Lots Of April Classes!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

April is going to be a lot of fun for all kinds of sexy classes ... with even a few possible surprises so stay tuned!

Thursday, April 9

Using Social Media To Grow Your Adult Business And Build Your Client Base - The Working Smarter And Not Harder Way with Jean Marie Stine

Center For Sex and Culture

1349 Mission Street, San Francisco
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

$20

Let's face facts: the adult business world has totally, completely changed marketing and advertising tricks that used to work simply don't anymore ... which is why, more than ever, thinking outside the box is key to raising above the rest and, best of all, bring in exposure and, hopefully, sales. 

Twitter? Tumblr? Facebook? While there are a lot of options, many of the techniques that a lot of gurus and experts recommend only work for those same experts and gurus ... and not for anyone else. 

But in this fun and provocative lecture you'll learn to learn the differences between what other people say you should do and what actually works including when to play by the rules and when not to, how to rise above the rest, and how to manage your marketing time and dollars. 

Among some of the subjects covered will be:
- How to blog, tweet and post effectively and efficiently
- How to handle fast media like Twitter versus slower ones like Facebook
- When national social media is what you want and when it's something you don't need
- The power of FREE
- Knowing your audience ... and developing great techniques to reach them
- Understanding the difference between likes, friends and actual sales
- How to make your social media presence rich and interesting without taking valuable time away from your company
- How to think innovatively about advertising, public relations, and marketing that don't involve social media or even the internet

Tuesday, April 14

Sensual Caning: How To Use The Rod In New And Exciting Ways 

SF Citadel

181 Eddy Street, San Francisco

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

$20 at the door, or $15 in advance
Tickets: https://www.purplepass.com/sfc4142015

The cane is one of those 'legendary' BDSM toys that is far too often used with dramatic flare – rather than erotic effectiveness. In this very special class, cane wielders will learn the difference between using a rod as a prop and, instead, how to use various types of cane (wood versus plastic, thin versus thick, etc) to send the receiver to new erotic heights. With this unique – and sensual - technique even those scared of the rod will be enticed to being on the receiving end of the not-so-scary cane.

Thursday, April 23

How To Create An Effective Online Profile – And How To Write Messages That Will Get Good Responses 

Center For Sex And Culture

1349 Mission Street, San Francisco
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

$20

The world is the Internet ... and if you don't know how to use it then you are at a serious disadvantage in making any kind of connection: employment, social, artistic and most of all erotic. 

This class will not just explore how to use the Internet and various sites as a resource to explore your own sexuality in any form but also how to create an effective and alluring online profile. But creating a digital 'self' is only part of it: participants will also get tips on how to reach out in imaginative ways that will get a positive response, the important things that are too often forgotten and other social niceties that can be the difference between frustration and disappointment and having a wonderful and best of all sexy time online!

Monday, April 27

Polyamory Discussion/Support Group at SF Citadel

SF Citadel

181 Eddy Street, San Francisco

7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

$10 at the door

Polyamory is – not to state the obvious – complex. But what is even more challenging is that it is still not wildly accepted, with those in non-monogamous relationships often finding it difficult to find understanding and support. In this discussion/support group, polyamorous individuals and couples will have a nonjudgmental and supportive environment to share their concerns and experiences.

Wednesday, April 29

Magic Words: Using Erotic Writing To Explore Your Hidden Sexuality And Spirituality

Good Vibrations

1620 Polk St, San Francisco

$20 in advance, $25 at the door
Tickets:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1410432

There are many ways to reach your inner sexual and spiritual self––but one of the most surprisingly powerful paths is through the written word. In this lecture/workshop, participants will hear how erotic writing (fiction as well non-fiction) can reach hidden places that often lay unexposed, help make personal discoveries and to assist in a personal journey of self and sensuality. Participants will learn how to free their erotic writing voices, how to develop their writing towards discovering the erotic spirits within, and when to silence––and when to listen to––the inner critic.

The R.Greco And M.Christian Roadshow Was A Hit - Thanks!

(from R.Greco And M.Christian Presents)

A hearty thanks so all the wonderful folks who came to our classes and events - and special gratitude to the fantastic venues who allowed us to put on the R.Greco and M.Christian Road Show: Sin In The City, Wicked Grounds, The SF Citadel, The Center For Sex And Culture ... and the great folks at Leather, Lace And Lust who put on an amazing show!

Stay tuned for even more fun R.Greco and M.Christian sexy shenanigans!

Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker: Whatcha Say?

This is so fun: check out my brand new essay on erotica and dialogue over at the amazing WriteSex site.

“Dialogue can be tricky—”

“Whatcha mean ‘dialogue can be tricky’? It’s just people talking, right? How hard can it be?”

“You’d be surprised. For instance, a lot of people think that dialogue should be … um … er … ah … accurate. But if you wrote down how people actually talk it’s kind of … muddled … youknowwhatImean?”

“Okay, I getcha: you mean people should have distinctive voices, sound like human beings, but not cram those voices with the stuff real people actually say when they’re talking.”

“Bingo! It’s also important to know some basic dialogue grammar and punctuat—”

“—like dashes for when someone gets interrupted—”

“—right! Or when you…”

“Trail off, right? What about ‘OK’?”

“Well, the jury is out on that one. Personally I don’t like two huge caps in my dialogue. I prefer the more natural ‘okay.’ The same with tags, some people think that you have to have at least one tag at the end of a line of dialogue, but others say you don’t need any as long as it’s clear who’s doing the speaking—especially if it’s just between two characters, like us. Just be sure not to go too long without a tag as readers can sometime lose track of the characters.”

