Tell us about Micky Knight, the protagonist of your series. 

Michele Antigone Knight, known to her friends as Micky, was born in the bayou country outside of New Orleans, Louisiana.  She had a rough childhood, her mother was a teenager who hadn’t chosen to be pregnant and had little choice but to marry the man Micky considers her father, a man much older than her mother.  But her mother wasn’t content to remain in the bayous married to a man she didn’t love and left when Micky was around five.  When she was ten, her father was killed in a car accident and Micky was taken in by an Aunt and Uncle living in the suburbs of New Orleans.  It wasn’t a happy arrangement, the wild bayou child in this prim, proper family, and when she was eighteen, Micky left.  With the help of a scholarship and some kind people, she went to college in New York City, the place that she knew her mother had moved to.  But she never found her mother and after college came back to New Orleans.  

She drifted around for a while, drinking too much, not able to find a job or career that really appealed to her.  An out of the closet lesbian, Micky slept around a lot, but never really connected with anyone.  

One job she ended up in was as a security guard for a warehouse.  Her boss did some private detective work on the side and asked Micky to help him out several times.  As they worked well together, he asked Micky to join him when he started his own agency.  But he eventually wanted their relationship to be more than just professional, and Micky decided that it was time to move on.  

And so the M. Knight Detective Agency was born.  

What drew you to writing? Why mysteries?

Family values—my parents met as journalists on the same newspaper and they were both college educated (my mother the first in her family) so reading and books were always part of my growing up. They both wanted to be writers, too, but life never gave them the chance. I can’t really remember not wanting to be a writer, I was writing short stories in third grade. As to mysteries, I’ve always liked mysteries and read them. At the heart of mystery is the search for justice; who gets it and who deserves it. Let’s be real, part of was practical, it’s easier to sell a mystery both to publishers and to readers. Also, at the basis of most crime novels is death and dying, good and evil, and while it is possible to gloss over them, you can also really take a look at the kind of damage violence does, or how do we deal with grief and loss, and still be true to the genre. I like to point out to all my English major snob friends that Hamlet was a genre play, it has every convention of the revenge tragedy in it, from ghosts to body counts.  

You’ve tackled some heavy issues in your work, including child abuse and violence against women. Was that a conscious choice, or did it just work within the context of the story?

I’ve never sat down and thought ‘I want to tackle child abuse in this next book.’  To me, issues are what we look at from a far away vantage point, but it’s people’s lives when you live the everyday reality of it. Besides, the best way to ‘argue’ an issue is to simply tell the story of how it affects one person’s life. As a writer I search for the conflict, the rough patches and seek to explore who is she (or he), how does she deal with this, what are the consequences of the consequences—for example, what are the myriad ways that having a rough growing up affect someone twenty years later? How many places does this seep into your life? I have consciously tried to weave the cases that Micky takes with hot spots in her emotional life, because that way they echo each other and it forces her emotional terrain to be one of the mysteries to be solved.

What writers have influenced your work? Do you admire?

Let me confess, I’m a reading slut. Books, magazines, the labels on toilet tissue . . ..  Probably every writer I’ve read has influenced me—for good or ill. This will probably astound some people, but if I were stuck in that proverbial dessert island and could take one book, it would be Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. (Unless I could stretch it and take something like the collected works of Shakespeare.) I think I admire every writer who has the courage to put the words on the paper—it can be so hard and scary and frustrating. But admire isn’t quite the same as read—so, in no particular order except the conjunctions of my fevered brain: Sara Paretsky,  George Elliot, Dorothy Sayers, Barbara Wilson, Anton Chekov, Dorothy Allison, Charlotte Bronte, E. Annie Proulx, Kevin Allman, Greg Herren, Euripides, Octavia Butler, Anonymous, James Sallis, Doris Lessing, Walter Mosley, Sue Grafton, William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Tennessee Williams, Louise Erdrich, Hannah Arendt, and many others I can’t think of at the moment.

How does it feel to have Micky called a “lesbian Kinsey Millhone”?

It was meant as a compliment and I’ll take it as such, besides, it’s a hell of a lot better than some other things she could be called.  Maybe someday some new detective will be called “the straight Micky Knight.” 

