(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

This is going to be fun!  If you're in the Bay Area, and are kinky and creative, stop by for the first meeting of the BDSM Creatives Support Group, this Thursday, March 24th!

Here's the info:

BDSM Creatives Support Group

Thursday, March 24, 2016 · 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

SF Citadel181 Eddy Street
Cost: $10
Dress code: Casual

If you like to paint, make music, write, build things, craft toys, or just let your imagination run wild in all kinds of directions ... AND you're beautifully kinky, come join your fellow artistic community members at the BDSM Creatives Support Group!

Here will be a positive, non-judgmental space where you can mix your flair for art with your passion for BDSM. Come share experiences, network, receive encouragement, be inspired, vent your frustrations, share your skills, learn new techniques, or just hang out among other fun people who share your passion for sex AND creativity!

We'll be having regular monthly meetings at the SF Citadel – and working on munches, art crawls, show and tells, special classes, expeditions, and cooperative kinky projects. Make time to make things -- and make friends!

Out Now: Bionic Lover: An Erotic Lesbian Romance

(M.Christian's Technorotica)

Very, very fun: the great folks at WordWooze Publishing just put out a new edition of one of my all-time favorite novellas: Bionic Lover (formerly Speaking Parts).  You can pick up the ebook now and soon it will also be available in an audiobook edition!

A powerful and erotic lesbian romance exploring love, lust…and loss

Pell was lost, alone, and lonely―until Arc appeared. Fiery, enigmatic, and with a mesmerizing cybernetic eye, Arc was everything Pell needed, wanted, and most of all, desired.

The next time Pell saw Arc the eye wasn’t the only thing artificial about her new lover. And the time after that, and the time after that: each time the passionate and mysterious Arc drifted into her life, Pell saw more and more of her being replaced by refined and precise machinery…and with each departure of her natural body for the artificial, Pell grew more and more terrified.

One day, she knew, there’d be nothing left of her lover but the cold, the engineered…the bionic.

Pell knew what she had to do…but the end, when it came, was worse than she ever could have imagined.

#

With Bionic Lover, acclaimed erotic science fiction author M. Christian spins a mesmerizing tale of bittersweet desire, lesbian romance, and all-too human frailty set in a near future San Francisco where cybernetics aren’t just commonplace but the stuff of erotic dreams.

"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. Portraying a world where erotic life has spilled from the bedroom into the street, and been shattered into a million sharp shards, this tale undercuts and mutates the old verities concerning memory, desire and loyalty…truly a book for our post-everything 21st century."
―Paul Di Filippo (author of over 100 stories and five novels)

"Rarely is raunch paired with such style and wit…this story offers the sizzle of strokebook sex combined with the dark lyricism of the perverse."
―Lucy Taylor, Bram Stoker award-winning author of Safety of Unknown Cities

"M. Christian's stories are the fairy tales whispered to one another by dark angels whose hearts and mouths are brimming with lust. He goes beyond the pale, ordinary definitions of sexuality and writes about need and desire in their purest forms. Readers daring enough to stray from the safety of the path will find in his images and words a garden of delights to tempt even the most demanding pleasure-seeker."
―Michael Thomas Ford, Lambda Literary Award winner

My Queer/SF/Erotic/Thriller Finger's Breadth - Out Now In New Edition!

(from M.Christian's Queer Imaginings/Technorotica)

M.Christian is thrilled to announce the republication of his queer erotic horror/sci-fi/thriller, Finger's Breadth

ebook available now!

Trade paper coming soon!

Audiobook coming soon!

Finger's Breadth may well rank as 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.

- JKB, from the Circlet Press site

Erotic. Terrifying. Fascinating. Disturbing. Intriguing. Haunting ... you have never read a book like Finger's Breadth. 

The cutter is haunting the streets of near-future San Francisco, drugging random queer men and amputating the tip of their little finger. 

But so much worse than this brutality is how fear transforms the city, revealing the inescapable nature of society ... and the darkest depths of human sexuality.

In a very special arrangement, M.Christian's arousing, yet terrifying novel, is currently available as an ebook, and soon as a trade paperback edition, through Renaissance E Book's Sizzler Editions imprint – and a special audio book edition will be available in a few months, through audible.com, courtesy of WoodWooze Publishing!

Here’s what some people are saying about Finger's Breadth:

"M.Christian has to be the most amazing writer I've ever read. He is a master manipulator with his words. You read his stories and begin to feel exactly what he wants you to feel - arousal, desire, anger, fear, hope. Readers find themselves surprised to feel this way, yet it is M.Christian's way of pulling dormant and primal emotions out of you. And the crazy part is that you don't mind embracing these perverse feelings as you are that pulled into the story. Not only does M.Christian push his characters in his stories to their limits, but he also pushes his readers minds to meet him in these faraway places." 

