Five Questions for a Beauty

Five Questions for a Beauty

TreSart L. Sioux

TreSart's website

I've had the hots for lesbian TreSart, author of lesbian erotica, ever since I saw a photo of her over at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association about five years ago. (Those L Word babes? They've got nothing on TreSart.) But not only is TreSart a physical beauty, she is truly one of the kindest writers I have ever met. Plus, I love her style of erotica.

1. Name a favorite book.

Nancy Grace - Objection

2. Name a favorite piece of music.

Siouxsie and The Banshees - Cascade

3. You've been invited to a cocktail party. What do you wear?

Pin Striped pants, my Frederick's 8 inch heels and a low cut vest.

4. What do you feel has been your most important writing accomplishment to date?

I would say anything I've written is an accomplishment. Takes so long to put together a book.

5. What is your next writing project?

Have two. One I hope to have out by Halloween, or around then. It will be my 5th book of short stories and flashers. The other is to have my first full-length novel. I'll really be proud of myself then!

I would also like to eventually create and all lesbian horror erotica. Now, that would be cool!

Five Questions for a Beauty

Five Questions for a Beauty

Jolene Hui
Jolene's Website

I was introduced to author, model and actress Jolene Hui when I received her submission "Mandy" for Iridescence. Then, when I travelled to Los Angeles to give a reading, I finally got the chance to meet her. Jolene is one of the friendliest authors I know and one of the most beautiful. We hope to co-edit an erotic anthology in the near future.

1. Name a favorite book.

I've been a bookworm since I learned how to read. There are just so many favorites on my list that it's hard to even name one. However,the one that comes to mind and always stands out for me is We Don't Live Here Anymore, by Andre Dubus. It's a book of three novellas that deal with love, partnerships, and infidelity. I am always amazed by the way infidelity tears up relationships. Jealousy is such poison.

2. Name a favorite piece of music.

Oh wow. This is even worse than the book question. I'm going to go with Radiohead's song "Let Down." The song is off of their album OK Computer, which is not actually my favorite Radiohead album as a whole, but it has a couple of my favorite songs on it. I love "Let Down" so much because Thom Yorke's voice sounds so beautiful as he sings about isolation. It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. I feel myself breathing with the music; the emotion in the song attacks my being. It's one of the most fantastic pieces of music out there.

3. You've been invited to a cocktail party. What do you wear?

I generally always wear a little black dress to any kind of party. Top it off with heels and black eyeliner and I'm all set! Pretty much no matter what time of year it is or what kind of cocktail party it is, I find that I always feel and look the best in a sexy black dress. And a manicure and pedicure, of course.


4. What do you feel has been your most important writing accomplishment to date?

The most important writing accomplishment was the first story I had published with Tonto Press. It was called "Bookshelves" and was the first fictional piece I'd had published (outside of my college literary journal). It meant all the difference in my self esteem and pushed me in the right direction writing-wise. Since then I have had so many successes I can't even count them. Even though I had already been writing for years, I look at it as my true starting point.

5. What is your next writing project?

I always have my column, Princess Jolene Goes to Hollywood, up at The Flesh Farm and I'm constantly writing a handful of erotic short stories at the same time. One major thing I've been working on for the past few months is a collection of 50 poems about Los Angeles.They aren't necessarily about the city. Most of them illustrate my life and emotions while in the city. I'm proud of the collection so far and I hope to complete it in the next couple of months. I'm also putting together a collection of my favorite literary and erotic stories that I've written.

Author Richard V Raiment, Interview & Excerpt

Tell us a bit about yourself...

I write under the pen name R V Raiment, the initials R V R being (in my view) nicely balanced and more importantly the V Raiment making the French 'vraiment' as 'truly' or 'truthfully'. Unable to sustain myself by writing alone I work in a high school in the UK, supporting youngsters with autism. I live and work in the outskirts of London, a city I love and regularly visit.

My own marriage is ostensibly an open marriage in which both I and my partner are free to engage responsibly in physical and emotional relationships with others, though in practice we have found that life leaves little time or opportunity for such encounters and - more importantly - having the freedom actually makes us less inclined to exercise it.

What are your most common story themes?

This is a difficult question to answer as I have tried to write from a broad and varied perspective. I have tried to read outside my immediate comfort zone - which began as a sort of Alex Comfort Zone - and challenged myself to try to write good stories on themes suggested by that reading.

