When I first saw the call for submissions for Mitzi Szereto’s anthology, I had to admit I was intrigued. History and sex should go together like bacon and jam. These are two subjects that are so totally different they should not naturally be combined. One is something that happened a long time ago and a subject I have seldom understood: the other is history.
Admittedly, bodice rippers and period romances are perennially popular, but this anthology called for more than that. The CFS [Call for Submissions] mentioned famous historical characters and demanded a speculative insight into their private lives. It was such a unique challenge I had to put pen to paper.
My submission is on page 166 for those who are going to rush out and buy a copy. But I’ll share a secret about Mitzi’s editing before you go to the shop: she’s ruthless. When she sent back my proofs, complete with suggested revisions, there was a wry note attached to one of the typos. My intention had been to mention the heroine’s “golden curls.” But the typo pixies had intervened and produced the phrase “golden girls.”
“The Golden Girls?” Mitzi enquired. “Dorothy, Rose and Blanche get everywhere, don’t they?”
Wicked begins with the King and ends with the Lord. It’s fair to say that the anthology takes a pleasantly circuitous journey between these two legends through some of history’s most memorable names as perceived by some of today’s strongest erotic writers.
Elvis, Axl and Me is a shining example of perfectly paced story-telling, quirky humour, and characterisation so strong you could almost kiss the heroine. Award winning short story writer, novelist and essayist, Janice Eidus, has produced a tongue-in-cheek tale that sizzles with passion and sings with its own distinctive style.
In The Ballad of Scott and Zelda, Maxim Jakubowski transports the reader back in time to the days of flappers and the American literati of the twenties, thirties and forties. Aside from writing with his usual flair for noir erotica, Maxim makes this story delicious for the exchange he has included between Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.
Tulsa Brown brings together Pablo Piccaso, Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas with an imaginative twist and a sizzling content. Lynda Schor has produced a story that is grotesquely absorbing and arousing in spite of its subject matter. Vanesa Baggott rewrites Genesis with her cleverly constructed tale: On The Eighth Day.
There are other legendary names in the anthology, and that remark applies to the authors as well as the protagonists in their stories. Mitzi Szereto has included her Letter to Valentino, while Sacchi Green presents a glorious image of Dietrich in army boots. The brilliant Ann Dulaney, the inimitable A F Waddell and the stylish Fiona Zedde all make compelling contributions. There are plenty of others all of them equally worthy of being mentioned — but a part of the appeal with this anthology is that you don’t know who you’re going to meet next and, personally, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
Some of these stories will entertain as they are read: others have that distinctive charm that makes them return to the thoughts days later. Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers, is an anthology that is needed in everyone’s collection: and I’m not just saying that because my story is included.
Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers
(Cleis Press; March 10, 2005; ISBN: 1573442062)
Available at: Amazon.com / Amazon UK / Amazon CA
© 2006 Ashley Lister. All rights reserved.
