“Gotta Have It” has 1 Year Bestseller Anniversary

Woo! Let’s pop the cork! Come scream with me and Rachel Kramer Bussel as we swing from the chandeliers! Shake those booties, yo! Because…this February marked the 1 Year Anniversary of the, “Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex” Audiobook which has been maintaining its place on the Audible Bestsellers List in Erotica for an entire year straight! It has been an amazing adventure watching so many new releases come and go but Gotta Have It continues to hang tough! My heart beats light and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much over this accomplishment. To celebrate we are releasing an additional 5 stories from Gotta Have It on the Kiss Me Quick’s Podcast!

Rachel Kramer Bussel is one hell of an editor and she really did a fine job of collecting such a variety of stories for this anthology. It has been quite an honor working with her and having her as a guest writer on The Kiss Me Quick’s Erotica Podcast. In my line of work I get to read stories from many, many amazing authors and to actually have the privilege of narrating one of Rachel Kramer Bussel’s anthologies has been an experience that I will never, ever forget.

I finally met Rachel in San Francisco last year around her birthday, and yes she was gracious enough to sign all of my R.K.B. anthologies that I had lugged with me, and I even got a copy of Gotta Have It signed for a fan! We hung out, had coffee, and discussed all things, writing, reading, publishing and narrating. We talked about fans, both readers and listeners, their similarities and dissimilarities, all while tooling around in a Victoria’s Secret checking out all the lovely lacy panties… We visited for hours-had dessert and talked some more! You know, when you have that gut instinct that tells you someone is going to be a good partner to work with… and then you discover that your instincts were accurate?… Well you tend to walk on cloud nine for a long, long while grinning like an idiot to yourself. There’s an actual internal dialogue that happens…

“What the hell are you smiling about?”
“I met Rachel Kramer Bussel!”
“Yeah? And…?”
“And, she’s fucking awesome!”

Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of meeting every author I work with, but I do feel as though I have in a way, when I’ve read their work. Narrating a story allows me to communicate like a sort of relay—connecting Author to Lurid Listener. It’s my job to perform these stories, to transmit the scenes or oftentimes an entire world directly to a listener’s brain in such a way that it will fuel their desires, make them feel good about themselves and their partners. To encourage love and passion! I want to entertain my listeners so that they come back, again and again. To generate joy.

With editors/writers like Rachel Kramer Bussel, I am able to do this.

Creativity is completely boundless. Anthologies like Gotta Have It and The Big Book of Orgasms, our next teamed-up adventure scheduled to be released in Audible, iTunes and Amazon in April 2014 (You can bet that Lurid Listeners all over the world will get a good hearty sampling just in time for that release date), are perfect examples of how affecting erotica storytelling can be. These anthologies are like a narcotic kaleidoscope, a dopamine inducing audio-erotica cocktail for everyone! And that’s what I work so hard to provide, it’s what I zero-in-on, seek-out specifically for my listeners.

From the bottom of my heart: to Rachel Kramer Bussel, all 69 authors from Gotta Have It (and The Big Book of Orgasms), Cleis Press and my Lurid Listeners, thank you. I love you. It’s your support, confidence, faith and trust that allows me do what I was meant to do in this world and I couldn’t be happier!

♥♥♥And now before I offer up this celebratory KMQ episode featuring Gotta Have It’s, “Veronica’s Ass“ by Matt Conklin… a word from Rachel Kramer Bussel!♥♥♥

I’m so thrilled with the new audiences Rose Caraway has brought to Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex with her audiobook narration. Even though the stories are very short, erotic micro fiction, Rose manages to imbue so much emotion into the mix with each one. Her sultry storytelling adds meaning even for me, after having read all the stories multiple times. I like to offer readers as wide a mix of characters, scenarios and types of storytelling and sexuality in my books, and Gotta Have It lives up to that goal. I love the playful ones, like opener “Seven-Letter Word” by Heather Lin, which crossword junkies will especially appreciate, and the laugh-out-loud “Vacation Pictures” by Robert Peregrine.

I’ve read the latter live a few times and it’s a thrill to get people to laugh. With Rose’s narration, you get the humor as well as the sex, both given her full attention. But what I think is the real strength of Gotta Have It is that there’s something in it for everyone, and I hope that even if you think you’re more into, say, kinky stories, you’ll appreciate the tender romantic realistic ones like “After Ten Years” by Christen Clifford. Some of the stories are indeed about quickie sex, couples or lovers stealing away for a few minutes of passion. But whether they only have a few minutes or all the time in the world, what for me makes these stories stand out is that they say so much in only a few words.

I’ll be honest—the biggest complaint I’ve had about these stories is that they’re too short. Some people want more—and I think that’s a good thing. Most of these authors have much more to offer when you’re done listening to Gotta Have It. I too hope the authors continue the lives of these characters in their sexual adventures. But I don’t think anyone’s being cheated by the shortness of the stories. Rather, they are getting the best these authors have to offer, those who were up to the challenge of crafting something lasting and sensual in a short space. That’s more challenging than it may seem.

Even the humor in a story like “Eat Me” by Marina Saint, in which a hamburger talks to a very hungry and horny woman, I hope will resonate beyond the sexual. Rose delivers these stories in a way that lets you get lost in them, savoring each word in a way that gives me something new with each listen. Even when you think you know what to expect, there’s a new twist.

I hope you’ll enjoy the variety, from sweet to naughty, from tender to torturous, from the bedroom to deliberately far from home. I also hope that you’ll give yourself a chance to try a new kind of story as you listen, something you may not have thought was up your alley. That’s the other beauty of Gotta Have It—these stories are short enough to offer a taste of the kinkier side of sex in some cases. Some you’ll likely recognize a slice of your own life, and others will be pure fantasy. I’d love to hear your favorites; let me know at rachelkramerbussel@gmail.com.

Enjoy, “Veronica’s Ass” by Matt Conklin

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