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Skian McGuire

Skian McGuire is a former Catholic who loved the ritual of the Mass but whose life as a queer pervert precluded a sense of acceptance and belonging in the Church. Having found a home among the Religious Society of Friends, he has been a practicing Quaker for the last dozen years. He is a writer and poet whose work often touches on his spiritual condition and his experience as a member of the leather community since 1980. Genderqueer since birth, Skian has just begun the process of transition from F to M.

Skian has been writing erotica professionally since 1999. His work has appeared in such anthologies as Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica 2, and the Big Book of Erotic Ghost Stories, among others, as well as in webzines and print magazines, including On Our Backs. A collection of his short fiction – Remote Control and other Weegee Stories – was published in chapbook form by Top Dog Press. He is currently working on a series of essays concerning BDSM, spirituality, gender, and dogs (among other topics), some of which can be found at www.topdogpress.com. Skian’s musings appear sporadically on his blog, The Belling, at www.livejournal.com/an_gadhar/ He is the founder and editor of The Shadow Sacrament, an on-line journal of BDSM spirituality; the current issue and a call for submissions may be found at www.shadowsacrament.com

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Strut your Smut
Skian McGuire and Raven Kaldera
Wanna be a porn writer? Get a quick-and-dirty overview of writing erotica for publication. Do’s and Don’ts, the vocabulary of sex, settings and stage props, and the Zipless Fuck...Not are some of the topics that will be touched on during this whirlwind tour of the world of writing smut. Aspiring pornographers will be directed to resources on the technical details of preparing work for submission and where to find markets. Even if all you want to do is write your way into some hottie’s pants, this workshop will show you how to do it like a pro.

This presentation will focus on the basics of what makes erotica entertaining and readable. We’ll offer tips on how to avoid the most common pitfalls of erotic storytelling, how to describe sex without being either clinical or ridiculous, picking the right word for the job, and how to make it hot by making it real and (sometimes) funny as hell. We’ll provide a handout of helpful reference works including general books on how to write as well as specific works of interest to the pornographer, a template showing standard manuscript form and notes on why it’s important, plus a list of useful websites. If time allows, there will be a question and answer period.

Illuminating the Dungeon
Skian McGuire
Writing can be a powerful tool for self-discovery. Explore the depths of your spiritual and sexual selves through the use of guided imagery, free-writing exercises, and journaling techniques. Sometimes, we don’t know what we think or feel until we try to find the words to express it. The metaphors we create in the process can lead the way into deeper understanding. Do you have an inner Beast? What does he want? If Desire were a person, what would she look like, and what would she have to tell you? What strange animals live in your interior shadows? Where do you find God? Please bring a notebook and something to write with. A handout of exercises and writing prompts will be provided to take home with you.

Very often, the BDSM experience leads us to a feeling of being in closer touch with the divine and with our most authentic selves. This workshop is intended to open gateways to self-understanding in non-linear ways, especially in sexual terms and in the ways sexuality and spirituality are linked. Participants will be writing for themselves, not publication, with no expectation that anything they produce need be shared with anyone. Emphasis will be on ideas, not form, and on finding new ways of looking at feelings and aspects of ourselves that we might be confused by or ashamed of or simply have not looked at for themselves. I will lead the group in a variety of exercises during the workshop, with the hope that individuals can use the same techniques (as well as others provided in the handouts) to continue their explorations at home.

Serving One God: BDSM for Monotheists
Skian McGuire
Does your spiritual practice follow one of the more traditional monotheistic paths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)? Join us for a forum on the ways in which our BDSM informs and is informed by our spiritual lives. Share the stories from your religious tradition that have power and meaning for you. How does BDSM speak to your experience of the divine? Does life in the leather community mirror your sense of belonging to the cultures and faiths you grew up with? Let’s make connections with each other and share resources in an atmosphere of support.

In this time when the political pendulum seems to be swinging back toward a particularly repressive form of conservatism, alternative sexualities are facing ever greater opprobrium from traditional religions. It can be hard to follow the spiritual life that one feels most strongly connected to as a Christian, Jew, or Muslim, when the larger society of one’s faith condemns any sexual _expression but heterosexual vanilla. And it can be equally hard to find support and community within the world of alternative sexuality for spiritual expressions often regarded as repressive and intolerant. There are many ways of being a Christian, many ways of being a Jew, many ways of being a Muslim even though we all serve the same Master. This forum will provide a time and space to connect with each other and share experiences and resources.