Month: November 2012

Link Round Up: Nov 6-20

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AfterEllen posted Your New School Library: Ivan Coyote, A.S. King, and Mariko Tamaki.

Autostraddle posted

      

Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian posted Hello, Queer YA: An Introduction to Queer Canadian Young Women’s Fiction.

F/F Fan Fiction Reader’s Corner posted Reunion Week and Women Dressed as Men … Sorry not my list.

Lambda Literary posted E.J. Levy: Theories of Art and Love and Queer Rites: November 2012.

Women and Words posted One Question, Twenty Answers – November and A Hodge-Podge of Fabulousness from Radclyffe, Including a Free Book or Five.

      

emily m. danforth, author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post, was interviewed on “The Write Question”.

Sarah Diemer posted

Emma Donoghue was interviewed at Austin Culture Map.

Malinda Lo posted Write from the gut, not from fear of prejudice and My policy on reviews, November 2012.

      

Catherine Lundoff posted Mentees wanted.

Chana Wilson posted The Opposite of Being Visibly Out: Hiding in Plain Sight.

Jeanette Winterson calls for library expansion, also posted about at The Independent.

“Dorothy Allison speaks on the power of the writer’s voice” was posted at Windy City Times.

“LGBT Authors and Books at the Miami Book Fair” was posted at South Florida Gay News.

“Queer icons Ivan E. Coyote and Rae Spoon step “out of the box” for Gender Failure Show” was posted at the Montreal Gazette.

      

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel was reviewed at This Wheel of Many Parts.

My Awesome Place: The Autobiography of Cheryl B by Cheryl Burke was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue was reviewed at Seattle PI and A Little Blog of Books and Other Stuff.

Hello, Groin by Beth Goobie was reviewed by Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian.

Crossroads by Radclyffe was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

      

Come and Go by Lee Harlem Robinson was reviewed at The Rainbow Reader.

Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica edited by Sinclair Sexsmith was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters was discussed at For Books’ Sake.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Jeanette Winterson was reviewed at Hazlitt.

Laura reviews Red Falcon’s District by Leilani Beck

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Red Falcon’s District is a historical fantasy novel by Leilani Beck. The story follows Bridget Caswell — a plucky young woman who has been on the run her entire life — as she takes sanctuary in an unusual, little known London district. A capable work by an emerging author, this book is an excellent choice for fans of beloved lesbian author Sarah Waters and queer-friendly writer Tamora Pierce.

Taking a page out of Waters’ playbook, Beck puts her intrepid Victorian era lesbian characters in situations highlighting racial and class tensions unique to that time. There are beautiful representations of complex human relationships, and several multi-layered character reveals that Waters fans will love. But on the whole, Red Falcon’s District actually much more reminded me Pierce’s work.

Though Pierce typically traffics in medieval knighthood, the fantasy elements of Beck’s world fall squarely in her court. The characters of Red Falcon’s District would be right at home doing magic with Daine in Tortall, or deploying their abilities alongside Briar in Emelan. Pierce fans will especially love Beck’s lively cast of unconventional characters. Their exceptionally practical concerns (How do these clothes impact my ability to run? How much are grapes at the market today?) are relatable and endearing. That Beck also manages to work in feminist themes throughout the work is just icing on the cake.

In a time when many ask where all the new lesbian authors are, Leilani Beck is a fresh, talented voice just waiting to be discovered. (The Washington-based author is not yet represented by an agent or publisher! Hint hint.) Style-wise, her writing can be a little clunky, particularly at the beginning of the novel. But if you can get past this, there’s a really fantastic story here, and I’m happy to have read it. I sincerely hope that you will give it a chance too.

Red Falcon’s District is available digitally for $2.99.

