I have very explicit memories of Rachel Kramer Bussel, and by no means do I mean in a sexual way. Rachel is a tour de force that even if she were not the prolific writer snd editor that she is, she would be dominant in whatever she chose as a career. The fact that she writes about sex and cupcakes is lovely for me, because they are things that are near and dear to my heart. I wanted to do her blog tour to support her and her new book of essays Sex and Cupcakes, because she is so smart and interesting I wanted to see what she had to say in a non-fiction context.
Sex and Cupcakes is a quick and informative read. If you are looking for a salacious detailing of her sexual exploits in this book, think again. The title essay discusses the pressure that comes from being a “sex writer.” The assumptions that people make about her, and the things they expect from her. What was most appealing about the essays was the vulnerability that she displayed from one to the other. Rachel is a storyteller, and an intuitive one at that. Reading the essays, is like talking to your smart friend who always knows the right things to say. The friend who makes you feel good, because they let you see them for who they really are and you love them all the more for it.
Being a sex writer/editor is a loaded position. I remember sitting with an acquaintance over lunch when one of my anthologies came out, and she was giving me that you-write-dirty-stories smirk I am accustomed to. She said to me that I did not “look” like I did that sort of thing. That day I was wearing a vintage-like polka dot dress and a cameo, and she knew that I had gone to Catholic School, so that was all she needed to know.
Yes, I edit and write erotica. It honestly was probably the thing that I wanted to do when I grew up in some form, and now I do it in many forms. And people always look at me like they are startled or give me the infamous smirk. When I said that I went to an erotica conference, I might as well have said I went to an orgy for the looks I got. I hate to disappoint, but fiction is fiction no matter what it is about. Erotica is a preferred topic of mine, but it is not all I am about. It is not all Rachel is about either, and she beautifully illustrates that in Sex and Cupcakes. Each essay is like a delicious cupcake with a filling you were not expecting. I learned a lot more about Rachel, but there is still so much more to uncover and I hope that she puts out another book of essays to pick up from where this one left off!
But for now, we luckily have Sex and Cupcakes available on Amazon and iTunes, and if you haven’t you must! And don’t forget her fiction! I just added her new erotica anthology, I Want You Bad: Obsessed Erotic Romance for Women to my want to read list on Goodreads!
