All Gender Health Survey: Compensation Provided

All Gender Health Online is currently looking for Cisgender (non-trans) Men who have sex with Transgender (female-to-male transsexual) Men for a survey regarding sexual health. If you are a non-trans man who's had sex with a trans man, you may qualify. To sweeten the deal, they're offering a $30 gift card to all participants.

Here's some 'splaining:

From the All Gender Health Online website:

By participating in this study, you help us understand and increase awareness of the sexual health of non-transgender men who have sex with transgender people. Findings from this study will be used to develop an online intervention to prevent HIV infection and transmission among transgender people and their partners, such as yourself.

If you're interested or have any questions, visit the site here: https://www.allgenderhealth.org/TGHome.aspx

Hugs,

Giselle

Who Loves Writing Contests?

If you are a published or aspiring author, and particularly if you've got a competitive streak, you might just be interested in this new contest from 1 Place for Romance. The contest runs from May 1, 2011 to June 1, 2011, they're looking at stories between 5,000 and 7,000 words, and the topic is:

Summer!

You can win $100 cash and publication of your story along with editing and cover art. For all the contest details, click here!

Have fun and good luck!

Hugs,

Giselle

Call for Submissions: Update on "Just Love"

Wonderful Authors,

Remember this call for a set of anthos called "In Love with Lust" and "In Lust with Love"? http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com/2011/03/call-for-submissions-in-love-with-lust.html

They are fundraising erotic anthologies to help raise money for Fredericton Pride. I hope everybody will consider submitting a little something.

Now, there's just one little change I want to draw your attention to:

There is a new email address for submissions: PrideAnthology2011@gmail.com

So, when you send your submission, be sure to use that new address. For more "informations" as my aunt in Quebec always says, consult: http://madelineelayne.blogspot.com/2010/11/call-for-submissions-just-love.html

Have a great day!

Hugs,

Giselle

Quick Six TNG with R. Ann Siracusa

Who have we got on the blog today? Why, it's author R. Ann Siracusa!

1. What does "vanilla" mean to you?

Ice Cream (my weakness – or at least one of them in the sweets category). Technically, it’s an extract from tropical vines which are in the orchid family, V. planifolia, prepared from the seedpods, but I relate it to an off-white color and to being bland or boring.

2. Is there any moment from your life that you remember in slow motion?

Maybe a couple . . . embarrassing moments. The worst was the time, when I was Planning Director for Fresno County, that I fell off the raised dais (I simply forgot there was a step there and missed it) onto my face in front of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, cameras from five TV stations, and an audience of about three hundred people, all angry at the Planning Department.

3. What's the most unsettling movie you've ever seen?

It’s hard to pin point the most unsettling, since there have been a lot of them. The 1960 movie Psycho with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh made a lasting impression on me at the age I that saw it. Silence of the Lambs was another. The 1973 movie Soylent Green with Charlton Heston. Recently, I’d say Cape Fear, Orphan and, for entirely different reasons, Mel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ.

4. If you had to get a tattoo on your face, what would you want it to look like?

I have tattoos on my face already. They’re called eyebrows and eyeliner. Lip liner would be good.

5. How many monkeys jumping on the bed?

At least three, but not more than six. Twelve? Well, I liked the movie.

6. Which of the books or stories you've written is your favourite?

The book of my heart is the first one, Family Secrets: A Vengeance of Tears, but the second book in my Tour Director Extraordinaire series, All For A Fist Full of Ashes, was the most fun to write. I’d written the first novel of the series as a one-shot experiment to see if I could write humor and in first person. I never intended to write a series. But I felt comfortable with the voice and fell in love with the characters.

The second novel came about because I was planning a trip to Italy with thirteen members of my extended Italian-American family, including two of my grandchildren. Knowing these people and the way Italians make group decisions, the trip was going to be a predictable disaster, so I figured I should at least get material for a book out of it. A group of Italian-Americans taking a tour of Italy was a natural for Harriet Ruby, my tour director extraordinaire from the first book . And if Harriet was in it, she needed her spy-boyfriend, Will Talbot, on the trip. And in addition to the developing relationship between Will and Harriet, he needed a spy story and a villain to chase after. So I came up with a story idea, did an outline, and wrote the first three chapters before I took the family trip. And, as you can imagine, the real trip provided many incidents that spiced up the novel.

