In some ways the events are the end of our process here at Smut.UK, so when we rocked up to Smut Leeds Saturday morning I was feeling pretty relaxed. After weeks of preparation there was just the set up at Live Art Bistro itself  to do then all that was left was to go with the flow. Also after days and days of it just being me and the lovely Kev getting things ready there were loads of people ready to help. Special thanks to driver, receptionist and top tightener Sarah and the lovely Steph who helped Kev out on the tombola and book stalls.

Gilly’s Goodie bag contents from Sextoys.co.uk , Fetish.com,Your Dirty Secret, Kryssie Fortune, Dirty Sexy Words and me! 

 

Once the room was set up, it was time just to follow the schedule (ish) and keep people happy. And smutters are pretty easy to please, I find. Mostly they enjoy the opportunity to chat freely about what they write. It’s not everywhere you can discuss the fine detail of a successful threesome for example!

We had a couple of traders join us at Smut Leeds, Smut event regulars Nippleicious with their beautiful nipple adornments  and newbie Erin Phoebe with her Ann Summers Sexiness and added a few new things ourselves to the mix. On top of the usual book stall and erotic tombola we had Nedd Balls Lucky Dip (2 prizes every time!), the smut swap stall (swapping fun for all) and Kev brought his paracord floggers along to sell.

 

I don’t always join in the workshops at Smut events, not because I don’t want to but often because there’s other things that need doing at the same time or I just need a few minutes to sit down, breath and you know, eat and drink and visit the loo. However, with the venue being one huge hall and our numbers being small and select I managed to join in both workshops this time and the demo too!

We started the day (after the usual introduction) with Jennifer Denys and author shapes. An interesting take on a personality quiz which was adapted for different types of writers. I actually found myself split fairly evenly between 3 different shapes but in the end the circle won by 1 point. I was the only circle in the crowd but Jen helped me with the main task of the workshop – taking over a book from JK herself- which was very helpful. It was interesting to hear all the answers from the different groups. There were several things we’d all do the same but each group came up with something a little different showing off their author shape!

 

 

In the afternoon Zak Jane Keir got us to use random factors. It was a really interesting way to build up a story just by using a dice -something we’ve all got somewhere in the house. I can see how it’d be useful if a story is stalled or if you’re hit with a blast of the dreaded block. Some of the random factors were very random and left on the blackboard for those after us to decipher!

Of course, a Smut event isn’t complete without reading slams. We had two, with the lovely Steph as our chief spanker. I always love the variety of excerpts we get and the mix of experienced readers and newbies. Kryssie Fortune was our newbie this time and she read very well indeed. I read twice (perk of being the boss) other readers were Zak Jane Keir, Jennifer Denys, Anna Sky and Ashley Lister who brought us Vagisil, the medicated cream. A poem, not the actual product.

 

We had a lovely demo too, from Steph. She showed us all kinds of fun with hogties, restraints and rope which ended up in several people having a go at tying and restraining. I always like it when our authors and readers get a chance to be hands on!

 

The end of the day was casual and laid back with some folks having a bit of smutty crafting fun with yours truly. Ask them to spoon you. Their artistry was impressive! Others played with rope and everyone enjoyed some social time. We all need that, the space and time to talk with other like minded folk.

It is why we do it. There is a real joy for us in seeing the connections people make at our event. We love to see people relaxing, laughing, chatting and inspiring each other. We don’t make profit on these events, we cover expenses and a lil’ bit over to compensate for our work. Realistically we’re earning maybe 10p an hour for all we do…and that’s between us! But we continue to put on events because we love bringing the smut community together.

So if you love smut, please share our events with all your smutty friends. The more attendees we get, the more companies interested in sponsoring events, the more tombola prize donators mean the more events we can afford to put on for you.

Our next event is my Birthday Bash on the 7th October at Miss T’s in Stockport. Tickets are £10 and there will be a buffet, party bags and of course, some spanking good fun!  And then next year we’re looking to run a special, VIP Scarborough experience and maybe a new kind of Smut event too…if you want to be in on future plans and join my smut mailing list drop me an email at victoria@victoriablisse.co.uk  and title it Smut Mailing List Sign Up (you don’t have to write anything in  it, that’s all I need) and I’ll be sure you get to know about all our upcoming plans.