- Zee, Firepages 

"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 campouts 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 is a real wild ride, the sort of novel you turn to when the apocalyptic mayhem out your window gets dull, and you lust for something to remind you of what it's like to live life at full-throttle. M.Christian sends the reader hurtling like a hockey puck through 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."

- Ernest Hogan, author of High Aztech

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 pageturner.

- Marilyn Jaye Lewis, author of Freak Parade

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

Currently available:

Sizzler Editions/Renaissance E Books

http://amzn.com/B01A7PZ24Q

ebook$2.99

ISBN: 9781615086030

Trade paperback edition (coming soon)

Audibook edition (on audible.com) from WordWooze Publishing (coming soon)

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About M.Christian:

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, 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, Coming Together Presents M.Christian, Pornotopia, and How To Write And Sell Erotica; and the novels Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Me2, Brushes, and Painted Doll.

Interested in reviewing Finger's Breadth?  Write M.Christian at mchristianzobop@gmail.com for a copy

SKIN EFFECT: M.Christian's SciFi Erotica Collection Now in eBook, Trade Paperback, and Audiobook!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica) 

M.Christian's Groundbreaking Scifi Erotica Collection Skin Effect Out Now In eBook, Trade Paperback, And Audiobook!

Future technology’s ability to alter the very nature of our humanity—and the ways those changes interact with sex—shapes this solid collection of futuristic stories from erotica author Christian. Each story has a strong speculative element ... that’s blended with a frank expression of sexuality ... there’s plenty for sex-positive futurists to enjoy here.
—Publisher's Weekly

#

In a very special arrangement, M.Christian's collection of science fiction erotica, Skin Effect: More Science Fiction Erotica, is available as a special audio book edition, courtesy of Wordwooze Publishing, and an ebook and a trade paperback through Renaissance E Book's Sizzler Editions imprint!

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."

"There is much to ponder and enjoy here. Enthusiastically recommended!"
—Terrance Aldon Shaw

"In these stories, human ingenuity combined with the human desire to connect with other humans is shown to have the power to outlast whatever seems to threaten human survival. It’s an exhilarating message."
—Jean Roberta

"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

"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

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."

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ebook Edition (Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions):
Amazon: $2.99 - http://amzn.com/B00SCQ6D8C

Audiobook Editions (Wordwooze Publishing):
Audible: $13.97 - http://amzn.com/B01C3EODGW
iTunes: $17.95 - https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/skin-effect-more-science-fiction/id1087126852

Trade Paperback Edition (Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions):
Amazon: $9.99 - http://amzn.com/1508581711

#

Reviewers interested in receiving a PDF, or a copy of the audiobook, please contact M.Christian at mchristianzobop@gmail.com

#

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.

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, and BodyWork. He also has collections of non-fiction (Welcome to Weirdsville 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.

M.Christian: http://www.mchristian.com
Twitter: @mchristianzobop
Tumblr: http://rude-mechanicals.tumblr.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdot.christian & https://www.facebook.com/zobopmchristian

New Support Groups For the SF Citadel!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

This is very exciting! I'm happy to announce that - in addition to facilitating the on-going Polyamory Support Group - I'm starting two new groups, with first meetings this month.

Here's the info:

Male Submissives Support Group

First meeting Monday, March 14

Are you a male submissive looking for friendship, enjoyable activities, and – most of all – a safe place to hang out and receive non-judgmental support from fellow subs? Then the Male Submissives Support Group could be the place for you!

From worries about being taken advantage of by disreputable doms, difficulties in find a good dom, the conflict between stating submissive needs versus being a "good and obedient sub" – being a sub can be a tough road to travel.

But you don't have to do it alone! The Male Submissives Support Group is a positive, non-judgmental space, where subs are invited to share their experiences, receive support and encouragement, ask questions, answer concerns, or simply be in a loving and caring space with other male submissives.

In addition to our monthly meetings at the SF Citadel we're planning munches, movie nights, potlucks, and more. Come join the fun!

#

BDSM Creatives Support Group

First meeting Thursday, March 24

If you like to paint, make music, write, build things, craft toys, or just let your imagination run wild in all kinds of directions ... AND you're beautifully kinky, come join your fellow artistic community members at the BDSM Creatives Support Group!