“I’m hip. I heard someone say that you should know who’s doing the talking by their vocabulary or style, but not to be so obvious that it’s clumsy.”

“It’s tricky, to be sure, but it really helps bring a character to life. Also, don’t hesitate to use typographic emphasis in dialogue, especially when it makes what a person is saying clear. Just stay away from ALL CAPS—”

“Jeez, no need to shout.”

“Or too many exclamation points!!!!”

“Which just sounds weird.”

“It’s much better to use simple italics … just be sure and put them where they’re most needed and not just willy-nilly as, again, it comes off as … bizarre.”

“Right. What also gets me is when characters talk all stilted-like. I mean, come on: you can be loose and be hard to follow but too stiff and it’s like listening to two damned robots.”

“To be sure! Try listening to your characters. Pay attention to writers who do dialogue well, or to good movies or TV shows. That’s how a writer learns, after all. You can also use … what is it called? Oh, yeah: grammar as a way of giving a character life like … pauses, like that. Or (watch where you’re stepping, buddy) asides, like that, or [can you tell me the way to the train station], he said in French. Stuff like that. But, again, don’t try to be too clever ’cause it’ll just pull readers out of the story.”

“What about if you have someone who’s … what did Bob say? ‘Quoting from another character’?”

“Yeah, that can be tricky. Technically you just have to put a single quotation mark in there like you did, but I don’t like to have people directly quote another character. It’s confusing, and unrealistic since we rarely remember what someone exactly said: kind of pulls the reader out of the dialogue.”

‘Then there’s the Brits—’

“Oh, yeah; that can be confusing: British copy editors often have single quotes for dialogue.”

“You know what ruffles my feathers?”

“Do tell.”

“When people think you have to have a whole new tag at the end of each line of dialogue, like repeating ‘said’ is some horrible rule to stay away from. I mean, come on, it can get real silly real quick: people ‘said’ then ‘uttered’ then ‘proclaimed’ then ‘spouted’ … sheesh!”

“I hear ya. The same goes fer people talkin’ way too much with whatcha might say is an accent. Get with it, folks: if ya can’t understan’ it it ain’t gonna work—”

“Or when youse puts in whatcha think is ah poinsonal style a’ talkin’ and all da happens is it’s either confusin’ or insultin’—youse catcha my drift?”

“Oh, yeah! Nothing worse that a character you can’t understand, or one who sounds like a poorly constructed stereotype. I understand wanting to show off someone’s character through their dialogue, but ya gotta do yer research and keep it down to a dull roar.”

“Like with historical characters. Oh, man, that gets my goat: when you got this Roman legionnaire saying, like, ‘okay’ or something like that. Or a Victorian British character using 21st century terms. Sure, too much accuracy is just as bad … ’cause I doubt anyone would ever understand a word they were saying … but that doesn’t mean throwing a bunch of anachronisms into a story, either. So, what about sex?”

“Here? Now? With all these people watching?”

“Ha-ha, Mr. Comedian. No, I mean what about dialogue with sex scenes?”

“Oh, that. Well, stay the hell away from onomatopoeias—”

“Gesundheit.”

“Now who’s the comedian? Onomatopoeia: ‘the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named’, according to Webster’s. In erotica it’s oooooh, aaaaah … stuff like that. Sound effects, you could say. Always horrible in erotica. You can just write that someone laughed or moaned.”

“Oh, yeah, I know what you mean. Like you said, too, I guess: make sure your characters use the right words for what they’re doing.”

“God, yes. And research is important but, again, don’t let it get in the way of being clear about what’s happening. Back to the Victorians: they used a lot of slang for sex and body parts—so you can have fun there … just not too much or it can either get confusing or make you look like a show-off.”

“Okay, Mr. Expert: what advice can you give a writer about dialogue?”

“Well, for starters, feel your characters. Listen to them. Don’t worry about avoiding grammatical mistakes—you can always fix that later—just get their voices down on the page. Use your own life: the way you and your friends talk … just don’t be too literal. Try to push yourself: if you feel your dialogue could do with some work, read plays or listen to movies or shows with the picture off to get a feeling for how people talk.”

“Sounds good to me … but you forgot an important one.”

“Oh? Enlighten me.”

“Write nothing but two people talking to each other.”

***

Calling M.Christian versatile is a tremendous understatement. Extensively published in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and even non-fiction, it is in erotica that M.Christian has become an acknowledged master, with more than 400 stories, 10 novels (including The Very Bloody Marys, Brushes and The Painted Doll). Nearly a dozen collections of his own work (Technorotica, In Control, Lambda nominee Dirty Words, The Bachelor Machine), more than two dozen anthologies (Best S/M Erotica series, My Love for All That is Bizarre: Sherlock Holmes Erotica, The Burning Pen, and with Maxim Jakubowksi The Mammoth Book of Tales from the Road). His work is regularly selected for Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica, and others. His extensive knowledge of erotica as writer, editor, anthologist and publisher resulted in the bestselling guide How To Write And Sell Erotica.

In addition, he is a prolific and respected anthologist, having edited twenty five anthologies to date. He is also responsible for several non-fiction books, notably How to Write and Sell Erotica.

M.Christian is also the Associate Publisher for Renaissance eBooks, where he strives to be the publisher he’d want to have as a writer, and to help bring quality books (erotica, noir, science fiction, and more) and authors out into the world.

He can be found in a number of places online, not least of which is mchristian.com.

Meet And Greet R.Greco And M.Christian At Wicked Grounds!