Jill Guccini reviews The Narrows by M. Craig

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The world of the M. Craig’s The Narrows (http://narrowsthenovel.com/) contains a lot of elements you’ll recognize: full of bicycles and outcasts, skinny jeans and crowded cafes, and of course, a healthy dose of beer, its streets very much resemble a Portland or a Brooklyn of today. Yet then there’s the Other Stuff. There’s dragons and fairies; mysterious names of cities and faraway lands; wars with ogres; wands and swords and black magic–familiar fare for the fantasy junkie. There’s elements of steampunk weaved in, too, with a badass magic-sensing pair of goggles amongst other gadgets, and plenty of abandoned and creepy factories in a very urban setting. All combined together, it creates an atmosphere and story that’s unique and engaging, well crafted and well written. I have to admit that the Brooklyn-But-With-Magic vibe threw me off at first, but perhaps that’s just because I opened this book really not knowing quite what to expect. But the more I got to know the Bikeway Narrows, and the more I got to know the story of our protagonist, Sim, the more I cared about all of it, and the more I wanted to know more.

We meet Sim right after she’s run away from a not-so-pleasant upbringing in the home of the powerful Nogron, stealing an important and mysterious wand in the process. She and the wand are lucky enough to run into a lad named Cader in a train station on her way out of town, and he generously offers her a place to stay in the city of Terresin. Herein we get to know the second most important setting after the cafes and bars in the neighborhood of the Bikeway Narrows, the house where Sim and Cader live along with two other women, Pru and Kai. Between its large, mystical garden, the delicious dinners Kai concocts, and the amount of time Sim spends drinking coffee and reading books inside of it, I wanted to BE in this house. I especially wanted to be next to Pru, a cynical, dark-but-tough woman who becomes a steadfast friend to Sim, especially when it’s revealed that they are both real big lesbians. They especially need to form solidarity as homosexuality is looked upon with scorn and disgust by the majority of society. Yet their friendship is just perfectly that, with the romance in their hearts reserved for others. While Pru spends too much time with too many ladies she doesn’t actually care about–sort of the Shane of Terresin, unkempt short dark hair and all–Sim is over her head entranced by Wood, a local college student who she meets with everyday at their favorite coffeeshop. There’s only one problem: this love is only apparent to Sim. Cue heartache central.

Other minor characters we meet are also essential to the plot: there’s Azzer, the lovably eccentric old dude whom Sim works for, who makes gadgets and fixes bikes, and then there’s a strange girl who Sim keeps running into, who keeps warning her: stay away from the Bikeway Narrows. Along with these ominous warnings, both Azzer and Wood constantly talk of revolution, of injustice, of impending environmental and societal ruin in Terresin and beyond, problems that are easy to parallel to our own imperfect world. Whereas Wood believes change is possible, Azzer rests more on the side of defeat, wondering if they can ever be strong enough to conquer Nogron and those in power. Sim lies somewhere in the middle, unsure of exactly what to feel, but increasingly sure that evil forces are at work, and that they may all be in danger–and perhaps Sim most of all.

What exactly is happening in those factories that border the Narrows? Why exactly is their society at war with the ogres? And what is so special about that wand that Sim was able to steal? And, you know, will there be any lesbian happy endings? While some questions are answered by the end of The Narrows, there’s still plenty left open–and I now, of course, lay in wait for a sequel.

Aside from the story and the writing itself, I must say that the design and cover art of this book is splendid. Small presses can be a mixed bag at times, but I loved the whole look and feel of this novel once I held it in my hands–and it was a further delight when what was inside didn’t disappoint either. My only plea to Miss Craig for a sequel, or if there’s ever a reprint of this one, would be a good map of Terresin, the Narrows, and its environs included at the beginning–because heavens knows I love a sweet map at the beginning of books that invite you into new worlds as this one does. If you’re looking for a different, enjoyable read, this one is definitely recommended.

Katie Raynes reviews The Gunfighter and the Gear-Head by Cassandra Duffy

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Cassandra Duffy’s The Gunfighter and the Gear-Head is a fun melding of steampunk and Old West in a post-apocalyptic setting. The story centers around Tombstone – which, after a cataclysmic war between Earth and an invading alien force – has reverted to a harsh, dangerous place ruled by outlaws. The story follows Gieo, a dirigible pilot, mad scientist, and all-around genius, and Fiona, a former lingerie model who is now one of the most powerful and respected gunfighters in the area. Their relationship and its twists and turns forms the core of the plot as the characters battle cultists, other outlaws, and the aliens.

