I've ranted and raged and complained that Lesbian erotica isn't given a chance by publishers offering "LGBT" novels, who really just mean that they represent "G" erotica, and FINALLY, Finally, got my book Heart of Change accepted by Samhain Publishing. It came out in ebook March 23 and is coming out in print in May...(Thank you Samhain for giving "L" a chance!)

And you know, I've never paid much attention to the Top Ten Erotica List...until HEART OF CHANGE hit number THREE on the Top Ten Erotica List at My Bookstore and More...now I'm obsessed...

And...oh no! Today it dropped to fifth place...it's going the wrong way! So I checked out who is outselling my baby and found a naughty rewrite of The Secretary, different name, different author, and *gasp* an incest novel...eek! I can understand the bdsm office play outdoing my story, but incest? Really?

I'm really hoping my fans will BUY Heart of Change as an ebook this week! Help me to stay on the Top Ten List...knocking the incest novel out of the way is purely optional*wink*

There is also an excerpt if you click the link, so check it out:)

hello Femmes Guide readers, this is a short post because I'm at JFK airport with my partner munching on some homemade red velvet cupcake preparing to head off on our vacation to Portland Oregon (where we moved from years ago). I'm so excited- we haven't been on vacation that wasn't travel for a gig in years so this is quite a treat! anyway I'm getting off femme style with my zebra print suitcase  that is somehow holding enough outfit changes to get me through 5 days of vacation

Expect blog posts upon my return to NYC----the first of which will be a review of Tristan Taormino's brand new anthology "Sometimes She Lets Me" of Butch/Femme Erotica, YUMMY!  best of all the book was delivered by the post office right as we were preparing to walk out the door to the airport, I feel like quite a lucky femme because now I have fantastic airline reading

xoxo

I was really excited when I was asked if I was interested in reviewing Kink Academy because I’ve been hearing such great things about it from just about every leather person I know! That said, I was also a little skeptical of how much I personally would enjoy the site. I’m incredibly blessed that I have a large social network of kinky leather folks in my life, and I envisioned the site would be much more beneficial or interesting for geographically or socially isolated kinky folks….but I was wrong!

Kink Academy is one of those sites that’s continually growing containing video (my favorites being some by Femmes Guide’s own Lee Harrington), forums and curriculums to implement into your own life.  Kink Academy is without a doubt the sex ed class you didn’t get in school but wish you did! It’s got everything from practical skills for tying someone up, to more abstract concepts like negotiation and the reality of living in full time long term power exchange relationships!

It’s not a free site, but with continually new content by educators whose classes are normally much more expensive than this, the registration fee easily pays for itself, and besides you can access it anytime of day or night which means not having to spend hours agonizing about what to wear to the workshop, and focusing on putting together that perfect outfit for your sexy date!

If you have been reading here for a while you likely know that most of the time I don't spend writing about all things glittery and femme is spent writing about the epidemic of LGBTQ youth homelessness and my experience with it.  Most of you also know that I'm the editor of an anthology that was just released called Kicked Out which has brought together the stories of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth. You can learn more about the book on our website www.KickedOutAnthology.com

This Friday is the NYC release of Kicked Out taking place at The Center and if you are in the city I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you there!!!! The evening will include readings by Kicked Out Editor Sassafras Lowrey  (that's me!) & Contributors Lucky Michaels, Ksen Pallegedara, Kestryl Cael, and Kay Barrett!!!!

Friday March 19th 7pm @

The Center 208 West 13th Street

Room 310

(of course i still have yet to decide what i'm going to wear!!! a femme can only be so organized :p )

To say I loved Lynn Breedlove’s newest book “Lynnee Breedlove's One Freak Show” would be a bit of an understatement, I had to read the thing twice before I could even decide how I wanted to review it! The first time was a quick read in less than 24 hours (I couldn’t put it down), and the second time somewhat slower. My copy of the book is now a mess underlines, and stars and margin notes, combined with my water bottle leaked into my purse and the whole thing got soaked. Which is sort of appropriate for a book that made me incredibly nostalgic for my boyhood- the years I spent shooting T, making zines, wearing carhartts and binders that were only washed every couple of months, and listening to music in punk house basement shows.  Like ‘The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You” this wasn’t a book that spoke to me as a femme so much as it spoke to me as a trans person with a transmasculine adolescence.  It made my past boyhood hard and at attention.

One of the strengths of this book is how it doesn’t take itself or any of us too seriously. One of my favorite sections “Alphabet City” offers us a condensed history of our growing acronym of identities is a fantastic example of Lynn’s talent of making us laugh at ourselves.

