2009 Sexaminer Awards: Violet Blue, Sex Writer of the Year

This gig gives me a great excuse – as if I needed one – to surf the net for sexy news, sex tips, and commentary on sex and relationships, and to comb the bookstores for sexy new erotica and other publications.

So who is the Sexaminer's favorite sex writer? Drumroll, please...

The 2009 Sexaminer Award for Sex Writer of the Year goes to Violet Blue, one of the sexiest and most prolific writers anywhere.

Blue blogs at TinyNibbles.com, writes the excellent Open Source Sex column for The San Franciscio Chronicle (and runs a podcast by the same name) and edited two of my favorite erotica anthologies this year, Best Women's Erotica 2010 and Girls On Top: Explicit Erotica for Women both from Cleis Press. Her newest book is out this week from Viva Editions: Seal It With a Kiss: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Delivering a Knockout Kiss. And yet another one is on the way in March, 2010 from Cleis Press: Sweet Love: Erotic Fantasies for Couples.

Cleis Press carries more than two dozen of her books, including a few of my favorite guides for couples, such as The Adventurous Couples Collection (The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Sex Toys, The Adventurous Couple's Guide to Strap-On Sex, and The Ulitmate Guide to Sexual Fantasy), and the Sex Genius Collection (The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus, The Ulitmate Guide to Fellatio, the Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Men, and The Ulitmate Guide to Anal Sex for Women). She's sex-positive, open-minded, all-inclusive, and often approaches her work as an educator, and she's been a role model of mine ever since I started this Sex & Relationships column in November 2008.

For more of her books, check out an independent bookstore near you or shop from the Violet Blue collection at Amazon.com (portrait at left via Amazon.com).

In her introduction to Best Women's Erotica 2010, Blue works up a tasty metaphor for her work:

More than once in the eight years that I've been an erotica editor, someone has compared my job to that of a chocolate taster. It's a dream job, especially if you have a sweet tooth, and a full-on fantasy every day if you love chocolate. You can study the art of chocolatiering, and nerd out on how chocolate is made, the history of cocoa (violent, romantic and exciting), and go so far as to become ecologically minded and educate people on the greening of chocolate (fair trade cocoa, eco-friendly processes).... I am far from desensitized. If anything, I'm hypersensitive to the best that erotic writing has to offer. I can feel it in the first two paragraphs, I understand the life of the chocolate taster who can't get enough pure cacao, the sommelier who spends every weekend tasting for his private cellar.

And she's going to great lengths to help shout her findings to the world, too. In addition to her columns and book projects this year, in November, Blue – who had previously written on the topic for O Magazine – appeared on a special episode of Oprah Winfrey investigating "Why millions of women are using porn and erotica."

"I think every woman desires to be that projected fantasy of the porn star for their lover," Blue told Oprah. "They like the idea of being the most desired, most satisfied woman on the planet—a woman who's getting what she wants. And they want to share those experiences with their partner."

For more from Violet Blue, follow her on Twitter @VioletBlue. While you're at it, please subscribe to this column and follow @Sexaminer for the latest Sex & Relationships headlines. And don't miss my other 2009 Sexaminer Awards articles: Sasha Grey, Porn Star of the Year and Axis Hitachi by Liberator, Sex Toy of the Year.