Category Archives: sex

The New P-Word

A little over a week ago, I received one of the best pieces of news I’ve gotten in several months. Kirkus Reviews, a very prominent book review magazine, posted an online review of my first novel, The Prostitutes of Lake Wiishkoban, that was highly complimentary of my work (to say the least). Quotes like “Shannon’s … fiction debut is an entertaining, provocative bildungsroman that successfully turns an unconventional premise into a thoughtful exploration of freedom and identity” are the kind of thing that authors like me dream…

Read More »

Both Ways, Always

Trump, Putin talked comparative beauty of hookers in phone call (Yahoo!) Trump Just Signed SESTA/FOSTA, a Law Sex Workers Say Will Literally Kill Them (Vice) Whenever you’re trying to sell any piece of writing, you want to market it as being timely for when it will be published. Back when magazines only existed in print versions, this often meant trying to sell winter-based articles in the summer and vice versa (due to long “lead times” between the editorial cycle and publication), and although online publications…

Read More »

America: Death Before Discomfort

Craigslist ditches personals ads following passage of sex-trafficking law (Miami Herald) Female homicide rate dropped after Craigslist launched its erotic services platform (thinkprogress.org) In 2011, when the nation was transfixed by the “Craigslist murders” in Ohio, I had a unique vantage point to what was going on. Not only was I living in Ohio, but I was going through a period of very low employment; I had some freelance writing work to help me pay my bills, but I wasn’t teaching, and I really needed…

Read More »

Let’s Talk About Sex Work

Conner Habib thread on Maggie Jones’ New York Times Magazine article and other recent threats to erotica (twitter.com) Do Trump’s alleged affairs even matter? (Washington Post) For all that I understand the appeal of this whole Stormy Daniels thing to a lot of people — salacious “sex scandals” will always attract eyes and ears, even more so when they can be juxtaposed against a political group that still ties itself so closely to what it calls “family values” — I’m not comfortable with how much attention…

Read More »

The Sweet Spot of (Intellectual) Stimulation

‘We’re sex workers and we vote’: Women’s March event shines light on a marginalized group (yahoo.com) I released my second book of classroom exercises, 50 Critical Thinking Exercises for Humanities Classes 2, a few days ago. As with the first book in the series, it’s an extension of my efforts to find ways to reach modern students, to stimulate their minds and get them to think about a variety of issues from various perspectives, to help them develop the critical thinking skills that will help…

Read More »