The Lesbian Edition

National Book Foundation Honors Adrienne Rich

Mixed Media

Plan B has acquired the film rights to Julie Phillips's James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, which we reviewed in the last issue of the Lesbian Edition.

Save the Date

Find of the Issue

"I printed out the (real-life) Sharon S. case, tossed it on the top of Cynthia's file, and left for the day, catching the bus back to Oakland stuck somewhere between disgust and despair. Because when one of us gets burned, we all scar. And right then, I was the one holding the match."

Jean's struggle to reconcile questions of fairness, of right and wrong, of law and justice, in this case she has been assigned are a counterpoint to issues bubbling over in her family. Her mother, a West Indies native who returned to Baobique after thirty years in the states, is grieving the death of her brother George and trying to retain her right to her familial home. Jean reluctantly agrees to go back with her mom to assist her with the issue.
    Visits to Baobique are difficult for Jean, bringing light to old wounds and tensions. From her role as her mother's daughter to her identity as a lesbian in a place where homosexuals are criminals, Jean feels challenged and torn.

"When I left my uncle's house that trip, running back to my United States so the part of me that was gay could think straight, I left behind the part that was Baobiquen, as if removing one layer of myself to save another. It was as if I was choosing sides without knowing it, as if I was taking sides against myself."

In A Simple Distance nothing is simple. The author weaves multiple threads together to create a striking whole. Edith Forbes (Alma Rose, Nowle's Passing, Exit to Reality) calls it "a beautiful example of the American novel - a small and intensely hued piece of the vast mosaic." I'll just add that it's also a work filled with passion, challenge, self-examination, and heart. It's one of those three-dimensional novels that are fulfills the promise of what lesbian literature can be. Akashic Books, $14.95, 9781933354118.

Fiction

"The still point was a moment of great wonder, great revelation, great meaning - all encapsulated in the far reaches of the mind, the heart, the soul… Eliot suggested that it is at this still point that the dance of life occurs. The dance of life, I thought, I didn't know how to dance. Frankie had nice legs, now there’s a still point."

With prose as slow and tangy-sweet as molasses, Perkinson has Vera tell her story to nephew Kyle, who is writing a paper on homosexuality for a psychology class. It is a story of opening up, of feeling and seeing and taking risks, and of loss. A great book to read on the sofa in front of the fireplace with a hot cup of tea. Spinsters Ink, $14.95, 9781883523732.

Classic movies and music feature prominently in Brenda Brooks' Gotta Find Me an Angel. The first-person narrator is a projectionist at a local revival movie house who is haunted - figuratively and literally - by Madeline, her childhood friend and first love who died when they were teenagers. Then our heroine meets Julia and is instantly attracted - but is frozen in place at the thought of doing anything about it. Her roommate, Billie, is interested in Julia, too, which riles the projectionist. The story, told as the projectionist's narrative to Madeline, progresses until she breaks:

"I'm sitting up in the darkened booth behind the projector, just trying to do my job, Madeline - doing my bit to entertain and enthrall the overworked by providing a few reels of escapism for the evening. Funny, isn't it - that this would become the one place I couldn't find refuge at all?"

Quirky characters (Billie reminds me of Jenny from The L Word) and humorous prose make this rather heartbreaking story a great read. Raincoast Books, $21.95, 9781551927176.

