Adult eBook Shop

Here's some great news for all my fans - both of them - living in the UK: the great folks at the British-based Adult eBook Shop has a page featuring a lot of my new books, including my very recently released Rude Mechanicals collection!

RUDE MECHANICALS Is Out!

I SO love this new world of publishing! Remember how I mentioned that Rude Mechanicals, my new erotica collection from Renaissance E Books, was going to be published soon? Well, 'soon' is right now! Below is the description, and here is the link to buy it.

Bondage, science fiction, fetishism, real realities and virtual realities collide in this unique collection by one of the most popular authors of erotica - ever!

"M. Christian's stories squat at the intersection of Primal Urges Avenue and Hi-Tech Parkway ... feral-eyed, half-naked ... Truly an author for our post-everything 21st century."
- Paul Di Filippo, author of the Steampunk Trilogy.

Two unforgettable novellas highlight Rude Mechanicals: In "Hot Definition," the story of a future just around our corner, Neko experiences the ultimate domination from the woman who is her master; and in "Speaking Parts," the second novella, two lovers, one with a camera-shutter eye, come together in a scorching, obsessive, edgy relationship that will take them both to the limits of sexuality and beyond. Plus four provocative, physically explicit short stories of sex and technosex.

"M. Christian writes like a dream!"
- Paula Guran, DarkEcho

Ashley Lister Likes Licks & Promises

This is very great: Ashley Lister's review of Licks & Promises, from the always-great Erotica Readers & Writers site:

It’s not an understatement to say that M Christian has a well-deserved reputation for excellence. He is the author of more than 300 short stories, the editor of 20 anthologies, four collections of his own short fiction and the author of four (or five) novels. (There is, as yet, no official confirmation as to whether he is the M Christian behind ME2). M Christian’s Confessions of a Literary Streetwalker column is one of the most popular parts of ERWA and this is probably because he speaks with authority about erotica as an author who knows his craft.

However, for anyone needing proof that Christian knows what he’s talking about, they need look no further than Licks & Promises. Licks & Promises is a collection of Christian’s scintillating erotic stories, published by Phaze books, and the contents will not leave the reader dissatisfied.

Sage Vivant provides an Introduction to this collection, relating her appreciation of Christian’s work and acknowledging the breadth of his skill. As Vivant explains:

Christian knows that sex is not purely about bodies, desire, and sex toys. He goes deeper, much deeper, dispensing with the puerile, predictable situations so common in erotic literature these days. He entreats his readers not to settle for the obvious clichés and the usual storylines where two (or more) people end up with their clothes off. Instead, he forces readers to consider the behaviors and thought processes that got those people naked in the first place — because that’s what the story is really about. The trembling, sweating, engorged body parts are just a bonus.

My favourite story in this collection comes early in the book. ‘Dead Letter’ is a tale about an author, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. Filled with humour, irony and a richness of character, ‘Dead Letter’ introduces us to the story’s protagonist/writer through the eyes of his bored-but-besotted wife. The complexity of their relationship is vividly relayed, without hampering the pace of the story. The humour is sharply observed, only a little cruel, and tinged with empathy for the human condition. The denouement is as clever as it is moving. The following passage illustrates the depth of character, detail and humour.

Helen of Troy — diaphanous, luminous, and ethereal — glided into the room and banged her shin on the coffee table.

Dammit! She bit her lip so as not to put speech to it. Hopping, balancing with a hand tightly around an ornately carved bedpost, she vigorously rubbed her barked ankle.

“W-what —?” came Randolph’s sluggish voice from a point somewhere below a mountain range of goose-down pillows.
Crap! Both feet down, ankle clearly more painful than damaged, she smoothed her sheet, adjusted her dime-store tiara, took a deep breath, and crooned out a melodious “Oooooooooooo!” Then she whispered down low near her husband’s ear, “From the great beyond, I have come!”

