How To Wonderfully WriteSex (16)

Check it out: my new post at the fantastic WriteSex site just went up. Here's a tease (for the rest you'll have to go to the site):

Like bestiality—and unlike underage sexuality—incest is a tough nut: it’s not something you might accidentally insert into an erotic story. Also like bestiality, it’s something that can definitely push—if not slam—the buttons of an editor or publisher. Yet, as with all of these “sins,” the rules are not as set in stone as you’d think. Hell, I even managed to not only write and sell an incest story (“Spike,” which is the lead story in Dirty Words) but it also ended up in Best Gay Erotica. The trick, and with any of these erotic button-pushers, is context. In the case of “Spike” I took a humorous, surreal take on brother/brother sexuality, depicting a pair of twin punks who share and share alike sexually, until their world is shattered (and expanded) by some rough S/M play. 

As with any of the “sins,” a story that deals with incest in a thought- provoking or sideways humorous manner might not scream at an editor or publisher I’M AN INCEST STORY. Instead, it will come across as humorous or thought-provoking first, and as a tale dealing with incest second. Still, once it comes to light, there’s always a chance the story might still scream a bit, but if you’re a skilled writer telling an interesting story, there’s still a chance quality could win over the theme. 

Unlike bestiality, incest has very, very few stretches (like aliens and myths with bestiality). It’s very hard to stumble into incest. In short, you’re related or you’re not. As far as degree of relationship, that depends on the story and the intent: immediate family relations are damned tough to deal with, but first cousins fooling around behind the barn are quite another. 

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Fingers And Gothic.net

And the crazy publicity spreads: the cool folks at Gothic.net just posted this cool thing about my (ahem) 'unique' approach to getting the word out about Finger's Breadth:

Author M. Christian, upon seeking publicity for his newest novel, “Finger’s Breadth”, has threatened to cut off the tip of his little finger. This idea goes in line with the books character that does a similar fashion of chopping in a futuristic noir San Francisco world. Acknowledging how tough it is to spread the word about new books, Christian readily admits that this is a public relations stunt. His theory is that it takes someone to think outside of the box in order to garner the attention it requires for the novel to reach a wider audience. Christian has an impressive list of accomplishments, including six novels, over four hundred short stories, nine author collections, editing twenty-five anthologies, and being a contributor to Gothic.net. “Finger’s Breadth”, published by Zumaya Publications, is a gay erotic science fiction horror thriller. More of an intense psychological ride, the novel serves to dissect human nature rather than to deliver surface scares. So far he still has all of his digits, but who knows what will happen in time.

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Amen!

A Must Read: Doonesbury

Yet More Philosophy

I'll Be At Fogcon

If you happen to be in Walnut Creek towards the end of March I'll be attending Fogcon, the Bay Area SF con, and being on several panels and such - including a (ahem) x-rated reading on Saturday night with other Sizzler Editions authors.

Stay Curious

M.Christian Teaches!

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, here's not one, not two, but THREE chances to attend one of my celebrated classes!

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

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 07:30pm
$15-30 sliding scale
Center For Sex And Culture
1349 Mission Street (at Grace Street between 9th and 10th streets) in San Francisco

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 their erotic spirits within, and when to silence -- and when to listen -- to the inner critic.

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Sex Sells: How To Write & Sell Erotica

Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 07:30pm
$15-30 sliding scale
Center For Sex And Culture
1349 Mission Street (at Grace Street between 9th and 10th streets) in San Francisco

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.

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Sex Magic: Manifesting Positive Life Energy Through Erotic Play


Thursday, April 26, 2012 · 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
$20 Non-Members, $15 Members (smOdyssey, Inc.)
Private Location in San Jose

RSVP To Education@smOdyssey.com

Sex, without a doubt, is a powerful personal force: it has the ability to not only give tremendous pleasure but also lift us up beyond our normal selves, and sometimes even to higher states of consciousness. Whether through sex with a partner or via masturbation, this class will explore how sex can be used to explore sometimes hidden spiritual and sensual dimensions, grow as a sexual being, manifest positive life-changing energy, or simply have a lot of wonderfully erotic fun!

