Best Women's Erotica of the Year Book Tour

I have a story included in the newest book in the Best Women's Erotica (BWE) series. To promote the book, authors, the editor and erotica the book tour will make four stops in the coming weeks and I will be at 3 of those events!

At these events, I'll be reading from my erotic story, "Cigarro Tarde", which is included the Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 2. This will be the first public reading of this story!


What happens when a 50-year old woman meets with a cigar shop owner to plan a friend's birthday party? 

NYC Success Story

Photo: Vysyn Photography

Last year there was an open call for the Raising The Bar NYC Stories talk. They were looking for New Yorkers or "people in NY" who have a NYC story - anyone who's made a name for themselves, succeeded in New York City.

"If you’ve lived here you know that once you succeed in New York, you can succeed anywhere. Whether its starting your own business, performing with your favorite musician, falling in love, or simply getting to the nearby subway station just in time for the train; winning in New York is a feeling unparalleled by any other. If you’ve lived here you’ve experienced the highest peaks and the lowest pits, and we want to hear your stories."

-- Raising The Bar 

Here's what I wrote in hopes of being able to share my story. It got me to the 2nd round - the Skype interview:

#AskELJames, Erotica, BDSM and Twitter - My 2 Cents

What Erotica Writers Thought of The #AskELJames Twitter Q&A

On June 29, the author of Fifty Shades of Grey, EL James held a Twitter chat fresh off the heels of the release of her latest book.

Yes, she wrote another one. And revealed during the #AskELJames chat that she was working on two more books.

Two more.

Needless to say, the Twitter chat went to shit. Insults were hurled at her, sarcastic and mean tweets abound and the questions about abusive relationships and plagiarism that have been posed to her since her first book was published remained unanswered.

Rachel Kramer Bussel, author and editor, wrote an article for The Frisky in which she asked fellow erotica writers what they thought about the #AskELJames Twitter Q&A. 

The Darker Side of Lust - 5th Anniversary Edition

The 5th Anniversary Edition is here! Thank you! It was fall of last year when it hit me --- December 2014 would mark 5 years since I wrote The Darker Side of Lust.

Back in 2009 and the following months and years, it was a joyful learning experience --- the formatting, and proofreading, publishing, literary events, book signings, calls and emails from new and old admirers of my work. 

I thank you all for the support. 

So then I figured why not commemorate 5 years with a new edition of that book. I posted a poll on this blog and Facebook because I needed your help in deciding which of my ideas to settle on.

The Winner:

Stories with alternate endings AND a new 5th Anniversary Cover -- it's been 5 years, go big!


Full disclosure, the "alternate endings" don't happen in all the stories. But there are completely new stories (24 stories and vignettes total), and the characters you may remember are there with more "oomph". I've also included the stories from my mini ebook, Exhaust Pipes, so if you didn't read them before, you can now!

My Writing Process - Blog Tour

It's unreal the number of notes that were passed in class between Glendaliz Camacho and myself between 6th and 8th grade. Not only the number of notes but the sheer volume of the written exchanges. Since then she's been published numerous times and is working on her short story collection ("La Baca" still thrills me) and will be included in an upcoming anthology. She's been a huge supporter of my blog and has wielded the red pen against my words. 

This is the cyber-version of passing a note -- Glendaliz asked me if I'd like to participate in this blog tour. It's good timing since my focus lately has been everywhere. Not in a bad way. Just that there are quite a few projects I have going on right now that are at different phases of development and taking some time to think about only my writing is needed.

Can't fight fate. We were destined to be writers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

What are you working on?

I'm working on some stuff. 

I work to maintain this blog and it's many focuses -- the personal writing, the sex, dating and relationship writing, body image, rants on the idiocy of society, Ask Abbie, the guest posts, NY posts for my Native Creative Concierge business, Planet of the Apes -- there's a system to my Random Musings. 

I want a syndicated writing gig - a column. One that I get paid for. I need to do more work on getting that. 

The 5th anniversary edition of The Darker Side of Lust is also on my To-Do List.