“W-who is there? Who is it?”
The lights in the room were dim, so much so that everything seemed washed with a brush dipped in inky shade and shadow. The bed was a pale rectangle, the pile of pillows a gray smudge, her husband’s face a pale mask haloed by silver hair — and that damned coffee table completely invisible.

There are lots to be enjoyed in this collection. The quality of the writing is outstanding and the depth of characterisation is enormous. For any serious aficionado of erotic fiction, Licks & Promises is a necessity for the bedside bookshelf.

Ashley Lister
September 2009

Dark Roasted M.Christian

Here's a brand new Dark Roasted Blend piece on keeping very special time: beautiful astronomical clocks and such.


Because that’s what everything was to them, many believe early man saw the universe as a living thing. Each flash of lightning, every star in the sky, the rain that fell, the ground beneath their feet – everything around them was part of some huge, living and breathing creature.

But then that changed. The Greeks, and their intellectual ancestors, looked at the world and while they saw life they also began to see a mechanism to it all, a precise and ordered regularity.

Alhough we know the ancient Greeks were extremely intelligent, just how smart was hinted at in 1901 – and then confirmed many yearsnlater. At first the hunk of rusted iron that was pulled from the sean near the African island of Antikythera was just a curiosity, a bitmof archeological weirdness. It was only decades and decades later that modern science was finally able to pry apart the secrets of ancient science. Very, very ancient science.

The Antikythera device, as it’s called, is a meticulous and precise assembly of 72 gears – a simply staggering work of craftsmanship.nWhat’s even more astounding is that scientists think the device wasman astronomical calculator: an elaborate, incredibly accurate computer that was built in 150 to 100BC.

What’s even more chilling -- as well as exciting – isn’t that the Antikythera devicemexisted but that it could very wellmbe the first hint at how technologically advanced the ancient workmengineers were. The device is certainly miraculous but it was also a common working machine; not a rarity but instead what could be something that navigators used everyday. Who knows what other mechanisms and devices have yet to be found?

A few hundred years later the universe was still a mechanical place but the engineering that went into creating machines to predict and understand it became even more complicated and elaborate. Clocks got a shot in their developmental arm because they – when used with star charts and sextants – were essential navigation tools. It wasn’t long until clock mechanisms were used to track not just the hours, minutes and seconds of commerce and shipping but also the stars and planets in the sky.

One of the more incredible astronomical clocks – and there arem certainly a lot of very incredible examples of such things – is the legendary Prague Astronomical Clock. To say that it’s elaborate would be a ridiculous understatement. The clock is an insanely complicated instrument to not only tell the time but also to track the movements of the stars and planets – at least the ones they knew about in the 1400s when the clock was built. It's easy to think that making something as complicated as the Prague clock was a one time, supremely rare thing. Although the clock wasn’t a common working gizmo like the Antikythera device, it also used technology and craftsmanship that existed in many other Medieval cities – and even, a century or so later, insanely miniaturized to the point where, if you were rich, you could carry what was basically a tiny version in your pocket.


While complicated, one of the greatest things about the Prague clock is that it isn’t just a working clock; it almost deserves to be called a monumental kinetic sculpture. It ticks and tocks and ticks its tocks in ways, to quote from the Bible, that are “a wonder to behold.” So wondrous, in fact, that you can find computer models online demonstrating just how elegant and beautiful the mechanism is – which says a lot that we use 21st century technology to appreciate the skill of a 1400 clock maker.

Another beautiful example of astronomical clock engineering is the famous Wells Cathedral clock. Begun a few years before Prague’s, the clock is another accurate and heavenly (literally as well as figuratively) mechanism. Like its Prague kin, the clock is a beautiful as well as accurate view of the world as an enormous clockwork machine, a carefully assembled, meticulously crafted, creation.


Unfortunately, the growing ubiquitousness of these clocks’ technology spelled their doom. As more and more people could afford to carry watches there was less and less of a need for a huge, central – and, naturally, elaborate, town hall clock. It simply didn’t make financial sense to keep building them – which is a sign that humanity's growing, view of the world was mechanical: tocks and tocks as well as dollars and sense.

