An Interview with Erotic Writer Beth Wyatt

Beth Wyatt, author of Cutter

You’re going to be really proud that you know who Beth Wyatt is. She isn’t new to publishiing her work, but she is new to publishing her erotic writing–and it’s quite beautiful. Look forward to her powerful, steamy “Cutter” in “Shameless Behavior: Brazen Stories of Overcoming Shame.” Now enjoy her interview, won’t you?

1. We’re thrilled that you have joined us at Go Deeper Press.  Your story, Cutter, is beautiful, not to mention steamy.  Anyway, why did you become an erotic writer? We’d love to know…

Back in high school, I used to write “erotic thrillers” and share them with my friends. They were all the same–some female journalist stumbles across some secret that threatens her life and has lots of sex with the handsome cop assigned to protect her. They were awful, but I had fun writing them. It was a naughty thing to do, and it was something that set me apart from my classmates. In short, I was a teenage pornographer! But for some reason, I drifted away from erotica and focused on other genres as I got older. I’ve only recently found my way back thanks to my good friend and erotica writer, A.D.R. Forte. She gave me a lot of feedback on my story “Cutter” and encouraged me to submit it to GDP.

2. Can you give us an idea of what your story in “Shameless Behavior” is about?

It’s about an unhappy young woman who uses physical pain to ease her own emotional suffering. That need embarrasses her, and she tries to keep it hidden until she has a chance encounter with an equally wounded young man who needs to hurt someone as badly as she needs to be hurt. It’s a bit dark and sexy, but I think sex is always better with a bit of darkness. I hope readers will think so, too.

3. Is erotic writing something you enjoy? If so, why?

“Cutter” is the first piece of true erotica I’ve written as an adult, and it virtually wrote itself, which is a rare thing for me. I tend to write more “mainstream” stories, but there’s usually a strong sexual component to them. I think sex is such an integral part of the human experience that you can’t avoid it, no matter what genre you write in.

As far as enjoying the experience of writing erotica goes, I think that will come in time for me. Right now I’m a little too self conscious and keep getting in my own way.

4. How do you think our world would be different if there was less sexual shame and more sexual pride?

Coming this September!

I think people would be happier in general. We externalize our shame and judge and punish other people who represent to us the parts of ourselves that we hate. By learning to love and accept ourselves, we learn to love and accept others. And if we’re no longer repressing our true sexual selves, we can have more and better sex. Who wouldn’t want that?

5. How do people respond when you tell them you’re an erotic writer? Do you have any stories about that?

Outside of my circle of writing friends, only my big sister knows. She’s a big fan of erotica, and she’s excited about my upcoming appearance in “Shameless Behavior.” I’m nervous about her reading my story for some reason, but I’ll get over it.

6. What advice might you give to a writer who wants to pen a great sex scene?

I really hate sex scenes where the writer just gives you a laundry list of actions the characters are performing without developing any emotional connection to the action. Sure, sex is a primal, physical act, but there’s a psychological component as well. For me, a well-written sex scene involves the brains and the hearts of the characters, not just their naughty bits.

Another thing, avoid weird euphemisms for sexual organs. Please no “love wands” or “squish mittens” or other weird phrases–unless they are in keeping with your character’s voice. If you’re free enough to write about sex, you should be brave enough to write about it clearly and plainly. Words like “pussy,” “dick,” “cunt” and “cock” are your friends.

—

“Shameless Behavior: Brazen Stories of Overcoming Shame” will launch in September 2013. To keep up to date with the launch, and also receive a free erotic e-book by Lana Fox, join our mailing list! (We never share your email and we don’t bombard.)

Beth Wyatt still lives in the same small Virginia town where she was born and raised. She pens her stories late at night, surrounded by cats and death metal music. She is currently working on her first novel.

An Interview with Erotic Writer Sybil Rush

Sybil Rush

It was a joy to interview Sybil Rush, whose erotic story, Mesmerized, will appear in Shameless Behavior: Brazen Stories of Overcoming Shame (due for release in early September–sign up for the GDP newsletter to stay up to date with the launch.) Here, take a peek at her world:

We’re thrilled that you have joined us at Go Deeper Press, Sybil. You’re a fabulous writer.  Anyhoo, we’d love to know why you became an erotic author.  Will you spill the beans?

