Getting Shameless with Donna

If you're interested in learning as much as possible about how to successfully promote your work as an erotica writer ... and you haven't been following my friend Donna George Storey's "Shameless Self-Promotion" column at the Erotica Readers & Writers Association site ... then all I can say is "shame on you!" ; )

Seriously, each month Donna has been distilling, detailing, and discussing a different aspect of the many-faceted and sometimes mysterious topic of promoting. This column became an essential tool in my box (ahem) pretty much as soon as DGS and ERWA launched it.

And just to show that I can walk the walk when it comes to shameless self-promoting (as if you had any doubt) ... allow me to direct you to a new entry Donna has authored for the ERWA blog (where she posts materials that complement the SSP column). In this post, Donna discusses Internet-based promoting with an author named Jeremy Edwards.

Thanks, Donna!

In which our hero has sex with a giant orchid

The July issue of Scarlet, which includes my story "Legs of the Orchid," is now available at a florist—er, I mean newsagent—near you!*

*If you live near a (UK) newsagent, that is.

Cinnamatic

Today's Spicy Summer Sunday is at Gina Marie's, where cinnamon is not just for buns anymore. See you there!

Harry Goes Electro-Violet

First there was Alison Tyler's request that we send her something violet. Well, as a big fan both of AT and of purple hues, I didn't need to be asked twice. Thus my revival of a vintage poster from the heyday of the San Francisco Sound.

And then Alison invited us to send her something violet. My contribution to AT's Purple Prose Parade is called "Harry Goes Electro-Violet," and you can read it now at the H is for Harlot blog.

Great big purple thanks to Alison! And to 1966. And to my Jewish American roots, which inspired me to coin a new Yiddish compound word for one of my favorite things.

Sommer Marsden is a wonderful cumin being!

Visit her Spicy Summer Blog Tour installment, and you may just get some wine squirted into your mouth!

Ménage à Mammoth!

The relationships were compartmentalized, weren’t they, thought Dina. Like the pockets of her favorite pair of jeans ... Keys, rigid and ready, always in the right pocket. Soft, fresh tissues, always in the left.

I'm thrilled to announce that my bisexual erotica piece "Ménage à Denim" has been selected for the next volume in Maxim Jakubowski's Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica series!

EllaRegina, Shanna Germain, Kristina Lloyd [this just in!], Craig J. Sorensen, and Donna George Storey will also be in MBBNE #9 ... and, I know, many other writers I love and admire who haven't piped up about it yet (or whose announcements I accidentally missed).

The Mammoth comes out at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, you can find me in MBBNE #7 with "Mindy's Pheromones" and MBBNE #8 with "Slightly Ajar."

Thank you, Maxim!!

From Guacs to Fedora

Um, it's a long story. Let's just say that Neve throws a good party.

Neve's Secret Ingredient

What sexy seasoning is Neve Black sprinkling into our spicy summer Sunday? Cilantro, silly! See you at Casa NB!

Moisture ... and Satisfaction

Sex & Satisfaction 2, the latest anthology compiled by sizzling-story specialist Miranda Forbes, is now poised for release! (Ahem.)

Among the twenty scenarios of sexy satisfaction are tales by Elizabeth Cage, Carmel Lockyer, Sommer Marsden, and Donna George Storey!

And my contribution, “Moistened by Mercer,” is currently featured at the Xcite Books website as a free download! Here's a snippet to moisten your appetite:

“Sure, Merce, let’s race.” She giggled again. “What does the victor get?”

“Well—haha—are sexual favors off limits?” This was more my style than an unanticipated hoisting of a friend onto the top of a photocopier: easing into it, within the context of some lighthearted kidding around.

“You’re a dirty old man, Mercer.”

“Check,” I said. “Isn’t everyone?”

“No,” she reasoned crisply. “I, for example, am not a man.”

Looking over her scrumptious anatomy, I acknowledged to myself that she had an excellent point. “And not dirty?” I asked—teasing, because I was pretty damn sure she was even dirtier
than I was.

“I didn’t say that.”

Thanks, Xcite!

The Girl Who Was Birthday

One of the first things Alison Tyler did, when I'd only recently made her acquaintance, was give me a birthday present. You see, she had blogged that if one was having a birthday in the coming month (which I was), and one wrote in and told her so, then one had a chance of getting a free copy of The Happy Birthday Book of Erotica. I'd had my eye on that anthology already ... and though I don't believe in Destiny, I do believe in saying "yes, please!" to free primo smut.

And that's the kind of person Alison Tyler is: the kind of person who gives birthday presents to random strangers and randy acquaintances.

But with Alison, you don't stay a stranger or acquaintance for long. As a supremely accomplished and internationally legendary writer/editor, Alison has a massive vocabulary; but judging by the warm and wonderful way she treats others, she evidently keeps coming back to the word friend. Is she your editor? Then she's your friend. Do you visit her blog? She's your friend. Do you write or make or do things that interest and delight her, when she finds them on your own blog or website? Alison is your friend. You lucky bastard.

And she's the kind of friend who makes you feel that any day—or every day—is your birthday. She doesn't need a calendar to celebrate you: one day you just wake up to see that she's publicly praised you or playfully poked you or picturesquely pointed to you.

Alison Tyler is a walking wellspring of bonus birthdays.

There's a 1 in 30 chance that today is Alison's birthday—her literal, official, says-so-on-her-birth-certificate day of birth. We've arbitrarily chosen today for her surprise party ... because what's a little arbitrariness? Between friends.


Happy Birthday, Alison "Birthday Girl" Tyler!

Spicy Sunday at Erobintica's!

See you there, chillin' chili children*!

*I don't mean that literally, natch—18+ only.

And now for "Something [completely] Different"

[Yes, my story title "Something Different" probably feels incomplete to those of you who need that "completely" to feel a sense of completion. : )]

This notwithstanding, I'm very excited to announce that "Something Different" is now available for sale as an audio download at A Woman's Goodnight! The story, an audio exclusive, costs $2.95 U.S. And if you visit the site, you can hear a free sample of my words in the mouth of a smooth-talking charmer (not me—they have a sexy audio actor guy doing it).

Forum Has My Number

If you're near a UK newsagent and in the mood for some sidewalk cell phone seduction, then pick up the new issue of Forum, which includes my story "Calling Plan." Once you buy the mag, the minutes are free!

Thanks, Forum UK!

X Marks the Spot

The Eastern Seabord Oysters & Chocolate readings came to a comfy, couch-y conclusion Sunday night at Madame X lounge in New York, where Aimee Herman and I each read our pieces from the new O&C book, along with selections from our other work. In addition to being only "Human," I climbed "Cavanaugh's Ridge" and had my ass "Warming the Bench."

It was a double-dip delight to experience Aimee's live erotic brilliance a second time! And the friendly-faced audience included the awesome EllaRegina, my delicious partner-in-everything Helia Brookes, and visiting VIP erotica editor Maxim Jakubowski, who very kindly made time in his NY schedule in order to be there. Thanks to all of them, and the rest of the cozy-couch crowd, for their support! And thanks to Aimee, Oysters, and Madame for making this wonderful event happen!

Me.