Much of what I write is set in the past, especially in the years and centuries up to around 1800 before women began wearing drawers :-) and I suppose it is mainly hetero since that reflects my own preoccupations. "Jessamie", my 2003 prizewinner at Satinslippers.com was written around toys and the relationship between two hetero sisters. "Ghosts of Christmas Past", published in Cream, The Best of the Erotica Readers and Writers Association is a hetero tale of sex, infidelity and regret. "Third Person Singular", in Maxim Jakubowski's Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, volume 5 can only loosely be described as BDSM, I think, with gay male, lesbian and other threads woven into it.

My recent novel, Aphrodite Overboard, the Erotic Memoirs of a Victorian Lady, is a period piece, actually set around the time of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars though the heroine lives on into Victoria's age. (The 'Victorian' reference was at the request of the marketers :-) In it the heterosexual castaway Lady Susanna is (happily) compelled to play a part which involves her extensively in both hetero and same sex encounters. That, too, is a fairly common thread in most of my stories, since they are written from a perspective which sees any form of sexual interaction between consenting and empowered adults as normal and legitimate.

Which of these words best describes your stories:

Intimate - Yes

Romantic - Yes

Hardcore - No, though explicit. Rarely if ever 'icky' :-)

Humorous - Not as part of a humorous 'genre', but I have a sense of humour which shows, especially in my longer work.

Adventurous - Yes

Fictional (more fantasy or fantastic than 'real life situations') - Real life, I think, in general, but not often 'everyday' life.

Erotic - I love the human body and soul, especially that of 'woman', the heaven's gate through which life is first found and afterward delivered, beautiful beyond description whether young or old. I write predominantly for women, their opening a story of mine implying a tacit consent and an inviolable contract of trust through which I may lovingly and gently caress them. I have never known a deeper pleasure than to receive words from a reader telling me; "I finished your book last night and went to sleep with a smile on my face".

Here's a snippet of "Ghosts of Christmas Past", copyright Richard V Raiment, which was featured in the anthology Cream: The Best of the Erotica Readers and Writers Association and is at ERWA's Treasure Chest:

Looking at the body warm in bed beside me I remember all I have known with my lovely Jodie and I stir, blood flooding warmly where it matters, soft-inflating. I've always woken Jodie the same way, since the first delightful morning of discovery when I found her asleep on her back, one leg diagonally outstretched, one knee drawn up, the lovely sweetness of her sex smiling pinkly open, inviting and sleepy warm.

Not this time, though. This morning is different. The body beside me in a bed still warm and musky with the scents of our sleep and Christmas Eve fucking lies with its legs still softly together, and the difference is poignant, bitterly emblematic of the change between us. Only she drank as much, perhaps, as I did, last night, and I can coax her gently apart without her even knowing.

You can find out more about Richard V Raiment at his website, www.vraimenterotique.com, and in Open Marriage, Lipstick, and Low Necklines: R V Vrainment Discusses The Meaning Of Monogamy.

Author Kis Lee Dishes On Dirty Stories

Many folks think erotica is just another word for 'dirty stories' and therefore miss out on other erotic possibilities in their relationships... So I asked author Kis Lee to describe what things she believes are essential to an erotic story, what makes it 'erotic' rather than just 'dirty,' and what those things mean as far as possibilities in your sex life.

For a while, the headline for my Myspace profile said: "I write dirty words for a living." It wasn't meant to be cheeky. I just like using the word "dirty." (My current headline simply says "smutty.") I see an overlap between "erotic" and "dirty." I don't see anything wrong with writing dirty stories. In my own writing, I don't think about the distinction between the two.

I like calling myself a "smut writer" because I write both porn and erotica. Sometimes I write a story that is pure stroke fiction: about two people hooking up and getting off. I like to think of these kinds of stories as masturbatory fiction. I want the reader to get turned on. Other times I write a story that is more about the characters than about sex. I want to explain why the particular characters get together. I want to explore why there is (or there isn't) sexual chemistry between the main characters. Those stories are more "erotic" in my mind. I'm really fascinated by the how's and why's of human relationships.

In my writing, I try to create a sense of reality infused with fantasy. Or perhaps it's fantasy infused with reality? In any case I want the reader to think that the story could take place in real life. I often write about moves and techniques that have worked for me. Sometimes I even take snippets of real life conversations. However if the story is too close to real life, it can be boring. That's why a lot of my stories involve my own unfulfilled fantasies. Despite being a smut writer, I haven't tried everything I've wanted to experience. Not even close. I use my writing as an avenue of exploring my hidden and not-so-hidden desires. I figure that if I get turned on, then some readers might feel the same way.

