Rachel Kramer Bussel

Erotica fans have likely heard of Rachel Kramer Bussel and if they haven’t they need to get on the ball! Bussel’s Cleis Press collections have been providing me with one-handed reading for years and this is another fine example of erotica at it’s best. Orgasmic features 25 stories that focus on the big O from a woman’s perspective and if that’s not reason to read it ladies, I’m not sure what will convince you.

One thing I love about this collection is that the stories cover a number of fantasies and kinks because the theme is pretty general. If hopping on one foot while singing the Journey’s greatest hits gets me off, there’s no reason I couldn’t have submitted a story about that for consideration! While RKB has better taste than to ever include talentless hacks like me, this leads to an arousing collection that will introduce you to new ways of getting off and that’s never a bad thing.

Without a doubt, my favorite story was Lana Fox’s Frosting First. I thought it was going to be a silly story about a couple getting it on while baking which is ok because I love food, but it’s so much more. I loved the way she shares our heroine’s deepest thoughts and desires throughout whether she’s thinking about being spanked with a spatula or her father. I also loved the voyeuristic twist at the end, even if things didn’t end like I assumed they would.

Bussel’s Belted is another that you don’t want to miss. This story has me wondering where my copy of her previous compilation Spanked is because she surely has a eye for this kink!

While not every story is a hit (there was one that seemed like a bad parody of erotica to me) the nice thing about collections like this is that if you hate a story you’re only out 5 minutes of your life! It sucks to feel disappointed after dedicating a chunk of time to something and I’d hate for anyone to feel what I did after finishing Henry James’ The Bostonians this summer. Really, Mr. James?!

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It’s been a while since I’ve sat down with an erotica collection, so when I received Please, Ma’am in the mail I decided to make some time for myself and dig in! This Cleis Press book was edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and I always love the results when this lovely lady is involved. I’m always pleased with the wide variety of taboo subjects she manages to work into one sexy book!

This book contains eighteen stories of male submission including D.L King, Graydancer and Bussel herself. Things start off excellently in Teresa Noelle Roberts’ I Live to Serve. This was my first time reading about anyone wearing a chastity device and I have to say it was surprisingly hot. The two main characters have a really loving D/s relationship and we get to see it played out over a dinner party as the sub serves his lady and her colleagues.

I also loved Sommer Marsden’s Thrift Store Whore for it’s bratty punk feel. After picking out the ugliest dresses she can find, Gia leads Bean back to the dressing room for a little gender play and a lot of XXX action. The fact that everyone knows what’s going on only makes it hotter for them. This story really stood out because it had a different feel that a lot of the others. A lot of male submission pieces tend to feature men who dress in suits and attend power lunches, so it was nice to hear about the kind of guy I would have run around with in my early twenties.

While I’ve only talked about a couple of stories, Please Ma’am is packed full of tales that will have your heart and mind racing. I also suggest imagining the gorgeous leather clad lady from the cover in story after story. Boy would I love to run into her in a dark alley!

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Summertime is all about cashing out on your stored up vacation days and hitting the road in search of sun, fun and perfect weather. And what better to get you ready for your trip than “Do Not Disturb,” Rachel Kramer Bussel’s anthology of hotel sex stories. There is just something about a freshly made hotel room that begs to have its sheets tossed on the floor in a fit of passion and its sign hung on the doorknob.

Whether it’s the escape from real life or just the excitement of getting busy in a completely new and different place, hotel sex really is the best. Sure it means you get to take a shower together then toss your wet towels on the floor with abandon, but more so, it means you get to really work those imagination muscles and be whoever you want to be without having the fantasy wrecked by that pile of dirty laundry in the corner, or that bathroom that really needs to be cleaned. These twenty stories of getting hot away from home bring the thrill of those crisply made beds and mini shampoo bottles to your biggest sex organ (your brain, of course) and will easily have you thinking of taking planes, trains and automobiles just to get away and get it on. Read the rest of this entry »

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Knowing that editor Rachel Kramer Bussel has a thing for spanking, I was really excited about this book when I got my copy in the mail. I love being transported to a sexual realm that I’m unfamiliar with through erotica, and just knew she’d be the perfect guide.