Aw, thank you. I’m blushing!

When I was younger, a lot younger, I was a strip tease artist and a topless dancer. It was my fantasy, and I lived it, and I loved almost every minute of it. I also knew a lot of other people who were sexually adventurous and got to hear their stories. Now, a bunch of those experiences are wanting to come back out as fiction.

Can you give us an idea of what your story in Shameless Behavior is about?

It’s about a woman who shames other people for being sexual. I know too many people like that, unfortunately, and what I wanted to explore in this story is ‘Why?’ Why do they feel the need to shame other people? And could anything happen that would make them stop doing it? Honestly, I find people who shame other people, especially sexually, REALLY unlikeable. So it was a big challenge to try to humanize her and have her be at least somewhat sympathetic. I hope readers are going to root for her, but I don’t know.

How do you think our world would be different if there was less sexual shame and more sexual pride?

I have some pretty out there ideas about this. I believe that sexual shame and sexual deprivation lead to a lot of the violence in the world. I’m not talking just about sexual violence, like rape, but all kinds of violence, from wars to bar fights. I mean, just look at the statistics on how sexual violence has decreased as porn has become more available. So, yeah, I think a world with more sexual pride would be a more peaceful world.

How do people respond when you tell them you’re an erotic writer? Do you have any stories about that?

Coming soon!

Ha ha. No one knows!

I’m really fascinated by secrets like that. The old lady who lives next door might write erotica. The soccer mom across the street might have been a call girl before she got married and had a family. And the couple on the corner might be swingers. You just never know.

What advice might you give to a writer who wants to pen a great sex scene?

I’d like to get some advice on that! I’m still trying to figure out how to write a great sex scene.

When I read a sex scene, what really turns me on is when I can feel the character’s enthusiasm. Like, if in real life, you really love giving blow jobs and, as a writer, you can put those specific things that you love about it into your story. Even if those aren’t the same things that I love about giving blow jobs, I’m going to feel it because it’s real to you.

—

And for those who want to read Sybil, here’s what she says she’s up to in the writing department:

I’m writing an erotic ghost story to submit to a Halloween anthology. I was working on it at home the other night, and I scared my own damn self. Really bad. I’m going to finish it, but I don’t think I’ll be writing any more supernatural stuff. I scare too easily.

I also had a story come out in an anthology called Valentine’s Day. It’s about a man who surprises his wife on her 40th birthday by arranging for her to dance at a strip club. I’m also going to have two stories on the Erotica Readers and Writers website during September. One is a dystopian, futuristic erotic story about hoarding, rock n’ roll, totalitarian government, and groupies. The other is about a girl who wants to be a topless dancer and her affair with the ‘sound guy’ at the club, who is a woman. Those will be up on September 1 (at this location) and gone at the end of September.

Of course, you can read Sybil Rush’s erotic “Mesmerized” in Shameless Behavior: Brazen Stories of Overcoming Shame, when it comes out in early September. To stay in touch about the launch and get a FREE e-book, sign up for the GDP newsletter. You can also get a noir erotic novelette free from the GDP website…and this offer won’t last forever! Also don’t forget Huddle: Sex with Sporty Queers, the most exciting erotic collection Lana Fox has read for a long, long time.

Sybil Rush is currently a research scientist and part-time writer of erotica. However, she learned most of what she knows about sex during her former careers. She has been, at various times, a striptease artist, a topless dancer, an enlisted soldier, and a midwife. She occasionally blogs at http://nouveaugrotto.blogspot.com.au/.

Thanks for supporting Go Deeper Press. If you’d like to browse our erotic, sex-positive e-books for brain and brawn, you can find our website here.

