Seven Weeks Of M.Christian: Week 6 – What Is Success?

Continuing my seven (possibly terrifying) weeks of M.Christian, here's my newest installment...

...my reasoning behind this is that I haven't really talked a lot about myself for a while so I thought it would be a fun little experiment to post - once a week, for seven weeks - a series of essays about little ol' me: where I came from, my professional journey, being an editor, being a publisher ... and even my hopes and dreams for the future.

Hope you like!

I was recently introduced as a successful writer: which immediately got me thinking – always a good thing. 

What is a successful writer?

We really should start by clearing the board a bit and admit that success is a pretty meaningless word.  I know a few writers who have only written three or four books but have made indecent amounts of money from them, I also know writers who have written dozens and dozens and dozens of books, and I even have a few writer friends who have won amazing awards – so which one is the most successful?  The reality is that for every literary success story there's usually a dark side: the author who makes a lot of money may very well be trapped by the genre that brought them that nice, juicy income – they simply can't afford to write anything else; the writer who has written dozens and dozens and dozens of books may be respected but has to live in their parents' basement; and the author with all those awards may be terrified by the thought of it's all downhill from here.

When I teach my (commercial begins – Sex Sells: How To Write And Sell Erotica class – commercial ends) I always take a few minutes to remind my students that writers are professional liars: it is, after all, our job to convince people that we are everything from aliens from the dark nebula, a serial killer, a turn-of-the-century grand dame, or whatever/whoever else – meaning that when I writer opens their mouth about anything you should always take what comes out with more than a grain of salt.

Writing, without a doubt, can be a very tough life.  Sure, as I mentioned, what we do is special, brave and even magical, but it can also regularly, methodically kick you in the gut: bad reviews, poor sales, rejection, rejection, rejection ... it is not for the weak.  It's not a surprise – though it is a bit shameful – that some writers deal with the harsh reality of being a writer by wearing an armored suit of arrogance.  They are the ones who love to tell you about their great new sale (though it took them a decade to do it), their amazing award (though no one really respects the quality of their work), the thousands of words they just wrote (that is nothing more than gibberish), or the huge royalty check they got (but will never see again). 

I have a rule: if I happen to have a fellow writer in my life who doesn't make me feel good about me or my work then that person can no longer be in my life.  Yeah, that might be a bit harsh, but anything or anyone that keeps me from working at what is already a damned hard thing to do is someone not worth having around.  The same holds true for blogs, twitter-twits, Facebook 'friends' – if you are not a positive thing in my life then you are simply not going to be in my life.  Writing can be tough, as said, so there's no reason to keep people around who make it any tougher.

So what is success – especially for a writer?  If you've been kind enough to read these little pieces you probably know where this is going ... but bear with me.  I really don't think success has anything to do with awards (I love this quote: "Awards are like hemorrhoids: eventually every asshole gets one"), money (which is extremely slippery for anyone doing anything creative), books or stories written, fame (just watch All About Eve), or anything similar.

For me, success is ... have you ever seen The Paper Chase?  For those that haven't, it's about a student (Timothy Bottoms) facing a very difficult time (to put it mildly) in law school.  It’s a great film (hey, it's got John Houseman so it has to be) but the ending has always resounded with me: after spending hour after hour, day after day, night after night, our student works and studies and studies and works – and, at the end, his girlfriend hands him an envelope with his final grade in it.  But rather than open it he simply tears it up, scattering it to the wind: he doesn't need to know what it says because he knows, without a doubt, that he has not just passed but understands the law.

Now I'm not a lawyer (thank god) but that scene, for me, is my personal definition of success.  Sure, money would be nice; an award would be flattering; having a nice, fat Wikipedia entry would be sweet; but what I really want is for one day to write a book that I finish with that same glorious moment of artistic satisfaction: the unshakable knowledge that what I have done is truly, inarguably wonderful.

It's subjective, of course: your version of success if not mine – but I hope this had made you think a bit about what you want your own, personal, artistic journey to be. 

But before I close I have one final piece of advice – one that I tell as many writers as I can, as well as hold very close to my heart: we all might have different ideas of what success is, but the only time a writer truly fails is ... when they stop writing.

Bravo On The Sizzler Blog Tour

(from M.Christian's Queen Imaginings)


The great Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions just posted a rave - a complete well-deserved one - about the book tour they so thoughtfully arranged for my new book, Stroke the Fire:

First Two Sizzler Blog Tours Big Success

Coordinated by Nikki of BTS Virtual Tours, our first author blog tours were smashing successes. Increase in sales and visibility for both authors. Very different though their work is, M. Christian and Betty Carlton both found themselves and their books on nine very different but appropriate blogs. Copies of each author's featured book were given away as prizes - with s grand prize winner receiving copies of all that author's books! The next tour will feature Olivia London's erotic romance novels and collections. 

Thanks Nikki and the great people at BTS!

MLK

 

An Anonymous Author’s Novel-

An anonymous author’s novel written on the walls of an abandoned house in Chongqing, China (2012)

Billierosie On Hunger - A Feast Of Sensual Tales Of Sex And Gastronomy

Remember how I recently announced the release of my (if I say so myself) wonderful anthology Hunger: A Feast Of Sensual Tales Of Sex And Gastronomy? Well, the absolutely-wonderful Billierosie just posted a kick-ass review of the book on her own great site as well as on Frequently Felt.

Check it out:

The writer Italo Calvino says; “In love, as in gluttony, pleasure is a matter of the utmost precision.”

When the innovative M.Christian and Alyn Rosselini suggested food and erotica as a theme for Sizzler’s latest anthology, A Lover’s Feast, I was reminded of Italo Calvino’s words.

Sex and food. Food and sex. The two are inextricably linked. The stories here celebrate their unique relationship. Whether it’s teen lovers slurping down hot dogs, washed down with Pepsi, or a dinner of the finest cuisine, eaten lovingly by a sophisticated gourmet, we watch each other as we eat.

We bite, we swallow, we lick our fingers, we kiss and taste each other.

Here is what Sizzler have to say about their great new anthology.

Food and sex – sex and food: two great things that can be even better together! From soothing chocolate to spicy meatballs the stories in this brand new erotic anthology edited by two masters of the genre - M.CHRISTIAN and ALYN ROSSELINI - feature stories by the crème-de-la-crème of sexual and literary cooking and will tickle your sensual taste buds and stir your pot of erotic thrills. 

Basting lovers, cooking orgies, steaming hot encounters, straight as well as queer taste treats ... the stories in HUNGER: A FEAST OF SENSUAL TALES OF SEX AND GASTRONOMY will push boundaries everyone's pleasurable buttons – both erotic and gastronomic: these are stories that will arouse, amuse, amaze, and whet your appetite for more!