In the 22 stories of Spanked, the reader is welcomed into a world where bad girls are bent over knees and punished, men revel as they find themselves paddled extensively and bare asses are beat red. I was pleased to see a number of the usual suspects had contributed including Alison Tyler, Simon Sheppard and Bussel herself.

Of course, I was introduced to a couple of writers I don’t recall reading before, including Rick Roberts. His opening piece Spanking You was the perfect way to draw readers into the anthology. It’s a bit of an intro to spanking for newbies like me, told through a relationship the narrator is looking back on. Whether he’s explaining his personal technique or how a firm smack sends waves through a woman’s body, it’s erotic and enlightening!

I can’t speak for spanking enthusiasts, but I really enjoyed this collection. I felt like the editor took me by the hand and gently guided me into her world and by the end I felt right at home.

Add this excellent book to your collection!

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It snowed all day yesterday and today getting to work today was gross.  How we started off the week at 50 degrees and devolved into this is beyond me.  I could go on and on about my loathing for the winter months, but really, we’d both want to punch me a few minutes in.  I started talking about the nasty weather because it’s Wednesday, and even though it’s totally blah outside, it is still midweek!  Somehow snow doesn’t seem as bad when you don’t have to get out of bed on Saturday morning – and we are getting closer to that by the second!  For those of you chillin’ out with a snowday, I hope you lucky ducks are taking full advantage of Humpday and shagging your socks off!

For the rest of us, here is a little Link Love to get us through this freezing week.  Ok, fine, even you snowbound folks can get curled up in your warmest blankets and join in the fun too.  See, I’m no Grinch.

Let’s get to it!

- Bren Ryder is starting with the (wo)man in the mirror. (I’m sorry, I couldn’t pass up the M.J. shout out.)

- As Bren talks about going solo on screen, these people are swearing it off, and wearing t-shirts that state as much.  I’m not anti-religion or anything, but any group that isn’t down with masturbation isn’t the one for me.  Though I do kinda want one of these shirts… is that wrong?  (via Feministing)

- Congratuations to Iceland on their new Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir!  Not only is Sigurdardottir the country’s first female Prime Minister, she is also the first openly gay head of state in the world!  Sure there have been other leaders that turned out to be homos, but none that came into the gig saying ‘yeah, I’m gay, big deal.’  Plus she’s married to a lady (gay marriage has been legal there since 1996).  Way to go Iceland!  (via Bust)

Read the rest of this entry »

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That’s right! Time Out New York’s annual sex issue is out and chock full of fun! My favorite piece is the 2008 Sex Poll because I like numbers and meaningless statistics!

My favorite question was the last:

Gay gals, if you could pick a celebrity threesome to take part in, which couple would you choose?
a Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres
b Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson
c Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels
d Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter

My pick would have to be de Rossi and Degeneres – mostly because it would thrill the hell out of my mother, who would probably go gay for Ellen too. The most amazing part is that not a single person voted for Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter. I always thought that lesbians totally dug crazy chicks, but I guess that’s just me.

There’s a lot more to read including a piece that discusses how often we’re really getting laid and a piece on kink from Rachel Kramer Bussel.

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I was a little slow the the draw last week (I was sick, cut a girl some slack) and totally missed that Rachel Kramer Bussel put out a call for Sarah Palin erotica! 

From the erotica editor/cupcake queen’s tumblr:

Inspired by my recent Erotica 101 workshop, where I asked attendees to write erotica about a “prominent political figure” and 4 out of 5 picked Sarah Palin, I’m issuing a call for Sarah Palin erotica. Anything goes as long as all characters are over 18, no bestiality or incest (usually erotica rules) and somewhere, somehow, Sarah Palin is in the story.

No pay, but you will get credit and a link; I’m asking for the right to post your story on a soon-to-launch website. Send stories as double-spaced Word documents or in the body of an email, with a title and byline, to rachelravenous@gmail.com

Stories should be 1,000-5,000 words. Email above address if you have any questions. Looking to get stories in by this Sunday, September 28th, but later stories welcome. Thanks!

