I like resolutions.

Maybe because mine are so fucking frivolous.
I want to:

Hang out more with my friends.

Drink more coffee.

Go back to Amsterdam.

What are yours?

XXX,
Alison

I lied.

I'm not really basking. I'm trying desperately to read the rest of the submissions I received for Flash Fucking. Only, um, 190 to go. But while you're waiting for me to put this vehicle in drive, why not check out Rachel Kramer Bussel's latest collection, Sex and Candy, which she edited for Pretty Things Press.

Stories really need to be red-hot in order to make me put down my pen and reach for my ranch hand. (I was going to say "Rabbit," but if you recall, I'm still reminiscing about a hot man in spurs.) The stories in this book are so sweet and raw and radical, that I was left breathless on several occasions. Mulled Wine by Dominic Santi, for one, did more than whet my appetite.

So if you're looking for hot sex—and who isn't?—and perhaps the perfect Valentine's Day present, check out Sex and Candy.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. I was thinking of something else, too... an "I was spanked by Alison Tyler" concept. I could post my 12-parter on different spanking-themed blogs. Is that crazy? God, I really do need to bask, don't I?

Bad Girl

You know me.
I'm the type of person who obsesses.
Generally, I try to embrace this little character trait. But sometimes I end up spinning.

Maybe you can help.

After I received the C&D letter, I went on Art.Com to find out the rules. I have an affiliate membership with them that allows me to post art and link to their site. The reason I hadn't been using their sponsored links is that I found placing the art difficult when using their codes. That's why I ended up creating my own links. (I thought that this would cover my usage. The only difference is that I wouldn't be making a commission from any sales.)

Art.com has a note that says: "We may reject your application if we determine (in our sole discretion) that your site is unsuitable for the Affiliate Program for any reason, including, but not limited to, inclusion of content that is in any way unlawful, harmful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, harassing, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable."

They didn't reject my application. But my guess is that they never visited my blog.

The artist, in her note to me, added a line that says: "Considering the nature of your web site, I would personally be careful to get any and all releases/permissions to use anyone's name and/or likeness in such context. This is not in any way a judgment or scorn. Simply an observation that not everyone would be happy to associate themselves with the site."

So here I am. Spinning. Not that I thought everyone would like what I write. But in trying to figure out what is obscene. What is objectionable. What I am doing.

It took me several hours to remove my 475 posts. I don't want to repost and wind up in a similar situation. I mean, what if Blogger determines the blog is obscene? Will I need to take the work down again?

My guess is the real issue is that I don't have a front page warning of adult content, the way I have on my website. (Although, honestly, my website doesn't have any real adult content.) If I repackage the blog and sell the work as a book on Amazon, or as individual short-shorts, does that make the content less obscene? Is the fact that I'm giving the porn away for free the problem?

I've gotten the most supportive, sweetest notes on all of this, and I truly appreciate people taking the time to write to me. Put a hand out. Help me stop spinning.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. It's more than that, of course. If I am going to slog through all those posts, all those twists and turns and roller coaster rides, I feel I might as well face up to them. What should I do with 1,000,000 words? What would you do?

Why worry now?

Didn’t mean to disappear. Poof—she’s gone. Here is what happened:

I received a “Cease and Desist” letter a few days ago regarding a piece of art I had put up on the blog. The artist requested that I remove the picture or pay $1200 for Web rights. Obviously, down came the picture—as well as all posts that had pictures I couldn’t immediately verify. You’ll probably be seeing different posts pop back up over the next few days. Ones that feature covers or art I know is public domain.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. I am going to complete my 12-Days of Spanking story. I might sub that to Amazon’s short-shorts. Would you pay .49 cents for a 6,000 word novella on spanking? Just curious.

Naughty or Nice?

I’m going to be on the radio today!
What should I wear?

All right. I’m giddy. I know that. I always get a bit nervous before any speaking event. Even those on radio, where nobody will be able to see whether I’ve got my favorite lipstick on or not. Or whether I have my lucky scarlet satin panties on under my black velvet skirt. I could be naked on the radio, and nobody would know except me.

Hmmm. There’s a thought.

I didn’t sleep a lot last night. Like I said, I get giddy. "Nervous" is probably the wrong word. I’m excited. Jittery excited. I probably ought to stop drinking coffee.

What am I going to talk about?

Well, I’ve been invited onto Maxim’s "Sex Files" show to discuss why people like to receive erotica for holiday gifts. Or why porn makes the best naughty present to give a lover. I suppose now that I’ve edited two holiday-themed collections (and am currently working on a third) I am sort of the resident expert on Naughty. I like that, actually, as a title.

So. Why porn rather than, say, perfume? Or posters? Or paddles?

That’s easy enough. I mean, in my world, porn is always the appropriate hostess present. Who doesn’t want a shelf filled with smut for the holidays? But why specifically for the holiday season?

I think that Christmastime brings out the naughty side of people. There are so many opportunities to be a bit devious. Holiday parties. Open houses. Dressing rooms at the mall. (Oh, wait. Maybe that's just me.) Places to wear your slightly risqué outfits. Food and liquor to indulge in. Bosses to kiss under mistletoe.

Now, sure, if you’re like me, you indulge all year long. You find yourself at your boyfriend’s ex-wife’s house, with your skirt up and your knickers down. Down? I mean, you know, gone. You grip onto the counter and listen while the two most dominant people you’ve ever met debate how they might best punish you for your cheeky behavior. And whatever they decide, you understand you will have no say in. But that doesn’t really matter, because whatever they decide will turn you on.

