Greta Speaking at Perverts Put Out, Saturday Jan. 21: Winter in America

perverts put out

I’m speaking at Perverts Put Out, San Francisco’s long-running pansexual performance series, on Saturday January 21. (Yes, that’s the day after inauguration day and the day of the Women’s March: I’ll be coming to PPO from the March.) This incarnation of PPO will be the Winter in America Edition, as we mark the beginning of the New Dark Ages. There’ll be post-inaugural anger, defiance and smut as co-hosts Dr. Carol Queen and Simon Sheppard and the usual gang of geniuses, including Greta Christina, Jen Cross, Daphne Gottlieb, Philip Huang, Zoe Kat, horehound stillpoint and Xan West, look forward to years of queer struggle, community, and hot sex. If you’re in San Francisco, I hope to see you there!

DATE/TIME: Saturday, January 21, 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:00)
LOCATION: Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission St., San Francisco (between 9th and 10th, near Civic Center BART)
COST: $10-20 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds
URL: http://www.simonsheppard.com/pervertsputout.html

Greta Speaking at Perverts Put Out, Saturday Jan. 21: Winter in America
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Greta Reading at Perverts Put Out, Thursday July 23! Part of National Queer Arts Festival

perverts out out on black leather

Perverts Put Out! joins the National Queer Arts Festival with a special Pride Week show, featuring Greta Christina, Sherilyn Connelly, Gina DeVries, Daphne Gottleib, horehound stillpoint, Na’amen Tilahun and Xan West, presided over by hosts Dr. Carol Queen and Simon Sheppard. Come celebrate with us!

Perverts Put Out!, San Francisco’s long-running pansexual performance series, has featured stellar line-ups of truly twisted, mega-talented artistes — even an occasional naked mayoral candidate — since way back in 1998. Hope to see you there!

DATE: Thursday, July 23
TIME: Doors 7:00, show 8:00
LOCATION: Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission Street, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)
COST: $10-25 sliding scale

Greta Reading at Perverts Put Out, Thursday July 23! Part of National Queer Arts Festival

What I Hear When I Hear “Not for White People”

Content note: sexual content.

I’m going to make an analogy. It’s going to be flawed, as analogies always are, and if I get stuff about this wrong I hope the people concerned will tell me.

On Our Backs Summer 1984 small
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, I worked for the lesbian sex magazine On Our Backs, the first sex magazine created by dykes and for dykes. We had a fair number of male customers and subscribers, and that was fine with us. We couldn’t have done anything about it even if it hadn’t been fine with us, but it was fine with us. If straight guys who got off on lesbian sex wanted to help bankroll our operation, we weren’t going to argue.

But we didn’t make the magazine for them. We made it for us. When the writers were writing, when the photographers were shooting, when the illustrators were drawing, when the editors were deciding which photos and stories and illustrations and essays and news items to include, we thought about dykes. We thought about the lesbians and bisexual women who were hungry for authentic sexual images of ourselves, who were hungry to see our sexuality recognized and reflected, who were hungry for new ideas about hot things to do in bed. We thought about the dykes who were hungry for a feminism that celebrated the huge variety of lesbian sexual possibilities (i.e., that didn’t shame women for being into kink and dildos and porn).

We never thought, “What will our straight male customers enjoy?” Continue reading “What I Hear When I Hear “Not for White People””

What I Hear When I Hear “Not for White People”

My Erotic Novel Crowdfunder Has Passed $2,000! Thanks, All!

laptop-user 200
Hi, all! I’m writing an erotic fiction novel, I’m crowdfunding for it — and the campaign just passed the $2,000 mark! Big thanks to the 73 backers so far who have kicked in. This support is going to give me the time I need to complete this book, and your confidence in my work means a lot. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy your perks (detailed below) — and mostly, I think you’re going to enjoy the hell out of this book.

