An Interview with Tsaurah Litzky

Look at us! We are climbing our way out of the tower and down Rapunzel's hair. Only a few more Q&A's to go! Here is Tsaurah Litzky, who wrote "Dancing Shoes" for Alison's Wonderland:

1. Which fairy tale character would you most like to do and why?

The fairy tale character I would most like to do and have do me is Jack-In-The-Beanstalk, because he has strong arms, a good strong back and lots of endurance from climbing that beanstalk.

2. If your fairy godmother or godfather waved a magic wand over your head and granted you three wishes, what would you be wearing during your wishing?

I would be wearing my favorite clothes; my black snakeskin patterned leggings, the black leather jacket I got in Amsterdam, the ivory silk blouse my mother made for herself out of the parachute my father used during World War II. She gave the blouse to me when I was sixteen.

3. What would you wish for?

My first wish would be for world peace. My second wish would be for a house with a private beach on St. John, in the U.S. Virgins Islands so I could have ocean sex any time I wanted. My third wish would be to be swimming on my private beach with the love of my life R.L. on my birthday, August 31.

4. Do you own fairy wings? A little red riding hood? Glass slippers? If yes, please describe?

I do not own fairy wings, a little red riding hood or glass slippers. However I do own several pairs of crotchless panties and a peacock feather mask.

5. What question would you like to ask another author in the line-up?

For the author of the Midas F*ck, obviously you wrote this story because you know how great sex is a multitute of riches. What experience or experiences most inspired you to come (pun intended) to this conclusion?

6. What would you like to tell readers about your story in Alison’s Wonderland?

I wrote Dancing Shoes because of my real life crush on the shoemaker who repairs my shoes. He eventually asked me out. What happened on that date will not be revealed here but will be described in a yet unwritten story.

7. What fairy tale would you love to tackle in the future?

Rapunzel.

Tsaurah Litzky is an internationally known writer of Erotica whose work has appeared in over eighty publications including Best American Erotica (eight times), Best International Erotica (three times), Bitten, X - The Erotic Treasury, Penthouse, New York Times, Sex For America, K is for Kinky, Got A Minute, The Merry XXXmas Book Of Erotica, The Urban Bizarre, Dirty Girls, Evergreen Review 12. Simon & Schuster published her erotic novella, "The Motion Of The Ocean," as part of Three The Hard Way, a series of erotic novellas edited by Susie Bright. Tsaurah has taught erotic writing and erotic literature at the New School and erotic poetry at the Bowery Poetry Club. Tsaurah believes that great sex is often inspired by a pair of shoes and that fairy tales do come true. You can find out more about Tsaurah and her writing life at http://tsaurahlitzky.com.

Don't forget to comment on the interviews! My box of goodies is growing by the day!

XXX,
Alison

An interview with N.T. Morley

As an editor of smut, I am generally able to turn down my libido while I work. Otherwise, you know. I'd never get anything done. I'd just sit at my desk, jerking off all day. Which, while not an unpleasant sounding scenario, wouldn't have given me such an extensive backlist. But there are authors who, well, pierce my glass ceiling. N.T. Morley is one of those writers. I will shuffle Morley's work to the bottom of my pile—virtual or literal—because I know I'll be taking copious "breaks" during the reading.

For Alison's Wonderland, N.T. wrote a new take on Beauty and the Beast. One reviewer wrote, "...believe me when I say that I have never read a fairy tale like this before. This short story is so deliciously, wickedly good! I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say this… this book is worth purchasing just for this story! It’s that awesome!"

Morley has stopped by to answer my standard, slightly silly questions:

1) Which fairy tale character would you most like to do and why?

Definitely Belle in Beauty and the Beast—which is why I chose this classic story to re-imagine for this volume.

2) If your fairy godmother or fairy godfather (I’m an equal opportunity fairy employer) waved a magic wand over your head and granted you three wishes, what would you be wearing during your wishing?

I’m going to say knee-high riding boots, leather jodhpurs, and a You've Been A Bad Girl, Go To My Room T-shirt, both because it'd be hot, and because that outfit seems to be the sort of thing that would invite a fairy godmother to take interest.

3) What would you wish for?

I'm going to assume the wishes have to be horribly selfish and I couldn't wish for world peace or the end of hunger or ethnic strife—because I guess anybody could wish for those, couldn't they. If I had to pick 3 selfish wishes, I'd want to be transported into 3 of my unwritten novels for roughly the amount of time it takes me to write them. And, perhaps most importantly, I'd like to get paid an advance for living each one of them.

