In Between by Jane Hoppen

Book:  In Between

Author:  Jane Hoppen

Publisher:  Bold Strokes Books

Yin and Yang—Fire and Ice—Wet and Dry—Right and Wrong—Us and Them—God and Man—Male and Female. 

Intersex.

Coincidentia oppositorum . . . the simultaneous occurrence of opposites.

Things aren’t always black and white, and it isn’t a new concept.

“Being and non-being produce one another.

Hard depends on easy,

Long is tested by short,

High is determined by low.”

– Tào Té Chīng, Laozi,

“The way up and the way down are one and the same.”

- Heraclitus

“For I am knowledge and ignorance.


I am shame and boldness.


I am shameless; I am ashamed.


I am strength and I am fear.


I am war and peace.”

- The Thunder, Perfect Mind

Reaching back to Ancient Greece, we are introduced to Hermaphroditus, a mythological figure who was the son of the gods Hermes and Aphrodite. While he bathed in a fountain, the nymph Salmacis fell in love with him and wished to be united with him. The gods heard her desire and fulfilled it by joining the two together forever.

Plato saw the hermaphroditic nature as the one and true origin of our race. In The Symposium he states that “First of all, the races of human beings were three, not as now, male and female; for there was also a third race that shared in both, a race whose name still remains, though it itself has vanished. For at that time one race was androgynous, and in looks and name it combined both, the male as well as the female; but now it does not exist except for the name that is reserved for reproach.”

Questions about the nature of humanity began to drift in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. In particular, during the late 15th century, scholastic natural philosophers began to construct theories in which sexual difference played a key role in religious and cultural norms. These scholars identified the absence of distinct sex as a key characteristic of nonhumans—plants, animals, and demons. It was argued that humans who displayed multiple sexes, or the attributes of multiple sexes, bordered on “beasts,” and therefore lost the subjectivity and dignity relegated to humanity.

Still, prior to the 19th century, most intersexed individuals led largely unremarkable lives. Their genital and reproductive peculiarities were, for the most part, accepted as a variation which occured throughout nature—including other mammals, reptiles, birds, plants, and insects.

But, as medicine and psychology became more “scientific,” intersex morphed into a medical issue, and intersexed individuals were suddenly classified as “abnormal” and “diseased.” The thrust of medicine in the last century has been on “curing” intersexed individuals by using surgical, hormonal, and psychological therapies to make them unequivocally male or female.  Usually at or near birth, and almost always before the individual has a chance to figure out who and what they inherently are.

As a result, many intersexed individuals have suffered severe psychological and physical damage from modern medicine’s attempts to make them distinctly male or female, instead of heeding strong empirical evidence that, through history, intersexed individuals have lived normal, happy lives without intervening medical treatment.

In Between, the debut novel by author, Jane Hoppen, tells the sordid coming of age story of a child born into a world that has lost it’s capability to understand just how normal different can really be. The year was 1963, and Mary and Max Schmidt had just welcomed their second child into the world when Dr. Willit said “Your baby is healthy, but . . .” The “but” came in the form of male and female parts, neither of which were well developed. Against instinct, the young parents followed the advice of the doctors, and allowed their new baby to go through a series of medical procedures to be rendered more female.

A smart and precocious tomboy, Sophie, at the age of fourteen, discovers the truth of how she was really born. Hurt, angry, and confused, she begins a journey to discover more about who she is, and find others born like her. From high school to college and the working world, Sophie begins to understand the science. But when she finally meets a woman she can love, she has to find a way to move beyond her issue of self-acceptance.  

With all deference to The Birdcage, Jane Hoppen’s In Between is “an epic piece full of mythic themes.” And, make no mistake, In Between is Sophie Schmidt’s story—only she would have likely preferred it be titled Sophie’s Choice. But, Sophie wasn’t given a choice to figure out who she really was, because that decision was made for her shortly after birth. Her anger, hurt, and self-pity come directly as a result of her confusion. What, if any, parts of me are male? What, if any, parts of me are female? Am I both? Am I neither?

She understands that she is normal in so many ways, but being normal doesn’t change the fact that she is different. Sophie is smart and rational, and she knows there have to be other people out there like her. But where are they and how do you find them?

And as she grows from angry teen into self-sheltered adult, she begins to learn that there really is a world full of other people who are normal but different, too. And not just because they are intersexed like her, but because they are gay, lesbian, transgender, and transsexual. She wakes up to her own depth of involuntary prejudice, and begins to understand how hard her path to self-acceptance really is.

