Happy #LesFicFri 🏳️🌈
Theme: Quiet
The fourth and final chapter of the Shadow series comes out in December! If you like secrets, spies, and love against all odds, this 1940s sapphic noir series might be for you! 💄🍸
Preorder: https://books2read.com/itsov
Why? What makes for better emo punk than the overwhelming intensity and borderline toxicity so many of us find in the highs and lows of lesbian love? Dyke Drama is Sadie Switchblade’s solo project, and this music lives up to this name. While her music will likely speak to any sapphic, gotta say as a trans dyke, it hits especially hard.
Where to start?
“Crying in a Bathroom Stall” is the song where Sadie first grabbed me. An aggressive guitar riff capturing that moment where we just want to burst into tears and scream from love lost. And with the last line, my heart breaks, “Do all tall girls die alone?”
While there’s a lot of heartbreak from the referenced dyke drama in her music, there are also moments of timid hope.
The song “Thelma and Louise” is especially one of those. It’s that moment I think a lot of us have had, when you and another find each other but fear you will hurt one another. But instead, maybe we take a chance on each other?
And for those nights drenched in rough feelings, barely able to stand it, and you throw yourselves into each others lips anyway, there’s “Up Against the Bricks.”
#WritersCoffeeClub 8/11. What does your most productive writing space look like?
The smallest room in the house.
No, not that one, it's bigger than my office.
Not that the office is a pokey hole, but it's not huge and has two small desks, two filing cabinets, lots of shelves and two big office chairs. But not much space between.
I do my day job here and also write. No photo because I'm away.
I asked the hotel to provide a hard back chair, and they did. Which was nice.
🌟✨ COVER REVEAL! ✨🌟
I'm so excited to share this gorgeous cover for the fourth and final chapter of the sapphic noir Shadow series. I can't wait for you to get your hands on this in December!
Why? Rina Sawayama has a unique presence in contemporary pop music. Her introspective and intimate lyrics paired expertly with melody, a voice that sits differently than many other singers, and a powerful vulnerability. As a Japanese British artist and pan sapphic woman, she brings a unique perspective through her music that I know captivates me.
Where to start?
Her 2021 performance of her single, “Chosen Family,” with Sir Elton John is moving and perfect. The fact that Elton plays to her lyrics and composition wholeheartedly is beautiful and speaks to the talent he sees in this young queer artist. There is no better ode to the beauty of chosen family that defines queer life.
I also want to encourage people to listen to her entire 2022 album, “Hold the Girl.” Rina has spoken in interviews about how this album was her attempt to “infuse pop with therapy” (https://www.them.us/story/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-interview-cover). And so many of these songs have accompanied me on my own journey through trauma therapy for which it’s hard to express how much they mean.
The title track, “Hold the Girl,” is about her own experiences reconnecting with the girl she was that trauma disconnected her from, but I can’t help but read my own experience as a queer trans fem into it:
“Reach inside and hold you close
I won't leave you on your own
Teach me the words I used to know
Yeah, I forgot them long ago
I wanna rеmember
She is mе and I am her
So hold the girl”
Much of her music is also joyfully and unrepentantly queer. Another single from that same album, “This Hell,” should be a pride anthem for all of us that left religious trauma, but it also features a pansexual, polyamorous, cowboy wedding...yes, you need to watch it now! Also, I can’t help but read the two partners she’s marrying in the music video as representing Madonna from “Don’t Tell Me” and Lil Nas X from “Old Town Road.”
And the first song I encountered her through, “STFU,” is a battle cry for every person tired of dealing with mansplaining reply guys...and the video is a hilarious roast of every terrible man Rina has ever dated.
Sapphic Music Sunday is dedicated to platforming music by lesbians, sapphic people, and women loving women. This is an archive thread to keep track of all of my Sapphic Music Sunday Posts, with new ones added each week (hopefully).
#WordWeavers Day 11/1. Introduce your story as if it were a high-budget film or series coming soon.
[Voice-over man] "In a world of dragons, where political factions vie for control of a goddess, can one woman hope to restore peace?"
This month I will actually be focusing on my WIP - Dragon of Fire (book 4 of the Dragons of the Wounded Land series) - as I also pile on the words in #NaNoWriMo (hopefully).
#WordWeavers Day 11/2. Do your characters play any games?
Yes, they have been known to pass the time with a game of hopboard (draughts), and Miralees has been teaching Yelantera and Eftena to juggle, though that's specifically so they can earn money.
Then there was the time Eftena forced Miralees to enjoy herself on the beach splashing each other in the waves.
(And there are fun sexy games between Miralees and Eftena behind closed doors.)
#LesFicFri Dream
From: Kaori’s Song
Chapter 6: Rakshasa Dance
Not all dreams are beautiful.
The water turned to blood and beat down on me, turning the parts of my dress that were still white blood-red. The thick sticky fluid ran down into my eyes, blinding me. I cried out once more, “Princess, save me!”
Quote: “Whore, yariman, kuzuningen, shine, shine, shine,” Meiko-kun gloated. The air in front of me seemed to waver like smoky glass and beyond I could see a landscape of tumbled monuments, shifting ash, and flickering shadows. The dismal sound of wailing voices filled my ears.
Sometimes we want to hear that is more than beauty.
From: My Girlfriend Almost Got Me Killed, So We Had Wild Sex (Serialized Novel)
From Chapter 18: Butterfly Wings
“You’re my butterfly, a black butterfly with lavender-tipped wings.” I touched the ends of her hair. “I know it’s about how you look, but…”
This time, she stopped me by putting a finger on my lips. “I understand. You think I am beautiful. I’m glad you like how I look, as long as that isn’t all.”
From: My Girlfriend Almost Got Me Killed, So We Had Wild Sex (Complete)
From Chapter 25: Where Hearts Meet
I scrambled out of the snag and stood listening. The singing had stopped. Kao was silent. I was too late.
Putting a hand on a branch to steady myself, I lowered my body to the ground and buried my face in my hands. The words “I’m too late” echoed through my mind. “I’m too late.” Then it spilled out of me in wracking sobs. “She’s dead!!”