Life Among The Barbarians

Guest Post by Cole Riley

When Abby invited me to do a guest blog on her blog, Random Musings, I leaped at the opportunity. The timing was perfect. This week, my novel, Little White Lies, was published by Zane’s imprint at Simon & Schuster, Strebor Books. It is causing quite a stir. It has already been chosen as the main selection by the Black Expressions Book Club for December.

As my friend Zane says, “Little White Lies is an amazing novel about how making one bad mistake can change your entire life. It gives new meaning to "being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” However, in this terrible age of Trayvon Martin and the stop-and-frisk epidemic, I believe its themes are deeper than that. It’s about an all-out war against young black males and their neutralization by the greater society. As a journalist and former long-time reporter with The New York Daily News, I witnessed how the plagues of educational, economic, and legal freedoms are denied them.

Le Flâneur Et Son Pain

Re-working of Paul Gavarni's Le Flâneur from 1842 by Spenot

Here's the latest vignette I wrote for my French lessons. I started early last month with I met Anthony Bourdain. He was bound to inspire me. A few years ago a friend was reading a book about a wandering man, le flâneur. It's stuck with me ever since, even if the term isn't a common one in French (according to my French buddy). My imagination continues to flourish. My French is... coming along.

Dear Mr. Anthony Bourdain

Of all the sidewalks in all the world he showed up on mine.


It was a bright, Thursday afternoon and I was heading back towards Columbus Circle from CBS Broadcast Center. As I passed my old stomping ground, the Time Warner Center, I looked up from my phone and there he stood.


He was there. Nerves bubbled up inside me but I didn't stop walking, I didn't alter the course. I knew I had to say something. Never mind that I was carrying two man grooming products in my hand. He moved his cell phone from his ear just as I got to him.

Mon Amie With The Expensive Bags Et Non D'argent

Photo by Abigail Ekue Photography

Using a lot of the vocabulary I learned during my last French-English exchange, I forced myself to write in the past tense and to write questions  -- both things I haven't grasped yet. I originally intended this French lesson assignment to be a "see dog run" paragraph. It quickly devolved into a story. I'm a writer. I can't help myself. I have a flair for the dramatic at times.

My Progress With The French Language

photograph de mon livre

As some of you know, I've been learning French. When I have time, I do lessons on Rosetta Stone and I meet with a language buddy -- she's learning English and I'm learning French. I've done a worse job lately of making time for my lessons and I've had to learn to take à pas de bébé.


Last week, I wrote a paragraph in French. Using some of the vocabulary I'd recently learned, I embarked on the challenge:

Exhaust Pipes: A Mini Collection of Erotic Fiction

I wrote another book. Exhaust Pipes. The idea came to me late last month that a mini ebook released in time for Valentine's Day would be a great product for new and old readers of my erotic fiction. So with the support of my "market research division", I went to work.


Exhaust Pipes, is a mini collection that containing four erotic stories featuring car sex or anal sex. Originally it was going to be a mini ebook of only two stories but I decided to include two more that were "in the vault" and ready to shine. Exhaust Pipes is available on Kindle, Nook and Kobo. I'm excited to also be reaching new readers on Sony eReader and Apple iBooks with this release. You can buy the book formats for those readers on Smashwords. I'll have those direct links for you shortly.

A Random Moment with Robin Glasser

Robin Glasser, author

We were both on the bill for a literary reading event in 2010. She enjoyed my excerpt on fellatio, I was sucked into her excerpt on being seduced in Paris. She informed me about Word Up bookshop the opportunity to have copies of my book sold there and we later shared the stage at an event she organized. Then along came a nude young man and my camera. On a sultry Saturday, we met in Chinatown while passersby listening in on our conversation.