Here will be a positive, non-judgmental space where you can mix your flair for art with your passion for BDSM. Come share experiences, network, receive encouragement, be inspired, vent your frustrations, share your skills, learn new techniques, or just hang out among other fun people who share your passion for sex AND creativity!

We'll be having regular monthly meetings at the SF Citadel – and working on munches, art crawls, show and tells, special classes, expeditions, and cooperative kinky projects. Make time to make things -- and make friends!

Meet Us At "Beat Me In St. Louis!"

(from R.Greco And M.Christian Presents)

This is thrilling!  The great folks at the BDSM event Beat Me In St. Louis (BMISL) are winging us out to their 19th annual event on April 8th to 10th to teach, mingle, and have fun!

If you can, try to make this very special festival of kink -- and watch us teach three of our all-time favorite classes.

Check out the BMISL site here.

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

Tit-Torture For Boobs: A Breast Play Intensive
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.

Cupping: Using The Ancient Medicinal Technique For Erotic Play

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.

Terrance Aldon Shaw Likes Skin Effect!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

My head is spinning! Check out this great review the equally-great Terrance Aldon Shaw did for my science fiction erotica collection, Skin Effect!

The nine stories in this intriguing, highly-imaginative, occasionally maddening collection have a deeply personal feel to them. These are not easy, breezy reads: these stories require that readers take a journey—and the road is not always direct or level or smooth. A bit of effort is required, and sometimes, more than a single reading. But, in the end, the reader is richly rewarded with beauty and enlightenment. 

This isn’t ‘hard’ sci-fi or conventional genre erotica, but, indeed, something quite extraordinary: less Frankenstein’s monster genre hybrid than the precocious love child of an optimistic speculative fiction (Heinlein, Bradbury, Asimov) and a mature, deeply self-aware literary sensualism. If it must be classified, then I would suggest a brand new subgenre: call it ‘techno-sexual.’ 

And what do we find in this brave, sometimes bewildering new world? Trans-humanism that does not—cannot—forget its humanity. Awesome technical capability with the aura of magic, though, in the end, it cannot assuage our deepest longings, our atavistic thirst for mystery. Hyper-connectedness that cannot sate our hunger to touch, and feel, and remember... 

The writing can be dense, knotty, sometimes overlong to a point where potential dramatic impact is diluted, the final ironic twists coming too little and just a bit too late to dazzle. Yet, the collection does have its share of truly amazing moments, inspired imagining, sparks of the ingenious. 'Prêt-à-Porter' tells a marvelous tale of a futuristic garment that—virtually miraculously—adjusts to the desires and moods of its wearer. 'The Bell House Invitation' brilliantly takes the ideas of collective consciousness and cyber-community to their logical—and, perhaps, a tad disturbing—extremes. 'The Potter’s Wheel' and '[Title Forgotten]' imagine worlds in which connectedness makes us omniscient yet utterly incapable of knowing our deepest selves. 

There is much to ponder and enjoy here. Enthusiastically recommended!

Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica (The BDSM Edition)

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

This is going to be a LOT of fun: for the first time I'm going to be teaching my erotica writing class, Sex Sells, for the SF Citadel - but this time with a BDSM twist.

Here's the info - see you there!

Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica (The BDSM Edition)

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.

Including:
• Current pay rates
• Creating memorable characters
• The five deadly sins to avoid in writing erotica
• How to handle editors and publishers
• The pros and cons of self-publishing
• How to write for a wide variety of kinks
• Where and how to submit your erotic writing
• and more!

Thursday, February 11, 2016 · 8:00 PM –10:00 PM

SF Citadel

181 Eddy Street

San Francisco, CA

$20 at door
$15 pre-registered: (Purplepass) http://tinyurl.com/hovc9ny

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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, 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

Two New Pieces For Future Of Sex!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

I really do enjoy writing for Future Of Sex ... and, as proof of that, two new pieces of mine just went live there.

Here are some teasers (and links to the full articles):

4 Ways Tech Is Changing the Language of Love

How we talk about sex—now and in the future.

“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” -Ludwig Wittgenstein

There’s always been an unspoken vocabulary of caresses, glances, and sounds, of course. But we’re in the 21st century now, and our technological options for expressing desire—over vast distances and across what used to be cultural barriers—has (to use a silly double-entendre) swelled incredibly.

We don’t just have new ways to correspond with each other but entirely new languages to play with. Lovers, or just playmates, can flirt, be titillating, or even directly stimulate each other speaking or typing a single word.

So, with a touch of irony, here’s a list of four ways that technology is changing the language of love and desire, but also how the nature of sexual communication is being totally reinvented.

[MORE]

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Creating Your Own Pleasuredome: Modular Building and Smart Home Technology

Custom designing an erotic home and playground.

