Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Hubby and I saw "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" last night. It stars Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas (who was superb), and is a lovely little movie for a date night if you don't examine the plot too closely. It's a very chaste movie, too--only one f-bomb is dropped, and I think there's only one extended makeout session, one scene of rather pathetic marital relations, and one hot bout of first-time ex. But there is a lot of witty dialogue and fine acting. So check it out.

What Science Tells Us about Power and Infidelity

Interesting NPR article discussing studies that find that the more power people have, the more they're likely to engage in adultery. Well, duh.

And yet, I think that people who feel completely powerless--because they're stuck in a loveless or sexless marriage, for example--are vulnerable to infidelity as well. Some might call cheating under these circumstances as passive-aggressive, but who's ready to cast the first stone?

This could be on my mind because we've been watching "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer." Which I'm finding to be a horrifying movie, but not because of what Spitzer did. Watch it back to back with "Inside Job," and you'll see what I mean. But that's another blog post.

Interview with "Sex @ 11 with Rebecca"

Today seemed to be my own personal Media Day. First I did an interview with CNN about TreeRing.com, the website that my son's school used to create its yearbook. (I was a co-editor, something I volunteered to do in a moment of insanity.) We'll see if any of the footage makes the light of day. Still, it was fun, and if the comments afterwards from the TreeRing.com folks are true, I did an OK job. It was nice to feel that I'm slightly good at something (I haven't been feeling that way so much lately...but that's the subject for another post).

Then, tonight, I did an interview with Rebecca Rosenblat, a.k.a. Dr. Date, for her TV show "Sex @ 11 with Rebecca." We talked about What Women Really Want in Bed and What Men Really Want in Bed, the top 3 sex tips guys need to know--and a few tips for women, too.

It was a fun interview; Rebecca made me feel right at home. But I guess I was a little nervous, because when I started talking about What Women Really Want in Bed, I realized I was talking about the men we surveyed, not the women. Oops. But after that little glitch, things went smoothly...

...until my son burst in the room as I was talking about how men need to pay attention to the clitoris. Yeah, that was a little distracting. My husband, who was supposed to be watching our small human, claimed he had run upstairs before he could catch him, like some sort of pint-sized Olympic sprinter.

Moral of the story: If you're a sex author, look the office door when you're doing an interview.

And how can you listen in? The show only airs in Canada, but the producers are sending me a DVD of it. Which I'll post here.

Watch our new book trailer!

I love our new commercial for What Men Really Want in Bed. Take a peek.

I have to thank Ben and Stew of Bay Area Pictures for the great work (and his patience).

Another interview on Pillow Talk!

Just finished another interview on the Pillow Talk 101 show on Blog Talk Radio! I was so pleased to be asked back. The topic was "Self Pleasure: Getting to Know Yourself," but the conversation covered a bunch of topics, from role playing to the A-spot.

We read and talked about two of the "seductions" from Secret Seductions, too.

Joining us was the fabulous JenniFDB from the 2Chix 1Mic Radio Show.

Thanks to my host Tai for another great time,and for inviting me back! Great way to start the weekend.

And sorry I disappeared at the end of the show...I accidentally hung up when my cheek bumped the receiver. D'oh.

(Note: This post was cross-posted on my other blog, What Women Really Want in Bed.)

Listen to me on Pillow Talk Radio

Just finished doing a wild, no-holds-barred interview on Pillow Talk Radio's Freaky Friday Hangout! Talked for over an hour with hosts Tai and Dre (hope I spelled that right) about everything you can imagine and then some: what men and women really want in bed, adult toys, faking orgasms (why not to), domination/submission...and more.

Tune in to Better Sex Radio tomorrow!

Yeah, I'm back, after six months. To quote the movie "Airplane": "But that's not important right now."

What is important is that I'll be on Better Sex Radio tomorrow, Wednesday, January 19, at 11am talking with host Chrystal Bougon about What Women Really Want in Bed and fabulous foreplay. And isn't all foreplay fabulous? We think so.

We've had to reschedule this interview at least twice now due to technical difficulties, but we're hoping that third time will be a charm. I love this blog post she wrote about the "Fabulous Foreplay" chapter of What Women Really Want in Bed:

Foreplay for women is NOT optional. Remember, for women, it's often going to take our brain about 10 - 15 minutes to get in the moment. We just don't CLICK OVER like men seem to be able to. We are not quite as visually stimulated as men are. Just seeing a penis or his nipples does not instantly get us going like flashing a nipple or showing a little butt cleavage can do for a man.

(That's not to say, of course, that we gals don't like a quickie now and then.)

I've been listening to Chrystal's show in the gym--which explains the smile on my face while I'm on the elliptical! I've learned a lot of great stuff, like you should always right a thank-you note after you've taken part in a threesome. (This is great to me: I read Emily Post's etiquette handbook as a child. I was weird.)

Guys, tune in...who knows, you might just learn something!

Listen to Sex with Emily!

