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

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

For the naughty late gift givers...Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2

Or for Robert Steinbuch, perhaps?

I know you are all searching for the slutty-clothed Jessica Cutler, so I will help you out a little - she read at In The Flesh's True Sex Confessions Night back in April and grossed us all out in truly spectacular form. Too bad it's not on tape. Here's F. Russell's Nerve.com Scanner recap. But be prepared, I told you it was gross! Here's a photo of her prop, post-reading:




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Originally uploaded by brianvan.


I'm picturing people getting pretty paddles and crops and very hard spankings for the holidays and reading each other some of these stories.

Here's a photo from my birthday party last month of L. Elise Bland spanking me - she kept wanting to do more of it, but we will have to save that for private time. She spanked me back in 2001, I believe, and my ass was super sore for days (in a good way). She knows whereof she writes, certainly, which may be why her story "Every Good Boy Deserves Favors" made it into Best American Erotica 2006.

Below I've included a short excerpt from her Naughty Spanking Stories 2 tale, "X-Rated Exes," which she read at In The Flesh last week.

You can also WIN a copy of Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2 over at Saskia Walker's blog!



From L. Elise Bland's "X-Rated Exes" in Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2

I exchanged looks with Erin. My pussy was still throbbing from the crazy orgasm, and the adrenaline in my veins was churning so hard, it had even drowned out the pounding music. I was up for anything. I whispered into Erin's ear and then pulled Desiree across me on the sofa so that her feet were in Erin's lap.

"What are you doing?" Desiree asked, as if she didn't know. I had never given her a real spanking before and wasn't sure how it would go over. Desiree always tipped me on stage and I returned the favor with a public slap, but never a private one.

"You said you liked to be spanked, didn't you?" My hand quivered with nervousness as it ran across her round cheeks. The first time spanking someone is always scary for me, especially someone like Desiree. I wanted to slap her hard enough to satisfy my own sadistic streak, but I wanted her to like it enough to come back for more.

"You know I have to punish you for spying on us earlier!" I scolded playfully.

"I'm sorry," she said, pretending to pout. "I just got, well, you know, kind of lonely."

"You're such a bad girl," I told her. "But that's why I like you so much."
I laid one hand on her cheek and gave her a pat so delicate, my palm didn't even sting afterwards. When Desiree sighed and jumped, I knew I had her number. She wanted more. She said she was a lightweight, but it turned out she could take a decent round. I slapped every inch of her ass—longer-lasting strokes in the center of her cheeks, light circles around the outsides, and sharp stingy pecks on the most tender parts. Spanking Desiree was completely different from spanking our customer on stage earlier. This time it was real.
Between spanks, I ran my fingers up and down the back of her thong, which was hot and wet from the burn of exhibitionism. Desiree writhed against me so that the metal of her garter straps dug into my bare thighs. Once she was completely worked up, I let loose. My hand started moving so fast and feathery, it looked like a bumblebee's wing. Desiree raised her derriere into the air as if she didn't know whether to come closer or escape.

All the while, Erin was watching. "Hey, don't hog her," she called out. "I want to get to know your friend Desiree, too."

Read the rest (plus 29 other HOT stories) in Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2

Friday, December 22, 2006

In The Flesh Thanks

Now's as good a time as any to thank the 78 readers and performers who've graced the stage at In The Flesh, and a few others without whom my little reading series wouldn't be anywhere near as fabulous.

Extra special thanks to Oliver and all the bartenders at Happy Ending, Brian Van for being at every single In The Flesh to take photos, and Molly Crabapple for my kick-ass logo and all-around awesomeness. Also thanks to all the media outlets that listed and covered In The Flesh this year, notably: Dr. Ruth, The New Yorker, The L Magazine, Nerve, New York magazine, Flavorpill, Metro, AM NY, Gawker, Wonkette, Time Out New York, Stilljohn.com, Galleycat, Viviane's Sex Carnival, Flora Fling, and probably someone I’m forgetting in here. I truly appreciate it!

Thank you to everyone who performed at In The Flesh in 2006, in backwards chronological order (not precise chronological order, I just mean from December backwards, I can’t remember the specific orderings):

December

Abiola Abrams
L. Elise Bland
Scott Bowen
Stan Kent
Lisa Beth Kovetz
Karen Moulding
Jean Roberta
Molly Crabapple

November (Comic Sex)

Sara Jo Allocco
Adira Amram
Claudia Cogan
Jessica Delfino
Julie Klausner
Todd Levin
Mindy Raf
Lianne Stokes
Baron Vaughn

October

Jami Attenberg
P.F. Kozak
Mo Beasley
Stephen Elliott
Marcy Dermansky
Sean Meriwether
Christen Clifford

September (Revenge of the Sex Columnists)

Julia Allison
Nicole Beland
Erin Bradley
Ellen Friedrichs
Gregory Gilderman
Laura Leu
Stephanie Sellars
Jamye Waxman

