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In This Issue:
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From the Editor
Short Story Contest! Spring, 2001!
It's In The Cards
by Ellen Tevault
Call From A Reader
Market Listings
Things Pornos Would Have Us Believe (via the internet)
Goings On - Congrats Cristina Munoz and Sheila Jay!
Q & A - Readers' Questions
Looking for Writers

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From The Editor
Katy Terrega
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Ack! My computer died last weekend! It didn't crash - thank the computer gods that be - but it did spend forty-eight hours in CCCU (Critical Computer Care Unit as my health-care para professional husband put it.)

What a traumatic (well, relatively speaking) experience. And what a revelation as to how much I depend on my computer for everything from actual writing (how did I - and everyone else - ever use a typewriter?!) to record keeping to business (boy, was I glad it wasn't a newsletter-due-out weekend.) My daily life pretty much revolves around my keyboard and screen and I have to admit, I went through a bit of withdrawal.

But on the bright side, the repair didn't cost much, I didn't lose a thing and I got about a thousand chores done that I don't normally have time for. And I got it back on Monday, which still gave me almost a week for the five (eek) things that are due by the first of the month. Coulda been worse...

Now that I've got that out of my system...

Yes, the Spring Short Story Contest has arrived! See below for more details.

This issue we've got a great article from Ellen Tevault on an interesting way to spark story ideas. Cristina Munoz and Sheila Jay have some 'Goings On' and they're good! We've got several good Calls for Submissions...Ivan M. Forbes has a question for y'all...duana sent in a great internet 'joke' about pornos...and, hey!, nobody asked me any questions!

That reminds me, though, if you DID try to ask me a question (or contact me for any other reason) my email was down a couple of days before the my computer got sick, so I may have missed some. As per usual, if you haven't heard from me in three days or so, try again.

Enjoy this newsletter and keep in touch!

Katy
(P.S. Just FYI, if you've been thinking about writing an article for the newsletter, now would be a great time!)

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--- Short Story Contest ---
--- Spring, 2001 ---
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Okay, now that it's official - spring, that is - it's time for the quarterly (so far) Short Story Contest!

As of right this minute you have exactly two weeks to craft that perfect blend of plot, characterization and sex; earning $25 and fame and fortune along the way! Okay, so $25 is not (by any stretch of the imagination) a fortune. But if enough of you enter, I'll up the grand prize amount and/or add a runner up prize.

Take a look at the oh-so-offical Rules and Regulations Here. And while you're at it, don't forget to check out the Winner's Page for some inspiration.

Good luck to you all! I can't wait to read your stories!

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Would you like to link to the Writers' Site?
You can find a banner and code at
http://www.KatyTerrega.com/linking.html
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--- It's In The Cards ---
--- by Ellen Tevault ---
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"The bizarre world of cards...a world of pure politics where rewards and punishments were meted out immediately. A deck of cards was built...with every card a master to those below it..."
Ely Culbertson, Total Peace, Chapter 1 [1943]

What can a deck of cards tell you about an erotic adventure between a dominant and a submissive? To answer this question, I assigned values to the cards to inspire me.

I started with the Aces as the place. I assigned the Ace of hearts to signify the home because of the line "Home is where the heart is." The Ace of clubs symbolized a club for a similar reason. When I first thought about a club I had an sm club in mind, but in a broader sense of the word, it could be a bar or a club like a writing group. I made the Ace of diamonds to be a party, such as a play party, but then again, it could be broadened even more to mean the characters meet at a wedding shower. At first the Ace of spades meant online. Since I found that to be too limiting because I have very little online experience, I changed it to miscellaneous, which can include an online story thread.

Now that I knew the setting based on my Ace card, I used the Kings, Queens, Jacks and the tens to find characters for my story. The King and the Queen cards decided whether the story had a male or a female dominant, and the gender of the submissive character depended on whether I drew a Jack or a ten. Since I figured it was obvious that the Jack was a male character, I assigned the female submissive the ten card.

Now that I knew the where and the who of my story, I used the number cards to clue me into what the characters do according to the various activities that fall under bdsm, including vanilla sex.

At first, a nine card could be cutting, piercing and knife play. Since I do not feel qualified to write about two of these activities, I used it to mean knife play when I drew it. The eight card took on the meaning of role-play, such as teacher and student, while the seven card meant wax play. The six card stood for humiliation, which could be as simple as calling the sub "slut" to a more severe case depending on the characters. The many activities of bondage were assigned to the five card, while the four card covered all activities that belong in the category of vanilla sex. The three card was assigned clamps, including clothespins, but I decided later that it could also mean the act of pinching. The two card became overwhelmed with flogging, whipping (in my mind, with a single tail), paddling, spanking and caning. I figured these activities were similar, but their differences were in the instrument used for the activity.

