Can SEX & LITERATURE really get along?

I originally wrote this piece for Publisher’s Weekly but it was cut in half for space.  Here is the unedited version.

No Sex, Please, We’re Literary!

No Sex, Please, We’re Literary!

Sex sells. But what about sexy storylines? When it comes to fiction is sex in one category and literature in another, and never the twain shall meet? In this provocative essay, author Karen Essex takes on the issue and responds to critics of her literary thrillerDracula in Love. So get ready … things are about to heat up.

During an auction for the audio rights to my new novel, Dracula in Love, my editor forwarded me an email that was sent from one of the bidders. “This book is so hot that I can’t wait to get home to my wife!” he proclaimed, and then outbid everyone else and presumably went home and made his wife happy. (Mrs. Audio Rights, you owe me.) ... Read more.

Holiday Giveaway & Other Cheer

Greetings from New York, the best place on earth to be for the holidays! I am here with a broken ankle, which many of you know I acquired by falling on the plane on the way to my Italian book tour. It was a sorry way to find out that I am not a vampire after all.

On Sunday, 12/19, I will join 30 fellow fiction writers in a marathon reading of Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the Housing Works Bookshop Cafe in Soho. In the spirit of Tiny Tim Cratchit, I will hobble up to the podium around 3:30. Refreshments after! Here’s our notice in THE NEW YORKER: ... Read more.

Halloween Hollywood Crawl with Amber & Karen

Please join me with Amber Benson and friends from the cast of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for a performance of the short play “Asylum” from DRACULA IN LOVE, and then party with us from venue to venue through Halloween evening. The music, food, and entertainment gets better as the night goes on. If you haven’t sampled the delicacies and wine at Allston Yacht Club yet, you haven’t lived!

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LA Lit Weekend; New Orleans, SF

Please join me this weekend, Oct. 22-24 at the BEVERLY HILLS LITERARY ESCAPE, a chance to dialogue salon-style in café conversations, lunches, teas, and dinners with myself, Mona Simpson, Abraham Verghese, Joseph O’Neill and many more. I have a few passes ($100 value) to giveaway! If you’d like one, please post your desire on the blog. Not sure how many I have but first come, first serve. I’m doing a Sunday morning chat with other authors at the Saban Theater and a Sunday lunch with Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife). ... Read more.

Dracula in Love, by Karen Essex

Thanks to everyone who attended the DRACULA IN LOVE book launch party on September 20th. We are just revving up for the fall, so please check the calendar below for upcoming events in your part of the world.

Thanks to all stalwart readers who came out yesterday in the sub-Sahara climate to attend the WEST HOLLYWOOD BOOK FAIR. In addition to the panel, I chatted with Amber Benson (Tara on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), who is going to perform the ASYLUM piece with me on Halloween! See below for details. Also chatted with Julie Robinson who organizes the BEVERLY HILLS LITERARY ESCAPE WEEKEND in October. I’ll be involved all weekend in various events and lunches, and Julie has generously given me tickets to the event to raffle. Stay tuned for details!
LOS ANGELES WOMEN: Join me at HOITY TOITY BOUTIQUE on Friday, October 1st for a wine, book signing and fashion party. Hoity Toity’s unique, designer clothes will be featured with most on sale. This is a chance to get your goth’n’glam on for the fall season. From 6pm. Location below. ... Read more.