Darren Young Comes Out on Camera

Pic nabbed with thanks from prowrestling.it

We love it when well-known folks come out, so when WWE superstar Darren Young did just that in an interview with TMZ, in a totally spontaneous way, GDP got out its hanky and dabbed an emotional tear.  The interview is well-worth a watch, and the interviewer totally embraced the moment. Wonderful.

Of course, there are many ways of coming out, and this is just one of them.  For many, I’m sure, there are different phases to “coming out.” For myself, I came out as gay long before I slept with a woman, and that, in itself, was a powerful experience of coming out to myself, of coming out to my body, my soul.

In fact, when I was first enjoying Huddle: Sex with Sporty Queers (Vol 1: Boys Varsity), I was touched to see this in Angela’s introduction:

“Queer” is most definitely the right word to describe the characters in this collection. This is not a gay male anthology—at least that’s not the way it reads to me. In fact, there are few, if any, instances where any of them announce their sexuality. In Huddle, there is fluidity and discovery.There is resistance and denial, and there is dominance and extremely willing submission. There are no admissions, declarations, or late-night confessions. These are stories about boys and men who love and lust. No labels required.

Do these characters come out to themselves in this anthology? Do they need to come out at all? Do you think some of them are first-timers in terms of M/M sex? We’d love to hear your opinions when you’ve read the collection, which, by the way, you can buy here for just 99 cents, or on Amazon or B&N.

And congratulations to Darren Young! Yes, oh yes, oh yes.

Pictures: Art That Shows Putin Where To Put It

LGBTQ Russia has powerful support right now.  And Art is showing Putin exactly where to put it. (Also, is it an accident that Putin looks so good in make-up? We don’t think so…)

Poster from LGBTQ Pride in Russia 2012. (2013 is nowhere near the beginning of this fight.) Nabbed from UCL blog – click image for link.

Poster by Karol and Kate at brighton-pride.org (download the poster at the website – click pic!)

London Downing Street protest demanding that Pussy Riot members be freed, shows support for LGBTQ Russia. (Click pic for link.)

Outside Russian Embassy, Sweden. (Pic by Street Art Utopia. Nabbed from Salon.com – click pic for article.)

Found in front it the Russian consulate in Mariehamn, Åland.

Why We Need to Offer Asylum to LGBTQ Russians Right NOW

This photo was snaffled from Prospect.org, with thanks. Credit: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

Right now, we at GDP are thinking about Nazi Germany. We’re remembering what we know about Hitler and his atrocities. We’re sending love to a country in which people are being harmed, killed, taken away from their parents / children, all because of how they — or their loved ones — love, have sex, feel, identify, contribute to society, touch, embrace, imagine, dream, and send light to the world.

As so many of us already know, this isn’t a fight for sexual freedom alone.  It is a fight about how we love and feel, a fight about what is true to us. Whether or not you are — or know — someone who identifies as LGBTQ, you are being threatened here — we are all being threatened.

Love is being threatened.

Please read this excellent article by Nancy Goldstein.  Goldstein also gives suggestions for how we can help to fight the fight to let people love and express community as themselves.

Find out more about Go Deeper Press at GoDeeperPress.com

Rape Fantasy Erotica: Right or Wrong?

Bodice-Rippers often contain rape fantasies…

Sixty-two percent of undergraduate women have had rape fantasies. At least that’s what the studies suggest. Do these women enjoy their fantasies? According to the study, yes indeed. In fact, 14% of the women who were surveyed in the above study said they had rape fantasies several times a week. Do these women want to be raped in reality? I’m going to say no, no, no. And yet the world seems determined to push the idea that rape fantasies are immoral, especially when they appear in erotica and porn.

Interestingly, studies on men of any sexual identity who have rape fantasies are hard to find. But we do know that recent studies strongly suggest that if you watch porn, you’re less likely to be sexually violent. This Scientific American article by Melinda Wenner Moyer is brilliant and explains all. There is even the suggestion that men who turn out to be sexually violent were exposed to porn at a later age than those who aren’t. Interesting, hm?

Of course, women can be rapists, too. This is often silenced or forgotten, perhaps because society’s misogyny suggests that women can’t be strong or destructive. My goodness, how hard it can be for victims who’ve been sexually attacked by women to come out about their experience in a world that so often replies, “What did you just say?”

