What Are You Wearing?

Hey, baby...

What are you wearing right now?

Some skimpy panties? Some handsome boxers? Or is a thong more your style?

What's over that? Are you the suits and tie type? Sundresses and flowers in the hair? How about those jeans that fit just right? Are you a lace and silk kind of girl? Are you a flannel and cotton kind of guy?

But more importantly, what are you wearing to bed?

What does your lover encourage you to pull out of the closet before the lights go out? And what happens when you're in that sexy thing, whatever it might be?

Will you tell me all about it?

Over at the Mischief blog, we're talking about the sexiest things in our closet. What do you think is in mine? Click over there to find out.

And of course, tell us what you wear when it's sexy time!

Let Me Seduce You...

Ah, yes. Seduction. That's what LoveHoney is all about this month, as they showcase the new Seduction anthology from Black Lace. They've chosen an excerpt from my short story to be feature this month, as well as an interview with yours truly!

You can read an introduction to the book here.

You can read the excerpt from "Rush" here.

And you can read my interview here!

Want to leave your own review of the book? You can do that here.

And...if you order Seduction, you get a free vibrator to help you act out a few of those naughty fantasies between the pages...what could be better?

With all this Seduction going on, it's getting a bit hot in here...

Want to Share Some Whipped Cream With Me?

I've got a ton of whipped cream, ready to share with you...just take a look at the Whipped Cream site, where they took the time to interview me! (What did you think I meant, hmmm?)

In this interview I talk about everything from erotic writing to sensual research to...well, Coca-Cola and lobsters. Seriously!

Click here to take a look at the interview, and don't forget to join the WC yahoo group -- I'll be around this week, answering any questions you might have. Except maybe that question about my most embarrassing moment. There are some things even an erotica writer doesn't tell!

I'm in the Spotlight!

The Author Spotlight, that is. The good people over at Joyfully Reviewed asked me a lot of questions, and I had a lot of answers! I'm talking about my favorite things, finding happily-ever-after and what I think is the most interesting thing about yours truly. Oh...and I talk about writing, too.

Visit the Author Spotlight at Joyfully Reviewed to read the interview.

New Story, New Q & A...

Alana is one of my favorite writers. Ever. And she has one of my favorite blogs on the web, filled with tons of her exceptional writing. Every now and then she posts a Question-and-Answer with an erotic author, and today it's my turn! At Mars with Mars and Venus, you will find a new Q & A with yours truly.

Also posted is "White," a short-short story about addictions. Sex addiction, drug addiction, addiction to the wrong person at the wrong time, addiction to all those crutches that make a crazy lifestyle seem somewhat sane. It's a hardcore look at the secrets of people who could be your next-door neighbors.

Go. Read. Enjoy.

Thanks to Alana for inviting me!

New Interview at Night Owl Romance

I'm talking quite a bit lately!

This time it's at Night Owl Romance, where I answered all sorts of questions about writing. Night Owl Romance also gave my latest novella, After All These Years, a fantastic review. If you don't have your copy yet, why not go here and check it out, then tell me what you think? In the meantime...

Read the Night Owl Romance interview here.

New Interview at Bluegrass Romance Reviews

This week got comfy in my chair, poured a perfect cocktail, and enjoyed the opportunity to talk with Gracie of Bluegrass Romance Reviews. The questions were unusual -- this was not at all your typical kind of interview. I had such fun doing this!

Read the interview here.

Thanks, Gracie!

New Interview at Romance at Heart Magazine

My latest interview is up at Romance at Heart Magazine! It's a great place with a ton of leads on new books, fresh new authors and reviews. This time I'm talking about my new books, works in progress, the business of writing and how my personal life meshes with my career.

Click here to read my interview.

Interview with Amanda Brooks

Amanda Brooks has led an interesting life. She started out as a stripper during college, working major clubs from Dallas to Las Vegas, but eventually her curiosity about escorting led to placing an ad on an online site. A career as an escort was born! After a few years of enjoying herself and pleasing her clients, Amanda retired from escorting and set about writing her first book: The Internet Escort's Handbook.

Read on for more on this fabulous woman:


Tell us about your first time as an escort. Were you nervous, scared, hesitant? How did it compare to the first time you stepped in front of a crowd on a stripper pole? Which was easier?