Blurb

I’m Harriet Ruby: Tour Director Extraordinaire. At least, I thought I was worthy of that title until . . .

My first mistake: Agreeing to conduct a private tour of Italy. Fourteen Italian-Americans from New Jersey? All family, for three weeks, with four teenagers? What was I thinking? Fate responds to my engraved invitation by placing one of the family under surveillance as a suspect in an assassination plot, and who is assigned to the case? None other than my favorite drop-dead-gorgeous spy, Will Talbot.

My second mistake: Allowing Will to coax an invitation from the family matriarch to join the tour.

And that was just the beginning: The matriarch, searching for the unknown location of her mother's grave so she can bury her brother’s cremated ashes (which have been smuggled into Italy wrapped in Cuban cigars), and her quirky family members sweep through Italy leaving chaos, hilarity, and danger in their wake.

Buy Link: Sapphire Blue Publishing

TRAVEL TO FOREIGN LANDS FOR ROMANCE AND INTRIGUE
with a humorous romantic suspense novel by Author R. Ann Siracusa
http://www.rannsiracusa.com
http://www.sapphirebluepublishing.com/catalog/

Give It Up for Earth Day

I just came across this cool initiative from Earth Day Canada called Give It Up for Earth Day, so I thought I'd pass it along. Their main challenge involves making the choice to give up meat, toxic cleaners, watching TV, and/or buying stuff for a given period of time.

I could probably cut down on my TV consumption (I've developed a bad habit of leaving the room with the TV still on) so I will start by not watching TV for ONE DAY. (Yeah, what a sacrifice, Giselle!) I know, I know, but after that one day I'll try another day, and another. I've already switched to non-toxic cleaners, and I hardly ever eat meat, so I could easily give up meat for a week (at least!) and buying stuff? I gave up buying stuff when I started writing full time! LOL

Definitely check out the website. It is coolissimo: http://www.earthday.ca/giveitup/index.php

Call for Submissions: Best Sex Writing 2012

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel says she's hoping this call for subs will reach writers (and not-so-much writers) far and wide, so I'm posting it here for your consideration! Even if you don't consider yourself a "sex writer," you might want to give this one a once-over.

Rachel says:

This is not part of the “official” call but I’d really love to see pieces that are not by “sex writers,” but by comedians or comedy writers, other kinds of artists, scientists, etc. – people who deal with sex in their fields (or personal lives). To me its vastness as a subject is what makes sex continually interesting, so please, spread the word wide and far. The deadline is looking (May 1st) but I hope this reaches all sorts of fascinating people. I highly encourage you to check out the previous editions (these links go to the pages for those books, or see more information at www.bestsexwriting.com) of the series to get a feel for the types of work we are looking for, but anything nonfiction about sex is applicable. For tables of contents and introductions, see: Best Sex Writing 2008, Best Sex Writing 2009 and Best Sex Writing 2010.

Best Sex Writing 2012
Editor: Rachel Kramer Bussel; selections by guest judge Susie Bright
Publisher: Cleis Press in December 2011
Deadline: May 1, 2011 (earlier submissions welcomed!)
Payment: $100

Editor Rachel Kramer Bussel is looking for personal essays and reportage for inclusion in the 2012 edition of the Cleis Press series Best Sex Writing, which will hit stores in December 2011. Any non-fiction writing covering the topic of sex will be considered.

I like work that looks at sex in new and unusual ways (see Stacey D'Erasmo's "Silver-Balling" in Best Sex Writing 2009 for a prime example, as well as "It's a Shame About Ray" by Kirk Read and "Sexual Outlaw" by Betty Dodson in Best Sex Writing 2010), that challenges us to think about sex and our own sexuality, is thought-provoking and possibly disturbing. I want sex journalism that's found in the most unexpected places and is as topical as possible.

No fiction or poetry will be considered.

