Rachel Kramer Bussel

Hide and Seek: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exibitionists

barbara — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Alison Tyler

Sometimes a sexually arousing or a sexually fulfilling experience does not necessarily have to involve physical contact with another person. This is the premise behind the erotica anthology Hide And Seek: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists, in which the characters in the scenarios that enfold find sexual fulfillment and release from viewing others in the throes of sexual passion (be it with an attractive partner or with a vibrator). The characters take pleasure in each other, not through sexual intercourse, but simply through sight. This premise makes the set-ups and plots of these stories differ from typical erotica fare.

Talented erotica writer Rachel Kramer Bussel one again lends her editorial eye to Cleis Press for this anthology, selecting steamy, well written, and well-developed erotic stories that all fit under the broad umbrella of voyeurism and exhibitionism. While the title made me initially assume that the stories within this anthology would be specifically voyeuristic, the stories in this collection actually cover the gamut, with voyeurism leading to arousal for couples, friends, neighbors, and total strangers. As is the case with most erotic works put out by Cleis Press the stories within this anthology are all smoothly composed, with enough character and plot development to satisfy more cerebral readers.

Among the tales I found to be most scintillating within this anthology were “A Girl, Two Guys, and a Sex Toy,” by Kristina Wright. As one would perhaps conjecture from the story’s obvious title, the plot does indeed involve a woman, two men, and a large dildo. A lovelorn woman heals her wounds when she finds herself in bed with her two male best friends. However, instead of engaging in the expected ménage a trois scenario one would anticipate, she instead pleasures herself with the aforementioned sex toy, soaking in the fact that she is able to arouse two men.

In Teresa Noelle Roberts’ story “Visual Memory,” an artist finds artistic inspiration by recalling past voyeuristic memories, and laments upon how they transformed her own perception of sexuality. Roberts’ writing in the story is often poetic and rich with detail and character introspection, making it literary enough to surpass the erotica genre.

Written by: Adrienne Urbanski, March 25th 2011

Best Bondage Erotica 2011

brittany — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Cleis Press

As the title would imply, this erotica anthology contains solely stories that involve bondage, the use of restraints for the purpose of sexual pleasure. Along with the use of bondage in sexual encounters comes the play of submissive and dominant roles. As one might expect, nearly half of stories in this book stick to standard dominate/submissive heterosexual roles, with men tying up women in various scenarios and then sexually dominating them. As a feminist with a lifelong interest in challenging gender roles, I found these stories to be a bit lackluster and predictable, though surely they might appeal to some readers. (To be clear, I'm not suggesting feminist beliefs necessarily negate interests or arousals derived from women in submissive sexual roles.) That said, the stories that I found to be the anthology’s gems did not pigeonhole men and women into clearly defined submissive and dominate roles.

Among the stories within the collection that I found to be most scintillating was “The Rainmaker” by Elizabeth Daniels, in which a married couple whose sex life is marred by the wife’s frigidity finds renewed fire with some BDSM play involving a gag and rope. Similarly, in Lux Zakari’s story “Truss Issues,” a heterosexual couple experiments with the use of restraint for the first time, and although the female is restrained it is her sexual needs that are fulfilled, rather than that of the male, as is the case with some of the other heterosexual stories in the collection.

I also liked “Reasoning” by Tenille Brown, in which a woman restrains and sexually dominates her male lover in an attempt to make amends over past transgressions. For less heteronormative narratives, I recommend “Bound Helen,” in which a lesbian couple’s use of corset by day is a precursor to their bondage play by night, and during which neither partner has complete control of the other. In “Daddy,” a lesbian couple takes the submissive and dominate roles to the extreme, with the plot’s apex centering around a trip to a party in which the submissive is blindfolded and restrained for the exploration of others.

While bondage as well as domination and submission are not sexual scenarios that will appeal to all readers, most fans of erotica will most likely find at least a few stories arousing. Those who find the subject matter more to be their cup of tea will surely find the anthology to be a gem. The most valuable attribute of this anthology is the high quality of writing in every story, scenes that are set well, and characters that are fully developed despite the short stories in which they appear. Those who enjoy books with more literary merit will surely value editor Rachel Kramer Bussel’s pattern of selecting well-written stories that sometimes trigger the intellect as well as the sex drive.