My first time onstage was horrible, nerve-wracking and excruciating. Not because I was wearing a thong (my very first song was fully-clothed, the second song was topless) but because I didn’t know how to dance and all my practice in my heels at home on carpet was very different from trying to dance in them on a wooden stage. And then I had to try and collect tips onstage, followed by attempts to sell dances once offstage. Although I came to love the stage dancing (and became very good at it), my table-dance-selling skills were always poor. I hated that part of it.

My first official client as an escort made me nervous. I’d screened him with my mentor’s help but I had no idea what to expect. He was a nice man; enthusiastic and full of empty promises (like taking me on a boating trip). But other than his need to assure me he’d come back, he was a great guy. No issues at all. Having stripped for 4 years, the conversation was ridiculously easy, especially since I didn’t have to yell to be heard.

The sexual part was a little awkward, mostly because I wasn’t having much sex in my personal life. I wasn’t worried about making him a repeat client; I just wanted to get through the appointment in one mental piece. Instead, I got a high in knowing I’d made my first client happy and was well-paid for work that came naturally to me. My stripping career ended that hour (I’d kept my locker at the club just in case this escort thing didn’t work out).

Can you tell me about one of your best experiences as an escort?

One of my best experiences...other than meeting my current boyfriend? (It was a wonderful dinner appointment, absolutely perfect.) There are many great experiences I had, in all sorts of ways. There were terrific sexual experiences that I still treasure and wonderful personal connections with clients. I got to enjoy some social benefits, like eating in top restaurants and spending time in the best hotels. I met some amazing men. And a favorite client gave me a fantasy send-off the night I retired, ending with a kiss at midnight. Can’t get better than that!

Were you surprised by any of your escort experiences?

I don’t know that any of my experiences surprised me because I wanted and expected to have good experiences. I was surprised that my boundaries created real taboos for the first time in my life. That was a fun surprise.

And on the flip-side, is there a horror story you would be willing to share?

Other than getting shorted on payment, I can’t say I have any real horror stories. One story that could’ve ended badly was a visit from a young New York man (I normally didn’t see men under 30 for a reason) who accidentally set one of my hand towels on fire in my incall. He smelled it on his way out the door, which was good because I didn’t smell it at all. He had been a bit of a jerk in person and in bed, so this was just a capper. I was happy to see him go – after he put out the fire.

I like how you are so clear about the business. You take the time to make sure all the pitfalls are out in the open, and you counsel those who might be interested to be sure they can handle this profession. Were there any misconceptions you fell for when you were first starting out? What do you feel is the biggest mistake most escorts make?

I was lucky enough to have a mentor who honestly answered all my pesky questions. One misconception I had was in judging my popularity. In strip clubs I was an average dancer, appearance-wise, and most nights were 90-99% rejection. I was not expecting the warm and eager welcome I got as an escort. Not that I’m complaining.

I also discovered that – generally speaking -- the more a man has to pay for your company, the more he respects you. This is not information passed around in the “real” world and I think it’s high time women realized that if they valued themselves, they would get more of what they want from relationships with men, whether they want a paid or unpaid relationship.

A popular misconception among other escorts seems to be the belief only (male) discussion-board posters/reviewers know how escorts should run their business. I’m working very hard, especially in book #2, to get escorts to break free of this stranglehold. I compare it to me telling Bill Gates how to run Microsoft just because I constantly use Windows programs. An escort needs to run her business as her own individual situation dictates, not what hobbyists (who may never even see her) think she needs to do to make money.

One of the things that scared me away from escorting was the near-certainty that I would get personally involved with clients and then have to deal with the emotional fallout. Is this something that happens often? How do you avoid it?

It depends on how you define “personally involved.” An escort should never get involved in clients’ lives. Once the paid time is over, it’s over until the next appointment.

A common misconception is that the only way to do this work is to turn off all emotion. An emotionally-dead escort won’t be popular and will cause emotional problems in herself. It’s quite natural to feel connections with and emotions for clients – it’s a human relationship, after all.

I found myself falling in love with a number of my clients – during our time together. Once our time was over, I went about my life and they went about theirs. Obviously I was not seriously considering starting a relationship with them, but it was fun to allow myself to get swept away for short periods of time. I always regained my perspective.

