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

Friday, November 21, 2008

True Confessions Night December 18th!

I'll have full bios and details soon (and I'm looking to round out the bill with a published memoir writer, suggestions welcome at rachelravenous at gmail.com) but for now, I can tell you you don't want to miss our latest True Sex Confessions Night. They used to be annual but proved so popular I'm doing one again!

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
TRUE SEX CONFESSIONS NIGHT
December 18th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC (look for pink awning that says "health club")
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
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Hear the latest round of our popular True Sex Confessions—and share one of your own! Featuring Rachel Resnick (author of the memoir Love Junkie), Neal Boulton (editor of Bastardlife.com), Kiki T. (astrosexologist for TheFrisky.com), playwright Christen Clifford (reading from (What I Know About) My Parents’ Sex Life), and blogger Rex Sorgatz (Fimoculous.com). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Dating Drama columnist, TheFrisky.com, Editor, Best Sex Writing 2009, Spanked). Audience members will have the chance to anonymously share their True Sex Confessions on index cards to be read aloud. Free candy and cupcakes will be served. Books will be for sale from Mobile Libris.

And of course mark February 19th (new date) on your calendars when the esteemed Susie Bright joins us!

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Call for Submissions: Peep Show

I promised I'd post this, so here it is! Would love to see submissions from In The Flesh attendees. PLEASE make sure you read the call in full and follow all the guidelines. That's what they're there for!

Call for Submissions: Peep Show

Peep Show
Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel
To be published by Cleis Press in Fall 2009

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is looking for erotica stories about exhibitionism and voyeurism. All genders/sexual orientations will be considered though the book will contain primarily heterosexual stories. Stories should have exhibitionism and/or voyeurism as a central theme; the more creative your plotline, the better. Please see my previous books Caught Looking and Hide & Seek for examples of the kinds of exhibitionism/voyeurism stories I like. Stories should be original and unpublished (no reprints). All characters must be over 18; no incest or bestiality.

Payment: Contributors will receive $50/story and 2 copies of the anthology on publication in Fall 2009.

How to submit (you MUST follow these directions or your submission will not be considered): Send double spaced Times New Roman or Times 12 point font Word document OR RTF of 1,500-5,000 word story along with your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, and 50-75 word bio to peepshowantho at gmail.com - make sure you indent HALF AN INCH at the start of each paragraph and do not add extra lines between paragraphs. To see a properly formatted story as a Word document, download this story of mine.

Authors may submit ONE story only. If you want to make sure I’ve received your submission, please state that in your cover letter. Send only the final version of your story; do NOT submit a draft or unfinished version only to later submit an updated version or your submission will likely not be considered. I cannot read or comment on drafts or story ideas; if your story contains exhibitionism and/or voyeurism, that is sufficient.

If for some reason it is impossible to send your story as a Word document or RTF attachment, please paste it into the body of your email. If you’d like to see a properly formatted story, please email me and I will send you one.

You can expect to hear from me by July 2009 at the latest.
Any questions about this anthology should be sent to peepshowantho at gmail.com

Deadline: January 4, 2009

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tonight's the night!

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
THIRD ANNIVERSARY BASH
November 20th at 8 PM
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com) - look for pink awning that says "health club"
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676


In The Flesh celebrates its third anniversary with a blowout night featuring drink specials, giveaways, and extra-steamy stories. This evening features an eclectic mix of erotic fiction and non-fiction this November, with novelist and screenwriter Trey Ellis (Home Repairs, Platitudes), novelist Francis Levy (Erotomania), David Henry Sterry (Master of Ceremonies author), comedians Kelli Dunham and Margot Leitman, Jincey Lumpkin (DigiRomp.com), and blogger Desiree. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Spanked, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, Dirty Girls). Free candy and cupcakes from Kumquat Cupcakery will be served and books and other prizes will be given away. $5 drink specials! Free condoms courtesy of Rachel Sarah and free sex toys courtesy of event sponsor Babeland will be given away while supplies last.

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 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 Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill,The L Magazine, New York Magazine, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Gothamist, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth. This is not Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series.

Rachel Kramer Bussel’s most recent edited anthologies include Spanked: Red-Cheeked Erotica, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, Dirty Girls, Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma’am and Best Sex Writing 2008. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and wrote the popular Lusty Lady column for The Village Voice. Rachel has also written for AVN, Bust, Cosmopolitan, Gothamist, Mediabistro, Metro, New York Post, Punk Planet, San Francisco Chronicle, Time Out New York, Velvetpark and Zink. She also co-edits the cupcake blog Cupcakes Take the Cake.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Desiree is a brainy, sexy, foodie, geeky, writer chick from New York. She lives in Brooklyn with her vampire cat Snarf and has always had an inclination toward the naughty. She never backs down from a Scrabble challenge and once scored seventy six points with the word "clitoris." She blogs about sex and life at www.baserinstincts.com. For general info on her antics or to find out where to read her stuff, check out www.desireemoodie.com.

