Add a touch of lavender with your orange and black

It's October and perhaps you, like myself, enjoy some seasonal stories that also feature lesbians. Add a little touch of lavender with your orange and black, if you will. Here is a list of some of my favorite otherworldly stories featuring lesbians. Not a list for fans of serious horror stories, many of these books are more lesbian fantasy romance with a supernatural twist. The short story anthologies are more mixed both with gay men as well as lesbians and by degree from little spooky to downright horror. For the most part these lavender pumpkins fall into three broad themes: Stories featuring goddess-worshipping women, stories with preternatural creatures, and stories haunted by ghosts. Then a few anthologies that mix these elements. Over all, it’s a kind of “Caldrons and Critters and Haints, Oh My!” collection.

Caldrons
There are a number of stories that make reference to witches, especially in regard to Wicca/Pagan traditions. Laura Adams (a pen name for Karin Kallmaker aka "the Queen of Lesbian Romance") has some wonderful "witchy" romances. Foremost are the first two titles in her "Tunnel of Light Trilogy." The hauntingly powerful story of Ursula and Autumn touches on Goddess worship of the pre-Christian era, its survival in generations since the fall of Rome. Kallmaker weaves a haunting cycle of magic and reincarnation beginning with Sleight of Hand and followed by Seeds of Fire. Powerful, mythic and erotic, we are still waiting for the conclusion. The finale, "Forge of Virgins" has yet to be released. However, in 2008, Kallmaker released an edited and expanded version of Christabel, her retelling of the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem, which weaves historic and contemporary lives together with two very touching love stories. This title is well worth a Halloween purchase.

Jean Stewart's Isis Series begins with Return to Isis and is set in a futurist, post-pandemic world. Several of the women of Freeland have worked to develop their psychic gifts and many self identify as witches or wiccan. Stewart's characters are three dimensional and engaging, her plots will have you on the edge of your seat. The most recent entry is Wizard of Isis but you'll want to read them in order.

A witch and her talking dog are prominent in Karen William's Nightshade. Her second novel, Nightshade is peopled with several enticing women and she deals with her characters a bit more complexly than her first novel (see below). Alex's healing is an important element of her finding love in this delightful romance. Cynthia Lamb's Brigid’s Charge is a well-researched and entertainingly crafted story of Deborah Leeds, a woman who immigrates to colonial America and brings her carefully hidden Irish Celtic wiccan faith. Readers who prefer a little more history and a little less magic will enjoy Brigid’s Charge. The title may be difficult to track down, but is very worth the effort.

Ellen Galford brings a goddess-centric island off the Scottish coast to life in The Fires of Bride: A Novel. Maria Milleny, an unemployed London artist is drawn to the enigmatic Dr. Catriona MacEochan and the generations of mysteries of the island people. Out of print, this charming, witty novel lingers like the ghost hidden in its pages.

Critters
Monsters are slightly less popular in gothic lesbian lit, although vampires tend to be the exception to the rule. However, there a few titles that can be considered “critter-filled.” Chris Anne Wolfe's Roses and Thorns is a retelling of the "Beauty and the Beast" romantic fairy tale that questions the definition of “monster” and crosses over with witchcraft playing a role as well. Ellen Galford’s award winning Dyke and the Dybbuk has an ancient demon trying to haunt a very modern dyke. The results are a riotous mix of humor. Great fun for those who like their spooks to be more droll than troll.

Karen William's Love Spell is a charming little romance that deals with stereotypes of monsters, witches, magic and love between the local vet, Kate and the mysterious Allegra. Kate struggles to understand all of these issues after she experiences the most erotic night of her life. Gomez’s The Gilda Stories: A Novel introduces a lesbian vampire with a strong morale sense and weaves through history into the future. Ouida Crozier suggests vampires are not undead, but beings from an alternative reality in Shadows After Dark and they need not just human blood, but our help.

Haints
Gothic tales of lesbian ghosts weave their way through a number of novels. Rebecca Montague’s A Wild Sea has Katherine dealing with the ghost of loss in more ways than one. In Zanger’s Gardenias Where There Are None the computer becomes a conduit for a different kind of communication for Melanie.

