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Call for Submissions: Up for Grabs 2

Feb 082010

Call for Submissions for Up For Grabs 2: the Third Gender by Circlet Press

Up for Grabs 2: the Third Gender is the working title of the sequel to Up for Grabs, which has received a lot of attention in reviews. While UFG had a focus on changing from one gender to another, I would like to see stories about people in between. Gender is not binary. These stories will explore modern and future expressions of third genders. Some ideas I would like to see examined are:

* Protagonists using mechanical, surgical, magical, or VR to express a gender other than the standard two.
* Coming of age stories
* Stories about protagonists who may not be young and gorgeous, but who have age and experience.
* Stories where third genders are normal, even common.
* Descriptions of new ways to have sex beyond the traditional.

Originals only, no reprints. We purchase first rights for inclusion in the ebook anthology for $25, with the additional rights to a print edition later which would also be paid $25 if a print edition happens. Authors retain the rights to the individual stories; Circlet exercises rights to the anthology as a whole.

Submission Guidelines:

Review for Wired Hard 4

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Feb 012010

The Erotica Readers and Writers Association has a nice review of Wired Hard 4.

We now live in an era of ebooks and genetic engineering, instant messaging and cybersex, gender reassignment and gay marriage. The world has matured and many of the fantastic imaginings of Circlet’s authors have become familiar facts. In the second decade of the twenty first century, Circlet is still delivering some of the best speculative erotica available—appropriately in electronic form. Wired Hard 4 is a splendid example.

The eight stories in this collection are remarkably diverse. They are unified, first, by their raw sexual energy, and second, by the intimate mingling of human with other: machine, robot, animal, vampire, or god. Xan West’s lyrical introduction points out that most of these tales deal with transformations. Sex here is more than an avenue of pleasure. It is the gateway to new and different selves.

Important information discovered today

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Jan 292010

Shih-aan (one of the fictional races in Wishbone) count in base nineteen.

The word for today is pleonasm. I have writers with a bad case of this.

This is good news, right?

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Jan 282010

Up for Grabs is on a top ten erotic romances list. I think from this article that the original is on Rainbow Reviews, but I haven’t found it there yet. I’ll keep looking.

Update: I’m almost positive that the appearance of Rainbow Reviews on this post has nothing to do with it, and the link above is the source of the article.

New Review of “Up for Grabs”

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Jan 282010

This review is from Three Dollar Bill Reviews.

My personal favorites from this collection are “Transplant” and “Passage,” each of which explores a world where there is a unique option available to transgendered individuals. Each story delves into the emotional needs of the person to have a body that matches the soul, and the ramifications of making that change on other relationships. In “Transplant,” Katrina has been disowned by her mother while Chad’s mother is the exact opposite. In “Passage,” Maya is concerned about her lover still being attracted to her new body. The physical changes are one thing, but these stories choose to delve into the other changes that are inevitable and as such are extremely engaging and moving.

Small victories

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Jan 062010

What with the migraines, I often go through days when I get nothing written. This is depressing. I’ve adopted a new way of coping, such that if I get one useful thing done in the writing department, I am entitled to squee!

Last year I ran a series of author chats on Circlet Press’s LiveJournal. For the most part they went off well. Authors got to chat, readers got prizes, and Circlet got to look good. I got to be annoyed, but that happens anyway. In this case, though, the annoyance was caused by a few authors whose inability to screw up directions was truely breathtaking. I wish I could share some anecdotes, but I think it might be too likely that the authors responsible will notice and hold it against me.

Today I re-wrote the how to do a chat document with an eye to making the instructures clearer and address the more common confusions. I put much more responsiblity on the author to get me the information, i.e. don’t tell me you already gave me your LJ account name when it was on a piece of paper you gave me at a con. Everything I need goes in one email message so that if it gets screwed up from there, it’s my fault. I also reminded people that they can’t post to the Circlet Community if they haven’t signed up as a member, and I included links explaining lj-cuts. I then talked to Cecilia about improving integration of Circlet’s blog with other social networking sites (messy, but possible if your expectations are low).

Then I mailed a pointer to the new googledoc to the editors group and reminded them that they must send me author names for there to be chats.

I had a squee!

Now I can go lie down.

Up for Grabs gets a nod

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Dec 202009

Up for Grabs

The genderqueer anthology I edited earlier this year, Up for Grabs, got a mention at gather.com:

“If your reading tastes are a bit quirky, if you’re an open-minded reader, and if you enjoy the premise of “What if?”…then Up For Grabs, edited by Lauren P. Burka (Circlet Press) is just the book for you. In these five delicious tales, gender is up for grabs, and science pushes the boundaries between male and female, natural and unnatural.”

Review of Wired Hard 4

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Dec 102009

Click to buy me

In other news, today we got a very nice review of Wired Hard 4.

As big a fan of explicit depictions of gay male sex as I am, an anthology of straight-up porn with no other major elements to it would probably not sustain my interest from cover to cover. Did I mention that I read this whole thing in one sitting, from start to finish? I did, and it was because each of these stories are beautifully told and packed with ideas. .

The further adventures of “The Ontological Engine”

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Dec 102009

Click to buy me

People who have read my recent ebook anthology Up for Grabs have noticed that there is one story that is not really about transsexuality, though it contains some amazing transformations. It’s a steampunk tale that remains fresh and vivid even now that some of us are growing weary of steampunk. It has mad scientists, orgasm machines, and scandalous behavior set in a realm of Victorian manners. I’ve been asked by everyone including the author why I chose this anthology for The Ontological Engine. The full answer to this question is difficult to convey.

Let’s start with the Circlet Press slush pile. There is a certain type of manuscript that arrives with a cover letter stating “We hope you will enjoy this story, or at least find it funny.” This statement is the sign of doom. You could argue coincidence, or you could point out that these stories seem to be written by people who are so nervous writing about sex that they can only pull it off if the sex is so stupid that it can’t be threatening, or that there’s rarely anything funny about a story that tries too hard. These are stories that we anticipate reading with absolute dread.

“The Ontological Engine” is–not to put too fine a point on it–funny. And hot. Stories that make you laugh so hard that you have to loosen your clothes and so hot that you have to loosen them more are not easy to pull off. How could I not make room for this rauchy little number?

Since the original publication we’ve put an mp3 of this story up for sale (first part is free). We are beginning work on an entire collection of stories set in this world for 2010. I can hardly wait to get to work on cover art for this one. And today, just to bring another smile to my face, we have a lovely buff from the author of ErosBlog. Please enjoy the review, download the free first part of the mp3, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, and enjoy yourself.

Woot! “The Marketplace” is coming back!

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Dec 062009

For years the The Marketplace by Sara Adamson (aka Laura Antoniou) has been out of print. Now Circlet Press will be bringing it back as an ebook. I’ll be prepping the manuscript. Woot!