In The Flesh comes to Dallas

As you may or may not know, there is a monthly LA version of In The Flesh hosted by the esteemed erotica writer/rocket scientist Stan Kent.

Now In The Flesh is coming to Dallas via erotica writer Vanessa Vaughn! From her announcement:

After searching in vain for a sex-themed reading series in Dallas, I have decided to host my own. I am committed to doing whatever it takes to develop a vibrant community for erotic writers here. Cities like New York and LA offer many wonderful opportunities for authors to showcase their work--but so far Texas is falling sadly behind.

I decided to contact Rachel Kramer Bussel (the founder of the original In The Flesh, New York) for advice, and she graciously invited me to open a new branch of her famed reading series here! At this moment, I am still in the process of searching for a perfect venue and locating authors who are interested in reading. I am focusing on Dallas at the moment, but have big plans for the future, and would love to organize readings in Austin at some point, as well.

I will post updates here as I nail down more of the specifics. My goal is to kick off the Dallas In the Flesh in Spring of 2010. If you are interested in reading at In the Flesh in Dallas, please email InTheFleshTexas@yahoo.com. Thank you so much for your interest and support! I will keep you posted!

Quickies: Short Erotica, Friday, October 2, 7:30-8:30 with FREE CUPCAKES!

Unless some major free time opens up in my schedule (ha ha ha ha ha!) this will be the last Quickies. FREE Baked by Melissa cupcakes and HOT readers!


FREE for you on Friday!

October 2, 7:30-8:30
QUICKIES: SHORT EROTICA
The final Quickies, in which readers have 6 minutes to wow the audience. Featuring Mark Becker, John Bredin, Jamie Peck, Deb Victoroff, and Diana Vilibert. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Bottoms Up, Spanked, The Mile High Club). Free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa.
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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free, 21+ only
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Mark Becker was born in Montreal and raised in New York and California. His first success as a writer came as a freshman at the University of Denver when he won an essay contest and had his work published in the school's freshman English textbook. He now writes and acts for the sketch comedy troupe Camp Wayne, which performs every month at the Broadway Comedy Club in Manhattan. Mark enjoys playing tennis, riding his bicycle, and people watching in this wonderful city.

John Bredin is a teacher, writer, and activist who is currently a Professor of English at CUNY's Inwood/ Washington Heights campus. His book SLURP: Sex Life Under Reconstruction Project--currently being serialized by Oysters & Chocolate--is equal parts humorous and scholarly. It also proposes a radical new erotic theory to expand safe sexual pleasure in the world. John's essays and stories have appeared in The Filipino Express, The Hudson Current, Slow Trains, Clean Sheets, and The Brooklyn Rail.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited numerous anthologies, two of which (Up All Night and Glamour Girls) have been Lambda Literary Award finalists, most recently The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Best Sex Writing 2009, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and Spanked. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com

Jamie Peck is a freelance writer currently living and working in Brooklyn. She attended Columbia University, where she studied English, art history, and creative writing, wrote for the humor paper and the regular paper, and helped start Columbia's first student produced sexuality 'zine, Outlet. She has written for publications including Suicidegirls, The L Magazine, Impose Magazine, Citysearch, The New York Press, and Vice. She also enjoys bike riding, 80's prom dresses, awkward dancing, tinkering with recipes, drinking wine on her roof, and throwing house parties.

Deb Victoroff is a playwright with several well-received short plays under her belt. Her plays have been performed in Manhattan (at The Producer's Club, the Samuel French competition, and the Strawberry One Act Festival), in Brooklyn (at the Black Box Festival), at the Source Festival in Washington DC, and the First Stage in Los Angeles. Her play "Letter From a Soldier" was well received in Vancouver (a
review is here) where it was performed at the Walking Fish Festival and later at the Fringe Festival. The play also came in second (out of more than 200 submissions) in the New Works of Merit Competition out of Manhattan.