The communication is not merely a metaphor in When the Dead Speak: The Second Brett Higgins Mystery, as Allie and Brett find themselves experiencing strange happenings in their old house. The will of the spirit is overwhelming in House at Pelham Falls by Brenda Weathers. Long out of print, this ghostly story of lesbian love holds classic gothic elements and was the first preternatural lesbian story I ever read. Blayne Cooper’s Cobb Island is a love story that echoes doomed relationship for the past. Uncovering the echo of that relationship, and finding love is the theme of this tale. While Cooper & Novan’s The Road to Glory is a different, but very touching kind of ghost story. On a bit spookier note is Dark Dreamer: a Dark Vista Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Fulton. Rowe Devlin is having a rough patch in her life and falling for a woman who sees ghosts doesn't seem to be the answer. This is the first of a series of preternatural novels from Fulton.

Oh My!
As a fourth category, let’s look at anthologies that feature any and all variations on the Caldrons, Critters and Haints themes. Three Bella After Dark titles are well worth a reading. The first is Bell, Book and Dyke: New Exploits of Magical Lesbians, a quartet of novellas by Karin Kallmaker, Julia Watts (both of whom also edited the stories), Barbara Johnson and Therese Szymanski. All the novellas feature "witches" and range from the wry and ironic "Skyclad" to the touching and powerful "Unbeliever." This is the best overall title of the "New Exploits" collections as all the stories in this one are worth your while. The second Bella After Dark to consider is Call Of The Dark: Erotic Lesbian Tales Of The Supernatural. Call of the Dark lives up to its title with erotic stories that will also send shivers of another kind down your spine. Edited by Szymanski, the collection is varied and well paced for readers with a mix of arousal, humor, and fear. There is also New Exploits 3: Stake through the Heart which features vampire stories from the four authors of the series.

Shadows of the Night: Queer Tales of the Uncanny and Unusual is a mixed anthology of stories by and featuring gay men and lesbians. It reads like a season from the Twilight Zone, and the stories here go from the odd to the down right scary, with some new twists on old ghost tales thrown into the mix. Out of Print and difficult to track down, The Ghost of Carmen Miranda: and Other Spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales is a fun mix of ghost stories. As with the title story, humor plays a role in some of the stories. Yet there are some very creepy entries here as well.

Night Shade: Gothic Tales by Women is a mix of supernatural stories, not all of which are queer. However, Jean Stewart’s story of the avenging hounds of the goddess, “Feeding the Dark” has stayed with me for years. Similarly, and also edited by Brownworth, Night Bites: Vampire Stories by Women is more feminist focused than “queer.” It also contains some memorable gems from the vampire theme.

Two of the best (and the first) anthologies to focus with lesbian vampires were edited by Pam Keesey, Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampire Tales and Dark Angels: Lesbian Vampire Erotica. Both titles have been rereleased. Gomez’s Gilda makes an appearance and from Katherine Forrest, we have Drake in “Oh Captain, my Captain.” Keesey's introductions include an interesting evaluation on the history of the lesbian vamp in literature.

Without doubt, my favorite lesbian Halloween anthology is Kallmaker's 18th and Castro. The 13 stories relate to the residents of a mythic apartment building at 18th & Castro on Halloween night. It’s an address where you'll find intelligent, witty stories that are well-written and charming, and peopled with interesting characters. The preternatural makes at least two appearances. Readers will find something good to eat in this bag of treats!

Let's end this little Halloween reading list off with a tribute to the great lavender literary queen, Oscar Wilde with The Canterville Ghost. While there is very little lavender subtext in this charming little short story, it has Wilde’s trademark wit and wry observations about American and English cultures. And includes touching comments on the nature of love and the world. If you can find it, the Candlewick Treasures hardcover imprint (ISBN-13: 978-0763601324) is a delightful little book for ghostly Halloween gifting.

There you have it, a fine assortment of lavender Halloween treats for your reading pleasure.

Happy Haunted Reading!
-MJ, a queer little devil

BN: I'm not able to list all the authors and editors mentioned above in the labels, please look to the left to see full reviews of the titles mentioned, or reviews of other titles by those authors under the author's name.

18th & Castro

Karin Kallmaker
Bella Books
www.bellabooks.com
159493066X, $13.95

Karin Kallmaker's 18th & Castro is a trick-or-treat bag filled with yummy goodies for her readers. This charmingly romantic collection of erotic short stories is set on a Halloween night in the Castro District. It opens with Suze and Amy, two baby dykes in their early 20s, who have found a building rooftop from which to watch the night's festivities. The girls serve as the framework of the book, with their story broken into three parts throughout the night. They have a perfect view of a mythical three-story apartment building across the street. All of its residents are women-loving-women and a whole lot of fun is goin' on! As the two women watch the revelers, 13 stories unfold with most relating to one of the building's residents or an apartment at 18th & Castro, hence the numbers.