Previous editions of BSW have featured authors such as Brian Alexander, Violet Blue, Susannah Breslin, Betty Dodson, Stephen Elliott, Gael Greene, Paul Krassner, Judith Levine, Michael Musto, Scott Poulson-Bryant, Mary Roach, Tristan Taormino, Virginia Vitzhum, and others.

Requirements: For reprints, story must have been published (or is slated to be published) between August 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011, online and/or in print (book, magazine, zine or newspaper) in the United States. Original, unpublished work is also welcome.

Authors:
Please send your double-spaced submission (1,500-4,000 words) as a Word document or RTF attachment to bestsexwriting2012 at gmail.com — you may submit a maximum of TWO pieces for consideration. You MUST include your full contact information, a 50-word or less bio, and previous publication details for reprints.

Include your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and exact publication details (title of publication, date of publication, and any other relevant information). Only send work you own the licensing rights to.

Editors:
Submit up to three submissions from their publication, following the guidelines above. Provide the author's contact information available upon request.

Email address (for queries and submissions): bestsexwriting2012 at gmail.com
Payment: $100

Deadline: May 1, 2011 (earlier submissions welcomed and encouraged)
You will receive an email confirming your submission; after that you can expect to hear back from me by August 2011.

Rights bought:
Author hereby grants Editors, during the first term of the United States copyright, and any renewals thereof, in the "Work":
a. The non-exclusive right to "publish" (i.e. print, publish, and sell) the Work as part of the Book in book and digital form in English in the United States and its territories; and
b. The non-exclusive right to "publish" and license the Work as part of the Book in book and digital form in English in other countries; and
c. The non-exclusive right to license translate and publish the Work as part of the Book in book and digital form in languages other than English in all countries.

Rachel Kramer Bussel (rachelkramerbussel.com) is an author, editor, blogger and event organizer. She is Senior Editor at Penthouse Variations, sex columnist for SexIs Magazine, and has edited 38 anthologies, including Gotta Have It, Surrender, Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Orgasmic, Fast Girls, Spanked, Bottoms Up and Best Sex Writing 2008, 2009 and 2010. She hosted In The Flesh Reading Series from 2005-2010 and writes for a variety of publications about sex, dating, books and pop culture.

Susie Bright (susiebright.com) is the author of the national bestsellersFull Exposure and The Sexual State of the Union, as well as The Best American Erotica and Herotica series, which ushered in women’s erotic publishing. She the host of Audible’s In Bed With Susie Bright, the longest-running sex-ed show in the history of broadcasting. She was co-founder and editor of On Our Backs magazine, and was the first journalist to cover erotic cinema and the porn business in the mainstream press. A progenitor of the sex-positive movement, Bright taught the first university course on pornography, and brought lasting sexual influence to her role in films like Bound and The Celluloid Closet. Her latest book is the memoir Big Sex Little Death.

Quick Six TNG with Berengaria Brown

It's Monday and that means another fabulous Quick Six TNG, this week with Berengaria Brown!

1. What does "vanilla" mean to you?

Vanilla is nice. It’s good. There’s nothing wrong with vanilla. But
vanilla with hot fudge sauce, and chopped nuts. Yum! That’s much
better.

2. Is there any moment from your life that you remember in slow motion?

A long time ago I was at a party and a woman dropped her glass. One of
the men stepped forward and caught it before it hit the floor. It
really was in slow motion. I could see the look on her face, see him
step forward, see him catch it. But it really happened in less than a
second. What awesome reflexes that man had!

3. What's the most unsettling movie you've ever seen?

I don’t watch that type of movie. I’m more a James Bond kinda gal.
Gotta love explosions, car chases, and yummy heroes.

4. If you had to get a tattoo on your face, what would you want it to look like?

Something unique, different, timeless. Small and pretty.

5. How many monkeys jumping on the bed?

On the left, two male. In the middle, two male, one female. On the
right two female. Why yes, I do write MM, MMF and FF.

6. Which of the books or stories you've written is your favorite?

A good Momma doesn’t have favorites, but I do love Regencies and this
particular book has been very popular with readers and reviewers.