(via daily bedpost)

I know RKB wanted them by yesterday, but if you hurry up and typey type type type, I’m sure she’d be just as pleased to get it in a few days!

I’ll be the first to say that the idea of doing Sarah Palin makes me throw up in my mouth a little, but I am kinda tempted to write up a story about Sarah Palin and a Russian spy… really showcase her foriegn affairs experience in detail!

 xoxo
-J.D. Bauchery

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Cupcakes are totally awesome. This past weekend my mom made key lime cupcakes to take to dinner with my girlfriend’s parents and they were a huge hit. We had a great time and now I know why. It turns out that lesbians and cupcakes go together like white people and wonder bread!

According to an article in the Washington Blade, baking cupcakes is the new softball and I for one am all for it. I’m not a big cupcake eater, but my work girlfriend is so I am all about them. In fact, this known lesbian is so into them that she has a cupcake tattoo:

And for those of you who are worried that eating cupcakes will turn you into a lesbian… they probably will. Of course, that’s just my opinion. Rachel Kramer Bussel, cupcake expert and queen of erotica disagrees stating that “nothing specifically queer about cupcakes.”

While I’m a little astounded that there is an article in print crediting cupcakes with domesticating lesbians, i’m totally glad it exists. Hopefully this will spread the word that lesbians aren’t cupcake cursing man haters.

Read it now!

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Reccently it’s been reported that French First Lady Carla Bruni has slept with 15 people.  This, of course, triggered another session of the great slut debate – otherwise known as ye ole question “how many partners is too many partners?”  Some people are totally astonished with Bruni’s staggeringly high 15, while others are blown away by her paltry 15.  It’s really a lose lose conversation.  My big inquiry is why do other people feel they need to judge others personal decisions and comment on them?  And why is one number of sexual partners better or worse than another?  I know we are all guilty of these judgements from time to time, but seriously, can we really pinpoint extactly what actions make one woman healthy and sexually active and another woman a promiscucous slut?  And what’s so wrong with being “slutty?”

See what sex advice/cupcake goddess Rachel Krammer Bussel has to say about the debacle here.  Definitely check it out.

Then go grab a pastry, because once I found out about the cupcake side of RKB, I can’t seem to get it out of my head.  Mmmmm. Icing.

xoxo
-J.D. Bauchery

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Before all of the controversy surrounding Zane’s first lesbian collection, Purple Panties, I never had a chance to read her work. I’m sure most of you have heard of Zane – her books are New York Times bestsellers and her fans are known for their cult-like devotion. Because of this, her titles get a lot of promotion whenever they are released but things were different for Purple Panties. Zane was not happy about it because the only difference she could see was that this book focused on lesbian sexuality – so she called everyone out on their bullshit. When I saw that, I decided this was a woman worth supporting!

Now on to the good stuff! Purple Panties, regardless of the controversy, is just good, sexy erotica. I was thrilled to read some great stories from authors that were new to me, like Anna Black’s Bread and Roses. This sexy story about a union organizer who seduces a hotel worker’s daughter stands out because it was more than just a sexy story.

I also enjoyed Joy Bringas’ contribution, Miss Julidene’s Sexy Items. There’s no heavy plot, just a hot, fun story of one woman’s marketing strategy in her sex toy store. Let me tell you, product placement is key in moving merchandise!

Besides being introduced to several author’s I hadn’t read before, I was also thrilled to see pieces by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Alison Tyler, and, of course, Zane herself! As always, I wasn’t disappointed.

To be honest, I didn’t really expect this anthology to offer any great insight into the lesbian experience – but it did. I can begin to understand the difference between the black and white lesbian experience from conversations with friends, but some of the pieces made me think about the different challenges women of color may face. Of course, the stories in this collection move beyond race for the most part and are just plain hot – but it did make me realize that this is the only erotica book I own that doesn’t have white people on the cover.

This is a good, diverse collection that makes me look forward to the second volume that’s due out later this year!

Add this excellent book to your collection!

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