sitting here in a room with the familiar man she fucked every night, and a half-strange man she was scheduled to fuck tonight ... and an increasingly alluring woman who ... well, Gail felt as if she were joyfully afloat on a sea of ambiguity. And possibility. And, yeah, vodka.

She sucked on her olive.

“Fuck!” Dawson said, softening the expletive with laughter. He was a gracious loser, even a jolly one.

Livia reached across the board and touched his hand. “Don’t despair. I haven’t finished you off yet.”

“Ha—yet is right. I think we both know where this game is headed. Anyway, I’m not despairing. I’m admiring.”

“Thank you,” said Livia.

Daw took a swig of his drink. “You’re a top-notch player. Too pro for these ’burbs.”

“Thank you again, Dawson.”

“And, in a little while, I’m going to lick your pussy till you scream.”

“Thank you, um ... in advance?”

“I love having friends over,” Clement said to Gail.

She petted his chest, tentatively but purposefully. “You’re a good host.”

He had a clean, minty kiss. Gail remembered hearing him brush his teeth after they’d eaten.

“You’re a good guest,” Clement answered, mouth to mouth.

JOLIE: Name some other books where we can find your work.

JEREMY: Some current releases are Oysters & Chocolate (edited by Jordan LaRousse and Samantha Sade), Playing with Fire (edited by Alison Tyler), and The Mile High Club (edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel). More titles can be found yonder on the salad bar. I mean sidebar.

JOLIE: What are you working on now?

JEREMY: I’m gearing up for the next batch of short-story projects, while also getting my website ready to launch. I’m also trying to do some advance planning with regard to promoting my forthcoming novel.

JOLIE: If you could offer one piece of advice to a new author, what would it be?

JEREMY: Be aware of the wealth of options at your disposal regarding vocabulary, sentence structure, imagery, etc. Exploit this decision-making aspect of the writing process, so that you're really crafting your story, making deliberate choices so as to utilize the details that you think will work best.
***
Thanks, Jolie!!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Bascombe has warned her of his eccentricity in the studio.

That's the first sentence of "Warming the Bench," a brief erotic adventure of mine that hinges on a four-handed piano session. It's newly published at Oysters & Chocolate Erotic, where you can access it for free! (You don't even have to know how to read music.)

Thanks, O&C!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Looking to the rear, looking to the fore

Actually, my rear is conspicuously absent in this photo taken of my In the Flesh: L.A. reading earlier this month. That's because this was a "Phone Sex" reading. I love the way host and photographer Stan Kent has captured the drama of my ass's absence, both in this picture and in his write-up: "With microphone hovering phallic-like over my cellphone ..." To read Stan's full account of the evening and view the whole batch of photos, visit the ITF:L.A. blog.

Looking ahead ... the blog tour celebrating the release of Swing! has one more swinging week to go! I'll be bringing up the rear (yes, we're back where we started) this Thursday, April 30. My interview and excerpt will be posted right here at Socks/Fedora central.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Swing! has Swung!


It's release day for Jolie du Pre's Swing! anthology! Beginning today, this e-book will be available in a swingin' assortment of formats from Logical-Lust.

All our invited to join us for a release party at the Logical-Lust Yahoo group. Drop by anytime today, April 24, from around midday to midnight (U.S. Central Time).

And ... the Swing! blog tour continues all month. Taking her turn on the swings today is Neve Black!
I'm very proud to be part of this jingling key ring!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I'll showcase mine if you'll showcase yours


From May 1 through May 3, the Northwest will be home to the seventh Seattle Erotic Art Festival. This year, for the first time, the program includes a literary art showcase—a juried show for erotic short stories and poetry. And I'm thrilled to announce that a piece of mine was among the ten stories selected for the showcase! And—woohoo!—my friend Jolene Hui's work has been chosen, too.

The SEAF is a project of the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture. This year's event—featuring art, literature, and performances (including musical duo the Wet Spots)—will take place at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. For tickets and much more info, visit the SEAF website.

