Please, Ma'am - erotic fiction by Cleis Press Inc. - review by Emma (Girl With Fire)

Because this is an anthology, there are 18 separate short stories written by 18 different authors; among them, a woman living in exile in Vietnam, an activist, educator, performer and podcaster with the longest running BDSM podcast on the web, and an eroticist, environmentalist and pastry enthusiast with two bilingual cats. Their writing is as varied and complex as their lifestyles, and if you are into the subject matter, you are pretty much guaranteed to enjoy AT LEAST a couple of the included stories.

Authors:

Teresa Noelle Roberts - I Live to Serve
Charlotte Stein - It's Not Me, It's You
Isabelle Gray - A Charmed Life
Elizabeth Coldwell - A Maze and Grace
Remittance Girl - Inside the Pride
Craig J. Sorensen - Modern Major General
Madeline Elayne - Mr. February
A.D.R Forte - Frozen
Sommer Marsden - Thrift Store Whore
Dominic Santi - Porch Swing
Michael Hemmingson - Paypig
Heidi Champa - The Crack of the Bat
Giselle Renarde - Dressing for Dinner
Ariel Graham - Living Rough
D.L King - Pick a Color
Rachel Kramer Bussel - Houseboy
Lee Ash - The Unhappy Table
Graydancer - I'll Do it for Her


Because there are 18 separate authors, I wont go into each and every background, but I will give you highlights from a few who's names you might be familiar with. (All Bio's taken from About the Author section of Please Ma'am.)

Erotica by Teresa Noelle Roberts has appeared in Hurts So Good, He's On Top, She's On Top, Pleasure Bound, Best Women's Erotica 2004, 2006, and 2007, Best Lesbian Erotica 2009, Dirty Girls, and many other titles that make her mother blush. She also writes erotic romances with a paranormal flavour for Samhain and Phaze.

Michael Hemmingson has written a number of erotic novels, such as The Comfort of Women, The Amateurs, The Rooms, and House of Dreams. His feature film The Watermelon, is now distributed for the world to see. His documentary, Life in Zona Norte, screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, is an extension of his anthropological ethnology, Zona Norte: An Auto/Ethnography of Desire and Addiction.

Lee Ash is a U.K. author, who has published half a dozen titles with Silver Moon Books, and has written for a variety of erotic websites including the nefarious Darker Pleasures. When he is not writing, Lee Ash prides himself on doing extensive research for his next erotic title.

This anthology focuses on short stories of female domination, specifically, women dominating men. The content ranges from women who are taking their first steps into the world of domination, to seasoned enthusiasts, from simple commands, to public humiliation. Whatever the order, humiliation, or punishment, these eager men take it in with a thirst for more; they suffer through it all with a stiff cock, and an appreciation for the sexual and sometimes physical torture that many people do not understand.

These stories are written from the male/sub's perspective, allowing you to either savour their suffering and subsequent reward, or to enjoy the ambiguity of their situation and emotional state. They certainly do, whether they expect to or not. You will most likely enjoy this anthology if you enjoy topping men, being topped by women, or even if your interest is piqued by they power shift and how it plays out.

The writing in these stories is fantastic, more cerebral than most erotica, but that tends to be the way with BDSM, so much of it involves psychological foreplay as much as physical. In one story a man is approaching his desire to be topped to a long term partner, in another a man used to always getting his way has the tables turned on him by a woman who shows no interest in him. In yet another a college student ends up in an orgy scene with a professor and the group of men who follow her around like lost puppies. Even with the varied content the editor has managed to make these stories flow into each other in a way that makes it especially difficult to pause from one to another.

Here are a few exerpts from the book,

'"You want to go out with me."

Andrew nodded eagerly even though he was alone.

"Get on your knees" Irena instructed.

"Excuse me?"

Irena spoke more slowly this time, carefully enunciating every word. "Get on your knees."

Andrew arched an eyebrow, but he was intrigued. He dropped to his knees. "Ok, I'm on my knees."

"Good," Irena said. "Stay like that until I call back."' - A Charmed Life, Isabelle Gray


'"If you come too fast, I will march you out there buck naked and spank you in front of that Korean woman so fast that she won't be able to dial nine-one-one."

That had me on the verge of coming right there. The thought that she could. The fact that she would. The knowledge that I would let her. I would do whatever she said before I would grab my pants and leave - or say no. or smack her or just get in the car and drive off. She would order me out there for humiliation and I would go like she owned me. Like her dog.' - Thrift Store Whore, Sommer Marsden


'She's not distracted easily - but that's the way this game is played between her and me, with the interplay of unyielding pain, unbearable pleasure and unquestionable dominance. She lifts her mouth from me. "That's it whore, lick that ass like a good little slut while I suck your cock. Be a good little toy for me, baby, that's the way." I growl my frustration, because I hate the words, I hate how much I want to give myself, I hate to surrender.' - I'll Do It. For Her, Graydancer

The cover design for this book is not exactly discreet. Nothing says obvious like a chick in a corset with a crop in her hand, and the words Please Ma'am in big, white type across the picture. In fact, it all but screams "This is hard core erotica!!!", at unsuspecting passers by, which is not necessarily something you want the whole world to know. Or maybe you do! In any case, you might (or might not) want to keep this one in a drawer, or the bedroom, or a waterproof trunk in the bottom of the ocean (your call).

The book itself is well organized; Table of Contents, Introduction, 18 stories, About the authors and editor. The book is an average sized paperback, well constructed, but not indestructible (don't go tossing it into the bathtub or fireplace... there are some things paper just cant handle).

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology, which is fantastic, if you consider that I did not expect to, going into it. I did not find that the stories were as arousing as some that I have read, however, I think that was to be expected as the stories are written mostly from the males point of view. As a switch, I find it easy to relate to both bottoms and tops in most stories, in this book my only complaint is that I did not get a chance to read from the Mistresses perspective. I cannot really complain however because I did thoroughly enjoy the book, and the flow was pretty much flawless, which made it rather easy to get sucked into the book as a whole, as opposed to just one story.