Diana Vilibert (www.diana-vilibert.com) is the web editor at Marie Claire, where she gets on her soapbox regularly to write about sex and dating for marieclaire.com. Her work has also appeared in CosmoGIRL!, nerve.com, thefrisky.com, and various other dot-coms. You can follow her quarter-life crisis at diana-vilibert.tumblr.com.

Sex and Comedy Night October 15th with guest host Carolyn Castiglia

Yes, we are having our first guest host while I'm in San Francisco for Litquake. I promise you LOTS and LOTS of laughter! Please come out and show Carolyn and everyone else how funny sex can be!

And yes, OF COURSE, there will be free cupcakes! 200 free cupcakes, in fact!

In the ultra swanky, sexy former massage parlor that is Happy Ending Lounge:



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
SEX AND COMEDY NIGHT
October 15th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Sex and Comedy Night is back with guest host Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, Funniest Mom in America) filling in for Rachel Kramer Bussel. Featuring comedians Seth Herzog (Sweet), Dan Hirshon (Lampshades and Ottomans), Shayna Ferm, Shawn Hollenbach (Miss Fag Hag Pageant), Margot Leitman (Stripped Stories) and Mindy Raf (Best Night Ever), as well as writers Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy) and Megan Carpentier. Free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country'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, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, 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, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman, 26, is the author of Dumbocracy, Generation S.L.U.T. and Death to All Cheerleaders. He has written for Playboy, Discover, Huffington Post, New York Press, mediabistro and The Daily Beast, and has been featured by the New York Times, Gawker, MSNBC, ABCNews.com, Salon.com and National Public Radio. Christian Lander, bestselling author of Stuff White People Like, said of Dumbocracy: "Beckerman uses the deft and subtle touch of a sledgehammer. If you can read this entire book without being offended, then there is a good chance that you are illiterate. If you can read this entire book and not enjoy it, then there's a good chance you take yourself too seriously."
www.martybeckerman.com



Megan Carpentier is a freelance writer and a former editor of Jezebel.com whose work has also been published in The Daily Beast, Glamour and Ms.


chaoticmegan.blogspot.com

Carolyn Castiglia has been seen and heard nationally on VH1, MTV2, NBC's Last Comic Standing, Nick-at-Nite's Funniest Mom in America, The Maury Show, ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Sirius/XM Radio. She performs stand-up all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Internationally she's appeared at the Comedy Cafe in Amsterdam and most recently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she filmed a pilot for BBC3 with Brown Eyed Boy called Laughter Shock, showcasing the 14 edgiest International stand-ups at the Fringe. Her solo show, Brown Ambition, has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theatres and premiered at Ars Nova. Her joke writing has appeared in Time Out New York, the New York Post and The Idiot's Guide to Jokes. http://carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Shayna Ferm performs solo, with her band and also with her sketch comedy group, Fearsome, at music and comedy venues all over NYC. Her band, "Shayna Ferm and the Upper Deckers" released their first album, Blonde, last year. She is currently working on a video project for one of her latest hits.
www.shaynaferm.com



Seth Herzog has been a professional actor since elementary school and performing stand up since the 5th grade talent show. After doing a lot of theater as a youth (and 5 summers at Stagedoor Manor), he found stand up again once he moved back to NY in 1994, and since than has a been a vital force in the thriving downtown scene. He's the creator and producer of Sweet, a long running, popular show at the Slipper Room. Sweet has hosted some of the greatest talents in the country, along with his Mom. On the big screen, Seth has appeared the films, Role Models, The Ten, The Baxter, Safe Men, In the Weeds and upcoming The Winning Season. On the small screen, Seth has been a regular pop culture pundit on VH1's Best Week Ever and All Access series for the last 5 years. Also, he's had some memorable turns on Comedy Central's "The Chappelle Show" & "Stella" as well as, CBS's Love Monkey, E! #1 Single, and AMC's Date Night.