Mickey has grown and changed through the course of the series.  Has this reflected changes in your own life?

Not in the least and of course. Micky’s struggles and changes do not directly reflect mine, but of course, my life influences my writing. I wasn’t interested in writing a static character, the Miss Marple who never changes from book to book, so in the first book Death by the Riverside, I started out with her as on the edge of being unlikable. And I knew that life was going to teach Mick a few lessons. One big overlap with my life and hers was Katrina in August of 2005. Every one in New Orleans was affected; the entire city evacuated, myself included. So Micky and her circle of friends had to experience it as well. I’ve let her age, although she hasn’t aged as relentlessly as I have.  

How much of you is in Micky?

That would be telling . . ..  Actually, anyone who knows me would tell you that I’m not Micky and they’re right.  That’s part of the fun of writing her, I get to live a whole different life from my own boring, mundane existence. She can say the witty come-back in real time that took me three days to come up with.  

Where have you lived and why chose New Orleans to set your books? 

Okay, the list: 

–Biloxi, Mississippi, born there in 1955 and lived there until 1958.  

–Then moved (my parents, actually) across the Biloxi Bay to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, lived there until 1973 when I went off to college.

–Poughkeepsie, NY, (Vassar College) from 1973 to 1977

–New York City from 1977 to 1989

–New Orleans, 1989 until 2022. 

–Milwaukee, 2022 (what I did for love—my wife works here). 

My father was a New Orleans native and we visited there often as a child. It was the big city to the small-town girl. That little French-Spanish strip of coast, from New Orleans to over where we were, was the world I grew into, the way I thought the light should slant, the smell of magnolias and moss, eating oysters and crawfish. I loved my life and time in the Northeast, but never felt grounded enough there to write a book set there. I knew it had to be a city and New Orleans was that city. Although I no longer live there, it is still the city of my heart and soul and, unless I live very long, the place I will have spent more years than any other. I know the city in ways I doubt I’ll ever know another city. 

For more information: https://www.jmredmann.com

The post Transitory by J.M. Redmann first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY CANDY PARKER

If asked to describe comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer in just one word, some may go with “ground-breaking.” This would, of course, be accurate. After all, Westenhoefer was the first openly lesbian comic to host her own HBO Comedy Special (1994) and to appear on the “Late Show with David Letterman” (2003). But that one word could never do her justice.

Self-deprecating. Raw. Hilarious. Legendary. Unpredictable. Candid. (That last one is by her own admission — I found it on her website.) All these and more could also be used to describe Westenhoefer, who is brazenly honest, outspoken and spontaneous in her comedy.

Westenhoefer began her stand-up career on a dare and she carries that same risk-taking attitude with her every time she takes the stage. With countless hours of material honed over a  career spanning more than two decades and a penchant for spilling the beans about whatever is currently happening in her life at the moment, Westenhoefer offers up a unique comedy set adventure every time she takes the stage.

Westenhoefer will soon be appearing with fellow veteran comic Jennie McNulty at two benefit performances for the United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT Concerns. The first performance will be Saturday, May 17, at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, California. Tickets are available through www.brownpapertickets.com. The second show will be held Sunday, May 18, at Peace United Church of Christ in Santa Cruz, California. Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketriver.com. VIP tickets are available at each event and include a meet and greet with both comedians and priority seating.

I managed to catch up with Westenhoefer long enough to get her to answer our Fast 5 questions this week.

1. What are you most looking forward to in 2014?

Touring with Miley Cyrus. It’s not official yet, but a girl can dream.

2. Phone call or text?

Please, I beg you, text!

3. What would be your best piece of relationship advice?

Each partner should have full access to the other person’s phone, email, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts. (We’re pretty sure there’s a great story behind Westenhoefer’s answer on this one, but we maintain a strict five-question policy, so there was no chance for follow up.)

4. What’s the last movie you went to the theater to see?

“Despicable Me 2” with one million toddlers.

5. If you could have one super power, what would you want it to be and why?

To fly, both for the fun of it and to give the big finger to the airlines that rule my life.