(from R.Greco and M.Christian Presents)

As part of the blast-and-a-half whirlwind R.Greco and M.Christian Roadshow, come hang out with these two notorious (but nice) erotica writers at San Francisco's BDSM coffee house, Wicked Grounds on Tuesday, March 3!

Get your books signed, get your laughter on, hear about their upcoming projects and classes - and have fun!

Erotic Authors: Ralph Greco, Jr. & M.Christian 

Wicked Grounds, San Francisco
289 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Tuesday, March 3, 2015: 1:00PM to 3:00PM

Wicked Grounds is San Francisco's first and only kink cafe and boutique. We have a full cafe in San Francisco and host a wide variety of BDSM and related events, including workshops, classes, social gatherings, and munches.

Here's an opportunity to meet and greet Ralph Greco Jr. and M.Christian: two kick-ass smut writers and BDSM/sex educators who know how to have a good time ... either on the page or in the bedroom/dungeon!

In town as part of a whirlwind tour of kinky teaching and sexy authoring, Chris and Ralph (to their friends) will be available to chat about being an editor for Von Gutenberg Latex Couture Fashion Magazine (Ralph) and Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions (Chris) and their BDSM classes (such as Sensual Caning, Basic Bondage, Cupping, Breast Torture, and more) and their renowned erotica writing class series!

Come chat BDSM classes, get some books signed, and have a fun time with two fun guys...

This Saturday, March 7th: Next Leather, Lace And Lust Reading Event!

(from M.Christian's Classes and Appearances)

Leather, Lace & Lust: 

An Evening Of Erotic Storytelling and Sexual Merriment

From the tempting tease of delicate lace to the steamy heat of hardcore leather, these authors and performers will amuse, delight, and most of all excite you in all kinds of new and provocative ways; This is an evening of witty, carnal, and provocative literary endeavors that will tickle just about every kind of fancy, a festival of playful sensual fiction that will make you laugh, cry, and get that oh-so-special tingly feeling in your nether-regions.

In other words, a night of kick-ass erotica performed by ass-kicking writers!

Sponsored by WriteSex: Everything a writer needs to know about the business of publishing erotica!

Our featured performers include:

• Molly Weatherfield: "Twenty years ago, a mild-mannered computer programmer decided to spend some quality time with her erotic fantasy life, and Carrie's Story - BDSM for smart girls - was born."
• Blake C. Aarens is an author, poet, screenwriter, playwright, and a Black Girl Nerd.
• Jean Marie Stine is the author of a number of pioneering works of erotica published in the late 1960 and early 1970s, beginning with Season of the Witch in 1968, which was filmed as the motion picture Synapse. Her erotic short stories and novelettes have been collected as "Trans-sexual: Fiction for Gender Queers."
• M.Christian is a recognized master of erotica with more than 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica and many others.
• Dr. Carol Queen is the author of Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture, The Leather Daddy and the Femme, Exhibitionism for the Shy, and co-editor of PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality (winner of a Lambda Literary Award in 1998; with Lawrence Schimel)
• R. Greco's short fiction (erotic and 'straight' fiction) has been published in 7 countries, various anthologies and single author short story collections from Xcite Books in the U.K., C.F. Publications and with Renissance E Books. Ralph is also the co-host of an hour-long net talk program, "Peter Riot's Smack Talk", was a pre-school music teacher and has played his original music in concert festivals in Italy, the U.S. and England.

Saturday, March 7th

Doors Open at 6:30 - Performance from 7:00PM to 10:00PM

Center For Sex And Culture
1349 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1311515

$10

M.Christian's Erotic Science Fiction Collection, Bachelor Machine, Back in A New Edition – PLUS Groundbreaking Sequel: Skin Effect!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is amazing news!  Not only is my erotic science fiction collection, Bachelor Machine, back in print from the great folks at Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions but the sequel - with many new stories - is out as well: Skin Effect!  

Here's my announcement - and if you want a copy of either for reviews and the like please let me know.

M.Christian and Renaissance E Books, through its Sizzler Editions imprint, is pleased and proud to announce the republication of M.Christian's groundbreaking science fiction collection, Bachelor Machine, plus a brand new, never-before seen, follow-up collection: Skin Effect!

M.Christian rocked the world of both science fiction and erotica with Bachelor Machine – Cynthia Ward at Locus Online calling it "smart, taboo-breaking SF" and – and now his groundbreaking book is back in a brand new edition!

Not only that, but M.Christian will further amaze as well as arouse with a follow up collection of imaginative and stimulating stories: Skin Effect!

In Skin Effect and Bachelor Machine are tales that push the envelopes of both science fiction as well as erotica in innovative and stimulating ways: stories voyaging to the near as well as the far future, exploring the ultimate limits of sex and arousal.

In her introduction to Bachelor Machine, Cecilia Tan says of M.Christian "There are only two people in the world I envy. One is the late Roger Zelazny, whose talent for an almost jazz improvisational way of writing I could never match. The other is M.Christian, for writing exactly what I’d write if only I could get off my ass. Which is to say, raunchy hallucinatory sexfuture dreams that never fail to arouse me and kick me in the gut at the same time."

In his forward to Skin Effect, the Chicano science fiction legend Ernest Hogan (author of High Aztech and Cortez On Jupiter), says "The stories in Skin Effect are erotic, and original, state-of-the-art science fiction. They take the technological developments of recent years and plug them into the engines of human desire, taking us beyond our present day sexual issues into worlds that deliver in ways I hadn't imagined possible."

