Q&A: Cheyenne Blue on ‘Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire’

I can’t remember when exactly Cheyenne e-mailed me for the first time with the idea for this anthology, but I do distinctly remember falling in love with the theme instantly and… I also know that a whole lot of months have passed since that very first e-mail. Meanwhile Cheyenne has been an outstanding editor, and collected 17 deliciously forbidden stories (including one of mine, and not because I made her, or at least so she claims.) ;-p

Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire is out today and you can buy it for $0.99 only (the price is so low, it should be forbidden!) 😉 This low price is only temporary though, so it’s best to grab these 17 hot tales now (just saying.)

As a reminder, here’s the blurb:

She’s off limits but the attraction burns so bright it’s impossible to resist.

This collection of seventeen stories charts the spectrum of unwise lesbian desire, gathering tales of women you should resist—but can’t. In Jean Roberta’s Shelter the bad girl’s back from prison. An upper-class lady seduces her maid in Laila Blake’s poignant story set in Regency England, while a Catholic nun is beguiled by a hooker in Lisabet Sarai’s powerful The First Stone.

These women are cops, slave owners, doctors, Dommes, and horse thieves, and you’ll find them at the pool, being seduced by older women, putting their job on the line for lust, or seducing the salt-and-pepper butch.

With stories from writers at the top of their game, including Sacchi Green, Erzabet Bishop, Beth Wylde, Harper Bliss, and Allison Wonderland, this collection is sure to thrill.

And you can buy it (for $0.99 until 11 September!) here:
buy
Direct from Ladylit
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
Amazon CA
All Romance
Smashwords

Add it to your Goodreads shelf >>

Of course, to mark this joyous occasion (because this release will result in a party at Ladylit HQ tonight, seeing as we’re bursting with pride), I’ve subjected editor extraordinaire Cheyenne Blue to my usual high brow questions. My blog is all yours from here, Cheyenne…

1. Sell us your book in one sentence.
She’s off limits but the attraction burns so bright it’s impossible to resist.

2. Favourite line (or paragraph) from Forbidden Fruit
This is a difficult one, as there are seventeen stories from seventeen wonderful authors in Forbidden Fruit. It’s a near impossible task to pick one story, let alone one line or paragraph, that is my favourite. However, I’ll select one paragraph that epitomizes the forbidden fruit theme, the urgent desire for that which you cannot have. This paragraph is from Lisabet Sarai’s story “The First Stone” in which a nun working in a halfway house falls for a hooker in her care.

Something jolted through me—a lightning strike, a sudden storm, some personal earthquake. The floor dropped out from under my chair and I found myself suspended in space. My breath caught in my throat and perspiration soaked the armpits of my gray wool sweater. I’d been chilly before—we tried to stretch our donors’ generosity as far as possible—but now I burned. I couldn’t tear myself away from her gaze, though I knew I’d been staring far too long.

3. Last book that blew you away?
I read a lot, and I am very active on Goodreads (Hint: friend me! I’d love it!) so the books that blow me away are a diverse mix.

I’ll go with a short story collection I read recently by Ivan E.Coyote “Close to Spider Man”. These teeny-tiny coming of age stories are bleak, blunt, and beautiful.

4. Which celebrity is at number one of your imaginary to-do list?
Years pass, and my obsession with Amelie Mauresmo, now-retired tennis player, remains undimmed.

5. What’s your favourite sexy song?
There’s one song that gives me chills every time I hear it, with its sensual cleverness, and more than an overlay of bittersweet yearning.

Autumngirlsoup by the late, great Kirsty MacColl. Here it is on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebX2WCwzWKQ

Kirsty’s lyrics, particularly on the album “Tropical Brainstorm” which includes Autumngirlsoup, show an earthy, natural sexuality as well as wicked humor. There’s songs about stalking, about falling for a bastard, about the fun of cybersex.

6. What are you most proud of?
Erotica-wise, I’m proud of my longevity in a genre where writers come and go. My first story was published in 2000, and nearly 15 years later, I’m still here, still publishing, still producing stories I’m very proud of. And now I’m editing them too.

Apart from that, I’m proud of my ability to cook eggplant in seven different ways, put away a bottle of red wine on demand, and more or less keep time in my step aerobics class.

7. Who’s your favourite TV Character?
I’m sci-fi nut, and a Trekkie, so I’ll go with Kira Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Or Starbuck from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. I like complex, strong characters, and those two nail it.

8. Which author’s books are a must-read?
I’m Australian, and I love the physicality and guts of Australian English. Aussie writer, Tim Winton, is a fabulous read, literary but accessible, with a deep love of the outdoor world, small communities, and the ocean. “Breath” is my all-time favourite, but “Cloudstreet” is an iconic Aussie book, recently voted Best Australian Book in a public poll.

9. Anything else you want us to know?
I have to have my fingernails really short. Really, really, REALLY short. I can’t type if the nails are even close to my fingertips. The sensation of fingernails on keyboard gives me the shivers, and not in a good way.

10. What’s next for you?
I am currently in the final stages of putting together some collections of my short lesbian erotica. The first of these will be published by Ladylit later this month under the title “Blue Woman Stories: collected lesbian erotica of Cheyenne Blue”. This is very exciting for me—prior to this my work has been scattered through dozens of anthologies and websites. To see it brought together as a single author collection is very satisfying.

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P.S. Do check out Cheyenne’s blog for information on the Forbidden Fruit blog tour. There are lots of lesbian erotica goodies to win!

You can buy Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire on Amazon US, Amazon UK and Smashwords (and it will soon also be available in paperback.)