AstridL's Pages

Interview with AstridL

2012-02-01T15:53:00.002+01:00

There's an interview up where you'll see that AstridL is not just an "erotic author".

Matilda's Waltz at Ether Books

2011-10-20T14:37:00.003+02:00

So pleased to report that my story, "Matilda's Waltz", is now available for 69p as a mobile download from Ether Books. And their app is free!

Visit to Babeland at Ether Books

2011-10-04T11:46:00.000+02:00

My story, "Visit to Babeland" is still a top free download at Ether Books.

In My Bed By the Skin of the Nose

2009-04-21T17:13:00.002+02:00

I'm pleased to report that my story, "By the Skin of the Nose", appears in Skin, Issue #5 and anniversary issue of bright and classy In My Bed Magazine.

Reading "Vichyssoise"

2008-05-18T13:43:00.002+02:00

"Vichyssoise" came over well at the Labfactory gig, Sex: Erotic Reading II on Friday night, as did the excerpts from the "Little Porn Glossary", a work in progress. It was the first time that one of my AstridL stories was read aloud, so it was a premiere of sorts. The experience augurs well for the WIP.

Two stories in a new anthology from Xcite Books

2008-02-15T12:20:00.004+01:00

I'm pleased to announce that two of my stories, "The Wages of Bliss" and "Mushroom Strudel", are included in Seriously Sexy 1 which is edited by Miranda Forbes and has just been released by Xcite Books.

A great festive season - and some sexy trees

2007-12-23T04:53:00.001+01:00

I've been busy in other parts of my life, but I wanted to come by and wish you all a delightful festive season and lots of good things in 2008.

Have a look at how sexy trees can be. Here are some pix of trees in Vienna commisioned by Baumchirurgie Saller. The ad company, Lowe, won awards for the posters in 2006 and 2007. Hope they're still up when I'm back in Vienna.

Above are some pix of Morton Bay Fig trees that I took just a few days ago in Sydney. Maybe they'll trigger some speculative sex stories. We'll see. In the meantime, enjoy!

Three more stories with Xcite Books

2007-08-21T02:49:00.000+02:00

I've had a few rejections lately, but just got the happy news that three more stories have been accepted by Xcite Books. "Vichyssoise" will appear in Ultimate Sins due out in November, and "Wages of Bliss" and "Mushroom Strudel" will appear in Seriously Sexy #1 due out early 2008.

Josefine Mutzenbacher

2007-06-12T19:44:00.000+02:00

Josefine Mutzenbacher was a Viennese prostitute who lived in the second half of the 19th Century. There's a translation of her autobiography here and here. The author of this erotic autobiography is given as anonymous, but today authorship is attributed to Felix Salten, author of Bambi. In Vienna there's a walking tour called Josefine Mutzenbacher - following the paths of lust in old Vienna. There's more on the tour over at Merc's World.

Lovely nudes

2007-04-11T17:09:00.000+02:00

Happy Valentine's Day and some writing news

2007-02-14T04:45:00.000+01:00

I've got some really great news to share on this Valentine's Day - so here goes:

My story, "Mangrove on Wenceles Square", will be appearing in an anthology edited by Simone Thorne in the Travelrotica series published by Alyson Books. The book is called Tales of Travelrotica for Lesbians Volume 2: Erotic Travel Adventures and will be available in August 2007.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sensual Monge - flowers, fruits, vegetables

2007-01-13T13:21:00.000+01:00

Frédérique Monge is an artist in the South of France who does the most sensual portraits of flowers, fruits and vegetables. I visited her atelier years ago and she's still going strong in her own unique way. Still buzzing around in my head is the idea of doing an erotic cookbook laced with her portraits of fruits and vegetables. Any takers? Just let me know and I'll get the balls rolling.

Story conception

2007-01-10T20:21:00.000+01:00

I’ve had an idea for a story and don’t know how to go about it. First I had the characters, but they didn’t go anywhere. So much for characters first.