Sophie has a built-in support network in the Schmidts, the classic corn-fed, god-fearing, hard-working All-American family. Mary and Max are steadfast in their love and support of their two children. Grandma Evelyn is a bitter divorcée who clings to her religion, but who finally comes to peace with her youngest granddaughter when she admits she wants her to have a happy life and sexual satisfaction. Older sister Holly is both friend and foe to the enigmatic young Sophie, but becomes one of her fiercest and most loyal supporters as Sophie begins her uncertain journey to enlightenment. Farmhand, Cal, is an unlikely beacon of light to Sophie as he lives his life as a cautious gay man who takes a chance on love, and finds a place he belongs.

The family dynamic pitches and rolls with each tempest in Sophie’s journey, and each character shows strength and weakness, and eventually a peace that passes all understanding.

Author Jane Hoppen

Jane Hoppen’s In Between is more than the tale of one person’s search for personal truth—it is a story about what it means to occupy the complex middle ground between male and female, living with the choices made by others, and trusting yourself enough to trust others. For Sophie, the journey to adulthood is fraught with anger, confusion, and self-pity, but tempered and strengthened by love.

Jane Hoppen's heroic portrayal of Sophie's struggle is classic in its structure, and contemporary in its content—it is a tender and honest examination of a battle that is increasingly relevant to each and every one of us.

The Pyramid Waltz by Barbara Ann Wright

Book:  The Pyramid Waltz

Author:  Barbara Ann Wright

Publisher:  Bold Strokes Books

Every family has a dirty little secret…

When I was in college, I had a roommate who had been adopted by a wonderful older couple right after she was born. She had only a passing curiosity to learn who her birth parents were, and never spent a single minute looking for them. Of course, her world was rocked when, at the ripe old age of 20, she wandered into her parent’s kitchen on Christmas morning for a cup of coffee only to overhear an uncle exclaim over a platter of bear claws and cheese Danish that the couple who lived directly across the street for her entire life was her birth parents.

Awkward...

In my family, though, the secrets weren’t quite as dramatic—Great Uncle Paul was “queer as a three-dollar bill,” Aunt Tootsie was bald as a coot, and wore a wig (she wasn’t a natural blonde either), and my mother swears that Grandma could heal burns through touch, but that was uttered after a second glass of my dad’s “homemade” wine.

There were also hints and allegations that Cousin Stevie had a love child with his high school geography teacher, but if you ever met Cousin Stevie, you’d realize it was considerably more likely that he had a love child with his high school geography textbook.

Family secrets take center stage in Barbara Ann Wright’s debut novel, The Pyramid Waltz.  Princess Katya Nar Umbriel of Farraday is seen by most as a self-centered, uninspired playgirl. However, out of the public eye, she and a select group of specialists comprise the super secret Order of Vestra, a group tasked with running down traitors to the crown, protecting the monarchy from unseen dangers, and ensuring that no one in the Kingdom learns that the Royal Family are part Fiend.  Enter the smart and saucy Allusian courtier, Starbride, who has come to the Court to study Farradain law in order to help her people level the fair trade playing field.

The two women meet, and sparks fly as they jest and joust their way about the castle and the countryside. When a day on the town goes horribly awry, and Katya’s fiend is released by those seeking to overthrow the Royal Family, Starbride begins to learn the many secrets of the Umbriels. But love, umbrage, and a pushy attitude prevail, and Starbride finds a way to prove herself worthy of the Princess and the Order of Vestra. Everything is falling into place for the young lovers until traitors within the Royal Family unveil an insidious plan to unleash the supreme Fiend, Yanchasa the Mighty, and destroy the Umbriels and the kingdom once and for all.

To most modern fiction readers, romance rules the day.  However, fantasy stories involving magic, gods, heroes, adventures, monsters, and epic themes have existed in spoken forms since the very dawning of language. In fact, it can be argued that Homer's The Odyssey, which was composed near the end of the 8th century B.C., satisfies the very definition of the fantasy genre.  

Fair enough, what is this great definition of the fantasy genre?

Well, every great fantasy piece has a formula that is manipulated to create its one-of-a-kind whimsy, imagination, and spirit—the list includes things like supernatural creatures, magic, a unique setting and a distinctive language, a special weapon, a grandiose battle, a sweet love story, and a really nasty Big Bad.

And, how does The Pyramid Waltz stack up?

Barbara Ann Wright is a master when it comes to crafting a solid and entertaining fantasy novel. It’s hard to get more supernatural than rampaging bloodthirsty fiends with curly horns, oily black wings, razor like claws, and sharp, pointy teeth in the presence of lowly, whimpering humans—all of which creates a delicious dynamic between the real and surreal.