~   ~   ~

My name is Robin Glasser, like Batman and Robin, R-O-B-I-N, I’m not fancy, and I’m a writer. I’m an author. I have one book called Men At Work, which is fully illustrated and it actually comes with a guarantee to put twinkles in your eyes and sparkles in your pants. Somebody gave me a video camera to make little movies and I put them on YouTube and the very first poem they have now taken off so I’m at war with YouTube. My other book is My Life as a Concubine which is actually a roman à clef—I lived in Paris for 3 years—I changed the names to protect the guilty. Besides a love story, there’s recipes, there’s tips of France and great places to visit. I’ve just finished my third book, The Brain Exchange, which I call a "Sex-Fi" and the punchline is, “If you could walk in someone else’s shoes, would they fit?” It takes place in the not-too-distant future and the latest thing is instead of taking a vacation to an exotic land you can actually exchange brains and take a vacation in someone else’s body. And the whole plot revolves around a bodybuilder and a super plus size woman and what ensues.

A Random Moment with Mecca Woods

Mecca Woods, writer, filmmaker, astrologer

We met at A Monthly Bondfire in 2009 during the annual Ladies Night Event. She rocked the mic with powerful poetry about life and love. That same night she announced she was making a short film. Sure enough, it came to fruition. I attended a screening of the film, lived vicariously through her as she touched down on French soil and recently she read my natal chart keeping me on the right path. This past Friday, the 13th, despite Mercury Retrograde energy looming, we met in SoHo for Batidas and lots of laughter.

~   ~   ~

My name is Mecca Woods AKA The Meccanism. I am a writer, filmmaker and astrologer.

How long have you been a writer?

I wanna say it’s one of the things that has been with me all of my life. It’s funny ‘cause my Dad actually has laminated stories that I wrote back when I was like 7 years old. People would always ask me what I wanted to be when I grow up and at that time I would tell them I wanna be an author, that was my big word for it. As time went on, it was one of the things that stuck with me no matter what I did. There was a brief time when I thought I wanted to go into science but I suck at math so I ended up going back to what I always knew best and that was writing.

A Random Moment with StarPower

StarPower, hip hop artist

I had a crush on him in 7th grade. He was a bad boy with too much brainpower for his own good. A few years ago when I reconnected with many old junior high school friends, I learned he stuck with hip hop and was also a teacher. I went to a few of his shows and was sold on his in-your-face lyrics. I added him to my "Men of May" UrbanErotika lineup. Now he's taking those skills to teach in Qatar. We fueled up with burgers and soccer at Bill's Bar and Burger then headed over to The High Line to discuss.

~   ~   ~

Introduce yourself and tell us about art, your discipline.

Rod, R-O-D. I always spell it out because I went to a workshop one time and the guy told me I don’t enunciate well enough he said, “It sounds like you’re saying ‘Roz’” so I always say, Rod – R-O-D. Yeah, Rod AKA StarPower. My art is hip hop – writing and performing. My discipline is discipline; discipline’s changed my life, discipline has made me the person I am ‘cause I had none of it and now it’s an addiction. So yeah, that’s me.

So, you’re a hip hop artist. Is there a message to your music?

Yeah, definitely. The message is to be an individual. A lot of hip hop used to be dangerous, it used to be about “I don’t give a fuck” but it was not give a fuck for a reason. Now they’re not even trying to not give a fuck anymore so I’m not gonna give a fuck for all of us. My message is you’re here once, don’t leave anything on the table, don’t regret anything. There’s a million things that you could be rapping about but they don’t do it. And if you’re in a position, like in my position, I’m just a no-name rapper somewhere, I can say what the hell I want and I’m gonna rap about it. My message is just you’re beautiful, the world is beautiful, it’s also ugly and disgusting and you need to speak about all of it, in detail, that’s how I feel.

A Random Moment with Glendaliz Camacho

Glendaliz Camacho, writer

I asked her to sit next to me in our 6^th grade computer/typing class and a friendship was born. That led to many novel-length notes passed back and forth during class (even if she doesn’t remember the details). Our paths diverged and converged a few years ago and she’s still writing. Perhaps a writer is born. I stopped by her office (the day job) at SHARE on Friday afternoon.

