Good British Steel & Suspicious Minds.

Well, folks, my first installment of Good British Steel, a three-part erotic story, is currently featured at the Good Vibrations Magazine.

I do love a little swordplay.  It gets me all aquiver.

Secondly, to jump right into the meaty stuff, one of the hot debates of the moment is whether it's fair to call yourself heterosexual if you also enjoy sexual intimacy with same-sex partners.  My opinion?  Absolutely.  Perhaps what makes some folks suspicious of this attitude is a fear that they're dealing with prejudice; but I argue it ain't so hard to tell the difference between someone who's searched their self and someone who plain refuses.  As is the case with Dillon, the college student who's interviewed in this brilliant article by Kevin Cohen and Ritch C. Savin-Williams, some of us are beginning to dig deep and truly question our sexual identity.  And so a woman who, thirty years ago, would never have challenged her heterosexuality, is now open to having sex with women from time to time, and what's our reward?  To say she doesn't know herself?  If we suspect prejudice and confusion all the time, how will we get beyond it?  Many shades, always.  Life can't be measured in binary terms.  Often, it's a beautiful mix, and we're healthiest when we see that.

To read up on a vast sex study that demonstrated the complexities of sexual identity in our culture today, take a look at the findings of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior.  The results weren't all about condom use, baby.

I wish you sweet dreams.  (About swords?  We can but hope...).

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The Birth of The Hot Topic.

My first "Hot Topic" sex column is up at the Nervous Breakdown.  You can get to it directly here.  I write about desire and identity -- two important matters indeed.

The photo is by Suicide Girls from Los Angeles, CA, USA (Rambo).  Beautiful, ain't it?


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Lana's Legs Are Up At Erotica For All!

Thanks to the brilliant Lucy Felthouse, my profile is being featured at Erotica For All.  If you've never visited the site before, do take a look -- it's a great place to find erotic writers and readers, and free reads too.

(Yes, there are my legs again.  A headshot soon, goddammit).


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Two Product Reviews: Enhance Your Creativity.

The other week, at an Orgasmic reading in New York, I met a man who told me he wrote sex scenes.  "They're scenarios I later enact with a lover if she's up for it."  He explained how creating such scenes in advance helped he and his partners negotiate boundaries and also communicate about fiercely specific desires.  He was a fascinating person whose kinkiness had real heart.  I was impressed with his commitment to his sexual creativity.

And sexual creativity is one of the many reasons I'm starting to review accessories on this blog.  If your fantasy is to be tied up, perhaps some silky red ties are the thing.  And if you dream of being spanked with a paddle, take a look below.  Following the scenes we can create for ourselves is often an immensely rewarding path.

So here we go, folks.  Lana's first reviews:

Product: Do Not Disturb Kit
Product Type: Adult Toys
Buy From:  Their Toys
Brand: Flirt by Sportsheets
Lana's Main Draw: Fun budget bondage at $8.99 / Beginner-friendly

I was sent this product by Their Toys who are truly enthusiastic about the business they provide, and encouraged my frank review.  The Do Not Disturb Kit is a sweet little package of four silky red bondage ties for wrists/ankles, plus a "Do Not Disturb" sign for your door and a list of ten hints "to make the night sizzle."  At $8.99 this works well as an enjoyable gift and the packaging makes bondage play look fun rather than intimidating.  The silky ties (I'd call them "silky" rather than "silk") are looped at one end, which means you/your lover(s) can be firmly or loosely tied down.  My only quibble is that the instructions could be clearer -- though it may seem obvious, I suggest the looped end of the tie can be wrapped round you/your lover's wrist/ankle so that you slide the other end through the loop to create the "cuff".   If the loose end is then secured round the bedpost (or other!), this means the tie can be loosened in an instant without having to interrupt the fantasy by fumbling with knots and bows.  A charming budget stocking-filler at $8.99.  Visit the Their Toys site for more fun Bondage Kits.

Product: Impressions Paddle
Product Type: Adult Toys
Buy From: Better Sex
Brand: Sportsheets.com
Lana's Main Draw: Luxurious leather paddle / cute as heck

It's called the Impressions Paddle because of the imprints it leaves on your / your partner's flesh.  For me, this is quite simply a beautiful item.  The paddle itself is imprinted with a cut-out design and is laid against a red interior strip -- so on mine, the three heart-shapes fall against a red interior, making them appear as red on black (there are a variety of designs to choose from, including words like BITCH).  The length of the tool makes for a pleasing swish though the air, followed by a satisfying thwack.  Also, the cord that is looped through tip of the leather handle enhances the potential for control.  Quite a luxurious object, and one that, through its thoughtful design, reminds us how spanking can be sweet as well as intense.  Plus you can't beat the smell and feel of real leather, can you?  Prices start at around $25.