Authors in this so-very tasty anthology include: SUSAN ST. AUBIN, DOMINIC SANTI, GISELLE RENARDE, ERIN O'RIORDAN, OLIVIA LONDON, JESSICA LENNOX, KIRSTEN IMANI KASAI, CÈSAR, SANCHEZ ZAPATA, GREGORY L. NORRIS, HEIDI CHAMPA, and BILLIEROSIE

And Sizzler’s writers have delivered in quality and abundance. As I read the stories, I think of taste, aroma, texture, moist inside my mouth, crumbling in my fingers; like these stories in “A Lover’s Feast”, playing havoc with my senses. I am gluttonous, as I gorge on these sexy tales.

In “A Meal”, Susan St.Aubin, has Evelyn preparing a meal for the man in her life, her lover Hal and the woman in her life, her lover, Rebecca. The point of view moves between the characters, telling of desire, lust, jealousy. Two girls and a guy, it should have all gone so smoothly, but lust for the flavour of food, overtakes the lust for sex. The salmon mornay, scooped and slurped from scallop shells is too delicious. Susan St.Aubin is talking about the dark side of desire. Evelyn has tried to control desire and it has turned around and bitten her. 

But what surprises her most of all, is that Hal is repelled by what Rebecca has in her mouth.

In “Jeb’s Wife”, Dominic Santi gives us three guys and a girl. Kaylee loves to cook. The guys love to eat; they all love to do other things. Through the delectable style of Kaylee’s homemaking skills, the four ravenous friends bring a whole new aspect to the notion of coming together. Whenever I have read Dominic Santi’s stories, I have always been drawn to, and impressed with the way he conjures up visual images. In “Jeb’s Wife”, he excels at writing spectacle. The orgy in the final paragraph, is loaded, saturated with excess. And it works.

Kirsten Imani Kasai’s contribution to the anthology is “Best Served Cold.” It is a skilful dish of betrayal, love; a haunting mix of recipes turned into a powerful lament. It is a story that stays with you, long after you have read the final paragraph.

In “Une Apetito Rubusto”, Renatto Garcia, has Gwen on holiday in Italy, with her girl friends. It is supposed to be a male free holiday. Gwen has taken a vow of abstinence, more than that; she has sworn off men for life. Then she meets Cristoforo, “with eyes the shape of ripe olives”. They drink wine in a bar; Blanc de Morgex, Petite Arvine, Picotendro. The exotic names are a slow tango of seduction. Cristoforo educates Gwen in the subtle arts of taste, aroma, texture. In a scene of pure, undiluted erotica, Gwen swoons into a bathtub of Italian marble; she is saturated with wonderful, luscious grapes and red, red wine.

Then there is Giselle Renarde’s tale, “The Sweetest Burn”. A woman becomes a vessel on which to serve Chef’s latest concoction. She is a platter; she also holds the secret ingredient within her skin and Chef’s expert tongue wants to taste and test the balance of flavours. Her sweat and bodily fluids enhance the recipe. The writer draws on the sensation of touch, as Chef laps, sucks and slurps his way over her flesh. “Her flesh was a regular bouquet garni of human aromas.”

And another Chef, in Gregory L. Norris’ “Foodie”. Marcel wakes up in the middle of a crazed fantasy. At least, as far as looming into consciousness and realising that you’re bound and helpless is a fantasy. Marcel is the current “it” man of the TV celebrity chef world. While in bondage, Marcus is feasted upon; his bodily secretions are pronounced as delicious by the “foodie”. Whether it’s a marinade or a glaze; a garnish to a delectable salad or an icy swirling decoration in a frosted glass, Marcus is there to be consumed.

The stories in this fabulous anthology have resonance. Perhaps it’s a moment in a restaurant, a bar, or a café or sharing coffee and croissants in bed with your first lover. A secluded picnic beneath an oak tree or catching and cooking a plump fish on a barbeque. The smoky aroma drifts and lingers.

Watching your lover cook with his fingers, eat with his fingers and getting turned on. Both of you.

Deep, dark green extra virgin olive oils and fragrant raspberry vinegars, gooey, slippery egg yolks separated from their whites. Oysters swallowed whole, slipping slowly down your throat. Peppery, yellow and orange nasturtium flowers scattered into a salad of green rocket with tiny, ripe, sweet vine tomatoes. Flavour and sensation, bursting on your tongue. Lapiz blue borage flowers crushed into chilled Pimms with chinking chunks of ice. Fragrant, golden honeysuckle flowers decorate an airy lemon soufflé. Pink damask rose petals scattered over a white, linen table cloth. Pomegranate seeds, staining mouths scarlet, little rubies hinting at the forbidden, bitter and sweet. Runny golden honey, crunchy, dripping, sticky eaten straight from the comb. White of egg, slimy, then whipped into a white, fluffy, crisp Pavlova. And smooth, dark chocolate, silky on the tongue, slowly melting.

And while writing this review, I am reminded of a scene from Tony Richardson’s great 1963 film, “Tom Jones.”

The famous, sex-drenched eating scene between Tom (Albert Finney) and, (all unknowingly) possibly his mother Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman) begins naturally enough with big steaming pewter bowls of soup. Mrs. Waters leans over the table and lustily slurps big round spoonfuls, her breasts tumbling out of her bodice, with a more-than-come-hither look. Tom, nearly overcome, involuntarily rips a claw off the langouste he has in his hand and sucks happily on it. Drafts of ale, turkey, oysters, pears, and wine are then dispatched with loving attention.

M.Christian and Alyn Rosselini’s “Hunger!” anthology, has its roots in the spirit of Henry Fielding’s novel, published in 1749 and Tony Richardson’s 1963 film; both entitled “Tom Jones”.

And “Hunger is out now! Shortly to be available at Amazon, you can buy it here at Sizzler!

I'm Reading At My Perverted Sucky Valentine Puts Out!

(From M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Good news: I'm going to be one of the featured readers at My Perverted Sucky Valentine Puts Out.

Here's the basic info - with more coming soon!

My Perverted Sucky Valentine Puts Out!
Saturday, February 9, 7pm – 10pm
The Center for Sex and Culture
1349 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103

For an anti-Valentine's event of epic proportions, two of San Francisco's most celebrated erotic literary events join forces! On February 9, the Center will host the collision of Perverts Put Out and My Sucky Valentine! Come hear some of SF's favorite erotic authors read and tell stories about dirty love, dirtier lovemaking and the train-wreck delights of romance-gone-wrong!

Our three-way of hosts will be Carol Queen, Simon Sheppard and Thomas S. Roche; expect filthy heartache from Bay Area luminaries Charlie Jane Anders, M. Christian, Daphne Gottlieb, Philip Huang, Allison Moon and horehound stillpoint. This event is a benefit for the Center for Sex and Culture and the St. James Infirmary.