For those who haven’t contributed but are interested: My novel is currently titled Coming. It tells the story of one woman’s sex life, starting in 1970 when she’s 18, and ending in roughly the present day. Each chapter describes a different sexual encounter, at a different point in her life: essentially, the book is a series of intense sex scenes, with several years between them. I’m looking at this woman’s life — her name is Sheila — through the lens of sex. I’m exploring Sheila’s sex life, the rest of her life, and how they intertwine. In particular, I’m looking at how she makes choices about sex: Sheila is often adventurous, even reckless, and she makes decisions impulsively, but she’s also cautious, a careful planner, and likes to be in control. I’m interested in how being both impulsive and a control freak plays out out in her sex life.

Yes, I’m writing the novel with lots of fun, hot, sexy sex. Women with women, women with men, probably some men with men, probably some gender fluidity, some of it kinky and SM-y, some of it not. It is an erotic novel, and I’m making it erotic. It’s also a novel — a story about people’s lives. As you know if you’ve read my erotic fiction, I hate erotica that’s, “plot, sex scene, plot, sex scene.” I don’t see these as separate. Erotica is much hotter when you feel what the sex feels like — not just what’s happening physically, but the emotions, the sensations, how this sex is going to change the characters’ lives.

Bending cover
I’m not going to be falsely modest — as an erotic fiction writer, I am very good at this, it’s one of the things I do best. People who have read my short erotic fiction collection, Bending, can attest to this. Don’t take my word for it — the reviews, both professional and from customers, are glowing.

So. Hopefully you’re intrigued, and want to read this novel. Why am I doing an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign?

There are expenses with writing and publishing a book. I generally self-publish my ebooks, which means paying a formatter. I’m a control freak about cover design, which means I get wonderful covers — but also means I have to pay a designer.

But the Number One expense of writing a book is time. Books do not spring fully formed from an author. It takes time — and I’ll need to pay the bills and the mortgage while I’m writing it. I’ll keep doing my other paid writing — blogging, magazine articles, etc. — but I won’t able to do as much of it. Writing a book is immensely fun, deeply rewarding — erotic fiction especially — and it produces something of substance that people want to read. But it takes time. Whenever you buy a book, or support an author’s crowdfunding campaign, that’s most of what you’re paying for. The more money I raise, the more time I’ll be able to put into this book, and the better it will be.

I’m offering a number of perks for donators. They’re listed on the Indiegogo page. Perks include: advance ebook copies; signed print copies; exclusive progress reports; invitation to a private launch party; a PDF copy of my “Kill Your Darlings” file for the book (a rare glimpse into the creative process!); a one-on-one Skype conversation discussing the book (no, it will not be Skype sex!); or copies in all formats of every book I’ve ever published, and every book I ever publish from now on, with all print copies signed with a personalized Thank you. But mostly, I hope you want to read this novel. Please kick in what you can, and please help spread the word. Thanks!

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

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My Erotic Novel Crowdfunder Has Passed $2,000! Thanks, All!

Yes, I’m Asking For Donations For an Erotic Novel

Your asking for donations for a porn novel? Are you kidding?

A commenter on Facebook asked this the other day, replying to a post about the crowdfunder I’m doing for my erotic novel, Coming. Here’s my reply:

Yes, I am.

laptop-user 200
I think sex is important and interesting, and I think it’s worth writing about, in both nonfiction and fiction. I’ve been writing about sex from a feminist, queer, political perspective for decades – long before I started writing about atheism. Many of my readers enjoy and respect my writing about sex, and want to support it and read more of it.

If you don’t want to read this novel and don’t want to support the crowdfunder for it, don’t. Not everyone is interested in everything, and that’s fine: I’m probably not going to support a crowdfunder for a book about golf. But if you hold sex writing in contempt and think the very idea of asking for support for it is ridiculous, I’m going to ask you to either reconsider that opinion or leave my page.

