Greetings from LA

La-La Land

As you know, I'm going to be in Los Angeles for the next week at the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference - so my blogging will be spotty at best. But keep an eye on my twitter and flickr feeds for updates on (ahem) whatever mischief I may get up to down there.

The Exile At The Edge Of Eternity

(from M.Christian's Meine Kleine Fabrik)










(via browsethestacks)

Superman #400 (1984)

“The Exile At The Edge Of Eternity”
Script by Jim Steranko
Art by Jim Steranko
Letters by Jim Steranko
Color by Jim Steranko

Reminder: I'm Going To The XBIZ 360° - Digital Media Conference!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Just a reminder that I'm going to be at the the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference in Los Angeles this week.  Drop me a line if you're going and we'll hook up or something.

I'm going to be winging my way down to Los Angeles to attend the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference from January 9th to the 12th - courtesy of a absolutely fantastic friend.

Sophia Loren's Striptease

(from Frequently Felt)



Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is a 1963 comedy anthology film by Italian director Vittorio de Sica. Set in 1953, it stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The film consists of three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 37th Academy Awards.

(via midcenturymodernfreak)

Wheeee! The Mammoth Book Of New Erotica

I'm thrilled to be able to announce that the newest edition of Maxim Jakubowski's wonderful Mammoth Book Of New Erotica features my BBW age-play story "Her First Thursday Evening."

Seven Weeks Of M.Christian: Week 4 - Being An Editor

Continuing my seven (possibly terrifying) weeks of M.Christian, here's my newest installment...

...my reasoning behind this is that I haven't really talked a lot about myself for a while so I thought it would be a fun little experiment to post - once a week, for seven weeks - a series of essays about little ol' me: where I came from, my professional journey, being an editor, being a publisher ... and even my hopes and dreams for the future.

Hope you like!

Unlike some writers I actually became an editor very quickly after selling my first story.  I wish I could say it was because of my staggering personal magnetism, overwhelming charisma, or through the brilliance of my talent as a writer but, to be honest, it literally was just matter of right time (1995, the beginning of what some call the "literary erotica" craze) and the right place (I knew someone who had already done books with the publisher). 

My first anthology was called Eros Ex Machina: Eroticizing the Mechanical (later reprinted by the late, lamented Erotic Book Club as Sex Machines) and, if you couldn't tell from the title, is was about people having ... well, sex with all kinds of devices, gizmos, and do-hickeys. 

As with a lot of things, once I'd done one another quickly followed – with a vengeance on my part: as of this writing I'd edited something like 25 anthologies, ranging from pure erotica like the three book deal I got with Sage Vivant (Amazons, Confessions, and Garden Of Perverse) to the non-smutty, and quite literary, pair of Mammoth Books I did with my pal, Maxim Jakubowski (Mammoth Books of Tales Of The Road and The Mammoth Book of Future Cops). 

Now I really wish I could say that there is some kind of trick, or extra-normal talent to editing an anthology.  Oh, sure, there are some things that take a bit of skill and training – which I’ll touch on in a sec – but, by and large, an editor's job boils down to reading, and then selecting, stories.

Of course just this simple part of the job can be the most problematic: what I like, after all, is often light years away from what you might like.  My usual rule of thumb when selecting stories is to look for an author who, first of all, is clearly having fun with the habitually crazy-ass theme I've given them, secondly, knows how to write, and – last but not least – tells a good story.

It shocks people when tell them that, usually, when I edit an erotic-themed anthology, I pay little or no attention to the sex itself.  In fact I typically skim over that part – focusing instead on what the writer is trying to say and how they are saying it. 

As I like to tell people in my Sex Sells: Writing and Selling Erotica class – and have said in my "Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker" column for the incredible, and invaluable, Erotica Readers and Writers site (now – commercial starts – assembled in my new book How To Write And Sell Erotica – commercial ends): a good sex story has to be a good story, beyond anything else.  In fact when I make notes on submissions the worst comment I can make on a story is "just porn:" meaning that there is nothing in the story but page after page of bump-grindy ... and nothing else.