In TLE #24, we reviewed Origami Striptease by Peggy Munson, one of the winners of the first Project QueerLit contest, which resulted in a tie. The co-winner was Alicia E. Goranson’s Supervillainz.
    I can imagine Supervillainz in graphic novel form; it's got a cartoon-like feel reinforced by the cover illustration of main characters Bit, a trans woman, and trans man Devon. In Supervillainz, a group of vigilantes in body armor with animal-like masks and superhero powers have captured the attention of folks in the Boston area. When one of the "Supas" foils the mugging of Bit and Devon, a crowd from a nearby club gathers to witness the fight between the attacker and the Supa. A gunshot changes the course of events drastically, and Devon and Bit later find themselves in even more danger than the original mugging. Their friends of various gender and affectional stripes help Bit and Devon navigate survival, investigation, and revenge, with some dyke drama-like interactions thrown in for good measure.
    Though trans and genderqueer characters - as well as characters who don't embrace the term genderqueer - abound, Supervillainz is not an issue novel, nor does it preach. It's all about the action, the chase, the gadgetry. However there are references to both the challenges and benefits of being trans, as well as a particularly poignant scene when Bit and Devon meet a teenager who allows them to use his computer at a library:

"Bit focused her gaze on the screen, but she sensed a bound-up scream echoing off her belly from the teen. She could recognize it, as if it had been inside her once... It had not been so long ago when she had her own black shirt and jeans days. Robert was trying to be a boy and failing."

Techno-geeks and fans of action/adventure novels will love the pace, intrigue, and toys in Supervillainz. I love books that have an ensemble feel with interesting supporting characters, and this one does have that, but the act of reading it was a bit challenging to my 44-year-old eyes, with its densely packed text in what looks like an 8-point font. Nevertheless, it was fun to read a new action story filled with queer characters that isn't so much about them being queer. Suspect Thoughts Press, $16.95, 9780976341185.

A Fictional History of the United States - With Huge Chunks Missing, edited by T Cooper and Adam Mansbach, is quite a clever anthology, with original stories by multiple authors (Alexander Chee, Amy Bloom, Neal Pollack, Daniel Alarcón, Kate Bornstein to name a few). The introduction explains that it's a fictional counterpart to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States while also making a convincing argument that all history is fiction.
    Though the book does not have a lot of lesbian content (stories by Valerie Miner and Sarah Schulman are excellent, but not lesbian), "Five and Dime Valentine" by Felicia Luna Lemus is so good, I had to mention this collection. Her story is based on the women workers who went on strike at Woolworth's in Detroit, effectively shutting down the biggest store in the city for five days in 1937. Lemus, who wrote Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties, begins with Luisa, age 84, buying a present for her lover, Marjorie, on a TV shopping channel. Luisa then thinks back to when she first met Marjorie at Woolworth's. "Five and Dime Valentine" is both a sweet love story and a political one, discussing immigration, class, and union issues. Akashic Books, $15.95, 9781933354026.

Djuna Barnes' Nightwood has been released in a new edition with a preface by Jeanette Winterson. She says of it:

"Nightwood is itself. It is its own created world, exotic and strange, and reading it is like drinking wine with a pearl dissolving in the glass. You have taken in more than you know, and it will go on doing its work. From now on, part of you is pearl-lined."

If you haven't yet read what William S. Burroughs and others have called "one of the greatest books of the twentieth century," you now have another chance, with the excellent overview provided by Winterson as a bonus. And if you've already read it once and were less than enthused like me, Winterson's right - a second read is a completely different - and for me, better - experience. New Directions, $12.95, 9780811216715.

New in paper:
The Night Watch, Sarah Waters, Riverhead, $15, 9781594482304.
The Last Days of Dogtown, Anita Diamant, Scribner, $15, 9780743225748.

