Book giveaway: Men Undressed!

I’m giving away a copy of the Men Undressed anthology, out from Other Voices/DZANC Books!

I’m particularly psyched about this giveaway, because my piece “Erasure,” is included in the anthology. And I’m unusually delighted about this particular piece having been published, because “Erasure” is an excerpt from my novel-in-progress. A mini-debut, so to speak, of a years-long obsession of mine.

Just so you know, my piece is a sex scene. The entire anthology is comprised of literary sex scenes. All the stories, all written by women, feature male protagonists in sex scenes.[1] I’ve read many of the stories, and they are all amazing, written by writers like Jennifer Egan, Aimee Bender, A.M. Homes, and Kim Addonizio.

There’ll be a bunch of publicity revving up for the anthology; among the many things planned are:

• Interviews with various contributors up at The Nervous Breakdown where my recent “sex interview” with editor/writer Gina Frangello kicks off the series.
• Readings all over the country! I’ll be reading at San Francisco’s Lit Crawl on October 15, and at New York’s Sunday Salon reading series on November 20
• Events at AWP, etc., etc.

Opening lines of “Erasure”:

“Myung-Ja came home from her overtime shift at the hospital before dawn, her tired steps crunching gravel in the courtyard with an unfamiliar tempo that awakened Yong, who then lay tensed on the heated ondol floor waiting for either a key in the door or the brutal sounds of someone breaking in, his morning erection fading with his heartbeat. He wondered if a day would come when he wouldn’t react to sudden noise like this, when he might even sleep through any shift in environment. In the darkness, he vowed to protect any future children from this ever-vigilant state, one that made him aware of survival on a minute-to minute basis. He vowed to spoil them rotten, coddle them, never let them heave into consciousness with great fear…”

I hope that whets your appetite…

So let’s get to the heart of the matter: the giveaway!

You can see a copy of the book[2] in the photos of my “wiener dogs reading books.” The anthology is published in beautiful soft cover, as you see here, and I can sign the book if you so desire.

Here’s how to enter/how I will pick the winner…

1. Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can describe a moment in which you or someone you know was, or felt, “undressed,” you can tell me why you want a copy of the book, or share with me how you feel about an anthology that encourages cross-gender sexual representation!
2. Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
3. 1 entry per person
4. The giveaway is open worldwide.
5. If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
6. Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
7. I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, just for clarity.
8. If you are below the age of 18, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.

GOOD LUCK!!![3]

The deadline to enter a comment is Wednesday October 12, 2011 12noon EDT. The winner (picked at random) will be announced October 12, 2011 by 9:00pm EDT.

The winner is announced!

[1] About time! Haven’t we read plenty of female-centric sex scenes written by male writers like Flaubert, D.H. Lawrence, and Philip Roth?

[2] I promise, I won’t send you the copy my dogs “read”–unless of course, you wish to have that one.

[3] I hope you win! And I hope you enjoy the anthology. Even if you don’t win, I hope you buy the anthology–in your neighborhood independent bookstore, or online at Amazon