Parisian Phoenix Publishing

October 6. That was Friday. I don’t know what you were doing Friday but I was hanging out with our illustrious Nancy Scott working on some clever haiku and in the afternoon I had a job interview. (I have another tomorrow if you’re interested in my transition to whatever my next phase is. If I consider which interviews seem most successful— the universe might be sending me back to the non-profit world.)

But October 6. Apparently, October 6 is World Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day (and various awareness days and heritage months are difficult to remember and track—for instance there is also Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month in March).

I live with cerebral palsy, and I’m very lucky my condition is mild. All of my exploration of my own neuromuscular disorder occurred as an adult, with much of it happening in the last decade and finally coming to a head in the last five years. This has given me a greater understanding of how to navigate the American healthcare system and how to find and work with a medical team.

But then I discovered that October 6 is also National Kink Day, which had I known that two months earlier I would have set the release date for Juicy Bits: Erotic Stories of BDSM, Kink and Fetish for October 6 versus today.

From the back of the book: “From mild to wild– this book offers 25 erotic stories of BDSM, kink and fetish. Almost a dozen authors, from established voices in erotica to newcomers, fresh new characters to characters from existing fiction universes, these tales move the reader through a safe and consensual fantasies of exhibitionism, voyeurism, role play, sado-masochism, submission/dominance, impact play (and more) in labeled stories that allow the reader to explore the topics that intrigue them while skipping those that might be uncomfortable. Either way, the book provides a controlled, private opportunity to see what turns you on without taking your clothes off.”

I even included one present-day story of Étienne d’Amille and the Fashion and Fiends universe in the book. It’s important to me that people can explore various sexual experiences if only to understand more about people different from us and even more important to me that people outside and new to the kink lifestyle really digest the notion that it’s not all Fifty Shades of Grey.

A healthy relationship between any two people, even if ‘vanilla’ or not even sexual, requires open and honest communication. As a publisher, I wanted to put together stories that included consent and offered a range of activities some of which are tame and some of which are intense. If you’ve ever wondered about some of the kinks and fetishes in this book, as basic as impact play or voyeurism or deep like sado-masochism or power exchange, reading about such topics can allow you to gauge your reaction and your interest before participating.

Juicy Bits released yesterday and can be purchased at all the regular places like Amazon, or Bookshop.org, or you can ask your local bookseller to order it for you from Ingram. We will be hosting a launch party at the Easton Book Festival at Book & Puppet Company on the circle (22 Centre Square) in downtown Easton at 10 p.m., Oct. 20.