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"Whether we
as readers want to admit it or not, Williams really does know what we want. And even better, he delivers."
--Oberon, Blue Food

"This book rocks."
--Chloe Grey, Playtime Magazine

...sizzling first collection of pansexual literary erotica...with a prowess for titillating gender fluidity that only Califia might match.
-- Richard Labonte, BookMarks

AWARDS

QUOTES

REVIEWS

AWARDS

The Best of The Best Gay Erotica II 2005, '"Straight Boy"

Best Gay Erotica 2005, "All At Sea with Master E"

Best Gay Erotica 2004, "Straight Boy"

Best American Erotica 2003, "Ponyboy"

Best SM Erotica, 2002, "Jason’s Cock"

Best Gay Erotica 2002, "Ponyboy"

Finalist, Silver Clitorides Award, best story of the month, May, 2002, "Fire Island 1974"

Best American Erotica 2001, "Jason’s Cock"

Best American Erotica 1995, "Daddy"

QUOTES

"Apart from the interesting and hot stories, I find [James Williams's] writing very enjoyable to read. Mature and somewhat complex. A far cry from the simple, declarative sentences that comprise much of current sex fiction stories, which seem to be written by people who have some good plot ideas but haven't taken the time to refine their craft and build a distinct voice. --- He did this. She did that. He said "blah, blah", sticking his bing in her bong. --- M. Christian and Tom Roche are exceptions that quickly come to mind,
but James has vaulted to the top...."

-- Michael Rosen, photographer/author of Sexual Magic: The SM Photographs, Sexual Art: Photographs that Test the Limits, and Sexual Portraits: Photographs of Radical Sexuality.

"James William is a flat-out, completely, totally, absolutely brilliant writer -- erotic fiction simply cannot get any better than this."

-- M. Christian, author of Dirty Words, Speaking Parts, and The Bachelor Machine

"A completely absorbing collection of exquisitely literary erotica, twenty-five stories and some remarkable poems, crammed full of wit and filth. Williams explores his characters, men and women, gay and bi and het, with an easy intimacy, as if he had at some time inhabited each of their bodies. I'd say I couldn't put it down, but actually I often needed both hands. James Williams definitely knows what I want."

-- Dossie Easton, co-author of The Topping Book, The Bottoming Book, and The Ethical Slut

"This is truly literate erotica that will appeal to men and women of all persuasions."

-- Race Bannon, author of Learning the Ropes

"James Williams possesses that rare intuitive insight that leads to fiction of the highest degree. His stories celebrate those moments in life when we choose the road less taken. If there is safety in numbers, there is danger in individuality. The individuals in James Williams' stories are embarked on the road to becoming more fully themselves -- a perilous yet worthy journey. Luckily for them -- and for us readers -- James Williams is a masterful guide."

--Bill Brent, publisher, Black Books, co-editor, Best Bisexual Erotica and Tough Guys series

"James Williams' words feel good in the mouth to say and sound good in the ear to hear. And they get my brain wet."

-- Sybil Holiday, co-author of Consensual Sadomasochism: How to Talk About It and How to Do It Safely

"This book was worth waiting for, and is worth reading slow--a true pleasure for any literary libertine. As I read each story, I feel like sparks are shooting from my head. James Williams electrifies all the sadomasochistic places in my soul."

-- Cecilia Tan, author of The Velderet, publisher, Circlet Press

REVIEWS

Until reading ...But I Know What You Want, I had never heard of James Williams. Now, Williams ranks as one of my favorite erotic writers because of his intrepid desire to push the boundaries of the genre. With a glowing introduction penned by Patrick Califia, the book begins with a tale of initiation into San Francisco's gay leather scene that's true to the gritty, raw spirit of this subculture. An unusual tale of power exchange narrated from the perspective of a male submissive follows suit. "I and Thou," Williams's edgiest piece, forces readers to consider the ethical implications of sadism. Sure to spark debate and speculation, this collection should also draw much deserved acclaim to this talented writer.

Bottom line: explore a new edge.

--Myriam Gurba, On Our Backs, Aug-Sept 2003

Some writers are born storytellers. James Williams is just such a writer. Male, female, gay or straight, he inhabits each character he devises with the assurance that can only come from being a keen observer of life's herky jerky parade. And the beauty of it all is, you don't even have to be an advocate of the lifestyle choices his characters ascribe to, in order to find satisfaction in the stories they have to tell.

There is poetry in every carefully chosen word of each of the 25 "sex tales for the different" presented within the pages of ...But I Know What You Want. Some are beautiful in placement, others brutal in execution, but none are forgettable, whether it be about a San Francisco leather daddy in search of the perfect submissive, as in "A Pure Fool;" a Times Square bum finding comfort in the arms of a world-weary prostitute, as in "Bridges" or a frightened woman being raped and tortured repeatedly by unknown sadists, as in "I And Thou." Then there are the evocative little vignettes, like "Every Picture Tells A Tale," "I Bow" and "Moon" and the poems, a few of which had their initial appearance in the print version of Blue Food. Treasures, each and every one.