Written by: Adrienne Urbanski, February 15th 2011

Fast Girls: Erotica for Women

tina — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Cleis Press

Fast. The word itself is a contradiction. By definition, fast can mean unrestrained and held tight; reckless and secure; promiscuous and faithful. A fast girl can be one way and then another or often both at once. A fast girl can be wild, even when caught in the firmest of knots.

In Fast Girls, fast means quick thinking and quicker action. Fast girls see what they want and take it, cleverly making the most of circumstances around them. Fast girls crave attention, thrive in the spotlight, and live in the moment. A fast girl goes all the way, every time, and loves it. A fast girl makes her own choices and loves to defy expectation. Taking her pleasure as she chooses, a fast girl follows no rules of conduct.

The women here are connected by their willingness to experience life as it comes, taking chances and being handsomely rewarded for their bravado. These stories cut directly to the action, focusing on the sex rather than on preliminaries. From quiet arousal to public masturbation, sex in a communal shower to exploration of marital roles, this collection has something for everyone. Many stories explore the darker side of erotica, as women find their pleasure in pain, submission, and public displays of need and desire.

Orgasm is a given in each of these stories; each woman knows what she needs to reach it and she will not be denied. Explicitly detailed, you are privy to each woman’s thoughts, her reactions to every touch, lick, slap. With a lover, stranger, or customer, the woman’s body is the focus and her pleasure the priority.

Fast Girls is a celebration of sexual liberation, where women single-mindedly follow their desires. They have girl on girl sex, sex with boys and sex in groups. They have sex where, when, and with whom they want, without offering any apology. If you are looking for explicit, edgy erotica, dive in anywhere. These girls like it fast.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, December 15th 2010

Orgasmic: Erotica for Women

mandy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:00:00 +0000

By Rachel Kramer Bussel

Cleis Press

I remember flipping quickly through the pages of my friends’ romance novels in high school looking for the juicy parts. The sexy parts. I had been told the books would be like "porn for women," so I assumed there would be something pornographic in the material. Alas, as soon as I found a creamy white thigh slipping out of a slit in a skirt, it was magically the next morning and the characters were talking... again. So, I gave up. Fortunately, Orgasmic addresses the need of female-oriented erotic literature more directly.

Admittedly, as an adult well grounded in societal norms, it was difficult to take Orgasmic seriously when I opened it with a friend over margaritas at a Mexican restaurant. The collection of stories found in the book contain, though not intentionally, some humorous material. However, while some of the dialogue (or the words authors come up with for sexual anatomy) makes for solid comedy, other stories are not to be taken so lightly.

Do not, for example, read Dusty Horn's “Share” while on a plane (trust me). Unless you’re a veteran member of the mile high club or know how to take care of business in tight places, public spaces are not the right place to read this story. Dusty writes a truly erotic lesbian adventure that is both cervically and cerebrally stimulating. What makes this story stand out from a few of its neighbors is that it is really well written, and really sexy.

Take this line about her double-ended toy for example, “A tug of war—I pull on the dick with my hand and counter clench around the bulb with my pussy wall. Where do you think you’re going?” Dusty does not stop there with her toy-inspired escapades; there is dildo pistol whipping, dildo sucking, fucking, jerking, and on... and on.

Lolita Lopez’s “The Chair” is also eye wideningly kinky, and may inspire you to take a more mechanical approach to your sex life. “Hurdles,” by Rowan Elizabeth, is nearly a how-to guide. While her methods for getting off on oral may not work for you, there’s still a great lesson to be learned about communicating with your partner about what you need to get it done.

Perhaps some of the clichés and silly references to the fins on Cadillacs looking like dicks are part of Orgasmic's charm. Sometimes sex is funny. Sometimes the things that turn us on are funny. Some might say, “different strokes for different folks.” Orgasmic is, indeed, full of a lot of strokes. If one story makes you laugh, try the next; that one might just get the job done.

Written by: Tatiana Ryckman, September 20th 2010

Best Sex Writing 2010

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Cleis Press

As a fairly obsessive sex educator, S&M activist, and informal researcher, I didn't expect Best Sex Writing 2010 to make me think nearly as much as it did. I'd imagined it as an anthology that would hit all the usual bases and say the usual sex-positive things: Sex work should be decriminalized! Open relationships can work! Fetishes don't have to terrify us! Women deserve to be promiscuous, if that's what we really want, and we must be empowered to say no to sex too!

