Audioerotic

I've been having a great time listening to erotic audiobooks lately. At first, I didn't like the idea. When I pick up a work of erotica, I often like to do it in bed because, well, I like the privacy in case I get really involved with the... story. While an audiobook would leave both hands free, I didn't think it would give me enough control. When I'm doing one-handed reading, I have to hunt for something that fits my specific kinks, and then I typically linger lovingly on the paragraph or two that really do it for me.

So, how did this change?

I've thought about (and written before) about reading erotica for non-one-handed purposes. And as I get more comfortable with my appreciation for the genre, I've found myself reading erotica at the breakfast table, or on my smart phone in various waiting rooms. This usually isn't about one-handed reading. It's about literary appreciation, the naughty thrill of accessing the forbidden in public, and the occasional delicious frustration when a story gets me really worked up in a way I can't satisfy in the current time and place.

From there, it was a short step to erotic audiobooks. If I liked reading erotica in a waiting room, why not listen to it in the car or while I'm at the gym?

Just writing that last sentence has me breathless, because it turns out that listening to erotica is way more awesome than I ever imagined it could be. There I am on the elliptical, looking completely innocent, while a voice purrs every filthy word into my ear. It's exciting even if I don't particularly like the story. If the story is well-written, it increases my appreciation a great deal. In audio, I find myself turned on by stories that definitely would not do it for me in print. I'm not in control of pace or content. Everything is a surprise. I can't flip forward to glimpse whether she's going to use a strap-on or just her fingers and tongue. Every turn is a delicious surprise.

If you haven't tried this, I would highly recommend it.

One ironic effect of immersing myself in the erotic is it's a little harder to get the sensation I remember from when I was young. Time was, I'd catch a little glimpse of the forbidden and be instantly panting, wet, and desperate. I still remember an erotic graphic novel I found in a Hong Kong laundromat. I glanced through it, but then felt too ashamed to steal it the way I wanted to. I didn't take it with me, but I'll never forget the fire that entered my body -- a sensation that didn't leave for hours, and that still comes back to me when I call up the memory of those images. These days, things rarely turn me on so thoroughly and achingly.

But I've been catching a glimpse of that lately when I take my erotic audiobook on the road. Not being able to act when I'm turned on has allowed several stories to build so much tension in me that I end my workout a quivering mass, hoping everyone thinks all that sweat is just from how hard I worked my cardio.

I started this trip with audio versions of Cleis anthologies. I've been having a great time, and can't wait to check out the rest of what's on offer.

Wicked Fairy Tales Out in Paperback!

I just noticed that Forbidden Fiction's Wicked Fairy Tales anthology is out in paperback. If you missed your chance to read the collection when it was first released in e-book form, now you've got a chance to take this set of naughty bedtime stories to bed. Includes my story The Three Wives of Bluebeard. Enjoy!

Giving Back With The Six Swans

The Six Swans, my book with Coming Together: Neat, pays royalties into the micro-lending service Kiva. I promised to post updates about where the royalties were going.

I've just made a loan to Kristine, a woman in the Philippines looking to stock her store with electric fans, rice cookers, and the like.

Kristine caught my eye because she's used Kiva to steadily improve her business. This looks like her third loan with Kiva, and if you click to go back to previous efforts, you can see that she started with a direct sales service, no store. I think it's cool to see her using the system so well.

If you'd like to see more about the Kiva loans I've made, you can check out my lender page here.

If you'd like to read more about why I decided to publish with Coming Together: Neat, you can do so here.

The line has also been pretty active this year. You can see all the books in the Coming Together: Neat line here.

Best Bondage Erotica 2013 Is Out!

This week, I got my contributor's copies of Best Bondage Erotica 2013, which is now available. It includes my story, "This Is Me Holding You."

Here's an excerpt:

"I made this for you while you were gone this last time," Jun said. "Sometimes, I missed you so much I had to clear my head. I'd take Kendra to my parents' house and then go for long hikes. I'd walk and wish I could have tied you up and never let you go. I started gathering milkweed and bringing it home."

He slipped his index finger through the bracelet and tugged. "I cleaned it. I tenderized it. I twisted it into this rope." He pulled hard enough to make the rope bite her skin. "You're mine," he said, his tone much fiercer than his still-stroking hands. He circled her ankle with his fingers, mirroring the sensation of the rope. "I'm binding you to me. Do you feel how I'm holding you?"

Carin nodded.

Jun relaxed his encircling fingers, but yanked the delicate rope once more, making his point. "Do you feel how I'm still holding you?"

"Yes."

"That rope is just a little grip, like me holding your hand. But you never have to be without it." He slid up the bed and wrapped his arms around her torso again. "Now this is a big hug. This is me holding you."

Soon, his hands slipped into her clothes, loosening, unfastening, groping. The familiar sexual rhythm lightened the moment for Carin. "Just holding, huh?" She raised an eyebrow.

Jun smiled and kissed her on the tip of her nose. "OK, maybe this is me holding you and then copping a feel, undressing you, and trying to get into your pants."

"Oh. Makes sense." She spread her legs, grinning when he reached between her thighs.

"So long as we're being accurate."

Jun patted her cunt and peeled off her clothes. Carin closed her eyes and melted into his hands. The touch of his flesh soon became the kiss of more rope, the transition seamless, effortless, lovely. The new length of rope, thicker than before, lay so warm and soft against her skin that it seemed to live and breathe. "I made this one, too," Jun said. "This is me holding you."

The rope buzzed lightly against itself as he wound it around her torso, the vibrations passing into her body even as the strands pinned Carin's arms to her sides. Jun kissed her cheek, then caressed the side of her neck with a loop of soft material. "These are my fingers."

He bound her loosely, but the knowledge of what he'd put into the rope made its restraint seem more complete and secure than anything she'd felt before. Jun wove his fingers through the coil of rope around her torso. "They can send you to Afghanistan, or they can send you to Mars. I don't care which. I'll be holding you there."

A couple of the early reviews have mentioned this story along with "Steadfast," another military-themed story in the anthology.

You can pick up the full anthology here.

Music Mondays: "Dirty Love" by Ke$ha (featuring Iggy Pop)

"Pornos produce it, but Wild Child can do it better..."
--Iggy Pop



I'm not going to lie. I love Ke$ha a whole lot. And the last few days, all I've been able to do is listen to this song over and over again. It's everything I love about her -- wild, trashy, exuberant, and unashamed. Her hero worship of Iggy Pop comes through in a track with a ton of energy.

Playing Puppies

My story, "Playing Puppies," is up today at Oysters and Chocolate! As usual, it's worth clicking through for the art alone. This thing's packed with a boatload of kink -- shoe fetish, femdom, anal play, threesome, puppy play, and more. Here's a snip:

Dinah smiles and puts both her feet up on the ottoman. Even she can't resist a moment of awe at the shoes she's wearing. The bronze, Greek-style sandals tie with laces that wrap her shapely calves up to the knee. The shoes cup her feet with improbably detailed leather panels depicting Greek heroes, their perfect chests straining at the weight of the long swords they wield. The sandals sport wicked stiletto heels, four inches and counting, each twisted and filigreed to look like the horn of a unicorn.

"You can lick them, puppies," she breathes. She's almost ready to lick them herself. Both men fling themselves into the task. Brett wags his rear end and tongues the edges of the shoe, tickling her bare skin along the way. Jeremiah crouches, sweet and serious, licking and licking the same spot of her sole as if he can taste the dirt of everywhere she's walked.

You can read the rest here.