This is where my blog returns to its first purpose - a travel journal. I write this from Sydney, Australia, where I am teaching classes, reading from The Inheritor, and meeting charming people who probably have no idea how much I am a sucker for their accents.
And, I am still on the hunt for good coffee. Nescafe is again, everywhere! It's like a worldwide conspiracy to deprive people of decent caffeine. Luckily, I am staying in Leichhardt, the Little Italy of Sydney. Espresso EVERYWHERE. Glee!
Of course, I must note that my hosts have graciously given me free rein with the use of their cute espresso maker, the French press and I remembered that Australia, with its connection with Great Britain, has excellent access to cheap, great tea.
I will survive, after all.
But somewhere between leaving NY at 8:30am on Monday, I arrived here at 8:30AM on Wednesday...and Tuesday is just gone. (Thus - no Glee. Heehee.) Of course, in all that time I managed to visit Toronto and Vancouver, watch two movies and episode of True Blood, two cooking shows and about an hour of the CBC, read two entire books, 4 newspapers, 3 magazines and an inflight catalog. I enjoyed the temporary hospitality of a premium lounge at the Toronto airport by purchasing a day pass and highly recommend this for extended layovers or those times when you get to the airport hours before you get to actually leave it.
Tomorrow my hosts and I will move from this comfy home into the Mercure hotel, home of The Gathering for this weekend. I've posted my schedule before, just scroll down if you really want to see it again. This is where I am grateful that I flew in early and lost that Tuesday, because I have had the time to sleep and wake at the local time, walk around in the sunshine, and generally acclimate.
File under:
Things that remind me I am on another continent - trees and birds I have never seen before.
Things that are the same - pigeons and Subway.
Something I didn't think I wanted but now looks useful - a Kindle. Or, an iPad. But probably a Kindle.
Cheap souvenir of the day - Port Wine Jello
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Down Under schedule!
That's right, I'm taking my show on the road to Australia and New Zealand!
Thanks to Miss Dee of Über in Sydney, I am visiting Australia and doing a number of events in Sydney and Melbourne. Then, with the help of the folks who bring you Southern Exposure, I'll "jump the ditch" and head to Christchurch, New Zealand. (A day-by-day breakdown of the entire visit at the end of this post, or click on the calendar to the right for more details!)
Find me at The Gathering in Sydney October 1-4, a marvelous kinkfest where I'll be presenting four workshops (my two service workshops - one for tops and one for bottoms, my protocol workshop and "Too Kinky For Words"), and giving the closing keynote.
Tuesday, October 7th, I'll be presenting my "Marketplace Mavens" discussion in Sydney's Inner West at 7:00 pm. The evening is a favorite for die-hard Marketplace fans and a great way for newcomers to learn about my series, hear me read from a new work - and possibly win a free copy! Cost is $25 and once you book your reservation, you'll be given the location.
I'll then head to Melbourne for the weekend, where you can find me at Vibe on Smith on Saturday, October 9 and Sunday October 10 for a series of workshops. If you're interested in the fabulous world of fetishes and kink, how to use punishment in your Master/slave relationships, or more, join me! Cost to attend each workshop is $30 and online registration is available through Über.
While in Melbourne, I'll stop by Melbourne Chains for a reading and booksigning. The event takes place Saturday evening, October 9th and begins at 7:30p.m. If you already have copies of my books - bring them! I love autographing well-thumbed books. If you don't have a copy - I'll bring some of the new edition of The Marketplace with me. Contact Melbourne Chains for more information.
After a few days off (unless fans talk me into additional readings in other locations, that is), I'll head to New Zealand for the weekend of October 22-24th. For my Kiwi fans, you know this was supposed to be the weekend of Southern Exposure. However, Christchurch is still recovering from the September 4th earthquake, and the conference (sadly, but safely) has been cancelled. But I'm not one to waste an international ticket! You'll still find me in Christchurch at Tawse Manor, presenting three classes and a reading for a Labour Weekend Intensive! Registration costs depend on whether you intend to spend the night or just want a day pass. Please contact info@tawsemanor.co.nz for information and to register.