New love, or at least a fine start on healthy lust, unfolds in "Borrowed Plumage 1C" when a femme, Carmen, borrows her best friend's old leathers for a costume and meets a woman who finds those leathers very inspiring. In "Please 2A" "Chosen 1B," and "From Behind you Looked Like 1D" Kallmaker allows the fates (and a few resident matchmakers) to nudge long term friendships toward a path to something more intimate.

Several of the stories include long term couples who are nurturing a romantic sex life in the midst of day-to-day logistics and life pressures. These stories range from the tentatively sweet and hot to the amusing and power charged. In the "Brand New Woman 2C," a couple are alone for the first time since their eldest child was born. Brenda spends time exploring the woman that her partner and co-parent of two children, Nancy, has become in the years they've shared.

In "Human Female Pon Farr 3B," Jax is suffering a very bad day of hormones. Her partner, Tate, sets out help scratch that itch, but events take a farcical turn when a handcuff key goes missing. That comic tone carries across the hall to handcuff key provider and artist, Jonny, and her Aria, a highly demanded and overworked surgeon. Aria is in need of some in "Down Time 3A" but the two initially find it difficult to focus with the interruptions.

In "Avast! 3C" readers are treated to a bit of Halloween role playing as Renee and Jane indulge a fantasy on the high seas. The teasing negotiation and the grounding late night snack that open and close this story puts a loving face on a highly charged scene.

Kallmaker provides a touching glimpse at how one couple strives to maintain a mutually satisfying sexual expression of their relationship despite chronic health issues. In "Nine-Inch Nails 3D," the years of communication, caring affection and heated desire between Pete and Keri allow them to cultivate new expressions for their love that are arousing and validating. In "For the Last Time 2B" Terra and Jeneen invite the latter woman's ex-lover, Claire, over for a little sex demonstration. This bittersweet three-way provides a complex lesson for all involved.

The stories in 18th & Castro interweave as various characters interact with others, several women are going to the party hosted by Neenah and Ace in1A. Some conversations are repeated from different points of view. Others merely pass one another in the hall. All of which gives the reader the impression of a complex set of happenings occurring in a relatively short period of time. All the stories are erotic and include an intensity likely to keep the reader's interest; however, the details of encounters are as varied as the women who populate the stories. Some are earthy and urgent. Others are sweet and hazy. Many are also touching and romantic.

As already suggested, Kallmaker's signature humor is sprinkled throughout the stories, but it is especially present in the setting. Halloween in the heart of San Francisco has to be one of the country's biggest, gayest party events outside of Pride, and adds outrageous color and humor. Glimpses of the costumed crowd include not only Xenas and Gabs, Vampire Slayers, Pirates, Flappers with Gangsters, and Batmans and Robins but "Diana Ross and the Supremes, the secretary of state, flaky first daughters, Ethel Merman and Sweet Potato Queens --it was all [there] in the Castro"(116). There are impromptu chorus lines of Dorothys kicking up their ruby slippers, a quartet of Veronica Lakes, and Satanic Leprechauns. (This last group is a corps of dark cloaked mysterious figures wearing prominent, green dildos and marching in cadence.)

Likewise, the characters represent a range of ages, ethnicity and self-awareness from the spectator baby dykes on the roof to the elegant older lesbians of "Please." The preternatural even makes a couple of appearances. Perhaps the collection's most touching story is "Tick Tock 2D" wherein a woman finds solace and protection in her memories of love and perhaps an eerie little something more …

Readers can depend on Kallmaker for intelligent, witty stories that are well-written and charming, and peopled with interesting characters. She gives us books that are just down-right fun to read. A "Bella After Dark" title 18th & Castro is highly-charged, accessorized erotic fun, in the same vein as her All the Wrong Places. A few quirky surprises are there as well as one or two stories that prompted this reviewer to pause and think about the nature of power and love. In 18th & Castro, readers will find the mass-market candy of their treat bags has been replaced by fine handmade truffles. Pick up a copy of this bag of goodies because there is something "good to eat" here.

-MJ Lowe

Call of the Dark: Erotic Lesbian Tales of the Supernatural

Therese Szymanski (Editor)
Bella Books
www.bellabooks.com
1594930406, $14.95

Just in time for your spooky autumn reading, the latest Bella Books anthology, Call of the Dark, has arrived. The 23 stories represent the work of well-known authors as well as new writers. Selected and arranged by Therese Szymanski, this collection is thoughtful and entertaining, sometimes witty and touching, often creepy and always arousing. The focus of the collection is "erotic" and it is not surprising that most of the stories fall into two categories: possession by or seduction at the hands of a vampire or a spirit. Nevertheless the stories are neither repetitive nor entirely predictable.