“Lady Caroline’s Reward” blurb
Lady Caroline Eversley is the only child of the Earl of Blackshire. He
is growing forgetful and she needs a chaperone so hires Miss Dinah
Watkin, a distant relative whom she met once at a family gathering and
enjoyed good friendship with.
While dealing with unwanted suitors, Dinah and Caroline fall in love,
and Dinah teaches Caroline all about sex. But the problem of
Caroline’s suitable chaperonage refuses to go away. And in Regency
England unmarried women had almost no rights. Whatever will happen to
them as the Earl’s health fails?

Buy link:
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2909

Berengaria Brown
http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
http://berengariabrown.webs.com/

You've Wanted to Do It for Years

It's been on your mind. Oh, I know the feeling. Every so often you see a person, a place, or a thing, and you remember the urge. You feel that deep desire. You want it, but you don't know how it could possibly be achieved. Who would you even talk to about a matter of such delicacy? How do you disclose this secret longing to become...

A Volunteer!

Yes, it's nearing the end of National Volunteer Week 2011, and as an avid volunteer myself I'd like to extend my hugs and well-wishes to all you other volunteers. And for those who haven't taken the plunge just yet... Well, have you thought about it? Most of us do. Even with all the work on my plate, I'm constantly contemplating heaping on another position. The more positions, the better...am I right?

Honestly, it's easier than you think. "Events" are great to volunteer with because there's little commitment factor. You volunteer for the night or the weekend and that's it. If there's a cause close to your heart but you feel like you have nothing to contribute, you're wrong! Every charitable organization I've ever worked with has needed envelope stuffers. Or...imagine walking puppies for an animal shelter! If you're looking to break into a given type of employment but don't have the experience or training, there might be a volunteer position that can give it to you.

There are certain organizations that are particularly popular and have long wait lists (children's hospitals are a good "for instance") and if you're looking at frontline work with vulnerable individuals (again, working with youth in particular) that can require a police check and multiple rounds of interviews, but I work with some of those organizations and the time it took to get inside was absolutely worth the work and the wait. It's the most fulfilling work I've ever done. So if you've always wanted to [fill in the blanks] then absolutely go for it. Seriously. Go for it.

Most charitable organizations exist because there is a gap between services required for a given population and government support. Maybe the kind of organizations you care about most have been subject to funding cuts and need you now more than ever. In Canada, our wretched Harper government has hacked funding to numerable organizations. Hardest hit have been those helping women (HUGE cuts there), immigrants/newcomers, aboriginal peoples, and the environment. (Yeah, cause those populations have got it made, right? It's sickening. And the rich get richer...)

I totally didn't meant to go off on a political tangent there, but a) there's an election coming up in this country, and b) there is a huge intersection between volunteerism and personal politics. We are that to which we devote our time. If we care about something, we'll find time for it. We'll make time.

And volunteer work can be healing, too, especially if you seek out a position by thinking back on your own life and asking yourself, "When was there a time I needed help? Did I find that help? Where did I find it? Were there resources available to me? What about people in that position today? Are there adequate resources available to them?" In that way, you end up serving yourself. That probably sounds narcissistic, but I've done it and I continue to do it and there's nothing more moving than knowing I share an experiential bond with the clients I'm serving.

I'll leave my fellow Canadians with a resource called Get Involved. This website is great and it can help match you up with the kind of volunteer work you're interested in doing. At a glance, I see opportunities with...gosh, everything from Toronto Ribfest to Women in Leadership to Veterinarians Without Borders. There are postings for an Autism Therapist Assistant, Graphic Designer, Career Mentor, "Super-hero Dishwasher," Bird Monitor, Blogger, "Boys R Us" for AIDS Vancouver, Horticultural Therapist, Phone Volunteer, Writer, Vegan Products Researcher... whatever your skill set, there's something here for you.

And you know what? Finding that perfect volunteer opportunity is one of life's greatest thrills!

Best of luck, and happy volunteer week!

Big Hugs,

Giselle

Quick Six TNG with Jean Roberta

I'm delighted to greet a fellow loveyoudivine author, Jean Roberta, for today's Quick Six!