Recently, we looked at some possible changes to how we all may be living and playing, at home or elsewhere.

Love hotels for when sex needs a bit more room than microhomes can offer, as well as virtual and augmented reality to give the illusion of space, are certainly intriguing ideas. But there are more innovations in interactive tech and flexible design that will alter our houses of the future

So what happens when we take the concepts of modular construction and smart home technology and do a bit of future-casting?

Let’s rev up our imaginations and try to picture our sensual, and sexual, residences of the next century.

[MORE]

Jean Roberta Loves Skin Effect!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

I'm so very touched: just check out this amazing review the fab Jean Roberta gave my science fiction erotica collection, Skin Effect:

A World in Each Character

By Jean Roberta

M. Christian’s latest collection of nine erotic sci-fi stories is a worthy sequel to his earlier book, The Bachelor Machine. While both collections show how technology can enhance sexual experience, Skin Effect actually seems more focused on the fluid nature of identity than on sex as a physical experience. This is not to say that the sex has shrunk in importance in the imaginary future; if anything, sex is shown to be the one thing that breaks down human isolation and self-delusion.

In the playful “Pret-a-Porter” (French for ready to wear), an introverted young woman buys a substance called “smartfabric” from a persuasive salesman, and no longer needs any other clothes. The substance forms itself into various garments in response to the wearer’s desire – and it knows her better than she consciously knows herself. Her visit to a nightclub named Hell could have led to a gruesome ending, but in this story, her new appearance in a new milieu is liberating.

“The Bell House Invitation” is a dizzying story, originally published in an anthology of gender-bending erotic fantasy.* Several house-mates of all genders and sexual orientations form a “pocket collective” based on a shared consciousness, and they collectively interview Sarah, a woman they hope will enhance their group relationship. This story fleshes out the theory that everyone is at least potentially pansexual, and that if we all had access to each other’s consciousness (as every reader can see the world through the eyes of different characters), we could be intimate on levels that once seemed impossible. It’s a noble premise, but this reviewer found the multiple perspectives distracting in a short story. A novel might have given the collective a more spacious “house.”
“Happy Birthday” shows multiple identities over time rather than coexisting in the present. An individual consciousness has explored different eras and environments, and has acquired enormous knowledge as a result.

Two stories in Skin Effect were reprinted from The Mammoth Book of Erotic Romance and Domination, one of editor Maxim Jakubowski’s “mammoth” erotic anthologies. “[Title Forgotten]” is about the general human desire to erase painful memories, and the parallel desire to recover them in order to understand their influence on the present. The other story, “The Subsequent State,” is the most moving story in the collection (in this reviewer’s opinion), and it brilliantly captures both the visceral effects of growing up in a culture of religious intolerance and the relief of escape into a “green” culture which is not damned but salvational.

The nine stories in this collection are bracketed by an introduction by Ernest Hogan, “Dirty Minds Across Space, Time and Beyond,” and the author’s afterword: “It’s NOT the End of the World as We Know It – And I Feel Fine.” M. Christian’s rejection of dystopian endings explains the upbeat tone of most of these stories as well as his belief that the real world is not necessarily doomed. This afterword serves as a better introduction to the stories than the opening piece by another writer. M. Christian explains his optimism:

“Pretty soon the world is not going to split into have-nots and haves but rather the smart and the dumb. Sure, the superrich will buy their way out like they always have but just look at the world right now: you have folks who are repairing, making do, making things last, buying affordable and durable, and actually having the gall to enjoy their simpler lives.” He goes on to say: “Nuclear war and/or biological attack? Pish . . As I told my hysterical friends on September 11th, the terrorists showed anything but brains in their attacks.”

In these stories, human ingenuity combined with the human desire to connect with other humans is shown to have the power to outlast whatever seems to threaten human survival. It’s an exhilarating message.

*Up for Grabs 2: Exploring More Worlds of Gender, edited by Lauren Burka (Circlet Press, 2011).

New At Future Of Sex: Getting to First Base in Second Life - A Virtually Fun Guide to Virtual Sex

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

The fun at FutureOfSex keeps coming!  My brand new article on (ahem) scoring in Second Life just went live.

Check out this tease:

Getting to First Base in Second Life: A Virtually Fun Guide to Virtual Sex

Tools, tricks, and techniques to having a sexy time in the virtual world. 

Despite being created back in the sticks and stones era of (gasp) 2003, Second Life has remained a virtual second home to over one million users.

For many of its fans, Second Life’s allure is all about freedom. With pretty tolerant owners, Linden Research, Inc., and a robust and wildly various modding community, Second Life has become anything for anyone.