Now, let’s get even more personal.

Back when I was young, I had a very hard first 20 years of my life. Why? I was brought up to believe that sexual pleasure was disgusting, which led me into relationships with abusive people, and…well, let’s just say the story goes on. But over a decade later, I had some very significant healing through a consensual assault fantasy. Enacting this rape fantasy with a close and trusted partner led me to fear my memories far less, and also to enter my body more fully. The enactment told me, in its own way, “This role of victim is safe to play with, which means it is safe to recall and carry.” It also said, “You can enact this kind of scene, which means you don’t have to fear your real and vivid memories any more.”

For me, rape fantasy helped me heal virtually overnight. I felt that this terrible portion of my life was done and over.*

Do I read, write and enjoy erotic stories of assault/rape fantasies? Absolutely. In fact, my recent release, Con, Vol 1: You Can Play it Safe When You’re Dead (which is currently a free e-book download) is about con artist twins who long for one another, but would never fully act on their desires — not until a mark turns on them with a gun and tells them to do what they ache to do…

In Huddle: Sex with Sporty Queers (Vol. 1, Boys Varsity), I recently enjoyed (for the umpteenth time) Theophilia St. Claire’s “Punishment.” In this story, two boys on the same team have been warring with one another, and their coach knows it isn’t healthy. But while the boys certainly seem to enjoy the sexual “punishment” he doles out, in my opinion they also seem a little afraid of their coach, and, what’s more, they never verbally give their consent. Is this story rape fantasy for you, as a reader, or not? Either way, it’s hot stuff.

In Femme Fatale: Erotic Tales of Dangerous Women, Zoe More’s “Our Courtship, Our Romance” is, in my mind, one of the most romantic rape fantasies I’ve ever encountered. In it, a woman who has been hurt by society’s cruelties, falls for a Bluebeard-like character who murders the women that fawn over him. She has rough sex with these women before her lover murders them. And yet, when I say this story is romantic, I really mean it. If you didn’t think serial killers could fall in love, think again, my friends.

I’m also a big fan of the film Secretary, plus the opening of Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is rape fantasy to die for. Then there’s Alison Tyler’s Those Girls — a wonderfully empowering novelette that fully, and hotly, embraces the dom/sub dynamic.

Some people say that rape isn’t or shouldn’t be erotic, and yet many people who have been raped explain in studies that they felt a profound erotic response in their bodies. (In fact, in the amazing Survivor’s Guide to Sex [Cleis Press], Staci Haines explains that some of us who were assaulted/abused might not be able to orgasm afterward because we feel bad about how good our bodies felt when the abuse was underway.) The fantasy of rape can be arousing, and, of course, as you’ll read in Melinda Wenner Moyer’s article at Scientific American, for those who dream about being an attacker, such fantasy can be a powerful way of expressing the wish and thus controlling it.

Whatever your feelings about rape fantasy, I’m sure you have good reason for them. But if “rape” means sex without the full consent of one party, then perhaps Fifty Shades of Grey contains rape fantasy too, especially when Ana isn’t too sure about what she wants. And perhaps many of the bodice rippers of yore are also about assault. The cartoon villains who tie blondes to the railway tracks are surely just as “immoral,” and let’s not even start on the comedy skits of Benny Hill.

Of course, there’s evidence that those who own their fantasies are far more likely to be in control of them. A fantasy, if owned and expressed, doesn’t have to be damaging. Yet a scorching, boiling, bubbling will that is constantly blocked down will rise eventually.

I know that the person who most ruined my young life was both anti-porn/erotica and obsessed with having a “clean mind.”

And that doesn’t strike me as unusual. Not one bit.

You can buy Con: You Can Play it Safe When You’re Dead, Huddle: Sex with Sporty Queers (Vol. 1, Boys Varsity), and Femme Fatale: Erotic Tales of Dangerous Women from either the GDP website or Amazon or B&N.