In Skin Effect and Bachelor Machine are tales that are riveting as well as arousing, stories of technology and desire, and arousal and innovation ... told in an engaging and evocative style guaranteed to amaze as well as excite.

From down and out hustlers, enhanced sex workers, enigmatic aliens, bleeding edge erotic technologies, and more – Bachelor Machine and Skin Effect are an unique visions of the future, while celebrating humanity's oldest pleasure ... sex!

"M.Christian’s stories squat at the intersection of Primal Urges Avenue and Hi-Tech Parkway like a feral-eyed, half-naked Karen Black leering and stabbing her fractal machete into the tarmac. Truly an author for our post-everything 21st century."
–Paul Di Filippo, The Steampunk Trilogy

"M.Christian speaks with a totally unique and truly fascinating voice. There are a lot of writers out there who'd better protect their markets – M. Christian has arrived!"
–Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award winning science fiction author

"When I tell you that these stories are hot, I might be giving you an understatement. M.Christian’s erotica comes from the heart ... he has created an entire new genre."
–Amos Lassen

"There is an uncommon variety of material in here [Bachelor Machine], from cyberpunk to space opera, alternative history to dystopia. The science-fictional settings are manifold, as are the sexual positions and inclinations—and, more importantly, the role of the inevitable explicit sex within each story. From the frivolous to the poignant to the socio-politically scathing, there’s something in this book for everyone."
–Johann Carlisle, Future Fire

"M.Christian is a hybrid artist and knockout stylist on the order of Jonathan Lethem. Hard-boiled, sharp-edged, funny and fierce, his tales brim with unbridled imagination and pitch-perfect satire,"
–Jim Gladstone

"M.Christian is a writer who takes you for a long walk down a dark wet street at midnight. You can't get much more edgy and still be legal. His fiction never disappoints."
–Nancy Kilpatrick, The Power of the Blood series and In the Shadow of the Gargoyle

Calling M.Christian versatile is a tremendous understatement. Extensively published in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and even non-fiction, it is in erotica that M.Christian has become an acknowledged master, with more than 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica, and in fact too many anthologies, magazines, and sites to name. In erotica, M.Christian is known and respected not just for his passion on the page but also his staggering imagination and chameleonic ability to successfully and convincingly write for any and all orientations. 

But M.Christian has other tricks up his literary sleeve: in addition to writing, he is a prolific and respected anthologist, having edited 25 anthologies to date including the Best S/M Erotica series; Pirate Booty; My Love For All That Is Bizarre: Sherlock Holmes Erotica; The Burning Pen; The Mammoth Book of Future Cops, and The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi); Confessions, Garden of Perverse, and Amazons (with Sage Vivant), and many more. 

M.Christian's short fiction has been collected into many bestselling books in a wide variety of genres, including the Lambda Award finalist Dirty Words and other queer collections like Filthy Boys, BodyWork, and his best-of-his-best gay erotica book, Stroke the Fire. He also has collections of non-fiction (Welcome to Weirdsville, Pornotopia, and How To Write And Sell Erotica); science fiction, fantasy and horror (Love Without Gun Control); and erotic science fiction including Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, and the acclaimed Bachelor Machine.

As a novelist, M.Christian has shown his monumental versatility with books such as the queer vamp novels Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys; the erotic romance Brushes; the science fiction erotic novel Painted Doll; and the rather controversial gay horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth and Me2.

M.Christian is also the Publisher of Digital Parchment Services and an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books, where he strives to be the publisher he'd want to have as a writer, and to help bring quality books (erotica, noir, science fiction, and more) and authors out into the world.

Bachelor Machine: The Award Finalist Author
$2.99

Skin Effect: By the Award Finalist Author: More Science Fiction Erotica
$2.99

READ RAVE "LOCUS" REVIEW M.CHRISTIAN'S SEXFUTURE COLLECTION "BACHELOR MACHINE"

(from the Sizzler Editions blog)

FORBIDDEN THOUGHTS: REGARDING AN EROTIC SF COLLECTION BY M.CHRISTIAN 

(REVIEW FROM LOCUS ONLINE BY CYNTHIA WARD)

In the 1980s, I read an article about some noted visionaries of the bold future of virtual reality.  The visionaries uniformly denied that virtual sex would be a factor in this brave new technology.  Apparently the visionaries hadn't noticed that several existing technologies were significantly subsidized by sex, among them the phone companies (by 900 numbers), Big Pharma (by The Pill), and the new videotape industry (by X-rated sales and rentals).  Here in the Twenty-First Century, though we're still waiting for VR, phone companies enjoy the additional subsidy of surfers seeking X-rated websites, penile implants and Viagra keep multinational medical companies big in the stock market, and video stores add X-rated DVDs.

SF authors are bolder, or maybe just less blind, than the VR visionaries; they routinely incorporate varieties of cybersex in their fiction.  But SF authors rarely center plot and theme on sex, and the professional and semiprofessional SF magazines rarely publish speculative sex stories.  Yet the enormous sexual changes of the last few years, both trivial (porn spam) and profound (legalized gay/lesbian marriage in Canada), demand more SF exploration of the subject.  Fortunately, on the small-press margins of SF, at the border shared with the erotica genre, a few writers are speculating intelligently and imaginatively about the future of sex.  Among the best-known and best of the erotic-SF writers is M.Christian.

The stories in his new collection, The Bachelor Machine, pass the litmus tests of both the SF and erotica genres.  Take out the tech and there's no story; take out the sex and there's no story.  This description may lead those unfamiliar with SF erotica to suspect that every story is about getting off with the aid of futuristic technologies, and that's true as far as it goes.  But that's not going nearly far enough.

