How on earth do you encapsulate your novel in a two minute reading?

I was part of the Bold Strokes Book festival the first weekend of June. It was my second time there as an author, although this time I had my first book (Fury’s Bridge) on the table for sale, and three more in the publishing queue. I read on the Fresh and Forthcoming panel from Fury’s Choice.

Choosing a reading for a sound bite good enough to get someone to want the book is like trying to choose the best dessert from the dessert store when you’re hormonal. They all look viable…

That was a terrible metaphor. But you get the idea.

I don’t know if it was the right choice. I know my hands shook, and I know I stumbled over my words because my heart was racing and I couldn’t breathe through the panic. But what kept me going was the people sitting on that stage with me. The other people who were probably feeling a lot like I did.

The other thing that kept me going was the fairy tale.

Not a specific one. But the idea of one. The heroine of her own story, the kick ass woman, the one who rides off on her own damn horse. Indeed, the kind of story I wrote for the forthcoming Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms: Erotic Lesbian Fairy Tales. We can be the heroines of our own stories. We can be the one who scales the tower to save the damsel (as in my story, Penthouse 31), and we can decide what makes our happy-ever-after. I could be strong and confident enough to read a little of my story out loud, even if it was just for a moment.

I’m always proud to have a story in one of Sacchi Green’s anthologies, which are always hot and have an excellent array of stories. This one is no exception, and I love seeing women in every role available, doing all the stuff we love to read about.