Susie Bright's Journal

The Musical Inspiration for My New Book: The Erotic Treasury

Name that tune, you say? Okay, now name the erotic legend that goes with the tune...

I have a new book out for the holidays, a fancy-pantsy slip-covered hardback called X: The Erotic Treasury, with forty stories from my favorite erotic literary fiction authors.

I asked all my writers, "What song would you like to dedicate to your story?"

Twenty-three of them answered— fiends like me, who invoke a lyric to every new inspiration!

Above is my "jukebox," where you can hear snippets of all the songs.

Below is a list of all the stories, with the title, author, song, and synopsis.

I loved doing this... it gives me another insight into what each author was thinking as they twisted the short and curlies!

1.    Wish Girls
        by Matthew Addison

"Wished for You" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers

A boy grows weary of his two devoted fembots.

2.    On the Road with Sonia
        by Paula Bomer

“Freeway,”  by Aimee Mann

One mother's erotic road trip.. several months pregnant.


3.    Seagum
        by Corwin Ericson

“Barnacle Bill the Sailor,” by The Controllers

A fisherman applies a shocking gift from the sea to his lingam.


4.    Beyond the Sea
       by Susan DiPlacido

"The Girl from Ipanema," Getz/Gilberto

Beautiful con artist works washed-up surf star on last chance cruise.


5.    Night Train
       by Martha Garvey

“Take Off Your Clothes (For World Peace),” by Royal Pink

They got on at Broadway-Lafayette... and the rest is history.

6.    Electric Razor
       by Irma Wimple

"Good Vibrations," by American Black Lung

The potential of household appliances in one woman's life.

7.    Must Bite
       by Vicki Hendricks

“Monkey Man” by the Rolling Stones 

Stripper takes on a new husband with an exotic pet collection and a huge insurance policy.

8.    Loved It and Set It Free
        by Lisa Montanarelli

“Memories of Times Square (The Dildo Song),” by The Neal Pollack Invasion

(What a perfect, perfect, song- SB)

Two young women's night of debauchery have to cover up their misdeeds in a hurry.

9.    Comeback
       by Nick Kaufmann

"Magic"  by Olivia Newton-John

A broken down porn star gets one hell of a supernatural last chance.

10.    Parts for Wholes
         by Monmouth

“Cue The Strings,” by Low

A tender, painful, and pleasurable intervention.


11.    Salt
        by Bill Noble

“Food and Pussy,” by Dan Reeder (How did I never hear this before?-SB)

Two unlikely lovers set adrift off the Na Pali coast.


12.    A First Time for Everything
        by Rachel Kramer Bussel

“Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)” by Garbage

One woman's self-made bukkake party is no Martha Stewart affair.


13.    Fairgrounds
         by Peggy Munson

 "Carnival,” by Bikini Kill

A trio of outlaws and crips take their sex act to the carnival grounds.

14.    Broads
        by R. Gay

“Angel,” by Massive Attack

A guy who doesn't think he stands a chance with a certain kind of woman finds he has a physical gift he didn't realize.

15.    God’s Gift
         by Salome Wilde

“Big Bottom,” by Spinal Tap

A legendary Rock Star is reincarnated beyond his wildest sexual imagination.

16.    Red Light Green Light
         by Shanna Germain

“L'il Red Riding Hood,” by Sam the Sham

A tourist takes a turn in a brothel window in Amsterdam.

17.    Puffy Lips
         by Susie Hara

“Flamenco Tangos,” by Manuel Salado

A dare at a bar goes one step further than either lover expected.

18.    Gifts from Santa
         by Tsaurah Litzky

“Jingle Bells,” by Duke Ellington & his Orchestra

That jolly ole' elf knows exactly how to get you off.

19.     Deprogramming

          by Greta Christina

"4'33" by John Cage

Two refugees from a charismatic religious cult know they have one catharsis left undone.

Watch the Cage performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypmW4Yd7SY

20.       Yes

            by Donna George Storey

"The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News

Just how far you can take one dinner guest, one accommodating hostess, and one highly authoritative master of ceremonies.

21.    Cold Ass Ice
         by Chelsea Summers

"Hot Child in the City, " by Nick Gilder

A sweltering summer in an un-airconditioned apartment in The City can take one right past the point of no return.

23.   Rock of Ages
        by P.S. Haven

“Pictures Of Lily” by The Who

One young man's coming of age, thanks to rock'n'roll and his sister's unintentional inspiration.

24.     A Perfect Fit
          by Katya Andreevna

"I'll Be Seeing You," by Françoise Hardy and Iggy Pop

A last-minute trip to the shoe shop takes one customer into a fitting session she'll never forget.

24.     Clean Comfortable Room
          by Pam Ward

"Swordfishtrombone," by Tom Waits

What's a woman gotta go through for a decent room and a pack of cigarettes?

