Coming Out Poly

Tristan Taormino has put up a new message board on her new site for her new book. Lots of new things :-) Look into it.

Nine months ago I met a girl who was innocent, rabidly passionate, intense, and completely unaware of the things that lay within her. Elle has changed dramatically since then. She went from a girl who had never had a boyfriend, to a caring woman and wonderful companion who does so many wonderful things for both me and Nyla.

This post was meant to be made a while ago, but the site didn't let me the day I wanted to, and I forgot about it until today. Sorry for that.

Recently Nyla and I attended minx's seminar in Madison. We learned a lot and had a number of good discussions. I think kitchenkarma summed it up pretty well on the boards, so I won't really get too much more into it. I'll give a few thoughts on my own experience of it, though.

Hello everyone. It's been a busy few weeks with Nyla being gone, Elle being sick, my brother coming into town (this upcoming weekend), and everything needing to be prep-ed for that. So it's slowed down a bit - enough for me to write this rather short post.

Polyamory? What, like two girlfriends?

Poly-friendly Counselors

Poly-friendly Professionals

The following is a list of books taking almost directly from Amazon.com. I'll group them into poly-specific, poly-related, and poly-friendly. Not all of them talk entirely about polyamory or even responsible non-monogamy, but they'll touch on the subjects. I also have a category (Good Information) for books that focus on topics that transcend just poly but apply to all relationships.

Poly-Specific: books that talk very specifically about polyamory or non-monogamy.
"Opening Up: Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships" by Tristan Taormino

"Polyamory: The New Love Without Limits" by Deborah M. Anapol

"Polyamory: Roadmaps for the Clueless & Hopeful" by Anthony Ravenscroft

"Pagan Polyamory: Becoming a Tribe of Hearts" by Raven Kaldera

"Spiritual Polyamory " by Mystic Life

Poly-Related: books that have sections related to poly, but also talk about a number of other topics.
"The Lesbian Polyamory Reader: Open Relationships, Non-Monogamy, and Casual Sex" by Marcia Munson (Author), Judith Stelboum (Editor)

"Polyamory Many Loves: The Poly-Tantric Lovestyle: A personal account" by Janet Kira Lessin

"Boundless Love: I Love You Two" by Jarod Lojeck (Author), Michelle Devon (Editor)

Poly-Friendly: books that mention polyamory or non-monogamy as an option in the topics discussed in the book.
"The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities" by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt

"The Sex and Love Handbook: Polyamory! Bisexuality! Swingers! Spirituality! (& even) Monogamy! A Practical Optimistic Relationship Guide" by Kris A. Heinlein and Rozz M. Heinlein
Don't let the names fool you; this isn't another "Stranger in a Strange Land" book.

"Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage" by Stephanie Coontz

"My Husband Betty: Love, Sex, and Life with a Crossdresser" by Helen Boyd

"Plural Loves: Designs For Bi And Poly Living" by Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio (Editor)

"Eros: A Journey of Multiple Loves" by Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio

Good Information: books about everything from jealousy to casual sex.

"The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is As Necessary As Love and Sex" by David M. Buss

People like to unearth as much as they can about people in the spotlight. It's a bizarre pass-time of the "Western" media. We love to know all sorts of dirty secrets about people, so we can live vicariously through them or chastise from a safe distance.

A few articles around the poly-blogosphere have raised the question of word usage. Poly in the News has an article that mentions a few terms. Mama Java - the Polyamorous Misanthrope - also has a few things to say about poly and lgbt terms.

Writers group was this weekend. Elle had a nice time; we went over two of her flash fiction pieces. I think it was a very successful group, which always makes me feel very good about running this thing. However, we had a bit of a slip-up from a friend who attends the group.