Be sure to check out Westenhoefer’s website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Fast 5 with comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Most of the world was introduced to comedian Erin Foley back in 2000 when she appeared in the iconic Cameron Crowe film “Almost Famous.” My first introduction, however, came seven years later via a Queer Queens of Qomedy show in 2oo7 in which she shared the stage with Poppy Champlin and Jessica Kirson.

Since that time, I’ve become a huge fan of Foley’s intelligent brand of comedy, had the opportunity to film an interview with her and earned a healthy respect for her pool volleyball skills having witnessed her “take no prisoners,” ultra-competitive approach to guarding the net. Trust me, while you may want to be front and center at one of her shows, you do not want to be on the opposite side of a volleyball net when Foley’s in the pool.

(Most) kidding aside, Foley is an accomplished actress and comedian, having appeared on “Chelsea Lately,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” NBC’s “Go On” and debuting on “Conan” last fall.

A New York native now living in Los Angeles, Foley can be regularly seen at the Gotham Comedy Club, Caroline’s on Broadway, The Improv, The Laugh Factory and Stand Up New York. She’s currently touring to promote her new comedy CD “Lady with Pockets” available on iTunes and hosts a weekly podcast called “Sports Without Balls.” (Sadly, she’s a Yankees fan, though we find common ground in our mutual love of the New York football Giants.)

Fresh off an appearance at the Gay Games in Cleveland and in between her “Lady with Pockets” tour gigs, Foley found time to join our Fast 5 club.

1. What’s the last book you read?

A short story collection of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

2. If you could host a dinner party and invite any five people — past or present — to attend who would be on that guest list?

Carol Burnett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Derek Jeter, Martina Navratilova and Harriet Tubman.

3. Beach or mountains?

Beach

4. Which celebrity would render you totally star struck if you were to meet him/her?

If it was possible, Lucille Ball.

5. Do you have a hidden talent? Do tell!

I’m a really good dancer. Jazz hands and everything.

Be sure to check out Foley’s website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Fast 5 with comedian Erin Foley first appeared on Lesbian.com.

What song can you not get enough of right now?
“I Like It” by Cardi B, “Nice For What” by Drake, “Freaky Friday” Lil Dicky

What’s the best thing that’s happened for you so far in 2018?
I started to work with The New Guys morning show on 97.1 AMP Radio and I am booked for Long Beach, Los Angeles, and New York Pride!

Window or aisle seat on the airplane?
Window. For sure!

Tell us one thing about you that most people probably don’t know, but you’re willing to share.
I’m adopted. I was born in Kansas and was taken to San Francisco by my parents and was raised in the Bay Area. I have at least one other brother, who was adopted by another family when he was born.

If they started offering free trips to the moon tomorrow, would you go?
Depends… can I take my selfie stick??!

Finish this sentence. “I think the key to being happy is…”
I think the key to being happy is being confident in who you are as a person, and accepting everything that you are.

Follow Alex on Instagram.

The post Fast 5 with DJ Alex D first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Diiamon’d Royalty is widely known in the LGBTQ+ community for being a viral YouTube sensation based on the unforgettable truth to her lyrics and raw talent. She was recently in the top 25 of Coast 2 Coast’s 2017 artist showcase world championship in Miami Beach and was picked up by Eden Entertainment Group in early 2018. After her freestyle video shortly broke the internet, she got signed to South Coast Records and has been continuing to make music. Not only is she a great artist, but she’s a dynamite entertainer.

Who is your greatest professional influence?
My CEO for guiding me under his wing and making sure I don’t become fish bait in the music industry.

I think the key to being happy is:
Loving yourself

Song I can’t get enough of:
“Boo’d up” by Ella Mai

Early bird or night olwl:
Definitely night owl.

If you can have one super power what would it be and why?
Shape shifting, so I can help the world accomplish things the people won’t do on their own.

Follow Diiamon’d Royalty on Instagram and Facebook.

The post Fast 5 with Diiamon’d Royalty first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Sharing her powerful story of resilience through emotional, compelling performances, Stephanie touched thousands of viewers who discovered in her a source of inspiration and hope.