There were clients who would ask me out. I would be nice while letting them know it wasn’t going to happen. I used the fallback excuse that dating clients is not a good idea (which it isn’t). That was acceptable to them, although I occasionally lost a client after I turned him down. I feel that being straightforward with my clients and not playing emotional games with them prevented the problem with romantic stalkers that some escorts have.

Escorts who have extended appointments with their clients understand that emotions will run high and that’s part of their appeal. They’ve learned how to deflect potential trouble and keep their client relationships in its proper place in their life. Fantasy relationships don’t have to be a negative in anyone’s life, quite the opposite – they can be incredibly rejuvenating. It does take a certain amount of self-awareness and emotional stability, though.

It seems escorting is more about intimacy than it is about sex. You’ve talked a great deal about what the clients enjoy – but what do you find most escorts name as their most enjoyable part of the job?

Depends on the escort. I’ve discovered since retirement how much I miss the constant social interaction with new people. I think a lot of escorts enjoy the same thing. Others love the ego boost they get from being adored. Some openly enjoy the opportunity to travel and live an adventurous life. Some look forward to favorite clients with whom they’ve built a small relationship. Some escorts have had clients for years (long before the Internet boom). One cannot be intimate with another person for a long time without developing genuine feelings and a real relationship. Some probably enjoy the sexual variety the most.

And, for those escorts who depend on escort work for a full-time income, the money is very nice. Of course it is. A healthy income allows for a lot of freedom, independence and control of one’s life.

As an erotica writer, I’m very fortunate to have people around me who are supportive of what I do. That wasn’t always the case. Did you find there were people in your life who were more accepting of your work as a stripper than your work as an escort, or vice versa? How did your profession affect your personal relationships?

I lost one stripper friend who did not feel I was making a healthy decision to start escort work. But then, she thrived as a stripper. I don’t know that she would’ve thrived as an escort. I did not thrive as a stripper but I did as an escort.

Of everyone that I’ve told, I’ve certainly fielded a lot more questions about my escort work than my stripping. I can’t say that one has been accepted more readily than the other. In my experience, those who accept me as a person accept my sex work history equally well.

Escort work affected me very positively. I was much less stressed and I had a better income, all of which made me happier. Even my mother thought I seemed happier as an escort. And I only spent time with people who accepted all of me, which meant the quality of my friends went up.

Boyfriend issues are more severe with escort work than with stripping. There’s no good way of navigating those waters. It has to be done on an individual basis and I still haven’t figured out all the right answers. Having firm boundaries helps, as does the feeling of independence.

Obviously, your new gig as a writer is working! Can you see yourself ever going back into escort work?

If my life situation changed drastically, escort work would be an option, though not my only one. I have nothing against it but I’d like to try and see what I can do with my books first. Going back would be too much like giving up! And I’m stubborn. Not that I feel there’s any shame in escort work, I just don’t want to fall back on it feeling defeated or that I failed in my new career.

What’s next for you?

After I complete this series (book #2’s manuscript is mostly done, then I have #3 and #4), I will want to take a break. I promised an updated compilation volume but right now I don’t even want to think about it. There are other books I’ve thought of and would like to research, but again, the energy is not there right now. Depending on the success of my series, I could either keep on pumping out books, or go on extended tour, or start in a whole new direction and just let these sell as backlist items. I don’t know. I’m too much in the middle of it all to clearly see the end.

To read more about Amanda, visit her Website.

To read more about her book, Click Here.

A New Interview

On Mandy Roth's fun and informative blog, she's interviewing Virgin Authors for her Marketing with Mandy feature. And today, I'm one of them!

Click on the link below to read what I had to say. Also listed there with me is the fantastic Nikki Magennis.

Virgin Authors, Part II

Naked Words with Audacia Ray

When I started reading Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in on Internet Sexploration by Audacia Ray, I was thrilled by the wealth of knowledge. I grabbed my highlighter and started marking passages, making notes in the margins and looking up links mentioned in the text. In other words, it had all the hallmarks of a really good book.

Now that I have done some research on the author, I can understand why the book is so chock-full of information, delivered with such a friendly air. The editor of $pread magazine, director of the award-winning BiApple, and now, writer of a book that is sure to become a definitive guide to Internet Sexploration, Audacia Ray is a powerhouse in the world of sex.