Fantasies play a big role in my sex life. I'm really open with my current partner, and he is open-minded as well. We talk about sex quite often, and we've discussed our fantasies. Even the act of discussing fantasies adds excitement to our sex life. We know that we're not going to fulfill every single fantasy, but it is fun to talk about the possibilities. Every time we share a fantasy, we learn more about the other person. We both look pretty tame, but we both have kinky sides. It keeps life exciting.

My partner recently asked me if he inspires my writing. He definitely does. Sometimes I use our experiences as material for fiction. (He knows this and I have his blessing.) Other times I rely on my imagination as the source. With unfulfilled fantasies, I have to pretend that I've experienced the same thing. For example, I wrote a story called "Bus Ride" and it involves bondage and public sex. I've experienced bondage before, but I've never had sex in public. I've never even had sex in the car before. For that story, the story began with the characters and the words just flowed from there. I hope that my readers wonder whether the story is based on fact. I like to keep people guessing.

Here's an excerpt from "Bus Ride":

"Don't be shy, love. Tell me why you need a collar."

"It's for a party," I said. "My friend is getting married, and we're going out clubbing afterwards."

"I see." He ran his hand over my thigh, his fingertips hovering in the air, never touching the soft fabric. He had large hands with long fingers. Whenever I saw a man with long fingers, I wondered if he knew how to play the piano.

He moved his hand from my thigh to my forearm. He lightly brushed my bare arm with his fingertips. His slight touch went from the inside of my wrist to my elbow and up towards my bicep. He stroked my skin slowly like he was remembering my texture. I watched his gaze slide over my breasts, my stomach, and lower.

I jumped when the bus rolled into motion. I didn't even hear the driver announce our departure. Shifting in my seat, I noticed that all the passengers congregated around the front and middle. A few middle-aged ladies discussed which casino had the best buffet.

"No one can see us," Dave whispered.

Kis Lee is a recovering lawyer turned freelance smut writer. Her story, Bus Ride, will be published in E Is for Exotic, part of the Erotic Alphabet Series by Cleis, due out later this month.

You can (try) to keep up with Kis at her erotica blog, her adult blog for women, and her website.

Talking Witches & Vampires With Paranormal Romance Author Ravyn Reccio

Why choose vampires and witches as characters? What about them is so compelling for you personally?

Back in 1979 I went with my best friend to see Dracula with Frank Langella, since then I have always been pulled by the power they hold -- be it in a movie or in a story. I started writing about vampires shortly after that.

The witches came last year when I started role playing. I was amazed about how men perceive witches to be dominating and very sensual so I took the idea and ran with it. That's how my witch came to life in Serpentine Majick. The same thing happened with Micah in Vampyric Dreams; I saw it unfolding in my head and I gave it life.

What makes paranormal romance so popular?

With me it's all about how the stories make me feel. The electricity around the plot and just how far the author is willing to go with the characters. The bumps in the night, the touch that makes your skin crawl or that mysterious kiss on the back of your neck... When you know you are alone.

It's all about the sweet seduction that is played out in our own mind.

As an author of witch and vampire stories, how do you go about creating real intimate & romantic moments ~ ones that humans react to and are moved by?

Vampires by nature are very sensual to begin with. In every vampire movie ever made the raw passion of the film has always left me wondering how they did it so it could be enjoyed and not seen as a taboo. Desire between humans and vampires has always been there. It's all about getting inside your own head and becoming that character you are writing about.

You can find out more about the author at her website, ravynreccio.co.nr and at her blog.

Zane Interview

From She's famous but anonymous: the enigma of erotic author Zane:

Zane's take on sex is hardly revolutionary: it should be safe and pleasurable, and communication is the key to stronger, more satisfying relationships. But her straightforward, conversational prose resonates in the black community, Mackey said.

"It's not openly discussed in most of our homes," Mackey said. "I had to learn from books or friends and big sisters. To have an author come out and broach this, even in fiction, is a breakthrough for us."

Zane's readers agree. Her work "goes right to the heart of modern sexuality," said Harold Fisher, a former Baltimore TV news anchor and one of a few men who joined dozens of women fans at a local book signing. "We all have sex. We just need to relax about it."

Also from the interview:

"Whereas most people don't have an issue with what I do, there are those who are self-righteous and do have an issue," Zane says. "So it's just not fair for other people who have absolutely nothing to do with it to be affected by that, because they didn't make this choice. I did."

Zane says she has a good relationship with her parents, but she didn't tell her mother about her writing career until she had three titles on the Essence bestseller list. It took her father a while to warm up to the idea of his daughter writing erotica, but he when he read "Nervous" - about a meek woman who channels her sexual aggressiveness into an alternate personality - "he thought it was brilliant," she says.