Though incapable of doing his own laundry, Dan Hirshon is able to leave audiences in hysterics. Since taking the spotlight in Boston's Theater District several years ago Dan has performed at the Boston and Las Vegas Comedy Festivals, co-written and produced the sketch comedy album, Lampshades and Ottomans, and shared secrets about his traumatic childhood with strangers from Maine to South Africa. If you are looking to laugh or just looking for a 90-pound basket case with a Jewfro who dresses like a seventh grader, then you'll love Dan.



Shawn Hollenbach is a New York based stand-up comedian, improv actor and songwriter. You may have seen him on Logo's Gayest Week Ever or hear him occasionally on The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirus/XM's OutQ Radio. He has been featured on two episodes of Hot Gay Comics Live on here! TV and was the host of a celebrity video podcast, Busted. Shawn is the producer of Closet Cases, a Critics' Pick for Time Out NY and a Homo Must for HX Magazine. He was the creator and co-producer of the Miss Fag Hag Pageant featuring Caroline Rhea, Hedda Lettuce and Michael Musto. He also co-produces The Back Room at Comix Ochi's Lounge and The Skip and Sparkle Variety Show as Skip Lickdale with Katina Corrao. Shawn has also been on the Comedy Central at Crash Mansion Showcase and has performed with the Funny Gay Males 20th Anniversary Show at Gotham Comedy Club.
www.shawnhollenbach.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.
www.margotleitman.com



Mindy Raf has appeared regularly on VH1's Best Night Ever, and has contributed her comedy and voiceover work for WACB, The Daily Comedy Network, and Embraceyourgrace.com. Mindy also authored a widely-read relationship column on College Humor.com that has been featured in The New Yorker and the New York Post. Mindy performs stand-up and musical comedy as well as sketch characters all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Her most popular character being chick rocker/vegan activist Leibya (Labia) Rogers, who she played recently in her solo show Leibya Fair! Mindy is currently working on her first novel which is set to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin.
www.mindyraf.com

Tonight! Amy Sohn, Susan Shapiro, free sex toys and cupcakes and more!

I can't stress enough how much you don't want to miss this, especially the out of town readers!

This lineup really couldn't be more outstanding! Plus we have two out of towners, who just happen to be two of my favorite writers: Diana Joseph will be in from Mankato, Minnesota and Kerry Cohen (who I interviewed for The Huffington Post) will be in from Portland, Oregon!



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
September 17th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Featuring Susan Shapiro (Speed Shrinking, Five Men Who Broke My Heart), Amy Sohn (Prospect Park West), Julie Metz (Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal), Diana Joseph (I’m Sorry You Feel That Way), Kerry Cohen (Loose Girl) and Joshua Lyon (Pill Head). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Sex Writing 2009, The Mile High Club, Spanked). Free candy and cupcakes by Baked by Melissa will be served. Giveaways include sex toys, lube and massage oil from Babeland and the word game SexySlang. Copies of the authors books will be for sale by Mobile Libris.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country'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, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, 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, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited numerous anthologies, two of which (Up All Night and Glamour Girls) have been Lambda Literary Award finalists, most recently The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Best Sex Writing 2009, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and Spanked. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Hilary McHone


Kerry Cohen is the author of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity, and the three young adult novels, Easy, The Good Girl, and It’s Not You, It’s Me. Her essays have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Babble.com, and Portland Monthly; and are forthcoming in Brevity.com, Best Sex Writing 2010, and other anthologies and journals. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her family.
www.kerry-cohen.com



Diana Joseph is the author of the short story collection Happy or Otherwise (Carnegie Mellon University Press 2003) and the memoir I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing But True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother and Friend to Man and Dog (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam 2009.) She currently teaches in the MFA program at Minnesota State University-Mankato.
www.dianajoseph.net



Joshua Lyon is the author of Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict, and a journalist who has worked for Interview, Condé Nast Traveler, V Life, and Jane. He has also contributed to Nylon, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, New York, Out, Vice, and Page Six magazine.
www.pillheadthebook.com



Julie Metz is the author of Perfection, A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal, published in June 2009 by Voice/Hyperion. Her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times, Glamour, Publisher's Weekly, Hemispheres, and mrbellersneighborhood.com. The recipient of a 2008 MacDowell Fellowship, she lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
www.juliemetz.com