APPEARANCES BY DATE & LOCATION
SYDNEY OCTOBER 1-4: THE GATHERING
Saturday, October 2, 9:30-11:30 - "Providing Service"
Saturday, October 2, 2:15-4:15 - "Managing Service"
Sunday, October 3, 10:00-11:30 - "Too Kinky for Words"
Sunday, October 3, 2:15-4:15 - "The Way Of It"
Monday, October 4, 12:30 - Closing Keynote
SYDNEY: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7th
7:00-9:00 - "Marketplace Mavens" . Cost is $25. Register here.
MELBOURNE WEEKEND OCTOBER 9-10
October 9, 1:00-2:30 - "The Fabulous World of Fetishes." $30. Register here.
October 9, 3:00-4:30 - "The Life of a Pleasure Slave." $30. Register here.
October 9, 7:30-9:00: Booksigning and Reading at Melbourne Chains.
October 10, 11:15-12:45 - "For Your Own Good." $30. Register here.
October 10, 1:30-3:00 - "The Way of It." $30. Register here.
CHRISTCHURCH - TAWSE MANOR OCTOBER 23-24
October 23 - "Have a Cookie! Using Rewards in your SM Relationships"
October 23 - "For Your Own Good: Using Punishments in your SM Relationships"
Email info@tawsemanor.co.nz to register
October 24 - "Too Kinky For Words" and a Reading (location TBA).
Cost is $35 for this day if you have not registered for the TAWSE MANOR LABOUR WEEKEND INSTENSIVE, but size is limited, and preference given to weekend registrants. Email info@tawsemanor.co.nz for more information and to register
Please tell your friends in the Lands Down Under about my tour - I'd love to meet them. Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Oi Oi Oi!
Thanks to Miss Dee of Über in Sydney, I am visiting Australia and doing a number of events in Sydney and Melbourne. Then, with the help of the folks who bring you Southern Exposure, I'll "jump the ditch" and head to Christchurch, New Zealand. (A day-by-day breakdown of the entire visit at the end of this post, or click on the calendar to the right for more details!)
Find me at The Gathering in Sydney October 1-4, a marvelous kinkfest where I'll be presenting four workshops (my two service workshops - one for tops and one for bottoms, my protocol workshop and "Too Kinky For Words"), and giving the closing keynote.
Tuesday, October 7th, I'll be presenting my "Marketplace Mavens" discussion in Sydney's Inner West at 7:00 pm. The evening is a favorite for die-hard Marketplace fans and a great way for newcomers to learn about my series, hear me read from a new work - and possibly win a free copy! Cost is $25 and once you book your reservation, you'll be given the location.
I'll then head to Melbourne for the weekend, where you can find me at Vibe on Smith on Saturday, October 9 and Sunday October 10 for a series of workshops. If you're interested in the fabulous world of fetishes and kink, how to use punishment in your Master/slave relationships, or more, join me! Cost to attend each workshop is $30 and online registration is available through Über.
While in Melbourne, I'll stop by Melbourne Chains for a reading and booksigning. The event takes place Saturday evening, October 9th and begins at 7:30p.m. If you already have copies of my books - bring them! I love autographing well-thumbed books. If you don't have a copy - I'll bring some of the new edition of The Marketplace with me. Contact Melbourne Chains for more information.
After a few days off (unless fans talk me into additional readings in other locations, that is), I'll head to New Zealand for the weekend of October 22-24th. For my Kiwi fans, you know this was supposed to be the weekend of Southern Exposure. However, Christchurch is still recovering from the September 4th earthquake, and the conference (sadly, but safely) has been cancelled. But I'm not one to waste an international ticket! You'll still find me in Christchurch at Tawse Manor, presenting three classes and a reading for a Labour Weekend Intensive! Registration costs depend on whether you intend to spend the night or just want a day pass. Please contact info@tawsemanor.co.nz for information and to register.