1. What does “vanilla” mean to you?

It means the same thing to the leather or BDSM (bondage/discipline/sadist/masochist) crowd as “straight” means to the GLBT (gay/lesbian/bi/trans) crowd or “mundane” means to members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (medieval-role organization) or “Muggle” means to the magical folk in the Harry Potter novels. It means someone who seems more conservative & less imaginative than oneself. I don’t use those terms if I think someone in earshot would be offended, partly because they’re confusing! A person can be “vanilla” in one context and flat-out kinky in another.

2. Is there any moment from your life that you remember in slow motion?

The funerals of both my elderly parents, who died within 6 months of each other in 2009. I was glad they were at peace, but it felt like the end of an era.

3. What’s the most unsettling movie you’ve ever seen?

Probably The Exorcist, which I saw in London, England, when I lived there in 1973-74. I knew it was supposedly based on a true story of demonic possession, which is why it seemed more disturbing than the average horror movie. I was living with the man I later married, and the relationship had a creepy undertone. (He was a hard-drinking refugee from the civil war in his country.) I think the general flavour of my life influenced my reaction to the movie. London was quite a dirty city (literally). After coming home from work on the Tube, I always had soot on my face.

4. If you had to get a tattoo on your face, what would you want it to look like?

A tiny dragonfly. This is how I want my next tattoo to look, even though I don’t plan to have it on my face! I’ve seen them mating in mid-air, and they look beautiful. Dragonflies eat mosquitoes, so they are my heroes! Saskatchewan, where I live (Canadian prairies), has a lot of stagnant water in the spring, so mosquitoes lay their eggs there and then we have swarms of them in the summer.

5. How many monkeys jumping on the bed?

Six.

6. Which of the books or stories you’ve written is your favourite?

I always like my latest book or story best!
Here is a description of my second collection of erotic stories, Each Has a Point and Other Stories, released by Love You Divine in February 2011:

Some points are logical reasons, some are weapons of self-defence, some are pins to hold things together, and some are tools to scratch an unbearable itch. Let Sarah and Gavin, the characters in the title story, introduce you to the sharp edge of desire and the clash of points as two people become very well acquainted. Meet women who crave a man’s strong arms, men who find women mysterious but compelling, women who prefer women, and characters who can’t be confined to a single gender. Let them show you their hard points and their soft spots. If you watch carefully, maybe they’ll show you your own.

http://tiny.cc/5hpj3

Another Upcoming Trans Erotica Anthology!

Guess what? The wonderfully super-amazing Tristan Taormino tracked me down a few months ago and asked me if I had anything to contribute to an anthology of trans and genderqueer erotica she was putting together for Cleis Press.

I just got word today that my story The Therapist and The Whore made it through the editing process and will be appearing in Tristan's book Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica
(You can pre-order it now, but you'll have to wait until October 2011 to get your hands on a copy! *bites nails* Can't wait!)

My story in this antho is an original and never before published, and honestly, it's one of my absolute favourites in the genre. I've read it countless times and I never get sick of it. (Yeah, yeah...it's my baby...I know!)

Manny never tells anyone the full truth. Her therapist Liesl doesn't know she's started binding her tits and stopped correcting people when they call her "sir." Her girlfriend Danica doesn't know she's been cheating with a transsexual prostitute named Star. Manny won't even ask herself why she loves sucking and fucking when she identifies as a butch dyke. With intense emotional attachments to a girlfriend, a therapist, and a whore, Manny's situation is complex. She can't juggle these three women anymore.

Take Me Thereis a passion project for Tristan Taormino, who presents erotica by, for, and about transfolk, FTMs, MTFs, genderqueers, gender outlaws, as well as two-spirit, intersex, and gender-variant people in her newest anthology. Among the diverse array of voices inTake Me There, one important theme running throughout the stories is the power of seeing and being seen. It’s not simply about passing, but about being acknowledged and desired in a sexual context. Affirmation and want collide in Andrea Zanin’s story of a baby butch dyke and the transwoman she picks up in a small-town café. Likewise, the main character in Helen Boyd’s “All Girl Action” longs to be touched as a woman by other queer women. The characters of these stories are ready and willing to go there — and they do, over and over again.

Quick Six TNG with Adriana Kraft

Aren't we lucky? Today we've got a Quick Six TNG interview with Adriana Kraft!