Beyond that I usually select stories that give the book some range and variety – within the limits set by the project, of course.  I'd like to say that I don’t pick stories because the author may or may not be famous but (sigh) I have to be honest that unless it is a very poor story a 'name' can actually help sell a book.  But that does not mean that I only take stories with this in mind – in fact most of the stories I feel are the best are often written by writers who, like I said, are having a fun time with the theme and know that an erotic story is not just about sex.

In addition to being an editor I am, of course, a writer so I really try to be the editor I'd like to be dealing with when I'm wearing that other hat – and because of that I am -- or try really hard to be -- a kind, polite, and conscientious editor: I answer every email, no matter how silly or even insulting, and I always send out rejection letters even though it is a very painful process ... because I am too well aware how much those things can hurt.  But I also take a certain amount of pride in sending out nice rejection letters – if there are such things.

As a writer as well as an editor I can tell you right off the bat that treating an editor as an enemy, approaching them like they are out to steal your work or whatever, is not the way to go.  If someone I reject reacts rudely ... I wish I could say that I turn the other cheek but, honestly, I doubt I will take anything by that author in the future.  Life is too short to deal with prima-donnas and, besides, there are usually stories just a good waiting in the wings.

It's a maybe-silly point of pride with me that many people I've rejected have actually become friends – and, as such, while it won't change a bad story into an accepted one – it does mean I might actually try and help them with their work, or at least encourage them to keep writing.

What can be frustrating about being an anthology editor – please allow me to vent here – is that very, very few reviewers know how to judge them.  The fact is that an editor often has to take what they get – or they've tried to create a spread of approach, style, content, etc. to make the book as well-rounded as possible – a fact lost on many reviewers, who forget this fact and pan a book because a few stories didn't work for them or because they feel the quality of the stories wasn't up-to-par. 

As a writer as well as an editor has also made me very sensitive to bad anthology editors, and so I try very hard act like they do.  As I already mentioned, I always reject – even though it may be a painful thing to do – and I when I say a story has been accepted then it's been accepted: I don't play games with short-lists or change my mind once I've told the author. 

I also feel that an author's work, and voice, is their own, and so I will rarely ask for any kind of rewrite – especially around the plot.  As I writer I honestly can't stand editors who think that, because they are The Editor, that gives them the right to dink with an author's work – with or without their permission.  For me, being an editor just means I'm an administrator of sorts, that my name on the book basically means I created the crazy theme of the book and picked the stories.  That's why I try and downplay myself when I talk about my anthologies and instead focus on the authors who contributed their wonderful stories: it's far more their book than it is mine.

Also being on both sides of the fence has made me very vocal about editors who I feel have let their egos get in the way of the project: I do not play favorites when I talk about my books – choosing to mention one author over another – and I always, to repeat myself a bit, do a book with an eye on being the editor I'd like to deal with as a writer. 

Now even though I said that approaching an editor as if they are some kind if enemy, or reacting poorly in regards to acceptance/rejection, contract terms and all that stuff that does not mean as a writer should not have some say in how things are done – but it's far better to do what I do, as a writer, when I come across an editor who is not being either professional or even just kind: I simply don't send them any more stories for any of their projects – and I tell my other writer friends about my experiences.

In the end, being an editor has been a unique and (to use a cliché) eye-opening experience and, I sincerely hope, has made me respect writers even more.  It means a lot to me that writers say that they like submitting to my books – accepted or not – and that I have a certain amount of respect among writers for being understanding and supportive. 

For me, that is a successful anthology: not sales, or reviews, but that the writers in the book had a good time dealing with me but even-more had a fun time exploring the crazy idea I set before them and had a blast writing their stories. 

Like I said: my name might be on the cover but it is – always – the authors who make an anthology ... and they are the ones deserving of not just recognition but also respect.

Still More Philosophy

 

Yin & Yang

(via theperksofbeingawildfl0wer)

Helping Vampires to Save the World - I'm Jazzed To Be Part of Coming Together: In Vein

This is very, very cool: my story, "The Curse," is part of a brand new Coming Together anthology from the always-wonderful Lisabet Sarai - Coming Together: In Vein

 

Helping Vampires to Save the World

Let's face it. Vampires are sexy. Something about the undead stirs up our juices. Perhaps it's their irresistible power. Even when we know the danger, we're so very tempted to surrender to their all-consuming lust. Maybe we want to comfort them, to save them a lonely, bloody eternity. Maybe we secretly crave immortality ourselves. 

