They Are Coming -

Win A Copy Of Finger's Breadth!

Great news, folks!  If you want to win an autographed copy of Finger's Breadth here's your chance - compliments of the wonderful Marlena's Teaching Fund Bid for Compassion for Nonviolent Communication Classes for People with Chronic Illness & Disability.  

M. Christian, an acknowledged master of erotica, editor of 25 anthologies and author of multiple novels and short story collections is donating a personally autographed copy of his latest novel, Finger's Breadth. 

An erotic thriller, this dark emotional thriller that reviewers say "will take the reader on a scary but enlightening ride through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche" and will "get under your skin and send chills to your bones in both a terrifying and arousing kind of way."
M. Christian will sign it personally for the winner. (ebook is available if preferred.)
This item comes from a smoke-free environment. 

Retail Value: $15.99. Minimum starting bid: $10.  

There are NO geographical restrictions on this item; we will accept bids from anywhere in the world!

Look at your hand: four fingers and a thumb, right? But what if you woke one morning and rather than four fingers and a thumb you are ... short? How would you feel? What would you do? What would you become? 

The city is terrified: a mysterious figure is haunting the streets of near-future San Francisco, drugging and amputating the fingertips of queer men. But what's worse … this terror or that it can, so easily, turn any of us into something even more horrific? 

Erotic. Nightmarish. Fascinating. Disturbing. Intriguing. Haunting. You have never read a book like Finger's Breadth. You will never look your fingers -- or the people all around you -- the same way again. 

Yet More Philosophy

“The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.”
- Albert Einstein

Treasure Island Redux

Remember my previous post about a great photo expedition to Treasure Island?  Well my brother, s.a., just put his own pics up about the trip.  Here are a few - and for the rest check out his Tumblr feed.  Enjoy!

"The whole problem with the world - "

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser men so full of doubts.”

- Bertrand Russell

So True

Beyond Romance And I -

Very cool: check out Lisabet Sarai's fantastic Beyond Romance blog where I have a little article up called "In Praise Of Passion" (and a complete erotic story) as part of my Coming Together Presents M.Christian collection - where all the proceeds go straight to Planned Parenthood.  Here's a tease:

I've been thinking about passion a lot lately. 

Not a shocker, I know, for someone who – shall we say – has been swimming in a literary pornographic pool for quite a bit of time. But, bear with me, this pondering on my part may be worth your time. 

Passion, in this case, has a lot to do with writing – but not necessarily about sex writing. Sure, I've written more than my fair share of bow-chicka-wow-wow fiction [see bio at the end of this] but having a passion for writing has zero to do with writing about ... well, passion. 

Maybe it's where I've found myself but I'm concerned about passionate writing – not on my part, per se, but in lots of other places. 

This all came to find when I put together my own humble contribution to the Coming Together project: Coming Together Presents M. Christian. Reading over all of the stories that make up the book – proceeds from, by the way, go straight to Planned Parenthood – I had a very odd feeling of ... coolness. 

It's not that I'm not proud of what I write – far from it: in fact, many of the stories in my own collection for Coming Together I really consider to be my best. It's just that looking backwards at anything, let alone my writing, has never had any great allure. Every blue moon someone asks me to name my favorite story and, to be honest, I am totally flummoxed – usually resorting to the cliché, though very true in my case, "the one I haven't written yet." 

[MORE] 

Yet More Philosophy

AMPUTATION AND NOVEL PUBLICITY: AUTHOR M. CHRISTIAN THREATENS ONE FOR THE OTHER

PRESS RELEASE: In what is clearly an act of pure desperation, author M. Christian has threatened to amputate part of one finger to publicize his new novel, Finger's Breadth (Zumaya Books).

"The fact is, it's getting harder and harder to get the word out about anything new, especially novels," says M. Christian, whose biography includes over 400 short story sales, nine author collections, the editing of 25 anthologies, and six previous novels.  "Is it no surprise that writers are having to resort to obvious stunts to try and get their work noticed?"

Though Finger's Breadth – described as a gay erotic science fiction horror thriller – has garnered respectable reviews, Christian says that it has yet to gain the notoriety he believes it deserves.

"Even with Zee at Firepages saying 'Finger's Breadth has a way of getting under your skin and sending chills to your bones in both a terrifying and arousing kind of way. Finger's Breadth is not a story; it is an experience I highly recommend,' it's been too damned hard to get word out about the book.