And for those who do enjoy and respect my writing about sex, and want to support it and read more of it: Here’s the link to the crowdfunder! A little more about the novel: Tentatively titled Coming, it tells the story of one woman’s sex life, starting in 1970 when she’s 18, and ending in roughly the present day. Each chapter describes a different sexual encounter, at a different point in her life: essentially, the book is a series of intense sex scenes, with several years between them. I’m looking at this woman’s life — her name is Sheila — through the lens of sex. I’m exploring Sheila’s sex life, the rest of her life, and how they intertwine. In particular, I’m looking at how she makes choices about sex: Sheila is often adventurous, even reckless, and she makes decisions impulsively, but she’s also cautious, a careful planner, and likes to be in control. I’m interested in how being both impulsive and a control freak plays out out in her sex life.

Yes, I’m writing the novel with lots of fun, hot, sexy sex. Women with women, women with men, probably some men with men, probably some gender fluidity, some of it kinky and SM-y, some of it not. It is an erotic novel, and I’m making it erotic. It’s also a novel — a story about people’s lives. As you know if you’ve read my erotic fiction, I hate erotica that’s, “plot, sex scene, plot, sex scene.” I don’t see these as separate. Erotica is much hotter when you feel what the sex feels like — not just what’s happening physically, but the emotions, the sensations, how this sex is going to change the characters’ lives.

Bending cover
I’m not going to be falsely modest — as an erotic fiction writer, I am very good at this, it’s one of the things I do best. People who have read my short erotic fiction collection, Bending, can attest to this. Don’t take my word for it — the reviews, both professional and from customers, are glowing.

If this makes you want to read the novel — please kick into the crowdfunder if you can! I’m offering a number of perks for donators, including signed copies of the book, regular updates about the book’s progress, invitations to a private book launch party, one-on-one Skype conversations about the book, and thank yous, of course. (A complete list of perks is on the Indiegogo page.) If you don’t want to read the novel, that’s totally fine; whether it’s because you don’t like erotic fiction or aren’t interested in this particular book. But if you’re going to express dismissive contempt for the very idea of erotic fiction as something of value, you picked the wrong writer to tangle with.

Yes, I’m Asking For Donations For an Erotic Novel

I’m Writing an Erotic Fiction Novel, “Coming” — And I’m Crowdfunding!

computer keyboard with hands
Hi, all! I’m writing an erotic fiction novel, and I’m crowdfunding for it! I’m giving all sorts of perks for people who kick in (details below, and at Indiegogo of course) — but mostly, I hope you just want to read the book.

My novel is currently titled Coming. It tells the story of one woman’s sex life, starting in 1970 when she’s 18, and ending in roughly the present day. Each chapter describes a different sexual encounter, at a different point in her life: essentially, the book is a series of intense sex scenes, with several years between them. I’m looking at this woman’s life — her name is Sheila — through the lens of sex. I’m exploring Sheila’s sex life, the rest of her life, and how they intertwine. In particular, I’m looking at how she makes choices about sex: Sheila is often adventurous, even reckless, and she makes decisions impulsively, but she’s also cautious, a careful planner, and likes to be in control. I’m interested in how being both impulsive and a control freak plays out out in her sex life.

Yes, I’m writing the novel with lots of fun, hot, sexy sex. Women with women, women with men, probably some men with men, probably some gender fluidity, some of it kinky and SM-y, some of it not. It is an erotic novel, and I’m making it erotic. It’s also a novel — a story about people’s lives. As you know if you’ve read my erotic fiction, I hate erotica that’s, “plot, sex scene, plot, sex scene.” I don’t see these as separate. Erotica is much hotter when you feel what the sex feels like — not just what’s happening physically, but the emotions, the sensations, how this sex is going to change the characters’ lives.

Bending cover
I’m not going to be falsely modest — as an erotic fiction writer, I am very good at this, it’s one of the things I do best. People who have read my short erotic fiction collection, Bending, can attest to this. Don’t take my word for it — the reviews, both professional and from customers, are glowing.

So. Hopefully you’re intrigued, and want to read this novel. Why am I doing an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign?

There are expenses with writing and publishing a book. I generally self-publish my ebooks, which means paying a formatter. I’m a control freak about cover design, which means I get wonderful covers — but also means I have to pay a designer.