Supernatural: check.

Next, the metaphorical landscape of Farraday is littered with a plethora of good and evil "pyradistés," all manipulating their magic pyramids, disintegrating opponents, opening and closing minds, shooting fireballs, erasing memories, and blinding bad guys with flash bombs. Most notable in The Pyramid Waltz is that one of our heroines unknowingly, at least initially, possesses a very strong magical ability.

Magic: check.

The Farradain Kingdom, with its capitol of Marienne, is home to the Royal Palace, Pyradisté Academy, towers, turrets, and numerous chapterhouses with tolling bells and carved façades to their patron saints. Outside the city walls, Farraday is dotted with thriving towns, taverns, manors, homesteads, fields, forests, rivers, and rolling hills. In the "far away" lies the exotic land of Allusia, with its dark-skinned, horse-riding, trouser-wearing peoples. Allusia is home to the mountains where the pyramid crystal is mined by the pale-skinned Farradain outlanders. Ms. Wright takes modern day language and gently manipulates its vernacular, making it playful yet slightly antiquated. This linguistic construction heightens the reader’s ability to transport themselves into the fantasy world of The Pyramid Waltz.

Okay, setting and language: check.

Within the pages of this novel, no one single character wields the special weapon. This is because the weapon is in fact many weapons—the pyramids. Pyramids are used by pyradistés to sift through and erase memories, create light sources, to disintegrate people and things, to protect areas and people, to cause general mayhem, death, and destruction, and to protect the Royal Family by keeping their inner Fiends at bay. The pyradistés are both good and evil, and have very different skill sets. Starbride learns that she has the inherent gift to use pyramid magic, and becomes an apprentice to the King’s Pyradisté, allowing her to deepen her relationship with Princess Katya.

Special Weapon: check.

Without an epic battle in which the heroines are nearly defeated, ultimate victory would not be so sweet. Enter Yanchasa the Mighty, evil pyradistés, walking dead, bastard cousins with a grudge, traitorous in-laws, sucking chest wounds, and multi-speed swordplay, and you have one helluva royal smackdown.

Grandiose battle: check.

Since no fantasy novel is complete without a sweet and simple love story between two dissimilar characters, The Pyramid Waltz offers up love-a-plenty. Katya and Starbride are a heady mix of light and dark, royal and courtier, butch and soft femme, rapier-wielding rogue and law-studying magician. Their attraction is immediate, but the flirtation is slow and rich. They become lovers and confidents, yet misunderstand each other and make invalid assumptions. Their romance warms the cockles of the heart, and makes the reader want them to live happily ever after.

Sweet love story: check.

And lastly, the Big Bad Villain must be extraordinary and not easily defeated, and he or she cannot be revealed until the end of the story, in order to create the most impact. And, while The Pyramid Waltz’s Big Bad was telegraphed throughout the story, Ms. Wright threw in more than a handful of surprises to turbo-boost the shock-and-awe of the epic battle, and leave the reader as bruised and bloody as our heroines.

And, a really nasty Big Bad to tie it all together: checkmate.

The world of lesbian literature has a small handful of high-quality fantasy authors, and Barbara Ann Wright is well on her way to joining the likes of Jane Fletcher, Cate Culpepper, and Andi Marquette.  

The Pyramid Waltz is equal parts romance and adventure, with a hefty dose of wry humor and memorable sidekicks thrown in for good measure. Lovers of the fantasy and futuristic genre will likely adore this novel, and adventurous romance fans should find plenty to sink their teeth into. 

I’m giving it a hale and hearty 5.1 out of 6.0 on the Rainbow Scale.

Touch Me Gently by D. Jackson Leigh

Book:  Touch Me Gently

Author:  D. Jackson Leigh

Publisher:  Bold Strokes Books

Witch trials aside, at last count there were thirty-one states across the USA that hosted a vast array of towns named Salem.  Add on a few adjectives like New, South, and West, and then toss in a handy little grammatical device like the dash, and that number rises to thirty-five.  Salem even shows her pearly whites in countries far and wide, including the likes of Burma, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, India, Israel, Palestine, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K.

Vosper's Salem

Within the world of entertainment, a quick search on LexisNexis shows there are no less than four rock and heavy metal bands that perform under the name Salem, which is also the name of the cat in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.  Just about everyone with a grandmother knows that the fictional town of Salem is the setting for the U.S. soap opera Days of Our Lives, and gamers worldwide are starting to discover Salem, a bizarre 17th century alchemy-based, massive multiplayer, online roleplaying game.  And, for those whose tastes are more genteel and skew decidedly toward the world of art, Sydney Curnow Vosper’s most famous and notorious work, Salem, is considered one of the most beautiful pictures of the religious life of Wales in olden times.

