Sexting with Jake

FIRST by Jacob Louder – available 4/4/14! Click image for excerpt.

Jacob Louder’s literary porn novella, FIRST, launches tomorrow. Jake’s book is a radical porn utopia, and you shouldn’t read it unless you’re comfortable with young folks who are under the “legal age of consent” having powerful and connected sex with one another–sex that helps them to be and discover who they are. (Hats off here to Nabakov, who we pretty much idolize at GDP.) Anyhoo, I asked Jake to send me five texts–or “sexts,” if you will–explaining why he decided to write about kids having sex, in First. Here’s what he sent:

1. I’m continually impressed with kids who can identify who they are as sexual beings at such an early age. Even if they can’t identify who they are just yet, it seems like they’re more open to exploration and less consumed with labels. In First, I romanticized this idea. Everyone does what they want with people who want it, with no thought on the past or present. They all live in the moment. There is no shame. These kids are ideal human beings. If they were real, and if there were more of them–lots, lots more–the world could have the most loving, compassionate future.

2. I think I wrote First for me and for everyone else who came out young-ish in the early 90s. It was a completely different climate, with the HIV/AIDS crisis completely snubbed by the U.S. government, very full “closets” in almost every industry, city, and suburb, and not nearly as much representation in the media as there is today. There was no marriage equality. (I have to note, though, that in almost every way, my generation had it much better than the generations before me. I have to thank the love and fight in every single person, in every single activist, who ensured that my coming out and my young existence as queer wasn’t nearly as fucked up as theirs may have been.) At Nico’s age, I never thought I’d be happy with who I was. I thought that I’d have to figure out how to be heterosexual one way or another. I thought I was the only kid who felt the way I did. I had no role models (until I turned about 17 or so). So, Nico is the boy I wish I had been, living a very different life in a very different climate, and fully recognizing that love can be with anyone, as long as there’s honesty and respect. I’m living a bit vicariously.

3. Kids watch porn. Kids have sex. I’m sorry, Moms and Dads, but they do.

4. I think it was easy to write this young utopia because I see kids as being “romantically unblemished.” This isn’t to say that those of us over the age of 18 can’t live or don’t live like the characters in First. But when I think of wide-eyed openness and trust, I think of young humans, of anyone who hasn’t had their hearts ripped out of their chests, like most of us have, one way or another. It was important for me to have every heart on a sleeve. (Except for the case of Rory and John, but their “relationship” is another slice of life that I find kind of interesting to explore.)

5. I wanted to show young people as smart, grounded, and capable of significant amounts of kindness and intimacy. I wanted to show them as nonjudgmental and open and accepting of everyone and everything, as long as that everyone-and-everything are from places of love. I wanted to show them as better than us.

Thanks a million, Jake. I was so moved by your sexts. And folks, FIRST will be available on Friday 4/4/14. Can’t wait!

Porn Stars at Duke, Sex Workers in Opera! If That Isn’t Great Activism, We’ll Eat Our Hats.

Nabbed from the Sex Workers’ Opera blog – First Meeting Results (click image to get there).

Congrats to porn star Belle Knox for coming out! Knox, who paid for her Duke University education by taking part in erotic movies, wants to help sex workers—possibly by starting a foundation. This is such great activism that it makes us do whirlwind Snoopy dances. (And if you’ve never seen Angela doing a Snoopy dance, believe me, you are missing out.)

In the NY Daily News, Knox says, “I really enjoy sex, and I’ve always loved watching porn, so it just seemed like I could pay my way through college doing something I really love doing.” Awesome, hm? Read more here.

And what a great time to mention the Sex Workers’ Opera—a new and exciting project in London, that will give voice to sex workers via operatic performance. Talk about great activism that smashes cultural stereotypes!

Also, if you’d like to read our activist erotic collection Shameless Behavior: Brazen Stories of Overcoming Shame, starring fabulous writers such as Laila Blake, Sommer Marsden, Zoe More, and Stella Harris, among talented others, pop over to Amazon Kindle and purchase a copy. You’ll tickle us pink, if you do!

Bravo to all.

Check Out Jacob Louder’s Interview on Sex Writing!