Out Now: Hunger: A Feast Of Sensual Tales Of Sex And Gastronomy

I am very, very, very thrilled to announce the release of a brand new anthology I edited with my pal Alyn Rosselini and published by the always-amazing Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions: Hunger: A Feast Of Sensual Tales Of Sex And Gastronomy

Food and sex – sex and food: two great things that can be even better together! From soothing chocolate to spicy meatballs the stories in this brand new erotic anthology edited by two masters of the genre - M.CHRISTIAN and ALYN ROSSELINI - feature stories by the crème-de-la-crème of sexual and literary cooking and will tickle your sensual taste buds and stir your pot of erotic thrills. 

Basting lovers, cooking orgies, steaming hot encounters, straight as well as queer taste treats ... the stories in HUNGER: A FEAST OF SENSUAL TALES OF SEX AND GASTRONOMY will push boundaries everyone's pleasurable buttons – both erotic and gastronomic: these are stories that will arouse, amuse, amaze, and whet your appetite for more! 

Authors in this so-very tasty anthology include: SUSAN ST. AUBIN, DOMINIC SANTI, GISELLE RENARDE, ERIN O'RIORDAN, OLIVIA LONDON, JESSICA LENNOX, KIRSTEN IMANI KASAI, CÈSAR, SANCHEZ ZAPATA, GREGORY L. NORRIS, HEIDI CHAMPA, and BILLIEROSIE

Seven Weeks Of M.Christian: Week 5 - Being A Publisher

Continuing my seven (possibly terrifying) weeks of M.Christian, here's my newest installment...

...my reasoning behind this is that I haven't really talked a lot about myself for a while so I thought it would be a fun little experiment to post - once a week, for seven weeks - a series of essays about little ol' me: where I came from, my professional journey, being an editor, being a publisher ... and even my hopes and dreams for the future.

Hope you like!

In our last installment we chatted ... well, okay I ranted a bit about what it's like to be an editor, especially as I wear a writer's hat as well.

But, recently, I added another sombrero to my hat rack when I was hired by the (prepare for heaping of praise in ... 1 ... 2... 3...) amazing, fantastic, wonderful, Renaissance E Books as an Associate Publisher. This makes me a very rare critter in the writing world: having my hand in not just writing novels and short stories, but also selecting stories for anthologies, and now books for publication. I often kid that one of these days I'm going to get so confused about who and what I am that I'm going to accidentally reject myself.

Being a publisher, though, has been a tremendously enlightening experience. When you’re an editor – for a site, magazine, or anthology – you’re really just there to pick what you think are good stories and then assemble the whole shebang. But being a publisher is a whole (prepare for cliché in ... 1 ... 2... 3...) kettle of fish.

Now I've dealt with a LOT of publishers in the years since I sold my first work – I lost count at somewhere around two dozen – so I've seen them at their best and, alas, at their worst, so when the amazing, fantastic, wonderful, Renaissance E Books hired me I knew more than a bit about the kind of publisher I wanted to be.

I thought (foolish me) that I knew all about how the business side of writing worked. I even knew that the real power behind the throne of publishing are the distributors: it is they who decide what can and cannot be published, as they are the ones who bookstores (in the past) and ebook resellers (now) go to for content. If they don't carry your book, in short, your book will never see the light of day. It used to be companies like Ingram but now it's ibooks and amazon.

But what working with Renaissance has taught me is there is a whole other side to the business of getting books out into the world – a side, I am rather ashamed to say, I wish I had known about when I was just trying to sell my own books. Now, I was never a cranky writer – in fact I developed a kind of a reputation for being very easy-going – as I trusted my publishers to know what they were doing when it came to dealing with my work, but there were a few times where, in retrospect, I just should have let them do what they thought was best.

This is particularly important now, what with the surge of self-published books. Okay, I might be a tad prejudiced, as I now work for a publisher, but there are a ton of things that a writer has no clue about when it comes to publishing and, most of all, selling books. Authors far too often see the decisions a publisher makes as capricious or even insulting – though that is not to say that there are quite a few publishers out there where that really is the case – but what is actually happening is that the publisher simply has special insight into what can make a book really fly.

Titles, for instance: if you're writing an erotic romance, for example, and give it a title that does not say that the book is an erotic romance it is all but guaranteed to flop. Knowing this – by looking at the sales figures – has put me in the very odd position of having to tell other writers that we need to change their title. It's not a very comfortable thing to have to say, but most authors come around when I tell them the logic behind it.

The same is true of covers. An author might have a very clear idea of what they want their cover to be but unless it the artwork immediately reaches out to the reader and screams erotic romance then the book will have a much lower chance of selling well. So, again, I am in the odd position of having to often tell a writer that they may not love their cover but that we have chosen one that says what their book is actually about, that speaks – loudly – to people interested in that kind of book.

Publishers – no duh – are a business, and as such many of their (our) decisions are based on trying to get work out there as efficiently, affordably, and comprehensively as possible. Efficiently in that we often have to really streamline the publishing process – and this is even more important with the new word of ebooks: so we look for writers that are easy to deal with, that trust our decisions, that are dependable, and who trust our decisions are really in their best interests. Affordably in that we would love to have covers that are 100% accurate but to do that is far too often too expensive – which gets back to a book saying, as quickly and as loudly, about what it is. Yes, the characters on the cover may not be exactly how the author pictured them but to do that would mean having a cover created that would be time-consuming as well as expensive ... and, again, the goal is to grab the reader as quickly as possible. Comprehensively in that the new game are ebooks ... now I won't get into the whole shebang about why they are better for authors, publishers, and readers ... but I will say that the publishers that are winning the ebook battle are not the ones with the most titles, the best writers, the best covers, the largest Facebook presence, that tweet like mad but, instead, have worked very hard to get their ebooks everywhere: if your book is just on amazon, for example, then your reach will be very limited. I'm pleased and proud to say that Renaissance prides itself in trying to get its titles in as many markets as possible – which is good news for the company as well as the writers.

Another big shock – and one that a lot of people really don't want to hear – is that very often publicity (including social media) has very little to do with a book's success. I've seen the numbers, people, and some of the best-selling titles our there are by authors who have a very minimal internet presence – they simply have written books that happen to – by luck or design -- perfectly reach their audience.

BUT that does not mean that publicity, social media, and all the rest isn’t important. To put it simply: all the reviews, publicity, social media that-and-that will not sell a bad book (50 Shades of Grey is a rare exception) – but not having a good Internet 'face' can seriously limit a writer's reach and, ultimately, sales. To put it even simpler: PR is not really about selling a single book but much more about keeping your name, and work, in people's minds. That's why we at Renaissance work very hard on publicity and marketing, and really encourage our authors to do the same, but we also know that overnight successes are few and far between so it's important to keep in mind that professional writing can be a really long term endeavor.

