Music (Lesbian Cops Edition): "Raised to Be Lowered" by Saul Williams

"To rise above hatred to love through seeming contradiction. To seldom take a side and learn to complement the friction. To bring about the change within that we can't live without." -- Saul Williams

When I write a story, I always start by choosing the music. For "A Prayer Before Bed," I knew I needed rage and urgency, with just a glimmer of hope. I jumped around a bit while I was writing, but Saul Williams' "Raised to Be Lowered" sums it up pretty well.

Nechama and Marleen are both walking wounded, they're both tougher than seems possible, and they're both softer than seems possible. They both want a better world that seems out of reach. They might both ask this question: "Was I raised to be lowered?"

But despite all the anger and fear and suspicion that stand between them, they manage to find redemption in each other's arms, at least for a moment.

Lesbian Cops is out--and a blog tour!

My new story, "A Prayer Before Bed," is out in Sacchi Green's new anthology Lesbian Cops. I love Green's editing style--hot stories with a lot of range. She was kind enough to accept a very dark story from me, seeing the redemption hidden in the rage and despair (and, of course, the sex).

To get the word out about the book, she's also got a blog tour going (it's actually in progress already). You can read more about the story behind the book from Sacchi and many of the other authors (and, at the very end, from me). Where the posts are up already, I've linked directly to them, and where they're forthcoming, I've linked to the sites where you can find them. Please check it out:

March 31 - Sacchi Green Interview:
http://deadrobotssociety.com/2011/03/30/episode-169-getting-erotic-with-sacchi-green/

April 1 - JL Merrow:
http://jl-merrow.livejournal.com/63997.html

April 2 - Jove Belle:
http://jovebelle.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/lesbian-cops-hollis/

April 3 - Delilah Devlin:
http://www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/

April 4 - R. G. Emanuelle:
http://www.rgemanuelle.com/

April 5 - Andrea Dale:
http://cyvarwydd.blogspot.com/

April 6 - Kenzie Matthews:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 7 - Ily Goyanes:
http://realily.wordpress.com/

April 8 - Cheyenne Blue:
http://www.cheyenneblue.com/

April 9 - Evan Mora:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 10 - J.N. Gallagher:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 11 - Liz Coldwell:
http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com/

April 12 - Teresa Noelle Roberts:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 13 - Lynn Mixon:
http://lynnmixon.com/

April 14 - RV Raiment:
http://sacchi-green.blogspot.com/

April 15 - me, right here

I'll have to come up with something good to celebrate the end of the party. Please check out the book, and be well!