New Article At FutureOfSex: Sex in 2115 - Biohacking Bodies and Turning Ourselves into Sexual Cyborgs

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is very, very, very cool: my brand new article just went live on the great FutureOfSex site.

Check out by thoughts on the genitals of the future here.

Welcome to Human Body 2.0

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the basic operations of both the new and improved physical structure as well as the operating system.

The first things you may have noticed are the major improvements to the physical sexual perimeters (i.e. the genitals). Don’t be alarmed. Rest assured that not only will they perform just like the previous versions, but they have been totally redesigned to improve just about every aspect of erotic pleasure.

Oh, and don’t forget to agree to the Terms and Conditions.

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Predicting the future is, at best, hit and miss; mostly a lot of misses to a very few hits.

But that’s never stopped me before. So, after looking at a few of the remarkable innovations that have recently appeared, I’ve tried to speculate on the hot new bodies we all could be wearing in the next hundred or so years.

And, naturally, as this is Future of Sex, I’ll be paying particular attention to the erotic fun all of us might be having with our new bodies.

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Elizabeth Coldwell Likes Skin Effect!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is so touching - check out this lovely review my pal, Elizabeth Coldwell, did for my new collection of erotic science fiction stories, Skin Effect: More Science Fiction And Fantasy Erotica

A woman with the ability to perfect memories – or erase them from the mind forever – offers help to people who can’t escape their past. A man tries to avenge his family’s death, and finds only a loving welcome from his bitterest enemy. And a number of friends enjoy a group sex experience in which their minds as well as their bodies become fused… 

In his second collection of high-concept science fiction and fantasy erotica, Skin Effect, M. Christian takes aspects of current technology – spectacles that enable the wearer to instantly connect to a world of data, smart fabrics, video blogging, the lurking spectre of cybercrime – and takes it to its logical extension. The characters in these stories have access to all manner of cutting edge devices, enabling them to move through time or transition their bodies, and Christian uses this overarching them to explore how this might affect love and sex. If you could routinely change from male to female, wear clothing that would adapt to suit your mood and aid seduction, or relive in perfect detail time spent with a lost lover, however painful it might prove, would you do it? And if so, would you be prepared for any unexpected consequences? 

Skin Effect isn’t an easy read. The stories are written in a style that requires close attention to extract the nuances of the text, and you may not grasp all the implications of a scenario on first reading. But as you’d expect from an M. Christian anthology, they drip with eroticism and the many and varied sexual couplings are lusciously described. If you’re looking for thought-provoking erotica that’s both cerebral and sensual, this is the collection for you.

Wonderful Review Of My New ScIFi Erotica Collection, SKIN EFFECT By Amos Lassen!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is so very, very, very touching: my great pal Amos Lassen was so kind of post this lovely review of my new scifi erotica collection, Skin Effect: More Science Fiction And Fantasy Erotica (a follow-up to Bachelor Machine - also out in a new edition).

Thanks so much, Amos!

Christian is one of the freshest and most original erotica writer these days. I have been reviewing him for about eight years now and every time he sends me something new, it is a surprise. “Skin Effect” is the sequel to “The Bachelor Machine” that I reviewed some time ago and that that really showed the skills of the author. I asked myself then whether he would ever be able to top that and he has. ”Skin Effect” is a new collection of short stories that both stun the reader and arouse his/her libido. Christian breaks the rules here—his erotica is innovative and totally original. He goes beyond bondage and sado-masochism, he continues past fetish kind and arrives at a new spot and possibly a new genre in erotic literature. He writes of the here and now and of the future as he explores the nth degree of sex and arousal. Below are the titles of some of the stories included here: 

“[Title Forgotten]”
“Prêt-À-Porter”
“The Subsequent State”
“The Bell House Invitation”
“The Potter’s Wheel”
“Double Toil And Trouble”
“A Kiss Goodnight” and M. Christian gives us an informative and thoughtful afterword. 

In this book’s precursor, “The Bachelor Machine” that I reviewed several years ago, we had dark erotic stories of desperate individuals. Now, this new collection is more hopeful and that seems to be because of new technologies that include data that streams constantly, sensors that are worn, the cloud that now called the media-sphere and that allows for every thought and action to be available to everyone. Add to that that a human being is looked upon solely based on the number of people who follow him/here electronically. Quite naturally, what comes out of all this can be different for different people and there has not yet been any evaluation as to whether or not this is good for the people. It seems to me that we are asking the same questions today. Does technology challenge individualism and make our lives open books and if so, it this good for us? Memory here becomes fluid and can be changed or done away with at will. Sex is affected also in that gender indeed becomes fluid and be changed at will. 

