February is the month of love and romance and what could be more romantic than an upside-down kiss? Or, as it's more popularly known: the Spiderman Kiss. I don't do role-play very well. I have a very pragmatic nature and struggle through enough difficulty playing the...
It occurred to me just as I was sitting down to write this month's column that Valentine's Day—with its perfect blend of sex, food, and writing—is my holiday. No other holiday celebrates sex so freely, although eros does tend to be modestly cloaked in romance....
I have a real love-hate relationship with my Holy-Terror brother-in-law, Charlie. On the one hand, he hates practically everything about me and what I stand for, but on the other hand, he loves reminding me of that fact at every opportunity. For that matter, I hate...
They were supposed to be the modern wonder drug. Designed to treat mood disorders, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, were supposed to be safer and more effective than the tricyclics and MAO inhibitors they preceded. Mood disorders, as we knew them,...
Welcome to 2008 and the spinning, vertigo-inducing New Age of the graphic novel. The struggle for dominance is over. Old school print-only books are not dead by any means, but peaceful co-existence is achieved. Doubt me? Then take a stroll into your local Borders or...
As an erotica writer and editor with several years of webzine and other editing and three print anthologies under my belt to date, I fairly often get asked for my advice on the matter of writing erotica. I'm certainly not the first person to have spoken to this issue...
My first erotic stories were explicit fantasies written to please a lover. The characters were idealized versions of our selves. The only plot dynamic was the inexorable building of sexual tension leading to our mutual release. These tales had an intensity that still...
Quality erotic writing sets the bar high and by making it a goal you raise your own sights even higher. Reputable editors of literary erotica choose stories which have extraordinary wordcraft, plot and characterization. Many short pieces have daring experimental...
After reading last month's column about the special challenges inherent in raising boys into men (Get All Worked Up About Real Men), my Lovely Wife reminded me that the challenge of raising daughters into women is also fraught with unique complications. As if I needed...
The writer in me doesn't much care for New Year's resolutions. On the whole they tend to be boring and humorless—the opposite of a compelling story. Many seem almost punitive for the over-indulgence of the year-end festivities: Eat less—and less interesting—food,...