I really appreciated the honesty and complexity that Lynn brought to the dilemma of medical transition. As someone who has walked those contradictions, I loved the way that Lynn handled the experience of explaining who we are, regardless of how we do or don’t choose to physically modify our bodies.  The aspect of this I was most drawn to was the way Lynn gave voice to the ways in which many of us actually sculpted our lives and bodies, making them an extension of our art. Furthermore, that this is not something new and that we’re part of a tradition of queers who build lives and bodies in order to live at peace in their skins, like the following excerpt that was written about Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon:

“It was dykes like Del who taught me how to charm the ladies and make a boy with whatever’s lying around the house. Duct tape and some Vaseline. And it was femmes like Phyllis who taught me how to tie a tie, hit the spot (no hands), and wear boxers.  They taught me that we can either hang together or be hanged separately.”

One of the critiques I have for books and stories that could be categorized as trans memoir is the way that we can take ourselves too seriously (something I know I’m guilty of at times) but One Freak Show never fell into that trap- and unapologetically called trannies on our shit which made me love it even more, and consider this a definite must read!

“Dyke, fag, and queer are somewhat assimilated into popular queer jargon, but, because the trans community is the last in the long line of queers to win acceptance even from the LGBT community, if you say tranny, even if you are a tranny, you’ll still get glared at by middle class, educated transfeminist trannies on high alert. So label yourself at your own risk.”

Also, if you’re a femme author, artist or zinester I’d love to review your work for the site! If you’re interested, please shoot me an email at Sassafras@PoMoFreakshow.com

20FEMME is shaping up to be an incredible year, and I'm really excited for the Femme Conference. The first one totally changed my life. I did a whole podcast episode about it, if you want to hear all about the 2008 conference. Download Episode 5: Femme Sharks.

Also, you can follow the Femme Collective on Twitter, @femmecollective. I'm doing the tweets.

Here's the call for proposals--I'm hoping that a lot of you can make it out, it's going to be incredible!

Femme2010: No Restrictions
Oakland Marriott City Center
1001 Broadway
Oakland, California 94607
August 19th - 22nd, 2010
www.femmecollective.com

Femme2010: No Restrictions

is a multi-threaded conference and forum for those who think about,

talk about, and create Femme as a queer gender and identity.

Following

our Femme2006 & 2008 conferences in San Francisco & Chicago,

where hundreds of femmes and allies gathered for workshops, panels,

films, visual art galleries and performances, we again invite community

members, artists, academics, homemakers, geeks, techies, activists,

femmes of all kinds, and their allies to continue the conversation by

participating in Femme 2010 as presenters and participants.

We

are invested in having Femme2010 continue to reflect the diversity and

complexity of femme gender, identity and contributions. We hope for

this conference to be a community building event, as well as an exploration and celebration of what it means to build and live queer femme identities.

Submissions

of all kinds are welcome, particularly submissions by femmes. We

encourage proposals by and for people of color, working-class people,

fat folks, elders, youth and people with disabilities. We encourage

submissions that work outside and alongside identity and gender, as

well as those reflecting directly upon identity and gender. Femme2010

will continue the community dialogue from Femme2006 & 08. In

particular, we hope that the intersections of femme with race, region,

class, access, ability, privilege, and marginalization will be talked

about, given space, meditated upon, constructed, and deconstructed.

Finally, we also encourage submissions based on this year’s theme: No

Restrictions.

We began this conference in 2006 out of a desire

to see femme explored and discussed from a variety of perspectives. We

wanted a conference that held the complexities of Queer Femme as its

central focus, while building community. We feel we accomplished that

in 2006 & 2008 and in 2010, we want to continue to build femme

community and bridges, supporting each other across borders and

differences.

We hope to draw participants from across

disciplinary, medium, and social boundaries. We encourage submissions

from anyone interested, regardless of gender or sexual identity. We do

ask that you read our mission statement before submitting.

We are soliciting contributions from anyone interested, including (but not limited to):

> workshops
> panel presentations
> performances
> research presentations
> skill shares
> activist & organizational topics
> visual art
> video or film

Submission deadline is April 15, 2010.

Please submit your proposal through the following links, located at www.femmecollective.com:

Program Submission click here

Performance Submission click here

Film Submission click here

**Please note that the more information we have on your submission,

the more likely we will be able to accept your submission and include

it in the conference schedule.

To learn more about us, our

mission and to contact us with any questions, comments or concerns,

please find us at our website: http://www.femmecollective.com

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