No, I don't mean you have to listen to Emily actually having sex, although, since she's on a "manatorium," that might not be possible anyway.

Instead, download and listen to the "Sex with Emily" podcast, episode 138, to hear me talk about my new book, What Women Really Want in Bed, and join Emily in answering some listener email. It was a blast!

Emily interviewed me about the book, how women feel about oral sex, orgasms, porn and more.

(Full disclosure: This post also appears on What Women Really Want in Bed, in a slightly different format.)

What Women Really Want in Bed - Book launch today!

The day we've been waiting for has FINALLY arrived. Today's the day that men everywhere will stop wondering "What does my woman really want in bed?" (Well, we hope today's the day, anyway). We're happy to announce the official launch of the book What Women Really Want in Bed: The Surprising Secrets Women Wish Men Knew About Sex, which I wrote with co-author and childhood friend Dana Fredsti.

You can buy your copy online now through our site. Or buy it for your man and stop hoping he will read your mind or ask for directions in bed--he won't, without this book! That's our story and we're sticking to it.

We've launched a Twitter page and hope you'll follow our many tweets from the book at http://www.twitter.com/womenwantinbed -- please follow us and say hi!

We also have a Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/What-Women-Really-Want-In-Bed-The-Surprising-Secrets-Women-Wish-Men-Knew/359139043886
Please become a fan and share us with your friends!

Thanks to everyone how participated in the survey for this book and shared their candid responses with us. We couldn't have written it without you. Thanks also for your support of the book and for passing the word along to your girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, lovers and fans!

Mind-Blowing Orgasms Every Day: Now available in German!

Imagine my surprise when I opened up a package from my publisher the other day and discovered a copy of the German translation of Mind-Blowing Orgasms Every Day: 365 Wild and Wicked Ways to Revitalize Your Sex Life.

Which, in German, is Höhepunkte: 365 Ideen für unschlagbar guten Sex. Of course it is.

I must say I adore the picture on the cover, but not as much as I adore the friend who asked if I had posed for it. (Answer: No, because a) even if I did wear heels that high, I would probably trip on them rather than get them caught in my thong; and b) I've never had a body like that, even at my thinnest.) But it's the thought that counts.

Eden Fantasys is giving away a Freestyle

The other day, a friend and I were joking about how there should be a vibrator app for the iPhone. Then I began to wonder: If I bought an iPhone to check out a vibrator app, could I consider it a business expense? While I work up the courage to ask my accountant, here's a close second: the Freestyle from OhMiBod. And Eden Fantasys is giving them away.

The Freestyle is a traditional vibrator that you can connect to your iPod, MP3 player, stereo or computer. Then it vibrates to the music.

What will they think of next? The mind reels.

Watch the book trailer for Secret Seductions.

The book trailer for Secret Seductions is online! Take a look.



Many thanks to Ben Hess of Bay Area Pictures for the great work!

How I became a sex writer.

On Saturday, I read a pared-down version of my essay "Following Anais, or How I Became a Sex Writer," as part of LitCrawl, which is the climax of San Francisco's LitQuake literary festival. I read in an alley. Really. With the obligatory drunk crazy person and everything. Evan Carp from the San Francisco Examiner posted an article, here.

Here's the video. We only had 7 minutes, so I'm reading pretty fast.

Thanks to Evan Karp of the San Francisco Examiner for this video!

Funny, you don't even notice the dry mouth that afflicted me halfway through. I was in a state of abject terror all day about the reading, but once I got on the BART train headed to SF, my anxiety vanished, and I had a great time. Thanks, Amanda Coggin, for inviting me!

The original essay appeared in HerStory: What I Learned in My Bathtub...and More True Stories on Life, Love, and Other Inconveniences.

I'm in the October issue of Cosmo.

...And it's one issue of Cosmo you can share with your man, because it has Megan Fox on the cover, and from what I understand, guys think she's hot or something. In the article, she claims to be really insecure. Yeah, whatever.

But Megan's not important right now. (Really.) See that headline on the cover that says "Bad Girl Sex"? Yeah, that's the article I was interviewed for. It starts on page 126--"Get Naughty Tonight!" is the name of the actual article--and I'm quoted a couple of times, talking about why bondage and role playing are so exciting.

Oh, and you'll note that the article mentions my forthcoming book, What Women Really Want in Bed, which I wrote with my dear friend Dana Fredsti. I found out the other day that it's not coming out until April 2010. Which is a huge bummer, but not that far off. Gulp.

If I had one request for Cosmo, it's that they make their articles available online to subscribers. It's an idea whose time has come, don't you think?

I'll be on Sex Drive Radio tonight.

I'll be a call-in guest on Dr. Ava Cadell's Internet radio show, Sex Drive Radio, tonight at 7:10pm PST. Dr. Cadell is a renowned clinical sexologist. I'll be talking about boundaries in relationships (I think). I'll only be on for about 5 minutes, so don't be late!





