In the Flesh is a monthly reading series held the third Thursday of every month at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the city's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by erotic writer/editor Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Sex Writing series, Do Not Disturb, Spanked, Dirty Girls, etc.). From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Themed nights have included True Sex Confessions, Revenge of the Sex Columnists, GLBT Night, and Comedy Sex. Readers have included Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Stephen Elliott, Martha Garvey, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Tsaurah Litzky, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Veronica Vera, Zane and others. In The Flesh debuted in October 2005. Contact rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com for bookings, press, or questions. Click here In The Flesh: Los Angeles. “…writer and host Rachel Kramer Bussel welcomes eroticism of all stripes, spots and textures to the Happy Ending lounge on the Lower East Side.,” New York Times UrbanEye newsletter, August 15, 2007 email rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com for booking or other information or interview requests

Thursday, October 19, 2006

The artist and her muse


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Originally uploaded by brianvan.
One of the highlights of last night's In The Flesh was when burlesque babe and artist extraordinaire Molly Crabapple showed up (fresh from a burlesque gig at Mo Pitkin's!) and brought me a present - the original artwork of me with cleavage and cupcakes, the official In The Flesh logo. Firstly, she'd told me she had a gift for me months ago, and I guessed that's what it was but she also had it framed and it looks so fabulous. Everyone comments on the logo when I pass out postcards and it just means so much to me that she drew it in the first place, let alone gave me the print. So thank you, Molly! She is also busy getting her first book ready for publication in December - it's the officialy coloring book of Dr. Sketchy, which is now an international phenomenon.

So much other fabulousness last night, will update you when I can. In the meantime, you can read Jurgen Fauth's lovely writeup and see his video of me introducing his wife, Marcy Dermansky, author of Twins and Marcy's sly, sexy reading from a sex scene. As I told Marcy, I am sometimes very picky about fiction and I'll start a book and then put it down, but often will go back to it. I had read a chapter of Twins and liked it but was not sucked in. And apparently, as reader Jami Attenberg reports, they left and went to a party for a Helen Hunt movie and Marcy gave Helen Hunt a copy of Twins. Awesome! Last night, I totally was, and will be reading Twins pronto - perhaps I will add it to my little stack of books to take on the plane to California. Everyone read beautifully and many cupcakes were eaten, books given away, and fun had late into the evening.

Photo by Brian Van
See more of his photos from last night's In The Flesh here