The Hypnotist is IN

Spent a lovely day today at FetFest 2013 hypnotizing people, catching up with friends, and generally enjoying the atmosphere.

For those of you unfamiliar, FetFest is an annual gathering of kinksters sponsored by the people at FetLife.  It takes place at a private campground in northern Maryland (the same location as Dark Odyssey: Fusion for those who've been), and it's basically a celebration of all things kinky.  Like Fusion, the camp is organized into villages for some of the more popular interests.  There is a Rope Village, a Bouncey Place (for littles), a Goddess Village (for those who revere women), etc.  And there is a Hypnosis Village, which this year is organized by the lovely and energetic LuckyAlbatross.

One of the features of Hypnosis Village is the Hypno-Booth.  There is generally always at least one hypnotist in attendance giving trances to anyone who is interested.  We take requests, or people can spin the Wheel of Hypnosis to choose from a variety of fun and sexy suggestions.  Today the Booth was staffed by HypnoGuru, Joyful007, LeeAllure, HypnoTodd, and myself.  My friends MrDream and ZanyM were also nearby, and it was great to see them again.   I also got to finally meet up in person with Darkside007, a long-time member of the MC Forum, and spend some time with him.

A highlight of the day for me was attending ZanyM's kinesthetic trancing class.  Zany demonstrated several silent inductions, using only physical rapport built through touch and intent to induce trance and bring the person back out.  LeeAllure and I practiced on each other, and later Zany worked her magic on me as well.  Zany's style is intense and moving; I blissed out and didn't really want to come back right away.

Tomorrow at 10:30am I'll be presenting Kinky Human Tricks in the Hypnosis Village.  We'll have a book signing after the class and then I'll be in the Hypno Booth again, trancing people for fun and pleasure.

-wg

Saturday Night with NEHG Boston

It was a lovely and entertaining Saturday evening, especially for me.  ;^)

Dani and I met up with MissIsis at our hotel and drove together to the home of stormhawke, who graciously agreed to host the talk.  The group was a mixture of old friends from NEEHUs and events past and new friends we made that night.

We began by discussing the Ericksonian concept of utilization, which simply means making use of the circumstances of the trance -- what's in the trancee's mind already and what the environment adds -- to facilitate things.  This could be as simple as acknowledging a background noise that may be distracting and instead turning it into a trigger to go deeper (very common, and quite useful in a play party or room trance), or as subtle as noticing that your partner's mouth twitches in a certain way when they become aroused and tying that twitch to increased obedience, arousal, or whatever you need for the scene.

Mixing Business with Pleasure

This weekend (August 9-11) is the annual National Guild of Hypnotists convention in Marlboro, MA.  I'll be there in my Bruce Wayne persona, communing with my fellow wizards and earning the continuing education credits I need to keep my professional certification current.

While I'm in the neighborhood, I'll be sitting down with a small group from NEHG Boston on Saturday evening to discuss utilization, modalities, and sensation play.  RSVP's for the event are already closed, but we can always schedule another talk if there is interest -- join the New England Hypnosis Group (FetLife login required) on FetLife to stay informed and/or log a request.

-wg

Launch party recap

The launch party for Mind Play was Saturday (7/27) and it was everything I wanted it to be.

It started with a presentation sponsored by The Eulenspiegel Society (TES) Hypnosis SIG.  MrDream, ZanyM, and Mephki put it all together for me and TES got the word out.  As a result we had over 40 people in the room, almost all of which came in pairs.  We filled the room.  Mephki's introduction was appropriately embarrassing and sweet, and then it was my turn.

It turned out that a good half to two-thirds of the room were people who were new to erotic hypnosis, so I quickly altered the plan to make the talk more useful to them.  We covered some of the basics from Hypnosis 101 and then I taught a few inductions.  For Body Scanning and the Hand Squeeze, I demonstrated on a volunteer and then we had everyone practice with their partner (since just about everybody had a partner).  Then demonstrated Terence Watts's exquisite "Seven Plus or Minus Two" induction.  About half the room opted to go into trance for that.

The First 100!

Mind Play sold its 100th copy earlier today, not quite three weeks after it first went on sale.  I'm ridiculously excited at the milestone.

So far over half of the sales have been Kindle editions sold through Amazon.  Print copies are next, with Smashwords a distant third and Nook trailing.  (Really trailing -- there have been more copies sold to Amazon users in Germany than to the whole Nook world.)

This is even before the launch party this weekend in New York, which is very cool.  I haven't blogged about them yet, but I have two more appearances coming up:

• Saturday, August 10th, in the Boston area 
• Labor Day Weekend at FetFest in northern Maryland

At both of these appearances I'll be doing a talk ("Kinky Human Tricks" at FetFest), signing books, and I'll have some print copies on hand for direct sale.  (No, those copies aren't counted in the 100 because they haven't been sold yet.)  Plans are brewing for more road trips coming up, too.

A million thanks to everyone who's bought, reviewed, or talked about this book.  This has been a great personal and professional thrill, and it's only just taking off.

-wg

The Dangers of Writing About Ethics

When I put a section on Ethics into Mind Play I knew I was painting a bullseye on my back to some extent.  After all, ethics are always subjective.  And sure enough, the first negative feedback I've seen so far on the book stems from one of my Rules for Ethical Online Hypnoplay on page 47 of the print edition:

You have an obligation to disclose your true biological sex to the hypnotee before there is any agreement to play.

The discussion, in this Fetlife thread (a Fetlife login is required to follow the link), makes some good points before it starts getting emotional.  The first person to object, for example, pointed out that the phrase "true biological sex" is hard to define and may be viewed as prejudicial to transsexual, genderqueer, or gender-fluid people.  They're right; it probably would have been better to say "gender identity" instead.  Unfortunately, the discourse has been swirling dangerously close to the drain of ad hominem -- one poster, whom I respect and generally think of fondly, has apparently concluded that because that one sentence exists the whole book is unworthy, and actually wished they'd bought a print copy so they could return it as some kind of protest  -- and the real issue is in danger of being lost.

Mind Play launch party

The Eulenspiegel Society (TES) Hypnokink SIG in New York is sponsoring an event to celebrate the launch of my book Mind Play: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis on Saturday, July 27th at 440 Studios in New York City.

My friends Mephki, MrDream, and ZanyM are organizing the event.  I'll be presenting material from Mind Play including some Kinky Human Tricks, and I will also be demonstrating the famous Seven Plus or Minus Two confusion induction.  We'll have paperback copies of Mind Play on hand and I'll be signing copies as long as people want me to.

TES is asking $8 for TES members and students, $10 for affiliates, and $12 for non-members to attend the event to help defray their costs for the venue and support staff.

More details when we nail down the plan the rest of the way.  Until then, check out the FetLife event page for the latest.