pennypaperbrain:

London Leather

What is it? A psychological novel  about BDSM – i.e. in a bookshop it would be under ‘Fiction A-Z’ rather than in the erotica section. There is kinky sex, but the story is mostly about the daily life of people on the London BDSM scene.

Why’s that important? A lot of people are curious about BDSM. There’s nothing wrong with having fantasies, but novels (and now films) like 50 Shades of Grey present actual BDSM practice in a way that in real life would be flagrantly abusive – and people are learning about BDSM from 50 Shades. That’s dangerous, and worsens the existing stigma against kinky people. The voices of actual BDSM practitioners should be heard on the subject.

Who wrote it? London kink scene veteran Penny Armstrong, who is a professional book editor and writer-for-hire under another name. She also writes fanfic as pennypaperbrain.

Fine, but all I care about in a novel is whether it’s any good. There are both positive and negative reviews of London Leather on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com – check them out to help you decide if you want to read it.

Find out a bit more about the book and read an extract here.