*Healing from sexual trauma is different for everyone — we each need to find what is healing or painful for us, in particular, in the aftermath of trauma. I full recommend the Survivor’s Guide to Sex by Staci Haines. Also take a look at the resources at the Pandora Project. Namaste.

[Repost!] Meet Benji Bright, Part 2

Available at queeryoungcowboys.com

This post initially published on March 4, 2013. Get Benji’s amazing new erotic short, “Free Run,” in Huddle: Sex With Sporty Queers (Vol. 1: Boys Varsity), which is now available on godeeperpress.com, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, with more online retailers on the way.

You can  buy Candid right now right here. Don’t forget to drop by Benji’s blog at www.theeroticledger.com. Tell him Go Deeper Press sent you.

Candid contains 10 fictional interviews with mostly queer men from seriously all different walks of life. How did your “subjects” come to you? I’d imagine it would have been a long process to create each and every one of them, but please tell me I’m wrong if I am. 

Benji: A lot of the subjects from Candid come from my own experiences, anxieties, fantasies, and those of people I’ve known. I’ve referred to the project in the past as a kind of exorcism, as in putting all of the voices in your head on paper. I knew that Candid would be too niche and too short and too personal to be any definitive survey of whom the contemporary gay male is, so I didn’t worry about that. I wrote (what I hoped was) realistic dialogue for people who were already a part of me in some way. So, it was a fairly quick process. All I had to do was figure out who was speaking and let them speak. I did try to balance sex and sentiment so that no particular character came off like agitprop with a ten-inch dick.

I will say that the editing was harder. I read every line of the novella aloud multiple times to see if it held up to a voice, if it had a natural cadence. I don’t know if I was totally successful, but I was impressed when I watched (listened to?) the trailer that Johnny Murdoc made. It sounded like people talking, so I guess I did my job.

I want to ask you about Dennis Cooper’s The Sluts and whether or not it influenced the format of your book. It’s similar, I think, in the way it captures these men in a moment of time, in sort of a “full-confessional” way.

That’s funny, actually. I was going to mention Dennis Cooper in my list of writing heroes, but then I hedged. I’m not sure why. I think, ultimately, that the first work I read by Dennis Cooper (Frisk) and subsequent reads speak to the darkness behind sexual impulses, which my writing largely skirts. I don’t mean to suggest that my writing is uniformly rosy, but maybe it has a few less thorns. I guess I might as well take this opportunity to formally say that Dennis Cooper is one of my writing heroes, whether I write like him or not. His work stays with you, haunts you. That’s a skill (talent?) worthy of praise.

It was refreshing—I think that’s the best word—to find moments of serious fucking introspection on the topic of sex spoken by your characters, especially in a novella that’s focused on the retelling of sexual encounters that’s meant to make your readers want to get off. I’m thinking specifically of lines like these, courtesy of your interviewer in the second interview: “Maybe it helps if you think of sex as a protected space, an area of your life without judgment. That it’s something primal and ancient that you belong to as much as it belongs to you.” From my experience with erotica, this is atypical dialogue, and it’s awesome. How important was it for you to create these men—some of them, anyway—that could emphasize the importance of connected sex (dare I say healing sex?), ones without the typical “smut” or gay-erotic-lit focus of chiseled chin, ripped abs, gaping hole?

I wanted to create something with characters who had concerns. As much as I love sex (and I definitely do), I struggle with aspects of it. Should I be paying more attention? Should I be more vocal about what I like? Is my ass too small? Where should I put my glasses if this guy doesn’t have a nightstand? Why doesn’t this guy have a nightstand? Should you fuck somebody who doesn’t have a nightstand?

I wanted to write characters who had issues. The idea of connected sex was one of them. There’s the importance of being present during sex, but there’s also another character who totally rejects that notion and equates being mentally elsewhere during sex to channel-surfing or tuning into a different wavelength. There’s a married character who has a dynamic relationship with his partner and others who decry the entire institution.

I absolutely needed my characters to be able to talk about these things. I settled on the title Candid because I wanted to say some real things. Sprinkle a little deeper thinking in with all the sex.