When I first started reading, I was initially somewhat put off by the frequency and descriptiveness of the sex scenes, owing to my personal preference for mooshy romance and drawn-out courtships. Gieo and Fiona didn’t know each other very well the first few times things got heavy between them, but I was drawn through the story by the complexity of their feelings for each other, and by the fact that those feelings were constantly evolving in reaction to events and revelations about each other. As they got to know each other, and I got to know both of them, their relationship became my favorite part, and I was rooting for them the whole way through. They went through plenty of rough spots as lovers, and I felt that these were all handled realistically. I was never left unsatisfied or doubtful about the nature of their feelings for each other.

Even though Gieo and Fiona’s relationship was my favorite part, it was Cassandra Duffy’s worldbuilding that impressed me the most. The history of the alien invasion and the years after it unfolded slowly and tantalizingly. Duffy also handled all of the technical terms utilized in describing Geio’s inventions and steampunk contraptions impeccably – they were completely understandable to me as someone who knows next to nothing about how machines work, but they were specific enough and showed enough expertise that I was convinced Gieo knew exactly what she was doing. I was also happy that Gieo is Korean, since queer literature in always needs more women of color. All of the characters were well drawn and had sudden flashes of depth that kept me engaged with each one.

I was sad about some of the things that took place at the end, but as luck would have it, there’s a second book in the series: The Steam-Powered Sniper in the City of Broken Bridges. From the Goodreads description, it appears to follow one of the side characters (a personal favorite!) so I’m looking forward to reading it.

Mfred Reviews Out of Time by Paula Martinac

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Out of Time is one of those books that had everything going for it, except conflict.  Interesting premise, solid characterization, good writing– but lacking that fundamental tension that gives the reader a reason to keep reading.

Ducking into an antique shop to get out of the rain, Susan Van Dine finds and then steals an old scrapbook, mesmerized by the photos of a lesbian couple and their gang of friends in the 1920s.  She takes it home and immediately begins to be haunted by the women, specifically the author Lucy Weir and her lover, Harriet.

The first half of the book is interesting and engaging.  Susan’s life is unraveled by the presence of Harriet and Lucy, even as she starts investigating their lives and stories.  Taking a leave of absence from her doctorate program, Susan spends more and more time obsessively reading the scrapbook until she literally becomes part of the photos, speaking to and interacting with Harriet and Lucy.  Martinac does not write this haunting as something frightening or threatening.  These ghosts’ interaction in the real world is instead presented with a style similar to the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende.  Whether Susan is slowly going crazy or if some terrible event happened to Lucy and Harriet that compels them to seek Susan’s help are open questions that drive the story forward.

Unfortunately, in the second half, Martinac keeps rescuing Susan via plot devices that rob the story of interest.   If the first half is an exploration of history and it’s presence in the modern world, the second is a series of lucky and fortuitous events that undermine the conflict and wrap up things that were maybe never meant to be tidy.

Martinac can be commended for not only telling a story of one modern (well, early 1990s) lesbian story, but also shedding light on the lives of lesbians during the first half of the 20th century.  However, I wish the story of Susan, Harriet, and Lucy had a little bit less consciousness about it’s place in the historical record and more interest in the storytelling part.

Alyssa reviews Night Weaver by Madeleine Lycka

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Night Weaver by Madeleine Lycka is an erotic vampire romance that centers around three vampire women. Two of them, Isabel and Ankit, have been undead for hundreds of years, and the third, Arrow, has just been turned into a vampire by Ankit. The story revolves around romance, art, sex, jealousy, and some minor politicking. Overall, I enjoyed Night Weaver. Although it suffers from some flaws and a lack of polishing, it is enjoyable, with hot sex scenes, well choreographed action scenes, solid characters, and a pleasing conclusion.