Two nifty things I learned:

I had no idea Zane was a chemist!

Zane started Strebor Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in 1999.

Bisexual Married Women Essays

Bisexual Married Women Essays
Inside Jolie's Head - 5/28/2007

Bisexual married women are everywhere. Here is another essay:



ESSAY NO. 3 - THE LIFE OF A MARRIED BISEXUAL WOMAN

by Staci Parry

Staci's MySpace


Secrets. Lies. Deceptions. These are adjectives that aptly describe the life of a woman who is married to a man but wants or is sleeping with another woman. At least this is my personal experience & since I am by no means unique, I am not alone.

My life has evolved from a state of marital bliss; of loving only the man I married to finding that there is no way that I can love him only. I didn't wrestle with myself the first time I found myself attracted to and then fell in love with another woman. Initially I simply just accepted me. But I wasn't confident about how well others, namely my husband, would accept this new found knowledge. So here the secrets begin. I kept away from him how much I spoke with this girl. How much I wanted to be with this girl. Kept away from him the reasons that our love life had taken a severe nose dive.

I stated that I am not unique but I believe that the life I currently live as a bisexual married woman is. My husband & I have a very special relationship. He knows EXACTLY who I am & what I want & need. His astuteness astounds me sometimes. When we are together, & you are on the outside looking in, the separateness that exists in our lives is invisible. We love & respect one another & are each others' best friend. The simple truth though is that I have wants, needs & desires that have absolutely nothing to do with him thus causing our eminent breakup. He needs a wife who will love only him & he doesn't have that in me any longer.

I love women & the woman that I'm loving knows that. Although ultimately what I want is a girlfriend, someone who has my back & knows that I have hers, but the fact that I am married, seems to be some kind of a deterrent for single women & married women or women who are hooked up just want to have sex and what I've learned about me is that I don't want just sex. I need to feel that the woman I'm loving cares for ME.

When I look to the future, my future, it's difficult to see myself still being a married woman. I'd like to say I actually see someone there, a specific someone, but I don't.

My experience with either lesbian or bisexual women has been interesting to say the least. Most of us, no matter what the age, have no real clue about what we want. We say one thing but actually mean something else. The secrets, lies & deceptions don't end with the men.

END

This marks the end of essays by bisexual married women. I hope that you have enjoyed reading them.

Jolie du Pre is an author of lesbian erotica and lesbian erotic romance. Her first anthology, Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica, is now in print . Order Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica today.

Music for 5/28/2007 blogging - Jewel

Bisexual Married Women Essays

Bisexual Married Women Essays
Inside Jolie's Head - 5/20/2007

Bisexual married women are everywhere. Here are two essays:

Essay No. 1 - By Anonymous

Gender is Irrelevant

I'm 33 year-old bisexual woman. I'll admit it - it irks me when people, upon discovering that I am bisexual but married to a man, immediately dismiss me as 'experimenting' or 'bi-curious' or worse, 'unable to make up my mind.' It's usually women, sadly usually lesbian women, that I get this attitude from, as though I'm betraying the sisterhood because I like women but sleep with a man.

This is the deal - I've been attracted to both men and women since puberty. In fact I tended to fantasize more about women than men, and have had more crushes and more intimate encounters with women than with men. To me, it's always been about the person, not the packaging. Gender is irrelevant, and the best sex I've ever had was with someone I loved. I've only ever been truly, madly, deeply in love with one person. So I married him, even though he had a penis. We've been together seven years now and I've never regretted it once.

My husband is heterosexual but kinky (like me). He had no problems with the woman friend I was involved with when we met, and I know he'd be fine if I wanted to have a woman over for 'friendly' sex now (as long as he could watch.) But you know what? I don't *want* anybody else. It's him I'm in love with, frankly no one can hold a candle to him. It's just the way it is.

If my husband had been female I'd be a bisexual woman in a committed lesbian relationship. It so happens he's a guy, so I'm lucky enough to reap the benefits marriage brings. If this was a sane country marriage would be defined as a 'committed relationship between people who are in love', regardless of gender. I'll vote for gay marriage rights every time it comes up on the ballot and I fervently hope that it happens in my lifetime, but until then? I'm not betraying the sisterhood, I didn't take the easy way out. I fell in love and got married, end of story. That's all there is to it.

END

Essay No 2. - By LZ

I am a bisexual married woman. I have had female lovers off and on for more than 25 years. The first groping I ever did was with a girl when I was 10. But while there are probably many who went on to purely straight lives from such early interactive experimentation, I didn't.