Vampires are frequently portrayed as evil or at least amoral, viewing humanity from the jaded perspective of centuries. Now, though, vampires are doing their part to save the world. 

 Coming Together: In Vein is a brand new collection of vampire-themed erotica and erotic romance edited by Lisabet Sarai. All sales of this novel-length volume support Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). MSF works in nearly 70 countries providing medical aid to those most in need regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation. Right now, despite being barred from the country, MSF doctors and nurses are in Syria, working with patients from both sides of the civil war. They're performing surgery in caves and sneaking into refugee camps to distribute desperately needed medications. 

 You can help MSF in its life-saving mission, simply by indulging your passion for vampires. Buy a copy of Coming Together: In Vein in ebook, Kindle format, or print. Enjoy! Then help spread the word! Every copy we sell has the potential to save someone's life.
 The list of contributors includes many names you'll recognize. Every one of these authors has provided his or her work free of charge, to support the charitable aims of the project. Furthermore, the editor is giving away a free copy of her short story collection Body Electric  to everyone who buys a copy of Coming Together: In Vein. (For details of this offer, click here.) 

 You'll find an excerpt below – just to whet your appetite.
 Sink your teeth into Coming Together: In Vein. Help our vampires save the world.

From “The Curse” by M. Christian

She was almost late coming into work. Unheard of, though no one would have noticed. She’d stood and stared at the bare bed, looking for some kind of evidence, some kind of physicality to match her filling memory. They’d stood on the balcony, looking at the stars and the brilliant lights of the city. A natural position, Ellie’s hands on the cold metal of the balcony, the other woman’s hands around her waist, her breath on the nape of her neck. A cascade, Ellie remembered, of goose bumps, but not from the cooling night.

Hard daylight. Blinking, wrapped in a towel, she stepped out, looking for footprints, hand prints. Moisture, a sparkling flicker of dew, anything to prove it had really happened.

They’d kissed—yes, and she tasted her again in memory:  the pressure of lips, the heat of her, the rhythm of their breathing. They’d come inside, kissed by the foot of the bed. The whisper of her black satin dress, the sudden too-tightness of Ellie’s jeans. The surprising laughter when the kiss broke, when the high of their excitement crested. The way, then, the giggles had faded as she had put her hands on Ellie’s face, traced the contours of her cheeks, her jaw, the way she’d tapped Ellie’s nose, whispering “button” in a rich, throaty voice.

In the warming room, Ellie stood at the foot of the bed, turning so she was facing the way she remembered standing. Yes. Eyes brown with flickers of amber. Lips too full, too red, too silken to be anything but a fantasy running around in the real world. Lithe, boyish. She remembered how she liked to watch her move, liked to watch her walk barefoot across the apartment. Graceful, as if every muscle were elegantly conducted to some lovely score.

Her shoes?  Yes… She’d kicked them off, near the foot of the bed. Without really thinking of the woman walking the hard pavement on thin, bare feet, Ellie dropped down to look, hoping for the reality of a simple black pump. Nothing, of course. Memories, but nothing else.

A glance at the clock brought up more—her face, glowing as if from low embers, smiling up at her. There, in her eyes was  the lust Ellie'd wanted, needed, but also something else, something finer, softer, kinder. There was something else there, in the dull red glow, something that had made Ellie’s heart melt as fast as her body. Liquid—yes, molten....

A glance at the clock also brought a slap of reality. 8:05. Half an hour on the bridge, fifteen minutes from the garage to the office. She was going to be late.

Still, hurrying, there was no escaping the growing number of ghosts from the past, that expired night: brushing her hair brought up a voice, rich and rumbling, and the feel of strong fingers stroking the top of her head; doing her teeth was those same fingers brushing her lips, feeling them before another kiss…

Finally, she had to stop, had to put both hands on the edge of the sink and breathe deep. In and out. Strong, steady breaths. She was late, she needed to get dressed and get going. She had work to do, lots of work to do. If it had happened... if it had happened then it was nice, and that was all. It didn’t change anything. If it hadn’t, then the world was as it was. Ellie, her little place, her little life, her job—the days falling down, one by one.