APPEARANCES BY DATE & LOCATION
SYDNEY OCTOBER 1-4: THE GATHERING
SYDNEY: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7th
MELBOURNE WEEKEND OCTOBER 9-10
CHRISTCHURCH - TAWSE MANOR OCTOBER 23-24
Email info@tawsemanor.co.nz to register
Cost is $35 for this day if you have not registered for the TAWSE MANOR LABOUR WEEKEND INSTENSIVE, but size is limited, and preference given to weekend registrants. Email info@tawsemanor.co.nz for more information and to register
Please tell your friends in the Lands Down Under about my tour - I'd love to meet them. Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Oi Oi Oi!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
My male/male erotic fiction!
As promised, here is the first re-release of some of my guy/guy smut, now under my real name. If you own Steam Gauge or The Catalyst and Other Stories, then you might have seen these before. But if not, I hope you enjoy!
Shop Stud, by Laura Antoniou, writing as Christopher Morgan
Please help spread the word - tweet, blog, or otherwise help me promote? Thanks so much!!
Laura
Shop Stud, by Laura Antoniou, writing as Christopher Morgan
Please help spread the word - tweet, blog, or otherwise help me promote? Thanks so much!!
Laura
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Why yes, I am he.
Now the second boot drops.
In addition to The Catalyst, I am also working out agreements to bring back into print two more books, one a novel and the other an anthology - and neither of these has been published under my name before.
See, back when I wrote them, women were not generally allowed to publish gay male porn under their real names.
Yet - we wrote a LOT of it. TONS of it. Filled magazines, digests and anthologies and then websites. I even edited a magazine called Bad Boy. My agent for those short story sales was a woman. Women edited - and continue to edit many gay male publications and websites. It was just understood that no gay man would EVER buy smut written by a girl - ewwww, cooties! - and no one else would ever read gay male stories.
Certainly not, oh...straight women, for example. Or lesbians, for that matter. Let alone polymorphous perverts. (Grin)
Funny how these understandings change over time. Now, MM erotic fiction is probably MOSTLY bought by straight women, and many men buy their reading material based on, oh, the story, or the cover art, rather than the name on it. And some don't even mind if it's written by a woman. We're in a new age, for sure.
So, I allowed myself to be convinced by two sharp editors to bring back into distribution two works of mine, written under the name Christopher Morgan.
(Doesn't Christopher Morgan sound manly, yet accessible? Very boy-next-door, I thought.)
Anyway, the first one out will probably be *Shop Stud & Other Tales*, a collection of some of my gay male short fiction. There is some SM in it, but tons of vanilla, LOL. Most of the stories were written for those little digest sized magazines with names like Country Boy and College Boy and City Boy and Just Boys, OK? (My memory might be a bit fuzzy on the titles.)
The second release will be Musclebound, the first novel I ever wrote. It is a brutal tale of sex and abuse set in a gym. And from my new introduction...
"It won’t surprise too many of my readers that I have written vast amounts of gay smut, especially of they have read my more far reaching erotic works, where I do my best to throw in something for everyone. It might surprise a few at how this brutal tale of pumped up bodies and punishing sex became the first book of mine ever mentioned in academia.
No less a figure than Will Roscoe, one of the major voices in gay men’s spirituality in the United States, anthropologist and winner of the Margaret Mead Award, devoted a neat chapter to Muscle Bound in his book Queer Spirits (Beacon Press, 1995.)
In this chapter, Roscoe seems delighted to find a little porn novel that fulfills the requirements of a mythic story; he writes about his my hero Tom relates to the story villain with “fear and attraction based on a sense of lack, (that) all too often characterizes how we as gay men relate to our fathers.” He talks about the “initiatory themes” of the sex scenes, and how Tom grows with the transformation of his body, “a common feature of tribal rites.” He mentions Divine Twins, Rabelais, liberation and subject-SUBJECT relationships.
Here is where I reveal my years of study of literature, anthropology, sociology, sexuality and, well, the mythic archetype. Here is where I admit that when faced with completing my first novel, I decided I couldn’t mess it up if I just told The Story, of innocence to experience, ordeal to triumph, blah, blah. That it had brutal, sweaty gay sex was beside the point. I knew what I was writing. And here, this guy saw it and wrote about it, probably never dreaming this story was written by 1) a woman, and 2) an academic drop out with too much useless information to sit around and not use it from time to time. I was delighted. I was amused.