Then I went back and thought about what they were doing when they met. Observing. Well where? Location. What’s so special about the location? Found something. OK. How do they react to it and each other? I mean, that maybe where you are gives you a different spin on how you react at a given moment and towards a particular person, as opposed to another. Clear as mud, eh?

So they meet in that place and it seems the place and the setting does things that makes them act and react. Ha, plot? Maybe. Maybe character development?

So add the senses and see where they go. All the senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. Maybe the sixth sense? Maybe not in that order. Whoa! Who’s reacting? And why? And how? And to what? When maybe? Where, we now know.

I’m excited. I think I’ll follow this curve and see what happens. Is this erotic writing? I think this is writing, but an erotic mind frame somehow helps. Not always, but lessons learned …

Trouble is, there’s really no blueprint. Heaven knows what will trigger a story next time.

From my library: Mitzi Szereto, writer and editor

2007-01-07T09:54:00.000+01:00

I've got quite a few books written and edited by Mitzi Szereto - Erotic Fairy Tales, the three anthologies from her Erotic Travel Tales series and her latest anthology, Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers. Here's an interesting interview where Mitzi talks about her take on literary erotica, her books and her workshops.

Boudoir snap

2007-01-04T11:14:00.000+01:00

Here's a snap of a wonderful painting by a talented painter friend; the original now graces my boudoir.

Snap copyright 2006 Sharon Ratheiser.

From my library: Little Birds

2007-01-03T21:51:00.000+01:00

Little Birds is a classic by Anais Nin and here's a link from Wikipedia to the preface of that book of erotic stories (just follow the links for some of the stories). This lady has a very interesting bio that goes to show that erotica is just one of the many facets of woman. Also check out Thinking of Anais Nin for a slightly different angle again - and so it goes round ...

From my library: The Good Parts

2006-12-29T09:39:00.000+01:00

Here and there I'd like to share with you some of the books in my library. J.H. Blair has compiled a collection of The Good Parts: the best erotic writing in modern fiction. Contributers include Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Don DeLillo, William Styron, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, Frederick Busch, Jane Smiley, Robert Olen Butler, Siri Hustvedt, Susan Sontag, Amy Bloom, Rick Moody, Mary Gaitskill, ...

The Joy of Writing Sex

2006-12-26T17:17:00.000+01:00

Shortly after I started writing fiction in the early 90s I came across a fabulous book called The Joy of Writing Sex: A guide for fiction writers by Elizabeth Benedict. My old hardback copy is well thumbed these days and I see that a new and revised edition came out in paperback in 2002. Benedict notes that it's ok to be aroused by what you write. Indeed, and thank you, Ma'm.

Happy holidays

2006-12-23T13:37:00.000+01:00

A happy festive season to all and may 2007 be a peaceful year. If I may offer a gift, it's to mention a fabulous new and classy site called The Erotic Woman. If you're a reader of erotica you'll find lots of fine prose and poetry there, as well as lots more. If you're a writer of erotica, you'll find a caring and supportive approach to your work.

A poem for year's end

2006-12-23T11:39:00.000+01:00

Spices

In the tang of winter warm
and summer cool,
the taste and smell
of crumbled
cinammon,
the gentle brush
against the velvet grain,
his backhand stroke
of sprinkled golden down
grazed her nape
to hold her
firm and long

His hand slipped
guided
by a finger cool
and teased
down
the heartfolds
of her spine.

She closed her eyes
and took
his honeyed strength
knowing
she must drown
in the nutmeg
taste of him.

***

Copyright 2003 AstridL.
Appears in Sensually Simmering; published online at Mind Caviar and in print in Ex Tempore; read at Open Mic, Vienna, December 2006.

Welcome to my pages

2006-12-22T12:06:00.000+01:00

My name's AstridL and I write erotic stories and poems. My work has appeared at Mind Caviar, Scarlet Letters, Ophelia's Muse and The Erotic Woman, as well as in several mainstream areas, but more on that later.