We have the example in one of the stories that a character buys a piece of clothing that becomes whatever the wearer wants it to be and therefore is suitable for all occasions.
I can certainly see how what is written here can be upsetting but we must never lose sight that what we are reading is fiction and this is not necessarily how things will be (but we said the same thing about Dick Tracy’s watch way back then). I found the stories to be charming but also, without exception, highly erotic even though this is not quite the kind of erotica that we are used to. The writing and the erotica are both raunchy (for lack of a better word) and hallucinatory and the stories arouse us while at the same makes us worry about what the future may bring. 

I am not much of an erotica reader except in the cases of M. Christian and a couple of others and that is because I concentrate more on the writing than on the sex. I must say that M. Christian is one of the most inventive writers I have ever read and when we combine with good plots, we become more than satisfied with what he has to say. He manages to take us into the future in exciting, provocative ways yet the does not lose sight of how important sex is in our lives.

Up Now @ FutureOFSex: Dressing for Tomorrow: How Designers Are Mixing Technology, Eroticism and Fashion

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

I am having a real blast writing for the great folks at FutureOfSex ... and I'm very pleased that a brand new piece just went live there.

Click here to read Dressing for Tomorrow: How Designers Are Mixing Technology, Eroticism and Fashion!

When not protecting the wearer against the weather—or in some cases other humans—clothing has always been about sex.

While materials came and went, the basic idea of fashion has stuck around. From power ties to high heels, corsets to tuxedos, jockeys to hot pants, we’ve forever been trying to accentuate, or downplay, certain parts of our anatomy.

But now it looks like things will really be changing. Frequently using what is called intelligent clothing or e-textiles, a few innovative designers are exploring wild new territories—and perhaps giving us a glimpse of the erotic fashions for the next century.

Anouk Wipprecht

To put it overly simple, technology plus fashion, plus sensuality, equals Dutch designer Anouk Wipprecht.

One of her designs called the ParticleDress, embraces the open-source movement: where all kinds of technologies are being made available for anyone to tweak or play with.

Basically, she created a 3D printed framework/garment that supports a standardized hexagonal ‘module’—then she reached out to creative people all over the world, inviting them to design their very own modules to be attached to the dress. The final selection of these submissions then made it into the final design, unveiled at the San Francisco Maker Faire in May of this year.

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Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker: How Much? By M.Christian

(from the Erotica Readers And Writers site)

Here's a bit of fun I wrote a looooong time ago ... hope you like!

How Much?

The Editor sends the story back, No one comes like this. It’s obvious she’s faking it and I realize he’s right: she was faking it.

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The Director leans in, hot lights burning my legs: Just can’t get the lighting right, your cock still looks too small. I frown, thinking of all the wankers from San Francisco to Boston feeling good that the stud in their whack-off vid is smaller than they are for once.

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She never calls me back. Six months later, I run into her on the street. I read that story you wrote for Warped Perverts, she says, scanning for a quick escape route. It scared me. 

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The Photographer tells me to smile, damn it, smile as I lift my leg into yet another impossible position. I miss the gallery opening because of a cramp so bad I can’t get out of bed.

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Up Now @ FutureOFSex: The Sexual Future of 2015 - What Sci-Fi Movies and Books Got Wrong… and Right

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

I'm having a serious blast writing for the great folks at FutureOfSex- and a brand new post of mine just went live!

Check out The Sexual Future of 2015: What Sci-Fi Movies and Books Got Wrong… and Right!

It was a fun to write and (hopefully) just as fun to read!

Today may not be the future these works envisioned, but maybe it’s still to come?

Science fiction has never really strived to be prophetic. Mostly the genre has used speculation to draw attention to social issues of the day; a funhouse mirror held up to mankind.

And when it has tried to gaze into a crystal ball, sci-fi’s track record is more than a bit lacking—to be polite.

Especially in regards to the future of sexuality.

Now that we are actually living in 2015—and with 2016 right around the corner—it’s fun to look at some notable books and films that tried to envision what sex would be like in the future. In other words, right this very minute.

A lot of things turned out to be flat out wrong. But what’s even more intriguing—and even more than a bit chilling—is what they actually may have gotten right.

If not this year but very, very soon.

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Tuesday: Nov. 10: Tit-Torture For Boobs: Breast Play With M.Christian @ SFCitadel

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

This is gonna be a blast: come check out this really fun - if I say so myself - class!