By the by, while many believe the face of the devil can be seen in the folds of Siân Owen's shawl, art historians have since proven it to be the face of Charles G. Koch.

For the geek in each of us, α > 1 is known as a Salem Number if all its conjugate roots have an absolute value no greater than 1, and at least one has an absolute value of exactly 1.  There’s even the highly prestigious mathematics award, the Salem Prize, which annually goes to a budding mathematician doing work in the ever-sexy Theory of Fourier’s Series.

History books show that between 1908 and 1959, the U.S. Navy commissioned three separate ships, a scout cruiser, a minelayer, and a heavy cruiser—all named USS Salem. And, for those politically minded among us, who can forget the supertanker, Salem, which was scuttled off the coast of Guinea in early 1980, after secretly unloading 192,000 tons of oil in a breach of the South African oil embargo?

All that, and Salem’s a damn fine menthol cigarette, to boot.

I bring this up because Salem can be found almost everywhere if you just take the time to look around…kind of like Channing Tatum.  [rimshot]  But in all seriousness—in all my years, I’ve never run across another person named Salem until I picked up D. Jackson Leigh’s fourth southern romance, Touch Me Gently. 

To tell you the truth, it was kind of creepy, but mostly because the character carries a purse and wears lipstick.

Devastated by the unexpected death of her deeply closeted and philandering fiancée, Salem Lacey disrupts the carefully orchestrated funeral, and tells the world that she and State Representative Eve Sutherland were lesbian lovers.  This ill-timed outburst alienates her well-heeled friends and gets her ushered out the door of her cushy corporate job.  With nowhere else to turn, she takes off to Oakboro, the small southern town that became home to her estranged father.  It is there, while trying to sort out the business aspects of the insurance company her father left her, she meets the enigmatic Knox Bolander, who has returned to Oakboro after the recent death of her own father.

Knox is smart, beautiful, and talented, but she’s hiding a lifetime of secrets.  The two women have an easy camaraderie, and quickly realize that there may be more between them than business.  But before they can explore their growing feelings, Salem must get to the bottom of the irregularities in her father’s business, face down an ugly homophobe, and learn some things about her dad that she’s not quite ready to know.  Likewise, Knox must come to terms with her responsibilities from the past, find a way to manage her special gifts, and open her heart, mind, and body to someone who challenges her very ability to maintain control every time she walks into the room.

D. Jackson Leigh understands the value of branding, and delivers more of the familiar and welcome story elements that set her novels apart from other authors in the romance genre. Touch Me Gently offers up the handsome butch and a beautiful femme, a stable full of regal horses, a healthy dose of southern charm tempered by bits and pieces of bigotry, a smattering of wicked humor, and a nasty big bad with enough secrets to destroy a budding love affair before it has a chance to blossom. 

The protagonists are well written and carry the story, but the supporting cast of characters shines brightly.  From Alisha and the red-haired Dolly Parton, to Doc Evan, Gina, and Guard, these bit players liven up the somewhat maudlin ruminations of the protagonists, and add enough zest to keep the pace fresh and light for Salem and Knox. 

Added to this wonderful list of supporting characters is the town of Oakboro, which is so typical of small southern towns.  While it is firmly a bastion to bible-thumping traditional conservative values, it is also full of gays and lesbians who are generally accepted because they and their families are long standing parts of the community. This idiosyncrasy is oddly common in small communities where the hierarchy of prejudice is logically illogical, and the author does a wonderful job of capturing it without making it cartoonish.

Which, coincidently, leads me to the one element of the book that seemes delightfully out of synch with this traditional southern lesfic romance.  Specifically, it relates to Knox’s special skills and her backstory.  Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that this part of the story arc was unexpected, inventive, and grin-inducing, but it still has me thinking more about tricked out computer labs, Psylocke, and the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning than about lesbian romance, soft kisses, or butter smooth skin.  In fact, it makes me want to challenge D. Jackson Leigh to step away from her horses for a bit [pun intended], and take on a new series featuring reluctant lesbian superheroes.

by Chris Bachalo &
Tim Townsend.

Tight-fitting spandex suits aside, I love a good romance and Touch Me Gently delivers the goods. 