Christian points out other reviewers who, apparently, have also found the book to be superb: "I've got Lisabet Sarai, who says 'If you're looking for an easy, sunny, sexy book with a happy ending, don't pick up Finger's Breadth. If, on the other hand, you want a scary but enlightening ride through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, I highly recommend this book,' and the Circlet Press calling it '...one of the most psychologically astute erotic novels since Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s Venus in Furs, and it deserves to be just as widely read,' and even science fiction author Ernest Hogan, who calls it 'a world of crime, out-of-control passions, mutilation, and madness. Terms like noir and hardboiled don't quite fit – this is more like ultraviolet, the invisible light that makes the scorpions glow in the dark.'"

 M. Christian, with fingers intact – so far (photo by Shilo McCabe)

As for what the novel is actually about, Christian says that the book's description as erotic, nightmarish, fascinating, disturbing, intriguing, haunting, you have never read a book like Finger's Breadth is actually pretty accurate – if a little vague: "There are far too many scary books and movies about serial killers, psychos, nasty supernatural forces ... but all of that, to me, is just too removed.  It's far too easy to be able to say it's a matter of them – or him – and us: but the real horror I've always felt, and tried to explore in Finger's Breadth is that the real horror is human nature itself.  That, given the right set of circumstances, otherwise good people can have their minds, and most of all their desires, turned inside out."

And so to try and get the word out about what he feels to be his best novel yet, the reclusive author says that he is willing to step into the light with his most audacious publicity plan ever: to lop off one of his own fingertips

"Okay, my track record for honesty isn't the best ... I'm the first to admit that," Christian says about his planned amputation.  "The whole 'stolen identity' campaign around Me2 [his previous novel] was lost on more than a few people.  Never mind that it worked and the book sold like hotcakes.  But this time I'm totally, completely, absolutely, honest: I really want people to read Finger's Breadth ... and if it takes lopping off the tip of my little finger then I'm gonna do it," he says.

When asked if the planned amputation is simply a publicity stunt, Christian responded with faux outrage: "A stunt?  A STUNT?!  Of course it's a publicity stunt ... these days writers have to be creative and, let's be honest here, more than a bit outrageous if they are going to get noticed.  The book's about a mysterious figure cutting off the tips of little fingers in a near-future noir San Francisco so a pretend self-amputation is just too damned perfect!"

In answer to his admission that the whole thing is nothing but a publicity-seeking prank, Christian shook his head: "That's not to say that it still won't happen; they say that a good writer has at least a few good books in them, so if a finger is all it takes to get the word out about this novel ... well, I have 19 more fingers and toes to go.  Seems like a small price to pay."

M. Christian can be reached at zobop@aol.com or mchristianzobop@gmail.com.  His website is http://www.mchristian.com

To receive a review copy of Finger's Breadth send an email to publicity@zumayapublications.com.

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More Finger's Breadth reviews:

It is not that hard to come up with an idea that can be turned into a horror story and that is why horror has been part of the folklore of America and why these stories are so popular on camp-outs as we sit around a campfire. To successfully do this, we need a combination of characters and plot but more important than all else is a novel way to relate the story. For me that is the definition of M. Christian. This book is unlike anything I have read before and I suspect that it will stay with me for quite a while. 

– Amos Lassen, reviewer

Finger's Breadth creates a vivid portrait of a community torn apart by suspicion, where the thrills of hot, anonymous sex go hand in mutilated hand with the chill of fear, and no one is entirely what they seem. M. Christian skillfully mixes a dark, potent cocktail of lust, longing, paranoia and an overwhelming need for acceptance... 

– Liz Coldwell, author of Take Your Slave To Work

To be effective, the act of literary intercourse between horror and erotica should be deeply unsettling. It should leave the reader feeling uncomfortable, overwhelmed by equal parts dread and anticipation. M. Christian understands this better than most, weaving a tale that permits the reader but a finger’s breadth of space between fear and arousal. His deft control of the story makes us feel the blade, but it's his subtle manipulation of our emotions that makes us want the cut. 

– Sally Sapphire, Bellasbookslut

M. Christian has seen the future – and it is hardboiled! If you love crime stories – gay or otherwise – and you love science fiction, you will love Finger's Breadth. No other storyteller nails it quite like M. Christian does. This is a real page turner. 

– Marilyn Jaye Lewis, author of Freak Parade

M. Christian is a force to be reckoned with. Just when you think you understand the path that his narrative and characters are taking, Christian throws a monkey wrench, or a limb, or a head into the works and you have to get your bearings and start all over again. No matter which book of his you pick up, prepare for an intoxicatedly weird ride. 