Tears, hot on her cheeks. How she wanted it to be real.       

Eyes open, puffy and red. Her face in the mirror, looking broken and small. But then she saw it, as real as a shoe, as foot and hand prints in night dew. Evidence, reality. Purple and harsh, sore, yes, but evidence none the less. A scarf would hide it, but not for now. Lateness, the bridge traffic, the walk from the garage, the firm, everything was gone from her mind. For now, as she stood in the window, the bruise on the slope of her neck was too priceless to hide, too real not to be stared at.

The Next Big Thing: Jason Rubis

Here's a wonderful treat: my pal, Jason Rubis - a great person and a magnificent writer - just posted his part of the Next Big Thing blog-share I mentioned awhile back.  Check it out:

Fetish fantastique! Dark sexuality from the midnight land of our most lurid thoughts. Vampires, dominatrixes, ogres, princesses, and others find ways of inflicting pain, or having pain inflicted on them in this startling collection of erotica from the pages of Garden of the Perverse, Needles and Bones, Fetish Fantastic, Like Crimson Droplets, The Best Fantastic Erotica, and other publications.   As the author writes, "I can't explain any of these stories. The people you'll meet in these pages – whores and androgynies, vampires and beastfolk and various combinations of the above – are voices I heard in the shadows, but the darkest of those shadows I cast myself."  No wonder editor and critic M. Christian raves, "Jason Rubis is a writer to be admired, a writer who does everything – from plot to dialogue, description to sensuality, sophistication of emotion to wit – with tremendous skill.

1) What is the title of your book?

The book is called Strangely Made

2) Where did the idea for the book come from?

Well, it’s a collection of stories, so there are as many “origins” as there are individual pieces. A few examples: “Dancer, Daemon” ultimately had its origins in a Gene Wolfe essay on obscure words in hisBook of the New Sun. The word that caught my eye was “matachine,” meaning a masked sword-dancer. That brought some beautiful, sexy images to mind and I set about trying to explore them. Eventually it gave me a story. “Singapore” was directly inspired by a real restaurant I used to go to, and the beautiful, fascinating woman who owned it. I talk about the origins of one of the book’s vampire stories, “Gather Together Tonight,” in the book’s introduction.

3) What genre does it fall under?

It includes a number of different kinds of stories—sf, “slipstream,” heroic fantasy, fairy tale, vampire, SM--but I personally think of it as erotic dark fantasy.

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I’d love to see Meryl Streep play the Ogress in “Beauty Thrasher.” Maybe Emma Thomson as Alie in “Day Journey, With Stories.” And this is kind of off the wall, but I could see Tia Carrere as Kaso in “Dancer, Daemon.” I would be fascinated and rather afraid to meet the actor who could play Darien from “Darien Sucks.” Ralph Fiennes? Naaah.

5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

I can’t do any better than the publisher’s very short description: “Fetish fantastique!”

6) Was your book self-published or represented by an agency?

Neither; it was published by Sizzler Editions, an imprint of Renaissance e-Books. I’m very happy to see these stories out from the same publisher who has revived Lord Dunsany, William Morris and George MacDonald, as well as putting out some extremely fine contemporary erotica.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?

The earliest of the stories, “Lioness,” dates back to the early 90s, when I was living in Seattle. The more recent stories were finished just before the book was submitted, so collectively you’d have to say it was nearly twenty years in the making! Some of the individual stories took years to get right; “Circe House” took about three years, “Dancer, Daemon” took seven, as I recall (!).

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

As a collection of SF & fantasy erotica, I’d love it if people found reason to compare it to books like M. Christian’s The Bachelor Machine, or Cecilia Tan’s Black Feathers, both of which I’ve read and admired very much.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve been privileged to know a lot of very sexy, passionate and fascinating people, and to have had some lovely, sometimes frightening experiences. They are all reflected in Strangely Made, as well as my lifelong interest in fantasy literature.

10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Well, it has an absolutely beautiful cover, I think, and a very flattering introduction by M.Christian. And I don’t think you’ll find another collection that combines ogresses, steampunk, vampires, a transgendered heroine, and two very different takes on “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” 

Beware -