Kelli Dunham (www.kellidunham.com) is a Fresh Fruit award-winning queer comic based in New York but is always traveling everywhere and never quite certain where she’s left her underwear. She has two comedy CDs to her credit: I am NOT a 12 Year Old Boy and Almost Pretty and is the author of four published books of light hearted nonfiction and a frequent contributor to humorous anthologies. She was been featured on Showtime’s Penn and Teller Bullshit and once taught a nun to masturbate.

Trey Ellis is a novelist, screenwriter, essayist and professor. He is the author of Bedtime Stories: Adventures in the Land of Single-Fatherhood (Rodale). His acclaimed first novel, Platitudes, was reissued by Northeastern University Press along with his influential essay, “The New Black Aesthetic.” He is also the author of Home Repairs and Right Here, Right Now which was a recipient of the American Book Award. His work for the screen includes the Emmy nominated Tuskegee Airmen, and Good Fences starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg which was shortlisted for the PEN award for Best Teleplay of the year. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and Vanity Fair, among others and he has contributed audio commentary to NPR’s All Things Considered. His first play, Fly, was produced and performed at the Lincoln Center Institute. He is a regular blogger on the HuffingtonPost.com and Babble.com and lives in Manhattan with his two children where he is an Assistant Professor of Film at Columbia University.
www.treyellis.com

Margot Leitman’s off beat, brutally honest, fearless comedy has earned her two ECNY “Best Female Stand Up” nominations and the “Joke of the Week” in Time Out New York. Margot now regularly appears as various characters, including the cult favorite Gynoblast on Late Night With Conan O’ Brien, in addition to appearances on VH1’s Best Week Ever, ESPN’s Cheap Seats, AMC, the Style Network, E!, Comedy Central, MTV and NBC Broadband. Most recently she can be heard as the voice of “Fox” on the new Spike TV cartoon The Team, as a featured comedian on Comedy Central.com’s “Weekly Evil,” and dancing in the current Mohegan Sun ad campaign. Every month she and Giulia Rozzi co-host the wildly popular, monthly, sex-themed storytelling show “Stripped Stories”. Margot has been featured in Glamour Magazine, and the books Fifty Dates Worse Than Yours and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes. She has written online for the Lifetime Network, College Humor.com, EHow.com and in print for Playgirl Magazine. Her stories will appear in three different anthologies slated for publication in 2008/2009.
www.margotleitman.com



Erotomania is Francis Levy’s first published novel. He is a prolific fiction writer whose humor, essays, criticism, and poetry have appeared in a wide variety of publications including The Washington Post, New York Times, New Republic, Newsday, Village Voice, Penthouse, Travel & Leisure, Architectural Digest, The Journal of Irreproducible Results, and The Big Book of New American Humor.

Jincey Lumpkin, Esq. is a New York-based attorney and entrepreneur. She is the CEO of DigiRomp.com, the first lesbian social network for sharing erotic experiences. In addition to her burgeoning online business, Jincey also runs FashionLawyerBlog.com, a blog she covers current issues in Fashion Law. She writes erotic fiction both under her real name as well as the pen name, Virginie de la Montcagne. She hopes to expand her growing businesses while traveling the world.



David Henry Sterry is the author of Master of Ceremonies: a True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates and Chippendales, about being the MC at Chippendale's in New York in the cash-happy coke-crazy 80s. He also wrote Putting Your Passion Into Print, and as a book doctor has helped many writers become authors. His first book, Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent, is being made into a TV series by Showtime. Chicken, the 1-man show was named the #1 show in the UK. And yes, he was the ugliest man at Chippendales.
www.davidhenrysterry.com

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Get your sex blogger calendar at In The Flesh

Blogger Desiree of Baser Instincts is not only one of Thursday's esteemed readers, but also a sex blogger calendar pinup girl, as am I. Calendars will be for sale for $20 at In The Flesh (Nov. 20, 8-10 pm, Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome St., NYC) and, if you're nice, we'll even sign them for you! Here's all of us, as captured by Stacie Joy.