Literary Criticism and Survey

Urban Fiction

Sister Q-Boro Books author Anna J. has two books which feature some lesbian love, but unfortunately the plotlines seem to be the modern-day urban fiction equivalent of the old pulps with less than flattering portrayals of the lesbian/bisexual women. The title of the first, My Woman, His Wife, gives you the idea. In it, James persuades his wife, Jasmine, to have a threesome with Monica (who James has been secretly seeing on the side for months). After their one ménage a trois, both James and Jasmine secretly continue to see Monica separately. Monica falls hard for Jasmine and makes no secret of the fact that she wants to take Jasmine from James. Jasmine, on the other hand, loves her husband and her life with their four-year-old twins, but is blown away by the incredible sex with Monica. Eventually an event orchestrated by Monica results in the couple's separation. In The Aftermath, the recently released sequel, we learn more about Monica's past and why she's become such a conniving woman. Her interactions with other lovers, including a drug kingpin, are explored as well as her continued association with Jasmine and James. Both books, which feature equal parts straight and lesbian sex scenes, will probably appeal more to bi-curious straight women than lesbians or bisexual women. While it's nice to see some woman-loving in urban fiction, it's a shame that these two books so strongly reinforce the evil-lesbian/evil-bisexual stereotype. Both Q-Boro Books, $14.95. My Woman, His Wife: 9780975306628. The Aftermath: 9780977624744.

Nonfiction

Do you know about the wonderful collections of old-time photographs from various regions by local history publisher Arcadia Publishing? They combine hundreds of photographs with pithy captions on subjects as broad as Key West and the Florida Keys to the specificity of Hockey in Seattle. They've just published their first lavender-tinged title, Gay and Lesbian San Francisco by Dr. William Lipsky. Spanning from the men who came to California to seek gold and the women who came to escape the repressed East Coast of the 1800s, to the 2005 Pride Parade, these images are true treasures. Lipsky does a great job of weaving lesbian and gay stories in with events from California, U.S., and World history to explain why San Francisco became known as "Bohemia by the Bay." It would have been nice to have more than a few photos on the rich women's community centered near Valencia Street in the eighties and nineties, but I do applaud Lipsky for his awareness of and explanation about the scarcity of photos of women from the early days covered by the book. This would make a great gift for anyone who appreciates queer history. Arcadia Publishing, $19.99, 9780738531380.

New in paperback:
A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents, Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe, Riverhead, $15, 9781594482151.
Raising Boys Without Men: How Maverick Moms Are Creating the Next Generation of Exceptional Men, Peggy Drexler, Rodale, $14.95, 9781594865381.

Fantasy

Back in Print:
Future Dreams: Tales of Emoria, Book 1 (9780975955550) and Present Paths: Tales of Emoria, Book 2 (9780975955567) by T.J. Mindancer, both $11.95 from Bedazzled Ink / Mindancer Press.

Lives

"In between the stretches of relationships with men, there had been a few flashes of romantic brightness: twice in college, and once since then, I'd been with women. Those few times came back to me often in dreams, or in daydreams. With those women, I'd felt an intensity, a fervor like the kind that men seemed to feel."

The author, who has traveled extensively, has interesting insights about how people from different cultures adapt to each other and how adults learn new-to-them languages. University of Wisconsin Press/Terrace Books, $22.95 paper, 9780299219444.

If you read the "not lesbian but fiercely feminist" Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iran by the blogger known as Riverbend (Feminist Press, $14.95, 9781558614895), reviewed by Carol Seajay in TLE #15, you'll be sure to want the sequel. Baghdad Burning II: More Girl Blog from Iran, with an introduction by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, begins as the U.S. is about to elect a president in late 2004. Riverbend worries about what it will mean, for both Iraq and the U.S., if Bush is re-elected, and post-election finds many of her fears realized. She also discusses the recent elections in Iraq, the decline in status for women there, the contradictory instructions Iraqi citizens receive from the various governmental agencies, and how they can tell about the status of the war by what produce is available. One of the later entries, in January 2006, touches on the kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll and memoralizes her murdered Iraqi translator, Alan, who, it turns out, was a friend of Riverbend's. Disturbing, important, compelling reading. Feminist Press, $14.95, 9781558615298.

New in paper:
Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life, Julia Briggs, Harcourt, $16, 9780156032292.