For readers wanting a traditional girl-meets-girl-and-rides-off-into-the-sunset story, this one might be a stretch—but if you’re looking for a solid story with something a little different, then this jaunty little juiced-up romance is worth a try.  I’m still a little freaked out by reading about a femme named Salem, but that’s neither here nor there in the larger blogosphere.  The bottom line is that this novel gets points for characters, conflict, dialogue, pacing, and having the guts to try something different.  I’m giving D. Jackson Leigh’s Touch Me Gently a 4.8 out of 6.0 on the Rainbow Scale.

Sarah, Son of God by Justine Saracen

Book:  Sarah, Son of God

Author:  Justine Saracen

Publisher:  Bold Strokes Books

My father, Jimmie Wayne, passed away in 2005. 

In many ways, he was a simple man, driven by faith and a desire to do good deeds.  He was an Elder in the church, a schoolteacher, and a guidance counselor.  He delivered Meals on Wheels, served most of his adult life on the Board of County Commissioners, and worked until his final day to bring clean, running water to the rural farms and homesteads of the only place he ever lived.  He raised his children to be open-minded, and instilled an impressive work ethic through example.  He loved to eat, laugh, and tell stories.  More than anything, he loved to share lessons-learned­.

And talk.   Oh, how the man loved to talk…

I’m sure one of the hardest conversations he ever had was when he was forced to explain to his twelve year old daughter that despite her numerous trophies and impressive scores in Punt, Pass and Kick competitions, she wasn’t allowed to play football with the boys in high school, and she wasn’t ever going to play Linebacker for Notre Dame.

And, if I may be so bold, the Fighting Irish haven’t been the same since they lost out on my considerable linebacking services.

I bring this up because there remain few sacred places outside of sports and the more orthodox of religions where gender outweighs capability or capacity.   On April 5th, I posted a review of The Way by Kristen Wolf, which reimagined the life and death of Jesus through a cross-dressing young woman trained by a mystical and secret society of women hiding in the desert to follow the teachings and share the healing abilities of their ancient Mother Earth based sisterhood.  The Way is daring and compelling, and explores the fractured themes of transformation, betrayal, love, loss, deception, and redemption.

And as soon as I finished it, I knew I had to pull Justine Saracen’s Sarah, Son of God off the shelf and look at the similar yet different theme of lesbians, gender, and religion.

Sarah, Son of God tells the story of Renaissance historian, Joanna Valois and her transgendered translator, Sara Falier, as they travel to Venice to learn the story behind an intriguing set of letters written by Lenora, who escaped the Inquisition after publishing a heretical book brought to her by a Jew from Constantinople.  As the two read through the letters together, they learn that the author of the letters escaped by ship, dressed as a man, and was sailing to England to be reunited with her female lover.  The letters soon lead Joanna and Sara on a unexpected and convoluted quest for information that puts both their lives in danger and sends them on a daring journey as they seek to uncover and expose the truth behind the heretical book that cost so many lives.

Sarah, Son of God is a story within a story within a story—a literary matryoshka doll.  The pursuit of the story behind Lenora’s letters sends Joanna and Sara on a crusade that leads them to the heretical book and the truth within it.  The reader is transported from New York to Venice to Munich to Jerusalem, and through the use of letters, the reader is allowed to see and feel and experience everything Lenora and Sarah do.  Ms. Saracen manages to provide the reader with not only a romantic and picturesque view of Venice, but also with the stench of infected wounds and the sounds of brutal torture.

Through Sarah, Son of God, Ms. Saracen has delivered four complex and fully satisfying characters.  Joanna is a lesbian, somewhat butch and with a jaunty Fedora; Lenora wishes to marry her female lover and wonders if she will like her as a “man,” Sara is transgendered and unsure of whether she is a transsexual or a transvestite, and Sarah dresses as a man because she wants to and ultimately needs to.  Gender and sexuality, for all four, quietly shape the overall story and lend a welcome credence to the translated codex, and the ultimate sacrifices of Sarah.

And, in case you’re wandering, Sara and Sarah are two different characters with more than a few similarities across the centuries.

Sarah, Son of God can lightly be described as the “The Lesbian’s Da Vinci Code” because of the somewhat common themes.  At its roots, it’s part mystery and part thriller.  The reader will find a romance, bad guys with deep connections, and an academician uncovering a two-thousand-year old cover-up that will surely blow the lid off the very concept of Christianity.  However, Ms. Saracen’s story is involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations––not so much related to religious truths as it is related to sexual dynamics and fluidity throughout history.

Sarah, Son of God is an engaging and exciting story about searching for the truth within each of us.  Ms. Saracen considers the sacrifices of those who came before us, challenges us to open ourselves to a different reality than what we’ve been told we can have, and reminds us to be true to ourselves.  Her prose and pacing rhythmically rise and fall like the tides in Venice; and her reimagined life and death of Jesus allows thoughtful readers to consider “what if?”

