Calling all heteros, bisexuals, queers, transfolk, genderqueers, crossdressers, swingers, sex-positive peeps, sex workers, pleasure activists, Tantra people, Pagans, sacred sexuality lovers, and freaks…Join us Valentine’s Weekend—February 13-15, 2009—for the 5th Annual Dark Odyssey: Winter Fire. This unique event features nationally known presenters, top-notch workshops, infamous special events, incredible vendors, unbelievable playspaces, and an amazing Saturday night dinner banquet and show. Presenters include Amanda Wildefyre, Barbara Carrellas, Dossie Easton, Lolita Wolf, Penny Flame (that’s right, learn the most amazing hand job techniques from the master herself!), Princess Donna of Kink.com (Directrix of WiredPussy.com and models on lots of other sites; her appearance on TheTrainingOfO.com is especially hot), Femcar, Dan & dawn, Trent of Evolutionary Tantra, me, and many more to be announced! It all happens at a gorgeous upscale hotel in Washington, DC. Remember that the earlier you register, the better rate you get!

ELECTION DAY BLOWOUT SALE on my other website, PuckerUp.com: Every single Vivid-Ed and Chemistry DVD is 51% off until the polls close in Alaska! So, go vote, then buy some quality feminist pornography!

I have a bunch of events this coming weekend as part of the Poly Pride festivities. I’m one of the speakers at the Rally in Central Park on Saturday and will be in the park for the picnic, rally, and hanging around. Sunday, there is a big reading of authors with poly-related books at Bluestockings, and I will read from Opening Up. Afterwards, I’ve been invited to the Poly Leadership Summit, which should be interesting. Monday and Tuesday, I’ll be working, having meetings, and seeing friends. Then I head to the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, where I’ll give a talk on queer sex. I love Wooster, I have spoken there several times and it’s always a good time!

In the past few days, a number of cool podcast interviews I’ve done have gone live, and you should totally give them a listen!

In Bed With Susie Bright on Audible, Episode #345: This was live, in studio in Santa Cruz, CA, and we had a blast. Susie blogged about it here.

Polyamory Weekly with Cunning Minx: Part 2 of 2. So, if you missed Part 1, start with that!

Ropecast with Graydancer: he actually asked me a question at the end that stumped me!

After St. Louis, we took a little detour up to Indiana, near Michigan City, to see some relatives. It was a relaxing two days; we went out on Lake Michigan and a nearby river. Then we drove down to Yellow Springs, Ohio to visit Lorna, Phil, and Basil. Lorna treated us to amazing home cooked meals as I toiled away on the laptop, finishing my talk for PornoPunkFeminism: Queer Micro-politics and Subaltern Pornographies, the conference I am going to in Spain next week. In the process, I brushed up on my PowerPoint skills and created a presentation that looks really cool! Tonight, we go to Columbus, where I will read at Borders on Sawmill Road. I can’t wait to see all our Columbus friends!

Yesterday, we arrived in Minneapolis later than we wanted to because there was a major delay/detour on the way from Milwaukee on the 94. Even with the GPS, it was miserable! We got to our hotel, Chambers, and I was blown away. It’s a super hip, modern, awesome hotel in downtown, one of the nicest places we’ve been put up in a very long time. We headed over to The Smitten Kitten, and I was just amazed. The place was packed, and it just kept getting more crowded.

By the time the reading started, it was standing room only and I think there were 75 people there. The reading went well, followed by lots of smart questions and stimulating discussion. I hung around to talk to people and met some amazing Minnesotans, including one of my interviewees who I had only talked to on the phone. Just like at my other tour events, we had a raffle and the winner won a basket of goodies courtesy of Astroglide.

Astroglide raffle winner

By total coincidence, Deborah Sundahl was in town visiting family (she lives in New Mexico) and she came to my reading. Deborah Sundahl. She is just a legend in my eyes. She came to Wesleyan when I was a baby dyke and showed her movie, How to Female Ejaculate. It was amazing and had a very big impact on me. She was a founder of On Our Backs, which I went on to be editor of in the 90s, and she’s gone on to become a leading expert on the G-spot and female ejaculation. She’s truly a pioneer, a heroine, amazing.

Jessica, me, Deborah, and mommy-to-be Jennifer

Deborah, Colten, Davis, and Jessica, and I went out to the local lesbian bar and restaurant, Pi, for a late dinner. We had some intense conversations and my the time we got to bed I was totally exhausted.