This is a post on writing taken from the Grub Street Daily, with thanks to interviewer Sue Williams:

Courage deserves our encouragement. After all, when we are brave, our writing often grows stronger. Below, I interview queer erotic author Jacob Louder, who has published his erotic writing with Go Deeper Press. He is also the author of the forthcoming erotic novella, First, which features Nico—a queer teen—as he begins his journey of sexual self-discovery, and Robbie—a young trans person—who longs to escape from shame.

Jacob, how did you summon up the courage to first publish your erotic work?

I used to write dirty stories for my friends in high school, right around the time when they all started reading Jackie Collins and Fern Michaels novels. I have no idea how or why I decided to volunteer, but they loved them. So, I guess I didn’t need courage so much in the beginning, just an eager audience, and I had that.

I’ve always used writing as an outlet, right? Like most writers do. And I never found a reason to censor myself, and I know that I’m writing from this very authentic place and with a very strong sense of self. I figure, if I’m doing that–if my heart’s in it and I believe in what I’m writing–why not try and get it published? I’ve never felt shame […] Read more here!

Kevin Killian on the Hot-and-Sweaty Huddle

So, did we ever tell you what the amazing Kevin Killian told Angela Tavares about her hot collection, Huddle: Sex with Sporty Queers? He said (*clears throat*) “I enjoyed it thoroughly!”

Thoroughly, I tell you!

Kevin Killian, reading your praise made our jock straps kinda sweaty.

Speaking of perspiration, Huddle, if you haven’t heard, is a collection of erotic stories by Dario Dalla Lasta, Benji Bright, Tamsin Flowers, Theophilia St. Claire, and Christopher Stoddard. In this don’t-show-your-grandma-unless-she’s-into-it tome, the sports field gets sweaty, the cloakrooms get even sweatier, and the boy-on-boy bodies, well, they’re the sweatiest yet. I’m proud of Angela’s collection, and the stories by these bold and bitchin’ authors, because they’re not afraid to enjoy sex to the full — and feel it honestly and hotly on the page.

Wanna see some of Dario Dalla Lasta’s story, “Game Set Match”? Click here.

Now, I told you that to tell you this: GDP author Jacob Louder is currently completing his final draft of a novella called First. First isn’t your usual erotica. And if you get upset about Nabakov’s Lolita, stop reading now. Because First follows the hot exploits of Nico Ericsson, a 14-year old queer with a passion for teens of all genders, including Robbie and his acceptance of his genderqueer identity, Hannah with her incredible — oh God — incredible mouth, and a whole lot of others.

Because teenagers have sex. And we all know it. What’s more, powerful authors, like Dennis Cooper for instance, show us this, time and again. And teen sex is not only some of the hottest sex possible — it is also the sex where we’re often finding ourselves, accepting ourselves, challenging ourselves, expressing ourselves. Whether solo or partnered, teen sex is the place where our sexual bodies are born, where we are told we are shameful but explore it all anyway, where our inner heroes are born and raised, where many of us give the finger to what we’re told to be.

Yes, teenagers have sex. With themselves, with teens, and sometimes with adults. And as an anti-censorship publisher who is fed up of being told we can’t write about certain kinds of humanity, we couldn’t be more excited about Jacob’s First.

Now, Jacob won’t tell you this, but I can: It’s beautiful. And hot. And it’s told from the heart and loins.

Watch this space for your free sample, coming soon. YES!

Buy Huddle on Amazon

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Sex-Bomb Writer, Angela Tavares, Interviewed at The Round Up Zine

Angela herself.

Our Angela has been interviewed at roundupzine, where her gorgeous piece “Sunday Night” is published. It’s a great interview that includes Angela’s discovery of erotica when she was a bright young thing, the reasons she writes about sex, and much much more. You can read the whole interview here. And here’s a snippet:

RU: I’m  kind of a fan of Dennis Cooper, who edited the anthology “Userlands: New Fiction Writers from the Blogging Underground” in which your piece “Fast Ones” appears. How did you get involved in that?