But sex also has its emotional risks as well, and participants will also learn how to protect themselves as they explore sex magic and deal with sometimes shocking revelations about who they are as a sexual being.

Future Fire Likes Finger's Breadth

(Happy dance) Here's something very cool: a nice review for my gay sexual thriller Finger's Breadth by the fantastic folks at Future's Fire.  Here's a tease:

M. Christian is well-known for his erotic stories, as well as editing several erotic anthologies, so I wasn’t surprised to find that his newest novel, Finger’s Breadth, was pretty explicit. This is not a book to read if you are easily offended. Published by Zumaya Boundless, the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual-themed imprint of Zumaya Publications, which has been putting out both e-books and print since 2001. 

Finger’s Breadth takes place in San Francisco in the near future—someone is drugging random gay men and cutting off the tip of their little finger. The gay bars in the area are almost empty; men are staying home, scared it might happen to them. The police are baffled; there are no suspects. The first victim, Varney, works for the newspaper and becomes a celebrity of sorts. But his celebrity isn’t exactly earned, and this is eating Varney up inside. He debates with himself whether to confess his sin while still using his infamy to reach out to the public. 

Then a gradual change comes over the gay population—those who have been cut are looked at as desirable, exciting. Those who have not been cut now begin to feel left out, even ashamed—aren’t they good enough to be approached by the cutter? Are they unattractive? The bars fill up again; the patrons divided between victims and wanna-bes. It’s rarely said aloud, but those men who are whole are hoping to be the next victim. The internet burns with men in chatrooms, looking for the cutter or a reasonable facsimile. Although the story is seen through the eyes of several characters, quite a bit of the book is written in chatroom format, with the cutter—or supposed cutter—looking for victims. 

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Amazon Update

Just a quickie post that I have finally updated my amazon author profile (which is here) and a partial list of my books (which is here) as amazon only let's me put up 40 books in a list

Where Do Your Ideas Come From?

Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker: "Hey There, Big Boy--"

Check this out: I just wrote a neat little "Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker" for the great Erotica Readers & Writers site about publicity and the lengths that (ahem) 'certain' writers may go for it - and not just me.  Here's a tease - for the rest just check here.

Oh, dear, I've done it again.  

You'd think would have learned my lesson – what with the fallout over the whole Me2 "plagiarism" thing – but I guess not.  

Just in case you may have missed it, I have a new book out, called Finger's Breadth.  As the book is a "sexy gay science fiction thriller" about queer men losing bits of their digits – though, of course, there's a lot more to the novel than that.  

Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to create another bout ofcrazy publicity by claiming that I would be lopping off one of my own fingersto get the word out about it.  

Naturally, this has caused a bit of a fuss – which got me to thinking, and this thinking got me here: to a brand new Streetwalker about publicity ... and pushing the envelope. 

The world of writing has completely, totally, changed – and what's worse it seems to keep changing, day-by-day if not hour-by-hour.  It seems like just this morning that publishing a book was the hard part of the writing life, with publicity being a necessary but secondary evil.  But not any more: ebooks and the fall of the empire of publishing have flipped the apple cart over: it's now publishing is easy and publicity is the hard part ... the very hard part. 

What's made it even worse is that everyone has a solution:  you should be on Facebook, you should be on Twitter, you should be on Goodreads, you should be on Red Room, you should be on Google+, you should be doing blog tours, you should be ... well, you get the point.  

The problem with a lot of these so-called solutions is that they are far too often like financial advice ... and the old joke about financial advice is still true: the only successful people are the ones telling you how to be successful. 

That's not to say that you should put your fingers in your ears and hum real loudly: while you shouldn't try everything in regards to marketing doing absolutely nothing is a lot worse.

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