But the Number One expense of writing a book is time. Books do not spring fully formed from an author. It takes time — and I’ll need to pay the bills and the mortgage while I’m writing it. I’ll keep doing my other paid writing — blogging, magazine articles, etc. — but I won’t able to do as much of it. Writing a book is immensely fun, deeply rewarding — erotic fiction especially — and it produces something of substance that people want to read. But it takes time. Whenever you buy a book, or support an author’s crowdfunding campaign, that’s most of what you’re paying for. The more money I raise, the more time I’ll be able to put into this book, and the better it will be.

I’m offering a number of perks for donators. They’re listed on the Indiegogo page. Perks include: advance ebook copies; signed print copies; exclusive progress reports; invitation to a private launch party; a PDF copy of my “Kill Your Darlings” file for the book (a rare glimpse into the creative process!); a one-on-one Skype conversation discussing the book (no, it will not be Skype sex!); or copies in all formats of every book I’ve ever published, and every book I ever publish from now on, with all print copies signed with a personalized Thank you. But mostly, I hope you want to read this novel. Please kick in what you can, and please help spread the word. Thanks!

Comforting Thoughts book cover oblong 100 JPG
Coming Out Atheist
Bending
why are you atheists so angry
Greta Christina is author of four books: Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More.

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I’m Writing an Erotic Fiction Novel, “Coming” — And I’m Crowdfunding!

Why Godless Perverts is Supporting St. James Infirmary for the Holidays

outlaw-poverty-not-prostitutes-st-james-infirmary

This post was written by Chris Hall for Godless Perverts, and originally appeared on the Godless Perverts website.

We may be Godless, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to party. For the last two years, we’ve helped the non-believer community celebrate the winter holidays in a secular fashion by holding the Godless Perverts Holiday Fun Time, a social event complete with icebreaker games, weird songs, and decadent desserts. We’re having it at Borderlands Café this year, a magnificent community space, and we’ve got a lot of great uses planned out for it.

We’ll have our usual silly icebreaker games, goofy but fun holiday songs (Walt Kelly’s “Deck Us All With Boston Charlie” is a perennial favorite), delicious potluck holiday treats (bring your favorite to share – we will!), and the pleasure of connecting with our fellow secularists. And this year, Greta’s going to be giving openly fraudulent Tarot card readings! She’s almost completely guaranteed not to tell your future (except by accident), but it’s just as sure to be a great deal of fun. It’ll be on Saturday, December 12, 8-11 pm, at Borderlands Café, 870 Valencia St. in San Francisco, near the 24th St. & Mission BART station.

This year, as you may know, we’re doing it a little bit differently. The Godless Perverts Holiday Fun Time is not only going to be fun, but it’s going to be a fundraiser for an organization that we’ve admired for a long time: The St. James Infirmary.

To do that, we’re trying to raise $700 to pay for space rental, refreshments, and assorted expenses of this year’s party. We’re almost just over halfway there, thanks to the generosity of some of you. As we get closer to our goal, we thought that it would be a good time to talk about the organization that we’re supporting this year, and why we think that they’re so awesome.

St James Infirmary Ad: Someone You Know is a Sex Worker
What is St. James Infirmary?

In a nutshell, the St. James Infirmary is an occupational health clinic run by and for sex workers. Founded in 1999 by members of COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) and the Exotic Dancers Alliance, they remain the first and only of their kind. They provide sex workers of all genders with health care and counseling of all kinds, including primary care service, gynecological and urological medical care, STI testing and counselling, needle exchanges, and support groups. Trust us when we say that all of this work does much more for sex work communities than any of the various “rescue” operations (i.e. arresting sex workers for their own good), or john-shaming programs that are popular in mainstream politics.