4) Do you own fairy wings? A little red riding hood? Glass slippers?

If yes, please describe. Or send photos! Not a one, but I've been known to wear devil's horns on occasion.

5) What question would you most like to ask another author in the line-up?

I'd like to ask Alison if she has any ink in interesting places.

6) What would you like to tell readers about your story in Alison’s Wonderland?

I've always loved "Beauty and the Beast" because it's the distilled form of my favorite fantasy—a woman being taken out of her comfort zone and placed somewhere that she's totally out of control, but maybe in some way completely in control. The question of which is which—control or surrender—and which is desired, is what's so hot. But it's the wondering how far a character will TAKE either control or surrender that totally drives me over the edge. In that sense, "Beauty and the Beast" essentially represents the dynamic I relive in all my stories and novels over and over again.

7) What fairy tale would you love to tackle in the future?

I'm fairly content to keep rewriting this one in various mansions, limousines and goth clubs up and down the West coast. :-)

N.T. Morley has written more than twenty published and forthcoming novels of erotic dominance and submission. The author of such decadent classics as The Visitor, The Nightclub, The Parlor, The Limousine, The Circle, and The Appointment as well as the trilogies The Office, The Castle, The Library, Morley has also contributed fiction to such anthologies as Alison's Wonderland, Naughty Stories from A to Z, Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies For Couples, Juicy Erotica, Best Bondage Erotica, and The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, and to the podcast Open Source Sex, as well as editing the double-anthology MASTER and slave available from Berkeley Books. Recent projects have included the forthcoming novels The Embezzler, The Adulteress, The Institute, and The Conservative.

Remember to comment for a chance to win a whole plethora of cool fairy-tale themed goodies. I have this box. I've been filling it. You won't believe your eyes!

XXX,
Alison

Hooray for Sommer!

image 1= how it was when i arrived


image 2= is how it was when i was done


image 3= is 'the big picture'
tada!

Yay! Thank you so much Sommer! If *you* send me a picture of Alison's Wonderland at your local bookstore—or on display at your house, in your bed, on your shelf, in your partner's hands, etc.—I will send *you* an Alison's Wonderland button!

XXX,
Alison

P.S. BTW, Sommer has a brand-new blog: http://sommermarsden.blogspot.com, so be sure to update your link list!

An Interview with Andrea Dale

Andrea Dale is an author I've had the pleasure to work with many times. Not only in books—her story The Queen of Christmas in Naughty or Nice always gets a rise from me—but also on the group blog Lust Bites. Her piece in Alison's Wonderland is The Broken Fiddle, a story which as repeatedly been praised in reviews of the book:

Andrea Dale's "The Broken Fiddle" is boxed tale, a story within a story. Set in Ireland, it rolls all the romance of far-off-places, storytellers, and fairy bargains into the story of a perfectly hot one-night-stand.

Almost every story is a winner and the best are "The Three Billys" by Sommer Marsden, "Fool's Gold" by Shanna Germain, and "The Broken Fiddle" by Andrea Dale.

Here she stops by to answer my favorite fairy tale queries:

1) Which fairy tale character would you most like to do and why?

Belle from Beauty and the Beast (Disney version) because she’s smart and someone I could talk to afterwards. (I’m afraid I don’t go for dumb blondes.) Plus that kiss she shared with the Prince Adam at the end? Rowr! Let’s invite him over, too! (But not the teapot. That would freak me out.)

2) If your fairy godmother or fairy godfather (I’m an equal opportunity fairy employer) waved a magic wand over your head and granted you three wishes, what would you be wearing during your wishing?

Most likely one of my many Styx concert shirts and a pair of jeans, and barefoot. Or an early Celtic peplos. Or nothing at all.

3) What would you wish for?

More than three wishes, of course! And a contract that spelled out the contingencies of any possible wish. I’ve read too many “wish” tales—I know how they can turn on you!

4) Do you own fairy wings? A little red riding hood? Glass slippers? If yes, please describe. Or send photos!

Oh hell yes! I’m a costumer and a faerie aficionado; I’ve been to Faerieworlds in Eugene, OR (kind of Renaissance Faire for the faerie-minded folk) and Labyrinth of Jareth in Los Angeles (a masked ball inspired by the movie Labyrinth). I have a crystal-and-wirework faerie crown, faerie wings, skirt, bodice, chemise… The only thing I didn’t hand craft are the wings and the waist-cincher.

