HARD DRIVE - And The Winner Is ...

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

After asking everyone here on my site as well as with people on Tumbr, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook the verdict has come in ... and the winner for the cover of my upcoming book,
HARD DRIVE: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica Of M.Christian is...

Ta-da!

Stay tuned for more info on when 

HARD DRIVE: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica Of M.Christian 

will be available!

Hard Drive - Help Me Pick A Cover!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

This is flat-out AMAZING!  Frankie Hill at Sizzler Editions has always done fantastic covers but this time ... well, wow and more wows: Frankie has done not just one but THREE staggering covers for my upcoming collection, Hard Drive: The Best SciFi Erotica of M.Christian.

The problem is I have no clue which one to pick!  That's why I'm asking the three or four people who are nice enough to still be checking out my site to help me choose.

So just share in the comments which you like the best and that will help me make my mind up!

Cover 1:

Cover 2:  

Cover 3:

THE SEX FILES: What I Did, (Not Exactly) On My Summer Vacation

(from R.Greco And M.Christian Presents)

Check out this WONDERFUL write up by Ralph on our very fun trip to Las Vegas and attending Sin In The City!

(from Short And Sweet NYC)

It rolled around just recently that my buddy, famous dirty scribe, kink class teacher M. Christian and I were invited, once again, to Sin in The City, in Las Vegas. Chris and I managed to teach at this convention three years ago, when it was held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, a mere week before it was torn down. (This is the casino that stands in as the “Tangiers” in the movie Casino). Way back when, we had a grand old time teaching our dirty writing class, a cupping class and one on alternate bondage. This year we came in to manage the writing class and alt. bondage again, with Chris also managing double duty as one of the judges of the conventions’ International PERSON of Leather Contest.

Last time I was in town for this particular convention, I met and interviewed Dr. Victoria Hartmann at the Erotic Heritage Museum (see here) which proved to be one of those serendipitous moments for me, as I have come now to not only work for the EHM but call Dr. V one of my friends. This trip, I managed to get down to the EHM once again, to ‘take a meeting,’ as well as see my friend Dr. V. Alas, I wished I had had the time beyond just this short weekend to hang more with her and her wonderful husband Rev. Phil, a major player in infamous World Naked Bike Ride, that happens around the world). But there is just so much time during a quick weekend jaunt.

The convention happened slightly off the strip (across from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino) at the spacious and lovely Alexis Park All Suites Resort. It’s a very comfortable, multi-building, multi-pool space, each room a suite and very welcoming to the people who attend SITC. On these weekends you will catch most of the attendees in various forms of ‘interesting’ attire (sometimes out of it) and a hotel where one feels comfortable to dress how they want is most welcomed. In fact, I had occasion to speak briefly with someone manning the check-in desk and heard how the Sin-sters were a true delight to the hotel staff.

Time and again, I hear and see how kinksters really turn out to be the most polite and sweetest folks you might ever want to meet.

Chris and I availed ourselves of Lyft the best we could, seeing how that service and Uber has taken quite a bite out of the taxi business in town (and rightly so, with taxis being so pricey). I managed some gambling, the Willy Wonka slots pulling me in (yes, I am a big time gambler, I know) but mainly Chris and I walked the strip to see what there was to see…basically lots of people about on the Super Bowl weekend, a new observation Ferris Wheel and hotels and casinos pretty much crushing on top of one another on the strip.

Now, either, Chris and I are doing things right, or the bribes we pass around are finally reaching their intended targets (kidding about this last bit) but we received quite a few compliments over our two classes. At one point a very nice lady came up to congratulate us both about the writing class (this was the first class we had for the weekend) gave us a both a big hug each and said she’d be attending our second class to be sure…which she did. We saw plenty of people return in fact, even though that second class was 9am Sunday morning. Feedback like this, as much makes you feel like a rock star (with a little r) as it is really a good barometer for us that we are doing something right. Yes, these conventions always hand out pencils and report cards for the audience to rate teachers after each class, but Chris and I never see these results. A person taking the time to say hi to us in the lobby, give us a hug or after class stop up to our table and keep asking questions, means so so much to us.

And being the sociable animals (ok sluts) that we are, Chris and I love to gab with everybody.

I got lucky, through my connections at Vintage Rock (yeah sorry, I write for other sites than just S&SNYC here) to catch Styx and Don Felder at their residency at The Venetian Hotel. It was a two-hour greatest hits extravaganza of classic rockers showing off how well they can still do that which they have been doing for decades.