– Ily Goyanes, author and filmmaker

Finger's Breadth is mesmeric storytelling, riveting in execution and appalling in implication.  M. Christian’s tale of erotic terror in a near-future San Francisco is imagined so skillfully that it grabs the reader with its easy familiarity, then refuses to let go as it careens to its shocking yet completely believable conclusion.  Evoking such Grand Masters as Armistead Maupin, Thomas Harris and Rod Serling while remaining strikingly original, Finger's Breadth is Christian at the height of his considerable powers.  Like Charon the ferryman, the author takes the reader down the dark rivers of human sexuality and shows us things that would normally never see the light of day.  Ultimately the most compelling aspect of this fiction is how fascinatingly and terrifyingly plausible it is. Finger's Breadth should come with a warning label: Read this before clubbing. 

– Christopher Pierce, author of Rogue Slave, Rogue Hunted, and Kidnapped By A Sex Maniac

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M. Christian is – among many things – an acknowledged 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, many other anthologies, magazines, and Web sites.

He is the editor of 25 anthologies including the Best S/M Erotica series, Pirate Booty, My Love For All That Is Bizarre: Sherlock Holmes Erotica, The Burning Pen, Guilty Pleasures, The Mammoth Book of Future Cops and The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi) and Confessions, Garden of Perverse, and Amazons (with Sage Vivant) as well as many others.

He is the author of the collections Dirty Words, Speaking Parts, The Bachelor Machine, Licks & Promises, Filthy, Love Without Gun Control, Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Coming Together Presents M. Christian, Pornotopia, How To Write And Sell Erotica; and the novels Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Me2, Brushes, Fingers Breadth, and Painted Doll.  His site is http://www.mchristian.com.

Fingers Breadth

Zumaya Books

Paperback: $15.99

ebook: $6.99

ISBN-10: 1934841463

ISBN-13: 978-1934841464

FINGER'S BREADTH AMPUTATION MADNESS

This is ... well, I am practically speechless: not only is Ernest Hogan of one my favorite authors but he's a really wonderful guy: just check out this great post he just did about Fingers Breadth and my (ahem) 'playful' publicity push for the book (the press release, by the way, that started all this will come in my next post).  Thanks so much, Ernest!

The things a writer has to do to get people to buy a book these days! According to a press release I just received, "In what is clearly an act of pure desperation," M. Christian has threatened to have part of one of his fingers amputated to publicized his novel Finger's Breadth. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with bookstores vanishing from the face of the earth, and with everybody who can type an email message putting out an ebook. I guess it's a wonder that it hasn't happened before.

Yeah, William Burroughs cut off part of one his pinkies, but that was a Van Gogh bid for love, not to hawk any books.

In a sane world (is that even possible?) this sort of thing shouldn't be necessary. Finger's Breadth is a sensational read "about a mysterious figure cutting off the tips of little fingers in a near-future noir San Francisco." It's packed with more thrills than you can shake a detached body part at. It should be selling like hotcakes. Filmmakers should be fighting duels over the rights to make a blockbuster movie of it.

So buy and read Finger's Breadth now, before we see missing fingertips all over the place.
I only hope that this doesn't mean that Christian has made some kind of deal with the yakuza.

Call for Submissions - Sex in New York City: Tales of Pleasure and Perversity in the Big Apple

Call for Submissions

Sex in New York City

Tales of Pleasure and Perversity in the Big Apple

Edited By Ralph Greco, Jr.

An anthology of stories about the one of the world’s most spectacularly vibrant and decidedly decadent cities.

To be published by Sizzler Editions (http://SizzlerEditions.com ).

We are looking for stories from new and established authors celebrating one of the busiest-and sexiest-cities on earth. Pulsating with a vibrancy unlike any other location how can one think about New York City without thinking of the orgasm-like rise of steam shooting-up through manholes, men and women jostling their bodies oh-so-close in the dirty bowels of subway cars, of the bright lights and the limos whisking couples who knows where for God knows what?

Writers who live in or have been to The Big Apple now get their chance to take a big bite out of it in any way they choose, using the full expanse of this amazing city’s locations, from Times Square, to the The Village, to clear across to one of the vibrant ethnic enclaves of neighboring boroughs like Brooklyn of Queens.