I also own a dark angel costume of enormous black feathered wings and a black feather halo, which I generally wear with a black see-through burn-out velvet dress, black waist cincher, and black thigh-high stockings.

5) What question would you most like to ask another author in the line-up?

For Thomas Roche: Are you planning to write the continuation of Sarah/Psyche’s story? I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m also hot for a woman who can use “expiation” correctly in a sentence…

6) What would you like to tell readers about your story in Alison’s Wonderland?

Back when I studied in England in college, I visited as many castles I could. Outside of Denbigh Castle in Wales, I saw a pub called The Hand. (You have to say that like in a horror movie: dun dun dun! The Hand!) It did, in fact, have an extremely creepy pub sign. So I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to do a coffee table book of unique pub signs and names, with photos and the stories behind the names? Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a photographer to travel Britain with me….

So that’s how “The Broken Fiddle” began in my mind: a woman writing the story behind pub signs in Ireland. I set the story in Ireland because I originally wrote it for a music-themed anthology and thus it needed a gorgeous young Irish fiddler named Finn, with “hair as black as coal and curling silkily to his collar, eyes as blue as twilight eve.”

The music-themed antho passed on the story, and I then submitted it to one of Alison’s anthologies…and she passed on it, too. But she remembered it (she has a steel-trap mind, that woman!) and requested it for Alison’s Wonderland, and for that I’m truly grateful.

7) What fairy tale would you love to tackle in the future?

Let’s see… I’ve already written stories based on “The Little Mermaid” (“How the Little Mermaid Got Her Tail Back,” in Fairy Tale Lust), “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” (“The Twelve Fucking Princesses,” to appear in The Mammoth Book of Threesomes and Moresomes later this year), “Cinderella” (“If the Shoe Fits,” in The Trouble With Heroes, DAW, 2009), and “Rumplestiltskin” (a fantasy still making the rounds), as well as numerous ones based on fantasy and mythology.

I like turning tales on their heads, digging deeper to find the “why” in an unexplained action and then twisting things around. So rather than pick a specific fairy tale, I’ll say this: Send me anthology guidelines and I’ll see what sparks in my brain!

Andrea Dale lives in a fantasy world in her head, weaving tales of erotic romance and magic. Her alter egos write speculative fiction, appear in the front row of Styx concerts, make and wear a variety of costumes, and dance under a full moon sprinkled with faerie dust. Sometimes all in the same day. (There’s a reason why she named her blog “Enchantments.”) Now that she’s cast her spell on you, visit her at www.cyvarwydd.com.

Comment for a chance to win a smorgasbord of fairy tale items! (I'll announce a winner after all of the interviews have been posted.)

XXX,
Alison

G is for Gloat...

I mean, goat, as in "The Three Billys." Check out this fab review by Dorla Moorehouse for Alison's Wonderland:

Alison's Wonderland, an erotic collection based on fairy tales and myths, has officially earned a spot on my list of favorite erotica anthologies. In fact, this book is one of the few erotica works I own that has managed to keep me hot story after story.

When I think of my favorite collections, the best are those that are diverse - many different sexualities, the inclusion of both kinky and vanilla pieces, and in particular, the ways in which the stories reflect the theme in different ways. Alison Tyler has created a collection in which such variety exists. While I would have liked to have seen a few more gay/lesbian pieces, Ms. Tyler does showcase threesomes that require characters to slide along their Kinsey scales. We also get a good blend of kink and vanilla, showcasing both the sweet and sadistic side of things.

Best of all, these stories interpret the theme of fairy tales in delightfully different ways. Some, such as Janine Ashbless' "Gold on Snow" and Georgia E. Jones' "The Walking Wheel" are true fairy tales, with more sex thrown in. Most of these stories take fairly tale themes and adapt them to contemporary settings and situations. "The Three Billys" by Sommer Marsden and "The Midas F*ck" by Erica DeQuaya are particularly excellent examples of these. And some stories simply take the supernatural/fantastic elements of fairy tales without creating a direct analog from old stories to present ones. Bryn Haniver's "Mastering Their Dungeons" and A. D. R. Forte's "Moonset" are my favorite examples of these.

I always try to come up with some constructive criticism when doing a book review, but I'm hard pressed to think of something I didn't like about Alison's Wonderland. This collection is impeccably selected and edited. Two days after finishing the book, the only real criticism I have is that in "A Taste for Treasure," T.C. Calligari has a character who goes by the name of "Jimbo." And when the only complaint I have is with a character's name, that really isn't much at all.