I couldn't get over the softness of her breasts, the scent of her arousal, the feeling of her fluids and the texture of her inner walls on my fingers, or her taste on my tongue. To look into a woman's face as she is orgasming, gaze a little blind, my name on her lips, tiny gasps of her breath warm on my face, or to watch and feel her center spasming on my fingers, this is delight. To cradle her and be cradled by her in the afterglow, husky low voiced murmurings mingling, this is an aspect of heaven.

My first boyfriend at 12 was fantastic with his mouth. With delight I reciprocated, giving head just as often. We were sixty-nining when his mother and my mother caught us. He was an intellectual like me. We explored our sexual awakening together as thoroughly as we discussed honors English readings, or American History.

In college I had several relationships. A nice Jewish boy with delightfully raunchy in-bed manners, then a senior (woman) in my major program who helped me with my language studies had the most delightful voice to go along with a killer body, then a top-of-his-game computer hacker/programmer who planned to devour the world, but not before he (and I) came multiple times with almost pornographic variety. There was the woman who was a bombastic redhead in public, and yet the quietest cummer I ever enjoyed. Our mutual passion (aside from sex) was writing m/f fanfic, and she was the only bad breakup I ever had.

When I met my husband, I thought I heard an angel literally whispering 'your soulmate'. His intellect, and sexual expression, though he is straight, match my own. While sharing fantasies many nights, I told him more about my personal history than I had shared with anyone else. That was the one thing that had been missing in my previous relationships. With women, I was expected to only be into women, and with men the reverse. I had never shared my explicit history with my other partners. Now not only was I sharing it, but I was being encouraged and supported for it.

I have taken two different female lovers during my marriage. Each was delightful in her own way. A bisexual woman who enjoyed her intimacies alone with me, or together with my husband. She I gave up with joy but reluctance, to her own now 6-years committed female partner. They are still close friends. My second lover, a stated bisexual, though more lesbian-centric, said she was okay with my marriage (I don't hide it from any prospective partners), but had real trouble just being in the same room with my husband. I don't have to share them sexually, but animosity between my partners I couldn't abide, so I had to tell her we were over. She's in a long-term relationship with another woman now and we get together socially every now and again.

My lovers of the past, male and female alike, were, and continue to be dear people to me. Our relationships didn't become "forever" for many of the reasons all relationships do, incompatible drives, incompatible goals, or incompatible (over the long term) natures. But I would never throw away a single day's memory of love, intimacy, bonding, the caring or the sex.

I am a bisexual woman.

END

These are just a couple of the feelings that we, as bisexual married women, share. Feel free to comment or to email me off-list if you would prefer.

jolie@joliedupre.com

Jolie du Pre is an author of lesbian erotica and lesbian erotic romance. Her first anthology, Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica, is now in print and coming very soon to bookstores. Her editor over at Alyson Books says it looks great. Order Iridescence today!

Music for 5/20/2007 blogging - Carrie Underwood

Carrie White: Seven Years of Creating Fantasies

Carrie White is based in London, but her erotic literary work has gained international respect ~ proving love and lust know no international boundaries.

She began writing professionally in the year 2000 and has been published in many web-based publications, printed erotic magazines and has also made various international T.V appearances, including Playboy's Sexcetera & Men & Motors' Fetish Seen.

That's seven years of creating fantasies... Professionally anyway. *wink* How does she do it? Let's ask her.

Carrie, coming up with story after story, fantasy after fantasy, how do you do it and not become bored or jaded? What puts the spark back in the writer?

It's easy to get bored writing the same type of stories all the time as you probably know so over the years I've been slowly changing the way I write.

When I first started as an erotic writer, I just stuck to heterosexual sex as it was so easy but then I got fed up with writing about that and wanted to liven things up a bit so I tried writing about lesbian/bisexual sex. After that, I made some attempts at writing gay sex. They all sound so easy to do but they each have their own difficulties to overcome. For example, gay sex is hard to write about if you're a woman and haven't a clue as to how men relate to one another. It takes time, practice and research to figure it out and I've got it wrong on many occasions!

I'm also attempting to write outside of my usual interests though I wouldn't go so far into those areas because I feel my stories have to turn me on to work. I've written some light spanking stories again back with heterosexual couples.

I've also wanted to write about situations and sexual liaisons outside of the conventional meetings between people, i.e. Dogging or Glory hole sex. Just to spice things up for me as well as my readers. I will not, however, write about anything that I do not find overly exciting myself e.g. fetishes like men in nappies or dressing up in animal costumes.

I have been known to add a bit of psychological horror or intrigue in with my erotic stories; not enough to class them as erotic horror but just enough to add a twist. It's also not usually strong enough for readers to say, "Gads, that does not turn me on!" I like to think it makes them think, lol, but I could be wrong!

