Sex and cupcakes

If you've never picked up a copy of Penthouse Variations (Penthouse magazine's younger, much kinkier sister), perused articles in publications such as Playgirl, Bust, the Village Voice or the San Francisco Bay Guardian, or curled up with one of more than 100 erotica anthologies featuring her writing or editing, then you might not know the name Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Currently the senior editor at Variations with a never-ending list of side projects (including her feverishly updated blog at lustylady.blogspot.com), Kramer Bussel is visiting Minneapolis for the first time this weekend to talk about the world of erotica. On Saturday at the Smitten Kitten, she will teach "Erotica Writing Workshop 101," a how-to for anyone looking to put their fantasies into print or just add some salacious skill to their love-letter writing. On Sunday, she will read from three recent anthologies: "Best Sex Writing 2008" and the BDSM-themed "Yes, Sir" and "Yes Ma'am."

Q: I've described you in a nutshell as this generation's Susie Bright. Do you think that's accurate?

A: I'm totally flattered. I have total respect for the likes of Susie Bright, Lisa Palac, Sallie Tisdale, Carol Queen, Tristan Taormino, et cetera. They were who I was reading way back when as a misguided anti-porn feminist college student at Berkeley. Obviously, I've changed.

Q: What fresh, new writing should erotica lovers be watching the bookstore shelves for?

A: It's not strictly erotica, but I am loving James Lear's work. He wrote this gay mystery, "The Back Passage," that is the perfect combination of horny and hilarious. Donna George Storey's stories are always so smart and she has a novel coming out. And L. Elise Bland, whom I adore because her work is so twisted and usually based on real life, most recently "Cheesy Boots" in my book "Dirty Girls" about a domme making a guy lick stinky unpasteurized cheese off her boot.

Q: Name some tired clichés that aspiring erotica writers should avoid.

Q: You also co-author a blog about cupcakes, Cupcake Takes the Cake, and your enthusiasm for and expertise on the world's most perfect dessert landed you a guest spot on "The Martha Stewart Show." Have you ever met a cupcake you didn't like?

A: I'd never publicly cupcake-bash a bakery, but yes, I have had subpar cupcakes. Some are just not to my liking -- I don't like buttery frosting -- but even a bad cupcake I'd still eat, perhaps. And if I've learned anything in three-plus years of cupcake blogging, it's that people have very different tastes in cupcakes, so to each their own, I say!

Q: You host a monthly reading series in New York City called "In the Flesh," where cupcakes are served alongside sexy stories read by their authors. Will there be cupcakes at your reading at the Smitten Kitten?

A: Now that you've asked and made it formal, yes, there will be! I plan to fully explore Minneapolis' thriving cupcake scene while I'm in town. My cupcake promise is now official, so please come on the 4th for the free reading and a cupcake from me.