24.     Valentine's Day in Jail
          by Susan Musgrave

"If You Were Crying Over Me," by Rita Chiarelli

This autobiographical-based story was made into a film for the Canadian TV series Bliss, which is devoted to women's erotic memoir. Rita's song was used on the soundtrack.

Photos: Rachel Kramer Bussell hitting the bowl again, and P.S. Haven, coloring outside the lines.

Feel free to copy this post and its contents anywhere.

If you want the javascript to put my jukebox widget on your blog, just email me.

My Fondest Punctuation

I recently got interviewed by Editrix. a blog "for editors, editors at heart, and anyone else who thinks grammar is hot."

Today, the Editrix veered off the path, slightly, to examine the origin of the word "dyke." I love stuff like this!

She also has a standard feature called "Five Questions," which asks authors to reveal their secret grammar-geek practices.

You should check out her whole list of victims, but so far, the interviews include authors like: Robert Olen Butler, Steve Almond, Frank McCourt, Tristan Taormino, Farhad Manjoo, Stacey Richter, Harry Shearer, and Abigail Thomas.

(I find it fascinating that is that I am acquainted with a majority of her interviewees because I've published their work in Best American Erotica. It just goes to show that behind every erotic stylist is a grammar freak).

Here's my entry:

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR SUSIE BRIGHT

Q: What is your preferred environment for writing?

A: My office, when I'm all alone. Or, in bed with my MacBook Pro on a heat-reducing lap desk-pillow.

I've often wondered about working at writing retreats; they sound so luxurious. But I've never been to one.

I can "disappear" with my writing in a crowd. I've worked at news desks (back when press rooms were crowded) and at airports, cafés, libraries.

What I don't like: working on planes. The commerical air systems today rub me the wrong way, every way. I have to take a Valium, read a trashy magazine, and listen to music. I feel about as original as a plank; creativity is impossible. My first priority is to keep from going into a rage.

Q: What punctuation mark are you fondest of?

A: Oh, do I ever love this question. In terms of its versatility—the em dash.

For handwriting, I always liked drawing question marks and ampersands.

In Spanish, I relish that you begin and end exclamations with the same thrilling bang!

Q: What punctuation, spelling, grammar, style, or usage error annoys you the most?

A: I'm not annoyed by anyone's first draft for themselves. My first drafts are obscenities of typographical errors and awkward constructions. When I compose, I'm in the "pouring out" stage.

What I object to, what galls me, is writers who think that THAT unholy mess is what you turn in to your editor.

There is no writing without self-editing. I wish I could drop cases of Elements of Style out of a helicopter over large student populations.

Q: If you weren't in your current line of work, what would you be doing instead?

A: My line of work has lots of costume changes. How many people get to hole up with a singular passion anymore? I'm a mother, publisher, adviser, blogger, editor, author, performer, teacher, organizer, chief bottle-washer.

When I was little, I liked to sing and dance when I wasn't reading and making up stories. My daughter's stage-managing a play right now, and I daydream about how fun it would be to grab one of those scripts. Sign me up for a Broadway musical.

Q: What drove you to become a writer?

A: Politics. I wanted desperately to convince people of something I was in a lather about. Outrage at an injustice. Wanting to share something hilarious. Argument. Poetry. Lyrics. I come from a long line of blabby, bookwormy, wordsmiths and hams.

Photo Credit: Cookie Hunt, RIP.

This photo has an interesting story behind it. I love clothes and fabric with " just words" on them, so this was one of my favorite t-shirts back in the day. "Choose Sex" in Helvetica!

This was shot at the Women in Print conference in the late-80s, a conference on feminist publishing, back when there were dozens of women publishers! I was there to represent my magazine, On Our Backs.

The most prominent lesbian-works publisher took me aside— Barbara Grier from Naiad Press— and said, "I don't have a personal problem with what you're doing; I don't give a shit, but everyone else here has told me they think you should be assassinated."

The Same Old Story...

This video says it all.

I've also been keeping up with the WGA strike coverage on my comrade Lee Stranhan's blog. Lee's son has been on the picket lines every day, interviewing all kinds of people, and doing a much better job of covering the issues than the mainstream media... naturally!

He quotes Robert Towne in his first post: "Until a screenwriter has done his job nobody else has one."

I feel that line good and plenty, and I would take it even further… in any communication enterprise, there is no “there there” until the writer does their job. And yet writers are bamboozled into thinking they're “disposable.”

I support the WGA for many reasons, but one in particular is that we so rarely see a place where writing gets noticed at all, as if it is something of value.

Most writers who make money for others get paid: nothing. A tiny fraction of working writers get paid pennies for their hours (I'm in that club). And the only writers who have organized power are in the film/TV business, because of labor organizing that was hard-won decades ago, and would be difficult to imagine now. That's why the studios are so optimistic about union busting, and never paying a dime on new media profits. 

But I still hope...  I hope the WGA pins the studios to the wall, and that I get to see a “trickledown” effect!