Today, I caught up on email, worked on my new book, and returned phone calls. Then, I was interviewed on the podcast Sex is Fun! We talked about Opening Up, porn, anal sex, and, well, everything. From there, we drove to dinner with Jennifer, Jessica, and Davis at Cue at the Guthrie. I had a wonderful scallop dish, then we ordered all five desserts on the menu and passed them around. My Anal Pleasure 101 workshop was sold out, and we arrived just in time for it to start. Another wonderful crowd (including a few repeats from the night before), and lots of good conversation afterwards. Then, we took some photos, said our goodbyes, and headed back to our hotel.

Wow, Minneapolis really showed me lots of love. And the women of Smitten Kitten really, really know how to treat a girl and show her a good time. I have felt so pampered and valued by them. Seriously, their generosity, humor, and integrity is just so inspiring. Wow, I can’t wait to come back soon. And I don’t have to: I will be back in August for their 5th anniversary celebration (and I’m bringing some special guests with me)! Now, it’s off to bed for an early wake up call. Tomorrow: A Woman’s Touch in Madison: free booksigning at 6, followed by an open relationships workshop at 6:30. Hope to see some of you there!

Smitten Kitten’s cash register

Check out my interview with the wonderful Cunning Minx on her podcast Polyamory Weekly. It’s show #159. As you listen, picture the two of us crammed into the studio with a cameraman and his big camera. Sweaty!

The book tour landed in a hot and muggy Chicago this week! I hit the ground running and first up was a podcast interview with Cunning Minx, who does the incredibly popular Polyamory Weekly show. It was great to finally get to meet this smart, sassy, and fearless poly podcaster! We squeezed into her home recording studio with a camera guy who is doing a documentary about her show. The room heated up quickly, but I wasn’t going to complain about being a little sweaty in close quarters with Minx!

After grabbing lunch with her and Phantom, I headed over to the see Marc and Fausto, the brilliant hosts of the Feast of Fools podcast. True to their iTunes ratings, they were indeed hilarious. They were also warm, generous with the swag, and we had lots of fun talking about open relationships. They played a wonderful song as the intro to our interview, and when I commented that I liked it, they gave me the CD! How awesome is that? It’s Shine by Sarah Bettens, and I love it. I will post links to both podcast interviews when they go live.

Then I headed to my reading at Women and Children First. W&CF is one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country and it was an honor to be able to do a reading there. I arrived about 10 minutes early and got to visit with a few friends before things kicked off. People continued to trickle in and I was amazed to be in front of a standing room only crowd! Thanks to everyone who came out for the reading, participated in the dialogue, and hung around afterwards to keep the discussion going. The store actually SOLD OUT of my book, so not everyone who wanted to buy it could. I actually sold my copy of the book which I read from and marked with all sorts of tags. That’s never happened to me, ever! Wow. Afterwards, I went to sushi with Jessica, Jet, Amber, and Ray, then we headed out for ice cream and cupcakes at Sweet Occasions. Yum!

I am doing a workshop this afternoon in Chicago, then we head to Milwaukee in the morning for a reading at A Woman’s Touch. I cannot wait to go get some fresh cheese!!!

When I was in San Francisco, I had lunch with Violet Blue and Thomas Roche. I haven’t seen Violet and just hung out with her in a long, long time. She’s just amazing. I am floored that she can be so relaxed about all the insane comments her San Francisco Chronicle column gets—those people are crazy. But, the non-insane among us know she’s doing so much to change people’s attitudes about sexuality through all her impressive work. What also impresses me is she is like a technology genius. She has all these fancy gadgets for her flickr, podcast, qik live streaming video, etc. I am just blown away with how tech savvy she is and totally intimidated!

After lunch, Thomas (an old friend and fantastic erotic writer), who heads up PR for Kink.com, took Colten and I on a tour of Kink.com’s new world headquarters at the San Francisco Armory. Damn! It is such an unbelievable space! Everywhere I turned I thought, “This is a kinky perv’s wet dream!!” It’s just awesome. I got to see various sets, the big props closet, the river that runs through the Armory (!), and a supply closet with more douches and enemas than a Rite Aid warehouse. It turned out that Adrianna Nicole was shooting for Ultimate Surrender during my visit—but we didn’t see each other, I just found out after the fact. Apparently, she won her match against Annie Cruz by like 600 points. Superstar!

Check out my interview on Em and Lo’s Daily Bedpost blog!