Unmentionable of Mention

Images: "Bra" by Annie Pootoogook
"Tour Eiffel. Lace pantys" by Endru

Word is getting around about Sex in the City: Paris and some words are being scribbled about my story in particular!

Victoria Blisse (BlisseBlog) writes:

"The Red Brassiere" by EllaRegina is not only clever but entertainingly vivid and sensual too. It is flirty and light and then serious and passionate [...] [,] a wonderful flight of fancy that carries you along with French abandonment from beginning to end.

Steven Hart at Erotica Revealed made me blush with his review:

By far for me, however, the best story in this anthology is EllaRegina's "The Red Brassiere," an homage to the film, "The Red Balloon," by Lamorrisse made in 1956. This story is a truly outrageous surreal fantasy about a flying red brassiere that magically becomes the seductress of all the men in the multi-national capitol of France. I will not spoil this story with further plot elucidation, but I will say that it is a work of delightfully playful story telling that authentically lifts the heart. And that's what makes it so perfect, because despite the endless struggles of urban life, Paris is a city that truly is available to the open heart when it is supported with élan, a little charm and a sense of humor.

I'm also quite thrilled that Xcite Books selected The Red Brassiere as the free extract to represent the anthology. You can do the extracting here. [Click on the Free Extract format bullet, then Add to Basket and Checkout. (Free) registration is required.]

A Garden of Frenzied Delight

Illustration: New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Being in a short story anthology is like being a flower in a botanical garden. In this case, with the delicious and wild Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex, edited by the incomparable Alison Tyler, there are 59 other specimens to consider and enjoy, all of them rare and exotic -- just waiting to be smelled, fondled, licked by the sun, feel a little special.

So it has been recently with "Faceless Filly Seeks Rider," my contribution to this beautiful arrangement of literary flora. Its first shout-out arrived February 13th from an Amazon customer reviewer, Amy Stapleford, who called it "hot, clever, and oh-so-smart." As if that wasn't enough of a Vitamin D tickle, on February 28th, in a full-page book review on the Erotica Readers & Writers Association website, reviewer Kathleen Bradean, a fine author herself, chose six stories to highlight and had this to say about mine:

And while I may have a soft spot for established couples, EllaRegina's "Faceless Filly Seeks Rider," is a sex with a stranger fantasy that got me going. In the form of a Craigslist ad, it is cheeky, smart, funny, and deliciously dirty. Here's a story that can quote French pornographic literature and make it seem earthy instead of pretentious.

Thank you Amy and Kathleen, for smelling my flower, so to speak, speaking of earth.

One thousand fragrant rose petals shall rain on my brilliant writer friend Jeremy Edwards for alerting me to both of these instances. (I was too busy with my nose in the other flowers). Jeremy's wonderful "You in Your Apricot Panties" -- which I like to call "a character study of a delicate underthing" -- about 100 pages away from me in this particular collection, was also given a tip of the solar hat in both venues.

My wish here -- and with every anthology I've been in and will be a part of hence -- is for each lovely flower to ultimately be given its moment of attention and recognition under glowing rays of sunlight. This would make the gardener and all the botanical specimens she has carefully and lovingly assembled very smiley and happy, indeed.

More, More, More!

This website was reviewed today by the lovely and sex-positive EssinEm on the fabulous Jane's Guide! Their slogan: Where we waste our time, so you don't have to!

I like what is said about my erotica. The only "criticism," so to speak: there isn't enough of my erotica here. Fortunately, this can be remedied.

Onwards and upwards!

Thank you and big kisses, Essin' Em and Jane!