It’s cold outside, and I’m sick as an abandoned kitten, but this review by Ashley Lister at the esteemed Erotica Readers and Writers Association for my new (edited) collection Best Women’s Erotica 2008 has me basking in the glow of accomplishment (and proud as hell for all the authors). Snip:
Best Women’s Erotica 2008 is the latest incarnation of Cleis Press’s deservedly celebrated anthology of erotic literature. The inimitable Violet Blue has been slaving laboriously over submissions (pause — enjoy that image, take a deep breath — continue) to produce a collection that deserves to be presented with the word BEST in its title.
The anthology starts off with Jacqueline Applebee’s “Penalty Fare,” a sensational story about the pleasures of enjoying a free ride on British trains. Having been on many British trains in my time I know there are very few genuine pleasures to be had on them, but the Paddington to Temple Meads journey in “Penalty Fare” comes as a marvellous introduction to a splendid anthology.
And then we’re in Hampstead, standing in a phone box as shelter from typically British weather, while Morticia Catherine’s heroine begins a deliciously explicit adventure in “Getting Sorted.”
Best Women’s Erotica 2008 is a strong collection of powerful stories. Boy meets girl. Woman meets men. Girl meet girl. Women watch men. The variations on the theme of sex and sexcitement are consistently imaginative and invariably entertaining.
A.D.R. Forte’s “Mercy” involves a wonderfully decadent threeway that leaves her heroine (and her reader) satisfied on many levels. Donna George Storey’s “Wet” takes us to Kyoto — the same Kyoto she exposed so well in Amorous Woman — where Donna now introduces her protagonist to a black-belt in cunnilingus.
These stories aren’t only erotic — they’re also enjoyable for their strong characterisation and clever narrative devices. Sex is different for each of us with every experience. This anthology is a glorious celebration of all those wonderful and warming differences.
(…) Link.
