I love this series.
I have been honored to have my stories published in it, and to be an editor for multiple volumes.
Editions I Edited
Editions which have my stories:
- Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year (aka Best Lesbian Erotica 2016) edited by Sacchi Green
- Best Lesbian Erotica 2014, edited by Kathleen Warnock
- Best Lesbian Erotica 2012 edited by Kathleen Warnock, selected and introduced by Sinclair Sexsmith, Cleis Press, 2012
- Best Lesbian Erotica 2011 edited by Kathleen Warnock and Lea Delaria, Cleis Press, 2011
- Best Lesbian Erotica 2009 edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press, 2009
- Best Lesbian Erotica 2007 edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press, 2007
- Best Lesbian Erotica 2006 edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press, 2006
Why Lesbian Erotica is Valuable Activism: Introduction to Best Lesbian Erotica 2012
I know what I want.
I knew exactly what I was looking for when I read the submitted stories for this anthology: dirty, smutty, smart about gender, smart about power, packed full of sex with the bare necessary descriptions of setting and context, and, oh yeah, good writing. It doesn’t have to be dirty in my personal favorite ways—with sultry accoutrements and costuming like stockings and strappy sandals, or with strap-ons and lots of fucking, or with blow jobs and dirty talk. I like stories where the characters are so turned on and lusty that I feel it too, even if it is not my particular kink or pleasure. I like stories with unique descriptions and rolling prose and insatiable narrators and rising and falling action. I like stories where I want to recreate the action for myself, when I am inspired by the delicious positions and settings and words.
Yes, and the words, let’s not forget the words. That’s what these kinds of books are all about, really. If you wanted a quick, easy turn on, you could load up any of dozens of queer porn sites—there is no shortage of real, good queer porn out there these days. But for some of us that is too crass, and a well-done turn of phrase gets us swooning and biting our lips and rubbing our thighs together even more than a dirty video.
I didn’t always know what I wanted.
Read “Why Lesbian Erotica is Activism” →
My personal history with Best Lesbian Erotica, & it’s huge influence on my erotica writing:
I started collecting them in 2001. I fancied myself a lover of smut and a sex-focused person, but frowned at my itty bitty erotica collection at home. So I started frequenting the lesbian erotica section of my favorite used book store, Twice Sold Tales, on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, which was an equally itty bitty shelf near the floor. The ‘Gay and Lesbian’ section towered in the shelves above it, but I was looking for the bottom-shelf stuff. The dirty stuff. I bought every edition I could find, eventually filling in my collection by ordering the few volumes I was missing online, and still order the newest edition the minute it comes out.
The series now spans 20 volumes with as many different guest editors. It can be hard to pick just which ones to read, or where to start. So, here are three of my favorites.