Below is an excerpt from an article by sex author Violet Blue.

It’s still not as cheap as a subscription to your favorite porn site, but with the way the Kindle has been absorbed by consumers, it’s surprising that we aren’t seeing annoying “Kindle addiction” sites spring up around the net. Faster than a numb journalist can write a headline about nonexistent G-spots, the Kindle’s seemingly everywhere. And though the files are locked up with DRM, they have offered more to content producers for distribution access than analog book distribution models. And for sex, that’s always a good thing.

Want to kink up your Kindle but don’t know where to start? Bay Area publishers and authors bring the sauce on Kindle’s platform, with UK sex writers coming in to fill out what has become a full market of fiction and nonfiction sex lit, much of it made just for the Kindle. However, everyone knows by now that you can’t search the Kindle store for “sex” and actually get any. No, what you need to score for your Kindle is a wingman. Or winggirl.

Kindle’s top 10 erotica bestsellers right now include recommended titles “Guilty Pleasure” by Lora Leigh (#1), “Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women” (by yours truly, #4), “Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex” by Alison Tyler (#6), “The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty” by A. N. Roquelare AKA Anne Rice (#8), and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Zane (#9). Two of the top collections come from San Francisco sex publishing powerhouse Cleis Press (cleispress.com). On Kindle they have a bevy of tasty titles, ranging from highbrow erotic literature to sex journalism culled from mainstream majors. Cleis’ hot new 2010 titles on Kindle range from the nonfiction sex essay collection “Best Sex Writing 2010” edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel (rachelkramerbussel.com) and “Special Forces: Gay Military Erotica” edited by Phillip MacKenzie Jr., to “Best Lesbian Romance 2010” edited by Radclyffe and the “Best Women’s Erotica” series.

Click here to read the full article. For the best FREE erotic fiction you can get online, be sure to check out The Lusty Library!

The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award was inaugurated by Auberon Waugh in 1993 to ‘draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it’. The prize is not intended to cover pornographic or expressly erotic literature, and is limited to the literary novel.

This year has seen a bountiful crop of passages, and the judges at Literary Review have whittled them down to a shortlist that contains both acclaimed authors and promising newcomers. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on Monday 25th November. This year’s nominees are:

Paul Theroux A Dead Hand (Hamish Hamilton)

Nick Cave The Death of Bunny Munro (Canongate)

Philip Roth The Humbling (Jonathan Cape)

Jonathan Littell The Kindly Ones (Chatto & Windus)

Amos Oz Rhyming Life and Death (Chatto & Windus)

John Banville The Infinities (Picador)

Anthony Quinn The Rescue Man (Jonathan Cape)

Simon Van Booy Love Begins in Winter (Beautiful Books)

Sanjida O’Connell The Naked Name of Love (John Murray)

Richard Milward Ten Storey Love Song (Faber & Faber)

Read the SHORTLISTED PASSAGES

Read some of the winning passages from PREVIOUS YEARS

SOURCE

Want to read some GOOD erotica for free? Check out one of my favorite sites, The Lusty Library.

A new collection of erotic short stories has arrived at just the right time to get swept up in the Twilight/True Blood vampire frenzy. The difference between Edward Cullen and the vampires and other horrors you’ll find in Bitten (edited by Susie Bright) is that the latter are not afraid to bare their teeth. Here’s a quote from the review in the Sacramento News & Review:

For some readers, for example, the exquisitely detailed Victorian flogging scene in Cate Robertson’s “Half-crown Doxy” or the voyeurism described in Donna George Storey’s “The Legacy” could be considered the height of risqué. For anyone lightly versed in the sketchier corners of certain bookstores, though, they don’t even register on the radar, particularly because those elements are the only parts of the stories that could be considered “dark.” In a compilation that advertises itself as being full of “sexy-spooky, ethereal carnality,” they get lost in the shuffle.

On the other hand, when that perfect stomach-roiling blend of the bizarre and the carnal is achieved, what emerges is spectacular. The authors have chosen their words carefully, rendering erotic acts in such precise language that it makes reading Bitten on public transportation the tiniest bit awkward, but in a good way. Sera Gamble’s “The Devil’s Invisible Scissors” is one of these great selections, mixing a snappy, interesting narrative with blatant exhibitionism, along with just a smidge of commentary on the classic definitions of good and evil. In the same vein, Anne Tourney’s “The Resurrection Rose” offers a mini-exploration of sexual taboos from the time of the French Revolution to the present, starring a vampire-aristocrat-carnivorous-flower threesome.

