I am fifty-five years old, and Iāve been active in the BDSM lifestyle since my early twenties. My Safeword series was written because, at the time, most of the BDSM hitting the ebook market was clearly written by people whoād never felt the sting of a whip. I was certain I could do better, and eventually, after six attempts, I wrote something I thought a publisher might be interested in. Fifteen years later, I write mostly paranormal romance, but a fair amount of kink and power exchange still sneaks in. Vampires and werewolves arenāt known for submitting to others, after all.
I was first introduced to The Story of O in a college psychology book, where a three-paragraph exerpt was listed, which I read and reread, over and over.
I needed the entire book, but since this was around 1987, finding one in a bookstore in Chattanooga (also known as the buckle of the bible belt) proved difficult. A friend found me a copy in Atlanta, and I devoured it.
Iād known something wasnāt normal about my sexual tastes, and this told me at least one more person on the planet felt the same as me. I wasnāt certain what to think about the fact the book was published in 1954.
I also learned about the Marquis de Sade in that psych class, but he was a bit over the top for me.
The classic French erotic bestseller that preceded Fifty Shades of Grey
A beautiful young French woman, known only as 'O', is taken by her lover Rene to a splendid mansion near Paris. Here, she is initiated into an elite secret society, where she must learn to serve the sexual fantasies of Rene and his fellow members. But she must also explore the nature of her own darkest desires - and confront just how far she is willing to go for love...
The Beauty Series is actually three books, written as one long story: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment, Beauty's Release.
When I read the books, sometime around 1989, I didnāt know Anne Rice had written them. I only knew this was proof that yet another person felt the same as me about sex.
These books arenāt written as consensual sex, but theyāre pure fantasy, so it worked okay for me then and still does today.
Before E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey and Sylvia Day's Bared to You, there was Anne Rice's New York Times best seller The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
In the traditional folktale of "Sleeping Beauty," the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind's unconscious. In the first book of the series, Anne Rice (author of Beauty's Kingdom), writing as A.N. Roquelaure, retells the Beauty story and probes the unspoken implicationsā¦
An eviction. A stolen gemstone. a hidden network. Will retrieving her precious obsidian get Tricky killed?
When Tricky has her obsidian stolen while being evicted from her home, she doesnāt take it lying down. To get it back she comes up against the head of the district, Carter, and hisā¦
Mr. Benson is the compelling story of a young manās quest for the perfect master. In a West Village leather bar, he finds wealthy, sophisticated, exacting Aristotle Benson, who leads him down the path of erotic enlightenment, teaching him to accept cruelty as love, anguish as affection, and ultimately, Mr. Benson as his master.
If John Preston, the masterly, handsome author of more than 30 books, was himself a gay icon, his character Mr. Benson defined the culture of gay sex for an entire generation. When Mr. Benson appeared in the pre-AIDS early 1980s, its unabashed celebration of male sexualityā¦
Iām actually recommending two books here: Carrie's Story and Safe Word ā a duet telling the full story.
Whether these came before the internet was a āthingā is arguable, but they were certainly published before ebooks had a chance to change the publishing industry.
They are well written, and once again come clearly from someone who understands the lifestyle. These books are highly recommended, and come towards the end of my list mainly because Iām doing this (up to this point) chronologically.
Carrie's Story is regarded as one of the finest erotic novels ever written- smart, devastatingly sexy and, at times, shocking, Molly Weatherfield has penned a book that is standing the test of time alongside The Story of O and Justine in this new era of "BDSM romance," a la 50 Shades of Grey the whips and cuffs are out of the closet and "chateau porn" has given way to mommy porn. Carrie's Story remains at the head of the class, literally. Imagine The Story of O starring a Berkeley PhD candidate in comparative literature, who moonlights as a bike messenger,ā¦
Robin dreamed of attending Yale and using her brain. Kory lived on the streets of Seattle and relied on his brawn. Without the asteroid, they never would have met.
For three years, Robin and her grandfather have been hiding, trusting no one. When a biker gang moves into town, Robinā¦
I listed the first book, but Iām actually talking about the entire thirty-seven-book Gor series, which spans the fifty-seven years from 1966 through the present day.
However, I donāt necessarily recommend this series, which is why itās in last place, but itās an important footnote in the history of BDSM fiction and must be mentioned.
In this fictional world, women are slaves, and there are all kinds of complicated rules about how they must act around free men. The many slave positions described in the books have made it into the modern kinky lexicon, along with other phrases and terms.
If youāre going to read one, I would suggest picking a later book at randomāNormanās craft gets a little better over time. It wasnāt terrible to start, but itās better, later. He wrote (and is still writing) an intriguing world that obviously hooked a whole lot of readers.
There were Gor parties, with people dressed as the characters in the books, back in the mid-nineties. There may still be, but Iām old now, and no longer publicly active in the lifestyle.
The first novel in the long-running sword-and-planet series set on a Counter-Earth, where warriors rise above the chaos of bondage and brutality.
Tarl Cabot has always believed himself to be a citizen of Earth. He has no inkling that his destiny is far greater than the small planet he has inhabited for the first twenty-odd years of his life. One frosty winter night in the New England woods, he finds himself transported to the planet of Gor, also known as Counter Earth, where everything is dramatically different from anything he has ever experienced. It emerges that Tarl is to beā¦
What happens when an introverted artist who only likes sex when itās a one-night stand meets a computer-geek-extraordinaire with his own sexy secrets? Objectification, romance, pain, adoration, lots of kinky toys, and oodles and oodles of wonderfully imaginative sex.
Join Cara and Travis on their journey to mesh their distinctive sexual tastes into a loving relationship with blow-your-mind kink.
In The Romantics, Dr. Harrison Ramsey's meticulously planned life collides with the ex he swore to forget. A prosperous plastic surgeon, Harrison is a member of an elite, exclusive Houston club, while Zuri faces professional ruin after a messy breakup. When circumstances force themā¦
Four sisters in hiding. A grand duchess in disguise. Dark family secrets revealed. An alternate future for the Romanovs from Jennifer Laam, author of The Secret Daughter Of The Tsar.
With her parents and brother missing and presumed dead, former Grand Duchess Olga Romanova must keep her younger sistersā¦