But, the cream of this crop, in this reader's opinion, would have to be "The Magic Mirror," a beautifully written fable of a love which literally transcends time and space. Like a cross between Lewis Carroll, Jonathan Swift and the Marquis de Sade, with a little Rod Serling thrown in for good measure, "The Magic Mirror" is an imaginative twist on the love-conquers-all theme, with familiar clichés given new life in completely unexpected ways. It's the kind of story one reads over and over again, if only to savor the delicious mastery of language evident in each turn of phrase or evocative description. Heady and thought-provoking, it is a love letter like no other ever written.

Seldom am I so thoroughly engrossed by every story presented in an anthology. Seldom am I presented with so strong a reason to be so.

Like fine wine served with a light repast, so as to concentrate more fully on the wine itself, ...But I Know What You Want is one of those books best read with no distractions. Because, like that fine wine, the flavor will stay with you long after the final sip has been savored. And the images the stories evoke, like those of "Jason's Cock," will have you scrambling for the lube days, weeks, maybe even months, after they have been indelibly imprinted into your imagination. Whether we as readers want to admit it or not, Williams really does know what we want. And even better, he delivers.

-- Oberon, blue food.cc

The author of this sizzling first collection of pansexual literary erotica isn't particularly prolific, and so perhaps - undeservedly - not as well known as, say, the late John Preston, the venerable Larry Townsend, or the alive-and-kicking Patrick Califia, each an avatar of intelligent S/M fiction.

But Williams is as good as any of them, with a prowess for titillating gender fluidity that only Califia might match. His range is dazzling: In "Ponyboy" and "Jason's Cock" he conjures gay male sex with exhilarating intensity. Infantilism is the fetish at work in "Daddy," where a wife dons diapers for her husband. "My Life as a Wife" is a totally hot heterosexual tale of female domination. And "I and Thou" is such a vivid, daring plunge into sexual brutality and depravity that some might be repelled by it, or infuriated. It's by far the riskiest piece in the collection. It's also absolutely intelligent about transgressing the boundary between consensual, hardcore sex and undisciplined, dehumanized sex - an artistic bravura that's present in every one of the book's astonishing stories, but especially breathtaking in this instance.

-- Richard Labonte, BookMarks

As a full-time pervert always in search of great erotica, I've been familiar with James Williams' writing from editions of The Best American Erotica and Best Gay Erotica series, as well as a host of other wonderful smut anthologies and magazines though the years, but he's always been a mystery.

Is he the man he writes of? Is he even a he? I've never heard anything personal about him. I was so excited to hear that he had a collection out: not only will I get to read more of his work, but maybe I can finally find out more about him. I'm not a stalker. Really! But a mystery always makes me wanna know more.

The collection's great, and more than satisfies, but it won't give you any more insight then before. He truly is a man of mystery. He likes to keep you guessing. And his gender-blending fiction does that too.

Male or female, gay or straight, dominant or submissive, like the "mystery man" himself, the stories blur identities and play hard with sexual roles.

Maybe I will stalk him. This book rocks.

-- Chloe Grey, Playtime Magazine

Dear James,

Thank you for the copy of . . . BUT I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT and thank you for the kind acknowledgement in your foreword. I have not read the book yet, but I did read Patrick Califia’s and Bill Henkin’s forewords and I did, of course, what I suspect many readers will do, and that is jump immediately to "I and Thou," since any piece strong enough to give Califia and Henkin qualms would probably be right up my alley.

I would like to thank you for having the gumption to publish that piece. There is a convention of discourse within the so-called S/M community in which we conspire to undo the darkness by reassuring each other of the light. This is a false reassurance. We represent ourselves to each other as parts of a tapestry of loving, consensual pleasure, which is true but only part of the truth. We pander to goodness and beauty, even in disclosing our fantasies, thereby abetting a disconnect from whatever strange ids run amok in a Serbian rape-camp. And so the big questions about who we are, rarely are addressed.

Our souls are like seeds from which Gods will eventually grow. So what is this darkness in our DNA of Divinity? Is darkness necessary to fully explore the world as a "voluptuous place?" It is with such questions as this in mind that I have long believed many SM fantasy writers do a silly dance around the fringes of their SM fantasy lives. Fiction about consensual play is like watching a play about a play. We need to be more honest about what makes us hard and wet, and less fearful about the nature of our souls. We need bold spelunkers, not apologists and PC handwringers.

Keep up the bad work.

Love, Layne

For two rousing decades, Layne Winklebleck was chief editor for Spectator, the biweekly newspaper of sex issues and reviews, published in Berkeley, California. He retired early in the 21st century.