Btw, I need a demo.  Let me know if you are game before or at the class.  First volunteer gets in for free!

And be sure and check out my survey for what classes you want me to teach for 2016.

Tit-Torture For Boobs: Breast Play

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.

SF Citadel
181 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA

Class from 8pm to 10pm, doors open at 7:30pm
Cost: $20 at the door, or $15 in advance
https://www.purplepass.com/sfc1172015

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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 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

Thursday, Nov. 12: Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica @ Center For Sex And Culture In SF!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

I love teaching all my classes, but Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica is especially near and dear to my heart.

And the very good news is that I'm going to be doing this special class for the Center For Sex And Culture in San Francisco on Thursday, November 12th!

Here's the write-up ... and here's a link so you can pre-order tickets.

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.

Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica
The Center for Sex and Culture
1349 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

Thursday, November 12th
6:00PM to 8:00PM

$20 (purchase pre-event tickets here)

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, Floating World, Winter Solstice, and lots of other venues. He has taught classes on everything from impact play, tit torture, bondage, 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

Beyond Romance Likes Skin Effect!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is very touching: the great Lisabet Sarai reviewed by brand-new erotic science fiction collection, Skin Effect: More Science Fiction And Fantasy Erotica, for Beyond Romance.

Thanks so much, Lisabet!

Normally, when I write a review, I treat the book as a stand-alone entity, without considering prequels, sequels or other books in a series. In reviewing Skin Effect, however, it’s almost impossible not to make some reference to The Bachelor Machine, M. Christian’s first collection of science fiction erotica, which I reviewed back in 2009. For one thing, there’s the subtitle, “More Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy Erotica”, pointedly implying the existence of the previous volume. Then there’s the author’s Afterword, which explicitly compares the perspectives in the first book to those in this one. Even the title is a reference to the earlier book, the name of one of the stories therein (which is not included here). In any case, I couldn’t really read this collection without being reminded of the earlier volume. The stories are equally inventive, but extremely different in tone. To me, they suggested a more mature, subtle and balanced vision of the future. 

The world of The Bachelor Machine is largely dystopic, a dark environment of crumbling infrastructure, poisoned nature, desperate individuals, oppressive and dehumanizing technology. The stories in Skin Effect reflect a greater degree of hope as well as the expected impact of more recent technological developments—constant data streams gathered by wearable sensors; software agents that relieve us of the need to learn or remember; the omnipresent social media-sphere, where every thought, action and emotion is immediately visible to one’s audience and one’s worth as a human being might be measured by the number of spectators one can muster. Like those in the earlier book, however, these tales ask difficult but intriguing questions about reality and human existence. What does it mean to talk about one’s life history, when memories can be implanted or erased at will? What happens to sex when changing gender is almost as easy as changing clothes and every possible sexual variation is available via simulation? Is there something special or unique about direct experience, unmediated by technology? Is that sort of genuine, first-hand, totally disconnected experience even possible anymore? 

One of my favorite stories in the collection is the simple and elegant “Prêt-à-Porter”. A rather shy, serious young woman purchases a – garment – made of the ultimate intelligent fabric, fabric that transforms itself into whatever sort of clothing or costume its wearer desires—and which shapes its owner’s desires in the process. 

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It was ... warm, like a another person's skin. She knew it would be, but the comfort of it was still calming – making the release of that second breath slow and easy. It moved up her body like a splash from a shallow pool, the warmness of it making her relax even more. 

As it flowed, it stayed black – but just as she noticed that, it changed: rolling through a rainbow of hues, shades, and saturations. As it flowed, it stayed glistening like colorful latex – but as she noticed that, as well, it changed: tumbling through an array of textures, contours, weaves, and shapes. 

She couldn't help it: she laughed. It was like a puppy, fresh out of the box and eager to play. It didn't take her mind long to imagine the artificial, intelligent, endlessly chameleonic material as wagging a form of artificial, intelligent, endlessly chameleonic, tail. 

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“LMS”, the last story in the volume, is another high point. Set in a nearer term future than most of the tales (a future in which humans still design web sites!), this tale features an insecure, depressed protagonist who is pried out of his fugue of self-loathing by an encounter with a transsexual who sincerely admires his work. This is a sexy but surprisingly sweet love story, set in a world where your Facebook numbers can determine your personal fate. 

“A Kiss Goodnight” presents the next stage in evolution, as an aging pioneer in the study of artificial intelligence is seduced by the “ghost in the machine”, the sentient, self-aware outcome of his own research. The language in this tale is utterly gorgeous, whether the author is describing the taste of a peach (a real peach, grown on an actual tree—something exceedingly rare) or the nature of the professor’s elusive partner. 