Especially in regards to sexuality.

While there are other MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) experiences available that are specifically designed for virtual sex play—such as 3DXChat [NSFW], Red Light Center [NSFW], and Chathouse 3D Roulette [NSFW] (all reviewed here on Future of Sex)—Second Life still remains one of the most preferred domains for digital erotic entertainment.

In addition to the already mentioned, almost unlimited freedom of creation, Second Life’s sex appeal also stems from its affordability—for basic membership, though add-ons and such will cost you—plus having the ability to bounce from adult play to non-adult play with a mouse click.

For first-timers, though, Second Life may appear a bit daunting. It’s vast artificial reality universe is easy to get lost in, and trying to decipher the social mores of avatars, alts, groups, and more can be daunting. So here is a brief intro on a few techniques and digital tools to help the virtually virginal (or at least not that experienced) have a sexy time in Second Life.

Use your imagination

Second Life is all about creativity. It’s a blank slate for anyone to create practically anything. Though blank slate also describes the default Second Life avatar, as when you first arrive you’ll be sans genitalia.

You can always do text or voice sex with someone in Second Life, but as the virtual playground is so wonderfully visual most elect to try to play using their avatars.

Unless you’re seriously into coding, you’ll need to equip yourself with the necessary equipment to have Second Life sex. Xcite! [NSFW] has an entire marketplace for all kinds of erotic Second Life additions, including nose rings for your avatar, bondage gear for your space, and all kinds of toys for virtual sex fun. Oh, and, of course, it offers the much-needed body parts for sex. It’s not the only provider of sexual equipment, though, so if you don’t like what it offers try looking around elsewhere.

Many of its avatar additions are wildly exaggerated—in ways that’ll make your digital head spin. As with life everywhere, a few will be turned off by these crazy genitals and such while others will find you the hottest thing in cyberspace. The good news is that you can change any aspect of your appearance at any time—so have fun experimenting.

Then there’s verification. The great openness of Second Life means that anyone can join, but many will not engage in virtual sex play with someone who may be underage. By verifying your account with a credit card you basically tell Second Life, and all its virtually sex residents, that you are old enough to play.

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More Cool b.senory News: Nice Little Interview With Vocativ!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

The fun b.sensory stuff just keeps on coming! A few days ago I did a quick interview with Jennings Brown at Vocativ about this great new technology - combining sex tech and erotica - and the piece just went live!

Here's the link - and I'm pasting in the piece itself below:

The Future Of Erotica: E-readers That Sync Up With Your Vibrator
An erotica author explains how he will write literature made for a sex toy 

A particularly highbrow sex toy is on display this week at CES—and, of course, it’s French. 

French startup E.Sensory won a CES Innovation Award for their vibrator designed for bibliophiles. The device, called the Little Bird, will connect to the company’s reading app B.Sensory (forthcoming on iOS and Android) via Bluetooth. With the app, users can access scores of erotica stories, and each one will interface with the vibrator in exciting ways. Readers can activate vibrations on their own by caressing or breathing hard on the tablet or smartphone, or they can touch highlighted words that are especially arousing and trigger a vibration meant specifically for that part of the story. The app will come preloaded with a variety of erotic stories, and the company is working with several authors to write erotica that is specifically written for use with the “vibrating love egg.” 

“Now we have 25 authors in France and two in the United States,” E.Sensory founder and CEO Chistel Le Coq told Vocativ, “In erotica, they want to give sensation to their reader. So this is a new way to do that and make the experience better.” 

For some of the writers, this new technology is already changing how they plan to write future erotica. “One thing I will probably do is add a little more detail,” M. Christian, an award-winning erotica writer whose work will be available in B.Sensory, told Vocativ. “Instead of writing, ‘He kissed her,’ I would say ‘His lips tingled on her nipple’ or something like that, and that would be a perfect key in to a certain type of vibration.” 

Christian, who writes paranormal and sci-fi erotica, along with many other genres, said erotica written for this device would also be structured differently. “The story could have more of a thematic build [focused on] the titillation more than the actual sex act,” Christian said. In erotica, simply reading page after page describing sex acts is usually boring, he said, but this interactive format could allow for longer, more drawn-out erotic interactions to remain exciting. “You could have a tingle when someone winks. A sex scene would be much more protractive—almost musical.” 

For those interested in protractive, musical erotica, the Little Bird is already available for pre-order at the bargain price of $99. The free app, which should be available this month will launch with excerpts from Christian’s sci-fi erotica collection “The Bachelor Machine.”