Like many independently published novels, Night Weaver is unpolished: it contains typos, a few confusing scene breaks, and at least one extraneous sex scene. Additionally, while the ending is satisfying in terms of content and loose ends, it feels abrupt and like it ought to have been fleshed out more. Despite these issues, I enjoyed reading Night Weaver. The story and characters are strong and well developed, and the characters’ internal universes—Ankit’s and Arrow’s both center around making art—are interesting to explore. The erotic scenes are also fun to read. Isabel, Ankit, and Arrow, the three vampire women, form a love triangle: Isabel and Ankit were together for a long time, but no longer, and Ankit and Arrow begin to fall in love, which enrages Isabel, who also happens to be queen of the vampires. Ankit is a painter and tattoo artist, and Arrow weaves tapestries; they are drawn together by their similar artist souls.

For vampire lore connoisseurs: these vampires have limited qualms when it comes to feeding on the blood of living humans. The protagonists in Night Weaver often kill to eat and rarely feel guilt over these actions. The origin of vampires is not explored in this setting, and some of the typical lore is ignored. These are nocturnal vampires who will burn in the sun, and can be killed only by sunlight or very violent physical trauma. We see Arrow work on one or two occasions to control her “beast,” but the vampires in Night Weaver are generally in control of themselves, and the only drawbacks to immortality seem to be night living, loss of human food, and occasionally deadly politics.

Ultimately, I would recommend checking out this book—it’s only four bucks for the electronic version on Amazon, and free to borrow if you have Prime—especially if you’re looking for vampires or vampire erotica in your lesbian fiction, or just some erotic, somewhat kinky, romance punctuated by action and high stakes.

Isabelle reviews Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid

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Trick of the Dark is a stand-alone psychological thriller by famous British author Val McDermid.
Clinical psychiatrist, Charlie Flint is sent a mysterious bundle of press clippings about the murder of a man on his wedding day and the subsequent trial and conviction of his two business partners.
Charlie soon identifies the sender of the mysterious envelop: the mother of the bride and her former Oxford tutor at Saint Scholastika’s, Corinna Newsam. When confronted by Charlie, she confesses that she would like her to look into the case as she is convinced that two innocents have been convicted; instead she puts the blame on her daughter Magda’s new love interest.
Suspended from her job, awaiting a hearing by the General Medical Council which will decide whether or not she can be reinstated as an expert in her field and thus with plenty of time on her hands, Charlie readily welcomes a distraction from real life.
Under normal circumstances, Charlie Flint would have consumed all the media coverage of the trial of Philip Carling’s killers. It wasn’t quite the sort of murder that was right up her street, but there were good reasons why this particular case would have interested her. But nothing was normal right now. Her professional life was in shreds. The destruction of reputation, the prohibition against doing the one thing she’d ever been any good at and the continued threat of legal sanction alone would have been enough to distract Charlie from the news stories. But there was more.
 
The headline news in Charlie Flint’s world was that she was in love and hating every minute of it. And that was the real reason she was oblivious to all sorts of things that normally would have fascinated her.
The narrative alternates between a third-person focus on Charlie’s inquest and and a personal narration as Jay Stewart writes a sequel toUnrepentant, her successful misery-lit memoir.
As a child Jay was neglected by her drug-addled mother, then repressed by a domineering stepfather when her mother went from hapless junkie hippie to born-again Christian. For her getting a place at Oxford meant the most certain way of leaving her gruesome past behind. After graduating Jay founded a prosperous dot.com company, selling it for millions shortly before the digital bubble burst. She is now running another successful website. Yet every time someone stands between Jay and ‘what she wants they simply happen to die.’
It seems it is now Charlie’s job to find out whether Jay is the ruthless serial killer Corinna suspects or merely the victim of a fateful series of coincidences. The story telling is crafty and the way ‘two’ versions of the same story unfold makes it more compelling and provides a few inside/internal cliffhangers.
Trick of the Dark is a terrific page turner so make sure that you have a free weekend before embarking on this novel – turn off your mobile and ignore outside distractions – because, once you start, you won’t be able to stop until you reach the end.

Danika reviews Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica

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I really loved this book! Indigo Springs is a Fantasy novel set in our world, but after magic has contaminated it. Magic is a powerful and poisonous force that causes people and plants to mutate, though it can also be channeled into objects that perform specific magic tasks. Astrid’s best friend Sahara has creates a cult around herself and the magic. The cult is causing destruction, including earthquakes, and just keeps growing. The government is desperately trying to get things under control, and is questioning Astrid in jail to try to find out Sahara’s weaknesses, and how it came to this. Meanwhile, the magic in Astrid’s body makes it hard for her to tell the past, present, and future apart.