Strange? Yes. Incredibly hot? Absolutely.

Read more here. If you’re looking for some of the best erotica on the web, for free, check out the Lusty Library — and don’t be shy about telling them Maddy sent you.

Lithuania’s first erotic museum has opened its doors in the country’s second city Kaunas.

The museum is located in the centre of the city in the cellar of the once famous ‘Metropolis’ restaurant.

The owner Vidas Kontrimavicius started collecting erotic material about five years ago.

Inspired by museums in other countries Kontrimavicius decided to share his enjoyment of erotica with his countrymen.

‘The idea to establish the first public erotic museum in Lithuania came to me when I saw similar museums in other countries.

‘Visitors can see how the naked human body has been reflected in art and in various items.

‘And, I suppose, they will understand that erotica is nice,’ said the museum owner.

Around 300 items are exhibited in the museum.

They include ten dolls dressed in lingerie, examples of old erotic pictures and photos, books on the subject and even bags in the shape of women’s bodies.

For one visitor the museum has the capacity to be educational as well as titillating.

‘This museum is fairly educational, especially for the peoples who are afraid of such things. As it’s just opened it is quite good, I like it,’ said visitor Justinas.

It was the erotic images that most caught the eye of another visitor.

‘For me the most impressive thing was the old photos, because I have not seen such images before. Maybe some people do have these images, men for example, but they are not normally shown in public.

It’s very interesting indeed, because I have not seen anything similar before,’ said Jurga.

SOURCE

North Carolina native Sabrina Luna began writing erotica in the late 1990s, before the erotic romance genre hit it big with readers. Sabina’s writing is always changing and improving. She writes all kinds of stories but has found much success writing paranormal erotic romance.

You can find her stories on such publishers’ websites as Whiskey Creek,  Phaze,  Aspen Mountain Press ,  Amira Press and also various other e-publishers online.

Sabrina enjoys honing her craft and testing the limits to her imagination. When I asked about her writing paranormal erotic romance she explained what she likes the most about this kind of writing is being able to bend the rules of traditional love stories and make the ordinary extra-ordinary. Fortunately for her readers she does this very well.

Besides being a full time author, Sabrina is also a professional psychic reader and certified life coach.

Sabrina currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. When she’s not writing you can find her in bookstores, or watching entertaining movies & DVDs. She also boast of being a creative coffee drinker who loves to meet her friends for coffee.

Check out the interview below to learn more about her…

N.B: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for interviewing with me. Can you tell our readers about your background and how did you become an erotic author?

Sabrina Luna: Oh, you’re welcome! I’m a creative coffee drinker, an author, certified life coach and professional psychic reader.

I began writing erotica in the late 1990s, before the erotic romance genre had hit it big with readers. I enjoyed (and still do) reading erotica and erotic romance. I began to write erotic poems, which led to short stories and novellas.

N.B: What was the name of the first story that you wrote and what was it about?

Sabrina Luna: Hmm …that’s a tough one. I remember the first story I submitted to an online contest. I won first place in its category (erotic romance) and that’s when I decided to submit my writings for publication. It was a story set in Egypt in the 1930s about a sexy archeologist and his smart assistant who become erotically “enchanted” while digging up an ancient temple.

N. B: How would you describe your writing style? And what can our readers expect from your work?

Sabrina Luna: Well, I learn a lot about the craft of writing with each story I write, so I believe my style is continuously changing and improving. I love stories which are adventurous, humorous and sexy. I hope readers will enjoy reading my stories as much as I do writing them!

N.B: What is it that you like about paranormal erotic romance as compared to traditional erotic romance stories?

Sabrina Luna: To me, paranormal erotic romances bend the rules of traditional love stories and make the ordinary extra-ordinary. I enjoy reading them as well as writing them!

N.B: What projects are you currently working on?

Sabrina Luna: Well, I’ve currently submitted a short story for Halloween to one of my e-publishers, which is a paranormal erotic romance. I’ve also been promoting and teaching classes in psychic development based on my non-fiction book, MAGICKAL INTUITION, which is currently available in ebook and print. And, I’m busy plotting and planning my next round of writing projects.

N.B:  If you could be any of the characters you’ve wrote about so far which would it be? And why?

Sabrina Luna: LOL! Well, let’s say I’d like to be any of my heroines (and a couple of heroes), because the male leads in my stories are certainly wonderful, sexy men with hearts of gold!

N.B: Do you imagine your characters first then write the story or write the story first then let the characters flow?