This is especially true with ebooks. One of my jobs – as I see it – is to be the publisher I would want to work with as a writer, and as such I routinely tell a writer not to focus on Facebook or Twitter or whatever-else, not hover over their amazon ranking, sales, etc., but, instead, to keep writing. The reason this is something I like to say, and hear, is that if a writer keeps writing then all if takes is one of their books to take off and then – here's the glory of ebooks – all of their books will also become best-sellers.

This is also why, as a publisher, I am more than willing to tell an author what’s the 50 Shades of the moment – but I also vehemently dissuade them from trying to copy that blip of 'success.' It is much better – professionally as well as artistically – to write what they want to write. If they keep at it, get better and better with each book, stretch their range, and – most of all- -- have fun then success will more-than-likely come. If they try to chase the best-seller all they'll end up doing is creating shallow copycats and not the next next next big thing.

In the end, being on the other side of the publishing fence has been not just been educational but has also been a very positive thing for me, artistically: the lesson being looking behind the curtain at the machinery doesn't ruin the art of writing but, instead, can reveal the naked reality behind literary 'success.' Knowing how twisted, odd, strange – if not totally weird – this industry can be sometimes has made me a lot less sensitive to how my own work is progressing ... and I remind myself to take my own advice and not pay attention to the best seller's list and instead have fun, play, experiment and, most of all, keep writing.

Honest Abe

Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker: Seven M.Christians - Number 1: Intelligence Is Imagination With An Erection

Check it out: as part of my Seven M.Christian series (next one goes up tomorrow, btw) I just posted the first installment as part of my on-going Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker column for the always-great Erotica Readers And Writers Site:

Intelligence Is Imagination With An Erection

I didn't always want to be a writer. Sure, I was one of those kids: the ones who are too bright, too creative, too curious – and, yes, in case you're interested, I was bullied ... a lot – but actually doing anything with that brightness, creativity, curiosity didn't pop into mind until high school.

But, boy, did it POP. In retrospect it's more than a bit ... odd (to be polite) how enthusiastic and disciplined I became about writing. In hindsight a lot of it probably had to do with trying to find an escape from a less-than-perfect family dynamic – but another big motivator was that I'd always been the kid who didn't just talk about doing things: I did them. Perfect example: I remember, in early elementary school, discovering that the science classroom had a darkroom ... so I went home and over the weekend read every book I could on photography so when I came back on Monday I developed my first roll of film and did my first few test prints.

Alas, discipline and enthusiasm are fine and good – actually they are absolutely essential in a writer – but my discipline and enthusiasm was focused on Mount Everest: selling a story to the likes of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Early rejections didn't stop me – in fact nothing stopped me – and I kept trying, kept writing, kept submitting: my goal was a short story a week and/or three pages of writing or three pages of just story ideas.

And, you know, it worked -- sort of. I've never sold a story to Fantasy & Science Fiction but all that work, all that passion, paid off ... abet in a very unusual and totally unexpected way.

Eventually I made my way to the Bay Area, got married, and – on a total whim – took a class from Lisa Palac who, at the time, was editing a magazine called FutureSex. When I discovered ... well, sex, my stories got a little more (ahem) mature. It was one of those stories I was brave enough to hand to Lisa.

What happened next is, to resort to cliché – and hyperbole – is the stuff of legends: Lisa not just liked the story but bought it. A year later Susie Bright also liked the story and bought it for Best American Erotica 1994.

Sure, it took me ten years of trying (and, yes, you may whistle at that) but that wasn't important. People often ask me why I write what I write -- lesbian erotica, gay erotica, bisexual erotica, kink after fetish after stroke after stroke – and the answer couldn't be simpler.

I am a writer ... and for someone who lives to tell stories, who worked so hard to hang onto that brightness, creativity, curiosity, discipline, and enthusiasm, finding a way to do what I love to do and be recognized for it, in demand for it, and even paid for it there is simply nothing better.

My name is Chris, my main pseudonym is M.Christian, and I am a pornographer ... and I couldn't be happier.

(by the way, the quote that starts this is by Victor Hugo ... and is a kind of personal philosophy)

Had A Blast At Xbiz!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Just wanted to give a hearty thanks so all the great folks I met - and spent fun times with - at the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference . It was a blast and a half! 

If you want to see some of the shots I casually snapped while having La-La- Land adventures, just cruise my flickr feed.

Still More Philosophy

Stephen Fry On Language

(from M.Christian's Meine Kleine Fabrik)

Neil Patrick Harris Has A Pocket Weasel

(from frequently felt*)

A day with Hunter S Thompson

Greetings from LA

La-La Land

As you know, I'm going to be in Los Angeles for the next week at the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference - so my blogging will be spotty at best. But keep an eye on my twitter and flickr feeds for updates on (ahem) whatever mischief I may get up to down there.

The Exile At The Edge Of Eternity

(from M.Christian's Meine Kleine Fabrik)










(via browsethestacks)

Superman #400 (1984)

“The Exile At The Edge Of Eternity”
Script by Jim Steranko
Art by Jim Steranko
Letters by Jim Steranko
Color by Jim Steranko

Reminder: I'm Going To The XBIZ 360° - Digital Media Conference!

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Just a reminder that I'm going to be at the the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference in Los Angeles this week.  Drop me a line if you're going and we'll hook up or something.

I'm going to be winging my way down to Los Angeles to attend the XBIZ 360° | Digital Media Conference from January 9th to the 12th - courtesy of a absolutely fantastic friend.

Sophia Loren's Striptease

(from Frequently Felt)



Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is a 1963 comedy anthology film by Italian director Vittorio de Sica. Set in 1953, it stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The film consists of three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 37th Academy Awards.

(via midcenturymodernfreak)

Wheeee! The Mammoth Book Of New Erotica

I'm thrilled to be able to announce that the newest edition of Maxim Jakubowski's wonderful Mammoth Book Of New Erotica features my BBW age-play story "Her First Thursday Evening."

Seven Weeks Of M.Christian: Week 4 - Being An Editor

Continuing my seven (possibly terrifying) weeks of M.Christian, here's my newest installment...

...my reasoning behind this is that I haven't really talked a lot about myself for a while so I thought it would be a fun little experiment to post - once a week, for seven weeks - a series of essays about little ol' me: where I came from, my professional journey, being an editor, being a publisher ... and even my hopes and dreams for the future.

Hope you like!

Unlike some writers I actually became an editor very quickly after selling my first story.  I wish I could say it was because of my staggering personal magnetism, overwhelming charisma, or through the brilliance of my talent as a writer but, to be honest, it literally was just matter of right time (1995, the beginning of what some call the "literary erotica" craze) and the right place (I knew someone who had already done books with the publisher). 

My first anthology was called Eros Ex Machina: Eroticizing the Mechanical (later reprinted by the late, lamented Erotic Book Club as Sex Machines) and, if you couldn't tell from the title, is was about people having ... well, sex with all kinds of devices, gizmos, and do-hickeys. 