Here she talks a bit about moving into the sex industry, a few of her favorite achievements, and her advice to those who want to get naked on the Internet...

Audacia, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! First: You moved into sex work while in your senior year of college. Was there a turning point at which you decided to work in the sex industry, or did you always have this in mind as a career?

During college I was really fascinated by all different aspects of sexuality, in both the academic and personal senses. However, I was painfully shy so I dove into books instead of the breadth of experiences I craved - I was actually mildly terrified of the sexually free people I wanted to be one of. In my senior year of college I started working at the then-nascent Museum of Sex here in NYC, where I met all kinds of sexual deviants (which I mean in the nicest way possible). These were some of the nicest, warmest people I'd ever met, and I realized that maybe I was more like them than I thought. From there on out it was a slippery slope into being a naked-lady-for-hire, sex educator, erotica writer, sex worker rights advocate, porn director...the list goes on.

You do so many things, and all of them well. Director, curator, writer, activist, executive editor – and on top of all that, you just finished the dreaded Masters Thesis! How do you find time to breathe?

I thrive off of being busy and productive and I am very bad at relaxing. I like variety and I find that there are so many different things I find worthy of attention - so I do a lot. My work is very fun, so that helps keep me going. I don't sleep very much.

I know this is a cruel question, considering how us creative types can never decide between our “babies” – but I’m asking anyway. Which one of your projects over the last few years was your favorite?

As far as solo personal achievement goes, I am most proud of the book, which I buckled down and wrote in less than six months. I had a lot of freedom in writing it, which of course comes with a lot of responsibility - above all, to the people I wrote about. The book gave me space to tell important stories that need telling. At the same time though, I admit to getting misty eyed and choked up every time I see a new issue of $pread. The collective effort of a group of volunteers, many of whom are present or former sex workers, to continuously produce the magazine is a pretty
amazing thing.

Naked on the Internet is a masterful blend of facts and intimate experiences. Did you find anything that shocked you while you were researching for the book?

Initially, I stupidly set out with an outline of points I wanted to make and a list of interviewees I thought could help me make those points. I've spent enough years researching and writing that I should've known better, but I didn't. So I was surprised by how much I didn't know. I think overall I was surprised at the degree to which many women view their very publicly accessible online spaces and expressions as essentially private.

The advice I give to wannabe porn stars applies very well to wannabe Internet provocateurs: think about your worst case scenario - who is the last person you want to discover you online? Now think about what you'll do WHEN they find out. Can you stomach it? Welcome to the Internet! Not so much? Keep your stuff offline.

What’s next for you?

I am working on a project with my dear friend and writing buddy, Jamye Waxman, that will hopefully debut in the fall, though I'll have to remain mysterious about that at the moment. Until then, I'm doing nothing but promoting the book with lots of media appearances and a fairly strenuous book tour that will include events in Amsterdam, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, Chapel Hill, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. I'm also always open to suggestion of more cities and adventures.

**

If you want to catch Audacia's events, both in person and online, check out her schedule here: Waking Vixen.

To read my review of the book on Clean Sheets, click here.

The Many Sides of M. Christian

M. Christian is a fantastic writer, and he gives good interview, too!

We've got him today on Lust Bites, so drop in and see what he has to say.

Interviews!

I've been talking a lot lately, schmoozing with my glass of spiked lemonade in hand, and I've met some great people. A few of those great meetings turned into good interviews, and here they are, if you get the urge to read my ramblings:

Carrie White of Hentracks recently interviewed me, and I talked her ear off. Here's the link. And while you are there, it would be a travesty if you didn't check out the rest of her site. I have wandered over it more than a few times, and I enjoy every corner.

Interview with Carrie White

I also talked with A Slip of a Girl (Isn't that a clever name?!) for her blog. This blog focuses on lingerie, mostly of the vintage variety, and it's the kind of place that makes you want to drench yourself in satin and silk. I dished with her about lingerie and all sorts of other goodies:

A Slip of a Girl Interview

Both fine ladies also excerpted a few of my stories. Both "The Photographer" and "Better Than Brazil" are available on Tit-Elation! Here are the excerpts:

The Photographer

Better Than Brazil

Enjoy!