I can’t rightly say how the Sin In The City dungeon play spaces were as I did not step into any and Chris and I were in our beds by the latest eleven across the weekend (crazy Vegas parties/kinksters that we are) but we had a grand time and hope Sin will have us back. Mainly, and we never say this aloud to the people who have us to these conventions (so shhh, don’t tell anybody) but for Chris and I, he living in the San Francisco Bay Area and me in Northern N.J., the best part of being invited to these conventions is that Chris and I get to hang-out and see one another where we don’t get to do this all that often. Thanks Sin In The City 2018, it was another great time!

We're Going To SIN IN THE CITY!

(From R.Greco And M.Christian Presents)

This is going to be a BLAST!  We're not only going to be attending and teaching for the upcoming Sin In The City (Las Vegas), February 2nd to the 4th, but M.Christian is a judge for their International Person Of Leather contest!

The schedule is still being worked out but we will be teaching our fan-favorite classes, Sex Sells: How To Write and Sell Erotica and Alternative Bondage: Beyond Rope And Restraints.

Info on Sin In The City is here - and below are the descriptions of the classes.  

SEE YOU THERE!

Sex Sells: How To Write and Sell Erotica

The market for erotic fiction and nonfiction is booming! There actually is a secret to writing great erotica - and you'll discover just what that is in this fun, hands-on workshop with well-known erotica writers and teachers R.Greco and M.Christian. For the beginning writer, erotica can be the ideal place to begin writing, getting published, and - best of all - earning money. And for the experienced writer, erotica can be an excellent way to beef up your resume and hone your writing skills. M. Christian and R.Greco 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.

Alternative Bondage: Beyond Rope And Restraints

While immensely popular among beginning BDSM aficionados – as well as long-time players – restraining a person always carries with it the possibility of serious injury. But that doesn’t have to be: in this special class participants will not just learn how to use rope, restraints and many other traditional bondage devices and techniques effectively and safely but also that there is an entire universe of new and exciting ways of making someone stay put ... in a very erotic and sensual way.

SEE, HEAR And Now FEEL My Stories!

Welcome to the World Of Tomorrow! 

For the first time you can not only read my stories (in print or ebook) through Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions but also hear them through Audible.com ... and now you can also feel them via the b.sensory system: where their Little Bird vibratory interacts with my stories to give you an extra sensory wheeeee!

Here's a bit about each format as well as links to all my books and stories that are currently available:

Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions

The Best In Erotica And Hot Romance

Print and ebooks

Here are all my books available

Audible.com

WordWooze Publishing

Here are all my audiobooks available

b.sensory

Interactive ebooks

Here are all my stories and books available

Two Very Special Films YOU MUST SEE

Sometimes you just have to blink, and maybe blink again, and think to yourself Did I really just see that?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the importance of representation: how crucial it is for people to be able to see themselves in the arts ... to know that they aren’t alone.

While there’s been some truly memorable films lately that have worked hard to be inclusive of sexual identity, orientation, gender preference, cultural identity, ethnicity, and neurodiversity we in the kink community have remained unseen and, even worse, humiliated by mainstream cinema.

Until now -- and not just in one film but in two, and not just in limited run arthouse productions but in a pair of productions that are playing in many major multiplexes.

Let’s begin with a hearty and sincere yell: if you are queer, if you are bi, if you are poly, if you are kinky … or if you simply want to see two really magnificent films you have to go see Professor Marston and the Wonder Women and Tom Of Finland.

Ironically, both of these films also deal with the arts.  In the case of Professor Marston and the Wonder Women it’s a fictionalized depiction of William Moulton Marston’s creation of Wonder Woman -- and for Tom Of Finland it’s the life story of the iconic queer artist.

It’s actually hard to write a totally unbiased review of either of these productions, mostly because both of them were seen through a blur of joyous tears.  “I know this, I’ve felt this, I know this … these are my people, this is my life …” kept going through my mind.  

With both, I didn’t have to shoehorn myself into the narrative--to have the emotional pain of having to leave most of my life on the cutting room floor to fit into the worlds being projected onto the screen.

Both films have their faults---in fact both films have the same one: being biographies there is much that has been streamlined, compressed, or even outright changed to make the drama, especially fitting it into a movie’s run-time.  But this is true of any film of this type: it’s just part of the territory.

Accuracy is not important.  What is important is that both films depict, with skill and sensitivity, the pain and joy of being bi, being queer, being poly, being creative … and, especially, being kinky.  