Update: I was on for all of 1 minute...three other authors called in before me, so by the time I got on, even though I followed the producer's instructions, Dr. Cadell was ready to talk to someone with real issues. Little did she know that I could oblige her there...

Sex News Roundup - Week of July 25, 2009

See? I told you that when I said I was going to start a "weekly" sex news roundup, "weekly" would translate into "hopefully every month" or, even more accurately, "whenever I feel like it." But today, I came across a bit of news that begged to be included. Nay, it begged for a post unto itself.

Sex Toys for Dogs
Yes, you read that right. There are now sex toys for dogs. "The kinky rubber DoggieLoveDoll is the latest pet product presented at a show in Sao Paulo, Brazil," says an article in The Sun. (The Brazilians translated my last book into Portuguese, so I'm inclined to like them.) The makers say they already have orders from several countries.

Best Foods for Getting in the Mood
Men's Health magazine claims that the U.S. is experiencing a "national libido crisis." The culprit? Obesity. (And here I thought it was antidepressants. Huh.) The foods the article recommends? Dark chocolate, sirloin steak, vanilla ice cream and blueberries. That's gotta be some smoothie.

Saucy Sausage Ads Condemned
Reuters reports that "A saucy radio advert for sausages which encouraged listeners to reveal 'where you like to stick yours' was criticized by Britain's advertising watchdog on Wednesday." You know, as someone who writes marketing copy for a living (when I'm not writing about sex), I would just like to ask the Advertising Standards Authority back the hell off. Do you know how hard it is to come up with catchy ad copy?

And although it doesn't really qualify as sex news, this week I found out that I'll be travelling to New York to see the play "A Steady Rain" on Broadway with studmuffins Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, from the 13th row. Any suggestion on what I should wear?

I'm in Cosmo UK

Just got my copy of the August 2009 issue of Cosmo UK. I was interviewed for an article called "Cosmo's Big Orgasmic Quiz." You don't live in the UK? Check out your local Barnes & Noble or Borders. Some of them have pretty good international magazine sections.

Let me know how you...uh...score.

Sex News Roundup - Week of June 29, 2009

It's time to launch a new feature on The Mind Reels.

Every week*, I'll give you a roundup of notable--or notably wacky--news about all things sex-related. (I thought of starting a Worst Parent of the Week feature, but realized I'd get too depressed.) Now, normally I'd start a feature such as this on a Saturday, so I could use the "for the week ending July 4, 2009" designation, but today's news offered me two nuggets I couldn't pass up.

This Recession is So Bad that not Even Sex Sells.
That's the depressing headline on an article in this morning's San Jose Mercury News Business section, which reported on the annual Cybernet Expo conference in San Francisco. I'm not sure what was more interesting to me: the fact that times are tough in the "pay-per-view" sex industry, or that this conference didn't sound that much different from your average high-tech event, down to the breakout sessions on social media and the late-afternoon cocktails.

Man Demands Sex in Exchange for Lost Dog.
A convicted sex offender in the Los Angeles area demanded that a teenager give him cash or sex in exchange for the return of her lost dog Pineapple, a cocker-spaniel-toy poodle mix. And yet he's only been charged with "attempted extortion." Whaaaaa????

Got a good sex news tidbit for me? Send it on. Oh, and many thanks to Great White Snark, for giving me the idea for this feature.

* Note: "Every week" should be roughly translated as "hopefully every month" or "whenever I feel like it."

Podcast available: "Sex With Emily" show appearance on June 14

You can now download the podcast from my June 14 appearance on the "Sex With Emily" radio show on Alice 97.3 FM, talking about What Men Really Want in Bed. In fact, life is full of choices, because you've got a few options:

1. Visit Emily's website, www.sexwithemily.com.
Part 1
Part 2
A really nice next-day recap

2. Visit Emily's podcast page on the Radio Alice @97.3 website (www.radioalice.com). Just scroll down to the 06.14.2009 segments (Episode 92).

3. iTunes: Find the Sex with Emily podcast, and download Episode 92. I think my interview is broken into 2 segments.

I had a great time on the show. Emily's fun and cute and sweet, and best of all, she had read the book so carefully that she was almost more familiar with it than I am! We got some fun calls from listeners (thanks, Carrie!). I've never had an hour go by so fast. So check out "Sex With Emily," every Sunday night on 97.3 FM in San Francisco. I guarantee you won't be bored!

I'll be on the radio tonight!

I'm going to be a guest on the "Sex with Emily" show on FM 97.3 (Alice@97.3), along with Greg Behrendt, co-author of He's Just Not That Into You. The show runs from 9pm to midnight, but I'll be on at about 10:10-11:20pm.

Got a question you want me or Greg or Emily to answer? Send email to Emily at feedback@sexwithemily.com. Or you can call the show live at 800-400-FM97 (-3697).

For those of you who don't live in the San Francisco Bay Area, Emily posts podcasts after the show, so you won't miss out!