After coming out to her parents at 18, she became estranged, finding herself completely alone and unwanted. She climbed the mountain of misery and successfully made it to the other side of freedom and happiness. She moved to Houston, graduated with honors in Biology at University of Houston, and entered the professional medical field where she conducted ground-breaking research involving HIV, publishing an article for the Journal of Aids. Throughout Stephanie’s time as a scientist, she continued aspiring to share her songs.

In 2016, she decided to commit to music full time, completing her debut album, “Dear Misery” with a band she formed and fronts, Colonial Blue. The album was named top 12 best albums by the Houston Chronicle. After making it to the top 11 finalists of “The Voice,” Stephanie left the show empowered with validation and support from fans around the world. She is now working on her second album.

Window or aisle seat on the airplane?
Window seat all day! Planes are good for two things: getting from point A to B and catching up on sleep. If I get to lean against the window, it’s lights outs.

If they started offering free trips to the moon tomorrow, would you go?
I would not! I get anxiety on planes and in the ocean because space and water are not my home. We are land creatures for a reason! Anything that increases my chances of dying is not something I cannot enjoy. You could say I’m a whimp, but I really just value life.

Early bird or night owl?
Night owl!! Creativity always visits late at night, and I’m grumpy until at least noon.

If you could have one superpower, what would you want it to be and why?
To live forever – we have such an limited, finite amount of time with these bodies we have on earth and miss out on so many experiences.

Finish this sentence. “I think the key to being happy is…”
being free.

Follow Stephanie on Instagram or Facebook.

The post Fast 5 with Stephanie Rice first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Photo by: Freedom G Photography

BY CANDY PARKER
Lesbian.com

We all owe one of comedian Sandra Valls’ unnamed ex-girlfriends a sincere “thank you.” Why is that, you ask? Well, some time ago, said ex signed Valls up for a stand-up comedy lesson as an early Christmas present — in effect, giving us all the gift that is Valls’ intelligent, high-energy, brash brand of comedy.

Though the relationship didn’t last, the comedy lesson was well-learned as Valls went on to enjoy a career in which she has appeared in two Showtime hit comedy specials, “The Latin Divas of Comedy” and “Pride: LGBT Comedy Slam!,” been named one of Curve magazine’s Top 10 funniest lesbian comics and, perhaps most enviably, shared the stage with the gorgeous Eva Longoria at the HBO Comedy Festival.

Valls tours regularly with the Latin Divas and Queer Queens of Qomedy and recently wrapped up a stint at the week-long GirlSplash in Provincetown, Massachusetts, but amidst her busy tour schedule she still finds time to give back to the community. Valls volunteers for and produces comedy shows for various causes including benefits/fundraisers for AIDS, sobriety, domestic violence and LGBT rights and was honored in her hometown of Laredo with the International Woman’s Day Award for being a trailblazer and empowering women.

Valls will soon be headed to Michfest, but gladly played along with us in this week’s Fast 5.

1. Which individual has been your greatest professional influence?

Bette Midler. I was very young when I snuck around and watched her HBO Special “Bette Midler Live At Last.” That’s when I knew I wanted to have a career like hers, sans the mermaid outfit, of course.

2. What song can you not get enough of right now?

“Wild Heart” by Stevie Nicks. I love Stevie Nicks! (Editor’s Note: Check out Sandra’s rendition of the tune in the video below — she can sing!)

3. What’s the best thing that’s happened for you so far in 2014?

I bought a Farrah Fawcett t-shirt.

4. Window or aisle seat on the airplane?

Actually it’s the middle seat. I love to be sandwiched between strangers. Feels safe. Oh, especially wedged between large men in short shorts and flip flops that smell like cigarettes. The men — not the flip flops.

5. Tell us one thing about you that most people probably don’t know, but you’re willing to share.

I sleep with a stuffed owl named Owly.

For more on Valls, be sure to check out her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Toothbrush tunes with Sandra Valls

The post Fast 5 with comedian Sandra Valls first appeared on Lesbian.com.