The vampires range from the dashing, charismatic Daron in Szymanski's "Dream Lover" to the horrific entity in Patty G. Henderson's "In the Blood." Henderson's tale questions the price of life, the cost of loyalty and the pain of survival. Victoria A. Brownworth's "The Feast of St. Lucy" is an aching little tale of loneliness and survival filled with vivid images of the ancient and ageless New Orlean's French Quarter and the scent of bergamot. Perhaps one of the most interesting twists is Ariel Graham's "Games of Love" wherein she illustrates how a really long-term couple keeps the relationship … fresh, and answers that nagging question of what is the appropriate gift for your 500+ anniversary.

The spirits (formerly human, and now ghosts or demon) who haunt these pages are equally varied. An ultimate surrender overwhelms the lead in Radclyffe's "By the Light of the Moon." In Heather Osborne's "That which Alters," the succubus finds herself falling in love with her victim in a fascinating role reversal. "Specter of Sin" allows Kristina Wright to provide a new variation on a traditional kind of ghost story set in the lonely despair of the Texas desert. The switch in perspective is explored by several writers, as when Rachel Kramer Bussel (a contributing editor at Penthouse) opens the door to "The Haunted, Haunted House." There, a ghost provides a heated coming out for a lovely young visitor.

Without question, the most amusing entry of the collection is "Lilith" by Karin Kallmaker. In this wry tale of a queer succubus who outlives her creator and is left to drift through the dreams and fantasies of humans without intent to consume them, Kallmaker opens the anthology and a discussion of the nature of fantasy, focus, and consent.

Szymanski's skillful selection and arrangement of the stories provides valuable contrasts and flow for the reader. Thus, Julia Watt's charming "Visitation" is followed by Barbara Johnson's "Loving Ophelia." The former provides the reader with a satisfying "all is right" even in the "other world" with a psychic who helps a wronged spirit, and has several of her own questions answered in the process. In the latter, Johnson pens a creepy little story worthy of the Twilight Zone.

This placing and pacing of stories allows the reader to read several stories in a row, moving between the touching, humorous, and thoughtful, to the downright creepy, then back again. The lighter entries, like those sunny days or well-lit rooms in a horror movie, serve to lure the readers into letting down their guard for that unexpected twist or nerve-jolting revelation of the next story. And while readers might not find all the stories entirely to their taste, it is not from lack of imagination or skill of writing. None of the stories failed to elicit a response in this reader.

Kallmaker's Lilith laments at one point, "I gathered ever more fantasies and yet had no witch with whom to share them. Truly, to have tales and no one to tell -- is there anything sadder?" (7)

Thankfully, Kallmaker and the other writers in this collection have lots of readers with whom to share their fantasies and we are all the richer for the experience. Pick up a copy of Call of the Dark, light a candle, pour yourself a glass of rich, red wine, and enjoy.
-MJ Lowe

Back to Basics: A Butch/Femme Anthology

Therese Szymanski
Bella Books
193151335X

Back to Basics is Bella Books' first collection of short stories and this anthology sizzles with hot exchanges of long time couples as well as new found lust. Several of the 23 writers will be familiar to readers, yet over half are relatively new to published works. These stories are well written and delicious. Therese Szymanski has assembled a wonderful collection of erotica in this book. Back to Basics is also the first book from the publisher's new "Bella After Dark" imprint, a series of erotic romance titles that promise not to be your great aunt's Naiad stories. And more impressively, she has succeeded in leading the reader through a dialog on butch-femme issues with the story selections and their placement in the anthology. For example:

The collection opens with Karin Kallmaker's "The Butch Across the Hall," the highly charged story of Ronnie, a femme who is finally admitting -- and asking for -- what she wants. This very explicit tale marks a new aspect to Kallmaker's writing. However it still contains her signature wry wit and intelligent characters. Next is Barbara Johnson's "On the Road Again," a story that introduces Taylor Donovan (a butch Maryland state trooper who earns the book a place on my "books with lesbian characters named Taylor" list) and a truck driving femme named Rose. These woman are quite comfortable with their gender identity, yet they push one another to explore new dynamics in their first sexual encounter.