As with a lot of things, once I'd done one another quickly followed – with a vengeance on my part: as of this writing I'd edited something like 25 anthologies, ranging from pure erotica like the three book deal I got with Sage Vivant (Amazons, Confessions, and Garden Of Perverse) to the non-smutty, and quite literary, pair of Mammoth Books I did with my pal, Maxim Jakubowski (Mammoth Books of Tales Of The Road and The Mammoth Book of Future Cops). 

Now I really wish I could say that there is some kind of trick, or extra-normal talent to editing an anthology.  Oh, sure, there are some things that take a bit of skill and training – which I’ll touch on in a sec – but, by and large, an editor's job boils down to reading, and then selecting, stories.

Of course just this simple part of the job can be the most problematic: what I like, after all, is often light years away from what you might like.  My usual rule of thumb when selecting stories is to look for an author who, first of all, is clearly having fun with the habitually crazy-ass theme I've given them, secondly, knows how to write, and – last but not least – tells a good story.

It shocks people when tell them that, usually, when I edit an erotic-themed anthology, I pay little or no attention to the sex itself.  In fact I typically skim over that part – focusing instead on what the writer is trying to say and how they are saying it. 

As I like to tell people in my Sex Sells: Writing and Selling Erotica class – and have said in my "Confessions Of A Literary Streetwalker" column for the incredible, and invaluable, Erotica Readers and Writers site (now – commercial starts – assembled in my new book How To Write And Sell Erotica – commercial ends): a good sex story has to be a good story, beyond anything else.  In fact when I make notes on submissions the worst comment I can make on a story is "just porn:" meaning that there is nothing in the story but page after page of bump-grindy ... and nothing else.

Beyond that I usually select stories that give the book some range and variety – within the limits set by the project, of course.  I'd like to say that I don’t pick stories because the author may or may not be famous but (sigh) I have to be honest that unless it is a very poor story a 'name' can actually help sell a book.  But that does not mean that I only take stories with this in mind – in fact most of the stories I feel are the best are often written by writers who, like I said, are having a fun time with the theme and know that an erotic story is not just about sex.

In addition to being an editor I am, of course, a writer so I really try to be the editor I'd like to be dealing with when I'm wearing that other hat – and because of that I am -- or try really hard to be -- a kind, polite, and conscientious editor: I answer every email, no matter how silly or even insulting, and I always send out rejection letters even though it is a very painful process ... because I am too well aware how much those things can hurt.  But I also take a certain amount of pride in sending out nice rejection letters – if there are such things.

As a writer as well as an editor I can tell you right off the bat that treating an editor as an enemy, approaching them like they are out to steal your work or whatever, is not the way to go.  If someone I reject reacts rudely ... I wish I could say that I turn the other cheek but, honestly, I doubt I will take anything by that author in the future.  Life is too short to deal with prima-donnas and, besides, there are usually stories just a good waiting in the wings.

It's a maybe-silly point of pride with me that many people I've rejected have actually become friends – and, as such, while it won't change a bad story into an accepted one – it does mean I might actually try and help them with their work, or at least encourage them to keep writing.

What can be frustrating about being an anthology editor – please allow me to vent here – is that very, very few reviewers know how to judge them.  The fact is that an editor often has to take what they get – or they've tried to create a spread of approach, style, content, etc. to make the book as well-rounded as possible – a fact lost on many reviewers, who forget this fact and pan a book because a few stories didn't work for them or because they feel the quality of the stories wasn't up-to-par. 

As a writer as well as an editor has also made me very sensitive to bad anthology editors, and so I try very hard act like they do.  As I already mentioned, I always reject – even though it may be a painful thing to do – and I when I say a story has been accepted then it's been accepted: I don't play games with short-lists or change my mind once I've told the author. 

I also feel that an author's work, and voice, is their own, and so I will rarely ask for any kind of rewrite – especially around the plot.  As I writer I honestly can't stand editors who think that, because they are The Editor, that gives them the right to dink with an author's work – with or without their permission.  For me, being an editor just means I'm an administrator of sorts, that my name on the book basically means I created the crazy theme of the book and picked the stories.  That's why I try and downplay myself when I talk about my anthologies and instead focus on the authors who contributed their wonderful stories: it's far more their book than it is mine.

Also being on both sides of the fence has made me very vocal about editors who I feel have let their egos get in the way of the project: I do not play favorites when I talk about my books – choosing to mention one author over another – and I always, to repeat myself a bit, do a book with an eye on being the editor I'd like to deal with as a writer. 

Now even though I said that approaching an editor as if they are some kind if enemy, or reacting poorly in regards to acceptance/rejection, contract terms and all that stuff that does not mean as a writer should not have some say in how things are done – but it's far better to do what I do, as a writer, when I come across an editor who is not being either professional or even just kind: I simply don't send them any more stories for any of their projects – and I tell my other writer friends about my experiences.

In the end, being an editor has been a unique and (to use a cliché) eye-opening experience and, I sincerely hope, has made me respect writers even more.  It means a lot to me that writers say that they like submitting to my books – accepted or not – and that I have a certain amount of respect among writers for being understanding and supportive. 

For me, that is a successful anthology: not sales, or reviews, but that the writers in the book had a good time dealing with me but even-more had a fun time exploring the crazy idea I set before them and had a blast writing their stories. 

Like I said: my name might be on the cover but it is – always – the authors who make an anthology ... and they are the ones deserving of not just recognition but also respect.

Still More Philosophy

 

Yin & Yang

(via theperksofbeingawildfl0wer)

Helping Vampires to Save the World - I'm Jazzed To Be Part of Coming Together: In Vein

This is very, very cool: my story, "The Curse," is part of a brand new Coming Together anthology from the always-wonderful Lisabet Sarai - Coming Together: In Vein

 

Helping Vampires to Save the World

Let's face it. Vampires are sexy. Something about the undead stirs up our juices. Perhaps it's their irresistible power. Even when we know the danger, we're so very tempted to surrender to their all-consuming lust. Maybe we want to comfort them, to save them a lonely, bloody eternity. Maybe we secretly crave immortality ourselves. 

Vampires are frequently portrayed as evil or at least amoral, viewing humanity from the jaded perspective of centuries. Now, though, vampires are doing their part to save the world. 

 Coming Together: In Vein is a brand new collection of vampire-themed erotica and erotic romance edited by Lisabet Sarai. All sales of this novel-length volume support Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). MSF works in nearly 70 countries providing medical aid to those most in need regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation. Right now, despite being barred from the country, MSF doctors and nurses are in Syria, working with patients from both sides of the civil war. They're performing surgery in caves and sneaking into refugee camps to distribute desperately needed medications. 