And I couldn’t TELL anyone!"
Now, I am telling you. I am coming out of the closet as a gay male pornographer. Surprise! Are there more pseudonyms hiding in my past? Well, yes. But not covering an entire genre.
Both of these books will start out as e-books, and then we shall see if there is an interest in making print-on-demand versions. I will have links and purchasing information as soon as the publishers do that voodoo they do.
Laura
In addition to The Catalyst, I am also working out agreements to bring back into print two more books, one a novel and the other an anthology - and neither of these has been published under my name before.
See, back when I wrote them, women were not generally allowed to publish gay male porn under their real names.
Yet - we wrote a LOT of it. TONS of it. Filled magazines, digests and anthologies and then websites. I even edited a magazine called Bad Boy. My agent for those short story sales was a woman. Women edited - and continue to edit many gay male publications and websites. It was just understood that no gay man would EVER buy smut written by a girl - ewwww, cooties! - and no one else would ever read gay male stories.
Certainly not, oh...straight women, for example. Or lesbians, for that matter. Let alone polymorphous perverts. (Grin)
Funny how these understandings change over time. Now, MM erotic fiction is probably MOSTLY bought by straight women, and many men buy their reading material based on, oh, the story, or the cover art, rather than the name on it. And some don't even mind if it's written by a woman. We're in a new age, for sure.
So, I allowed myself to be convinced by two sharp editors to bring back into distribution two works of mine, written under the name Christopher Morgan.
(Doesn't Christopher Morgan sound manly, yet accessible? Very boy-next-door, I thought.)
Anyway, the first one out will probably be *Shop Stud & Other Tales*, a collection of some of my gay male short fiction. There is some SM in it, but tons of vanilla, LOL. Most of the stories were written for those little digest sized magazines with names like Country Boy and College Boy and City Boy and Just Boys, OK? (My memory might be a bit fuzzy on the titles.)
The second release will be Musclebound, the first novel I ever wrote. It is a brutal tale of sex and abuse set in a gym. And from my new introduction...
"It won’t surprise too many of my readers that I have written vast amounts of gay smut, especially of they have read my more far reaching erotic works, where I do my best to throw in something for everyone. It might surprise a few at how this brutal tale of pumped up bodies and punishing sex became the first book of mine ever mentioned in academia.
No less a figure than Will Roscoe, one of the major voices in gay men’s spirituality in the United States, anthropologist and winner of the Margaret Mead Award, devoted a neat chapter to Muscle Bound in his book Queer Spirits (Beacon Press, 1995.)
In this chapter, Roscoe seems delighted to find a little porn novel that fulfills the requirements of a mythic story; he writes about his my hero Tom relates to the story villain with “fear and attraction based on a sense of lack, (that) all too often characterizes how we as gay men relate to our fathers.” He talks about the “initiatory themes” of the sex scenes, and how Tom grows with the transformation of his body, “a common feature of tribal rites.” He mentions Divine Twins, Rabelais, liberation and subject-SUBJECT relationships.
Here is where I reveal my years of study of literature, anthropology, sociology, sexuality and, well, the mythic archetype. Here is where I admit that when faced with completing my first novel, I decided I couldn’t mess it up if I just told The Story, of innocence to experience, ordeal to triumph, blah, blah. That it had brutal, sweaty gay sex was beside the point. I knew what I was writing. And here, this guy saw it and wrote about it, probably never dreaming this story was written by 1) a woman, and 2) an academic drop out with too much useless information to sit around and not use it from time to time. I was delighted. I was amused.
And I couldn’t TELL anyone!"
Now, I am telling you. I am coming out of the closet as a gay male pornographer. Surprise! Are there more pseudonyms hiding in my past? Well, yes. But not covering an entire genre.
Both of these books will start out as e-books, and then we shall see if there is an interest in making print-on-demand versions. I will have links and purchasing information as soon as the publishers do that voodoo they do.
Laura
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Older books coming back into distribution!
And I don't mean the Marketplace books! of course, I am still on track with Circlet Press, as The Slave is being prepped for the e-book and print edition re-release next month, and The Trainer to follow that.