The first time I implemented this to spark a story, I drew an Ace of hearts, two Jacks, a nine card, and a four card. When I saw the two Jacks, I decided that even if two male subs wanted to scene together, one would have to switch to the dominant role, which would be a King card. I decided I needed to either trade on of them for a higher card or add one for a dominant character. When I drew another card, it was a Queen.

The synopsis of my story for these cards was that a femdom ordered her two male subs to have sex together, while she held a knife to them. A flash fiction of "My Two Boys" will be published in the bdsm section of Amoret Online in March.

I decided after a few dealings with this story prompter that I could lengthen the list of activities by assigning an activity to an individual card instead of a number, such as the five of hearts could be rope bondage. If I broke it up like that, I would have 36 activities, instead of eight categories. Then, I could include sensory deprivation, body worship, shaving, and efeminization, which I prefer to call cross-dressing because it is not as gender specific.

Some activities are assigned to several cards, such as vanilla sex can be the eight of hearts, the five of clubs, three of spades, and the two of diamonds. Depending on my mood, I may break it up and make the eight of hearts oral sex, the five of clubs anal sex, and the three of spades could be a certain position. The meanings of the cards can be tailored for my moods, an editor's preferences, or for another author.

I stayed away from activities that are usually listed in writing guidelines as not wanted, such as scat, bestiality, underage characters, etc. Even though some places use stories with water sports, I decided not to include it in my listing.

If an editor specifies that he wants a femdom/male sub story with no efemization, I can deal myself a Queen and a Jack and reassign the seven of diamonds to another activity, such as breast worship. Once I deal myself an Ace and one to four number cards, I am ready to brain storm a story for the editor.

To begin a new story I shuffle the cards.

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Ellen's bio...

Ellen Tevault lives in the midwest with her cats and her wife, Melissa. She has been published online at Amoret, Galleria Eros, The Dominant's View, Faster Than Life 2000 on geocities. Her male psuedonym, Fred Towers has been accepted for publication in Bearotica from Alyson Publications. She hope that you will be seeing more of her work, since she has about 12 stories still out to editors.

Read more of her writing...
1)"Special Delivery" http://www.AmoretOnline.com - February in the Special Features section
2)Erotic Haiku http://www.domsview.com/Poetry.htm
3)"Genderella" http://www.geocities.com/fasterthanlife_2000
4)"Medusa's Mistress" http://wwwAdultStoryCorner.com/guest/guest.shtml

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Call From a Reader
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Ivan M. Forbes writes...(paraphrased)

I've just finished an erotic thriller and am looking for

1) a list of current publishers of graphic erotic fiction to whom I may send the novel, and

2) a list of agents who handle erotica.

I believe my novel is fast-paced and beyond the normal banal erotic setting of pornographic stories, if only because of the subject matter.

To give you an idea of my novel, I'm including a short introduction about me and a short synopsis of the novel. (Both can be found Here ) It contains close to thirty chapters of rather graphic erotic scenes, and I'm aware most large publishers and agents are put off by that kind of thing. I'm an attorney and had some experiences that led to the novel, described briefly in the paragraph following.

In short, (does anyone know of) a specific market letter regarding book publishers and agents who handle erotica? I'm beginning to download agent's websites (69 of them so far), and go through their specifications, such as The Zack Corporation, which gives good advice about what publishers want in length for a novel (at least 70,000 words) and query letters, but seem rather coy when addressing erotica.

I contacted one group and they replied, "If it's pornography for pornography's sake we probably won't take it. If the story has redeeming qualities and a specific theme or purpose, we may. In this case we'll probably have to look at it before we can tell if it crosses the line between erotica and pornography."

Click Here for Ivan's bio and synopsis...

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--- Market Listings ---
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These markets are not in my usual "listing" format, they came to me as Calls For Submissions and I wanted to pass them along...

CELEBRATE SEX: ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT

Are you a sex-positive person whose life has been affected by a sex-negative upbringing? Are you a sex activist who's struggled with a fight to create a sex-positive image for yourself, a group, a sexual orientation? Do you have a story to tell about how and why you've dedicated your life to sex education, sex work, entertainment, or art?

We are seeking sex-positive essays and creative non-fiction short stories from sex-positive people: writers, artists, sex educators, sex workers, sex activists, and those who celebrate sex as a way of life, a profession, a vocation and a calling for an anthology tentatively titled, Celebrate Sex: Activists Speak Out, a new book proposal currently pending a publisher. Email for guidelines. Email: sexcats@earthlink.net (Jamie Joy Gatto) Deadline: June 1, 2001

Stories and essays are required to be written reflecting the positive outcome of a sex-negative upbringing, and other life experiences. Many of us have struggled to survive in a world that offers so many mixed messages regarding our bodies, our genders, sexual orientation, and even sex itself. Our goal is to show that a negative background can possibly lead to "backlash" which may create a sex-positive lifestyle, even a celebration of our sexual selves.