Susan Shapiro, a Manhattan journalism professor, has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Salon.com, Daily Beast, The Forward, Village Voice, People, More, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. She's author of the nonfiction books: Only as Good as Your Word, Lighting Up, Secrets of a Fix-Up Fanatic and Five Men Who Broke My Heart, which was optioned for a feature film. Speed Shrinking is her fictional debut. She lives with her husband, a TV/film writer, in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her own "instant gratification takes too long" writing method at the New School, NYU and in private workshops and seminars.
www.susanshapiro.net



Amy Sohn is the author of the novels Prospect Park West, Run Catch Kiss, and My Old Man. She has written for The New York Times, New York, Harper's Bazaar, Playboy and Playgirl and got her start writing an autobiographical column in New York Press called "Female Trouble." She has written pilots for ABC, Fox, and HBO. She lives in Brooklyn.
www.amysohn.com



You'll be hearing from the following books:


Speed Shrinking by Susan Shapiro (her first novel)


Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn (her third novel)


Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz


Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict by Joshua Lyon


I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog by Diana Joseph


Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen (her first memoir)

Need readers for Quickies Friday, October 2nd

The next Quickies: Short Erotica, a night of short (6 minute) readings is Friday, October 2, from 7:30-8:30. I still need a few more readers. You and your piece can be published or not. Email me at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "Quickies" in the subject line along with a bio and writing sample of what you would read. Same with In The Flesh - no pay but you do get a free drink ticket or two and the free cupcakes I shall be serving.

Free sex toys and other prizes from Babeland this Thursday

Yes, the wonderful sex toy store Babeland has been kind enough to give away:

2 tickets to an upcoming workshop
1 bottle of lube
1 bottle of massage oil
1 massage bar
1 G spot vibrator
1 bullet vibrator

Don't miss this FREE event!



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
September 17th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says “XIE HE Health Club.”
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Amy Sohn and Prospect Park West in The New York Times

Amy Sohn, author of Park Slope-based novel Prospect Park West, and reader next Thursday September 17th at In The Flesh (free and free cupcakes!), is featured in The New York Times.

It’s a masculine look for a home where a 4-year-old girl is often running the floors. “I like the fact that it doesn’t feel like a day care center,” Ms. Sohn said. It’s difficult to be totally chic with a toddler, however. Asked about the peculiar, low-rise coffee table, Ms. Sohn explained that it has a chalk surface, which is used by the youngest in-house artist.

That Ms. Sohn has such concerns might come as a surprise to people who remember her “Female Trouble” column from the late-’90s in New York Press. In sexually explicit language, she chronicled her escapades as a single woman in New York — dates and dalliances with a litany of pale, wispy, downtown artist-types. One reader, in a letter to the newspaper, likened her writing to Penthouse Forum in that “I can’t believe it’s true, but I can’t stop reading, either.”

Ms. Sohn was a literary girl-about-town, but she said that even then she wanted a family. “When I was 25, I felt like a spinster,” she said. “That was where a lot of the comedy from my column came from — I wanted to marry every guy I met.”

Very special In The Flesh September 17th

I can't stress enough how much you don't want to miss this, especially the out of town readers!

This lineup really couldn't be more outstanding! Plus we have two out of towners, who just happen to be two of my favorite writers: Diana Joseph will be in from Mankato, Minnesota and Kerry Cohen (who I interviewed for The Huffington Post) will be in from Portland, Oregon!