August

Mari Lyn Bernard
Lily Burana
Shari Goldhagen
Riain Grey
Shane Luitjens
Lisa Montanarelli
Caridad Piñeiro

July

Desiree Burch
Diana Cage
Zaedryn Meade
Doreen Orsini
Cecilia Tan
Elspeth Potter
Stacy Brown

June (GLBT night)

Cheryl B.
Trebor Healey
Gena Hymowech
Sam J. Miller
Scott Pomfret
Scott Whittier
Jane Vincent

May

Ron Bass
Emily Scarlet Kramer
Polly Frost
Leora Skolken-Smith
Sofia Quintero
Charlie Anders

April (True Sex Confessions)

Dan Allen
Jessica Cutler
Miriam Datskovsky
Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Judy McGuire
Audacia Ray
Felicia Sullivan

March

Laura Antoniou
Debra Hyde
Maxim Jakubowski
Susan Wright

February

M.J. Rose
Lauren Sanders
SékouWrites
Carol Taylor

January

Edith Layton
Danyel Smith
Iris N. Scwhartz
Rob Stephenson

Thursday, December 21, 2006

January 17th is Erotic Memoir Night

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
EROTIC MEMOIR NIGHT
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17 at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://inthefleshreadingseries.blogspot.com


In The Flesh ushers in 2007 with true stories from erotic memoirists, who dish about everything from being a sex columnist to online dating, indulging in fine food and fine sex, BDSM relationships, loving a transgendered partner, dating as a single mom, and more. With Marty Beckerman (Generation S.L.U.T.), Helen Boyd (My Husband Betty, She’s Not the Man I Married), Ron Geraci (The Bachelor Chronicles), Gael Greene (Insatiable), Rachel Sarah (Single Mom Seeking), Susan Shapiro (Secrets of a Fix-Up Fanatic, Lighting Up, Five Men Who Broke My Heart), Grant Stoddard (Working Stiff), Virginia Vitzthum (I Love You, Let’s Meet), and Lauren Wissot (Under My Master’s Wings), along with host Rachel Kramer Bussel. Authors’ books will be available for sale from Mobile Libris. Free candy and mini cupcakes will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted 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 Village Voice sex columnist and acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. 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. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Andy Horwitz, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Polly Frost, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Edith Layton, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, and many others. The series has gotten press attention from Escape (Hong Kong), The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Marty Beckerman is the 23-year-old Alaskan author of Generation S.L.U.T. (MTV Books) and America's Sexxxiest Young Journalist. He has written for Playboy and New York Press, and interviewed Hunter S. Thompson for Ain't It Cool News. Beckerman flirted with the Republican Party after a feminist broke his heart in college, but concluded that Puritanical fascism is incompatible with his status as a Luscious Sex Lord and Generational Voice of Freedom. He lives in Washington, D.C.
www.martybeckerman.com

Helen Boyd is the author of My Husband Betty, which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Her next book, She's Not the Man I Married, will be published by Seal Press in March. Her writes about gender and trans issue for her blog (en)gender which can be found online at www.myhusbandbetty.com. She lives with her partner Betty, in Brooklyn, New York.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, writes the Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice, and conducts interviews for Gothamist.com and Mediabistro.com. Her erotic stories have been published in over 80 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006, and she’s edited or co-edited 13 erotica anthologies, most recently Caught Looking: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists and Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmo UK, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, Time Out New York and Velvetpark.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Ron Geraci is a writer living in New York. The Bachelor Chronicles is his first book. He writes on relationship topics for several magazines and conducts regular seminars on online dating.
www.rongeraci.com

Gael Greene was New York magazine's Insatiable Critic for 32 years and continues to write a weekly restaurant column. She is the author of seven books⎯her two erotic novels, Blue Skies, No Candy and Dr. Love were both NY Times best sellers. Delicious Sex was a guide for Women and Men Who Want to Love Them Better. Her memoir Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess tells how America fell in love with food, what she ate at the revolution and what she did between meals. With the great food guru James Beard, Greene co-founded Citymeals-on-Wheels to bring weekend and holiday meals to the city's homebound elderly. On its 25th birthday this Christmas, Citymeals delivered its 32nd millionth meal.