Sabrina Luna: Oh, tough question! I usually start with (believe it or not) a title and genre, then it progresses to a story idea. As the story idea grows, the right characters begin to appear …and then they take over.

N.B: I understand that besides being a best selling author you are also a professional psychic reader and tarot reader. Do you believe that tarot reading helps you with writing your characters? If so how?

Sabrina Luna: Definitely! The major cards of the Tarot deck are based on archetypes, which are the building blocks of storytelling. The Tarot helps give me ideas on how to develop the basis of my characters, and then creativity kicks in and helps to flesh out them out.

N.B: When you’re not writing, what type of things do you like to do?

Sabrina Luna: I love to meet friends for coffee, haunt bookstores and watch entertaining movies & DVDs. I also love attending Sci-Fi Fantasy conventions and meeting others who share similar interests.

N.B: You are a full time author living in the Carolinas. Are you from the area? If not, why have you made the Carolinas your home?

Sabrina Luna: I’m a Carolina gal –born and raised.

N.B: Where would you like to see your writing career in the next five years or so?

Sabrina Luna: In the next five years, I plan to explore a few more genres in fiction, plus continue to write and teach in areas like psychic development. So, yes, I plan to stay busy!

For more info: read more about Sabrina Luna on her website.

SOURCE

Publishers Weekly asked famous erotica author Zane for an essay on writing… “Why I Write.” Here’s an excerpt:

Erotica is a specialty, no matter what some might think. It takes more than sitting down at a computer and churning out detailed sex scenes. That may work for a few books, but it could never last. True erotica is a journey. It is a mixture of clearly defined characters, a story line that has significance and, lastly, sex. I write my sex scenes last in most of my books. I am more concerned about everything else. I do not write for money. I do not write for fame. I write for the personal gratification that I receive from knowing that I have touched someone, helped someone and made a difference in someone’s life. That emotion and knowledge is priceless.

She has more to say in the article at Publishers Weekly. I think it’s well worth a read!

This is excerpted from an article on the life of a sex and fetish writer (Emily Dubberley) that I found at independent.ie. To read the full article, click here.

I’m freelance. I write all my own books and edit magazines, too. I’m the founding editor of Scarlet magazine which is a sex magazine for women, full of erotic stories, with health and beauty features. I had previously set up cliterati.co.uk, a website for women. And I’ve just written a book called Friendly Fetish: A Beginner’s Guide to Kink. I write about sex for a living.

First thing I’ll do is check my emails. I get about 500 a day. Every morning I have to look through my spam filter and fish out 20 work-related emails, which have been quarantined because of their title content. It could be something about penis extenders or new vibrators. It could be a mail from a porn star I’ve booked in for doing an adult shoot for Knave magazine, a gentleman’s magazine I edit.

When I’m looking for a porn star for a shoot, I don’t tend to go for the spray-tanned, fake, plastic type of woman. I go for the girl-next-door type, all different sizes of breasts and recently we’ve used some fuller-figured women as well. It’s full nudity but not penetration. But instead of it being just a woman displaying herself, our shoots will have themes. The Knave issue I am editing right now has a film theme, so there’s an American Beauty shoot and another one is Cleopatra.

A lot of the time I will talk to the girls on email. If the girls don’t have any other shoots that week, I’ll ask them not to shave and let their hair grow a bit, so it looks more natural. But the landing strip is fine, too, because people are representing all different kinds of looks.

I got into writing about sex because I did a degree in psychology and specialised in sexuality. It was at a time when a lot of adult titles for women were emerging — Playgirl and For Women. I wanted to research male-versus-female attitudes to porn because, from a feminist perspective, I found it really interesting. It turned out that women were just as into porn as men but it had to be done in a slightly different way.

Women are more easily put off, for example, if one of the porn stars has got a horrible moustache or if the girl doesn’t look like she is enjoying herself. Women want more reality in fantasy. It’s wonderfully complex.

Wallpaper.com has an interview with the founder of one of magazine publishing’s most missed titles: Kinder Aggugini of Deliciae Vitae. The magazine was a high-end erotic publication that only lasted for three issues, but what an impact that trio of issues made! It was influential and predated the current sexual(ly explicit) revolution in print advertising. Mr. Aggugini couldn’t carry on with Deliciae Vitae due to time constraints.

It is a unique product, generated by people who have a strong sense of aesthetic or are brilliant writers. We all work in fashion and I wanted a magazine that was the equivalent of a fashion show, with glamour, sex, elegance, beauty and visually stunning. I would have put a soundtrack to it if I could have.