And a big shout-out to the beneficent Dr. Dick (NSFW), who turned me on to this opportunity!

Monday, April 20, 2009

A foursome of days ...

... until the release of Swing! (The book comes out this Friday—I don't use Sommer's patented counting system, which alas can break one's computer.) And there will be a release party on Friday at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/logical-lust. (The party, of course, is open, haha.)

Meanwhile, the Swing! blog tour continues apace, and I'm heading over to Jolene Hui's place right now to make the scene!

And here's a Swing! book trailer, starring author/actress/model Tara Tainton! [NSFW on that link; and extended-close-up-of-lovely-bottom-in-skimpy-lingerie alert re. the trailer, Mr. DeMille.]


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

May I?

May I take a moment to mention some May events? May I?

In conjunction with the May release of Oysters & Chocolate: Erotic Stories of Every Flavor, I'll be participating in some live readings here in the northeastern U.S.! I'll be reading from "Human," my contribution to the book, on these dates at these places:

Tuesday, May 19: The Erotic Literary Salon, Philadelphia

Thursday, May 21: In the Flesh, New York

Sunday, May 31: Madame X, New York

O&C 's Aimee Herman (with whom I'm doing the 5/31 event) will also be hosting a writing workshop at New York's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on May 22.

I'll post more specifics on these events—and possibly an additional event—when we get a little closer.
Meanwhile, in the Rockies ...
Wednesday, April 29: O&C's Jordan and Samantha on Denver 106.7 KBPI's Uncle Nasty Show
Tuesday, May 5: Jordan and Samantha book signing at Boulder Book Store
Saturday, May 16: Oysters & Chocolate Book Release Party at the b.side Lounge, Boulder (advance tickets recommended)
For a detailed event schedule, go here. Wish I could make it out to Colorado!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Erotica censorship at Amazon—and worse

Check out these posts about the outrageous steps Amazon has taken with regard to their search and ranking features.

Instead of just giving users a "safe search" option or whatever, Amazon has categorically excluded whatever it subjectively considers to be "adult" materials from searches and charts—including charts specific to "adult" materials.

This is bad enough for us erotica writers and readers. But even worse is the disgusting bigotry evidenced by Amazon's evident decision to include all "gay and lesbian" materials—i.e., anything from sexually non-explicit fiction to educational books about gay subculture—as part of what shall not be seen in searches and charts.

Are we ready to boycott yet?

***
P.S. I admit that I'm going out on a limb by using the word censorship—and I've often been one to shake my head at what I've perceived as unwarranted uses of that word—but, for what it's worth, here's my reasoning:

I feel that when corporations become big enough that they largely dominate the public's access to information, discourse, and expression—in the form of books, news, etc.—then they are in a position where their decisions can amount to a sort of de facto censorship, in a way that would not be the case for a smaller company. If a mom & pop bookstore declined to carry an Al Franken book, for example, because the owners didn't like Senator Franken's political views, then I wouldn't call that censorship. Whereas if Amazon, B&N, and/or Borders made the same decision, I think I would. With more power comes more responsibility.

Granted, the issue here is not one of refusing to sell something, but of making it more difficult to find. Nevertheless, I think that for the giant Amazon to exile certain books from searchable databases based on their content is, in effect, a form of censorship. But I can also understand the point of view, as so intelligently expressed by Rachel, that this is an inappropriate use of the term.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Après Tax

I had a ton of fun as the "Phone Sex" guest at last night's tax-themed In the Flesh: L.A.!

Piping a remote reader into the lap of a live event may sound like a scary proposition, but [literal!] rocket scientist Stan Kent has it all figured out. And his system is a two-way street: the friendly vibes in the room came through loud and clear to me. (I'm referring to the warmth of the people assembled there at Hustler Hollywood, not to the bonhomous sex toys.)

