Rachel Kramer Bussel is one of the most prolific writers of erotica today. Her writing has appeared in over 60 anthologies over the past six years, she has contributed to over a dozen publications and currently writes for three magazines, two webzines and two blogs. It's a miracle she finds time to sleep!
But believe it or not, Bussel also curates a reading series, is producing a comedy show and she attends all sorts of Manhattan events that you'd imagine would appeal to such a seasoned smutmeister. Here she takes some time away from tip-tapping on her keyboard to have a few words with ErosZine.
Eros Zine: You are by far one of the most prolific smutmeisters
around! Your work has appeared in over 60 anthologies? Where
do you find the time?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Well, those 60 anthologies go back to 2000, when my very first erotica story, "Monica and Me" (a fictional story about Monica Lewinsky, and, well, "me"), was published. I feel like I kind of fell into writing erotica, back when I was in law school and reading a lot of smut and just started writing down some fantasies. I've been really pushing myself to write about things I might not otherwise cover, moving beyond my early autobiographical stories to write gay male erotica, foot fetish erotica, hot weather erotica, etc. Sometimes I just wake up in the middle of the night and have a random story idea, and play around with it -- sometimes they just come out perfectly right off the bat, and sometimes I have to futz with them for a long time.
Also, it's been amazing how in the last five years the erotica market has just exploded. I can barely keep up with all the calls for submissions passing through my inbox, so there are a lot more opportunities for us smutmeisters. I like that because it challenges me to write about things I might never have thought of.
Eros Zine: What's it like working at Penthouse?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Unfortunately for those who might imagine otherwise, it's really a very normal job. Our office is pretty much like any other office. Our Variations staff consists of only three people, which is nice, because we each do our work and there's not a lot of bureaucracy or paperwork, so we can just focus on the smut.
Eros Zine: Variations is known as the fetishy title in the Penthouse group. Is it still that way? What kind of stuff do you write for them?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I'm Senior Editor there, and I'm in charge of the letters, which are shorter than the stories and usually capture one, possibly two, sex scenes. Yes, we're still very fetishy, but we really have a wide range of things we cover, from anal and oral sex to threesomes, exhibitionism and voyeurism, to all the kinky stuff like spanking, bondage, female domination, and general SM. Within those, there's room for everything from a fetish for fishnets to meeting people online, but we cater to the BDSM folks and to couples and other people who want to read about all kinds of sexy fantasies. I edit letters that come in via email and snail mail. My favorite are the handwritten ones, because you just don't see that too often. You can visit Variations.com for some free sample stories to get a feel for what we do.
Eros Zine: How does it differ from what you write for The Village Voice?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: The main difference is that the Voice is nonfiction, and not necessarily erotic. What I love about the Voice column is that I can write about anything that strikes my fancy, from having sex with Betty Dodson's boyfriend to threesomes to posing nude to being pro-choice to professional submissives. I have some upcoming ones on boobiesexuals (straight women and gay men who are into women's breasts) and drunk sex. The Voice has such a wide readership that I don't try to cater to one specific segment, I just cover the things that fascinate me. I'm always surprised at what people respond to. I'll write something I think is provocative and not hear a peep, and then I'll write something I think is just fun and breezy, like about taxicab hookups, and get hate mail!
Eros Zine: And how does what you write for online sites like MediaBistro.com and Gothamist.com differ from printed media like Variations and the Voice?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I think the main difference between writing for online publications and print is that you don't have the space considerations and the feedback is more immediate. The instant something goes up, I can let people know, and it's so easy for them to click through. I really like writing for the web because I'm very big on immediate gratification. If I turn something in and have to wait four months for it to be published, I've likely forgotten about it by the time it comes out. But with the faster turnaround times online, I think the work is fresher. Even with the Voice, which is a print publication, my column is also on their website, and usually goes live a few days before the paper hits the stands.
Eros Zine: You also blog quite a bit. How is that as an outlet for your writing? Is it more personal? Or just more immediate and/or spontaneous?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Ah, blogging. I have a love/hate relationship with it, probably 90/10 in favor of it, but sometimes I get sick of blogs altogether and need to take a little break from reading blogs and posting on mine. I am so addicted to blogging; it's where I go to share both professional news like new publications and events, and my most personal thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I can write things there that I can't tell even my best friends in person, but they understand. Most of my friends blog as well, so that makes it easier. It's also a way to respond to what's in the news, even if it's just with a link, and sometimes themes start to emerge and show me what I might be interested in covering in another forum.
Eros Zine: I see your anthology Naughty
Spanking Stories
is now in its second volume. Are there really that many sexy
spanking stories? And are they all BDSM-ish, or across the board
across the knee? Tee-hee....
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I was surprised, too! I was worried at first that all the stories would tend to sound the same after a while, even for a huge spanking fan such as myself. But what's been totally fun is how many different angles people bring to it. Some are serious and intense and some are lighthearted and funny. For some writers and practitioners, spanking is sort of a game, a purely physical erotic activity, and for others it taps into really deep psychological issues, and I think the anthologies capture both those aspects of spanking really well. The second volume is coming out in September, and I can't wait. My favorite story is by a brilliantly devious and naughty writer named Stan Kent. It's called "Solemate" and is about a woman who gets spanked with some very high-end designer shoes.