I mean some old stuff some of you might not even know I wrote.
My first book for Masquerade, a long, long time ago - OK, 1992 - was The Catalyst. It was sort of SM smut for beginners - a series of short stories all linked by one concept. An incredibly kinky movie inspires a diverse set of people to all run home and experiment with alt-sex and play. Since everyone was doing it for the first time, I got to play with how people negotiate - or don't - how they create fantasy scenarios - or don't - how they carefully prepare - or don't! Committed couples, a swinging foursome, a hook up or two, gay, straight, triads, different genders and dominance choices, light-hearted to almost relationship-ending - I really worked the angle as far as I could back then. There is a distinct - and noticeable, for me - lack of trans characters. I, um, made up for that later.
I always thought of The Catalyst as my lightest work, a cute concept burdened with predictable and somewhat bland sex scenes. Yet, I gave nods to it in the Marketplace series, by moving one character into a significant role in the books, and mentioning two others in passing.
And I have to admit - the book has its fans. Its RABID fans. I still hear from people who swear it's their favorite of my works. And it got some nice reviews! (Although I am always puzzled by the amazon.com reviewer who complains that it is "everything is about sex." Um...yeah. Gee, pick up a work of porn and I almost guarantee it will be about sex, at least a little.) But Blowfish wrote of it,
"A kinky art movie inspires the audience members — het and queer — to try some SM play of their own. Different from much SM smut in that it depicts actual consensual SM scenes between just plain folks rather than wild impossible fantasies, “The Catalyst” is both sweet-natured and nastily perverse. The “why don’t we give this kinky stuff a try” tone is a true delight.”
It was reprinted along with a bunch of other short stories and essays by Mystic Rose, in a collection titled The Catalyst and Other Works, which you can still find here and there online, until they sell out. And then they will be gone!
However, I am working now to bring it back into circulation as - an e-book! No contract has been signed - yet. But It looks really good.
And there's MORE. Yep - I am coming out of the closet and exposing one of my pseudonyms. Look here and at the usual places I post for that update later on!
Laura
I mean some old stuff some of you might not even know I wrote.
My first book for Masquerade, a long, long time ago - OK, 1992 - was The Catalyst. It was sort of SM smut for beginners - a series of short stories all linked by one concept. An incredibly kinky movie inspires a diverse set of people to all run home and experiment with alt-sex and play. Since everyone was doing it for the first time, I got to play with how people negotiate - or don't - how they create fantasy scenarios - or don't - how they carefully prepare - or don't! Committed couples, a swinging foursome, a hook up or two, gay, straight, triads, different genders and dominance choices, light-hearted to almost relationship-ending - I really worked the angle as far as I could back then. There is a distinct - and noticeable, for me - lack of trans characters. I, um, made up for that later.
I always thought of The Catalyst as my lightest work, a cute concept burdened with predictable and somewhat bland sex scenes. Yet, I gave nods to it in the Marketplace series, by moving one character into a significant role in the books, and mentioning two others in passing.
And I have to admit - the book has its fans. Its RABID fans. I still hear from people who swear it's their favorite of my works. And it got some nice reviews! (Although I am always puzzled by the amazon.com reviewer who complains that it is "everything is about sex." Um...yeah. Gee, pick up a work of porn and I almost guarantee it will be about sex, at least a little.) But Blowfish wrote of it,
"A kinky art movie inspires the audience members — het and queer — to try some SM play of their own. Different from much SM smut in that it depicts actual consensual SM scenes between just plain folks rather than wild impossible fantasies, “The Catalyst” is both sweet-natured and nastily perverse. The “why don’t we give this kinky stuff a try” tone is a true delight.”
It was reprinted along with a bunch of other short stories and essays by Mystic Rose, in a collection titled The Catalyst and Other Works, which you can still find here and there online, until they sell out. And then they will be gone!
However, I am working now to bring it back into circulation as - an e-book! No contract has been signed - yet. But It looks really good.
And there's MORE. Yep - I am coming out of the closet and exposing one of my pseudonyms. Look here and at the usual places I post for that update later on!
Laura
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