Thanks so much, Dorla! You're awesome!

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Oh, god. I once wrote a piece for my mythology class at UCLA—which wasn't really a mythology class at all—with a character named Bruno. The professor read my piece out loud. (She liked it.) But the class exploded in giggles each time she said the name Bruno! No idea why! I really *did* date someone with that name.

Interview with Georgia E. Jones

Georgia E. Jones rocks my world. I've known her since high school (I had an embarrassing crush on her younger brother, Charlie, but don't tell anyone), and I see her every day. If not more often. What's even cooler? She's a bang-up writer. I mean, she's one of those people you just know is going somewhere. Her story in Alison's Wonderland is "The Walking Wheel," a historical take on Rumpelstiltskin. Here, she answers my standard down-the-rabbit-hole questions, and she asks *me* one of her own:

1) Which fairy tale character would you most like to do and why?

The beast. Most definitely the beast, in all his hirsute glory. I cried hot tears at the end of that story, which everyone thinks has a happy ending, but to me it was sad. He was so much more attractive and interesting as the beast than as the blond Ken doll. Clearly my biases are showing: a strong preference for dark and hairy.

2) If your fairy godmother or fairy godfather (I’m an equal opportunity fairy employer) waved a magic wand over your head and granted you three wishes, what would you be wearing during your wishing?

During my wishing I would be wearing overalls encrusted with swarovski crystals, the kind of outfit I think is sexy, but no one else does. At least one of the wishes would be the FG trying to get me to wish for some new clothes.

3) What would you wish for?

This is like a trick question. Of course I should say, No hungry children in all the world. Is it that big of a wish? If it's just a small personal wish, I would ask for a lifetime supply of batteries; they are expensive. And some shoes.

4) Do you own fairy wings? A little red riding hood? Glass slippers? If yes, please describe. Or send photos!

I don't own any of the aforementioned, although I just got an interesting visual of a woman wearing all three at once... or a man. I'm an equal opportunity fantasizer.

5) What question would you most like to ask another author in the line-up?

I would ask Alison Tyler when she came up with the great idea to do a book of erotic fairy tales. In some ways, the original versions were closer to these than what they've become. Darker, grimmer (no pun intended) and scarier.

6) What would you like to tell readers about your story in Alison’s Wonderland?

Thank you for reading it! And if you liked it, I'm really happy.

7) What fairy tale would you love to tackle in the future?

There are so many fun ones it's hard to choose. I always liked the one about the sisters; the red rose and the white rose. There was a bear involved somewhere in there. Here we go again with the dark and hairy...

And a big kiss to Alison for putting this project together and doing such a fantastic job.

She had to go and ask *me* a question! I'll come back later on and give an answer. For now, if you'd like, toss a comment her way. What I've decided to do is gather up *all* the prizes I ordered and put them together in one grand prize! So if you've commented on any of the interviews thus far, you are in the running to win a hodgepodge of interesting Etsy items!

XXX,
Alison

I'm a smart bitch...

Or Alison's Wonderland is... Look! We're on Smart Bitches!! Thanks to Emma Hillman and Sophia Valenti for sending me the link!

XXX,
Alison

Top 20...

Okay, more like top 20,000... but I was so thrilled to see the ranking here!

XXX,
Alison

Interview with Jacqueline Applebee

Jacqueline Applebee reached out and grabbed my attention with her flirty story in Frenzy called Black Satin Slip. She has a precise way with her words that draws readers directly into the scene she's describing. In Alison's Wonderland she has a bit of naughty fun by turning the classic Cinderella story on its head.

1) Which fairy tale character would you most like to do and why?

I would like to have some fun with Rapunzel. I’m sure I could find some ingenious uses for all her long locks… I’m a fan of restraint, and I’ll use whatever I’ve got at hand, including some lovely long hair!

2) If your fairy godmother or fairy godfather (I’m an equal opportunity fairy employer) waved a magic wand over your head and granted you three wishes, what would you be wearing during your wishing?

I’d probably be naked, either that or in my flame, tie-dye dress. Both are equally dramatic.

3) What would you wish for?

My first wish would be for world peace, just so I don’t feel guilty when I wish for Iron Man to appear, carrying a jar of peanut butter…

4) Do you own fairy wings? A little red riding hood? Glass slippers? If yes, please describe. Or send photos!