~   ~   ~

Well, my name is Glendaliz Camacho. I’m a writer, also an editor and a translator. I’ve worked in publishing, years ago, and magazine article writing and right now I’m working on fiction; on short fiction and a novel.

I’m sure there’s that one story that you haven’t shared. Which story is that? And why haven’t you shared it?

I don’t know that I only have one story that I haven’t shared. I think there’s a couple. I think they marinate in my brain for quite some time and then when I’m ready then I can kinda start working on it. Like even the story that I’m working on right now, it’s something that I’ve had in my head for a while that came outta a passing comment that my Dad made about my great-grandparents. So this one factoid that he gave me about them got me thinking but it took a long time. So that would be the story that I haven’t been able to tell, haven’t told. But I think I have a couple of them like that, usually if they’re not about myself and my more scandalous times, then they’re about family or something.

The Much Needed Book Job

It's been a long time since I've related to and enjoyed an episode of The Simpsons (I didn't even get all the references in "The Food Wife" and that's saying something). I've always loved the show for it's social commentary and satire. Being a fan of ensemble heist films (Ocean's Eleven and The Italian Job top the list), and a writer, I smiled throughout the entire episode, "The Book Job".


I don't read young adult lit and I don't like vampires but I know everyone and their nephew's half-sister's neighbor's uncle's personal trainer is into vampires. I had flashbacks to the Book Expo America and the world of book junkies and author groupies. And I felt Lisa's pain when she realized who was receiving book deals and writing best-sellers (a dog? Tyra Banks?).

Midnight In Paris

Yesterday, a rainy evening in New York, I walked through SoHo and thought, "Something happens to people in the rain." Everyone's pace was hurried but slowed at the same time. Although I'd planned on going to the movies anyway, the rain made for a good "excuse" to go. I promised myself I wouldn't romanticize the evening, but I will never forget where I was and who I was with when I saw Midnight in Paris.

Midnight in Paris is a 94 minute movie. It would take me twice as long to write everything that struck me about it and you twice as long to read it, so I'll keep it short. 

I Survived BookExpo America

I now feel as though I'm ready for Comic-Con or a Star Trek convention. I don't read comic books and I've never watched a full episode of Star Trek. But on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I attended BookExpo America at the Javits Convention Center.


Yeah, it's like that.


It was my first time going to the event. And I was very overwhelmed. I've always loved books. Hell, I'm a writer. But most of the attendees of the BookExpo took things to a whole 'nother level.

Know The Past, Find The Future Book Launch

Monday, May 23, 2011 marks the 100th Anniversary of the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (that iconic Beaux-Arts building guarded by Patience and Fortitude on 42nd and Fifth).


To celebrate the centennial a collection of 100 essays and memories of the library's treasures were compiled in Know the Past, Find the Future. The book launch was held on May 19, 2011 at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal. It was the perfect location to hold the event according to Jay Walder, CEO and chairman of the MTA, because Grand Central and the NYPL are "architectural cousins".

Copies of Know the Past, Find the Future were given away, free, at the event. Penguin Classics printed 25,000 copies of the book at no cost to the NYPL. This is also the 65th anniversary of Penguin Classics. Kathryn Court, president and publisher of Penguin Books, felt it only right to marry the two. This book represents the democratic core of the library--it's accessibility to all. Readers are encouraged to pass the book along. Paul LeClerc, president and CEO of the New York Public Library, encouraged guests to leave it on the bus, on the seat in the trains. There's even a graphic on the inside cover where the library card would be,  for you to sign your name under "This book was read by:" The book is intended to be circulated.

I Can Take No For An Answer

It hit me the other day that I don't pitch articles nearly as much as I used. Actually, I think it's been almost a year. This is not because I don't want any more of my articles published, it's due to the lack of response. As a writer, I get rejections all the time. That's not an issue. It's the silence that makes the whole process seem pointless and somewhat discouraging. I live by, "You won't know until you ask" and "Ask and ye shall receive" as played out in my life on numerous occasions.


Just say 'no.' Seriously, I can take it.