Jean Stewart (author of the Isis series) presents "Scoring" and addresses issues of appearance with a tough soccer playing butch who confuses some people with her "femme hair." However, an equally strong player from another team is not mistaken in her attraction. Amusingly, there are two entries that deal with lesbian writers at book readings. The editor's story, "The Fan" presents a femme author of main stream romances who pens lesbian love stories on the side and draws on her rich fantasy life for her writing. Or does she? And is contrasted with Jesi O'Connell's "Butch Between the Sheets," which is a delightful little scene that deals with a femme's response to a book reading by butch sexpert and author, Syl Salesberg.

Perhaps one of the most thoughtful "couplings" of stories is Kallmaker's "The Curve of Her" which features Louisa and Rayann from her novel Touchwood. For the first time, Kallmaker gives us a first person look at the world from the older butch, Lou's eyes. Set some two years after the novel, the couple are not only still very much in love and sexual with one another, they are growing together. Here, Lou discovers the power of surrender. This very sweetly romantic and erotic story is juxtaposed to Joy Parks' "Touching Stone."

Parks' story is a heartrending introspective monologue by a femme who thought she had fallen in love with a lesbian. She details the increasing grief of her life with a Stone Butch who is moving toward FtoM trans-ing. Discovering surrender is the last thing on this butch's agenda. And the story offers up wonderful observations from the femme that echo Kallmaker's first story. Written with an aching empathy this femme speaks of the women that will come into her life with these words, "I will know how to make a woman feel as butch on her back as she does in her boots. I will learn that it is my gentleness, not my weakness, that can make another woman feel strong. And I will touch them with everything I could never give to you." (175)

Julia Watts' "Found in an Antique Trunk" allows us to glimpse a relationship between two women in late Victorian America, via four letters. It is a wonderfully touching story that seems to remind us that there is very little "new" under the sun. Leslea Newman gifts readers with a charming entry from her Girls Will Be Girls anthology, called "A Femme in the Hand." I'd say more about this story except I don't want to spoil any of its fun. And there is a great deal of fun in these stories. Many of them have the kind of "got ya" twist that is a strong element in good short stories for this reader. The anthology's final entry, "requiem" by Elizabeth Dunn, suggests a poignant twist to the "personal is political" as a couple discover one another anew in the face of death.

One could almost wish that Szymanski included an introduction to discuss her selection and arrangement of the stories in Back to Basics. It is clear that she put great effort into both aspects of the editing process. However, the stories do speak for themselves. The editor has succeeded in creating an arousingly readable as well as interestingly thought provoking anthology. Furthermore, Bella Books is to be commended for the steadily improving quality of their cover art. This cover is sexy and pleasing as well. All in all, Back to Basics is a fine anthology of erotic stories that may be read on many levels. The collection is as thought provoking as it is arousing, and for a reader with little shelf space, this book is a keeper.

-MJ Lowe

The Ghost of Carmen Miranda and Other Spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales

Julie K. Trevelyan, Editor
Scott Brassart, Editor
Alyson Books
1555834884


In the anthology, The Ghost of Carmen Miranda and other spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales, the editors Julie K. Trevelyan and Scott Brassart have assembled a lively, lavender corps of ghost stories. As the title implies, this Alyson publication is not strictly a horror collection, although some of the tales certainly qualify. All the stories, however, focus on lesbian or gay characters as well as elements of the supernatural with manifestations of ghosts in some form or another.

Many of the stories, like Don Sakers' title entry "The Ghost of Carmen Miranda" -- wherein a morbidly obese gay man, trapped in a dead end existence on a space station, finds help and inspiration in a different kind patron saint -- are queerly witty and delightfully amusing. Several stories address the idea of the spirit of a loved one returning or being trapped until some unfinished business can reach closure. A. J. Potter's "Taking Care of Faith" fits this theme. The peanut butter eating ghost, Brandon, returns to his apartment, to check on his "widowed," lover, Evan. When Victor, the new renter, realizes it's not really strong cockroaches raiding his peanut butter, he is taken aback, to say the least. A rather nonchalant spectral Brandon, complains about Victor's choice of low fat variety, "It's peanut butter, for chrissake. If you're going to eat peanut butter, eat the real thing." (19)

Abbe Ireland's "Case of the Sapphic Succubus" features a "ghost busting" Frances who must face another kind of "bust" when she agrees to spend the night in a historic bed and breakfast with an unusual guest service. Frances learns that facing a succubus isn't as difficult as facing what resides in the researcher's heart. "Paisley" has an archaeologist in the Appalachias of East Kentucky disinterring a casket that holds the bodies of two women. When the image of a woman in a paisley print dress begins to visit Charlotte, one of the summer's grunt workers, the story of those long dead women becomes hauntingly real.