The stories in The Bachelor Machine are not about sex, though they're stuffed with sexual acts; the stories are about what sex means.  M.Christian is writing about the psychology of being human, and he often does so by exploring sexual possibilities and realities that are rarely discussed, even in private conversation.  He not only thinks forbidden thoughts, he extrapolates them in the finest SF fashion.

The aptly named "Technophile" pushes technofetishism to the ultimate as it explicates an idea most authors (especially male authors) would never imagine, let alone write about.  To put it bluntly, "Technophile" eroticizes castration.  A character has his penis cut off and replaced with the top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art "Long Thrust." Another character wants to lose his virginity to the technological phallus, which he sees as hotter and better than the old-fashion flesh kind.  But the cutting-edge implant needs a recharge and remains limp throughout the encounter, a bitter irony.

In the decaying post-industrial future of "Winged Memory", Dusk does something most people couldn't imagine, and would find horrifying if they did: he sells (and loses) his memory of losing his virginity.  He does this to buy thirty minutes with a prostitute "walking the street, eyes available red." To have her again, Dusk keeps selling memories, until he doesn't know who he is, or who this woman is that he inexplicably wants.

The stories "Bluebelle" and "Skin-Effect" break taboo by making explicit the sexual undercurrents of the savagery and killing in nearly every Hollywood cop and military action flick.

In "Guernica", several individuals meet secretly in a basement to enjoy sex acts outlawed by a repressive Twenty-First-Century government.  Their practices, costumes, and toys deliberately, ironically, terrifyingly recreate the uniforms, actions, and tools of the cops who would arrest and punish – and kill – them.

In "Butterflie$", a hacker immersed in the full-sensory, Disney-perfect Glade of the Datasea finds herself assaulted – literally – by a flock of beautiful butterfly-sprites.  I generally hate stories about rape/violation, yet Christian's skill, imagery, and insight kept me reading to the end ... and I never felt violated by the story.  It's an impressive achievement.

In "Hackwork", Rosselyn Moss works for ExpressTaxi as a body that cyber-riders hire to carry their consciousness around New Orleans.  They dictate her actions and, inevitably, drive her body into sexual encounters.  One night, she is distressed to find herself whipping a beautiful young stranger – and even more distressed to discover the stranger loves it.

Like Rosselyn, the narrator of "Switch" is a rent girl.  She isn't a taxi, but she may have an even more troubling job, for she never remembers who her clients were, or what they did to her.  M.Christian travels deep into taboo territory by demonstrating that, for some, being so thoroughly controlled, so completely owned as to remember nothing, is the ultimate turn-on.

In "Everything but the Smell of Lilies", Justine Moor is a whore with a deeply creepy specialty.  She's been turned into "a hardwired dead girl, a chilling and stiffening hooker", dying over and over for money.  If this bleeding-edge cyberpunk extrapolation isn't disturbing enough, Justine finds herself lying, a motionless but fully-conscious corpse, in an ambulance staffed by a necrophiliac.  (In case it's not already abundantly clear, some stories in The Bachelor Machine are not intended to arouse.)

Many of M.Christian's grittily urban stories are cyberpunk; "Heartbreaker" pushes the form to a logical extreme.  When an undercover cop sets up the bust of an outlaw biohacker, the two women don't just have sex, they withdraw very special interface cables from inside themselves and connect them: "Linked, each hardwired into the other's genitals, mixed and matched, they surged and merged."

In "Thin Dog", fans jack their minds into a full-sensory experience of what it's like to be superstar reactor-rock band Thin Dog.  Members Johnna, Paul, Georgina, and Jingo (ahem) play instruments that are nanotech implants woven through their bodies; playing includes on-"stage" couplings and quadruplings.

Some stories not only share 1980s-cyberpunk's fascination with Japanese culture, but show the influence of "anime" (Japanese animation).  In many ways, the woman and situation in "State" are ideal for anime.  The prostitute Fields lives in Japan and earns her living by pretending to be an almost mythically superior Japanese-made sex android.  Her masquerade must always achieve perfection – from biochemically lowered body temperature, to "incredibly durable bonding polymer" applied daily to every millimeter of flesh, to behavior in orgasm – because her clients must never suspect she's human.

Not every story is cyberpunk.  "The New Motor" is an amusing steampunk entertainment set in Paul Di Filippo territory.  Nineteenth-Century spiritualist John Murray Spear has a vision of "the Association of Electricizers ... spirits with a mechanical turn of mind," and begins proselytizing for the creation of "the Physical Savior of the Race ... the New Motor!" This charismatic messiah for "a new Age of Man Through Machine" leads his followers to transcendentalist New England, where they settle in the conservative town of Lynn, Massachusetts.  Seducing and neglecting a particularly fervent follower proves seer Spear is dangerously blind to certain human truths.

The collection has some flaws.  Some futures don't seem entirely plausible (a minor problem, and one hardly confined to the erotic-SF subgenre).  A couple of stories are vague in their SFnal elements.  I never quite figured out what "Bluebelle" was (a micro Death Star? a flying fembot? a round mecha?).  It takes too long to learn what the futuristic technology is and does in "Eulogy".  The endings of "Eulogy" and "Winged Memory" left me wondering just what was happening.  And frustratingly, the book provides no copyright data, providing no information about if or when the stories were previously published.