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An Insightful Reader is Better than Roses.

I felt quite moved today when I read the following review from F. Solomon at the New York RWA Chapter's blog.  This reviewer is so insightful that she saw right into the heart of my story -- and that includes gleaning the literary reference to Nin immediately, along with a profound understanding of what I was trying to do.  R. Solomon holds up my story as an example of all the stories in Passion (ed. Rachel Kramer Bussel) -- romance, she tells us, that "still has a pulse" and is daring enough to explore true intimacy.  I can't think of a greater compliment.

"Lana Fox's 'The Silver Belt' reminded me of a story in Nin's Delta of Venus in which the character had a fetishized accessory as well.  There was a part where the man says to the woman, who laments that she is not a poet like he is, that she is a poem--I raced to the back of the book to read the bio on Lana Fox who said that she wrote the story inspired by Anais Nin."

"It was a bit like deja vu and yet nothing at all like Nin.  Just a really distinctive sensuality and modernity that I know Anais must have smiled about herself.   Lana Fox is the kind of author that writes so good it makes me jealous wishing I wrote just like her.  But the green eyed monster evaporates quickly because I can read her and that is enough..."

Many thanks to F. Solomon -- such a generous and thoughtful reviewer.  To read more of this fantastic review, go here.  I also recommend the rest of the blog.  You'll find real critical knowledge and perception in the posts.

Speaking of the RWA, a loved one is buying me membership for my birthday!  How exciting...  I feel truly blessed.




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A Review of Passion, from Dee Carney

I'm thrilled that Dee Carney is reading Passion: Erotic Romance for Women (ed. Rachel Kramer Bussel), and has written a review:

I’m on page 83 of 226 and will tell you this, as of right now, there are three stories in this book that made my toes curl and my hair sizzle. No lie!

Big-Bed Sex by Donna George Storey is the first story in this antho and wow! What a way to kick things off. When you read something this hot, you know it’s going to be good from there on out!

The Silver Belt by Lana Fox was full of whoa and awesome. I mean, dayum. This is the kind of push the envelope piece that totally got to me. (I’m so on the look out for more from this author.)

The Five Senses by Rachel Kramer Bussel. As someone who’d written her own piece about the five senses (my story totally flopped, btw), I couldn’t help but admire how someone could make those five simple senses so incredibly erotic. You try to make “smell” sexy–not likely to happen.

Dee, thank you so much!  You've made an erotic author's night.  Folks, to read more, see the full post here.

More from me soon, my friends, including my first sex toy review.  Watch this space (unless you're wearing a blindfold, in which case be a good bad-angel and keep it on...).

Now That's the Kind of Nervous Breakdown I'm Talking About.

Well, here I am with a new sex column to write at The Nervous Breakdown and no darn headshot to put with it.  Seriously, I don't even own my own camera, and every time I ask someone to take a snap I seem I scare them shitless with the pressure!  But you can't write a column without a decent headshot so I guess I'm going to have to take one myself.  Stay tuned.  I have a fear of the lens, but this is the time for growth, goddammit.  Note that my headshot on this blog is in fact a legshot.  I've been famous for my legs.  No self-esteem problem there.

But if you, dear friend-with-camera, are reading this right now, take a look through your old digital snaps and see if there are any in there of me looking, well, not too bad?

In the meantime, check out some of the other wonderful stories at the Nervous Breakdown, including this fabulous self-interview with one of my writing heroes.

Who Ain't Leaving Me to Dream Alone?

Foreword Megan Hart

Introduction: All I Have to Do is Dream

Love Resurrection: Justine Elyot

Dreaming by the Sea: Delilah Devlin

Devil’s Food: Shanna Germain

Rainmaker: A.D.R. Forte

Shattered: Belle Craig Sorensen

Living Off Lovers: Kristina Lloyd

Where the Heart Is: Saskia Walker

Freeing the Demon: Sacchi Green

Old Fashioned Glamour: Nikki Magennis

Moongirl Meets the Wolfman: Alana Noel Voth

Vanilla: Victoria Janssen

For Humans, Love’s All About Weight: Lana Fox

Succubus Comes Home: Lucy Felthouse

Folly: Kate Pearce

Lust As Old As Us: Madeline Moore

The Eye of Pearl: Ericka Hiatt

Thief of Dreams: Kristina Wright
Wow, what a magical list!