What do you do when you’re not writing smut? When you’re not writing smut, how much do you miss writing smut?

For now, I work as a server in a restaurant where a decent amount of the staff has read my book. So, basically, they know I’m a pervert, which is fine by me. I also write poetry and attempt to teach myself different skills on a revolving basis (CSS, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, drawing, French, game-making).

When I’m not writing smut, I miss the response I get from writing smut. I think there’s something really honest and great about someone telling you that they read some erotica you wrote and it really got them going. There’s a certain amount of bullshit that you’ve skipped by just having that conversation. I miss that a lot when I stay away from smut for too long.

This is where you get to say something unforgettable. Have at it!

Dear person reading this,

If you didn’t know me before you read this interview, then hi, I’m Ben. I’m usually sketchy about strangers giving me advice, so I’ll understand if you brush off this next thing I’m about to say.

You are the best sexual partner you’re ever going to have, so be nice to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up about what turns you on. Don’t force yourself to fall in line with any narrow view of sexuality. Be nice to yourself.

—

Thanks for supporting Go Deeper press by reading our blog.  If you’d like to browse our erotic, sex-positive e-books for brain and brawn, you can find our website here.

[Repost!] Meet Benji Bright, Part 1

Mr. Benji Bright, Vectorized

This post originally published on March 1, 2013.  Get Benji’s amazing new erotic short, “Free Run,” in Huddle: Sex With Sporty Queers (Vol. 1: Boys Varsity), which is now available on godeeperpress.com and Amazon, with more online retailers on the way.

I found Benji Bright doing what I usually do: poking around on the Internet when I should be doing other things. His new book, Candid, was featured on one of my favorite websites, Queer Young Cowboys, and since I’m a fan of indie publishing and most things queer, and completely smitten with the book’s trailer, I bought both a paper and e-copy.

Fast forward a couple days or so, and I knew this interview had to happen. I loved Benji’s voice in Candid and the way he writes sex, the way it turns me on in a different way. His word choice, scenarios, and descriptions, they’re sexy and slow, like the most tantalizing strip tease, and you keep reading because you want more. You keep reading because you want to see it all.

You can buy Candid right now right here. And don’t forget to drop by Benji’s blog at www.theeroticledger.com.

Do you remember the title of the first story you read that turned you on? Do you remember where you were and what you did next? (Oh, that might have sounded a little sleazy, right? But I swear it’s not meant to be!)

Benji: I think the first story that turned me on was a Christopher Pike book called Black Blood (Last Vampire, Book 2). There are some references to two characters being lovers and a post-coital scene, if I remember correctly.

I was totally entranced by that. Lovers. It seemed like the author included the reference for me personally. Afterward, I wrote a story of my own about a vampire woman and her lover fighting “Lodos Robots” sent from some anti-vampire source. It wasn’t very sexy, admittedly, and I got caught up in a subway fight scene that never worked out. I guess I learned early that writers are easily distracted creatures.

As to where I was? Probably hiding under a coffee table in my family first apartment. I was a weird kid.

I like to be open and honest and all that, so I think it’s important for people to know that you’re one of my new favorite writers. Do you remember the first person or people who said to you, “Benji, you seriously know how to write sex”?

First of all, thank you!

I started writing a novel in high school called A Future in Glass. I recently started rereading it, and I think it’s terrible, but it was my first attempt at writing a long story, something with gay characters and sex. I remember bringing it to my friends at school and vibrating in place while I waited for them to thumb through it. One of my friends declared, as soon as she’d finished it, that I should give her 5% (or was it 10%?) of all future novel earnings. Technically, I haven’t written a novel yet, so I think legally I don’t have to pay her.

But that was my first brush with erotic content, and I got the taste for it. One of the things I like about erotica is that the people who read it are vocal about it. They’re the kind of people who let you know when they’ve read something that’s got them hot. I love that. I like to be the one facilitating any sort of erotic discovery. It’s an amazing feeling.

Let me ask you this: Do you write alone, or do you have a community/group you work with for critique or what have you? Do you write every day?