Mr. Aggugini also has an answer for why porn/erotica for women is so different from that intended for men…

Women tend to be more metaphysical than men they can find eroticism in a phrase a song or a colour. The male erotica available today is often aesthetically poor and lacks the symbolism necessary to make it of a broader appeal.

And as for the effect of the internet on erotic imagery, you can be sure he has an opinion:

The good thing about eroticism is that it transcends languages and therefore the internet is the perfect vehicle for it. Best of all the vast quantity of publishing makes it diversify more and more. The only problem is that unless you know what and where to look for, you might find yourself lost in a forest of smut.

There won’t be another Delliciae Vitae, but Aggugini has plans for an “annual bible” of high-fashion erotica.  Click here for the whole article, including details on that yearly tome. I wonder what Aggugini would have to say about The Fashionistas?

Gtom www.thetimes.co.za- A steamy novel by ex-stripper and former porn editor Karin Eloff has raised temperatures as it lifts the veil on the underbelly of the sex industry.

Eloff, who studied towards a degree in psychology at Rand Afrikaans University, before removing her kit at strip clubs around the country, astounded people when she became the first woman editor of pornographic magazine Loslyf in 2005 — appearing nearly nude on the front page.

The petite redhead is sending ripples through the country again. This time it’s her sex-and-drug-drenched memoir titled Stiletto, which will be launched at the Cape Town Book Fair today, that is raising eyebrows.

In the book, she apologises for using the father of her child, soapie star David Rees, who acts as Niek in Egoli, as “a mere sperm donor”.

She also talks about snorting cocaine before swirling around poles at strip clubs, where she earned up to R3000 a night — spent mostly on cheap red wine, a boob job and drugs.

“I started hating men. All men. Men, I decided, had one wonderful function: to produce sperm. Emotional support or friendship is not to be expected from the bastards. Men can be decorative and functional, but they’re dumb and unreliable,” she wrote.

Eloff said in an interview this week that Afrikaans men treated her the worst: “Unfortunately, Afrikaans men were my worst experience. I’m not saying they’re all like that. Indian and English men were more gentlemanly.”

Eloff’s direct approach has received a mixed response. Johann Hamman, a tour guide from Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal, started a group on the Facebook site in protest: “Not all Afrikaans men spend their time at whorehouses or strip shows and beating their wives … I will not let a retired whore get away with these insults,” he wrote.

Eloff responded: “I’m writing about my experiences and find it interesting that people react so emotionally.”

The 35-year-old mother’s jade eyes glowed as she recalled meeting Rees. “There was an amazing energy, an animal attraction. We were both on drugs and boozed. I told him that I wasn’t on the pill and wanted a baby.

“I wanted a child without a man. I realise that I was very selfish … I was angry and bitter, but that has changed and I think David is a wonderful father.”

Rees is proud of his former lover. “Some people may not have the stomach for her book but I think it’s great,” he said. He added that they had a “beautiful relationship” and often met to discuss matters relating to their five-year-old daughter Wanya.

Eloff said Wanya inspired Rees and herself to clean up their act. “David went to rehab for nearly two years. She was the reason I left the sex industry.”

In the book, she recalls performing up to three times a week at Hillbrow’s notorious Summit Club. “The club’s management gave strippers a free drink with each performance — a little something to swallow after snorting your line of coke,” she wrote.

Nowadays Eloff works in the media industry.

SOURCE

Suraya Singh used to have a mundane job working for an education organisation. Like millions of women the 30-year-old would often spend her lunch breaks perusing the women’s magazine section at a nearby newsstand.

There she became increasingly despondent at the celebrity gossip, diet tips and fashion advice she was bombarded with. What she wanted was a classy erotica magazine that women like her would be happy to buy.

Men’s magazines regularly mixed aspirational and intelligent content with high-brow erotica, but women, she felt, were being left out. Which is why she decided to quit her job and set up a magazine herself.

“There are an awful lot of stereotypes about who women are and what turns them on, which I don’t think are true,” she says.

“If you’re not some walking stereotype of a woman – who really speaks to you?”

Next week she will launch Filament, a self-funded quarterly erotica magazine that is squarely aimed at turning women on.

A glitzy launch party complete with male acrobats is planned for Monday and an initial print run of 5,000 copies has just rolled off the presses.

Marketed as “the thinking woman’s crumpet”, the first issue features a semi-naked man in a praying position on its cover.

Inside, artistic photoshoots of scantily clad male models are juxtaposed next to erotic short stories and erudite articles on off-beat topics such as the merits of being a geek.

CLICK HERE to read more about this truly intriguing new women’s erotica mag!