While many of the stories are touching, arousing, and humorous; several are spooky, and some of these tales brought genuine shivers to this reader. A leather master learns what it really means to own and be owned when a neglected lover returns as illusrated in Simon Sheppard's intense, erotic, and ultimate power exchange, titled "My Possession." From the skillful storytelling of M. Christian, readers are treated to "Echoes." And are asked to question how and why a man might become haunted and what lengths he might consider to exorcise himself. The idea of possession is further explored by Hall Own Calwaugh in "amat67.jpg." Keith has just been sent an email that will change his life and prompt him to question his desires, briefly. By far the most chilling story to this reader was J.M. Beazer's "The Thing at the Bottom of the Bed." Haley returns from her father's funeral to find herself facing a horror from which she has hidden for much of her life.

The Ghost of Carmen Miranda and Other Spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales, found its way onto this reader's bookshelf when it was published in 1998. A seasonal rereading of its stories, was no less touching, arousing, humorous, and most importantly, thought provoking. The stories mentioned here are just a few of the 23 contained in its cover. Although out of print, this title is worth tracking down. Think of it as your own little seance for the Halloween season and enjoy.

Body Check: Erotic Lesbian Sports Stories

Nicole Foster, editor
Alyson Books
1555837387

You don't have to be a jock to enjoy this book. Nicole Foster, who has edited several collections for Alyson, has filled a team roster of 20 erotic lesbian sports stories with a range of sporting women and lots of intense, sweaty moments. There are Olympic hopefuls in the bittersweet "The Art of Running" by Rosalind C. Lloyd; while M. Christian provides a mesmerizing view of an up-and-coming swimmer's relationship with water in "Naiad." Unsurprisingly, those popular lesbian team sports are represented. Volleyballs are "Spiked" by Laurel Hayworth, in a story about healing old wounds and looking for greener courts. "Legend of Teddi Jo" by Gina Ranalli has a few things to say about softball and doing what and whom one loves.

Lest one think this anthology is mostly for the fiercely athletic, there are several amusing entries that feature women who, well, never really passed the President's Council on Physical Fitness Awards in school. Like the delightfully Walter Mitty-esque, adolescent "butch in training" starring in "Black Belt Theater" by Catherine Lundoff, and finding herself along the way. There's the strangely sweet encounter with rock climbing in "Going Up" by Anne Seale as a woman frees herself from a dead-end relationship and finds her own strength. Trixi's "Mulligan on the Green" is the charming story of golf and a young fan on her 18th birthday.

Perhaps this reader's favorite -- for the narrator's sharp wit and cynical view of aerobics -- is Dawn Dougherty's "Sports Dyke." The unnamed, less fit narrator decides to take a class after chatting with a woman in the locker room. After all she muses, "I've done worse things than yoga to get a girl horizontal." (196) The class and the evening hold a few surprises and the woman discovers a "gym that satisfies all [her] needs." (205)

The stories in Body Check include a wide range of sports, athletic skill, dynamics, humor, characters, and settings. This anthology should be part of every lesbian's sports gear. As Foster urges in her introduction, readers will be inspired to get sweaty tonight.

-MJ Lowe

Hot & Bothered 3: Short Fiction of Lesbian Desire

Karen X. Tulchinsky, editor
Arsenal Pulp Press
1551521024

From the skillful editing of Karen X. Tulchinsky comes Hot and Bothered 3: short short fiction of lesbian desire. Think of this collection of over 69 stories as a table spread with delicious finger foods. The limitation of length (1000 words or less) requires the writers to select their words carefully and results in an almost poetic quality to many stories. Although some of these stories are definitely arousing, please note this is not a volume of erotica, but of desire in its many flavors. Tulschisky has assembled a buffet of writers. Some writers are well known and others are new "chefs," offering their first sales.

Savor the imagery of that perfect autumn afternoon in Leslea Newman's "One Fine Day" which brought a smile to this reader and had her humming a tune for hours. Or nibble at the poignant stories like "Sunsets." Written by Denise Seibert, from the view point of a paraplegic, it is a very touching example of a couple connecting despite barriers to communication. While "Holding Hands" from Jean Taylor expands the definitions of making love. Or Michelle Rait's "Dinner with Jane," which evokes tempting a dieter with a decadent dessert as Regina considers the consequences of time spent with Jane.

There are a number of bittersweet tastes to sample such as "The Phase" where Susan Lee reflects on returning to the city of her youth and first lesbian love; or K. Lee's "Don't Tell" which is a letter written by a teen to her "best friend;" or the passing-for-straight coworker in Stephanie Schroeder's "Goodbye Joanna."