AT: Dennis Cooper is one of my favorite writers and one of my biggest inspirations. He taught me what it means to use daring and brave language, to tell stories that can be uncomfortable. And, of course, for these reasons, I visit his website every day. Very long ago, he invited all his blog readers to submit a short story for an anthology he was putting together—specifically to spotlight some of the writers who participated, if I’m not mistaken—and that’s when I sent “Fast Ones.”

RU: You seem to have a propensity towards erotic fiction given your work with Go Deeper Press, amongst other things. What is it about erotic fiction that interests you, and do you remember the first piece of erotic lit you ever read?

AT: It’s sex that interests me, I think. Erotic fiction, yes—that, too, but I love writing the complexities and vulnerabilities of sex, its emotions and manipulations. Strip your characters bare, and see what they got and what they do with it—for me, this is the most fun. Even before I started Go Deeper Press with Lana Fox and began writing erotica, I always seemed to find a way to have my characters get it on.

First piece of erotic lit was something my mother had hidden in her bookcase near her bed. It focused on an escort service. I only snuck tiny reads from it, but it was hot enough that I managed to sneak back in and find it every time she was out of the house. I allowed myself two paragraphs at a time, and then got out of there.

First piece of erotic lit in a non-shame way: 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade. [Read the whole interview at RoundUpZine.)

5 Ways to Harness the Erotic You in 2014!

Happy New Year! We’ve been on a prolonged silence because we’ve been over in the UK with less internet than you’d imagine. But we’re back to bring you five ways of harnessing the erotic you, this year. Enjoy!

1. Remember that your erotic self lies inside of you. You can be richly erotic whether you are in a relationship, enjoying different partners, or being the solo sexual you. An affirmation to help? I am pure erotic inspiration. 

2. Enjoy erotica and porn without being restricted. What turns you on? What do you enjoy reading or watching? Give yourself permission to enjoy being aroused, and check out some new sources of erotic enjoyment. We recommend Blue Artichoke Films, Tristan Taormino‘s porn flicks, Kink.com, and the gorgeously queer Crashpad. (Plus you can check out our free Pornocore stories, or buy our books, if they’re for you!)

3. Invest in a new sex toy. Our current loves include the WeVibe, the Magic Wand, and, if you fancy donning a realistic cock this year, check out the Vixskin range.

4. Tell yourself that when you have sex with yourself or other partners, and you really enjoy the experience, you create a more loving you. Check out this great research on oxytocin if you need convincing (thanks to Plos One). And you can also enjoy the Mermaid Voyage this year, if you want to take part in a solo journey of pure, unabashed, erotic self-love.

5.  Look at your genitals in a small hand-mirror and tell them that they are beautiful. It is understandable if you don’t believe this statement as yet — society has shamed our beautiful sexualities for far too long. But tell your genitals anyway. Tell them they’re gorgeous. Tell them you’re grateful that they are a part of you. Because, if you do nothing else this year, loving yourself will take you a very long way.

If you’re a woman or woman-identified person who is interested in a solo journey into erotic self love, check out the Mermaid Voyage, which will be sailing this spring.

Gracie Hagen’s Nude Photography at Bust

Photos by Gracie Hagen at Bust Magazine (click image for more)

Please go and check out Gracie Hagen’s nude photos at Bust Magazine. (We’ve raved about Hagen before — she’s such a hit with us.) Just from the two that are pictured here, you can see how Hagen is showing realistic beauty with stances that don’t feel “posed.” We need to see more of this kind of art in order to enjoy variety and truth in body and sexuality, and Hagen does it just beautifully. Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading! Guzzle up our sexy reads at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Go Deeper Press (for all e-readers), and we’ll love you forever. You can also receive a free erotic e-book when you join our super-sensitive, sex-positive, freebie-gifting email list. Hearts.

Let’s Go Deeper with Erotic Author Rion Woolf (with FREE sexy excerpt!)

Please enjoy this interview with the wonderful Rion Woolf whose gorgeous story, Stay, appears in Shameless Behavior: Erotic Stories of Overcoming Shame. If you like to get deep with your erotica, Rion’s story–and the whole of the collection–is published with you in mind!