M.Christian's prose is strong and supple and sometimes lyrical.  If you don't like naughty language or graphic descriptions of sex, you'd better steer clear of his work.  But if you like smart, taboo-breaking SF, then read The Bachelor Machine.  

–Cynthia Ward, Locus Online (2004)

(Cynthia Ward has published short fiction in Asimov's and numerous anthologies, and has written a monthly market column for Speculations.  She has written many reviews for Amazon.com.  Her website is at www.cynthiaward.com.)

BUY THE DAZZLING SEXFUTURE "BACHELOR MACHINE" ONLY $2.99 FOR KINDLE AT AMAZON.

This Monday: Polyamory Discussion/Support Group at SF Citadel!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Just a reminder that the fun Polyamory Discussion/Support Group I help facilitate is coming up this Monday, February 23rd, at the SF Citadel:

Polyamory Discussion/Support Group

SF Citadel
181 Eddy Street,
San Francisco, CA

Polyamory is – not to state the obvious – complex. But what is even more challenging is that it is still not wildly accepted, with those in non-monogamous relationships often finding it difficult to find understanding and support. In this discussion/support group, polyamorous individuals and couples will have a nonjudgmental and supportive environment to share their concerns and experiences.

All Discussion/Support Groups are from 7:30PM to 9:30PM and cost $10

#

M.Christian has been an active participant in the San Francisco BDSM scene since 1988, and has been a featured presenter at the Northwest Leather Celebration, smOdyssey, the Center For Sex and Culture, The National Sexuality Symposium, San Francisco Sex Information, The Citadel, The Looking Glass, The Society of Janus, The Floating World, Winter Solstice, and lots of other venues. He has taught classes on everything from impact play, tit torture, bondage, how to write and sell erotica, polyamory, cupping, caning, and basic SM safety.

M.Christian is also a recognized master of BDSM erotica with more than 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica, and many other anthologies, magazines, and other sites; editor of 2t anthologies such as the Best S/M Erotica series, Pirate Booty, My Love For All That Is Bizarre: Sherlock Holmes Erotica, and more; the collections Dirty Words, The Bachelor Machine, Love Without Gun Control, Rude Mechanicals, and more; and the novels Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Me2, Finger's Breadth, Brushes, and Painted Doll. His site is www.mchristian.com

Thanks, Melanie Love: A Great Write-Up About The The Amazing R.Greco And M.Christian Road Show!

A big thank you to the wonderful Melanie Love for this write-up about the upcoming R.Greco And M.Christian Road Show, from Romance Beat:

The West Coast Will Never Recover 

Author/reprobates/legends-in-their-own-minds Ralph Greco, Jr. and M. Christian embark on a mini West Coast Tour of readings, gatherings, classes and legerdemain. 

Meeting in the ‘what-happens-there-stays there’ environs of Las Vegas (at the Riviera Hotel to be exact) erotic scribes M. Christian and R. Greco, Jr. begin their mini west coast tour at the end of this month. Of the three classes the pair will be presenting together at the Sin In The City convention-info here: http://www.sin-in-the-city.com, from 2/27th to 3/1-will be a live symposium of what the two authors present at their Creative Sexuality online classes: “Sex Sells: How To Write and Sell Erotica.” 

Then it is on to San Francisco (Chris’ home turf) as he and Ralph first appear for a meet-and-greet and earlobe tickling at the Wicked Grounds (http://www.wickedgrounds.com) kink café and boutique, @ 289 8th St San Francisco, on Tuesday March 3rd. The boys will be singing books and generally gabbing from 1-3. This is all in preparation for the events Ralph and Chris have planned for further in the week in the city-by-the-bay: 

On 3/4, Chris and Ralph will present “Basic Bondage: Tie Me Up On A Budget” at the infamous SF Citadel Club, @ 181 Eddy St, San Francisco, from 8:00PM to 10:00PM (doors open at 7:30PM) Cost: $20 at the door, or $15 in advance, purchase here: https://www.Purplepass.com/sfc342015. 

On 3/5, Ralph & Chris appear at The Center For Sex and Culture @ 1349 Mission St, San Francisco, presenting an extra “SPECIAL: Sex Sells – How To Write and Sell Erotica With R. Greco Jr. And M.Christian” from 6-8pm. $20 tickets are available here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1133598 

And lastly, the boys are back to at the Center for a Saturday night (3/7) author reading featuring a bunch of erotic scribes in: “Leather, Lace & Lust: An Evening Of Erotic Storytelling and Sexual Merriment” from 7-10pm (doors open at 6:30.) 

Sponsored by WriteSex, this will be an evening of witty, carnal, and provocative literary endeavors that will tickle just about every kind of fancy, a festival of playful sensual fiction that will you laugh, cry, and get that oh-so-special tingly feeling in your nether-regions. 

Featured performers include: Molly Weatherfield: Blake C. Aarens Jean Marie Stine M.Christian Dr. Carol Queen, R. Greco’s 

Admission: $10 at the door. 

Catch M. Christian and Ralph Greco, Jr. out in Vegas, in San Francisco or make like a groopie and follow them everywhere. Either way, don’t miss out on the fun of this mini tour of two of the foremost erotic writers in the business.

The Amazing R.Greco And M.Christian Road Show: Feb 27 - March 7!

(from R.Greco and M.Christian Presents) 

There's amazing and then there's amazing: join R. Greco and M.Christian on a whirlwind tour of teaching, performing and meeting and greeting, beginning in Las Vegas on February 27th with the Sin In The City convention and going onto San Francisco for shindigs at Wicked Grounds, the SF Citadel, and the Center For Sex And Culture!