A porta-potty setting does nothing for this reader's palate, yet "Porta-Potty Passion" by Sarah Wiseman does have the quirky, amusing quality of forbidden, preservative and sugar laden junk food. While Cara Bruce's adult encounter with Barbie puts a whole new spin on the idea of playing with your . . . uh, food. These are just a few of the tasty treats for readers to enjoy.

Sometimes one is tempted to read short stories in quick secession, like popcorn. This reader found greater pleasure in reading only one or two of these stories at a time and suggests you do the same. Let them melt on the tongue of your mind a bit. Savor the images these writers create before you wander back to the table. There's something here to whet a range of lesbian appetites.

-MJ Lowe

Love Shook My Heart 2

Jess Wells, Editor
Alyson Books
1555836178

Despite the sensual and somewhat provocative, cover, Love Shook My Heart 2, like it's predecessor, is not an anthology of erotica. Rather it's a touching sampler of stories with lesbian characters from a range of writers. The stories cover a spectrum of eras and are peopled with women of all ages.

The settings range from the very contemporary, urban America as in the cyberworld of "Reply" to a thoughtful, if saddening interpretation of wise women in Medieval Europe in Jess Wells' "Jacqueline." With characters who span adolescence -- as Devvie in Deborah J. Archer's "At Fourteen"-- to a widowed octogenarian -- who discovers new feelings for a woman in her nursing home in Karen X. Tulchinsky's touching story, "Penny a Point."

Amusingly, Barbie dolls have cameos in several of the stories with childhood and adolescent characters subjecting Barbie to everything from kidnapping and hostage situations in Barth's "Lovingkindness," to being photographed while being devoured by a poodle in "My Dead Aunt's Vodka." Several of the stories have a delightful sense of humor as in Anderson's "Kiss of Death, Inc.," where a rather jaded photographer specializes in capturing those celebratory moments in the lives of lesbian couples, all of whom she tells us will split up eventually. "Her Clear Voice Undid Me" will have anyone who has worked in retail, particularly in lower socio/economic areas, chuckling at the absurdity of the system and encouraged by Cooper's sense of fair play and justice as the Low-Cost's "slowest shopper."

Ta'Shia Asanti brings Bessie Smith to life for her first trip to Europe and first lesbian relationship in "Bessie and Sweet Colleen." M.Christian reminds us that we need to be true to ourselves in "The One I Left Behind;" while a cancer survivor is reminded that she needs to respect herself in Bellerose's "The GirlsClub." Kristin Steele's "Recycled" is a sweet little story where Morgan finds herself struggling with the death of her father, and, more stressfully, the survival of her mother. Morgan also finds herself charmed by Kate, an artist driving a very big truck.

Not all of the 28 stories in Love Shook My Heart 2, touched this reader. However, the range of style and settings is broad enough to provide some interest and pleasure for most readers. For those who like short stories, certainly there are more than enough satisfying stories to justify the purchase.

-MJ Lowe

Set in Stone

Angela Brown, editor
Alyson Books
1555835805

"I'm beyond queer, queerer than queer: an authentic, genuine, pasteurized, homogenized 100% perv." says an unnamed butch, in Leslea Newman's story, "A Stone's Throw" one of 19 stories in Set in Stone, the newest anthology of lesbian erotica from Alyson press. Certainly that's what a lot of folks might think of the theme of this anthology. They would be partly correct. Angela Brown, the editor has pulled together a wonderful spectrum of tough, funny, sexy, beautiful butches as well as observations about butches, stone and otherwise, and their attractions to one another.

Join the notorious (and historically real) Anne Bonney and Mary Read on a 17th century pirate ship in "On the Spanish Main." Get caught in the different kind of raid in the restroom at the Under Club in M. Christian's "The Bang Gang." Some of the stories like Newman's and Jennifer M. Collins have butches that are very aware of their added "queerness" and expose very touching encounters of respect, affection, and desire. For you aging punkers, "Tough Broad" will create a fond memory and "The Rock" will have you looking twice at heavy construction front loaders. While other stories like "The Crashing Planes" rather painfully explore the competitive nature between some butches, particularly in regards to keeping a femme. The writers are as diverse as their stories and many are well known for their erotica like Newman and Califia.

Not all of the butches in these pages are likable; they are, however, memorable, thought provoking, and hot. Regardless of your personal view of the butch/femme dance, you'll find Set in Stone and arousing collection.

