SmokeLong Quarterly

If I had to pick a song to go along with this issue, I’d probably choose Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” This issue oozes with sex in all its aspects (more on that below). But I don’t have to pick just one song. That’s because, for the first time, we have a whole playlist to go along with the issue.

You can experience this issue while listening to a playlist on Spotify—one song for each story, chosen by the authors. The issue’s stories are in our playlist order (start at the top and work your way left to right) and you can find the list here or at the end of this letter. Thanks so much to our associate editor Meghan Phillips for gathering up all the songs and channeling her high school mix-tape making self to create an amazing soundtrack for this issue.

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In the beginning of 2016, I asked our readers and submitters to send us some stories about sex that don’t read like bad porn. A year and a half later, you all listened! As we started putting together this issue, we realized a theme was emerging—we had a small collection of stories about doing the deed, and they were all super interesting and very different from one another.

There’s Caitlin GD’s “What We Do for Work,” in which two young girls deal with a particular client’s fetishes. In “Sins of Omission,” James Claffey looks at the interesting crossroads of sex and religion as a young boy obsesses over an older woman. Jen Michalski takes us into the soul of an aged rocker who’s outgrown her biggest hit song in “I’m Such a Slut and I Don’t Give a Fuck.” In “Belly,” a group of boys gets more than they bargained for when watching a young girl shower.

But this issue gets even weirder! Among all the sex, we had a few mythical creatures slip in—from a unicorn to a werewolf to a chimaera.

So… read, listen, share, and let us know what you think. We are always interested in hearing your feedback. Just email us at editors AT smokelong.com.

Until next time…over and out.

Tara