What’s ironic is that with the coming of the 21st century – and, living in a world ruled by the careful calculations of software -- humans are starting to understand, and even plan to use, the uncertainty of a quantum universe: an existence where things are never quite what they seem and chaos is part of How Everything Works.

Still, the incredible Antikythera device, the Prague and Wells Cathedral clocks, are beautiful in their antique mechanisms – as well as the nostalgia of when the world was as precise and orderly as the back and forth swing of a pendulum.

Pauline Likes Rude Mechanicals

This is very, very, very, nice: my great pal, Pauline, just sent me this review for my soon-to-be-released new collection, Rude Mechanicals. Thanks, sweetie!

In his latest collection of erotic short stories, RUDE MECHANICALS, M.Christian excels himself. He gives us stories that allure and arouse; stories that are so exquisite that we are compelled to keep turning the pages. Christian is a wonderful story teller; he takes us gently into areas we would probably have never ventured into. Places we never dreamt existed; strange, sometimes dark habitats, that scare and delight. And as if the superb stories weren’t enough, Christian loves, absolutely adores, words. He’s a poet. Using the right word, in the right place, economic where it matters, flamboyant when it’s appropriate; he’s a master craftsman, always dancing ahead of the reader, teasing, even taunting; follow him if you dare.

In “Blow Up,” Christian is writing about one of my favourite things. Fetish. The protagonist isn’t interested in Betty, the curvy shop assistant in the toy store. She makes a pass at him and he notices, and admires her round bounciness, but only in relation to his purchase. He makes a note of her phone number, mentally acknowledging that it will be useful to him later, when new stocks of his fetish arrive. Here, Christian places the reader in the position of voyeur. We see that this man is a connoisseur; he has established his ritual into a fine art. Christian paces the writing carefully and we watch as the narrator prepares himself, in a routine long established. He knows which shaving creams work best for him, and buys them in bulk. The ones which sting and chafe the skin. He knows which oils to anoint himself with. Which are too sticky, or too thin. His fetish is intriguing, and a reader can’t help speculating on the well travelled paths he has walked along, to arrive at, what is for him, perfection.

“Billie,” reads like a ‘road film.’ Billie, is a biker, tough and butch. She and her Harley conquer the Pacific Highway. It’s a love affair; Billie is a top. No-one tops her. Not even the open road. She brandishes the Harley like a weapon, daring, intimidating the road, challenging it. “She is a Daughter of the Open Road, a disciple of Harley Davison.” Adrenaline rushes, it’s overwhelming. Billie cries out at the road -- then someone overtakes her. The shock; the anger, is almost too much for Billie to deal with, and what follows is a crazy race that will almost certainly end in death. The roar of the bikes is all consuming -- then Billie sees the biker’s face and everything changes…

In “Beep,” Christian takes a playful look at those messages left on our voice mail. They could be from anyone. You’ve won a holiday! the lottery! Or more likely, will you please call your bank about your overdraft! This message is none of these; it’s from a Mistress, and she wants his cock. NOW! His cock belongs to her. She sadistically purrs her instructions, and tells him what she’s going to do to him. Her intentions, are wild and erotic, even pornographic. His cock is instantly hard at the sound of her voice; steel wrapped in satin. It’s both chilling and hot and very, very sexy -- with a wonderful twist at the end.

Those gadgets have feelings too. Spare a thought for the lonely vibrator, discarded, abandoned, unloved and probably, unwashed, beneath your bed. In “I am Jo’s Vibrator,” the vibrator tells its story. It tells us about itself; it sells itself to us. Then, it tells us about its experiences with Jo and Patrick. Jo and Patrick approach the ‘Rabbit Pearl Vibrator,’ with trepidation and apprehension. They are nervous, Patrick more than Jo. Would Jo like the rabbit more than him? The rabbit knows better. Sex toys are for the pleasure of men and women. Jo and Patrick are very happy and so is the Rabbit Pearl Vibrator.