-MJ Lowe

Frosting on the Cake

Karin Kallmaker
Naiad Press
1562802666

If like myself, you are a long time Kallmaker fan, you will enjoy Frosting on the Cake, an anthology of short stories based on her novels.

Kallmaker's characters are the main reason her stories are so enjoyable. She explores a diverse range of women and portrays them as human. These women get colds, have periods, disagree with their parents and spouses, have jobs, have children, renovate homes, and so on. Not just super human beauties, they reflect the lesbians we know, are, and with whom we interact. Not surprisingly, Kallmaker uses this opportunity to examine new aspects of these familiar characters.

After ten novels, Kallmaker has lots of characters to revisit and there's a wide range of topics to consider as well. For example Cat and Jessie, of In Every Port, have been together 23 years now and as many long time couples do, they have developed a communication all their own in "Conversations."

Life has been difficult for the cross dressing conductor Nicola Frost since the ending of Paperback Romance nine years ago. Two years prior to "Key of Sea," Oscar, her much loved and charming mentor, died; and ever since Nick has been building walls to protect herself from the world. Walls that also keep her from the things she loves. Alone on an all woman cruise for an over due vacation, Nick rediscovers her love of music and, perhaps, Patricia.

We get an extra peek at favorite women like Jackie and Leah of Painted Moon, (probably my second favorite of Kallmaker's titles). In "Smudges" the artist, Leah Beck immortalizes "what it's like between women" with a very special canvas. Rayann of Touchwood (my favorite Kallmaker novel) furthers her understanding of the butch/femme dance she shares with Lou in "Satisfaction."

"Wild Things are Free" is a novella that examines the complications of miscommunication and insecurity that can still arise some five years after Sydney and Faith began their relationship in Wild Things. While "Come Here" features Judy and Dedric, Rayann's friends from Touchwood, in a classic Kallmaker romantic encounter. This is a particularly interesting story because it provides the reader with an intimate view of characters who were not primary to the novel.

Perhaps the most interesting example of Kallmaker's exploration of secondary characters appears in "Unforgettable, That's What You Are." Natalie's role in Unforgettable was rather limited. However, Kallmaker appears to know a great deal about even relatively minor characters in her books. Her understanding of the people that populate her novels adds to the richness of all her characters. Thus in this story, we learn more of Natalie, a retired Army encryption specialist who still bears the psychological scars of battle earned during her service overseas. - Kallmaker's depiction of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very powerful. -- Natalie has returned home to court and build a future with a woman she loves.

An additional, interesting treat is included at the end of the anthology. Kallmaker takes a few pages to discuss her novels and their related stories as well as answering a few of the "frequently asked questions" about her writing.

If you've never read any of Kallmaker's novels -- which probably means you either just came out, on principle you refuse to read any "romance" novel, or have been living under a rock for much of the last decade -- pick up this anthology. It will give you a very good idea of what her stories are like. Perhaps it will help you decide which of her books you'd like to read next. And you will want to read them.

As for you non-romance readers, I urge you to reconsider. Remember that these are not the straight, traditional romance stories you're bombarded with everyday. Kallmaker's stories are well written and non-formula. They depict realistic, contemporary lesbians dealing with everyday issues, including how to love and maintain that love in a homophobic society. Kallmaker's characters are in many ways ordinary women. Ordinary women made extraordinary through their love of each other. That is the magic of Kallmaker's writing.

-MJ Lowe

Uniform Sex: Erotic Stories from Women in Service

Linnea A. Due
Alyson Books
1555835457

The most recent anthology of lesbian erotic stories from Alyson, Uniform Sex: Erotic Stories from Women in Service is one of the best of the publisher's several titles in this genre. The uniforms featured in the 19 stories run from the expected police officers and soldiers to a rather amusing fixation on the polyester worn by workers at that artery hardening fast food purveyor known as the Golden Arches.

The stories also cover a broad range of the roles uniforms play in our lives and fantasies. There are humorous entries like "Butch Talk" by Nicole Foster (who has edited similar volumes for Alyson). It contains several tongue-in-cheek observations of "lesbian culture." The touching and insightful "Naked" by J. M. Redmann (author of the Lambda winning Mickey Knight mysteries) offers observations on the identity involved in putting on -- and taking off -- a uniform. Kate Allen (Denver lesbian writer and author of the wonderful Alison Kaine stories -- which you should read if you haven't already) takes the reader into a captivating power exchange at "Uniform Night at the Butches' Club."

Uniform Sex is sure to provide a perfect fit for readers.

-MJ Lowe