What lessons are there here for couples?

The lessons here that I see for couples is that if erotic writers can become bored and uninspired whilst writing about sex, isn't it then likely or possible that couples may also become stale in the bedroom?

To keep churning out the same old style and type of stories as a writer is equally as bad as letting your intimate relationships get stuck in a rut. Add variety, push some boundaries. Dress up, remember how it used to be when you started to go out with your partner, remember what turned you on about them then. Talk about your fantasies, and about theirs.

Don't neglect some of the most important aspects of foreplay like kissing. Hell, don't neglect the foreplay! A lot of women are unable to climax through orgasm so 9 times out of 10 these women are left frustrated because they need oral to orgasm. If your man comes every time you have sex, why the hell shouldn't you, too?

OK, I touched on a sore point here...ahem...I'll shut up now....;)

You can find out more about author Carrie White and her writings at her website, Hentracks, and at her blog, Ink's Erotica.

Rachel Kramer Bussel on One Night Stands and Other Fantasies For Couples

One of the most popular themes in erotic stories is the "one night stand" or "sex with strangers" theme. It's a dark stormy night, they are trapped in an unfamiliar place... all alone, until... Or their eyes lock at the airport and they share more than a taxi...

I know many happily married people who would never stray or cheat who love these sorts of stories. I don't think it means their relationship is 'doomed' *wink* But I thought I'd ask Rachel Kramer Bussel, erotic author, editor and host of the erotic reading series, In The Flesh, what she thought...

Rachel, what do you think reading 'one night stand' or 'sex with a stranger' stories means as far as the reader's relationship goes? What are these readers looking for?

I think there's a massive difference between having a fantasy and especially reading or writing an erotica story and wanting to actually do that thing in real life. But plenty of people like to explore the idea of opening up their relationship. I think it's totally natural to get turned on by other people, whether real people or celebrities or strangers you pass on the street. It doesn't mean anything in terms of the person you're actually with, and to me, one of the hottest things couples can do is fantasize together. So rather than just keeping your lust for your hot new coworker a secret, you can tell your husband or wife or boyfriend or girlfriend and together you can weave a fantasy about what you would do with that person. Or you don't even have to go there; you can fantasize about what that person's sex life is like, you can put all your most naughty thoughts onto them.

I think people turn to erotica to give them something they don't necessarily have in their sex life, or to share something with a partner, to either read aloud or explore in their head. I would say most people have sexual fantasies lurking somewhere in their minds, whether overtly or in the more hidden reaches and reading erotica can help bring that out. I certainly don't think it means a relationship is doomed even if you have the wildest fantasies imaginable. In some
ways, I'd worry about a person if they never had some wild, outrageous sexual fantasy.

For instance, in She's on Top there's a story called "Working Late" by Andrea Dale. Here's a snippet:

"Good. Keep stroking yourself, but not enough to come yet."

I imagined his hand gripping his hard, slick length under the desk, sliding from balls to tip, with a little twist at the end to give the head extra stimulation. It was something I loved to watch, but I could imagine well enough.

My toes curled in my stockings. I wanted him. Soon.

"Ma'am!"

"Yes, Jack?"

He was frozen in place, eyes wide.

"I just saw my boss walk by. I . . . I need to stop."

Felicity Jordan, his new CEO. He'd admitted he was quite attracted to her. She was a sexy thing, to be sure: forty-five and mature, with a gym-strong body and wheat-colored hair cut in a thick bob.

"No," I said. "Keep going."

He broke protocol then, but I wouldn't hold it against him because he had a valid point. "We agreed this would never interfere with or jeopardize my job."

"And it won't, Jack. Keep going." I smiled again, a fresh wave of desire shivering through me as the game advanced. "I've made arrangements with Felicity. That would be Ms. Jordan to you tonight."

It explores how a husband's fantasies about another woman get incorporated into his kinky exchange with his wife. I think sometimes people feel so threatened by the idea of their partner thinking of someone else in that way, they fail to appreciate how erotic it can be to draw out that fantasy, tease the person, ask what exactly they would do if they got their object of affection all alone. I'm sure it can't be just me who gets off on hearing my partner share intimate details about what they think about when they jerk off. To me, that's such a precious insight into their mind and libido and I truly treasure it.

How can a couple address these issues in their own relationships?

There are different ways, but I think the first is to acknowledge the reality that over time, you'll likely want to do things your partner might not or have erotic thoughts that aren't exactly in line with your partner's, and that's okay. The trick is to figure out how you can combine them, where your interests do intersect, and how you can make this process hot for both of you.