Dreams & Nervous Breakdowns

Dear friends, I have a couple of announcements to make - both very exciting for yours truly!  Firstly, a story that has come to mean a great deal for me has been accepted by the wondrous Kristina Wright for her anthology Dream Lover.  The piece, entitled, For Humans, Love's All About Weight, is a paranormal fantasy about a birdman and his lover, which was seamlessly workshopped by some wonderful writing friends.  I'm thrilled!  And look at the dreamy cover!  Fellow authors include Alana Noel Voth*, Justine Elyot, Shanna Germain, Lucy Felthouse and Nikki Magennis.  What a star-studded cast!  I am suitably flushy.

Secondly, it seems I'm going to be penning a sex column for the awesome Nervous Breakdown.  I'll post links here when I get started.  Do visit the site.  The mag's gutsy, unashamed, intelligent and clever.  Honestly, I'm tickled pink.

Well, that all makes a girl who's lost her hard drive far happier than before.  If the Apple store don't return my precious pet to me soon, I may go a little doolally...

Sweet dreams.

*Do check out Alana's powerful and moving new column in PANK Magazine.  

Bodyguard

Speaking of solo sex, I've just discovered that my short erotic story, No One Ever Guesses and No One Guesses Now, appears in Bodyguard (Xcite) and another story (under my mystery name) appears in Exactly the Same (also Xcite).  At just under three British quid, or $4.59, these e-books are a great deal.  No One Ever Guesses was one of the first erotic stories I wrote and I remember it with great fondness.

Bondage?  Makes sense.  In a recent astrology reading, I discovered that though I'm Sagittarius with Cancer rising, my creativity is firmly rooted in Scorpio.  Go figure.

Solo

Life is lonely.  Ain't no doubt about it.  It is human to feel both forgotten and alone.  But this is one of the reasons I so love erotica -- because it lets us in on an intimacy we might have felt locked out of.

To rewind, here's my reasoning:  I was fortunate yesterday because a loved-one came to my rescue, but without him, I'd have been searingly lonely.  This morning I still feel that sense of being lost, and this is what passed through my mind:  When it seems as if we're last on life's list we can always turn to erotica for comfort.

For me, it's important to feel close to others, and that's what I experience when I read erotic stories.  I am welcomed into a moment of absolute joining, where boundaries dissolve so fully that we don't always know whose body is whose.  No wonder funerals (and other times of great loss) seem to spark sexual encounters:  We want to feel embraced and alive.  Touched.  And trusted.

This is one of the reasons why I'm such a proponent of solo sex.  Sex with oneself is a way of caring for oneself, providing the gentle attention that is often lacking.  Why should sex only be available to those who have, or can afford, a partner?  And yet every so often you'll find a seemingly generous person who, in spite of their belief in equality, doesn't believe in erotica.  Do they realise that there are folks who can't climax without erotica?  Do they understand how it feels to be truly alone?  Do they know the release that's possible when we're welcomed, by a writer or artist, into an intimate realm?*

Well, whatever others think or do, let's not be the last on our own list.  Erotica can be both giving and humane.  Read, baby, read.

*Note:  This is not to say that I don't also believe solo sex should occur when we're in a sexual relationship.  In fact, the studies show that practicing solo sex can improve sexual relationships and make us more giving as lovers.  Interestingly, I've just been asked to review some sex toys - such tools are another great gift the world has given us, whether we're having sex with others or sex with ourselves.

Strapless: A New Story at Good Vibrations.

In fact, while we're at it, Strapless, which I adapted from my novel in progress, Second Bite of the Cherry, is live at the Good Vibrations Magazine.

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Nine Naughty Novelists: a Stunning Review of Passion.

Folks, I received several pieces of exciting news yesterday, but have to wait before announcing them!  In the meantime, I want to share a wonderful review of Passion by Nine Naughty Novelists, with particular praise for Angela Caperton's Dear in the Headlights.


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Passion, Frosting & Erotic Romance: You'd Be Silly Not To.

