hennnypotter:

From the Introduction of Coming and Crying

So even in the very beginning we were not alone.

We knew from our earliest conversations that Coming & Crying was meant not to be erotic but true. We wanted to make a book that charged people with telling real stories about sex but didn’t pressure them to turn anyone on. Coming & Crying aims not for conclusions about sex but for the truth that is found in our shared experience of it. We recognize each other as human not through a singular narrative, but in our own particular stories.

There are twenty-four stories in this book and we hope all of them will knock you out or wake you up or make you feel less alone. You’ll encounter at least twenty-four people in a way one does not usually. Some of the names you’ll recognize, because they are established writers or your friends or people you follow on the Internet already….

if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, please consider doing so. it really was a true treat. the first story in this collection of experiences is called ‘i hit her.’ we’re thrown immediately into bed with a guy and a girl. they’re fucking and she asks him to hit her. she wants it. it turns her on.
these girls know what they’re doing. down to the order of the stories. the rest of these stories hit us just like he hit her. because we want it. we keep reading. because with each new story, something else inside us is turned on. is touched. there is tender. there is strange. there is hurtful. and awkward. and dangerous. and unexpected. and beautiful.

hennnypotter:

i received coming and crying in the mail today <3

feelingmassachusetts:

It’s extremely cold in Boston tonight. Cheeks painful from the frost, I let myself into my dark apartment - after the usual battle with the front door, which I need to shoulder with all my weight in order for it to open - and walk into my bedroom. For some reason, I had made my bed this morning, and now there was a package placed on top of the neat blankets. I think my brain was still slightly frozen from the walk back from campus, because my first dumb thought was that it was a bill (since when do T-Mobile send their bills in bulky white packages?). Then I read the address on the top left-hand corner and my brain thawed enough so that I recognised what it must be and I squealed.

A while ago, I wrote Melissa and Meaghan a letter, just like they suggested. And I was excited, buying stamps (stamps!) and taking a trip to the snug little campus post office where the guy who works there recognised me as being Irish and struck up a conversation about various suburbs of Dublin. I sent off my letter and then I half forgot I had done it and then it landed on my bed this evening, capping off what has been a fairly great Thursday. I had to take a knife to the packaging to get it open, standing in my kitchen still wearing my hat and scarf and heavy coat and boots and one glove, dying to pee but wanting to get it open before I did anything else. Finally, the book was in my hands. “It’s an actual book!” I thought, almost surprised at its heft. Melissa had included a wonderful letter about Boston, which I read through twice before I allowed myself to move. It felt like another blessing, in what - so far - has been a year full of these surprise moments, little delightful curlicues.

This is the sexy full-stop to a wonderful sentence of a day.

(Also pictured, the amazing/terrible Hallowe’en knitted vest I bought yesterday for $3, because obviously. Unseasonal, I know. But once next October rolls around, I’m going to be STYLIN’)

priscaykim asked: found the white bubble wrap envelope sitting on my desk today. i held it in my hands and just stared at it for a while. i sent a letter immediately after i read that post about the coming & crying giveaway for those who couldn't afford it, hoping i'd be one of the lucky few. a few weeks later, coming & crying posted something about having only fifty or so copies left and i panicked. for months i tried to convince myself that i didn't need this book, that i would be fine without it. but as the weeks passed, i could feel the walls around my heart closing in, the pressure so subtly and unpleasantly persistent. i couldn't wait any longer. the risk was just too much for me to bear. i don't mean to be overly dramatic; this is how i truly felt. i had to purchase one before they were all gone.
today, i received the free copy so graciously sent by melissa and meaghan. the one i paid for is on it's way, and per meaghan's suggestion in her sweet handwritten note, i have decided to send my extra copy to a dear friend of mine. she, i think, will appreciate and love this book more than i.
thank you for these beautiful stories.

quickienewyork:

“I’ve done those things.”

I looked up at a woman I’d never seen before and found her pointing at my book on the bar. I had just gotten my copy of Coming and Crying signed by the editors and I had nearly forgotten it was sitting in plain view.

“At the same time?” Fuck, I must be drunk to ask that.  It was too late though, and somehow she sat down rather than walked away. She wasn’t flirting, but she looked lost in thought as she ordered a glass of wine before picking up the book.

“Is it good?” she asked.

“Sometimes it’s necessary.”

“I meant the book.”

I felt even more ridiculous, but I laughed at myself and sat up in my chair.  I was so lost in my own head that it hadn’t even occurred to me that she meant the book.  I was remembering a night where I trembled between loneliness and bliss, and it was hard to focus on where I was. It was a night when things were changing despite best efforts and we had clung to each other’s bodies in hopes that the rest of us would stay as well.

“It’s wonderful,” I finally answered, pulling myself back.

“Which are you talking about now?” She was grinning and I knew she was joking with me.

“They both are,” I said.  “They’re both wonderful.”

Tomorrow night at McNally Jackson (!!!) a bunch of us C&C writers will be talking about what it’s like to write about sex with real people (sex w. real people—i think i remember that!) who exist and might even read what you wrote. Ya know, THAT conversation. Mostly we will all be hanging out in the bookstore and answering any questions you guys have, so bring ‘em if you got ‘em.

In honor of tomorrow I wanted to post part of this yet-to-be-fully-edited-by-me-I’m-sorry-Diana interview with Diana Vilibert and her ex-boyfriend, renter of the eponymous apartment in her C&C story “The Apartment”.

Basically a few months ago we met at a bar so I could interview both of them about what it was like to put this out in the world. I put my phone on the table and hit record and we got drunk and talked about their relationship for a few hours. This is more or less how I want to spend every night of my life.

LUCKILY THERE WILL BE MORE TOMORROW NIGHT

But for now! Here is the first four minutes of Diana and Adam and a couple of my obnoxious “Aww’s” thrown in for good measure.

THIS TIME NEXT WK!

(Source: meaghano)

witch-baby-:

upon my go-getter attitude being around I figured out that my homework isn’t due til next week so I’m reading two chapters and then moving on to english. I’ve been reading this in waiting rooms and I just wanted to let Bre know that I appreciate it very much and am taking good care of it.

(Source: tinnyvices)

soonwellbeffound:

I just got back into the city from my trip home. Check my mail and was happy to see that this BOOK is finally here!!!