In both we see a hostile and abusive world, punishing with emotional and physical violence those who simply want to love who they want to love.  

In both we see happiness in personal acceptance, in making a home, creating a family ... finding a tribe.  

For Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, the story is about two psychologists, William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) and Elizabeth Holloway Marston (Rebecca Hall) who at first struggle but then come to beautifully accept their mutual love for one of their students, Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote).  

Eventually, they create a beautiful queer/bi/poly/kinky family--and even raise 5 children together.  When faced with hard times, mainly due to William and Elizabeth losing their teaching positions because of the scandal, William pitches the idea of a brand new kind of superhero to a comic book publisher, the Amazon we all know and love: Wonder Woman.

The performances are perfectly nuanced: never once did I feel “kicked out” of the film because of a clumsy moment.  The direction, by Angela Robinson, is simple and smooth.  Reminiscing about the experience of watching it, I can’t remember it as being dramatically--and annoyingly--cinematic but rather as a series of emotionally powerful moments.  

Tom Of Finland, meanwhile directly addresses the institutionalized homophobia that far too many experienced, especially in Europe after the Second World War.

The film is painful to watch, especially through contemporary eyes--but that is its strength.  It is a reminder that for so many, for so long, even being suspected of being homosexual meant loss of job, imprisonment, or even “corrective” therapy.  

For Touko Laaksonen (played beautifully by Pekka Strang) being queer is a terrifying spy drama: where one wrong action, one wrong word, could mean the end of everything.  But instead of succumbing, denying who he is, he finds a way to reach out.

At first his sketches are illicit, done for his own pleasure, but then he makes the decision to try and find a sympathetic audience--which leads to not just his personal liberation but the creation a true artistic icon.

And, for the most part, the leather community itself.  

One of the most striking things about Tom Of FInland is that, even though it does feature English speaking actors and the latter half does take place in America, it is a Finnish production.  The director, Dome Karukoski, has created a perfect capsule of what life was like for Touko, and how he must deal with his queer identity in his suppressive homeland as well as when he discovers that the impact his artwork has had on gay men like himself.

Both of these films are currently in theaters--and you should go out and see both of them as soon as possible: not just because they are both excellently crafted, full of beautiful performances, and directed with consummate skill, but because THEY ARE IMPORTANT.  

We need to be in those seats, to show the people involved in their production that we appreciate their work and thoughtful representation of our own lives.  But we also need to demonstrate to the entertainment industry that films like this can be both be responsibly inclusive of our communities as well as profitable.  

If there’s a single message that both Tom Of Finland and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women embraces it is the one that all of us --queer, bi, poly, kinky, and more--know so well: that all of us should be proud of who and what we are--and that love will always trump hate.

Future Of Sex

CHECK IT OUT: a link to every article I've written for the AMAZING Future Of Sex: https://tinyurl.com/yd22sm3p

FIVE TO THE FUTURE - Only .99 for a limited time!

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

Here's your chance to read the very fun (if I do say so myself) anthology I put together with Ernest Hogan, Emily Devenport, Cynthia Ward, and Arthur Byron Cover - especially as, for a short time, it is now just 99 cents ... and FREE if you have Amazon Unlimited.

TOP 100 IN SF ANTHOLOGIES AMAZON KINDLE -5 THRILLING PEEKS INTO THE FUTURE FROM 5 VISIONARY WRITERS!

What will tomorrow look like? Here are five speculative answers from top science fiction authors.

Another outrageous act of science fiction by self-described “recombocultural Chicano mutant” Ernest Hogan, a soul-touching tale of furry friends and bittersweet affection by Emily Devenport, a neon-highlighted '80s love letter to a classic anime by Cynthia Ward, a multi-dimensionally kaleidoscopic tale of love beyond reality by Arthur Byron Cover, and M.Christian’s standout novelette about the Soviet-era practice of smuggling Western music impressed onto discarded X-rays.

The contributors:

M.Christian‘s published fiction includes science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, erotica and even non-fiction. His fantasy and science fiction have appeared in Talebones, Space & Time Magazine, Skull Full of Spurs, Graven Images, Horror Garage, Song of Cthulhu, and other science fantasy publications. The best of his short SF/H/F has been published in the collection Love Without Gun Control. Multiple Hugo and Nebula winner Mike Resnick has hailed M.Christian’s sf as "unique and truly fascinating." In addition to writing, he is a prolific and respected anthologist whose credits include The Mammoth Book of Future Cops and The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi), and many more.