First, I got to do a sound check. I love sound checks not only because of the technical advantage they bring, but also because it's an excuse for me to improvise tomfoolery (not that I really need an excuse). Immediately after the sound check, I actually jotted down, to the best of my recollection, what had come out of my mouth when I was prompted to "just keep talking." It went something like this:

Well, I'm here in my fedora and paisley dressing gown, and I'm extemporizing. I was intemporizing earlier, but the weather changed, so now I'm outside, extemporizing. And, of course, reading erotica, there will be moments when my voice gets soft and breathy, like this ... but then, when the dialogue becomes more dramatic, my voice may go into a slightly higher register, with more volume! But if I'm doing the voice of a female character, I may go slightly higher into the treble range ...
That, apparently, was quite enough, and the sound check was declared complete.

When the call came through indicating that it was time for me to read my work, Stan began by asking what I was now wearing.

JE: Well, I took off the fedora and paisley dressing gown, and changed into the paisley dressing gown and the fedora.

SK: We can only imagine.

JE: That's good, because I'm having a little trouble.

[Or something like that.]

And then I read my story, "It Takes W-2 to Tango." Here's a small excerpt:

“Jessica. Listen to me. Every year, you fuck up my W-2. And every year, I come here so we can go over that. And every year, you ask me to come around to your side of the desk. And every year, you lean your head back against my chest. And I put a hand on your shoulder. And you lean farther back, and I stroke your breasts through your shirt and nibble the base of your neck ...”

Jessica licked her lips.

Galen proceeded. “And eventually you move my hand down to your skirt, and I work my way up your thighs to your pussy. And so on.”

“Mmm ... yeah,” she moaned. “So what’s the problem?”

“It’s a fine routine, Jessica—an excellent piece of business, as they say in vaudeville. But—damn it—I feel like I’m in a rut.”

She glanced at his crotch and smirked. “Not yet, you aren’t. But I know where to find one.”

Thank you Stan, Jolene, Kathleen, and all who sat still (or squirming) to listen to me!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Call me a tax-y!

A reminder to all the sexy Angelenos out there in Hollywoodland that tonight (Wednesday, April 8) is my piped-in voice's guest appearance at In the Flesh: L.A.! The event takes place at 8:00 p.m. PDT at Hustler Hollywood, 8920 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 860-9009.

In keeping with the evening's "Taxing Sex"/"Sex and Taxes" theme, I'll be reading a brand new story of mine called "It Takes W-2 to Tango." : )

Joining my disembodied voice will be the in-person incarnations of Tripp Mills, Kate Satineau, Erotica Revealed reviewer Kathleen Bradean, and of course hosts Stan Kent and Jolene Hui! For more info, including full bios, go here.

And if you see my disembodied voice tonight, say hi for me!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Monday Memo

Just some news and reminders ...

The news is that Rachel Kramer Bussel is giving away a copy of The Mile High Club to one lucky commenter on the Mile High Club blog! To enter, read her post, then write a comment telling her what celebrity you'd most like to have join you in the mile high club. Deadline is April 30. [Special note to those outside the U.S.: No location restrictions on this giveaway!]

Don't forget that the Swing! blog tour is in progress all month. Check the schedule here.

And this Wednesday night is my "Phone Sex" appearance at In the Flesh: L.A.! Details here.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Free taste!

I'm delighted to point you once again to Justus Roux's free-access erotica site, where my story "Cavanaugh's Ridge" is featured this month. Thanks, Justus!

"Cavanaugh's Ridge" gives you a taste of the Tasting Her anthology, edited by the illustrious Rachel Kramer Bussel. So if you want to drink deeper from that font (or, if you prefer, this font), get your tongue—I mean, your hands—on that book! To read the roster of awesome authors with whom I have the honor of sharing the table of contents, go (as it were) down there.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Batter up!

That's my way of saying that the Swing! (get it? swing ... batter ... batter ... swing?) blog tour begins today! First up at bat (it may be a hokey metaphor, but coach taught me to follow through) is the anthology's illustrious editor, Jolie du Pre. Read her interview here, and check out the updated tour schedule here.

Swing! Adventures in Swinging by Today’s Top Erotica Writers will be released on April 24 by e-book publisher Logical-Lust Publications. For complete lineup and author bios, go here.