Well, one of our lovely mod Violet Blue's more recent books, 'Taboo' is chock-full of hot, well-written, and fairly kinky stories. I really like her Sweet Life books a lot too. Cecilia Tan's many books explore just about every combination possible, always with fine psychological insight, vivid imagination, and exquisite language. Her book, 'The Velderet', is a dystopian sci-fi tale laced with some pretty serious straight and gay BDSM action, while her collection of short stories, 'Black Feathers', explores the gamut of human arousal, from the tenderest and most timid new love to experienced pain play. Thomas Roche and M. Christian (whose sci-fi novel, 'The Bachelor Machine' reminds me a bit of Tan's 'Velderet') are other accomplished authors you may want to check out. I have heard really good things about Laura Antoniou's books too, but I haven't read them.

As for "worst-ever" porn...personally, I am *not* a big fan of the "chateau" genre (you know-big isolated, manor house; armies of brutish servants apparently unaware that feudalism ended a millenia or so ago; lots of young, pretty but remarkably passive and stupid people ever-clad in French maid and pony gear and seemingly blessed with endless vacation days and absentee parent; and, of course, the de rigeur doms and dommes all equipped with an education from Harvard or the Sorbonne, bank accounts that would make Oprah Winfrey seem impoverished and a closet full of leather guaranteed to make Donatella Versace drool). 'The Story of O' is the "classic" text here, and I can just barely stand it as a work of literature, although I find it profoundly misogynistic and muddle-headed. What I absolutely can't stand are it's descendants: Anne Rice's 'Exit to Eden' (undoubtedly in the top 10 worst books I've ever read), Molly Weatherfield's two chateau novels, the endless derivative, laughably written crap they market at Venus Book Club. Please, someone, make it stop! ;-p

MT