Arthur Byron Cover is the author of the Nebula-nominee novel Autumn Angels, part of his Great Mystery trilogy, a saga of godlike men—which also includes An East Wind Coming, a novel pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper. His short stories have been widely anthologized, and often selected for The Year’s Best Horror Stories and other collections. He has also written works set in the Buffyverse and in Asimov’s Foundation Universe.

Emily Devenport is the author of Shade, Larissa, Scorpianne, EggHeads, The Kronos Condition, GodHeads, Broken Time (which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award), Belarus, and Enemies. Her newest novels, The Night Shifters and Spirits of Glory, are in ebook form on Amazon, Smashwords, and more. She is currently working on a novel based on her popular novelette, “The Servant.” Her short stories were published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Full Spectrum, The Mammoth Book of Kaiju, Uncanny, Cicada, Science Fiction World, Clarkesworld, and Aboriginal SF, whose readers voted her a Boomerang Award (which turned out to be an actual boomerang).

Ernest Hogan is a six-foot tall Aztec leprechaun who was born in East LA back in the Atomic Age. Because he is the author of High Aztech, Smoking Mirror Blues, and Cortez on Jupiter, he is considered to be the Father of Chicano Science Fiction. His short fiction has appeared in Amazing Stories, Analog, Science Fiction Age, and many other publications.

Cynthia Ward has published stories in Asimov's Science Fiction, Shattered Prism, Weird Tales, Athena's Daughters (Silence in the Library Publishing), and other anthologies and magazines. Her stories "Norms" and "#rising" made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List for 2011 and 2014. She edited the anthologies Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West Volumes One and Two for WolfSinger Publications. Her short alternate-history novel, The Adventure of the Incognita Countess, is now available from Aqueduct Press.

These prescient and creative minds join forces to offer you a don't-miss anthology of the year!

Beat Me In St. Louis (BMISL) was AMAZING!

(from R.Greco and M.Christian Presents)

To all the folks great behind, and attending, Beat Me In St. Louis (BMISL) we want to give an ernest and heartfelt THANK YOU: everything was a delight and beyond.  If you ever have the chance to attend you really should - hands-down this is our favorite event to teach for or just attend.

In a word:

Bravo!

Pre-Release Book Announcement: Groundbreaking FIVE TO THE FUTURE SciFi Anthology

Digital Parchment Services (distributed by Futures-Past Editions) and M.Christian are pleased to announce the imminent release of a brand new science fiction anthology edited by M.Christian:

Five To The Future

All New Novelettes of Tomorrow and Beyond

Featuring never-before-published work by Ernest Hogan (Locus Award Finalist), Arthur Byron Cover (Nebula Award Finalist), Emily Devenport (Boomerang Award winner), Cynthia Ward (Asimov’s SF Magazine), and M.Christian (Lambda Award Finalist):

Here’s what editor M.Christian says about this new anthology:

And here we are: a Chicano fiesta of multicultural caliente salsa from Ernest Hogan, a soul-touching tale of furry friends and bittersweet affection by Emily Devenport, a neon-highlighted 80s love letter to a classic anime by Cynthia Ward, a multi-dimensionally kaleidoscopic tale of love beyond reality by Arthur Byron Cover, and even my own modest contribution in four stories as one, about the Soviet-era practice of smuggling Western music impressed onto discarded X-rays.

About the contributors to Five To The Future:

Extensively published in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and non-fiction, it is in erotica that M.Christian has become an acknowledged master, with more than 400 sales 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.

But M.Christian has other tricks up his literary sleeve: in addition to writing, he is a prolific and respected anthologist, having edited twenty-five anthologies to date including The Mammoth Book of Future Cops, The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi); Confessions, Garden of Perverse, Amazons (with Sage Vivant), and many more.

As a novelist, M.Christian has shown his 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.

#

Arthur Byron Cover is a former bookseller, critic, and big mouth. He published several sf novels in another era. He was raised in Tazewell, Virginia, which is in Tazewell County, which was named after a man who opposed the formation of the county until he learned it was going to be named after him. He is one degree of separation from F. Scott Fitzgerald, former President Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and a whole lot of rich and famous people in liberal Hollywood, many still alive. He currently lives with his wife and six pets in the middle of nowhere called Packwood, Washington, where the elk roam and the volcanoes haven’t erupted for thirty years.