 You can help MSF in its life-saving mission, simply by indulging your passion for vampires. Buy a copy of Coming Together: In Vein in ebook, Kindle format, or print. Enjoy! Then help spread the word! Every copy we sell has the potential to save someone's life.
 The list of contributors includes many names you'll recognize. Every one of these authors has provided his or her work free of charge, to support the charitable aims of the project. Furthermore, the editor is giving away a free copy of her short story collection Body Electric  to everyone who buys a copy of Coming Together: In Vein. (For details of this offer, click here.) 

 You'll find an excerpt below – just to whet your appetite.
 Sink your teeth into Coming Together: In Vein. Help our vampires save the world.

From “The Curse” by M. Christian

She was almost late coming into work. Unheard of, though no one would have noticed. She’d stood and stared at the bare bed, looking for some kind of evidence, some kind of physicality to match her filling memory. They’d stood on the balcony, looking at the stars and the brilliant lights of the city. A natural position, Ellie’s hands on the cold metal of the balcony, the other woman’s hands around her waist, her breath on the nape of her neck. A cascade, Ellie remembered, of goose bumps, but not from the cooling night.

Hard daylight. Blinking, wrapped in a towel, she stepped out, looking for footprints, hand prints. Moisture, a sparkling flicker of dew, anything to prove it had really happened.

They’d kissed—yes, and she tasted her again in memory:  the pressure of lips, the heat of her, the rhythm of their breathing. They’d come inside, kissed by the foot of the bed. The whisper of her black satin dress, the sudden too-tightness of Ellie’s jeans. The surprising laughter when the kiss broke, when the high of their excitement crested. The way, then, the giggles had faded as she had put her hands on Ellie’s face, traced the contours of her cheeks, her jaw, the way she’d tapped Ellie’s nose, whispering “button” in a rich, throaty voice.

In the warming room, Ellie stood at the foot of the bed, turning so she was facing the way she remembered standing. Yes. Eyes brown with flickers of amber. Lips too full, too red, too silken to be anything but a fantasy running around in the real world. Lithe, boyish. She remembered how she liked to watch her move, liked to watch her walk barefoot across the apartment. Graceful, as if every muscle were elegantly conducted to some lovely score.

Her shoes?  Yes… She’d kicked them off, near the foot of the bed. Without really thinking of the woman walking the hard pavement on thin, bare feet, Ellie dropped down to look, hoping for the reality of a simple black pump. Nothing, of course. Memories, but nothing else.

A glance at the clock brought up more—her face, glowing as if from low embers, smiling up at her. There, in her eyes was  the lust Ellie'd wanted, needed, but also something else, something finer, softer, kinder. There was something else there, in the dull red glow, something that had made Ellie’s heart melt as fast as her body. Liquid—yes, molten....

A glance at the clock also brought a slap of reality. 8:05. Half an hour on the bridge, fifteen minutes from the garage to the office. She was going to be late.

Still, hurrying, there was no escaping the growing number of ghosts from the past, that expired night: brushing her hair brought up a voice, rich and rumbling, and the feel of strong fingers stroking the top of her head; doing her teeth was those same fingers brushing her lips, feeling them before another kiss…

Finally, she had to stop, had to put both hands on the edge of the sink and breathe deep. In and out. Strong, steady breaths. She was late, she needed to get dressed and get going. She had work to do, lots of work to do. If it had happened... if it had happened then it was nice, and that was all. It didn’t change anything. If it hadn’t, then the world was as it was. Ellie, her little place, her little life, her job—the days falling down, one by one.

Tears, hot on her cheeks. How she wanted it to be real.       

Eyes open, puffy and red. Her face in the mirror, looking broken and small. But then she saw it, as real as a shoe, as foot and hand prints in night dew. Evidence, reality. Purple and harsh, sore, yes, but evidence none the less. A scarf would hide it, but not for now. Lateness, the bridge traffic, the walk from the garage, the firm, everything was gone from her mind. For now, as she stood in the window, the bruise on the slope of her neck was too priceless to hide, too real not to be stared at.

The Next Big Thing: Jason Rubis

Here's a wonderful treat: my pal, Jason Rubis - a great person and a magnificent writer - just posted his part of the Next Big Thing blog-share I mentioned awhile back.  Check it out:

Fetish fantastique! Dark sexuality from the midnight land of our most lurid thoughts. Vampires, dominatrixes, ogres, princesses, and others find ways of inflicting pain, or having pain inflicted on them in this startling collection of erotica from the pages of Garden of the Perverse, Needles and Bones, Fetish Fantastic, Like Crimson Droplets, The Best Fantastic Erotica, and other publications.   As the author writes, "I can't explain any of these stories. The people you'll meet in these pages – whores and androgynies, vampires and beastfolk and various combinations of the above – are voices I heard in the shadows, but the darkest of those shadows I cast myself."  No wonder editor and critic M. Christian raves, "Jason Rubis is a writer to be admired, a writer who does everything – from plot to dialogue, description to sensuality, sophistication of emotion to wit – with tremendous skill.

1) What is the title of your book?

The book is called Strangely Made

2) Where did the idea for the book come from?

Well, it’s a collection of stories, so there are as many “origins” as there are individual pieces. A few examples: “Dancer, Daemon” ultimately had its origins in a Gene Wolfe essay on obscure words in hisBook of the New Sun. The word that caught my eye was “matachine,” meaning a masked sword-dancer. That brought some beautiful, sexy images to mind and I set about trying to explore them. Eventually it gave me a story. “Singapore” was directly inspired by a real restaurant I used to go to, and the beautiful, fascinating woman who owned it. I talk about the origins of one of the book’s vampire stories, “Gather Together Tonight,” in the book’s introduction.

3) What genre does it fall under?

It includes a number of different kinds of stories—sf, “slipstream,” heroic fantasy, fairy tale, vampire, SM--but I personally think of it as erotic dark fantasy.

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I’d love to see Meryl Streep play the Ogress in “Beauty Thrasher.” Maybe Emma Thomson as Alie in “Day Journey, With Stories.” And this is kind of off the wall, but I could see Tia Carrere as Kaso in “Dancer, Daemon.” I would be fascinated and rather afraid to meet the actor who could play Darien from “Darien Sucks.” Ralph Fiennes? Naaah.

5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

I can’t do any better than the publisher’s very short description: “Fetish fantastique!”

6) Was your book self-published or represented by an agency?

Neither; it was published by Sizzler Editions, an imprint of Renaissance e-Books. I’m very happy to see these stories out from the same publisher who has revived Lord Dunsany, William Morris and George MacDonald, as well as putting out some extremely fine contemporary erotica.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft?

The earliest of the stories, “Lioness,” dates back to the early 90s, when I was living in Seattle. The more recent stories were finished just before the book was submitted, so collectively you’d have to say it was nearly twenty years in the making! Some of the individual stories took years to get right; “Circe House” took about three years, “Dancer, Daemon” took seven, as I recall (!).

