“Surviving Master Joshua: The BDSM Memoir Of An Unfaithful Wife”,
A confessional By Author Karma Said, Receives A National Independent Press Award®
New York: In March 2023, the confessional “Surviving Master Joshua: The BDSM Memoir Of An Unfaithful Wife,“ By Karma Said, won the annual Independent Press Award (IPA) in the category of sexuality. "This is an important affirmation," noted the author, who goes by her pen name, Karma. "Not just for me, but for the sexual minority my story represents."
The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected IPA Award Winners and Distinguished Favorites are based on overall excellence.
Karma, a journalist, is a married mother of two, and the consensual sex slave of another man. Her memoir, "Surviving Master Joshua," tracks her transition into non-monogamy and the BDSM lifestyle, along with the conflicts it created with her family life. “This is my personal story, and while its details are unique, I believe it speaks for a broader sexually-alternative movement -- one that’s now on the cusp of receiving social recognition,” Karma stated."’Kinky’ is a sexual identity unto itself, just like 'gay' or 'queer' or 'trans' are. But because it’s yet to be acknowledged as such by the LGBTQA+ community, this particular identity is still taboo, still shrouded in shame and secrecy. I’m hoping that in a small way, this award will contribute to the efforts to legitimize it.”
The plot of "Surviving Master Joshua" kicks off in 2018, when, as a staff reporter for a local conservative news outlet, Karma began researching the impact of the #Metoo movement on NYC's kink scene. Her key interviewee was Master Joshua, a professional Dominant and kink event producer battling allegations of abuse. Following Joshua into the city’s sexual underground, Karma reported on its swing clubs, BDSM dungeons, and sex parties. Her fascination with her guide and his lifestyle eventually lead her to cross crossed the line between observer and participant. Maintaining her journalistic tone, the memoir recounts her fall into infidelity, and the ultimate reconstruction of her marriage as a consensual polyamory.
"Some things in this book I'm not proud of," Karma admitted. “That’s why I published it. I wanted to show that by owning what we are ashamed of, we can turn it into a strength.”
The Independent Press Award is the memoir’s Third book award. Since the memoir’s publication in April 2022, “Surviving Master Joshua: The BDSM Memoir Of An Unfaithful Wife,” has won the 2022 Bookfest Awards and the Literary Titan Gold Book Award 2022, and was featured by numerous outlets.