So … of course I have to chime in, me being older than anyone in the room, because when I was getting into Erotic Fiction, the fucking internet didn’t even fucking exist. Not even as some military industrial complex prototype. (But to be clear, my bro’s werds, above, about stroke fiction are so fucking resonant. This thread has caused some relatively profound personal reflection, so thanks for that @talesfromunderthemattress and @drakestories.)
1. John Preston, Legend. AKA: The Dark Lord. AKA: Best friend to Ann Rice (and instrumental in getting her to publish her erotic fiction). AKA; Dead of AIDS.
Preston burst on to the scene with Mr. Benson (And fuck: Where’s my copy?), a groundbreaking epic that both exposed and created the Modern Gay Male Leather Scene.
Then of course, his “I Once Had a Master” series which literally changed my life.
2. John Preston, Part Two. He edited a couple of absolutely fantastic anthologies, pictured, below. In the first (Tales from the Dark Lord), two stand out. “Poontang for the Cause: An Homage to Phil Andros” (who my bro references, above). I can’t properly explain it here, given the nature of story. Just look for it. The second, Private Kirowsky, is a porn I have never - ever - forgotten. It is that good. It is that specific. It is that unique.
It is also hard-core … and it’s a love story.
Reviewing these volumes again, I understand that the seeds of my erotic writing were planted by John Preston’s cock. And that story - Private Kirowsky - was the most significant and potent load he ever dumped in my guts. It’s still there. It has never left.
3. Of course, my bro @talesfromunderthemattress is right: The First Flesh and the Word Anthology was the best. But, us smut-freaks kept buying. There’s good stuff in these follow ups. Find them here and here.
4. Here’s some other faves. Just take a look. (Also if you find ANYTHING by Lars Eighner, which has become difficult, read it. That’s a fucking order, boys. Note that he has stories in several of these anthologies, too, and, I think, in some of the Flesh and the Words.)
5. And if you ever go to a dirty old queer book store, or better yet, a sleazy smut-shop (before they all close), then head upstairs to the cheap-racks, where you can pick up copies of First Hand and Manscape - probably at ten for a dollar. I grew up on these books, yanking under the covers while my parents dreamed of the grandkids I would never produce. (Though, I tried. God did I try. That’s why M-preg stories turn me on so much.) Manscape published my first smut, based on my true adventures as a College Tea-Room Whore. (Somewhere I have a copy. I’ll find it, eventually.)
Side Note: Check out the Firsthand January 1985 featured article: “Should We Marry.” My how times have changed.
(And yeah, this fucking dad has nearly every copy ever published. So come to my estate sale, when it happens, and get a fucking bargain.)
These are my additions to this esteemed list. But I will close by offering praise to Bill Drake’s second choice: Corporal in Charge …. This is another classic in the genre - another life-changing epic that made my cock grow two inches, my balls expand and my identity solidify.
How do I know? I got two copies of that fucker.
Enjoy this smut. It’s smut that is actual smut. Artistic smut.
Now any idiot can post on Nifty (or Tumblr) and any idiot does. But young-uns: back in the day only a man (or woman) with skill, artistry and craft could get their work published, and these fuckers had all that and more.
Also - get offa my fucking lawn.
[My profound thanks to @talesfromunderthemattress and @drakestories for taking me on a trip down memory lane.]
kaledo-art
germansingergirl
jbbartram-illu
snowghoul
blakekathryn
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annaxmalina