Are you in New York this Thursday?  If so, pop along to WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn where Rachel Kramer Bussel, Donna George Storey, Emerald, and Sarah MacLean will read their sumptuous stories from Passion: Erotic Romance for Women, edited by Rachel herself.  There will also be free cupcakes in honour of Rachel's birthday!  Erotica and frosting?  What's not to love?

Thursday Nov 7th, WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn, 7pm.  

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It's Pleasure and It's Beautiful. Sing It.

When I was eleven, I had my first climax.  I didn't know what the hell it was and it scared me to high heaven.  Could touching yourself like this get you pregnant?  What would happen to you if anyone found out?  Was this a sin?  Did it mean that I was broken?  I was so ashamed that I spent months believing I was disgusting.  God, how I loathed myself.

Needless to say, my sex education was lacking.  I'd been at a protestant girls' school since the age of eight,  and sex was a banned topic; so when a girl whispered to me behind her hand that this was how men and women had babies, I went straight home and questioned my family, who solemnly confirmed the biology of the matter.  Not long after, I moved to a school where "sex education" consisted of a strange video in which a man puts a condom on over his fingers.  Not once was pleasure mentioned.  

Many years later when I was in my twenties, I became an English teacher at a state school in outer-city London.  All of our students received sex education at eleven, and at a basic level it was pretty good.  A nurse came into the classroom and talked about sex in a whole new way.  Sex was natural, she explained, and nothing to be ashamed of.  Bravo, well said.  But she didn't mention pleasure.  In my own classroom, when we studied Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, I introduced the notion of erotic love.  Several of my students, who were age fourteen at the time, claimed they'd never talked with an adult about sexual desire before this.  They were strikingly mature in their discussion.

Truth is, good sex education can deeply affect our lives.  Consider this:  Years ago, a friend in England had a thrush infection and was given some cream by the doctor.  "I have to apply it," she told me, "but I don't know how."  She said she just couldn't touch herself there.  It felt horrible.  Filthy.  Her husband was the only one who'd ever touched her there.  I was so damn sad for her I almost wept.  To be so afraid of your sexual self that you can't even lay a fingertip on your clit?  I could hardly believe it.  And yet, when I thought back to my first ever climax and the fear I felt, I could totally understand. 

Well, the sex education debate rages on.  Doctor Petra Boynton, a UK expert on sexuality, wrote the following in April of this year (full article here):  "Young people have consistently complained that sex education, where it exists, often focuses on contraception or infections, or not getting pregnant.  But it doesn't tackle the wider issues of feelings, emotions, desires, negotiation, confidence or communication."  How darn true.  Though there were plans for UK sex education to become compulsory in schools, these were dropped by the government earlier this year.  As someone who almost accepted a wedding proposal from a 24-year-old at the age of seventeen, even though the sex was bordering on abusive, I say we need to talk about sexual rights, desires and feelings with every growing person, else we wreck lives.

For those who believe this issue is only relevant to the bedroom, think again.  Believe me, you don't want to be living near someone who is ashamed of their desires or feels they're filthy, or denies themselves solo sex.  Why?  Because the brain turns frustration, repression, self-denial and low confidence into something else in order to cope -- it could become sadness, rage, shyness or intolerance, but if you don't know how to look after your own pleasure, you're not going to be happy and that affects us all.

As you may be aware, October saw the results of the largest U.S. sex study since Kinsey.  There were many positive results and trends, and a few big shockers.  (Read more detailed feedback from Corey Silverberg here).  For example, 91% of men but only 64% of women reported having a climax last time they had sex, while 6% of men and 30% of women reported sexual pain the last time they had sex.  My opinion?  Those who claim that sexual shame has nothing to do with these sad results are dreaming.  

I'll end with this idea:  Sex education that is purely clinical can result in sex that is purely clinical, and that, my friends, is a whole world of pain.  Until we start teaching folks that sexual pleasure is healthy and worth the effort, and that it isn't something you're given so much as something you actively find, we'll perpetuate pain and unhealthy relationships.  And there ain't no good in that.

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With This Ring, I Thee Bed.

It's all right, don't panic, kids, you didn't make me an accidental offer while you were downing that final gin and tonic... I just want to share this wonderful cover from Alison Tyler's forthcoming collection of erotic, marriage-themed stories, in which my Kiss the Bride will appear.  And wow, what a talented illustrator!  Isn't it a stunner?  The book is due for release next year by Harlequin Spice --  Congrats to Alison and all the authors.  If it wasn't for this anthology, and the help of my Savvy Mate, Kiss the Bride might never have been written.