Much like my statement at the conclusion of the review for Kristen Wolf’s The Way:  If you are a bible purist or looking for a warm and fuzzy lesbian love story, Justine Saracen’s Sarah, Son of God isn’t the book for you.  However, if you’re looking for a well-written, thought provoking, interesting read that is sure to liven up a few water-cooler conversations at work, then this is a book you will assuredly want to read. 

I’m giving Sarah, Son of God a 5.0 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale.

Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Book:  Better Off Red

Author:  Rebekah Weatherspoon

Publisher:  Bold Strokes Books

Today is Valentine’s Day, traditionally a day in which we take a few minutes to tell that special person in our life how much we love and adore her.  It’s also the perfect day to pull out The Rainbow Reader Top Five.

Today’s question:  Why do lesbians love romances?

#5. The sketchy cover art.  Hot women on motorcycles, hot women with tantalizingly bared skin, hot women kissing, hot women scowling, hot women with pouty lips, hot women with tool belts…a veritable all you can eat buffet for the eyes, what’s not to love?

#4. The thinly veiled porn.  As Gloria Leonard, publisher of High Society, is fond of saying, “The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting.”

#3. The sex life surrogate. The vast majority of lesbian romance novels are rife with hot and heavy ninky pooh.  If the rest of us had as much sex as the lesbians in romance novels, we wouldn’t be able to hold down a full-time job.  Think of it as career clitoral damage.

#2. The other thinly veiled porn. This time, I’m talking about the emotional porn – jilted women, broken hearts, unrequited love, sick pets, kidnapped children, and lost memories.  The higher the ratio of uncontrolled sobs, the more invested we are in a happily ever after.

#1. The heroine. Let’s face it, whether she’s a tough and chewy butch with a gun or an ad executive with a push up bra and a large trust fund, she inevitably is most everything we want to be (save for the occasional Too Dumb to Live Heroine).  And, because try as we might, we can fall a little bit in love every time we open a book to read.

In the world of Lesbian Romance, every day is Valentine’s Day.

Better Off Red: Vampire Sorority Sisters Book 1 is the debut novel from author Rebekah Weatherspoon.   Freshman Ginger Carmichael is a good girl with a high GPA from a solid, well-adjusted family.  Perky roommate Amy wants to rush the sororities at Maryland University, and drags her reluctant friend along for moral support.  Of course, Ginger doesn’t really care much about the cliques and the great parties, but her interest is suddenly peaked when she encounters the women of Alpha Beta Omega (ABO).  The ladies are diverse, gorgeous, strong, smart, and sexy as hell.  That last part is an added bonus, since red headed Ginger, has come to accept that she’s a lesbian.

When the invitation to ABO arrives, Ginger finds it interesting to note that she and Amy aren’t given a choice to accept or reject.  But then, it’s an honor to be asked to join ABO, so both girls happily move into initiation.  However, initiation with ABO isn’t like it is with other sororities, and Ginger and Amy learn that their pledge is more than a bond of sisterhood, it’s a lifelong pact to serve a pack of demon vampirii with healthy appetites, and even healthier libidos.

Ginger learns that because her birth mother drank from a demon, she isn’t able to be a feeder to the Sister Queens like the other pledges, but she is warmly welcomed into the nest.  None welcomes her more than the beautiful, dark, and mysterious immortal Queen, Camila.  Ginger and Camila are sexually attracted to each other, and begin an emotionally confusing yet sexually satisfying relationship.  Soon, Ginger begins to realize that her feelings for Camila are real, but that telling an immortal demon you love her is a little harder than studying for midterms.

As the semester progresses, relationships grow stronger, secrets are revealed, and darkness descends upon ABO and its brother fraternity.  Lives are forever altered, and life and death decisions have consequences that change everything Ginger, Camila, Amy, and the others think they know. 

In Better Off Red, Rebekah Weatherspoon has crafted a feisty little debut that forever changes the image of sororities in lesbian literature.  Her protagonists are strong, smart, sensible, and surprisingly human, for all the demon blood surging through their veins.  Within the first few pages, she is able to develop characters of depth and veracity, and create an atmosphere in which the reader is as willing and able as the characters to accept this totally unexpected, new reality. 

Her sorority girls have supple lips, support each other, go to classes, meet curfews, bake cookies for charity, and shop for crotchless panties, all the while feeding demons and having amazingly intense orgasms on a regular basis.