I'm a huge fan of talking dirty, but maybe you're more visual. Finding ways to just add a new twist, whether that's eating a meal naked in your kitchen or having some special symbol for "I'm horny" that you can flash to each other at a party or on an airplane. Maybe it's writing erotic letters (or emails or text messages) to each other. There are lots of ways, and they can be subtle. Even if you're shy and don't want to explicitly talk about your fantasy, you can hint to your partner -- or make them guess.

I think accepting that fantasies of all kinds are perfectly healthy and don't threaten the relationship, which I consider part of self-love, is the first step, then together figuring out how you want to deal with such fantasies. And making sure you each have room for solo time, whether for masturbation, porn, erotic reading, or just having some area of your life that may be all your own, whether a few minutes pleasuring yourself in the shower or those intimate thoughts you don't wind up sharing but keep tucked away.

Here's a snippet from He's on Top, from Gwen Masters' story "Confession," which is a bit rougher and darker than what I was just talking about but addresses the essence of silence and fantasy and love and betrayal and arousal in this story about cheating -- and making up.

"Did you confess all your sins, Clarice?"

"Yes."

"I want you to confess them to me. I want you to tell me all the bad things you have done. I want you to tell me how you fucked me even while you didn't love me, and I want you to tell me how you faked those orgasms, and I want you to tell me how bad you want this cock in your ass."

Clarice started to tremble. The head of her husband's cock pressed hard against her back door and she tensed up, suddenly afraid.

"Confess," he whispered.

"I fucked a man I didn't love," she said, and as she did, she felt him push harder. Now there was a slow burning sensation between her cheeks, but she found it was more pleasant than anything else. "I faked orgasms for a long time. I acted like the good wife when I really wasn't."

"Tell me more."

"I played with myself while my husband was at work," she said, and Max paused in surprise. Clarice bit down hard on her lip while the burning spread, filling her whole center, making her whimper in protest.

"I'm not going to stop," he said, "Because I know you don't want me to. Confess."

"When I played with myself I pretended that I was fucking someone else. I pretended my husband was tied to the chair in the bedroom and made to watch while someone else made me come over and over and over."

Max pushed harder. Clarice cried out with the sudden flash of pain. Almost immediately the pleasure took over and then there was a dull roaring in her ears, the sound of her own blood pumping furiously. Her clit throbbed.

"Do you like being fucked up the ass, Clarice? Do you like feeling like a slut? Only sluts do that, you know. No good Catholic girl would dream of letting a man sodomize her. This makes you a Godless heathen, doesn't it? It makes you a slut, Clarice."

With that her husband shoved his cock to the hilt, buried himself between her cheeks and ground down hard against her. It hurt like hell but God help her, she wanted it. She cried out and thrashed under him, not sure if she really wanted to get away, knowing damn good and well he wouldn't let her anyway.

About Rachel Kramer Bussel:

I've edited a dozen anthologies, most recently He's on Top, She's on Top, Caught Looking and Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z. My website is rachelkramerbussel.com and my blogs are Lusty Lady and the less naughty, but still very seductive, Cup Cakes Take The Cake.

The Public Exposure of Roxanne

Gracie interviews Roxanne Rhoads, a freelance writer, erotica author and poet from the mid-west.

When it comes to male characters, do you draw from real life or do you create characters who will do the things you think are 'missing' or that you want men to do?

I mix it up. Some of my characters are drawn from real life some from the deepest parts of my imagination and fantasies. Mostly they are a combination of men in my life, both past and present, with added features. Reality never seems to be as good as fantasy, though sometimes it can get close.

I think writers create their own fantasies and live them out in their stories as much as readers want to escape into the stories.

What was one of the most seductive things you've ever made a female character do? Is this something you would do/have done?

Sex in public (out in the open) is probably one of these most seductive things I've made a female character do. I think it is most seductive because it is the most out of character thing for me. I'm more of a "I'll do pretty much anything as long as it's behind closed doors" type of girl. I'm more of a voyeur than an exhibitionist and being totally open and exposed like that is something I don't know if I could do in real life, but I fantasize about it.

It is a re-occurring scene in many of my stories; Renata and the Vampire Hunter, Eternal Passions, and PrincessBreastia's Quest for Desire, all have public/outdoor sex scenes. Perhaps it is one of my biggest sub-conscious desires and that's why I keep writing about it...

Why don't you try this fantasy ~ how do you decide to let it remain a fantasy and not
try it?