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
September 17th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Featuring Susan Shapiro (Speed Shrinking, Five Men Who Broke My Heart), Amy Sohn (Prospect Park West), Julie Metz (Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal), Diana Joseph (I’m Sorry You Feel That Way), Kerry Cohen (Loose Girl) and Joshua Lyon (Pill Head). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Sex Writing 2009, The Mile High Club, Spanked). Free candy and cupcakes by Baked by Melissa will be served. Giveaways include sex toys, lube and massage oil from Babeland and the word game SexySlang. Copies of the authors books will be for sale by Mobile Libris.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country'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, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, 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, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and reading series host. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations and a former sex columnist for The Village Voice. She’s edited numerous anthologies, two of which (Up All Night and Glamour Girls) have been Lambda Literary Award finalists, most recently The Mile High Club: Plane Sex Stories, Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, Best Sex Writing 2009, Tasting Him, Tasting Her, and Spanked. Her writing been published in publications such as Clean Sheets, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast, Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, Mediabistro, Newsday, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Tango, The Village Voice, and Time Out New York, and in over 100 anthologies, including Best American Erotica 2004 and 2006. She has hosted In The Flesh since October 2005.
www.rachelkramerbussel.com


photo by Hilary McHone


Kerry Cohen is the author of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity, and the three young adult novels, Easy, The Good Girl, and It’s Not You, It’s Me. Her essays have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Babble.com, and Portland Monthly; and are forthcoming in Brevity.com, Best Sex Writing 2010, and other anthologies and journals. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her family.
www.kerry-cohen.com



Diana Joseph is the author of the short story collection Happy or Otherwise (Carnegie Mellon University Press 2003) and the memoir I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing But True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother and Friend to Man and Dog (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam 2009.) She currently teaches in the MFA program at Minnesota State University-Mankato.
www.dianajoseph.net



Joshua Lyon is the author of Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict, and a journalist who has worked for Interview, Condé Nast Traveler, V Life, and Jane. He has also contributed to Nylon, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, New York, Out, Vice, and Page Six magazine.
www.pillheadthebook.com



Julie Metz is the author of Perfection, A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal, published in June 2009 by Voice/Hyperion. Her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times, Glamour, Publisher's Weekly, Hemispheres, and mrbellersneighborhood.com. The recipient of a 2008 MacDowell Fellowship, she lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
www.juliemetz.com



Susan Shapiro, a Manhattan journalism professor, has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Salon.com, Daily Beast, The Forward, Village Voice, People, More, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. She's author of the nonfiction books: Only as Good as Your Word, Lighting Up, Secrets of a Fix-Up Fanatic and Five Men Who Broke My Heart, which was optioned for a feature film. Speed Shrinking is her fictional debut. She lives with her husband, a TV/film writer, in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her own "instant gratification takes too long" writing method at the New School, NYU and in private workshops and seminars.
www.susanshapiro.net



Amy Sohn is the author of the novels Prospect Park West, Run Catch Kiss, and My Old Man. She has written for The New York Times, New York, Harper's Bazaar, Playboy and Playgirl and got her start writing an autobiographical column in New York Press called "Female Trouble." She has written pilots for ABC, Fox, and HBO. She lives in Brooklyn,
www.amysohn.com



You'll be hearing from the following books:


Speed Shrinking by Susan Shapiro (her first novel)


Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn (her third novel)


Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz


Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict by Joshua Lyon


I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog by Diana Joseph


Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen (her first memoir)

What happened at Quickies

We had a huge number of readers (9!) on Friday night for Quickies, a Brazilian film crew, and a lot of fun! I have no idea if I have the time or energy for another quickies, so that may be the end (but In The Flesh is going strong), so pay attention/get a postcard/follow us on Facebook/Twitter (links at right). If you liked Melissa Febos's pee-filled excerpt from her forthcoming memoir Whip Smart, make sure you come back for BDSM Night March 18th! And obviously, don't miss superstar night at In The Flesh September 17th with Susan Shapiro, Amy Sohn, Joshua Lyon, Julie Metz, Kerry Cohen and Diana Joseph! (Seriously, you will kick yourself hard if you miss this.) And postcards are now in! Send your US mailing address to rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "ITF Postcard" in the subject if you want one. There are plenty!

Of course there were the usual 100 FREE Baked by Melissa cupcakes which were very quickly devoured!

Sorry about photo quality/scarcity, we may get some more in, this is a lowkey, no budget affair so, no real photos save for my iPhone.


