Long before the Naughty Bits and Bites Nights held sway at Hustler Hollywood, Stan was reading dirty words aloud, and encouraging others to do the same, at bookstores around town. It began at Borders in Santa Monica on the Third Street Promenade and had a brief sojourn under the lights of Sunset Strip at Book Soup before moving to our present home at the Hustler Hollywood Cafe a few blocks west.

In 1997, Tre Giles, the SM Borders community relations dude in charge of setting up readings wanted to add erotic fiction to the groups already discussing mystery, romance and science fiction. So he ran an ad in the LA Weekly announcing the reading of an author with a vaguely erotic theme and I showed up, figuring, hey, I write erotica - what better place to test it out and meet other authors/wannabes. Tre recognized that I knew my way around stroke books and we quickly joined forces with me using my contacts to bring in authors and discussion topics. We enjoyed a great two years of watching some people scurry from the literary alcove as words of smut flowed freely - others got interested and sat down. Tre moved to Book Soup and we enjoyed a few glorious nights there with my name up in the lights of Sunset Boulevard until it became obvious that our new neighbor down the street was an ideal home. We met with Theresa Flynt-Gaerke, and I held the release reading and party for Shoes Your Weapon at Hustler Hollywood. It was such a success we made the idea a permanent thing with me as the host. Tre eventually disappeared into the Hollywood nights and I carried the nights on going through several co-hosts before realizing I could do it all on my own. Here's a selection of images and announcements from those early nights at Borders and Book Soup, plus a few tips for those of you interested in starting an erotic fiction discussion group of your own.