In mainstream media, the erotic identities, sex lives, and fantasies of transgender and genderqueer people are often oversimplified, sensationalized, or invisible. Take Me There is an erotica collection unlike any other that celebrates the pleasure, heat, and diversity of transgender and genderqueer sexualities. The power of seeing and being seen is a central theme in the anthology; it’s not simply about passing or not passing (an idea often explored with transgender characters), but about being acknowledged and desired in a sexual context.
The book takes you from San Francisco to Israel, from heartache to lust, from stranger sex to a 10 year anniversary, from ballet shoes to butt plug bondage tables, from fumbling teenagers to leatherclad bears, from MTF and FTM—and in between and beyond.
This year and last I've hit a lot of stumbling blocks with my writing, and for a long time erotica was absolved from those blocks, but lately, that's not the case. I've had lots of books I wanted to submit to and just didn't get to finish my stories and that makes me disappointed. However, this story I'm very excited about and think it pushed me into new territory. I have another gay male erotica story coming out this fall, "Stripped," about, yes, a crossdressing stripper, but that one has some humor (and a little edge, since it's set at a frat party, and indeed is in the book Frat Boys). My point is, though, that "Punching Bag" isn't humorous; it's intense, and, I hope, powerful, the kind of story I want to keep writing, because to me BDSM is intense and powerful, no matter the gender of the people involved. I'll post another excerpt closer to the pub date, but for now, please do consider pre-ordering it. I'm linking to Amazon but you can pre-order it from any bookstore.
Here are the first two paragraphs of my story "Punching Bag:"
Kyle still wasn’t sure, two years in, if he liked punching or being punched better, on or off the ring. All he knew was that boxing made him feel alive, lit up, excited, manly…and had even when he was a woman. He’d started lurking around the gym when he’d been Kim, binding his breasts, mostly using the inert punching bags. He was afraid of hitting another woman, but he wouldn’t be afraid of hitting the block of muscle in a man’s chest. He didn’t even need anyone else, at first, to get that special high, one he’d never gotten from running or swimming or tennis.
There’s an energy to a boxing ring that he had never experienced in any other sport, not even wrestling. This was pure, raw aggression, tempered only by the rules of the game and sometimes not even that. It made grown men and women drop all pretense and simply get down to the business at hand, and he liked the way it sliced away every false veneer society put on his shoulders until it was just his mind and his fists, working in concert.
I’m proud and honored to be part of this book, not just because it features a who’s who of queer erotica, but because I feel like I tried something new for me and pushed myself with my trans male gay erotic boxing story “Punching Bag” and am very pleased with the result. This is one I will devour the minute I get my contributor copies! More on it closer to the pub date. Tristan published my very first erotica story, “Monica and Me” (as did Shar Rednour), and I will always remember and treasure that.
Tristan also wrote on Facebook that if this does well, there’s the possibility of turning it into a series, so please remember that when you are buying holiday gifts or looking for your next erotic book purchase. If you know you’ll want to read it, pre-ordering this book (or any book) helps get its numbers up and means wherever you pre-order it from knows there’s a fan base and is more likely to stock more of it!