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Shimmering shoals of software; ripples of digital entities flashing in and out of existence – some on a scale of centuries, others faster than anything alive could ever blink, the on and offs of their own basic (in its own way primitive) DNA coding drifting, merging ... vast snowflakes of algorithms wheeling and spinning against an infinite spectrum of quantum uncertainty ... breaking, splintering, only to merge into new complexities, new potentialities. It was a flashing, flickering, fairy kingdom of brilliant streaks, pops, swirls, cascades of illuminated data coming and going, evolving and learning, growing and refining ... flowering unique forms for unique tasks while deep, immense structures, eternally pondering monoliths of infinite potentials and possibilities, thought their long computational thoughts ... knowing every permutation and branch of possibility and, within it all, a cool and perfect understanding of their original architects, the first programmers, far more than they could ever know themselves. 

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Despite this awe-inspiring vision of distributed intelligence, the physical coupling between the professor and his digital partner is compelling, even world-shattering, flesh and blood sex a kind of fundamental language that in some sense transcends species.
This is the message of “The Potter’s Wheel” as well, a fascinating tale in which a woman who supports herself by selling her experiences via social media is chosen to meet the Potter of Gujyo-hachiman, a Living Treasure renowned for his exquisite porcelain. Living off the ‘Net at his monastic retreat in rural Japan, more or less purely in the physical world, the Potter helps Peers reconnect with fleshly, unmediated desire.
Although a few are listed as previously published, all of the stories in Skin Effectwere new to me, with the exception of “The Bell House Invitation”, which I’d called out as one of the sexiest stories in The Bachelor Machine. I was delighted to have the chance to savor this unique ménage once again. Indeed, the story might be more consistent with the worldview spun by this volume than in its original home. 

All in all, Skin Effect is a solid collection of speculative erotica. I have to be honest and admit that I found it less erotic, overall, than The Bachelor Machine. However, that may say as much about me (years older than I was when I read the first book, and far more jaded) than it does about the book. I think it’s fair to suggest that the sex in these stories is sweeter and more sincere, less about thrills and more about connections. That’s fine, as far as I’m concerned. I want more than heat in my reading; I want original ideas and graceful language. In this regard, there’s no question that M. Christian delivers.

Up Now: 5 Science-Fiction Novels That Pushed The Limits of Sexuality On FutureOfSex!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is very, very cool: my grand new article 5 Science-Fiction Novels That Pushed The Limits of Sexuality just went live on the excellent FutureOfSex site!

Here's a tease - for the rest click here.

Erotic visions of the future from renowned sci-fi literature.

Like a lot of genres, science fiction took a bit of time to discover that one special, yet very basic, component of humanity.

Yes, I’m talking about sex.

But unlike mystery, horror, romance, thriller—and every flavor of literature you can name—when these science fiction authors explored eroticism, it didn’t just change that genre. Using visions of the future, they changed the way many people came to look at sex itself.

While there are many writers working today who are exploring sexuality in science fiction (hint, hint), here are five works that I personally feel went way above and far beyond the known limits of both sex and science fiction.

Oh, and be prepared for some very minor plot spoilers—but I promise not to give too much away.

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What Classes Do YOU Want Me To Teach?

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

As 2015 is - gasp - rapidly drawing to a close I thought it would be fun to ask all of you out there to vote on what classes you want me to teach for 2016!

I'm particularly game to hear your suggestions for classes that may not be on my usual hit parade ... or venues and events that might be my cup of tea.

Here's the link to the survey.

Have fun!

A DARK DOINGS AT MISKATONIC U Special: Made In DNA

(from M.Christian's Meine Kleine Fabrik)

Continuing the celebration of the release of Dark Doings at Miskatonic U (that I had the extreme honor of editing) here's a quickie interview with the author of one of the new Miskatonic tales in the book - the wonderful Made In DNA:

Q: What's your favorite part of the Lovecraft mythos

The creeping darkness the work introduces into your soul. There isn't any particular "monster" in the series I really dig as they all create this overwhelming sense of foreboding. It's the whole package.

Q: What do you think is the lasting "allure" of Lovecraft's work?

Though steeped in monster culture, the work never stops playing with your mind. It's the moonlit shadows and the inexplicable noises that lurk around the other side of a door or turn of a hallway.

Q: What's the scariest thing, for you, in Lovecraft's work?

The monsters.

Q: What's your area of study at Miskatonic University?

Sex Magicks.