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How To Wonderfully WriteSex

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):

As I’ve mentioned before, in many ways, I’m a queer beast—in the literary world, especially, because I’m an editor and publisher (for the great Renaissance E Books) as well as a pretty prolific writer. I know the biz from both ends, as someone rejecting as well as getting rejected. Wearing my editorial sombrero, I’ve noticed a trend in the stories and novels I’ve been reading … professional annoyances, pains in the derriere, pissing-off things, and just plain rude stuff that I thought I might vent … er, ah, share with you. This also gives me a chance to explain how to deal with editors—though, as with anything in professional writing, it’s very subjective. This is stuff that I consider important, or frustrating, etc., but another editor might feel completely differently about.

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Having Lots Of GEEK LOVE

(cross-posted to M.Christian's Queen Imaginings and M.Christian's Technorotica)

I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to announce that my queer science fiction erotica story, "The Hope Of Cinnamon" is going to be part of the kickstarter-legend Geek Love!

Geek Love. It's nerdy, wordy and a little bit dirty. It's 200 pages of geek-themed erotic stories, accompanied by full-color art and comics, all from some of the finest authors and artists in the industry.

Think of it as the comma sutra. As full-frontal nerdity at its finest. As the bestiary of geek sexuality, proving once and for all that there’s nothing hotter than geeks in their natural habitats.

Electrifying play with Tesla? We’ve got it. Hot gamers tapping that? Check. Making passes at girls – and boys – with glasses? That’s just the beginning. We’ve got sexy librarians, raid nights, geek boys in leather and lace, tentacles, sexbots, superheroes and high-tech toys galore.

With cover art by the talented Galen Dara, Geek Love is a hard-bound full-color masterpiece that’s going to look great on your gaming table or your bondage bed. But the anthology is far more than just a pretty face – it’s also got a killer body. Stuffed with savory stories and loaded with sensual full-color art, comics and photographs created by some of the industry's most talented authors and artists, Geek Love is a collection you’ll want to share with special friends and spend all your free time boning up on.

Here's a page that'll give you all you need to know about the book and the project

50 Shades Of ... Well, ME!

I am very, very, very, very thrilled to be a part of a brand new book project,
Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey, edited by the very fine Lori Perkins, from the great folks at Smart Pop Books!

And just check out Publisher's Weekly on it:

"Fascinating examination of E.L. James’s Fifty Shades trilogy . . . Love Fifty Shades or hate it, this engaging and eclectic read has a little bit of something for everyone."
- Publishers Weekly starred review

As part of their launch they are posting cool excerpts ... and mine is up today:

"Putting aside the mumbles and grumbles from the legions of hard-working, and unarguably more talented, erotica writers out there…Fifty Shades will, no doubt, be remembered as when everything changed. 

Okay, it may not be as big as the wheel, the internal combustion engine, antibiotics, or the personal computer, but it’s still a total and complete game changer.”
- M.Christian, “The Game Changer,” Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey

I'm in here with a lot of friends and folks I admire, but the real good news (for you) is that they are having a pre-release contest to get a freebie copy.  Just click here to enter.

Love For How To Write And Sell Erotica

I normally don't post amazon reviews but this one for my book, How To Write And Sell Erotica, is just too damned cool:

Amazon.com:

Don't let the odd cover fool you - this book is a class act above the rest. I can hands-down say that it is by far one of the best-written ebooks on writing and publishing erotica that I've ever read...and I've read quite a few! M. Christian's writing style is clear and easy-to-read, and the author's splashes of humor makes the book more personable. I can tell by the writing of the ebook that M. Christian is an amazing author (or at least, an amazing wordsmith!), and I will likely purchase fiction from him in the future. He covers everything from start to finish and all the goodies in between, and if this book isn't on your shelf, it should be. Much of what he writes holds true for the writing life in general, and he generously shares his long experience in the field with the reader. I do not regret purchasing this ebook, even at the high price.

