Rachel Kramer Bussel

Books, sex, writing, travel, art, feminist, food, randomness. For more information, visit rachelkramerbussel.com, where you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter (see left-hand side), which features book giveaways and news, and see my calendar of upcoming events. I teach writing workshops in person and online and offer private writing consultations via EroticaWriting101.com. My 60+ erotica anthologies include Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volumes 1-4,Come Again: Sex Toy Erotica, and The Big Book of Orgasms: 69 Sexy Stories. I can be reached at rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com and @raquelita on Twitter.

Archive

Jun
12th

Mon

Ahead of Father’s Day, the latest Open Secrets essay is “Daddyo” by Robert Hudson, about being a father to Schuyler. Here’s a snippet:

If I allowed myself to sink without a fight, I suppose Father’s Day could be a reminder of my perceived helplessness, of all the times I got it wrong, of the moments in which I felt that I let Schuyler down. But the thing is, that’s never been the case. I may feel those things, and frequently do. But on Father’s Day, I give the day to Schuyler, and I embrace the version of me that she is so keen to celebrate. She doesn’t focus on my uncertainty or my mistakes, although I know she is probably all too aware of them both.

Open Secrets is a reader-supported publication for memorable, revealing personal essays. To receive new posts, support our work, and help us continue to publish, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Out and About in Zambia

On how being outed as gay as part of a Women's March is the scariest thing author Katherine King has experienced

opensecretsmag.substack.com

What’s it like to be gay in Zambia? Read Katherine King’s powerful essay from last week at Open Secrets, and stay tuned for more queer content this Pride Month and all year. This is a personal essay publication I started in April as a labor of love; it’s funded by me and readers, and free and paid subscribers help keep us going!

May
23rd

Tue

The Potential for Ants

The latest essay at my Substack personal essay publication Open Secrets fits right into National Mental Health Month. I’m grateful to Meg Weber for sharing this insightful and powerful essay on parenting a teenager dealing with a mental health crisis.

Watch me on CBS Sunday Morning

I’m thrilled to have been interviewed with my boyfriend, abstract artist Drew Griffiths, on CBS Sunday Morning this past Sunday, about having separate bedrooms. I wrote a Refinery29 essay in 2014 on the topic, and as I tell my essay writing students, you never know where your words will wind up! Watch us here:

May
8th

Mon

Secret Keeping

Ahead of Mother’s Day, here’s the latest essay at my Substack personal essay publication Open Secrets is “Secret Keeping” by Carla Bruce, about her daughter’s diary, motherhood, and her own middle school communal private notebook (and what happens when it’s discovered). I hope you’ll check it out and consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to Open Secrets to help me keep publishing weekly essays well into the future.

Apr
10th

Mon

The Stroke of a Pen

I started a new personal essay publication, Open Secrets, on Substack last week, that will publish a new personal essay through at least early December (longer depending on paying subscribers). I’m funding the first 26 weeks and subscribers have funded the next 10. I hope you’ll check out Christina Berry’s essay on having a stroke last year in her mid-forties and what her life, health, reading, and writing have been like since then. If you like the post and essays and/or want to support this new self- and reader-funded publication, please subscribe! It’s free, and if you want to become a paying subscriber and get access to essayist audio and video Q&As, private chat threads, writing tips, and other bonus content, you can become a paying subscriber for $8/month or $80/year.

Mar
22nd

Wed

Glowing Publishers Weekly review for It Takes Two: Couples Erotica

ittakestwobook:

Publishers Weekly had wonderful things to say about It Takes Two: Couples Erotica edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, which Cleis Press will publish in print and ebook on May 9.
Standouts include Jodie Griffin’s BDSM-infused “Little Red Goes to Kink Camp”; Christina Berry’s “Getaway from the Everyday,” featuring hotel sex between a long-married couple; and Quenby’s “Welcome Home,” a red-hot sapphic tale…This inclusive, bighearted anthology offers something from nearly every genre enjoyed by erotica lovers. Readers looking for romance with maximum heat should snap this up.
Check out the table of contents and buy links here for this couples erotica anthology

I was thrilled to see this review of It Takes Two: Couples Erotica, my next erotica anthology, out May 9. They didn’t review my books How to Write Erotica or Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 9, which was disappointing but understandable. So I’m extra happy to see this review and hope you’ll consider pre-ordering it from Bookshop or your local independent bookstore (or wherever you buy books) and/or asking your library to stock it!

Mar
8th

Wed

Win a copy of Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 8

bestwomenseroticaoftheyear:

Happy International Women’s Day! Head on over to Goodreads to enter to win 1 of 5 copies of Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 8 (US only). Enter by March 31.

And here’s another giveaway I’m running!

Win a copy of How to Write Erotica

I’m doing a giveaway at Goodreads of 5 copies of How to Write Erotica! U.S. only. Enter by March 19.

Open Secrets is launching in April 2023

I’m launching a self-funded Substack newsletter called Open Secrets that will run personal essays every Monday from April-September 2023, and hopefully much longer depending on subscriptions. Details at the link. The first few months of essays are by invitation only for my essay writing students and authors I’m reaching out to but there will be a limited public submissions window down the road. I’m paying $100/essay or a lifetime subscription to Open Secrets. I have some amazing essays lined up so far and am so excited and proud to not just have an idea, but be putting it into action. With the closing of many recent outlets for essays, I wanted to provide another one, plus essays are one of my favorite genres to read and write. So please subscribe and spread the word and stay tuned for our first essay on April 3rd!