Eros Zine: You curate a reading series, the In
the Flesh Erotic Reading Series. How do you choose people
to read? Based on their writing or their delivery? Both?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I've mostly been booking people I know or who I've seen read. I also go for a mix of people and styles, like I'll have one or two "erotica" authors and then maybe some erotic poetry and a fiction writer with a particularly hot scene in their novel. I'm actually looking for more of that -- I had Danyel Smith read from her novel Bliss and she really blew everyone away, it was that steamy, but those books aren't going to be found in the "erotica" section so they have to be recommended to me as being racy.
I'm a total people person so I love getting the chance to meet
some of my favorite writers in the flesh, so to speak, and to
host one-of-a-kind events. On March 15th, we have Maxim
Jakubowski coming from London, and he almost never reads
in the U.S., along with kinky erotica writers Laura Antoniou
(author of the Marketplace
series) and Debra
Hyde, and in April we're doing true sex confessions.
It's fun, sometimes sexy and always very intimate -- there's a lot
of audience/reader interaction. I'm always looking for good readers
though, and you can visit inthefleshreadingseries.blogspot.com
to find out more.
Eros Zine: Aside from your reading series and appearing at other readings, you're mostly an in-print/online person. Any plans in the future for doing anything on video?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I feel like I'm at my best in front of the computer. I'm much more articulate in print, when I have time to ponder what I'm writing. That being said, I am actually hoping to do some talking head commentary. I love pop culture and celebrities and while I get nervous being in front of the camera, I'd like to give that a whirl. I'm a huge fan of the downtown comedy scene and sometimes will do stuff for my friends' shows. I was just in a Valentine's Day show where I had to put condoms on as many bananas as I could in 30 seconds (I made it to three), and I'm doing a comedy show called Brutal Honesty on March 7th, talking about stealing food from the supermarket when I was in college.
Eros Zine: Any interest in doing a porn video? Or sex on camera?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: You know, having sex on camera is one of those things I think would be cool, but I'm way too chicken to actually do it. Like the fantasy me would be totally into it, but I'm really much more of an exhibitionist one step removed. I'm fine with having my photo taken and can get into that, because it's one on one, but having sex live in front of other people kind of freaks me out. I get really self-conscious, so I don't think I'd actually be able to do a porn video. Even masturbating -- Betty Dodson was casting for her masturbation video and I just didn't think I could do it.
Eros Zine: If it's not too personal a question, do you consider yourself a bisexual?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Yes, I'm bisexual, have been for about a decade now. I've had girlfriends and boyfriends, and kind of go through girl crush and boy crush stages. I think ideally I'd like to have a male lover and a female lover, either a triad situation or one on one, but who knows?
Eros Zine: You mention having, well, not much of a sex life. Why do you suppose that is?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Since I started my Voice column, I've definitely had less sex than in previous years. In large part, I think it's that as I've gotten older (I turned 30 last November), I don't feel the need to "prove myself" by having as much sex as possible all the time. I'm a little better able to handle rejection and wait for the right person rather than just hook up with someone because they're there. Maybe I value sex and who I share my body with a little more because I'm surrounded by it all day. I think it's in part that I'm more choosy and I tend to like
very "normal" people who I think are sometimes a little thrown by what I do for a living so I wind up having a lot of unrequited crushes.
Eros Zine: Do you sublimate with your writing? Or are you too busy writing to go out?!
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Oh, I go out quite a bit and it's funny because I'll say to myself "you need to stay in more and write," but it's often when I'm out and about, talking to people about whatever topics come up, that I get story or column ideas. It can be anything from a particularly hot outfit or shoe, or someone mentioning a sexual fetish or problem they have, that'll just spark a train of thought and a conversation. I'm a total voyeur and I love to hear about other people's sex lives.
Eros Zine: You write about almost everything sexual....but what do you enjoy personally?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I like spanking, both giving and getting, but it really depends on who I'm with. If my partner is really submissive, I love being able to top them and tell them what to do and have them listen to me. That's so hot, but not if they're just going through the motions.
I really like flirting with people and anyone smart and good with words who can just kind of surprise me, plant some hot idea in my head that just won't budge, gets me going. I also really like dirty talk. There's no set script or anything, but I definitely get off on having people say naughty things to me in bed, and I always remember what they've said long after we're done.
Eros Zine: What would be your ultimate sexual fantasy?
Rachel Kramer Bussel: This is one of those things I can't really answer in the abstract. It totally depends on the person. Some people make me want to be really crazy and exhibitionistic, and with some people the hottest things we could do happen in private and are just very sweet and intimate. With some people, my fantasies are very tame, but hot to me, like I want to wash their dishes wearing just high heels, or give them a really erotic, long backrub. Other times it's more getting-naked-in-a-taxi type of thing. It's very person-specific; each person I'm with I have very elaborate fantasies about, but they're about things unique to them.
Eros Zine: Well thank you, Rachel! We'll keep an eye on your
blogs and columns to keep track of your sexcapades! And our readers
can find out more about you at rachelkramerbussel.com.
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• EROTICA / ZINE