Generally, I write alone, but I consider myself a product of the undergrad workshop atmosphere. I’m big on self-revision (what writer that consistently puts out work manages not to be?), and one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten from a writing instructor is to read your work aloud. It reveals things to you that you might not expect. I have one or two readers who I can rely on for feedback, but it can be surprisingly difficult to get my friends to critique my smut. Who knew?

I know there are places to go online, but I’ve been too lazy or too busy to explore that. As for writing daily, that’s my aspiration. But sometimes, in the words of Aimee Mann, “you paint a lovely picture, but reality intrudes.” On the days that I don’t write, I spend time actively planning what my next project will be. I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of my submissions, and I try to add to it diligently. Does that even remotely answer the question? I should be clear: I don’t write every day. I should, but even when I don’t, I’m planning to write. Somehow I get things done this way. Haha.

Who are some of your writing heroes?

Richard Siken for writing the book of poetry Crush, which totally changed how I felt poetry could discuss sexuality. Johnny Murdoc, who put Candid out under Queer Young Cowboys, but is also an amazing writer of dirty fiction. Joe Abercrombie, who has nothing to do with gay smut, but writes characters so full of flaws, contradictions, and surprising moments that you can’t help but admire his work. John Rechy whose Sexual Outlaws was probably the book that most inspired me to write erotica seriously. And, finally, Brian K. Vaughn (the writer) and Fiona Staples (the artist) who put together Saga, a comic series that is one of the most honest and fun things I’ve read in ages.

It’s a grab bag, I know.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Benji’s interview. Trust me. You don’t want to miss it.

Thanks for supporting Go Deeper press by reading our blog.  If you’d like to browse our erotic, sex-positive e-books for brain and brawn, you can find our website here.

Huddle Today

The hour’s right, so go and get your copy of Huddle: Sex With Sporty Queers (Vol. 1: Boys Varsity) via our website or Amazon (more retailers coming real soon), put on your favorite Pet Shop Boys (or Limp Wrist) album, and enjoy.  To celebrate the release of your favorite new M/M erotica anthology, we’ll be posting pictures of athletes doing sexy, or at least queer-looking, things. And now, I am so happy to start with none other than the New York Yankees.

Installment No. 1: Spreading the News

Go right here for more of this good time.

Installment No. 2: “Impact Engine Fails”

More on how Andy Carroll convinced Lukasz Fabianski to not hide their affections anymore.

Installment No. 3: Boy-to-Boy Resuscitation

Nabbed from the Mirror with thanks (click photo for full article and details)

Installment No. 4: There Are No Lesbians in Football

Big surprise: It’s from here.

Installment No. 5: Loving Proud

Thank you, thank you, Qualia Folk!

Installment No. 6: Consent

And now we borrow from the Big Guys.

Installment No. 7: Snack Pack

When you’re this sexy, you don’t need an action shot: Robbie Rogers looking all “Twinkie.”

Big thanks to Project Q Atlanta for the boy candy.

Installment No. 8: Locked and Loaded

Thank you to the Poker Forums, where poker, apparently, is not always the topic at hand.

Installment No. 9: Perspective

Courtesy, as you see, of thechive.com.

Installment No. 10: There Are No Lesbians in Women’s Football (U.S. Edition)

Courtesy of someplace, but mainly Angela’s hard drive.

Installation No. 11: Swingers

Courtesy of graphicshunt.com.

Installation No. 12: Beckham Apparently

From wikia.com.

Installation No. 13: Good Game

Thanks, gaysurfers.net!

Installation No. 14: The Game Winner

With thanks to competenetwork.com!

Installment No. 15: Goodnight

There’s nothing really queer-looking about this picture or Alex Morgan, but I like it, so I figured I’d reward us all.

Thanks for celebrating Huddle’s release with us and, as always, for your support!