Clit Lit

A recurring fantasy for many women who work at offices or stores is an impromptu encounter with a striking delivery driver - something about a woman in uniform and the taboo of having sex at work... In Sign on the Line by Jaime Clevenger (The Unknown Mile), we get to hear about it from the delivery person's point of view. Alexis works for a shipping company in Portland, Oregon, and is not shy about flirting with the women along her route. The flirtations often lead to hot encounters after hours. She is also drawn to Darcy, a woman who lives in her building. But when Darcy hooks up with one of Alexis's occasional friend-with-benefits, Alexis starts to question whether she wants to "settle down" with someone or if she wants to continue being sexually free and unattached. This internal debate heats up when two women in particular compete for attention in Alexis's mind, heart, and libido. Yet another delicious erotic entry from Bella's After Dark imprint. But I have to say, I especially enjoyed the author's dedication: "To all my friends, thanks for the dyke drama, and yes, I changed your names. To all my exes, thanks for teaching me the tricks, and yes, I made you better in bed..." Bella Books, $13.95, 9781594930522.

"True confession"-type erotica collections are not generally my favorites, since the stories often seem more cheesy than spicy. I was pleasantly surprised by After Midnight: True Lesbian Erotic Confessions, edited by Chelsea James, although since it was published by Cleis, I should have guessed it would be good. Their erotica collections pretty consistently feature good writing by a diverse group of writers who explore heat-inducing scenarios, and After Midnight is no exception. Favorites of mine include "Geek Chic" by Gina Klein, about finding a woman at an Apple computer store, the naughty schoolgirls of "My Lesbian Sex Confession" by Teresa, and the sweetness of "Scars" by Nell Stark, in which the narrator's partner caresses the scars resulting from surgeries and accidents as part of their foreplay. Cleis Press, $14.95, 9781573442404.

The description of My Woman, His Wife (above) notwithstanding, threesomes can be positive experiences for many people. Diana Cage, former editor of On Our Backs magazine and author of the best-selling Box Lunch: The Layperson's Guide to Cunnilingus, explains how in her latest book Threeways: Fulfill Your Ultimate Fantasy. In spite of the unfortunate cover with the stereotypical photograph of one guy with two women, this book is jam-packed with great information and advice - for threeways, yes, but also about dating, sex, and relationships in general: how to deal with jealousy, the importance of communication, how to find partners, and learning to figure out what you really want. There are also anatomy and etiquette lessons, sexual technique tips, information about sex parties, and specific advice for both singles who want to hook up with a couple and couples who want to find a third to join them, whether short or long term. The examples and quotes Cage uses are from all kinds of folks: dykes, gay guys, trans persons, and bisexual men and women. Diana Cage, who also edited The On Our Backs Guide to Lesbian Sex, once again gives queer women information we can use for more fulfilling sex lives. Alyson, $15.95, 9781555839390.

"Aud Torvingen is back - contemporary fiction's toughest, most emotionally complicated noir hero returns to teach a new round of lessons in hard-hitting justice, and to confront new adversaries: her own vulnerability and desire."

On October 2, 2006, Nicola Griffith herself added the following in a post to "BluePlace," a listserv about GLBT mysteries (more on that below):

"I've been working on this book [Always] for three years, and it's now essentially two novels woven together - so it's big (about 600 pp, I think; it hasn't been typeset yet - much, much longer than anything I've tried before). I can't wait to finally see it in print.
    "And that bit about 'desire' per the catalogue copy is absolutely right. The book's stuffed to the gills with sex and drugs and rock and roll. Oops, nope, I ended up cutting the rockaraoke scene . Okay, substitute violence. Aud kicks butt and takes names (and phone numbers...).
    "Anyway, I had a blast, as does Aud. Eventually. I hope that on April 5th readers do, too."

For more about Always and everything else about Nicola Griffith, see her website, www.nicolagriffith.com. The listserv quoted here is called "BluePlace" after Nicola's own novel but is not affiliated with her. It is a great vehicle for writers, readers, editors, reviewers, and all who are interested in gay and lesbian mysteries. You can find out more at www.pauahtun.org/mailman/listinfo/blueplace.