What made you decide to stand up-- proud of your sexual self? Why is it important for you to now show the world you are a sex-positive person? Show us how you Celebrate Sex! Was there someone in your life who led you to have sex-positive feelings? Tell us about your history, your influences, both good and bad.

We wish to bring together a collection of essays and stories that shows we can, and have successfully overcome stereotypes, poor media and mixed images regarding sex, religious restrictions and dogma, toxic parenting, peer pressures, societal mores, inner struggles with how we view our own sexual feelings and sexual selves.

Currently accepting non-fiction, non-published manuscripts. No simultaneous submissions. Length of up to 5000 words. Must be on topic. No abuse/sex-negative stories without support of writing a positive outcome will be accepted, and no whining, please! Show us your strength.

Deadline June 1, 2001. Please send your cover letter, bio, and manuscript in the body of an e-mail, with the subject line "CELEBRATE SEX SUBMISSION" - no attachments will be accepted - to Jamie Joy Gatto. Once our book proposal is accepted, publishing information and payment schedule will be posted. Manuscripts will be read by October 1, 2001.

MY LOVER, MY FRIEND: Acclaimed erotica editor Lindsey Elder is seeking real-life stories for My Lover, My Friend: Lesbians Describe Their Sexual Experiences With Their Close Friends. This anthology will take readers on a sexual journey that charts just how friends become lovers. See URL for full guidelines. Address: My Lover, My Friend, c/o Lindsay Elder, Alyson Publications, 6922 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 1000, Los Angeles, CA 90028 URL: http://www.alyson.com/html/01_files/submissions/0102loverfriend.html Deadline: May 15, 2001

BEST GAY EROTICA 2002
Call for submissions

Submissions are now being accepted for the seventh edition of the Cleis Press annual anthology Best Gay Erotica, edited by series editor Richard Labonte and to be judged this year by Australian novelist Neal Drinnan (Glove Puppet, Pussy's Bow, Quill).

Deadline for submissions is May 31, 2001. Absolute word limit is 5,000. Include word count and name/address/phone/e-mail info at the top of your e-mail submission or on the first page of printed submissions. Original work, or work published in a print or on-line magazine, or in an anthology or collection published or to be published between July 2000 and June 2001, or excerpted from a novel published or to be published between July 2000 and June 2001, is eligible for consideration. Short stories, memoirs, play scripts, performance work, screenplays or narrative artwork may be submitted; no poetry. Manuscripts will not be returned. Finalists will be notified by June 30, 2001, winners by July 15, 2001.

E-mail submissions to bge02@hotmail.com, as either text within the body of the e-mail or as an attachment. Stories may also be mailed -- but not before March 15, 2001 -- to:

Richard Labonte/BGE Marlborough Farm 166 Stoughton SideRoad RR#2, Calabogie ON K0J 1H0 Canada

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Things Pornos Would Have Us Believe (via the internet - thanks duana!)
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Well, I was going to print the list here, but then, remembering that I try to keep this newsletter a little on the 'vanilla' side, decided to do a link instead...go figure...

Click Here for a decidedly funny take on reality versus, um, art.

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--- Goings On ---
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Cristina Munoz has a very well written story - "Watch Me" - in Clean Sheets this month. You can find it Here! (Then click on "fiction" in the top left corner.)

Sheila Jay has two pieces at Erotica-Readers.com Look for "Dinner" in the Quickies section and "Addicted" in the Audio Flashers section. Congrats Sheila!

~

I've got my revamped website up and running here - www.KatyTerrega.com.

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Tell me what's going on! Have you made a sale? Do you have a piece being published? Let me know and I'll print it here for all to see!

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Check out my column at http://www.AbsoluteWrite.com on - what else?! - writing porn. This week I wrote about writing good photo copy.

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--- Q & A ---
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Hmmm, unless I missed something (always a distinct possibility) I wasn't asked any questions in the last two weeks. Hurry and ask me some!

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Send me your questions! I'll answer the most common ones here, and if I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to find a pro who does.

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---Looking for Writers---
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Send Me Your Stories And Ideas! (Book Reviews Work, Too...)

I'm looking for essays/articles that will inspire and/or instruct other porn writers. Success stories, how to break into certain markets, unique views on the genre, etc. Around 800 words is good, although I'm flexible.

I'd love articles on specific markets. There are so many sub-genres of porn and it's hard to know the subtleties of each. If you've got a specialty, from BDSM to Watersports to Leg Sex to Amputeeism, feel free to share your knowledge.

You can either suggest a topic (query) or send something whole. I'll get back to you within a week as to whether or not I'll be able to use it.

Right now I'm paying with a copy of the updated It's A Dirty Job...(plus credits) but as SOON as this site is self-supporting I'll be able to offer some cash.