Check out this kick-ass (and a half) schedule ... fun, fun, fun and more fun!

Sin In The City
Las Vegas
February 27th – March 1st, 2015
http://www.sin-in-the-city.com
Join hundreds of other kinksters and leather people in saying "Hit Me!" to our Sin in the City dealers for a double-down dose of fun

Tit-Torture For Boobs: A Breast Play Intensive
Saturday, February 28, 2015: 9-10:30
Breast play offers wonderful opportunities for intensely powerful play - but also comes with serious, even dangerous, risks. In this breasts-on seminar, participants will learn how to treat tits, both male and female, with exactly the right measure of sensuality and intensity to play well but also safely. Clothespins, nipple clamps, pinching, suction devices, gentle impact, bondage, and more will be demonstrated - as well as how to deliver effective aftercare. Additionally, participants will be given instruction in first aid, the dangers of breast play, and the limits of what boobs can take. 

Sex Sells: How To Write and Sell Erotica
Saturday, February 28, 2015: 11-12:30
The market for erotic fiction and nonfiction is booming! There actually is a secret to writing great erotica - and you'll discover just what that is in this fun, hands-on workshop with well-known erotica writer and teacher M.Christian. For the beginning writer, erotica can be the ideal place to begin writing, getting published, and - best of all - earning money. And for the experienced writer, erotica can be an excellent way to beef up your resume and hone your writing skills. M.Christian will review the varieties of personal and literary expression possible in this exciting and expanding field. He'll also teach you techniques for creating love and sex scenes that sizzle. Plus: current pay rates, how to write for a wide variety of erotic genres, where and how to submit your erotic writing, and more. 

Cupping: Using The Ancient Medicinal Technique For Erotic Play
Saturday, February 28, 2015: 3:30-5
For thousands of years, Asian cultures have been using 'cupping' as a remedy for a variety of ills – from muscle strains to just a wonderful way to relax. In this unique class, participants will not just learn how to use cupping safely but also how to use it to enhance all kinds of erotic – and kinky – play. Demonstrations will include not just how to use cupping on various parts of the body in new and exciting ways but also the different types of cupping sets that are available and what type is right for everything from advanced BDSM play to just soothing an achy back.

Erotic Authors: Ralph Greco, Jr. & M.Christian 
Wicked Grounds, San Francisco
289 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Tuesday, March 3, 2015: 1:00PM to 3:00PM
http://www.wickedgrounds.com
Wicked Grounds is San Francisco's first and only kink cafe and boutique. We have a full cafe in San Francisco and host a wide variety of BDSM and related events, including workshops, classes, social gatherings, and munches.

Here's an opportunity to meet and greet Ralph Greco Jr. and M.Christian: two kick-ass smut writers and BDSM/sex educators who know how to have a good time ... either on the page or in the bedroom/dungeon! 

In town as part of a whirlwind tour of kinky teaching and sexy authoring, Chris and Ralph (to their friends) will be available to chat about being an editor for Von Gutenberg Latex Couture Fashion Magazine (Ralph) and Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions (Chris) and their BDSM classes (such as Sensual Caning, Basic Bondage, Cupping, Breast Torture, and more) and their renowned erotica writing class series! 

Come chat BDSM classes, get some books signed, and have a fun time with two fun guys...

Basic Bondage: Tie Me Up On A Budget with M.Christian & R.Greco 

SF Citadel Club, San Francisco
181 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
http://www.sfcitadel.org
THE SAN FRANCISCO CITADEL CLUB’s mission is to provide BDSM entertainment, education on alternative lifestyles, cultural and leather community events, and other resources to individuals, associations and communities who identify with having different ways of expressing their proclivities; to create a safe place to meet, entertain, explore and share enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure within those communities locally and nationally; and to be open to the non-BDSM community to check our evening classes, weekend retreats and weekend entertainment events.

Let's face it, BDSM - especially bondage play - can be pricy: steel shackles, leather restraints, handcuffs, and other fun things don't come cheap. But in this class students will learn that tying someone up doesn't mean you have to break the bank. From Saran Wrap to Bungie cord, duct tape to clothesline, and more students will learn all kinds of tricks and techniques to not only restrain on a budget but how to do it safely as well as effectively ... and enjoyably!

Class from 8:00PM to 10:00PM, doors open at 7:30PM
Cost: $20 at the door, or $15 in advance
https://www.Purplepass.com/sfc342015

Sex Sells - How To Write and Sell Erotica With R. Greco Jr. And M.Christian
The Center For Sex and Culture, San Francisco
1349 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Thursday, March 5, 2015
http://www.sexandculture.org
The Mission of the Center for Sex & Culture is to provide judgment-free education, cultural events, a library/media archive, and other resources to audiences across the sexual and gender spectrum; and to research and disseminate factual information, framing and informing issues of public policy and public health.

The market for erotic fiction and nonfiction is booming! There actually is a secret to writing great erotica - and you'll discover just what that is in this fun, hands-on workshop with well-known erotica writers R. Greco Jr. and M.Christian. 

For the beginning writer, erotica can be the ideal place to begin writing, getting published, and - best of all - earning money. And for the experienced writer, erotica can be an excellent way to beef up your resume and hone your writing skills. 

