Blog

Revival? Reunion? Reinvention? Whatever it is, it’s Eroticon time again…

#eroticon, bookselling, writers, writers' conference 19th May 2023 Events 0 Comments

The last time I wrote a post like this was, well, in the last days of the Before Times, having been a bit quicker off the mark than usual with my Eroticon Meet & Greet in 2020. (As some of … Continued

Monarchy and Masochism

Englishness, masochism, monarchy 8th May 2023 Events, Other Things 0 Comments

There is, I think, a school of kink-related thought which regards caning as a particularly English fetish – I certainly haven’t seen much in the American BDSM guides about that subset of the scene which is all about the naughty … Continued

Upcoming book: Auto Erotica crowdfunder

crowdfunding, erotic art, erotic photography 29th April 2023 New Books

One of my top connections made last year was with Circa Press, some of whom’s magnificent erotic art books are available from Dirty Sexy Words right now. I have always liked having a selection of picture books, whether photographic or … Continued

Have you turned it off? #emergencyalert

civil disobedience, emergency alert, phones, privacy 18th April 2023 Other Things

It’s fairly typical of this government to present us with an Innovative New Thing that no one actually asked for, which is genuinely dangerous to quite a few of us. The motivation behind the Emergency Alert which is apparently going … Continued

Cheaper online?

Amazon, bookselling, discounts, pricing 7th April 2023 Fairs and Markets, Musings

Every now and again someone picks up a book, examines it with interest, then looks it up on their phone, announces it’s cheaper on Amazon and puts it down again. This is fine, I get it (particularly these days, of … Continued

Culture wars, community and craphounds

activism, community, drag queens, fascists 28th March 2023 Other Things

‘This is what community looks like,’ was shouted at some point towards the end I think it was someone from the pub, or one of the performers but am not entirely sure due to limited view (though I think of … Continued

Ann Summers: achievements and ambivalence

Ann Summers, female sexual pleasure, Jacqueline Gold, sex shops 20th March 2023 Musings, Other Things

Obviously the obituaries for Jaqueline Gold talked a lot about the Ann Summers brand, and how Gold was one of the pioneers of mainstreaming women’s sexual pleasure. While I’ve never actually been to an Ann Summers party, I was certainly … Continued

Censorship or sensitivity?

censorship, roald dahl, sensitivity readers 9th March 2023 Other Things, Rantings

One of the better takes on the recent rewriting-Roald-Dahl fuss was from someone on Twitter who pointed out that their youthful reading had included plenty of Dahl, Enid Blyton and even some JK Rowling… “and I’m woke as fuck!”. I … Continued

New release and launch: London Burlesque

bufrleque, erotic art, erotic photography, new book 22nd February 2023 New Books

Book launches are always fun, and the launch party for London Burlesque: A Family Album was especially so, being held in a fascinating art space in Canning Town. I got invited along as I already stock some of the stunning books … Continued

Choosing Love

bigotry, love, pleasure, Pride 14th February 2023 Musings

Choose love, because the consequences of choosing hate get worse and worse. Choose love, because choosing hate leads to teenage girls getting stabbed to death in parks in broad daylight (then mocked by bigots even as their devastated families mourn). … Continued