The first few essays struck me as par for the sex-positive course—though extremely well-written. Indeed, my favorite essay in the book is the sixth (of twenty-five), an absolutely brilliant work by gay escort Kirk Read that made me want to close the book and start selling sex on Craigslist. Still, it didn't actually challenge any of my current preconceptions, it just made me want to cheer.

But then the book surprised me. As editor Rachel Kramer Bussel explains on the anthology's website, "I want writing about sex that makes people think about it in a new way, that confronts sex and sexual stereotypes, that opens people's eyes, that says things people might find uncomfortable." This even applies to perverts like me, I suppose. The chapters that unsettled me most weren't the explicit ones, but rather the ones that don't align with my ideals of positive sexuality: as openly and carefully communicated, for example, or negotiated with an eye to egalitarian ideals. (No matter how extreme the power differential when a gentleman friend whips me, I approach the relationship itself on an equal footing.)

I felt most grossed out by Michelle Perrot's essay on her upcoming affair, in which she writes: "I don’t want an open marriage, where you and your partner agree that you can have sex with other people. I don’t want hurt feelings and jealousy, all the inevitable trouble that would come with such an arrangement..." but then notes that she's discussed the idea of cheating with her husband, and that "if one of us were to have sex—just sex—with another person, we’d just as soon not know."

In other words, Perrot refuses to style herself as one of those open relationship people—and let's not even get into the stereotypes in her description thereof—because having a tacit agreement with your husband that both of you can sleep quietly with other people isn't an open relationship. Huh? At the same time, Perrot published the essay under a pseudonym "to protect her marriage," which would seem to indicate that she's not actually sure about her husband's consent after all.

I don't mean to pick on Perrot, whose essay was quite well-written and gave me a lot to ponder. My point is that Best Sex Writing 2010 has something for everyone, including material to make a jaded sex theorist think twice. It lacks political sensibility by missing some important bases (e.g., trans people, polyamory, and people outside of the US) and makes one or two truly odd editorial choices. (Why on Earth is Mollena Williams' essay on race play, a fetish so transgressive that it unnerves most people even within permissive S&M communities, placed before Betty Dodson's much gentler memoir that could serve as an introduction to S&M? Are we trying to blindside and horrify the newbies?)

Still, lesbians and sex work and sex education and sex biology and safer sex all appear; S&M is comes up a surprising amount, and even manliness gets a mention. Most importantly, Best Sex Writing 2010 is a genuinely layered and challenging book.

Written by: Clarisse Thorn, August 30th 2010

Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:01:00 +0000

By Rachel Kramer Bussel

Cleis Press

Although I would not say I have a particular propensity for spanking, I am fascinated by various kinks or sexual fetishes, and like to support writing that allows people the space to explore their desires, even if it just in a fantasy realm. I am also usually not the biggest fan of erotica, as I have found many of the collections I've read to be either quite stale or laughably cheesy—neither of which are very steamy. However, I found myself surprisingly intrigued and pleasantly provoked by Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Stories.

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel has put together a number of anthologies of erotica with a variety of themes ranging from domination and submission to voyeurism. Bottoms Up is a collection of erotica focusing on being either a spanker or spankee, and is Bussel's fourth anthology on this particular theme. There is an even mix of stories representing different perspectives: giving, receiving, fantasizing, and watching spanking. The majority of stories comprise male/female partnerships, though there are a few involving queer characters. Since openly male authors in this genre are apparently uncommon, this particular collection has mostly male authors.

One of the things I liked most is that many of the stories felt real in the sense that the characters were often experiencing the conflicting feelings of arousal, confusion, and guilt that often come with having a fetish. The sensation of pleasure mixed with pain is a major theme and, of course, is pretty much the basic idea of BDSM. The character in "Ass Worship," for instance, is drawn to experiment with being spanked. He has many questions about it and is extremely nervous at first, unsure if he can actually go through with it.

Many of the stories involve a person's first time being spanked or spanking someone else. Others involve such exciting and sometimes amusing subjects as swingers, Renaissance Fair fantasies, church frolicking, and (in the editor's piece) a spanking machine. My very favorite story, "I'm Going to Grab Your Hair," is written as though the author (and spanker) is "dirty talking" to the reader (and spankee). It is rough and nasty and thrilling. I'd never read an erotica piece in quite that style before.

If you consider yourself a spanking enthusiast or are just curious, Bottoms Up is sexy, engaging, and fascinating. I don't think you will find yourself disappointed.

Written by: Lesley Kartali, November 23rd 2009