Sex in New York City, like all Sizzler Editions, is open to submissions featuring all sexual and gender orientations. We seek stories with whatever kind of sex seems true to NYC…and you. From tender romances to the hardest kinks: a naughty canoodle in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral to a high-class dom/client meet in an upper east-side apartment, everything is permissible just as long as NYC is the backdrop. And the folks populating your tales should be as vibrant and unique as this city they have come to play in.

Believable, intriguing characters have always been Sizzler Edition stock-and-trade and we want more of the same for this anthology. As important as the sights and sounds (and smells) of New York City will be to your stories, you’ll need to invest your romps with people we truly care about, people who have something to say-as well as a something naughty to do! Readers need to care about people they come to imagine, only then can we hope to arouse, interest and entertain.

Submissions may be fiction or personal experience, but all submissions must be explicitly erotic.  In short, the sex should be the central focus of your story and not just an incident along the way.

Stories featuring incest, rape, underage characters, homophobia, bestiality, excessive violence, or any portrayal of excrement or urination, will not be considered. If you have questions about whether or not your story may work for this anthology, please contact Ralph Greco, Jr. at ralphgjr@earthlink.net with your questions or concerns.

Both previously published and original works will be considered.

Story length: 2,500 to 12,500 words

Deadline for Submissions:

Rights: First North American Anthology Rights

Payment: $25, paid on publication

For anthologies we purchase non-exclusive English language anthology rights throughout the world, for both electronic and print for five years. Author retains all other rights.

a. For e-book editions sold via the Publisher's own website, the royalty is forty percent (40%) of the retail price.

b. For e-book editions sold via other Internet retail outlets, the royalty is twenty-seven percent (27%) of the retail price.

c. For paperback editions sold via Internet retail outlets, the royalty is ten percent (10%) of the retail price.

d. Said royalties shall be paid fifty percent (50%) to the editor and fifty percent (50%) to the writers to be distributed on a prorated basis.

e. All monies paid to authors on publication shall the accounted as an advance. Once the advance is earned out, royalties shall be paid to editor who will disburse them to authors.

Email submissions should be sent to:ralphgjr@earthlink.net- in the subject line put: Ralph Greco, Jr. Anthology Submission. File should be in rtf format only, be sure to include contact information on all attachments.)

Still More Fingering Publicity

Oh, Ralph, you are a true star!  Not only does my great friend put something about Fingers Breadth on the great Von Gutenberg site - by the way, don't forget that I have an article in the current issue - but then he puts up a fun post about my book on the Short and Sweet NYC site.  Yer the best, Ralphie!


Oh, and speaking of the so-cool Mr. Greco he is also doing an anthology that you all have to send stories in for: Sex in New York City - Tales of Pleasure and Perversity in the Big Apple.  I'll put the call up in my very next post.

It is amazing what we have to do nowadays to get noticed, even people who already get press on a regular basis. In the world oferotic literature it’s probably even harder then usual to get a little look-see. Sure artists have their Twitter and Facebook accounts, and at super wonderful sites like shortandsweetnyc.com we do our best to get the word out about all that is out there, but there are still othermethods writers/film makers and musicians might have to consider in getting the word out. 

For instance.. 

With over 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica and in magazines and Web sites; editor of 25 anthologies including the Best S/M Erotica series, Pirate Booty; collections that include Dirty Words, Speaking Partsand Rude Mechanicals and the novels Running Dry, Me2 andPainted Doll infamous scribe M. Christian has announced an act of pure desperation in his latest press release… 

M. Christian has threatened to amputate part of one finger to publicize his new novel, Finger’s Breadth! 

Finger’s Breadth– a gay erotic science fiction horror thriller – has garnered respectable reviews, still the wily M. Christian is not satisfied. When I asked the man if this is a publicity stunt, he said: 

“A stunt?  A STUNT?!  Of course it’s a publicity stunt. We writers have to be more than a bit outrageous if we’re going to get noticed! Hell, the book’s about a mysterious figure cutting off the tips of little fingers in a near-future noir San Francisco, so a pretend self-amputation is perfect I think!” 

I breathed a sigh of relief as I don’t want to see anybody ‘suffering’ this much for his art. But the author did ad: “They say that a good writer has at least a few good books in them, so if a finger is all it takes to get the word out about this novel … well, I have 19 more fingers and toes to go.  Seems like a small price to pay.” 

We shall see what the future holds for M. Christian and how well he’ll be holding it in the future. In the meantime you can visit the writer at http://www.mchristian.com and you can buy Finger’s Breathdt here.