Whip Smart author Melissa Febos whipped the night into shape with an excerpt about her first day as a pro domme.


Michelle Robinson read a supernatural (I think that's the right word) that scared me but was also very hot that will be published next year.


Jackson West proved that Sarah Palin erotica (his story is called "Sarah Palin: The Agony and the Ecstasy") is still timely. And Sarah Palin impersonator extraordinaire Sara Benincasa was in the audience!


Jackson West shot this photo of me in my paparazzi moment. We should have video at some point from the Brazilian TV crew, who also interviewed several readers.


Said Brazilian TV crew who asked amazing questions (ummm...yes, I have gotten spanked in the downstairs of Happy Ending and had phone sex outside the bar, though I didn't reveal quite all those details because really, you should come for the crazy hot readers and free snacks, not to hook up).

That being said, I spied a couple making out in a booth and I know that at least one set of people met that night and left together, so...make of that what you will.

Thanks to everyone who read, the TV crew, and Frank at Happy Ending for another fabulous night of smut. I even had one newcomer who I've been trying to get to read who I just may have convinced with this Quickies, so that's a coup.

Friday 9/4 Quickies = Sarah Palin erotica, sex toy stories, Sheia Levine, dominatrix memoir and more!

September 4, 7:30-8:30
QUICKIES: SHORT EROTICA
Readers have six minutes to turn you on with erotica and true sex stories. Featuring Jackson West reading Sarah Palin erotica, Melissa Febos reading from her dominatrix memoir Whip Smart, Madlyn March reading from the classic Gail Parent novel Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York (see cover below), comedian Kelli Dunham, erotica writer Michelle Robinson, TheFrisky.com columnist John DeVore, and Rocco Ernest Privetera. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Bottoms Up, Spanked, The Mile High Club). Free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa.
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)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free, 21+ only
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676


Madlyn March will read two short scenes from this classic novel by Gail Parent, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York.


plus 100 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa

Kelli Dunham (www.kellidunham.com) is everyone's favorite ex nun dorky boi-girl comic. She is also the author of four books of humorous nonfiction and a contributor to numerous anthologies. Despite being almost middle-aged, she has never once waited for a bus at Port Authority without being challenged by the truancy police.

Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart, forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press in 2010. Her writing has been featured in The Southeast Review, Redivider, The Rambler, Storyscape Journal, Bitch Magazine, and Smut Magazine, among many others. She co-curates and hosts the Mixer Reading and Music Series at Cake Shop, and teaches at SUNY Purchase College and The Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and lives in Brooklyn. More information about her can be found at melissafebos.com.

Madlyn March is the pseudonym of a Brooklyn journalist who has had articles published in The New York Post, Self, Time Out New York, Parenting, and AfterEllen, to name but a few. Erotica credits include First-Timers, Spanked, Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2009, Do Not Disturb, and the e-book Love Notes.

Rocco Ernest Privetera started in NYC ten years ago doing comedy and theater, and now performs adult improv and tells his own ribald storytelling. He plays piano for friends comedy shows, enjoys scandalizing his siblings with filthy web videos and tells stories about the things that fascinate him: food, sex, science, and birds.

Michelle Janine Robinson is the author of three novels being published by Simon & Schuster; Color Me Grey, More Than Meets The Eye and Serial Typical. Michelle's short story "Mi Destino" was included in Zane's New York Times Bestseller Caramel Flava and her short story contribution "The Quiet Room" was the first featured story in the Times Bestseller Succulent: Chocolate Flava II. Michelle has contributed to other anthologies, such as Purple Panties, with the story she wrote titled “Hailey's Orgasmic Splendor” and Honey Flava with the story "The Flow of Qi. "Michelle is also a contributor to the oral sex-themed anthology, Tasting Him, with her story “A Tongue Is Just A Tongue,” edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Jackson West is trying to get over himself and write more fiction. Until then, his non-fiction work and attempts at oversharing can be found on jacksonwest.com, a veritable firehose of online nonsense.

And look what you can win - so appropriately, we'll have a copy of Wicked Quickies to give away!