The Big Book of Submission

More catching up on news.


It's only a couple months now (July 15!) until Cleis Press drops The Big Book of Submission, a collection of 69 kinky tales edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel. My story, "Crunches," will be in it, but may I also draw your attention to Kay Jaybee, Teresa Noelle Roberts, Tilly Hunter, D.L. King, Jade A. Waters, Lucy Felthouse, Kathleen Tudor, Giselle Renarde, Donna George Storey... Um, just go read the table of contents below.).

When I was writing "Crunches," I was interested in subtlety. I wanted to step out of dungeons and spanking scenes and think about other scenarios that can activate the desire to submit. So I wound up envisioning a personal trainer and the sets of detailed instructions she provides. BDSM is a complicated term, and it's not as simple as it can seem. There are rituals that often call that word to mind, but then there are interactions that are much more subtle that can activate similar feelings. I was thinking about situations that turn me on in that submissive way, and sometimes I find myself getting off on following instructions. That's especially true if the person giving the instructions is pushing me in a certain way—careful, loving, but also a little farther than I would push myself. When I'm exercising, I often get turned on—certain positions and machines will create muscular tension that arouses me. And classes can activate my excitement about instructions. So I find myself skimming this subtle, kinky pleasure off my gym experiences sometimes. Of course, in "Crunches," things escalate much more than they ever have for me, though this happens in the middle of a crowded gym...

I'm pushing a bunch of my own buttons, anyway, all in a very short story.

The Big Book of Submission: 69 Kinky Tales
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Introduction: The Many Meanings of Submission

I Want to Feel You Joy Joy Faolán
Naughty Prof Louisa Bacio
Strip Medea Mor
Training My Dom Tilly Hunter
Dear Sir Kay Jaybee
Put Your Hands Up Sommer Marsden
Crunches Annabeth Leong
Butch Unbound Salome Wilde
The Prodigy Valerie Alexander
Beautiful Teresa Noelle Roberts
Lariat Michelle Augello-Page
Toasted Marshmallows Tilly Hunter
The Shoot D.L. King
Sunday in the Art Gallery with George Elizabeth Coldwell
The Third Plug Nick Mamatas
Others Jade A. Waters
Without Question Lucy Felthouse
In the Darkness Regina Lafayette
The Test Kristina Wright
Patiently Waiting Alyssa Morris
Brunch L.C. Spoering
Love and Salt Erzabet Bishop
Brazen Kathleen Delaney-Adams
Story Time Inara Serene
Princess Amelia June
Contact Shenoa Carroll-Bradd
For Her Art Elise Hepner
Working It Out Roger Markson
Control Cate Ellink
Unanchored Corrine Arundo
Fucktoy Lady Lucretia
Caramel Kathleen Tudor
The Bulldog Breed Lisette Ashton
Mistress Raven Olivia Archer
Following Orders Jade Melisande
Writer’s Block Kitten Boheme
Help! My Wife’s a Former Dominatrix! Angela R. Sargenti
That Moment When Martha Davis
The Dinner Erzabet Bishop
Room with a View Rose de Fer
Fitting Assignment Marie Rebelle
Spider Valerie Alexander
The Chrome Plated Connection Ginger F.
How to Fail Laurel Isaac
Crush Giselle Renarde
Housebroken Laila Blake
Stronger Than Steel Alva Rose
Student Becomes Master Rob Rosen
Where the Sun Don’t Shine Corvidae
Object Regina Kammer
The Control Tower Olivia Summersweet
Long Skirt Gigi Frost
Breathless Obedience Cèsar Sanchez Zapata
Mine Roxanna Cross
Second Date Alice Gauntley
Table Manners M. Marie
Teddy, Bare Jere Haken
The Problem is, I’m a Bitch Corrine Arundo
The Lost Suitcase Tamsin Flowers
The Rhino C. Margery Kempe
Marni’s Working Area Dominic Santi
Lost in the Feeling Nicole Gestalt
Choker Sean Finn
Reverse Psychology Rachel Kramer Bussel
Aftermath Michael in Texas
Take Down Marievie
Hard Things Joy Joy Faolán
Breathless Dorla Moorehouse
Perfect Gentleman Donna George Storey

I Make Videos

I recently made several videos for one of my publishers, Sweetmeats Press. This one (NSFW) will give you a little taste of Untouched, the book I just wrapped last night.



In this one (Also NSFW—I do keep things hot), I read the beginning of "Safekeeping," my story in Made for Hire.



Finally, I made a video talking about Sweetmeats (Maybe also NSFW? Depends where you work...) and why it would be awesome to support their IndieGoGo campaign. Also, I don't say this in the video, but they're offering so many books as perks that I would never be able to resist ($5 will get you an ebook, and $50 will get you the ebook back catalog).



I had so much fun making these videos that I've got plans afoot to do more. I'll update you on those projects when I've got news!

"Untouched" by The Veronicas

"I can't forget you. Been going crazy from the moment I met you." — The Veronicas



Because, my darlings, I am finishing my edits on this book today.

