My FROLICON report

As promised, I’m going to tell you all about my trip to Frolicon this year. Frolicon is a sex-positive, kinky, freaky, geeky convention that takes place in Atlanta every spring. I was invited by a former editor to take part in the Author track of the convention and I jumped at the chance.

Full disclosure… I went as an author, not a party-er. I had family obligations that prevented me from staying all night for the play parties and edgier events, but I still met a ton of great people who were all sex- and kink-positive. My Frolicon started Friday morning. There was a snafu getting my badge and signing in, mainly because everyone in convention ops was still sleeping/hungover/busy from the parties the night before. At last, some helpful sober people were able to sign me in and locate my badge.

With that done, I proceeded upstairs to the sixth floor. The author panels were, strangely, taking place in someone’s Junior Suite hotel room. So that person actually had to wake up and get dressed so the authors could get inside and hold the panel. I was like, oh, this is disaster, but we ended up with a good crowd and a lot of people asking great questions. I got to see old friends like Lord Cailleach, who writes and publishes erotica, and Shakir Rashaan, whose writing journey started around the same time mine did. He writes fantastic, raunchy, sexy BDSM tales set in the “Nubian Underworld” as well as erotic mysteries under the pen name Curtis Alexander Hamilton. My old friend Jenna Barton was there, who recently sold her first BDSM/menage book to Riverdale, and Jamie Thorsen, who got his first short story accepted into a Laura Antoniou anthology, No Safewords.

I also got to meet some really awesome new-to-me authors, like Sascha Illyvich, the “bad boy of erotic romance,” and Gabriel Belthir, author of Lily of the Wastelands, and another soon to be released book at Ellora’s Cave that she co-authored with Angelia Sparrow, another panel participant who was dressed like a friendly librarian but definitely had a naughty streak.

So, bottom line, it is so exciting to be around other authors. At the first panel we talked about the state of the publishing industry and how quickly it’s changing. Me and Shakir were really the only two authors who’d struck out into self-publishing territory so we were able to bring our experiences to the table on that. In the Saturday panels we talked about Writing Sex (and the wide variety of kinks, genres, and gender niches available out there). We talked about Fifty Shades and the ways it has changed the landscape for all erotica authors. We talked about how nice it is to be able to buy our dirty, smutty books in ebook format now, so we don’t have to hide the covers as we’re taking the subway to work! There were tons of good questions and discussions and lots of attendees, so that was fun.

Afterward I gave out copies of my novella Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold to interested attendees, along with armfuls of bookmarks, postcards, and pens. I even gave them out to people I struck up conversations with in hallways, lobby chairs, or food lines. You can see me here doing an impromptu book signing. (My super-friend Linzy Antoinette took photos for me and basically helped me keep my shit together through all this craziness!)

So, wanna know what ELSE we did? Because we did tons of other fun stuff. After the panel on Friday we went to an event called GIRLS WHO WANT TO SEE MALE ON MALE ACTION. It was exactly what it sounds like. We walked in and joined a large audience in the center of the room as wonderful, sexually open men turned each other on. In the center, a rigger was tying and suspending a partner (?) I put a question mark because PlaineJane, who organized the event, did pair up perfect strangers in some cases and that was hot too. It was like, wow, nice to meet you. Okay, let’s get to it. I really appreciated the opportunity to see some real life guys (not porn stars or still shots) pleasuring each other and getting sexy. After that I had to go but Linzy stayed for a class called “The Joy of Canes” given by a presenter named “Boymeat.” She was subsequently mentally scarred for life. I wish I could have seen it! It sounded fun and it included some ruffled panties, of which I deeply approve.

On Saturday we walked around and saw tons more stuff, to include a nude wedding between two very-much-in-love kinksters. Yes, it was a legal wedding and yes, half the guests were nude, as were the bride and groom, except for his top hat and her veil. So, congratulations to Bill and LaDonna! Then me and Linzy strolled through the Marketplace and both wished we had money to spend, since the vendors had all kinds of ouchy, delicious looking play gear, as well as beautiful clothes and jewelry. Linzy was eyeing a really beautiful red corset and we started planning her Authors After Dark look. YEAH! (She is so purty.)

After that we went to see a rope demo from one of my favorite Fetlife Shibari heroes, MaillerPhong. He allowed me to share some of his Interwoven Images in my Hall of Hotness a few years back, but I had never met him in person before now so that was a thrill. I greatly appreciate his generosity in sharing the photos, and his talent. His lovely rope assistant NoLoveLost was there with him modeling the knots for class. Me and Linzy sat and stared in awe at her perfect breasts and decided that although we are both pretty straight, we are definitely boob lesbians. We did not learn much about knots, but Linzy may or may not have motorboated NLL’s magnificent breasts after the class after being invited to do so. I am definitely not going to give a definite yes or no on whether that happened. 🙂

The last class we were able to catch before I had to take off was a class on sodomy. Of course you all know I’m totally into anal loving and I’m apparently not alone because this class was wall to wall. The table at the front contained an array of TERRIFYING anal dildos and plugs and standing next to the table–a very cute slave boy in a harness. His partner proceeded to give an informative talk about anal play, anal safety, pegging, enemas, etc. Again, I HAD TO LEAVE before the demo portion started, but Linzy stayed and the ensuing texts I received are priceless. A sample: SHE JUST PULLED A PLUG THE SIZE OF MY HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS!!!

So, Frolicon was really great. They are serious about having fun, promoting sex and happiness, and letting it all hang out. The whole time I was there I had a wonderful feeling of acceptance and group support. I hope to return again next year to hang on more panels and take in more classes. Hope you enjoyed my Frolicon adventures, abbreviated as they were.

Just a heads up, I’ve bought a “pre-ticket” to attend Eroticon USA in October of this year, here in Atlanta. This event was previously only held in the UK so I’m excited there’s an Eroticon so close to home. Click here to learn more about Eroticon USA.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading this super-long post!