Perhaps, one of the most interesting and enjoyable aspects of Better Off Red is Ms. Weatherspoon’s fresh take on Vampire Mythology.  Forget the Mesopotamian precursors and the hackneyed modern interpretations of vampirism, these blood-sucking demons don’t turn into bats, don’t sleep in coffins, don’t get staked in the heart, and don’t have a problem with sexually active coeds.

And, while they are extremely photosensitive, they drive nice cars and pay union wages.

Better Off Red is a fast read, with equal bits of humor and pathos sprinkled throughout its pages.  I appreciate the moments of subtle juxtaposition where demons are portrayed as good, just, and fair, while the humans struggle with anger, frustration, and selfishness.    This isn’t completely true throughout the story, but is true enough to keep the reader guessing about who is good, and who is evil, to the very end.

Paranormal romance is a growing and much loved niche in Lesfic, but I struggle with this as the proper classification for Better Off Red.  The story is 288 pages long, but includes 46 uses of pussy, 52 of clit, 32 of moan, 22 of soak, 20 of slit, 51 of nipple, and 35 of wet.  In addition, numerous pairs of panties were harmed because of overly sharp fangs.

Then again, now that I think about it, if any two normal women had as much sex as Ginger and Camila, their relationship really would be classified as a "paranormal romance."

Besides the excess of eroticism, my only concern with Better Off Red was the pacing.  I found that the first 30 or so pages were used to set up an interesting and engaging story, the next 180 pages focused lightly on the story and heavily on the sexual relationships, and the final 80 pages saw a full throttle return to the story of good versus evil, and the relationship between action and consequence.

Overall, Better Off Red is full of lush and memorable characters, sexy coeds, moral demons, and low lighting.  The author was masterful in setting up a world where demons and feeders are feasible, and a good pair of flip-flops is worth going back for.  Not all fans of romance “get” stories that take place in the paranormal plane, but I’m giving this fun little debut a 4.7 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale.

Note that an extra 0.1-point was awarded to Ms. Weatherspoon because she valiantly resisted the urge to use the word “turgid” anywhere in this novel.

The Middle of Somewhere by Clifford Henderson

Book:  The Middle of Somewhere (Unabridged)

Author:  Clifford Henderson

Publisher:  Bold Strokes Books

Producer:  Dog Ear Audio

World history is literally filled with men and women taking to the Road to discover new worlds, new riches, and new versions of themselves.  Grab any history book and flip back through the yellowed pages of time, and you’ll read stories about how:

• Ramses II roared along the highway from Memphis in a two horsepower chariot;
• Alexander the Great packed up the Root Beer and Twizzlers and headed off to India;
• Napoleon tossed the French Revolution into a backpack and went hostelling throughout most of continental Europe; and
• Alice Ramsey stuffed her two sisters, a girl friend, and twelve bags of Doritos into a Maxwell 30 for a 59-day road trip from New York to San Francisco way back in 1909. 

While the urge “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” has been around forever, few things are more uniquely American than the Road Trip. 

Writers like Mark Twain, Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson have described for us their vast and varied experiences on the American road; and cinematic masterpieces such as Easy Rider, Vanishing Point, Five Easy Pieces, Two-Lane Blacktop, and Thelma and Louise take us along for the ride any time we need to get away.

So, whether she knows it or not, Clifford Henderson penned another chapter to this great American folk story when she turned out her first novel, The Middle of Somewhere, in 2009. 

Meet the hip, young, and oh, so urban lesbian, Eadie T. Pratt. Her life in San Francisco has fallen apart, so she cuts all the ties and burns all the bridges when she packs up Pebbles, her ’66 T-Bird and departs on a self-described Springboard to a New Life Tour.  Along the way, she picks up The Egg, a Burro trailer in Arizona, and sets her sights on the pantheon of Lesbian culture, the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival.

Pebbles the '66 T-Bird

Of course, everyone knows that the ’66 T-Bird is a dream car . . . for mechanics.  Well, everyone except Eadie. 

When Pebbles breaks down in front of a small town Baptist church in the panhandle of Texas, Eadie is stuck.  No car, no money, and no hope.  But, as luck would have it, two of Rauston’s finest show up and lend a helping hand.  Heifer and Piggin are two traditionally built Texas women who welcome the enigmatic Eadie into their homes and their lives.  Heifer and Piggin introduce Eadie to the local philosopher and mechanic, and help her find a way to pay for the costly repairs to Pebbles.  In the process, Eadie meets Buddy Bud, a mentally challenged young man who immediately befriends her; Crash the exceptional lock-picking, pot buying teen, and the cute and quirky IT Goddess, Cadence. 