R. Greco Jr. and M.Christian will review the varieties of personal and literary expression possible in this exciting and expanding field. They'll also teach techniques for creating love and sex scenes that sizzle, current pay rates, how to write for a wide variety of erotic genres, where and how to submit your erotic writing, and more!
$20
6:00PM - 8:00PM
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1133598

Leather, Lace & Lust: An Evening Of Erotic Storytelling and Sexual Merriment
The Center For Sex and Culture, San Francisco
1349 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Saturday, March 7th, 7:00PM – 10:00PM
http://www.sexandculture.org
The Mission of the Center for Sex & Culture is to provide judgment-free education, cultural events, a library/media archive, and other resources to audiences across the sexual and gender spectrum; and to research and disseminate factual information, framing and informing issues of public policy and public health.

Leather, Lace & Lust: An Evening Of Erotic Storytelling and Sexual Merriment 

Come one, come all* to an evening of lusty literature by many of the best erotica writers in the Bay Area! 

From the tempting tease of delicate lace to the steamy heat of hardcore leather, these authors and performers will amuse, delight, and most of all excite you in all kinds of new and provocative ways; This is an evening of witty, carnal, and provocative literary endeavors that will tickle just about every kind of fancy, a festival of playful sensual fiction that will make you laugh, cry, and get that oh-so-special tingly feeling in your nether-regions. 

In other words, a night of kick-ass erotica performed by ass-kicking writers!
Sponsored by WriteSex: Everything a writer needs to know about the business of publishing erotica! 

Our featured performers include:
• Molly Weatherfield: "Twenty years ago, a mild-mannered computer programmer decided to spend some quality time with her erotic fantasy life, and Carrie's Story - BDSM for smart girls - was born."
• Blake C. Aarens is an author, poet, screenwriter, playwright, and a Black Girl Nerd.
• Jean Marie Stine is the author of a number of pioneering works of erotica published in the late 1960 and early 1970s, beginning with Season of the Witch in 1968, which was filmed as the motion picture Synapse. Her erotic short stories and novelettes have been collected as "Trans-sexual: Fiction for Gender Queers."
• M.Christian is a recognized master of erotica with more than 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica and many others.
• Dr. Carol Queen is the author of Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture, The Leather Daddy and the Femme, Exhibitionism for the Shy, and co-editor of PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions About Gender and Sexuality (winner of a Lambda Literary Award in 1998; with Lawrence Schimel)
• R. Greco's short fiction (erotic and ‘straight’ fiction) has been published in 7 countries, various anthologies and single author short story collections from Xcite Books in the U.K., C.F. Publications and with Renissance E Books. Ralph is also the co-host of an hour-long net talk program, “Peter Riot’s Smack Talk”, was a pre-school music teacher and has played his original music in concert festivals in Italy, the U.S. and England. 

Saturday, March 7th
The Center For Sex And Culture
1349 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Doors at 6:30PM, Event starts at 7:30PM
Admission: $10
*no guarantees

This Wednesday: How to Create an Effective Online Profile @ The Spot in San Jose

(from M.Christian's Classes and Appearances)

This Wednesday (the 11th) I'm going to teaching my fun - if I do say so myself - class on online dating, How to Create an Effective Online Profile - And How to Write Messages That Will Get Good Responses for the South Bay Spot (in San Jose).

See you there!

How to Create an Effective Online Profile - And How to Write Messages That Will Get Good Responses

The world is the now the Internet ... and if you don't know how to use it then you are at a serious disadvantage in making any kind of connection: employment, social, artistic and – most of all – erotic. This class will not just explore how to use the Internet and various sites as a resource to explore your own sexuality – in any form – but also how to create an effective and alluring online profile. But creating a digital 'self' is only part of it: participants will also get tips on how to reach out in imaginative ways that will get a positive response, the important things that are too often forgotten and other social niceties that can be the difference between frustration and disappointment and having a wonderful – and best of all – sexy time online!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015 · 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
973 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95126
$10 for Members of The South Bay Spot and Reciprocal Organizations
15 for guests or other members of the Community

TWO Kinky Classes This Week In The Bay Area!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

This is gonna be a blast! This week I'm teaching two kinky classes: the first,
How to Create an Effective Online Profile - And How to Write Messages That Will Get Good Responses is for the great folks at the South Bay Spot (in San Jose) on Wednesday, February 11th - and the second is Tit-Torture For Boobs for the SF Citadel on Saturday, February 14th!

Here's all the info and the links - see you there!

How to Create an Effective Online Profile - And How to Write Messages That Will Get Good Responses

The world is the now the Internet ... and if you don't know how to use it then you are at a serious disadvantage in making any kind of connection: employment, social, artistic and – most of all – erotic. This class will not just explore how to use the Internet and various sites as a resource to explore your own sexuality – in any form – but also how to create an effective and alluring online profile. But creating a digital 'self' is only part of it: participants will also get tips on how to reach out in imaginative ways that will get a positive response, the important things that are too often forgotten and other social niceties that can be the difference between frustration and disappointment and having a wonderful – and best of all – sexy time online!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015 · 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
973 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95126
$10 for Members of The South Bay Spot and Reciprocal Organizations - $15 for guests or other members of the Community

Tit-Torture For Boobs 

Breast play offers wonderful opportunities for intensely powerful scenes - but also comes with serious, even dangerous, risks. In this breasts-on seminar, participants will learn how to treat tits, both male and female, with exactly the right measure of sensuality and intensity to play well but also safely. Clothespins, nipple clamps, pinching, suction devices, gentle impact, bondage, and more will be demonstrated - as well as how to deliver effective aftercare. Additionally, participants will be given instruction in first aid, the dangers of breast play, and the limits of what boobs can take.

Saturday, February 14, 2015 · 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
181 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA
$20 at the door, or $15 in advance