M.Christian’s writing is meticulous, but there’s nothing forced about it. It flows easily, from a lively mind, to his fingertips, to the keyboard. RUDE MECHANICALS is a big accomplishment, from a very accomplished writer. These erotic stories make us laugh, like in “Beep.” Sometimes, sex can be intimidating and the anticipation can almost overwhelm, as in “Blow Up.” There’s the dark side of desire in “Speaking Parts,” as Pell yearns for the enigmatic Arc. This story is like a lament, for a future that probably will never be.

But, for me, these erotic tales tell me that sex, in all its forms, is something to be celebrated. It’s joyous, it’s fun; it’s also hilariously funny. Well it is, isn’t it?

Masquerade: Page 6

Here's another preview of a very special project: Masquerade was illustrated by my great pal, and a fantastic artist, Wynn Ryder, from a story by ... well, me ... for an upcoming graphic novel anthology called Legendary.

I'll be putting up more pages from the final over the next few months ... or you can read the entire thing on Wynn's Deviantart pages.

Whew!

My very sincere apologies to all the very patient folks out there who sent in stories for Best S/M Erotica Vol. 3. I really didn't think it would take me this long to get to them.

But, the news -- both good and (I'm afraid) bad -- is that I finally have gone through them all and have made the selections. Everyone should have gotten the word about their stories as of today.

And for all you folks who didn't make the cut ... well, if it at all makes you feel any better I've gotten more than my fair share of rejections as well ... so I know at least a little bit how much it may hurt. But, as I always like to say: the only time a writer fails is when they stop writing. So keep at it!

Next up: getting through the submissions to Sex In San Francisco. Stay Tuned!

Ily Goyanes Talks To Me (Part 2)

Here you go, folks: part 2 of my interview with Ily Goyanes of Examiner.com. Click here for the rest of this second installment.

In this second part of my interview with M. Christian, the versatile author discusses the craft of writing and shares his tips, views, and experience.

IG: How would you describe the act of writing?

MC: I view writing as work. I don’t believe in having a muse, and I don’t wait for inspiration. I don’t believe in sitting in a coffee house and staring into space. I playfully call myself A Literary Streetwalker With A Heart of Gold in that I'll do a story, pretty much any kind of story, for anyone, anytime. I'm also different in that, unlike a lot of erotica writers I don't have a mission. I want sex to be accepted, sure, but I'm not trying to change the world through smut. I just want to give people a good story that might just change your mind about sex.

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Belive It Or Not -

- I'm actually, honestly, truthfully reading the submissions to Best S/M Erotica Vol. 3. I promise to get back to all you wonderfully patient contributors very, very soon.

Ily Goyanes Talks To Me (Part 1)

As promised, here's a teaser of my great interview (Part 1) with Ily Goyanes of Examiner.com. Click here for the rest of this first installment.

M. Christian writes, well, just about everything. A writer’s writer, Christian approaches the art of writing as work, and it shows in the countless novels, stories, anthologies, blogs, and yes, even a graphic novel, which display his unique imprint. Blending myth, horror, science-fiction and fantasy, and sprinkled liberally throughout with graphic sexual content, his writing works like a double espresso shot first thing in the morning. Consistently pushing the envelope, his stories can also sometimes push the imagination to places Freud might be scared to venture. His erotica knows no boundaries, as his characters run the gamut from trans to bisexual, twin brothers to vampires. This is part one of a two-part interview with the prolific author, in which he shares some of his thoughts on life, food, and keeping it real.

Tune in next week for Part Two with M. Christian: On Writing to hear him wax philosophical on the craft of writing and offer some practical advice for writers.