I think the fear of being caught in a compromising position is the biggest reason the "sex in public/outside" fantasy will remain a fantasy. Plus the fact that if you're caught it is illegal. :-)

If the right circumstances were to ever come up I would love to fulfil one major fantasy that involves having sex
outside - that would be having sex in the steamy rain on a hot summer day (or night). But it would have to be in a secluded area where the chances of being caught would be slim to none.

Some people thrive on the fear, the chance that they will be caught or seen but like I said before I'm not much of an exhibitionist.

Roxanne's work has appeared in Playgirl Magazine, and on many websites including Tit-elation.com, JustusRoux.com, TheEroticWoman.com, and OystersandChocolate.com. Her paranormal erotica story Renata and the Vampire Hunter is available at LadyAibell.com.

If Love Is Blind, What Are Romance and Arousal?

Gracie ask erotic romance author Alessia Brio about fantasies and what it takes to make them...

When creating short stories, you are creating fantasies ~ how do you come up with the ideas?

I have a wicked imagination. *grin* When writing, I typically tone it down a notch or two so as not to shock the readers (or alienate the publishers). My work is predominantly published in the romance genre, and that industry has a rather... um, narrow framework for its sex. I'm not a fan of rules, but I do need to earn a living. Ideas are never a problem for me. Finding time to package them into marketable works? Yeah, THAT is a problem.

What do readers say about your stories? What do they seem to respond to the most?

The words that pop up most frequently in my feedback are "irreverent," "realistic," and "raw." I'm somewhat of an acquired taste and that spills over into my characters. Readers respond well to their humor and their (as one reviewer put it) "unapologetic sexuality." (In other words, their natural sluttiness.) I have a tough time writing a protagonist who doesn't share my values, and I think that gives my work a unique flavor.

What is the number one thing writing erotic romance stories has taught you personally about yourself?

That I'm not "normal" (as my writing partner is fond of reminding me). Normal is boring. Releasing a fantasy into the wild is a frightening venture. Erotic fiction (I still have a hard time using the word romance), moreso than other products of the imagination, is particularly susceptible to criticism. Sex is something we all have in common. It's inescapable. Thus, everyone has an opinion on it. As writers, we're dancing naked in front of a crowd, and the audience is either going to be aroused -- or bored. Fortunately, I don't suffer from performance anxiety.

What is the number one thing you think couples can learn from reading erotic romance? And in particular, what do you think your stories say? As in, "The moral of my stories would be..."

Hmm. That depends on whether they're reading it together or separately. The biggest obstacle to enriching a couple's sex life is that first frank conversation. I think reading that erotic fiction TOGETHER would have enormous payoffs in terms of opening those lines of communication.

My stories, in particular, emphasize that gender is irrelevant in terms of eroticism. It's the person's mind that ultimately attracts us, not their plumbing. That basic truth also extends to other differences (such as race, age, disability, faith, etc.). So, my underlying "message" is always one of acceptance.

I agree that our minds are the biggest turn-ons, that our brains are the biggest & most important sex organs; but so many people worry about not looking like a model or being unable to swing from chandeliers... What specifically do you think makes a story, a fantasy, erotic? In other words, what do you do in creating a fantasy, in the writing of a story which would translate to couples doing this in their relationships?

One of the ways I've learned I differ from a great many people is that I'm not visually stimulated -- as least not primarily so. In fact, it's the last of my senses to be triggered during sex. Thus, the eroticism in my work is not visual in nature. I rarely describe physical attributes as they're SEEN, but rather as they're felt or heard or smelled or tasted. That makes it easier for a variety of readers to insert themselves into my work.

I think that in order to "swing from the chandeliers," we need to focus less on the visual and more on the other senses. Very few people look like cover models. Women, in particular, seem prone to being overly critical of their appearances. My recommendation--as an experiment for timid couples--is to BOTH wear a blindfold until you learn to rely on the other senses for arousal.

And so, on that note, we have the answer to the question, If Love Is Blind, What Are Romance and Arousal?

Romance and arousal are blindfolded. *wink*

Alessia Brio is a sassy tart who lives in the mountains near Pittsburgh where she masquerades as a soccer mom. Her debut publication, a single-author anthology of poetry and erotic fiction entitled fine flickering hungers, recently won the 2007 EPPIE Award for Best Erotica. When she's not writing, editing, or designing covers, she gets off annoying uptight bureaucrats and embarrassing her children. Her fetishes include SuDoku, office supplies, and stainless steel. Alessia believes that words are our most powerful weapon in the war against bigotry and intolerance. Hers are guaranteed to get under even the thickest skin. You can visit her online at www.alessiabrio.com.