Rachel Sarah’s Single Mom Seeking: Play Dates, Blind Dates, and Other Dispatches from the Dating World, was published in November 2006. She is the romance columnist for San Francisco's j the Jewish news weekly of Northern California and her column "Single Mom Seeking," appears on Literary Mama. Rachel's writing has also appeared in Family Circle, Parenting, Tango, Ms., BabyCenter and Christian Science Monitor.
www.singlemomseeking.com

Susan Shapiro's work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. She's the co-editor of Food for the Soul and author of Secrets of a Fix-Up Fanatic, Lighting Up and Five Men Who Broke My Heart, optioned for a movie by Paramount Pictures. Her book Only As Good As Your Word will be published in late 2007. She lives with her husband in Greenwich Village and has taught writing at N.Y.U., the New School and Mediabistro.
www.susanshapiro.net

At twenty-one, perennial virgin Grant Stoddard came to the United States in pursuit of true love. After eighteen months of couch-surfing and heartbreak, he stumbled into a job as New York's most intrepid sex columnist, despite having little experience in either sex or writing. His first book, Working Stiff: The Misadventures of an Accidental Sexpert, will be published in January 2007 and was optioned for film by Paramount Vantage. He lives in New York City.
www.grantstoddard.com

Virginia Vitzthum has written for salon.com, The Village Voice, Ms., Elle, and other publications. She has also written a play and a screenplay. Her first book, I Love You, Let's Meet: Adventures in Online Dating, will be published in February 2007.
http://virginiavitzthum.com

Lauren Wissot describes herself as an undercover agent in the mainstream world, a gay boy born into female form. She is a filmmaker, film journalist, screenwriter, and music and film critic living in Manhattan. Her sex memoir Under My Master’s Wings (Nexus Books) details her time spent as the personal slave to a gay-for-pay stripper.

How hot are my readers?

I had so much fun at last night's In The Flesh - it was one of the funniest one's we've had, the candy canes were put to good use, and the crowd was just so amazing. These two fantastic writers, L. Elise Bland and Stan Kent, each read from their Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2 stories ("X-Rated Exes" and "Solemate," respectively) in their adorable accents and simply wowed the crowd. I adore them both and look forward to publishing them many, many more times.

Photo by the camera-mad, fabulous Brian Van

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

In The Flesh press

Just a little snippet of some of the press the series has gotten. We've also been listed in the New Yorker 3 times! And thank you, as always, to Gawker, The L Magazine, and Time Out New York for the listings. See you all tonight - I've got tons of candy canes, candy, and cupcakes!

Take these sexy tales home and let your imaginations loose during your own read-along for two while you and your partner share your wildest sexual fantasies. This is one event that will literally knock your socks off.” ⎯ Dr. Ruth

“Writers picked by Village Voice sex columnist Rachel Kramer Bussel keep the audience hot and bothered via fetish fantasias, true confessions, and erotic memoirs.” ⎯ New York magazine

“In The Flesh lures its audience with the promise of free cupcakes and tantalizing wordage. Comedians, sex columnists, lesbian erotica editors, adult stars and more confess their raunchiest, raciest, most rocking-est bedroom escapades.” ⎯ Philadelphia City Paper

“We're sure Bussel will only be satisfied if you come again and again.” ⎯ Flavorpill

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Dr. Ruth!

Monday, December 18, 2006

A Stan Kent teaser

Stan Kent is one of my favorite writers and I'm SO thrilled he's going to grace us with his sexy British accent and HOT HOT HOT story "Solemate" from Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 2 on Wednesday. Come on out for cupcakes, candy canes, and sexy stories! And thank you to the New Yorker for listing us again!

Here's an excerpt from "Solemate" by Stan Kent:

I moved the shoes in small circular patterns, getting the feel of the shoe leather on her skin. She seemed to like it because she gently rocked her ass to encourage the motions. It gave me confidence so I decided to try a little slap. Using my right hand, I raised one of the Choos a few inches and brought it down softly. Her ass jiggled and accommodated the shoe as I pressed the sole into her skin. Next I tried my left hand and then back to the right, getting my rhythm with each harder slap. It was just like playing the drums. I could do this.

“Harder. I want Jimmy Choo tattooed on my ass. I want to feel like you’re dancing on my butt.”

I thought I’d been doing damn good for a novice, but if she wanted more pain, who was I to protest? I raised my right hand high and brought the Jimmy Choo down with all the force I could muster, hitting her right cheek square on its sweet spot. The sound was awesome, like a loud clap, and as I pulled the shoe away and raised my left hand I saw the results of my handiwork. A shoe-shaped imprint with the Jimmy Choo name glowed pale pink against her China doll skin. I gave her a matching one on her left cheek and repeated the spanking from left to right until her ass was a tapestry of Jimmy Choo tattoos.

As I’d been flailing away, she’d been wiggling her ass, raising it towards me, uttering mews of encouragement and little moans of pain and delight as she arched her back like a cat, her fingers dancing over her pussy, patting her clit as I swatted her ass with a continuous rain of shoe spanks, her moans growing in intensity over the thunderclaps of sole on ass until I recognized, “Oh Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Yes, that’s good Jimmy. Beat my ass, Jimmy. Beat it good. Leave your mark on me.”
I was going to correct her as to my name, but then I realized she was praising the shoe designer, not me. So I gave her what she wanted. I was a blur of swinging arms and pounding Jimmy Choos.