Why Sex Workers Need Their Own Health Care Resources

Sometimes when people hear about St James, the first response is to ask why sex workers need health care resources especially for them. The simple answer is that even the most legal sex work – such as stripping or adult modelling – is heavily stigmatized. For that matter, sexual pleasure is heavily stigmatized. Most doctors aren’t trained in how to address human sexuality beyond matters of basic physiology, and certainly not in the day-to-day realities of sex work. Have you ever tried to talk to your doctor or a nurse about discomfort “down there” or problems with how your body feels during sex? For most people it’s an incredibly uncomfortable experience. Imagine the difficulty of doing that if you also add in the problem that your work is, by its nature, either illegal or socially condemned. Continue reading “Why Godless Perverts is Supporting St. James Infirmary for the Holidays”

Why Godless Perverts is Supporting St. James Infirmary for the Holidays

“Unlike any erotica I’ve previously read”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”

The print edition of my erotic fiction book, Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More, is now available! I’ve gotten some nice Amazon customer reviews for it, and I thought I’d repost some of them. Here’s a good one, five stars out of five. (As of this writing, the book has nine customer reviews, and eight are 5-star reviews, with one 4-star.) Here’s what Lori had to say:

Good. Very good.

An exquisite exploration of boundaries. Finding them, testing them, and sometimes brutally crossing them. Unlike any erotica I’ve previously read, it is thought provoking as well as orgasm inducing. A nice combination.

Thanks, Lori! And if any of you have read Bending, it’d be awesome if you’d post a review.

***

Here, by the way, is ordering info for the book! Continue reading ““Unlike any erotica I’ve previously read”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More””

“Unlike any erotica I’ve previously read”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”

“Greta is an AMAZING writer”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”

I’ve gotten some nice Amazon customer reviews for my book Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More — now available in print as well as ebook and audiobook — and I thought I’d repost some of them. Here’s a good one, five stars out of five. (As of this writing, the book has nine customer reviews, and eight are 5-star reviews, with one 4-star.) Here’s what Jennifer Erwin “jennie” had to say:

A much loved present for anniversary

Hubby bought us this book for our anniversary trip a couple of weeks ago.
We both loved it! Super hot addition to our weekend away.
Not all the stories were right for both of us, but enough were.
Greta is an AMAZING writer, and these are way better than any romance novel I’ve ever read.

Thanks, Jennifer! And if any of you have read Bending, it’d be awesome if you’d post a review.

***

Here, by the way, is ordering info for the book! Continue reading ““Greta is an AMAZING writer”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More””

“Greta is an AMAZING writer”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”

“Simply one of the best contemporary erotic writers alive”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”

Bending-cover-jpg-150
I’ve gotten some nice Amazon customer reviews for my book Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More, and I thought I’d repost some of them. (The book is now out in paperback print, as well as ebook and audiobook!) Here’s a good one, five stars out of five. (As of this writing, the book has nine customer reviews, and eight are 5-star reviews, with one 4-star.) Here’s what Susie Bright had to say:

Mouth AND Pants-Dropping!

Greta and I worked together at “On Our Backs” in the 1980s. As llong as I’ve known her, she has been a visceral erotic philosophizer, the kind of person I’d want to put in a time machine just to go back and spar with De Sade.

I think she’d lay him out flat.

Christina is fearless about difficult topics– and furthermore, taking a taboo, like “shame” or humiliation and putting them in a wicked sexual context where there are NO banal lessons to be doled out. This is not your after-school-special erotica.

I published her work repeatedly in “Best American Erotica,” and her first novella “Bending,” (reprinted here). I nearly added her essay “Are We Having Sex Now or What?” to my email signature! When she hands me a new manuscript, I cancel my evening plans… and I hope you will enjoy the same singular sensation. She is simply one of the best contemporary erotic writers alive, and this collection is mouth- and pants-dropping.

Thanks, Susie! (In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that Susie is a long-time friend, colleague, and mentor, and is also my editor at Audible.) And if any of you have read Bending, it’d be awesome if you’d post a review.

***

Here, by the way, is ordering info for the book! Continue reading ““Simply one of the best contemporary erotic writers alive”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More””

“Simply one of the best contemporary erotic writers alive”: Amazon Customer Review of “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”