On to some new lesbian mysteries that are available right now at your local independent bookstore.

Janet Evanovich meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in Wanted: A Bird Blacker Bounty Hunter Mystery by T.I. Alvarado. Combining violent suspense with wacky humor is harder than it looks. Alvarado is not entirely successful, but the action moves fast and some likeable characters help to carry it. Hispanic heroine "Bird" Blacker is an ex-L.A. cop, now a bounty hunter, and a closeted lesbian. (Why closeted, I wonder; it's not like this is meant to be a realistic picture of the modern lesbian.) Bird has her hands full, with a visit from her twenty-year-old baby sister, a "skip" who turns out to be the son of a mob boss, and not much help from her goofy hippie partner. Oh, and her sexy one-night stand turns out to be with a hired assassin. Alyson, $14.95, 9781555839451.

I'm a sucker for hard-drinking detectives, but I like them even better if they can manage to get and stay sober. In End of Watch by Baxter Clare, LAPD Lieutenant "Frank" Franco has finally quit drinking. In an effort to make her peace with the past, she returns to New York City to visit her mother's grave, and discovers a new lead about her father's murder. The New York details and ambience are strong, and Clare introduces a great new character, NYPD detective Annie Silvester. There are welcome romantic complications with Frank's ex, Gail, for whom she still has feelings. Occasional chapters appear as excerpts from Frank's journal (the daily writing required by her AA sponsor), shedding more light on Frank's character and showing both her vulnerability and humor. End of Watch may well be my favorite entry in Baxter Clare's outstanding series, which consists of Bleeding Out (soon to be reissued by Emmis Books, $14.95, 9781563411441), Street Rules, Cry Havoc, and Last Call (all $12.95, Bella). I hope Frank Franco is with us for a long time to come. End of Watch, Bella, $13.95, 9781594930645.

Lynn C. Miller also incorporates journal excerpts in her new lesbian mystery, but you can bet she would call them "metafictional devices." Death of a Department Chair purports to be a narrative "edited" by the main character, yet told in the third person, with additional documents such as the victim's diary entries. The whole thing works both as a classic whodunit and as a wicked parody of academia. Our "editor" and chief sleuth, Miriam, is a lesbian English professor at Austin State University, who years ago had a fling with Isabel, now chair of the English Department. When Isabel is found in her office with a broken neck, suspicion falls on Miriam, but also on most of the rest of the department. The only thing lacking here - and I miss it - is an old-fashioned list in the front of the book labeled dramatis personae. Even in metafiction, you can't tell the players without a scorecard. University of Wisconsin Press, $24.95 paperback, 9780299219741.

I really liked Grave Silence, Rose Beecham's first thriller featuring Jude Devine, FBI agent and sheriff's detective in the American Southwest. In that book Beecham walked my personal line between necessary evil and distasteful violence. However, I found the sequel, Sleep of Reason, hard to get through because the subject matter is so very dark: a child murder case inspired by a real-life case in Australia. Beecham (the mystery alter ego of romance writer Jennifer Fulton) writes a well-turned sentence and creates believable characters. Sleep of Reason intertwines a number of subplots - one involving a lesbian vigilante called Lonewolf and another about Jude's new romance with a straight Mormon woman (good choice!). If you can get past the subject matter, this is another intriguing thriller from an excellent writer. Bold Strokes, $15.95, 9781933110530.

Even if you never cross genre boundaries, you might want to take a look at Mind Games by Nancy M. Griffis. Although set in the near future (2081 to be exact), this is not so much science fiction as an entertaining police procedural with a nifty twist. Detective Becca Curtains is one of the few telepaths on the force, in a society where telepaths are feared, misunderstood, and even targeted by an organized hate group. Working with a new and annoying cop partner, Becca makes mental contact with a terrible evil intelligence, a killer who is out to destroy all telepaths. I have a few quibbles (which should be filed under "compulsive nitpicking editor"), but I do want to say that I'm tired of the cliché of partners who rub each other the wrong way and thereby produce sexual heat. If the reader knows immediately where this is going, certainly a telepath would. Quest Books, $16.95, 9781932300536.