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

As a collection of SF & fantasy erotica, I’d love it if people found reason to compare it to books like M. Christian’s The Bachelor Machine, or Cecilia Tan’s Black Feathers, both of which I’ve read and admired very much.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve been privileged to know a lot of very sexy, passionate and fascinating people, and to have had some lovely, sometimes frightening experiences. They are all reflected in Strangely Made, as well as my lifelong interest in fantasy literature.

10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Well, it has an absolutely beautiful cover, I think, and a very flattering introduction by M.Christian. And I don’t think you’ll find another collection that combines ogresses, steampunk, vampires, a transgendered heroine, and two very different takes on “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” 

Beware -

Had A Great Time At Dr. Amy Marsh's Sexuality Salon

(From M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Just wanted to give a heart THANKS to all the great folks who came out to hear me talk about the possible future of sexuality for Dr. Amy Marsh's Sexuality Salon.  It was a blast!

Change in Future Sex For Dr. Amy Marsh's Sexuality Salon

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)


There's a teeny-tiny change in my lecture/discussion for Dr. Amy Marsh's Sexuality Salon MeetUp tonight.

Everything is still the same but the event will begin at 6:00PM and end at 8:00PM, instead of the previously posted times,

Hope so see lots of fun people there tonight!

Here are new the new details:

Friday, December 28, 2012 

6:00 PM To 8:00 PM 

Sonoma Coffee Cafe2131 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA (map) 

Out with the old, and in with the future! In December, Sexology Salon will explore the topic of Future Sex! 

Our own Sexology Salon member, M. "Chris" Christian, will lead us in this sure to be lively event! Chris is an erotic author, editor, and workshop presenter. Chris shared his work as an erotic author with the Salon a few months ago and it was a fabulous discussion! Here's what he plans for us during December's program: 

"Welcome to the World Of Tomorrow! Sure, we have iPads, iPhones, Viagra, the staggering depths of the Internet, but what could the day after tomorrow bring? In this combination discussion and lecture, participants will share in some thought experiments on what sex may be like in the next year – or the next thousand years. Subjects included will be speculations on drug and chemical enhancements, extrapolation on current – and future – consumer technology, where gender and sexual orientation may be headed, the idea of artificial implants and enhancements, and even the prospects of intimate encounters with cyborgs, androids, robots, and artificial intelligences." 

As always, please attend our Salon "fragrance free" and plan to patronize the offerings at Sonoma Coffee Cafe. Also, please plan to chip in a couple of dollars towards Meet Up's monthly fees when I take up collection. Thanks so much!

Seven Weeks Of M.Christian: Week 3 - My Mission In Life

Continuing my seven (possibly terrifying) weeks of M.Christian, here's my newest installment...

...my reasoning behind this is that I haven't really talked a lot about myself for a while so I thought it would be a fun little experiment to post - once a week, for seven weeks - a series of essays about little ol' me: where I came from, my professional journey, being an editor, being a publisher ... and even my hopes and dreams for the future.

Hope you like!

Being a writer – or, to be a bit more precise, the way I became a writer – has really affected how I view the writing life ... well, actually any kind of creative life. Part of it, of course, is that it took me a long time to actually become a professional -- but more than that I think it's the transformation I went through during that far too lengthy process.

Like a lot of people, when I first began to write with an eye to actually getting published, it was a very painful process: the words just didn't come, I was always second-guessing my stories, felt like my characters were dead-on-arrival, and doubt was around much more than confidence or even hope.

But, as we read in our last installment, I kept with it and was able, finally, to step into the word of professionalism. But an odd thing happened during those years: I actually began to like to write.

Shocking, I know (and, yes, that was sarcasm), as that is what writers are supposed feel, but when I wrote like I should have said loved: sure, the words were still clumsy, the plots a struggle, the characters stiff and uncooperative, and I thought more about being out-of-print than ever getting into-print, but somewhere during those years something just clicked and I began to look forward to losing myself in my own tales, having fun with language, playing with characters ... I began to see the joy in actually telling stories.

But, more than that, I began to see the magic – which gets me, in a rather convoluted way, to the title of this little piece. Working on my stories, before and after being a professional, I developed a real appreciation for what it means to be a creator. Distilling it down a bit, I began to see writing – or painting, music, etc – as very special: what a creative person does is truly unique, incredibly difficult, and immeasurably brave.

Think about it for a second: how many people out there, milling about in their lives, have ever even considered doing what a creative person does. Sure, they may think about it, dream about it, but very few actually take even the simplest of shots at it: a creative person is a rare and special treasure. Now consider this: not only are creative people one percent (or less) of the people walking this world but they are willing to actually get off their day-dreaming clouds and do the work – often against overwhelming odds. We hear of the successes, of course: the award-winners, the 'names,' the celebrities – but we don’t hear about millions of others who tried their very best but because of this-or-that they just weren't in the right place at the right time with the right creation. Lastly, even the idea of stepping into a creative life – especially a professional one – is awe-inspiringly courageous: not only do we do the work, struggle with every element, fail and try and learn and fail and try and learn but, despite it all, we keep going.

I call this installment "My Mission In Life" because I've been there, I know the pain of rejection, the struggles of trying to create something from nothing and so when I work with, talk with, or teach – though my classes – anyone doing anything creative I always remind them of their rarity, their dedication, their courage.

I once wrote a little piece that kind of got me into trouble – especially with other writers. In it I laid it on the line: you will never be famous, rich, or have one of your books made into a movie, no one will ask for your autograph ... but, if you remember that what you are doing is rare, special, and brave then some of that might actually happen. The trick is to remember the magic, to forever hold onto the pure enjoyment that comes from creating something that no one has ever seen before.

I don't use the word magic lightly: when it happens just right, when we put it all together, what creative people do is transport people into another world, show them things that they may never have ever considered, and – if we are very lucky – change their lives. If that is not magic then I don't know what is.

So, "My Mission In Life" is (1) remember my own lessons and not lose sight of the joy in creation, the specialness of what I am trying to do, and the courage I have in sending my work out into the too-often cold and uncaring world; and (2) to tell as many creative people the same exact thing.

Sure, some of us might be 'known' a bit more than others, sell more books, make more money and all the rest of that crap – but I sincerely believe that anyone who has dedicated themselves to creation, of any kind, deserves support and respect. No one who creates is better than any other person who creates: we all face the same difficulties, the same ego-shattering failures, the same Sisyphian tasks of trying to get out work out there and noticed.

What writers do is magic -- pure and simple: we are magicians using only our minds, imaginations, and lots of hard to work to use only words to transform, enlighten, transport, amuse and maybe even enlighten.

As a writer, an editor, a friend, and now as a publisher, it is my heartfelt "Mission" to remind anyone who creates that they are truly special: published or not, 'successful' or not, rich or not, famous or not, we are all magicians – and that we are all in this together and that there is absolutely no reason to make an already tough life tougher through needless competition, arrogance, conceit, or just simple rudeness.

