Thrilled Beyond Measure

So, I have to say, Never Have the Same Sex Twice was the most difficult book I ever put together. Why? Because I don't really write non-fiction. And I don't, you know, really write guides. When I finally turned in the manuscript, Cleis was a bit confounded. They'd expected a guide along the lines of Violet Blue's amazingly detailed and self-explanatory series of resources for couples. Here's an example—in my book, I mention using different types of lighting to change a mood: black light, klieg lights, neon lights. Then, I cut in snippets of erotic stories that feature the lighting types discussed. Cleis responded by saying, "If Violet had written the chapter, she'd have explained where to buy the black light, how to install the light in your bedroom, what type of bulb to get, what wattage would work best."

What got me through the project was deciding to write the book I wanted to. Not the book Violet might have written—although I'm sure her version would have been delightful. I didn't take the easy route with Never. I mean, I involved more than 50 writers and excerpted more than 90 stories. Researching to find exactly the right clips and snippets took hundreds of hours. The book contains 18 full-length stories, as well. So it's actually a sex guide plus an anthology. Two books in one. I'm happy with the results—the guide turned out to be a bit of a love letter to my husband, because we truly do everything I wrote about.

Why am I telling you all of this now? Well, Never just won a 5-star review on Amazon, and the reviewer understood exactly what I was trying to do!

Just listen:

I loved this book, which was brilliant in its simplicity! Alison Tyler is a writer of erotica and editor of erotic anthologies. For fifteen years, she has also been in a monogamous relationship "filled with extreme, kinky, crazy, never-have-the-same-sex-twice sort of sex (from the intro)." Never Have the Same Sex Twice--part how-to guide and part erotic anthology--is filled with simple tips about how anyone can make their own sex lives as spicy as Tyler and her long-time partner do.

What I love, though, is that Tyler does not rely on exposition to explain the variety of ways to have fabulous sex; instead, she introduces each of her tips briefly, without over-explaining, and then vividly illustrates, with erotic stories and excerpts, a variety of ways folks have lived out and fantasized about those very suggestions. In doing so, she entices the reader's own erotic imaginations, encouraging us, by example, to fantasize about and create our own hot sex scenes with our own partners. The chapters are short and easy (not to mention hot!) to read, and each chapter is followed by an erotic story to illustrate the theme of the chapter. Consequently, the book itself keeps the reader engaged, and provides generous food-for-thought about ways to keep our sex lives as hot and engaging as the book itself.

I'm so pleased, I cannot even say.

In honor of the review, I thought I'd give away a few copies. If you have a trick to keeping the flames turned to high, why not share? I'll mail out copies on Monday.

XXX,
Alison