While Eadie is still interested in getting the heck out of Rauston, she’s surprised to find that the small town and its eccentric characters have begun to grow on her.  It surprises her even more when she realizes that the good financial fortune suddenly befalling Rauston Baptist Church and it’s hard-working parishioners is most likely a scam that could destroy her new friends and their beloved church.  With the help of potential love interest, Cadence; Piggin and Heifer’s younger sister, Sweet Ginger; and Crash, Eadie puts everything on the line for her new friends and unexpected family.

So far this year, 46 reviews have been posted on The Rainbow Reader.  A handful of the stories have been amazing, some have been pretty darn good, a few had bright spots, and one or two came close to completely missing the boat. There have been romances, mysteries, and thrillers, two anthologies, a couple of short stories and one autobiography.  Along the way, Baxter Clare Trautman and Catherine M. Wilson classed up the joint by standing in as Guest Bloggers.  Throughout all of this, one thing has remained the same – I read all the books.

What makes The Middle of Somewhere stand out is that I didn’t read it for this review – I listened to it.  So, this review is about more than Clifford Henderson’s story, it also covers her narration, and the production of the audio book by Dog Ear Audio.

Starting with the story itself, Clifford Henderson has given her readers something a little different than the norm.  Eadie is physically and emotionally edgy, and weighted down by negativity and bitterness.  Piggin and Heifer are good, church-going women, but hiding devastating and demoralizing secrets.   Rauston is small town America with big city blight. 

The Middle of Somewhere has romance, mystery, and comedy, but isn’t really about any of those things.  The message is about letting go of the toxic past, accepting that you deserve to be happy, and taking responsibility to move forward.  

You can’t change the past, but you sure as heck can alter your future.

The story doesn’t need gratuitous sex, knee-slapping humor, or gut clenching evil, it succeeds because eccentric or not, the characters are real people with real problems, and lives we all recognize in some way, shape, or form.  The characters are larger than life, but somehow believable; the story touches on both the raw and the beautiful; the humor is often ironic; and the soulful southern twang is warm and lyrical.

Anyone who has attempted it will tell you that narrating an audio book is an art in exhausting, humbling, and tedious form.

It’s related to acting and oral interpretation, but is neither. It’s a niche in the performing arts that blends some elements of both. A good narrator translates the written word to the spoken word in a way that is as consistent as possible with the intent of the author.

And, since Ms. Henderson both authored and narrated The Middle of Somewhere, we can check that last one off the list.

Author, Clifford Henderson, who has a voice, panache, and attitude made for performance, narrates this audio book.  Her presentation is strong and clear, her characters come to life, and each individual has a distinct voice.   The story is written in first person, so fellow outsider, Eadie T. Pratt, transports the reader into the tiny town of Rauston. 

Had I read the story as well as listened to the audio book, I could voice an opinion as to whether or not the audio version enhanced or detracted from the written version.  Still, I have a hard time believing Ms. Henderson’s interpretation of her own words didn’t add a vibrancy and clarity to the overall story.

So, even with the missing data, I’m calling this one a home run.

Lastly, I want to discuss a bit about the production value of the 8 disc CD set by the lovely staff of Dog Ear Audio.  I can’t say I own any books on CD – the ones I’ve listened to have come from the Library.  And, in all honesty, mainstream publishers like Penguin Group, Doubleday, and Random House have produced them. 

With that in mind, I have no hesitation saying that the product quality of The Middle of Somewhere by Dog Ear Audio is top-notch.  The sound is rich and clear, the CDs are consistent in quality, and the packaging is well designed and attractive.  Ordering from their website (http://www.dogearaudio.com) was straightforward and easy, and order confirmation was immediate.  An email was sent when the package was mailed, and the receipt came with a hand written thank you and [be still my heart] chocolate.

And if that isn’t enough, recipe cards for three of Piggin’s and Heifer’s mouthwatering dishes were included.

Clifford Henderson is a talented writer with a clear and distinct voice, and writes stories that are fresh and honest.  She gives her readers memorable characters, smart dialogue, edgy interpretations, and an opportunity to laugh. 

Dog Ear Audio has produced a flawless product, and clearly stamped their place on the audio publishing map.  Besides Clifford Henderson, books by Kim Baldwin, Catherine Friend, KI Thompson, Radclyffe, and Robin Alexander are available for purchase.  Additionally, Ms. Friend, Georgia Beers, and Rose Beecham have audio books in production for future release with Dog Ear Audio.

I’m giving the unabridged audio version of The Middle of Somewhere a 5.2 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale.  The price runs about $30 US, but you get a solid story, impeccable narration, and quality production and distribution.