There are wooden spoons nearby.
There is a spatula.
You’ve already been thrashed once today. What will befall your poor bottom now?

But if you’re not like me, and you don’t let loose so often, then the holidays are the perfect excuse. To wear stockings with jingle bells sewn in so that your crush can ask you what’s making music, and you can lift your skirt and show off your garters. And your thighs. And your naked, shaved... Excuse me. What was I saying? Oh, yes, the perfect time to nuzzle up to the office Santa and tell him exactly how bad you’ve been—or how bad you’d like to be. Or to do a taste test for mulled wine spices on your lover’s cock. No, wait, that’s from a story in Naughty or Nice!

If you’re more voyeur than exhibitionist, the holidays provide the perfect time to watch others indulge themselves. To spy exactly who is kissing under the mistletoe. To admire the willful behavior of your coworkers or friends before ducking off on your own to fantasize about just what you saw.

Is it the weather?
The chill in the air that brings out the naughty in us?

I don’t think so. Because I live in California. And from the behaviors I’ve observed in San Francisco and Los Angeles, naughty is alive and well in the sunshine as much as in those states socked in with snow. So maybe the holidays are the perfect time for giving smut for another reason. Maybe the holidays are a time when we think about what the past year has brought us and what we would like for the upcoming new year.

In that case, porn provides the possibilities of explaining to a partner exactly what you’d like him or her to do with that peppermint stick. Or pair of red leather cuffs. Or velvety blindfold. Smut can stretch the imagination, and if you get tongue tied about asking for what you want, you can simply dog-ear your favorite pages in a sultry collection and hand over the book to your bedmate.

“Read page 42,” you can say. “And then meet me in the pantry.”

What I like most about editing holiday porn is the range of fantasies that I get to read. Yes, there are the over-Santa’s-lap stories (a personal favorite). But in Naughty or Nice, authors discuss holiday lighting competitions, crossdressing, X-rated Christmas shopping, being caught in a blizzard, running into old crushes…. This collection features extremely naughty Victorian-esque porn, spanking with a fruitcake, and being caught watching a risqué tableau by a handsome stranger.

But I have my own beliefs about porn that I’d like to share. I mean one special belief that I have boiled down to a single motto. Wanna hear?

Naughty. It’s not just for Christmas anymore.

XXX,
Alison

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why

Back in the summer of 69

This is the German version of Down and Dirty, which will be published in May of 08. I think the cover is delicious. (Actually, though, the real color is scarlet rather than cobalt. Blogger's playing magic tricks.)

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Speaking of delicious, check out the video footage for the Sex & Candy book release party, as featured on Fleshbot!

She makes it sweeter than the sun

I'm beside myself! Four of my books (including one I co-edited with the amazing Rachel Kramer Bussel) made Violet Blue's 2007 Sex Books That Don't Suck list:



Congrats also to Saskia Walker and Sasha White—their Kink made the list, as did M. Christian's The Very Bloody Marys, and Rachel's Crossdressing. Violet's favorite non-fiction featured Stephen Elliott's My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up.

XXX,
Alison

H is for Hell, Yeah!

Oooh, look! H Is for Hardcore won an awesome review from Ashley Lister at Erotica Revealed. Scroll down to see the thumbs-up review!

XXX,
Alison

Here’s a brand-new confession.

One I am embarrassed to put on paper. I don’t even know how to frame the words. God. All right. Deep breath for confidence now.

I am a slacker.

Did you think I was going to say something erotic? Something filthy-dirty? My sexual confessions don’t cost me nearly as much pride. I am a fan of telling you that I like bending over and holding onto my ankles while a lover spanks me until my ass is redder than a bing cherry. I adore whispering that I want to be caught in the shower and forced to drop the oatmeal-scented soap. I get wet when I coo about the time a lover gave me an X-rated laundry list of items to buy at the local drugstore: clothespins, clear vinyl shower curtain, enema bag, duct tape…

Those confessions light me up. They make me want to spill more and more and more.

Jesus, I’m wired strange. The confessions that eat me up inside are the ones that have nothing at all to do with sex.

Seriously. If I didn’t fuck around so much, who knows how productive I could be. My whole existence is spurred on by the fact that I never feel as if I’m getting anything done. People are always waiting on me for items I’m supposed to be sending. My in basket is always full. My file cabinets are constantly in a state of overflow.

But here’s the thing:

When I ought to be working, I am talking on the phone with friends.

When I should be writing, I am surfing for cool sex toys.

When I might be sleeping, I am looking at shoes.

If I channeled even 10% of my wasted energy into productivity, can you imagine? I could take over the fucking world. Instead, I find myself working in fits and spurts. Wasting energy, then racing toward a deadline. Until I become a whirlwind of intensity, focused only on the end.

That’s how my life feels anyway. But after reading the cool progress reports that Shanna does, I thought I might look back to see what I’ve managed to accomplish this year. I generally wait until I have books in hand to reveal that I’ve been accepted—because I've had stories cut too often to believe a piece is actually in until I'm holding the book in my own two hands. But here goes…

I have sold stories this year to:



And I’ve edited these anthologies:


Now you.
Tell me.
Tell me what you’ve managed to get done.

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Of course, I'm cheating. I edited the first round of ABC books in '06. They just came out in '07! But they looked so pretty all lined up, I couldn't resist.