IG: How do you identify in regards to sexuality?
MC: I like to say I'm sexually straight, politically gay, and socially bi. Sexually straight, because -- even though I do so much GLBT work -- Mr. Happy doesn’t respond to anything but women. Politically I say I'm gay because I vote an extremely gay ticket and consider gay rights to be one of the most important human rights issues in the world today. I’m very comfortable with men, so that’s why I say I'm socially bi: I have no problem hugging or kissing my male friends – gay or straight -- or saying 'I love you' to them. More than anything, I never lie about who I am. I never pretend to be gay just to further my career. Alas, sometimes things can be a tad confusing: A long time ago I worked with an editor, a wonderful guy, who asked a friend we had in common: ‘what kind of guys does Chris like?’ and this friend answered ‘women’. I felt so bad that my editor might have thought I led him on or something that I called him up and explained that I thought he knew I was straight. At the end of the call we were both laughing but, importantly, we both understood that we loved each other – no matter who we liked to sleep with.

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Dark Roasted Blend, Time Magazine, and John Malkovich?!

The only thing I can say about this is ... WOW! Dark Roasted Blend, for which I've written a bunch of articles and such, was recently mentioned in Time magazine by, of all people, John Malkovich!

Here's what he said:

"Dark Roasted Blend is a perfect morning wake-up - a site filled with images of Earth's strange dreamers, oddballs, visionaries, travelers and destinations"
-- Time, August 31, 2009, p. 55, John Malkovich's Short List.

Coming Together

I'm thrilled to be a part of this great new project: Coming Together. Stay tuned for more info but in the meantime here's an announcement about the project from its driving force, Alessia Brio:

PITTSBURGH, PA – September 3, 2009 – To complement its recently-unveiled novella ebook line, COMING TOGETHER today announced Coming Together Presents, a line of full-length works to be released in both print and ebook. Each title in this line will benefit a charity chosen by its author. The line will be edited by renowned erotica author Lisabet Sarai.

"I was absolutely thrilled when Lisabet agreed to tackle this project!" said Coming Together's Alessia Brio. "She's in charge of who & what gets published and will set her own pace. I have total confidence in her ability to select quality work & polish it to its highest shine."

Sarai, whose credentials as both a writer and an editor are impressive, is no stranger to Coming Together. Her exceptional stories are featured in several volumes.

With the trademark erotic cocktail anthologies accepting material under ten thousand words and Coming Together: Neat publishing novellas between ten and fifty thousand words, the latest addition means the ground-breaking organization's erotic altruism now covers work of any length. The organization has always prided itself on the diversity of its fiction and hopes its recent expansions will diversify its audience by capturing the attention of readers who follow particular authors.

For the time being, publication under Coming Together Presents is by invitation only, but Brio hopes to institute a query process like that used for its new ebook line. Presents will launch with three titles by three stellar wordsmiths: M. Christian, C. Sanchez-Garcia, and Remittance Girl. Their collections will benefit Planned Parenthood, RAINN, and the ACLU, respectively.

Brio is thrilled with the charities selected. "They're wonderful additions to Coming Together's diverse family of causes without being duplicative. And the authors? I couldn't ask for a better starting lineup!"

About her contribution, Remittance Girl said, "These stories were written in the shadows, in a place where the rights of the individual and freedom of speech have no protection under the law. I have admired the 'Coming Together' collections for a very long time. It gives me great pleasure to know that the proceeds of this collection will go to support the ACLU, an organization defending those very rights with such dedication."

"I'm extremely pleased to be with the great and talented folks at Coming Together -- and to have an opportunity to support Planned Parenthood," adds Christian. "As Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood's founder, said: 'No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.'"

When asked why he selected RAINN, the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network, Sanchez-Garcia replied, "Because I've always believed Woman is the ultimate fountain of pleasure for Man and the worst sin against God and nature you can do is abuse her."

COMING TOGETHER is a registered, voluntary nonprofit association governed by a board of directors. It was launched in June 2005 to provide a venue for rising talent while simultaneously raising money for worthwhile causes. To date, it has published 13 volumes of erotic fiction & poetry featuring the work of over 165 authors, poets, and illustrators.

CONTACT:
Alessia Brio, founder & managing editor
412.254-3324 (voice/SMS)
866.837-6407 (fax)
presents [at] eroticanthology.com
http://www.eroticanthology.com/presents.htm