Double Delight
I’ve peaked! Today sees the official UK release of The Mammoth Book of the Best of the Best New Erotica, a collection of stories selected from fifteen volumes of Maxim Jakubowski‘s bestselling series.
This is doubly delightful because a) I’m in it! And b), for the first time in the series we’ve got a guy included on the cover instead of the usual single, white, sexualised female. Awesome, no? Those of you with long memories may recall that Erotica Cover Watch, the blog I co-founded to campaign against sexism in erotica publishing, launched with a criticism of Mammoth’s covers. When we started ECW, we were concerned (and warned) that speaking out might damage our writing careers. So for me, personally, being in this book represents an artistic and political success. I’m thrilled!
It was also nice to find out about the couple-cover after hearing the sad news that Filament, a magazine that has done masses to challenge the notion that women aren’t interested in eyeing up men, are to close after a hugely successful run.
But to go back to a) I’m in it!, Mammoth is a series which, over the years, has featured fiction from Anne Rice, Kathy Acker, Leonard Cohen, Poppy Z Brite, Ramsey Campbell plus numerous well-respected names from the erotica genre. In his introduction to this new volume, Jakubowski recalls his struggle in the early 90s to persuade his publishers to take erotica on board, and makes a strong case for the validity of erotica as a genre with relevance and literary merit.
Sex was and always will be an integral part of the human make-up and I do strongly feel it is essentially dishonest to censor it out of our writings for the sake of propriety or social convenience. […] Here are thirty wonderful tales of sex, life, hotness, passion, of erotica at its best. If you have not been converted to the sensual and intellectual pleasures of our genre already, this is your chance.
You hear that? This is your chance!
Your choices are: Amazon UK paperback, Amazon UK Kindle and coming soon, Amazon US paperback, Amazon US Kindle.
Best of the Best includes fiction from Marilyn Jaye-Lewis, Poppy Z Brite, Thomas S Roche, Matt Thorne, Carol Queen, Carole Anne Davis, Lucy Taylor, Michael Hemmingson, Lauren Henderson, M. Christian, Mike Kimera, Donna George Storey, Alison Tyler and more. I don’t think I’ve ever been in an anthology where so many of the contributors have wikipedia entries.
Anyways, Happy New Year to you all!
I’d like to wish you Happy New Rear too but, um, eyes right, our ass is currently being corrected! Alison privately confessed she’s always had difficulties with the word ‘annual’ … but anal? Alison Tyler?
8 Comments »
Leave a comment
Kristina Lloyd
I write erotic fiction about sexually submissive women who like it on the dark, dirty and dangerous side. My novels are published by Black Lace (Ebury) and my short stories appear in a range of anthologies, including several “best of” collections, in both the UK and US. I’ve written non-fiction for publications such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times Travel, The International Business Times (God knows how I managed that one), and more.
I’m currently (2018) on a massive erotica-writing hiatus which may turn out to be permanent.
I live in Brighton, a coastal town in the south east of England, often referred to (but never by me) as ‘London-by-the-sea’. Brighton is the setting for my controversial and most popular novel, Asking for Trouble. Check out some reader reviews here.
Praise for Kristina Lloyd
“Kristina Lloyd is one of my favorite writers… Her atmospheric style sends me into orbit” – Alison Tyler
“Kristina makes no apology for writing transgressive fiction with some heavy female submission” – Elizabeth Coldwell
“a very gifted author” – Violet Blue
“Aside from being intensely erotic, Kristina’s fiction does not shy away from taking sex to extremes. And all of this accomplished with a literary finesse that makes her writing truly distinctive” – Ashley Lister
“disgustingly clever and graceful” – Graydancer
“superbly horny… will restore your faith in BDSM literature” – Skin Two
“No one does damaged characters better than Lloyd and has a clearer open line to the well of cravings and obsessions.” – Maxim Jakubowski
Interviews
Interviewed by For Books' Sake
"Our culture doesn’t offer many options for women to be sexual beings on their own terms."
Interviewed in Skin Two
"The combination of sex and danger carries a powerful erotic charge."
Top Posts & Pages
Kristina Lloyd 
Congratulations!! Best of best erotica: now that really gives a new resonance to the expression “crème de la crème.” ; )
oh..now i m all curious:-)
congrats!!
and i m quite sad that filament goes belly up:-( i never read it but i know it was important in a world where this kind of magazine only aims on beeing attractive for men…
Danielle, I’m so happy to see you back in blogland and brightening the place up! Welcome home! We were talking about you on Facebook today. Were your ears burning?
Anyway, will catch up with you and your blog very soon. x
And thank you Jeremy!
ha..then that must have been the reason why i felt like finally comming back!
thank you for the warm welcome:-)
i just read the german version of your spanish story last week..or was it the week before? dont know…but i can tell you that it reads really good and the translator did a fine job…captured the vibe of the story perfectly and translated it into perfection…
Ooo, I didn’t know it had been translated! Is this ‘On My Knees in Barcelona’? Do you have a link or details, please? I’ll have to dig out my contract. There’s usually money in sales of foreign language rights. Anyway, I’m glad to hear it translated well.
yes it is!! on my knees in barcelona
of course i know both the english and now the german version and i was really pleased with the translation…thats not always the case unfortunately…:/ but this is done really good…
i think its unbelievable that you (and maybe the other writers in this book havent) been informed that they are translated into german…
its violet blues best womens erotica
in german its called: hot games: erotic tales
(hot in the sense of spicey)
i guess i dont have to mention that i loved your story in the german version as much as i did in the orginal:-)
Thanks Danielle, ve-ery interesting! And yes, rude not to notify the authors but hopefully at some point soon, we’ll all be notified in the form of cheques. Anyway thanks for your positive words on the piece!