1. Why do you enjoy writing erotic stories?

Erotica, for me, is all about building a world where anything goes.  That’s the draw that keeps me coming back to the computer to write more.  I want to push my characters as far as they will go because ultimately I’m along for the ride, too, and it can be just as entertaining for me to write an erotic story as it is to read one.  I live in a world full of restrictions and more often than not the response to what I desire is no.  In the world of erotica, though, the response is often yes.  Or, at the very least, let’s try.  It’s thrilling to write about a place where so many barriers have been removed.

2. Who are some of your writing and erotic inspirations?

I love Remittance Girl!  I’m also strongly influenced by The Story of O and the writer John Preston who wrote Mr. Benson.  I read quite a bit of short erotica and I find inspiration through many characters, but I am most drawn to those who are on a quest to try or learn something new.

3. Can you tell us a little about your story in Shameless Behavior: Brazen Stories of Overcoming Shame?

“Stay” grew out of a larger project I was working on that follows the relationship between “I” and Sir.  The project never came together in the way I hoped, but this story emerged.  Issues of gender fascinate me and I wanted to write an erotic tale in which the master has a secret that is ultimately exposed.  I believe our physical bodies hold our secrets and emotional pain.  More often than not, these are places of enormous shame.  In “Stay,” “I” helps Sir to see that those same places where secrets and pain are held can also contain enormous potential for healing and human connection.

4. Why do you think erotica can be so important for society? 

Erotica is a fantastic way for people to explore issues of sexuality and gender at a speed that is comfortable for them.  It challenges the reader to examine her own ideas about these issues and when the intensity becomes too much, the reader has the power to close the book.  Erotica is funny, though.  It works on the reader and nudges at the back of her mind throughout the day and haunts the edges of her mind at night.  Curiosity to find out what happens next usually wins out and that book, along with all its rich possibilities, is opened once again.

6. Do you have any advice about writing great sex scenes?

I try to bring honesty and realism to any writing that I do that includes sex.  I have a tendency to lean towards soap opera-ish scenes, so I am always double-checking myself.  Is this realistic?  Would my character really say this?  Really?  If my answer wavers on the maybe, it’s time for another draft.  Another red flag?  If I hear “You are so Beautiful” by Joe Cocker, “I Think I Love You” by the Partridge Family, or anything by Air Supply in my head when I read back a scene I’ve written, there is waytoo much sappiness.

And here’s a free sexy excerpt from Stay by Rion Woolf:

Now, as he kneels before me, Sir’s voice is low, guttural, lusty: “Beautiful boy.” He loves how easily I can shape-shift from female to male. Instinctually, my hips roll forward toward his face. His dark eyes flash, then the pupils dilate with want. My heartbeat rockets inside my chest. Slowly, he unbuttons my jeans, slides the zipper down, and with his hands covering my ass, he pulls the jeans down to my ankles. Every inch of the way down, his hands take in the swells and valleys of my muscular legs. There’s something about him kneeling before me, something about him undressing me in this way that is so hot. A groan escapes me, and my hips lunge toward his mouth again.

Sir smiles, chuckles at my body’s reaction, and leans in close, so very close, until his chin and left cheek stroke against the hardness inside my underwear. He pulls his chin down the length of Mighty Max, the dildo he’d never bothered to rename once he took it out of the box. The edges of Sir’s lips trace its size through the fabric. Finally, he reaches up and pulls the tighty whities down to my ankles, freeing the dildo from the cloth. It feels fantastic strapped against my skin so tight, the base of Max pressing against my clitoris. The movement of the dildo strokes me deliciously. More than anything, I want to reach forward and grab Sir’s head, but he’s bound my wrists behind my back with one of his white handkerchiefs. The fabric’s tight. Try as I might, there’s no slipping out of this knot.

“Wait for my permission.” Sir’s tone turns stern, and I fear that I will come before he’s ready. I try to pull my eyes away from the scene below my waist, and make myself think of anything else to stop the wetness from coating me whole and dripping down my legs. [Read the rest of the story in Shameless Behavior]

Thanks so much for supporting indie erotica! We hope to be here for a good long time, and if you decide to buy our erotica, you sustain us!