We magicians should stick together – and never forget why we are all here: to experience the joy in telling stories.

Steampunk, Von Gutenberg, and I

(from M.Christian's Technorotica)

There's cool then there's cool - check this out: the brand new digital issue of the premier fetish fashion magazine, Von Gutenberg, is now out ... and features an article on steampunk style and such by yers truly.

Here's a screenshot of the article, just to wet your whistle:

You can order a copy here (ibooks newstand) and here's a great write-up on the new, state-of-the-art magazine from the San Francisco Chronicle's SF Gate Site:

Global Fashion Quarterly Von Gutenberg Launches For The First Time Across Apple And All Digital Platforms. 

Newark, NJ (PRWEB) December 14, 2012 

With issue # 7, premier latex fashion periodical Von Gutenberg Magazine is now available in Apple’s Newsstand, for Android on Google Play Magazines, and in the Kindle Store and all other eReaders, as well as in its usual print format. Featuring cover girl Ophelia Overdose and 128 pages of the unique content V.G. readers have come to expect fans, fashionistas and even the mildly curious can now enjoy this global source of fashion in any format they choose. 

“Launching the magazine digitally was not only tantamount to our further survival but perpetuates our ethos of presenting current fashion trends, events and designs…as they break globally,” publisher and main photographer Erik Von Gutenberg explains. “Keeping our readers informed of what is happening from the sublime to the popular in latex fashion, the second it happens, is what we’ve always been about.” 

“We’re also extremely proud to be able to say that we are the first latex couture magazine to publish in the Apple App Store.”
Though Von Gutenberg has always maintained a strong web presence with its website, shop, blog and constantly updated event calendar, the move into the smartphone and tablet marketplace presents nearly unlimited possibilities for the V.G. brand. 

“This move to digital opens up a whole new world for us as far as what we can publish…and when. We’re planning exclusives of text and photography in the new year above and beyond our usual quarterly releases.”

Reminder: Future Sex For Dr. Amy Marsh's Sexuality Salon

(from M.Christian's Classes And Appearances)

Just a reminder, folks, that's I'm going to be doing a lecture/discussion/class for the fabulous Dr. Amy Marsh's Sexuality Salon MeetUp on Friday.

I can all-but guarantee it will be a plast and a half.

Here are the details:

Friday, December 28, 2012 

7:00 PM To 9:00 PM 

Sonoma Coffee Cafe2131 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA (map) 

Out with the old, and in with the future! In December, Sexology Salon will explore the topic of Future Sex! 

Our own Sexology Salon member, M. "Chris" Christian, will lead us in this sure to be lively event! Chris is an erotic author, editor, and workshop presenter. Chris shared his work as an erotic author with the Salon a few months ago and it was a fabulous discussion! Here's what he plans for us during December's program: 

"Welcome to the World Of Tomorrow! Sure, we have iPads, iPhones, Viagra, the staggering depths of the Internet, but what could the day after tomorrow bring? In this combination discussion and lecture, participants will share in some thought experiments on what sex may be like in the year year – or the next thousand years. Subjects included will be speculations on drug and chemical enhancements, extrapolation on current – and future – consumer technology, where gender and sexual orientation may be headed, the idea of artificial implants and enhancements, and even the prospects of intimate encounters with cyborgs, androids, robots, and artificial intelligences." 

As always, please attend our Salon "fragrance free" and plan to patronize the offerings at Sonoma Coffee Cafe. Also, please plan to chip in a couple of dollars towards Meet Up's monthly fees when I take up collection. Thanks so much!

You Will Be Missed

(from M.Christian's Meine Kleine Fabrik)

Charles Durning

Jack Klugman

Gerry Anderson

Book Devotee And Stroke The Fire

(from M.Christian's Queer Imaginings)

The blast that is the Stroke the Fire blog tour continues with a great little write-up and except on the every cool Book Devotee site:

Excerpt: 

“STROKE THE FIRE”

“Man’s got a home, then that’s where he sleeps. Can’t, myself, see how you can stand the god-derned quiet out there in the flats,” Lew had said, listening to the music of the man’s voice.

The man shrugged, the tip of his cigar bobbing in the soft night. ”That it be. Name’s Last. Jeff Last.”

Lew wiped the grime off his hands (and hopefully the fool’s grin off his face) and offered his own. ”Lew. Just Lew around here.”

The handshake lasted a bit too long, long enough for the two men to size each other up. Lew in his Stinkhole clothes was a burly barrel of a man, all beard and round blue eyes. He looked fat from aways, but if you’re ever seen him haul cornmeal or lumber you’d know that it was iron, fella, strong, strong, iron and not just insulation against Craggy’s winds.

Last was long and lanky, and while the light was none too good in that narrow little ways between the public corral and Miller’s Fine Feeds, you could tell that he was a beanpole: Six feet easy, in buckskin and serape. In the dark beneath his wide brimmed hat, his shaved face was carved and as Craggy as Lew’s mountain home. The handshake had lasted way too long. Now, he thought, how to get this fine feller up the mountain…

“Gotta hit the trail if I’m ta make Ridgewood by dawn,” Jeff had said, and Lew’s heart had sunk down to his Stinkhole boots.

“Knows how it is–” he had said, starting to turn, maybe extend a hand, and an invitation for another time.

“But you is one fine figure of a man. Might temptin’–”

Lew stared, unsure of how exactly to respond.

“You think the same, Lew of the Mountain?” Jeff had said.

Even in the low light cast from the lanterns of Sal’s Lew could see Jeff’s fine figure, out in all it’s glory there in the “street” of Stinkhole.

Full Moon Bites And Stroke The Fire

(from M.Christian's Queer Imaginings)

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful .... another part of the Stroke The Fire blog tour, this time from the great folks at Full Moon Bites has just gone up: featuring a give-away and an excerpt from my best-of-my-very-best queer erotica: STROKE THE FIRE: The Best ManLove Fiction of M.Christian (part of the special Renaissance E Books/Sizzler Editions M.Christian ManLove Collection)

FROM THE INTRODUCTION BY FELICE PICANO, LAMBDA AWARD WINNER LAMBDA LIFETIME

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 

See what I mean? Short story writing is hard. 

M. Christian's new collection of singular and satisfying short stories, Filthy Boys, is subtitled "Outrageous Gay Erotica." Emphasis on "outrageous." Although each of them does deliver a more than adequate erotic charge, Christian is after bigger game here. He's writing short stories. You know, like the ones you had to read in high-school: stories about suburbanConnecticut teens and hardscrabble poor white trash and adventurers desperate to light a fire to stay alive.  The ones you had to discuss in class, using terms like "irony" and "thematic development" in those seconds before your forehead hit the top of your desk out of total apathy. 

Take heart. Christian's stories are sexy, smart and a lot more fun-