I was so taken in by this book, and very grateful that I have the sequel to start right away! The book starts at the end, when everything has gone wrong, and then explains how it got to this point. Somehow, knowing the ending doesn’t make it any less dramatic. I was totally engrossed in the explanations of how magic works, how Astrid channels it, and the mysterious background of her father. Astrid is bisexual, which is not glossed over, but not made a big deal of, either. The love triangle in the novel actually makes sense to me, and wasn’t overly dramatic.

The writing is great, the story is compelling, and the characters are interesting. You can’t help feeling for Astrid as she pines over her love interest/best friend gone bad. I thought the backwards storytelling technique worked really well for the story. Also, because the novel is set in our world, I think Indigo Springs would be interesting to people who aren’t familiar with Fantasy novels as well as people who enjoy the genre. The concept of chantments, enchanted objects, is especially interesting. And, the magic is all balanced with drawbacks, which makes it seem believable.

I really recommend this one. It’s been a while since a book has completely drawn me in like this, so I keep thinking about it after I have to put it down. Indigo Springs is definitely going into my permanent collection.

Link Round Up: Oct 31 – Nov 7

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Autostraddle posted Liberty Lit #6: Read More Know More.

I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? posted Will Your Book Be Considered For The 2013 Lambda Literary Awards? You have one month to submit it!

Lambda Literary posted New in November: Ellen Forney, Colm Tóibín, Sarah Schulman, and Roz Kaveney.

Alison Bechdel posted sundry news.

Sarah Diemer posted In the Garden I Did Not Sin, a Free YA Short Story — Part of Project Unicorn (A Lesbian YA Extravaganza).

Malinda Lo posted October 2012 in Review, Part 1 and Part 2.

Astray by Emma Donoghue was reviewed at the New York Times.

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue was reviewed at Blog Critics.

Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics by Urvashi Vaid was reviewed at Lamda Literary.

Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota by Stewart Van Cleve was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Anna M. reviews The Campaign by Tracey Richardson

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I read and enjoyed Tracey Richardson’s 2008 book The Candidate*, about presidential candidate Jane Kincaid and her secret service agent Alex Warner. At the conclusion of The Candidate, Jane had been elected vice president of the United States and was openly involved with Alex. When I heard about Richardson’s follow-up, The Campaign, I couldn’t resist–especially since it’s an election year. Unfortunately, the sequel left me a little bit cold, perhaps because the glut of embarrassing (for both parties) political advertisements have made it almost impossible for me to believe that any candidate would be as idealistic and high-minded as Jane Kincaid–and actually get elected.

Jane is back on the campaign trail as her running mate, Dennis Collins, runs for re-election. She’s got Alex on her side as always, as well as her sister, who manages her campaign. Corey Kincaid is younger than Jane, and has recently realized that she too might be a lesbian. Almost all parties agree that the last person Corey should be experimenting with is Alex’s ex-lover, Julia Landen, who is covering the campaign for her Florida newspaper. When Julia receives some sensitive information about President Collins that could blow the campaign wide open, she’s torn between bringing it to Corey and doing her duty as a journalist. In the meantime, Jane and Alex struggle with an overly interfering gay rights group, the pressures of the campaign schedule on their relationship, and the persistent rumors that Jane will be breaking from Collins to run for president herself.

If this sounds like a lot of irons in the fire, it is. Richardson flips between Jane and Alex’s established relationship and and Corey and Julia’s blossoming attraction successfully enough, but the book could have used . . . something else. I had to push myself to finish it. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right move to believe that an out lesbian could successfully run for the highest office in the land, and one day I hope that we will be able to point to The Campaign and hail Tracey Richardson as a sage. But in the meantime, I’m too tied up in knots about the actual election to have much faith in this one.

*If you haven’t read that book and want to remain unspoiled, read no farther.