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An Interview with Violet Blue

And while we're on the subject of love, here's Violet being interviewed by Babeland:

What Erotica is All About

I went out for a drink with a lovely friend last night.  He doesn't read erotica, but is tickled pink that it makes me happy, along with so many others.  "Lana," he said, "it's all about the love."

And it is.  Genuinely.  We learn that.




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Lana's Bodice-Ripper

Life's not always sunny, as we know, but imagine how I felt when I showed someone dear to me my copy of Best Women's Erotica 2011, and he asked, "Are you mentioned in the intro?" and, though I'd yet to read it, I told him I wouldn't be -- after all, I'm just plain old Lana Fox among a cast of diamonds.  Well, he challenged me by having a read.  This is what he found:

"I, Anita, by Lana Fox is striking fare--a fantasy so delicious, vivid, debauched and ripe, it could easily be adapted to film.  Anita is a sleek, corseted burlesque dancer whose act includes conjuring male orgasms onstage, saving her sexual release only for herself--until she meets the Baron, and all bets are off as bodice-ripping becomes nail-raking orgasms."

Gobsmacked, I flush and thank the wondrous Violet Blue, along with my talented editor-friend, and the folks who tell me I can.

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The Ruby Choker & The Little Death: Carter's Bloody Chamber

Tonight I had the pleasure of working with a group of super-talented horror writers.  The aim?  To study the art of creating dark sex scenes.  How wonderful to see the stabbing metaphor used so freshly (it may have become cliche, folks, but these guys use it with flair).  Drawing on Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Freud's theory of Eros & Thanatos, we considered how closely sex and death are related.  In Shakespearian England, for instance, dying was commonly used as a euphemism for climaxing, and naturally, le petit mort, which translates as 'the little death', is still in modern French usage.  Freud recognised that our longing for nothingness applies not only to our death-wish as humans, but also to our yearning to disappear into pleasure, becoming nothing but the climax.  Let's face it, you can't be worrying about where you're going to buy that halogen light bulb while you're right at the tipping point.  The 'life' crap just vanishes.  And quite right too.

Of course, evolutionary theory also explains the sex-death link: the threat of being destroyed or harmed spikes our adrenaline, making us run from the giant mammoth, while our fear also makes us high.  So as we watch the vampire draining her victim and recognise this as both deadly and sexual, the potency can be doubled:  Our sexual longing, which is hardwired into us, combines with the sense of mortal threat:  Sex + death = charged, my dear, and how.

Take a look at this brilliant excerpt from Carter's Bloody Chamber in which the young newlywed loses her virginity to the husband who she married for money, in spite of his eerie demeanour.  The scene takes place in a castle in Brittany and the tale is based on Blue Beard.  By the way, the walls of the bedroom are mirrored...

Then he kissed me. And with, this time, no reticence. He kissed me and laid his hand imperatively upon my breast, beneath the sheath of ancient lace. I stumbled on the winding stair that led to the bedroom, to the carved, gilded bed on which he had been conceived. I stammered foolishly: We've not taken luncheon yet; and, besides, it is broad daylight... 

All the better to see you.

He made me put on my choker, the family heirloom of one woman who had escaped the blade. With trembling fingers, I fastened the thing about my neck. It was cold as ice and chilled me. He twined my hair into a rope and lifted it off my shoulders so that he could the better kiss the downy furrows below my ears; that made me shudder. And he kissed those blazing rubies, too. He kissed them before he kissed my mouth. Rapt, he intoned: 'Of her apparel she retains/Only her sonorous jewellery.'

A dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides while the mewing gulls swung on invisible trapezes in the empty air outside.

The scene is gorgeously erotic, and note the allusions to death!  The more you search, the more you see: the sheath of ancient lace, the carved bed, the choker with its threatening history and bloody hue of its glistening stones, and that's before we mention the hair twined into a rope conjuring the notion of bondage in a trice.  But the truth is, these words with their cruel associations can also be used to denote beauty and innocence.  As a technique, double-meaning often works at an unconscious level, affecting us without our even knowing.  We feel the chills of the scene, are captivated, sense that this is deadly -- but until we start to analyse, we can't necessarily see why.

And what flowers does her husband give her?  "My husband, who, with so much love, filled my bedroom with lilies until it looked like an embalming parlour..."

Flip me.  Carter was good.

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