1. What does "vanilla" mean to you?

Vanilla friends are friends who don't swing. Kind of the opposite of friends with benefits...

2. Is there any moment from your life that you remember in slow motion?

Yes. We were driving in a snow storm we shouldn't have been out in. Our car got blown off the road (missing the roadside posts) and landed in a gully fifteen feet below. It seemed like we floated in the air forever - and then we had an amazingly soft landing in a deep drift.

3. What's the most unsettling movie you've ever seen?

Actually I avoid them if I can, which is probably related to why I write romance and not horror.

4. If you had to get a tattoo on your face, what would you want it to look like?

It would be a very tiny red rosebud, high on my right cheekbone. But for the present my only tattoo is for more private viewing...

5. How many monkeys jumping on the bed?

Totally no clue - but three or four peeps in a bed sounds like a great menage to me, especially if the women get to start first.

6. Which of the books or stories you've written is your favourite?

The Merry Widow - whose main character inspired me to get a mid-life tattoo (my first). Merry unfolds her wings, explores both sides of her bisexuality and never looks back. Gotta love her!

Buy LInk - Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Merry-Widow-ebook/dp/B004I5C376/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1299810790&sr=1-15

Whiskey Creek: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=258

BLURB

For recently widowed accountant Merry Delaney, sex didn’t stop at forty—it stopped in her mid thirties, shortly after her husband was diagnosed with M.S. Now it’s time for a change. A sizzling kiss from her best friend Camille St. Jermaine introduces Merry to Girls’ Night Out, but she’s hardly going to stop there. Chicago Detective Jim Barnes solicits Merry’s help with a mob funds-skimming case, spies on her while she entertains female and male lovers, entices her into hot phone sex, and finally takes her wildly in her foyer. Can the scorching passion that soon smolders between Merry and Jim survive the escalating mob threats of exposure?

Pardon My French (Orgasms)

Some readers like a little TMI in a blog post once in a while, so if you're averse to hearing the intimate details of my most intimate moments...well, you're probably not one of them. But if you are "one of them" (looks daunting when I put it in quotes, doesn't it?) then you might be interested in a little linguistic quirk I've only just noticed about myself:

When I come on my own, I come in French. When I come with a partner, I come in English.

Every time.

Weird, huh? And I'll tell you how I made this "discovery" (though, this is something I probably should have picked up on over the years. I mean...really!) I only noticed when I slipped up one time.

I was in bed with Sweet and I heard myself say, "mon dieu." Not "My God," but "mon dieu." Something clicked. There was a moment...a jolt of...something. I don't know if it started with Sweet or if it started with me, but there was a moment between us...a momentary...pause. It was almost like I'd shouted somebody else's name. It just wasn't the right thing to say.

We do get into patterns in bed, don't we? Even linguistic patterns. Sweet tells me she knows I'm about to come when I start calling her "babygirl." LOL. She's right, though. I hear it now. There are go-to terms, catch-phrases we have, that only come out when we're really excited. That's one reason I never fake orgasms--I figure, with a partner who actually listens to me, it would be transparent.

So this incident of "mon dieu" was out of the ordinary simply because my language light flickered momentarily. I just think it's funny that I can call my girl a dirty slut or ask her, "You just love it when I rub my pussy all over your face, don't you, you little whore?" and she's all yes, yes, yes, but I slip into French one time and everything comes to a standstill.

It wasn't actually a big deal, more of a curiosity. In fact, for me it sparked the realization that, in an intimate sense, French is a private language. It's something I hold back. I almost never speak French in public, though when I'm at home it's language in which I talk to myself, and even to my cats. I keep it inside because...well, even in Canada there are English-speaking stereotypes about the French and (what I find to be strange) conceptions around the French language: that people speak it to show off, to demonstrate superiority, illustrate educational status, etc.

I've always been the type of person accused of reading too much in to everything, and maybe that's why I'm dissecting what could just as easily be written off as a quirk. Out of context it would seem a little odd that I would subconsciously reserve a language for my own personal use, but in light of external perceptions? Maybe it's not strange at all.

French food for thought, hmm?

Hugs,

Giselle