Since it’s April 1, I scheduled myself for an author chat on Circlet Press’s LiveJournal Community. And it’s April Fools. Please join in the fun.
We got a review from Out in Print.
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:
The Erotica Readers and Writers Association has a nice review of Wired Hard 4.
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.
This review is from Three Dollar Bill Reviews.
I went to Arisia. It would have been nice to be on programming given that Wishbone came out last week, but organization is for other people.
Something important I learned as an Aspie is that when people ask how you are, you always lie. The catch is that sometimes I do not look ok and people will not take my word for it when I tell them. In the case of Arisia, I was experiencing the worst migraines I’ve had in almost a year. This led to many people saying “You look glassy-eyed. Are you ok?” I settled for telling them that the migraines weren’t nice, but that the drugs were.
Whatever.
Observation: there are lots of Aspies at cons. I mean, I knew this, of course, but damn.
Friday night was the Circlet Press party. I handed out lots of flyers. There’s something entertaining about offering people pieces of paper related to adult content. A few are emphatically not interested when you tell them Circlet publishes Erotic literature. But most are. I offered a flyer to a nice young lady whose eyes lit up like little sparklers. She told me that this was her first Arisia since she turned 18, and now she was delighted to go to parties that had been forbidden shortly before.
I had only bought a membership for Friday because I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. However, so many people I hadn’t seen in a long time were glad to see me. I decided to come back Saturday for more of the same.
I had a fantastic time going to parties and telling people that I wrote smut, would they like to check out my web site? This was even more fun after I found the rocket fuel party.
One gentleman informed me snootily that he didn’t need my site because his needs were served by Literotica.com. Have you ever looked at that site? I did once. I read the guidelines and found that everything that I had ever been advised not to write, and that everything that I had ever advised writers not to do, was required for Literotica stories. Ok, dude, you’re like, not a potential customer. No worries.
I also did some highly-useful schmoozing.
I found out something terrible. It was bad enough when all of my friends had kids. Now all their kids are starting high school. Augh!
Steampunk may be a bit overdone, but all the vendors of steampunk costume items work in leather, and their rooms smelled wonderful.
I had a great time, which made the subsequent minor snowstorm, the migraines it caused, and recent political events even more depressing. I’ll go have some more chocolate now.
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.”
In other news, today we got a very nice review of Wired Hard 4.
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.