Revising for Emotional Honesty

I'm in the last phases of revising Untouched (that book you see to your right at the top of the page). While I'm of course paying attention to my language, watching out for inconsistencies, and the like, I'm finding that by far the thing I most want to accomplish with this revision is emotional honesty. It's tempting as a writer to say, "This character needs to say or do this particular thing because I really, really need her to wind up here." But as I've worked on this book over the past months and thought about it lots, I've realized that I don't want to betray my characters that way. I've taken to drawing what I'm calling "bullshit lines" on the page—demarcations of where my characters stop acting like themselves and start saying and doing the things that are convenient for me.

I write from an outline, and perhaps this is a pitfall of being an outline writer. But I think it's more than that. With Untouched, I'm exploring territory that's been hard for me to reach. My main character, Celia, has a sexual identity and expression that can't easily be labeled, and her feelings about it are complicated. Celia fights back against people who want her to become "normal," and sometimes, I must confess, I become one of those people. As the author, I sometimes want her to be more "normal," easier to understand, and I do her, myself, and my readers a disservice when I give in to that.

If I weren't in the thick of this, I might be able to transform this into a more general rule, but right now the best I can manage is the very zoomed-in view from where I sit.

My personality is rather philosophical, and I think that comes through in my writing, but I also want to add something about sexiness. I believe in emotional honesty for its own reasons, but I also think it's hotter than the alternative, and, as an erotica writer, that really matters to me. I've had conversations with other writers about whether our work remains sexy to us. My personal ideal is for my work to always make me squirm. I want to always be genuinely turned on by the concepts and scenes in my stories. I confess, however, that sometimes when I've gone over a draft numerous times, the sexiness sort of disappears under the weight of commas.

Untouched has proven different. This is the wildest, most honest work I've done. It's challenged me heavily. It's hard to hang with Celia because she sometimes scares me. The bar she sets for emotional honesty is so high. On the other hand, even though I've been over and over this manuscript, it's still so hot it makes me sweat. My panties are soaked at the end of every day, and I'm editing.

But that can be a scary thing, too. Because of this honesty thing I'm talking about, I've produced something more honestly hot for me, something closer to what really makes me tick sexually. Writing this book has affected my actual sex life in a number of profound ways, and that's backwards from the way it usually works for me (usually, I transform things I know from my sex life into fiction, and it's a different experience to have my fiction lead me). It's hard to stay true to that, too, because the book feels more personal, much closer to home. If people think it's weird or perverse, it's going to be a little harder for me to shrug and say that's fine. This is a concern whenever writing erotica, but honestly after doing it for five years I thought I'd gotten over that.

I've never pushed myself as hard as I have for Untouched—in every aspect: language, story, psychology, eroticism. There's a responsibility that I feel as I wind down this revision. I want to do justice to all of this. I want the words to burn on the page. So here I am, going through it one last time, making it as real as I can. The humbling thing is that I already know there are ways that I will fail—goes with the territory, I think. I'm just hoping I can fail better. And be as emotionally honest as I can in the process.

The Most Dangerous Pet

More catching up on news.

I've got a story, "The Most Dangerous Pet," coming out in First Bite, an anthology from Ravenous of vampire first times. Due to the vagaries of publishing, this is actually one of the first erotic stories I wrote. I remember that I wanted to subvert the common vampire tropes, and so I made the vampire the submissive. He's a dangerous pet for his domme, no lie, but she outclasses him through martial arts and expert application of rope.

Reading over the story again, there's an undercurrent of anger that I really like—it feeds the eroticism, but it's born of resistance to common ideas about who's sexy, who's on top, who's valuable, all of that. I've been thinking lately that I like when that emotion appears in my erotica, and it's nice to see that it was present even at the beginning.

Music Mondays: "Sweater Weather" covered by Postmodern Jukebox

"Je ne suis qu'une femme
Je veux le monde entre mes mains
Je déteste la plage, mais je reste debout
avec mes orteils dans le sable"
-- Awesome French reinterpretation of The Neighbourhood's "Sweater Weather" by Postmodern Jukebox



This is the eerie sort of cover where it feels as if the song's true essence has finally been revealed. I like the original, but this transformation of the song turns it into something deeper and better. I love Cristina Gatti's performance—aggressive and sort of harsh, and so, so sexy. The vintage French pop thing is making a lot more sense to me now.

Evelyn Gets Ready

I'm still catching up on my news. I posted a while back about D.L. King's forthcoming anthology She Who Must Be Obeyed: Femme Dominant Lesbian Erotica, but now I've got this beautiful cover for you, and a July 7 release date. You can preorder it here.

My story, "Evelyn Gets Ready," is about objectification in the literal sense—the main character spends the evening as a table. I find that kind of bondage particularly deep and surprisingly emotional. It would seem to wipe emotion away to take on the role of a table, and yet in my experience it intensifies emotion in the same way that, "Stand in the corner and don't think of polar bears" makes one think of nothing but polar bears.