2009 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar photo shoot

If you can't make the reading, you can purchase the calendar using one of the following links:

NYC Sex Bloggers Calender - $20 (US Shipping)

NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar - $20 (Canada Shipping)

NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar - $20 (Overseas Shipping)

Also be sure to check out Audacia Ray's hilarious post, How to Tell Sex Bloggers Apart: Common Mistakes and Dead Giveaways

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Time Out New York plugs In The Flesh

I was so thrilled that Time Out New York plugged this week's Third Anniversary night in their Drink Up section! Where else can you hear red-hot readers, eat cupcakes, and get free condoms and sex toys?

They wrote:

Penthouse editor and TONY contributor Rachel Kramer Bussel hosts the third-anniversary party for this risqué reading series. Authors Trey Ellis and David Henry Sterry, along with comedian Margot Leitman and pornographer Jincey Lumpkin, read and perform. Toast their boldness with $5 well drinks and a spread of sweets from Kumquat Cupcakery. Babeland provides the giveaway loot. FREE Happy Ending, 302 Broome St between Eldridge and Forsyth Sts (212-334-9676). 8–10pm.

And if you want to know what Kumquat Cupcakery cupcakes look like it's this:


Chocolate mousse and peanut butter banana honey (!!) cupcakes - but we are getting sexy cupcakes, maybe boob-shaped, it's a surprise

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Susie Bright reads at In The Flesh January 15th!

Yes, it's true: the beloved Susie Bright is reading at In The Flesh on January 15, 2009, in a night dedicated to her new hardcover anthology X: The Erotic Treasury, just out from Chronicle Books. Mark your calendars and make sure to get there early cause it's a small bar. Books will be for sale; all readers TBA soon!

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

In The Flesh immortalized in hardcover in Susie Bright's new book

X: The Erotic Treasury edited by Susie Bright

My bukkake erotica story "A First Time for Everything" closes the gorgeous hardcover book just out from Chronicle Books, X: The Erotic Treasury, edited by Susie Bright.

Imagine my surprise when I opened it to see In The Flesh immortalized on its pages! This is so amazing and one of the hottest stories I've ever read, and should give you a taste of what it's like BUT please note you cannot actually come and recreate this at the reading. But you just might find a hottie to go home with (be respectful though, it's a reading, not a pickup joint, but still). Plus free sex toys and condons and $4 drink specials and amazing readers. Be there Thursday! (see below for details)

Second Date
by Marcelle Manhattan

Now is not the time for nostalgia.

I remember our evening last summer: KGB Bar, Lower East Side. I was wearing a white sundress. He was late, and I had to sit alone. Why had I agreed to a second date Was I bored? Did I like him more than I realized, after our first night out?

“So, Rachel Kramer Bussel is hosting this reading…I know erotica can be hit or miss, but it sounds like fun. Do you wanna go?”

I didn’t want to seem like a girl who’d never attended an erotic reading or didn’t know who Rachel Kramer Bussel was. I felt nervous and silly in my white J.Crew dress.

“Marcelle!” I saw him dash up to the bar. “Sorry; working late.” He kissed my cheek. As he ordered my martini, he flashed his sunny smile, and I relaxed a little.

“Just in time,” John said, as he handed me a sophisticated, funneled glass. The room silenced as Ms. Bussel took the podium, looking more like an Ivy League classmate of mine, I thought, than an erotic reading organizer.

John stood drinking whiskey like water as a petite woman recited her memoirs as a dominatrix on Wall Street. Before that night, I hadn’t truly known what a dominatrix did: pissing on well-dressed bankers and fucking their tightly wound asses with a thick, silicone strap-on as they writhed on the ground in humiliation. I took a gulp of my martini.

The second reader narrated his exploits with a candy-sweet, barely legal intern, who seduced him innocently with her short skirts at the office and screamed disturbingly hot filth while they fucked.

I sat, uncertain of my reaction. I wasn’t uncomfortable, but I was creamy wet between the legs. I didn’t know how to acknowledge my arousal in a public setting. By the third reading, I wanted to rub myself against the barstool, and John kept looking at me and smiling as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

We clapped politely for the story, and I moved my stool closer to him. I wanted our legs to touch, to rest my hand on his. I am not an initiator, but I could slowly let my lap fall open, legs spread invitingly, one bared knee brushing his leg...


And later:

Together, we stroked the smooth flesh. I felt it give beautifully back and forth, malleable and hard, under our collective grip. John had nice hands; I loved feeling him touch me while I caressed his cock. Then I let go, so I could watch him.

First, he moved it in front of my face, so I could taste longingly from underside to tip, and loll my tongue playfully around the head, lapping at its formidable split. I licked for a while, longing for more, until he groaned and pulled it away. Then, he took down my straps to shove it in between my breasts, the cleavage perfectly formed by the angle at which I leaned forward on the sink.

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