Five Reasons Why You’ll Want Huddle

Huddle is out this coming Monday. I want to do something here that I didn’t quite do in my introduction. I want to tell you a little bit about these stories, why I believed they were the best, and—woah— how I suddenly found myself editing an M/M anthology. Here’s something I do say in my introduction: Huddle was meant to be queer—across-the-fucking-board queer. I mean, Huddle is queer, but it features only male characters. This came as a surprise, since I received an equal amount of other queer stories, but the five that fill Huddle were the ones that completely blew my mind—for their sultriness, their darkness, their ability to tell a compelling story and make me hot in my seat. Huddle is erotica, but, like many of Go Deeper Press’ releases, it’s literary, too. It’s everything I love in a story collection.

And it starts off strong, with “Game Set Match” by Dario Dalla Lasta. My God, I will never forget Trace Petrucco and his bright Pumas or Jeremy King and his Italian-sausage-sized cock. These two characters are so alive on the page, I swear I could smell them (Jeremy especially, since he’s the sweaty tennis player, who, you know, sort of reminded me of Pete Sampras). Or maybe it was the smell of locker room? For what it’s worth, I imagine Trace to smell like creamsicles: fruity. Anyway, Dario made me love both these guys in completely different ways and for completely different reasons. This takes masterful talent, I swear it.

Next is Benji Bright and “Free Run.” Okay, I love Benji Bright. In fact, I love Benji Bright so much, I interviewed him. He submitted this story, and I was, like, “Yes! BENJI BRIGHT!” I realized that, if I didn’t like the story, I’d have to reject it, but I don’t think Benji Bright can write a bad story. This is his natural gift: writing beautiful and vivid erotica that makes you feel like you’re part of the scenery (in this case, I was hiding behind a bush, watching what that lucky devil of a narrator was watching). There are moments in “Free Run” that feel silent and still—the narrator’s careful eye on his two running teammates in the woods—and it’s breathtaking, its longing and loneliness.

Remember this name: Theophilia St. Claire. “Punishment” is Theophilia’s story and, my God, if you can actually get the image of a young football stud (Brett Roff’s his name and he’s got wing tattoos on his back, which makes him, as far as I’m concerned, a sex angel) who’s allowed only to put his hands on the shower head, please email me. “Punishment” is Huddle’s wank story. I don’t think I’ve seen competition done like this before, and at the hands of the most perverse coach to have ever walked a high school football field. If you like your stories hard and raw and sexy as hell, head straight to “Punishment.”

Tamsin Flowers’ narrative in “Lucky Mascot” reminded me at first of Bret Easton Ellis. This was the deal winner. There’s something, you know, a little Less Than Zero about it: a kid of some privilege; previous history with drug use; confident, but bored and wanting to be elsewhere, anywhere, than where he is—until he takes a walk and stumbles upon the superstar pitcher, who’s up too late for someone with a important game the next day. So, Jed, the narrator, and Dick (that’s right—Pitcher Dick Gunnison) negotiate a way to ease all nerves and get the potential MLB candidate off to dreamland. It’s glorious how quickly they move to the solution that ends in release and relaxation for them both.

I fell in love with Christopher Stoddard’s character Christian from “Football Head” around Page 1. I think that most of us who realized we were queer at a very young age can probably identify with Christian in some ways: He’s vulnerable, a little eager to please, desperate to be loved and accepted for who he is. I imagine him small—a little goth, a little punk rock—especially when compared to JT, the hotshot quarterback from Bridgeport Prep, who warms only to Christian when he’s had too many and his bedroom door is closed. I love this story and its darkness, its realness, the way it makes me feel for Christian now as a much old queer girl. I want to buy him a sundae, tell him “It gets better”—all the stuff you want to do for kids who get their hearts broken after being strong enough to put them out there to begin with.

So, this is Huddle. I love it like the fluffiest, best-behaved dog I’ve never owned, like the child I’ll never have, like the dripping-hot  steamfest that it is. Huddle is exactly what I wanted it to be, despite the narrow focus I hadn’t imagined. I would fight for it—that’s how much it means to me. But for you? I just want it to make you smile. Here’s to hoping.

—

Thanks for supporting Go Deeper Press. If you’d like to browse our erotic, sex-positive e-books for brain and brawn, you can find our website here.