(five stars)

I (Heart) New York

Whew! 

I just got back from my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful trip to the Big Apple and - lemmie tell you - it was a true, honest, blast and a half!

Hearty thanks have to go out to the fantastic folks at TES (where I taught my Polyamory: How To Love Many And Well class), Shag (where I taught my Magic Words: Using Erotic Writing To Explore Your Hidden Sexuality And Spirituality class) and the The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &Transgender Community Center (where I taught my Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica class) - as well, naturally, to all the folks who came out to hear me speak.

Special thanks, though, have to go out to an incredible bunch of people who turned a working holiday into a true adventure:

• Michele Serchuk for a fantastic lunch - one of these days I do want you to take some shots of me, Michele!
• The extra-talented Debra Hyde and the extra-special Lori Perkins for a magnificent dinner - here's to many more in the future!
• My sweet, sweet, sweet friend Ralph Greco - who not only showed me the Big Apple's sights but also took me to see Adam Rapp's powerful, touching play, Through The Yellow Hour

- and extra thanks to Karen Taylor and Laura Antoniou who not just gave me lovely place to stay but who shared with me the wonders of their neighborhood ... as well as some very special time as very, very good friends!

As promised, I took some shots of the trip.  Here are some choice morsels - and to see the rest just click on my Flickr feed.

Yet More Philosophy

MC In NYC

As I (ahem) keep mentioning I'll soon be winging my way to the Big Apple (for classes and - hopefully - tons of fun) so my blogging and such will be a bit spotty for the next week or so.  

But definitely keep an eye on my Flickr feed for shots of my New York wanderings...

Dear Life Form-

Oh Get A Grip - Not Really Other

(From M. Christian's Queer Imaginings)

This is an extra-special treat: the great folks at Oh Get A Grip (Lisabet Sarai, C. Sanchez-Garcia, Charlotte Stein, Kathleen Bradean, Kristina Wright and Jean Roberta) gave me the fantastic opportunity to write, a bit, about what it's like to write queer fiction ... especially since I'm a straight guy.

Here's a tease, for the rest just click here.

Once again, before I start in on the subject at hand I want to give a well-deserved tip-of-the-hat to the fantastic folks here at The Grip for allowing me this little space to write about ... well, we'll get to that in a second.

A bit of background should probably be in order before I begin: I'm a writer. I write a lot of things, from science fiction to horror to mysteries to non-fiction to – let’s not dance around it – smut. Quite a bit of smut, actually.

But what's rather unique about my life in pornography ("erotica" if I'm talking to people of a 'delicate sensibility') is that I've written – and even sold – more a few stories, and even several novels, that are not in my own, sexual, 'familiar territory.'

Or, to put it another way, I've written (and still write) a lot of gay and lesbian fiction ... but I'm straight.

This (ahem) has naturally raised more than few eyebrows – straight ones as well as queer ones: how, they ask, can a heterosexual fellow write – somewhat successfully as well -- to such an orientation not his own?

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WAY Ahead Of His Time

(Philosopher Descartes's Sage Internet Advice)

Rainbow Reviews Likes Me2

(from M. Christian's Queer Imaginings)

Check out this very flattering review of my surreal/queer/horror. thriller Me2 by Ryes from Rainbow Reviews ... which has just been re-released as part of the wonderful Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions M. Christians ManLove Collection:

He looks just like you. He acts exactly like you. Every day he becomes more and more like you, taking away that what was yours until there's nothing left. You may think you've met your match ~ or your double ~ but that's not even close. 

Me2 is a psychological thriller about self and identity, written in a unique and interesting structure. The book starts off with an unnamed narrator who works at Starbucks. The narrator mentally labels the Starbucks customers by the flavor/cup sizes of the coffee they order and the personalities he associates with those coffees. This is not different from the way he views the world in terms of brand names. His description of himself also doesn't distinguish him from other men like him. His daily activities are routine, and he even gives his looks a name: a Boy of Summer look.  

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