I did try to buy a Wand but it didn’t work out. Actually I tried to buy a Violet Wand, but they were a little expensive!

5) What question would you most like to ask another author in the line-up?

A question for A.D.R Forte: What’s your favourite Werewolf book or film? Are you an old school, Wolfman? Or do you prefer a Twilight incarnation?

6) What would you like to tell readers about your story in Alison’s Wonderland?

I would like to tell everyone that cross-dressing isn’t just for the boys. I’ve had more attentions (and action!) whilst dressed in drag as a man than at any other time. Sure it’s a little scary to let someone see another side of you, but it can be a truly liberating thing.

7) What fairy tale would you love to tackle in the future?

I’d love to look at the Ostera myth about a bird who transforms into a rabbit (the Easter bunny) but gets a chance to lay eggs just once a year, so she never forgets her true self. I seem to be big into transformation!

Jacqueline Applebee (www.writing-in-shadows.co.uk) is a black, British, bisexual woman who breaks down barriers with smut. She has written Erotic Brits, an anthology that shows that stiff upper lips aren’t the only things getting hard in the U.K.

Comment for a chance to win this slutty little bracelet!

XXX,
Alison

"take a trip down the rabbit hole..."

This is the type of review that writers dream of receiving...that is when we aren't dreaming of being fucked by Gordon Ramsey, which somehow seems to be how I've been spending my nights lately...

Erotic Fiction meets Fairy Tales in another superb Tyler anthology
July 31, 2010
By Jvstin "Paul Weimer"

Once upon a time, at College, I came across a theory that was to me novel, audacious, and helped reinforce the idea that what I was going to learn in college was not just going to be more high school, but was a whole new type of learning.

That theory, as expounded by one of my professors, was simple. All fairy tales, she said, every single one, had at its bottom a sexual context. Some were cautionary tales, she said, tales meant to warn young women about the dangers of sex outside of marriage. Others were symbolic rites of passage, suggesting the transformation between girl and woman by means of various symbols. Others were meant to show the transfer of bonds between a girl and her father and a woman and her husband.

This old theory was firmly in mind as I began to read Alison's Wonderland, an anthology of erotic fiction based on fable, fairy tale, myth and legend. Readers of my reviews know that I am well and familiar with Ms. Tyler's previous work--both as an indefatigable anthologist and a writer of her own right. That work, in the main, however, has been kinky, sexy, hot contemporary erotica. Characters that you could meet walking down the street in Los Angeles, or encounter in a sawdust-floor bar in deepest Texas.

This anthology, on the other hand, is a little different.

Some of the stories in this collection, such as Janine Ashbless' Gold on Snow and Georgia E Jones' The Walking Wheel, are explictly set in a fairy tale or historical fantasy world. Others take the idea and theme of various stories and transform them into contemporary contexts, sometimes very much a tale sprinkled with magic. Charlie, in Portia Da Costa's Unveiling his Muse meets a fairy queen of his own creation.Sometimes, though, the only magic needed are the interactions of the protagonists (such as Ms. Tyler's own Rings on her Fingers.

All are most delicious and the quality of the tales are high--and hot Ms Tyler has many of her "Regulars" contribute stories--herself, of course, Kristina Lloyd, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Sommer Marsden, and others. Ms. Tyler has slaved away at getting a high quality of authors in the genre to contribute to the anthology.

There is a wide variety of fairy tale subjects to be found here, too. If you were afraid of reading ten variations on Red Riding Hood, relax, Ms. Tyler has carefully crafted an anthology of a wide variety of stories based on original fairy tale inspiration. She also has provided a wide variety of sexual themes, combinations, and kinks. What other anthology are you going to find an imaginary (or IS she?) lesbian dominatrix mermaid? Or a Greek God in an online chat room?

The stories and authors temper and tone are appealing, in general, to a wide variety of readers of this genre. Readers of Ms. Tyler's other anthologies, especially, are going to be quite taken with this set of tales. Readers of the A. N. Roquelaure Beauty novels will be quite satisfied as well.

Really, there are few readers of erotic fiction who will not find something to their taste in Alison's Wonderland. So, why not take a trip down the rabbit hole, and find out where it leads you? You won't regret it.

Thank you so much! I'm so pleased when someone really *gets* one of my books! And I'm beyond, um, chuffed to be mentioned in the same graph with A. N. Roquelaure.

XXX,
Alison