#

Nine of Emily Devenport’s novels were published in the US by NAL/Roc, under three pen names. She has also been published in the U.K., Italy, China, and Israel. Her novels are Shade, Larissa, Scorpianne, EggHeads, The Kronos Condition, GodHeads, Broken Time (which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award), Belarus, and Enemies. Her newest novels, The Night Shifters and Spirits of Glory, are in ebook form on Amazon, Smashwords, etc. She is currently working on a novel based on her popular novelette, “The Servant.”

Her short stories were published in Asimov’s SF Magazine, the Full Spectrum anthology, The Mammoth Book of Kaiju, Uncanny, Cicada , Science Fiction World, Clarkesworld, and Aboriginal SF, whose readers voted her a Boomerang Award (which turned out to be an actual boomerang). She blogs at www.emsjoiedeweird.com.

One day Em hopes to become a geologist. She volunteers at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and works in the Heard Museum bookstore (Books & More). She is married to artist/writer Ernest Hogan, and they live in Arizona, the Geology Capital of the World.

And she really loves cake. You should send her cake. (But not pineapple upside-down cake. That’s fake cake.)

#

Ernest Hogan is a six-foot tall Aztec leprechaun who was born in East LA back in the Atomic Age. His mother’s name was Garcia, and his parents weren’t aware of Ernest Hogan, the Father of Ragtime. He grew up in West Covina, considered to be one of the most boring places in California. Monster movies, comic books, and science fiction saved his life. Because he is the author of High Aztech, Smoking Mirror Blues, and Cortez on Jupiter, he is considered to be the Father of Chicano Science Fiction, though there hasn’t been any kind of DNA test. His short fiction has appeared in Amazing Stories, Analog, Science Fiction Age, and many other publications, His story “The Frankenstein Penis,” has been made into student films. He is also an artist and cartoonist. He has been recently been discovered by academia, which may bring about the end of Western Civilization. His “Chicanonautica Manifesto” appeared in Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies. He is married to the writer Emily Devenport.

They live in Arizona, and enjoy exploring the Wild West. He blogs at mondoernesto.com and labloga.blogspot.com. Currently, he’s trying to finish several novels, but keeps getting distracted by all kinds of weird shit.

#

Cynthia Ward has published stories in Asimov's Science Fiction, Shattered Prism, Weird Tales, Athena's Daughters (Silence in the Library Publishing), and other anthologies and magazines. Her stories "Norms" and "#rising" made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List for 2011 and 2014. She edited the anthologies Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West Volumes One and Two for WolfSinger Publications, and has a pair of anthologies forthcoming in collaboration with Charles G. Waugh, the first science fiction professional she ever met. With Nisi Shawl, Cynthia co-created the groundbreaking Writing the Other fiction writers workshop and coauthored the diversity fiction-writing handbook Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (Aqueduct Press).  Her short alternate-history novel, The Adventure of the Incognita Countess, is now available from Aqueduct Press. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is not working on a screenplay.

#

Five To The Future will be formally released in April, 2017. Pre-release copies for review are available now by writing M.Christian: mchristianzobop@gmail.com.

ISBN (print): 978-1544125367
PRICE: (print) $14.99/(ebook): $2.99 (free on Amazon Unlimited)
eBook and Trade Paper Editions available April, 2017

Distributed by Futures-Past Editions

https://futurespasteditions.com
Twitter: @futurespasted
Facebook: Futures-Past-Editions

Digital Parchment Services is a complete ebook and print service for literary estates and literary agents. The founders of Digital Parchment Services are pioneers in digital publishing who have collectively published over 2,500 ebooks and PoD paperbacks since 1998.

DPS clients include the estates of multiple Hugo winning author William Rotsler, and science fiction legend Jody Scott; authors such as Locus Award finalist Ernest Hogan, Hugo and Nebula nominee Arthur Byron Cover, prize winning mystery author Jerry Oster, psychologist John Tamiazzo, Ph.D., award winning nutritionist Ann Tyndall; and Best of Collections from Fate Magazine and Amazing Stories.

http://digitalparchmentservices.com
Twitter: @DigiParchment
Facebook: Digital-Parchment-Services

We're Going To Beat Me In St. Louis - AGAIN!

(from R.Greco and M.Christian Presents)

This is wonderful and then some!  The kinky act of one R. Greco and one M.Christian are pleased and proud to be coming (and then some) back for another year of wild classes and fun, fun, fun at the one-and-only Beat Me In St. Louis on March 24th to the 26th!

We'll be spreading the love of what we'll be teaching soon!

A Special Interview with Bending The Bookshelf

The social media fun continues!  A very special interview I did with Bending the Bookshelf just went live.  Check it out here!