New in paper:
The Iron Girl: A Jane Lawless Mystery, Ellen Hart, St. Martin’s/Minotaur, $14.95, 9780312317508.
This Dame for Hire, Sandra Scoppettone, Ballantine, $6.99, 9780345478115.
Petty Treason, Madeleine E. Robins, St. Martin’s Press/TOR, $6.99, 9780765343062.

Lesbians Out on the Web

Joanne Fleisher, author of Living Two Lives: Married to a Man and In Love with a Woman (Alyson, $15.95, 9781555839185), appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show as an expert on married women who come out as lesbians. Read my review of the show and profile of Joanne on AfterEllen.com:
www.afterellen.com/TV/2006/10/oprah.html.

Banned Books

Awards

The Publishing Triangle is now accepting nominations for its 2007 fiction, nonfiction, and poetry awards, for books published between January 1 and December 31, 2006. There are six awards: the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction; the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction; the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry; the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry; the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction; and the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement. Members of the public can submit nominations for all but the Whitehead award. The deadline for nominations is December 1. See www.publishingtriangle.org for more information and to download a nomination form.

Calls for Submissions

Sinister Wisdom #74: Activism Latina Lesbian Style
Guest editor Juanita Ramos (editor of Compañeras: Latina Lesbians and Chicano Lives and Criminal Justice: Voices from El Barrio and author of Gender, Ethnicity, and the State: Latina and Latino Prison Politics) seeks art work, photography, poems, songs, letters, essays, short stories, interviews, and journal entries, in Spanish and/or English, from Chicana/Latina/Latin American lesbians for an issue of Sinister Wisdom which will explore "how our sisters define activism." Deadline is October 1, 2007. Submissions and queries can be emailed to companeras1994@yahoo.com or mailed to Juanita Ramos, PO Box 678, W.V.S., Binghamton, NY, 13905-0678. Also see www.juanitadiazcotto.com.

At the Old Place: A Gay & Lesbian Bar Anthology
Journalist Charles Michael Smith has extended the deadline for an upcoming anthology about lesbian and gay bars. He invites submissions of short stories, poetry, essays, novel excerpts, journal entries, correspondence, reportage, photographs, and artwork (including cartoons). For more details, see the listing on www.lambdaliterary.org. Deadline: January 31, 2007.

Anthology on Bisexuality
The folks at Biwriters.org  are seeking stories that illuminate something about the experience of being bisexual. All genres such as fantasy, science fiction, romance, historical, mystery, western, vampires, etc. as well as contemporary fiction are encouraged. Sex scenes are fine, but erotica will not be accepted. Maximum length 15,000 words/30 pages. Submit as attachment (preferably in Word) along with bio to: Sheela Lambert at info@biwriters.org. Deadline: January 1, 2007. For more info, visit www.biwriters.org.

An Anthology of Lesbian Sleuths and the Supernatural
Lynne Jamneck (Down the Rabbit Hole) is looking for stories by women writers that explore supernatural and other weird happenings, and are centered around a 'whodunit' type conundrum. The sleuth of the story - whether amateur or professional - must be a lesbian character. No excessive violence. Humor is welcome. No fan fiction. Character driven stories with strong emphasis on storytelling essential. Questions can be emailed to superantho@gmail.com. Submissions should be mailed to L. Jamneck, 26 Stellin Street, Lower Hutt, 5011, New Zealand. Word length: 7,000 - 10,000 words. Deadline: November 30, 2006.

If you give gifts during the winter holiday season - or any time for that matter - please consider a gift subscription to one or more of the three editions of Books To Watch Out For. Your friends who love to read will thank you for it!

Until next month,

Suzanne Corson
editor@bookstowatchoutfor.com