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Free Erotica: Excerpt from Con, Book 1

Wanna read some free erotica by our own Lana Fox? We’re delighted that an excerpt from Con, Book 1: You Can Play It Safe When You’re Dead is live at Erotica for All. So now you can go and read about twin con-artists doing dark and sexy things, and spice up that weekend of yours.

May your Saturday be cherry-filled…

Buy Con from Amazon

Buy Con from Go Deeper Press

Gamble on how long it’ll be before Con is actually banned. Seriously.

Guest Post by Cara Sutra: Libido on the wane? 10 reasons you NEED literary erotica

Cara Sutra (carasutra.co.uk)

We’re thrilled to be sharing this guest post by the wonderful Cara Sutra. (If you haven’t checked Cara out, do so at @TheCaraSutra, on Facebook, and at her website. She writes beautifully about sex and sexuality, and not only is her site a powerful resource, but it’s one helluva lot of fun too.) 

Also, I’ll add that Cara includes pointers here for those who are shy about sexuality, erotica and/or porn, or want to write erotica. Enjoy your read!

When you get into a life rut, it can be difficult to feel positive about anything, never mind feeling sexually alluring and confident to boot. Whether you’re single or in a relationship, at times we all need a helping hand to feel sexier and raring to get back in the orgasmic saddle.

How can erotic books help?

Erotic books can give you the sensual boost you need, in more ways than you’d ever imagine. Here are just ten reasons how erotic books and literary erotica hugely impact on your personal confidence, increasing the intimacy within your relationship as well as improving your sex life all round.

1. Erotic books can be surprisingly cheap. Literary erotica is suitable for all budgets whether you only have a few pennies to spend or want to invest in a treasured tome for your raunchy library.
2. Erotic books are discreet. Once comfortably tucked up with an erotic book, your journey through new worlds of sexual excitement is private and quiet. There’s no need to adjust the volume, simply let your eyes take in the scenes as your imagination hungrily devours the lot.
3. Erotic books are just as skilfully written as mainstream fiction. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that erotic literature is in any way inferior to other styles of literature. With skilful use of language, imagery, imaginative scenes and complex characters, erotic books regularly move readers emotionally as well as merely titillating sexual desires.
4. Erotic books are non-intimidating, for singles as well as couples. You don’t have to speak to or see another person, you don’t even need to include the use of sex toys if they’re not your thing. All erotic reading involves is your imagination and the book; whether you read it alone or share with your partner!
5. Erotic books have universal appeal, regardless of gender, relationship status or sexual experience. Scenes and stories may revive nostalgic sexual memories or touch upon fantasies you never realised would turn you on.
6. Erotic books are accessible no matter where you are in the world or how discreet you need the delivery to be. With the dawn of electronic downloads and devices such as e-readers, you can opt for discreet delivery to your doorstep from an online purchase, or select immediate download as you prefer.
7. If you’re an aspiring writer of erotic literature or sexy short stories yourself, reading the words of others can help break down any writer’s block you may encounter. Published erotic literature can kick start your own imagination as well as put your mind on the right track for writing.
8. Reading erotic books builds the confidence you might be lacking when it comes to communicating your sexual fantasies and desires to a partner. You might also realise the confidence to admit a few sexual truths to yourself after reading some daring, arousing tales.
9. Erotic books are also the perfect alternative for people who shy away from traditional erotic media in the form of adult films and porn on screen. Words are sexy, there’s no denying it; erotic books are the way forwards!
10. The many different scenes and sexual encounters in erotic books ignites the passions that may have been forgotten during the natural course of life, family, work and other events. With the artful combination of erotic stories sculpted by some of the world’s most talented erotic authors at your fingertips, you won’t be short of sexual ideas to replicate in your own sex life.

Where do you start looking for good quality, life changing erotic literature? Go Deeper Press is the ideal leap pad into this bright new world. With hot and steamy erotica ready to be downloaded in exchange for surprisingly low prices, you could be reading some of the world’s best sex-themed stories in a manner of minutes.

Go Deeper Press also acts as a regularly updated hub of news and information about the erotic literature scene, from author interviews and updates, to themed features and news of upcoming events.

Keep it current by following Go Deeper Press on Twitter, and like the Go Deeper Press page on Facebook here.

– Cara Sutra