 

The post Lady Knights, Lesbian Vampires and more with Author Bridget Essex first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Girlfriends Charmaine Brooks and Carlie Pearce didn’t know that the love song they recorded together would go viral. Brooks wrote the song 20 years ago, and, when she met Pearce, decided she had finally found someone to record it with. We chatted with Brooks about the song, what it’s like to work with your partner and the music that inspires her.

The post Lesbian couple’s music video goes viral first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Jenny Block is the master of female orgasm and her latest book, “The Ultimate Guide to Solo Sex: All You Need to Know About Masturbation” hit bookshelves this May. Block has made a name for herself with her previous books, “O Wow! Discovering your Ultimate Orgasm” and “Open” as a sex positive queer writer, who specializes in women’s empowerment through orgasm.

Block’s female positive sex advice has been featured on leading websites such as Huffington Post, Playboy, Bustle and many more. She has also been called to appear on TV, and has been featured on the Tyra Banks Show and The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, to name a few. Jenny I sat down to chat about her latest book and masturbation as self care.

How did you come up with the idea to write “The Ultimate Guide to Solo Sex”?  

I was researching for my second book, “O Wow!” and I had interviewed about 150 women and was mesmerized by the answers. It occurred to me that part of the issue is that they were not masturbating. So I starting asking people if they were masturbating. My poor friends would like to have one brunch without me saying “pussy” out loud!

Women act as if masturbation is a mystery that we shouldn’t be talking about. They don’t make the connection that you need to do it yourself so you know what you need when you are with a partner. Women assume all orgasms should be with a partner.

What was your process for writing this book? 

I did so much research. It felt like an immersion course, it was like when you are learning a language. Read everything I could get my hands on. While I was talking to everyone [about masturbation] I did become a bit of a hermit. I was a college writing professor for about 10 years. There is a lot of writing and re-writing that goes into it. My students would freak out when I told them to throw out 2/3s of what they write.

Photo by Steph Grant – www.stephgrantphotogrpahy.com

I really loved that this book was written by a queer woman, most self-help books aren’t. But there’s a lot of value in a queer woman explaining how women get off. How did you decide how to approach this subject to make it accessible for all women? 

I live in a sex positive bubble and sometimes make assumptions that everyone is on the same wavelength. But sometimes the most well-traveled, lovely people don’t know much about how to get themselves off. It was really a matter of getting my own head out of the sand and taking the temperature of what is really going on out there with women.

Masturbation is the barometer of what’s going on in a woman’s life. Is she stressed? Is she putting herself last? When you are busy and stressed, the first thing to go is self care. Things like eating healthy, exercising and masturbating go out the window. It’s the first thing to go! And that’s terrible!

When we are stressed we give up all the things that help us take care of ourselves. It’s all the same as eating properly and working out. It’s just as important. I don’t get upset about brushing my teeth at night. Masturbation is included in self care and we aren’t taught that. Taking the time and energy to take care of yourself is so important

Don’t feel well? Masturbate! Stressed out? Masturbate!

Yes! That’s so true and so important. 

All that Brock turned shit going around. Lack of value.

If we talked about masturbation maybe we could elevate women in general. Women don’t talk about masturbation, or we don’t do it, or we don’t value it. People always say, ”Oh women can go without it,” when they talk about sex.

There was even an entire Seinfeld episode about masturbation. The men in the show thought Elaine would win, they even wanted to exclude her from the contest. But she was the first one out!

You describe intimate experiences with partners in the book- did you tell any of them they were going to be mentioned beforehand? What did they think of being included? 

That’s almost the thing I lead with! I should get a t-shirt that says, “be careful you might end up in my next book.” I’m really up front with that. People think it’s funny. Even if we are just friends, you’re warned if you hang out with me in any way, things can be very public.

My partner now is relatively conservative in that way. I told her I’m not writing erotica. If I write about how good she is in bed she will be embarrassed. But it’s better than saying she’s bad in bed!

When I was reading this book, I was thinking that it would be really beneficial to straight women. Have you been able to reach out to straight readers? 

I have a good straight following! I hate to be that queer girl that is like, “We do everything better than you do.” But I’ve been on both sides, and I’ve never had to tell a women it’s two inches away from where you think it is.

My book gets sequestered in the LGBT section but it’s probably more needed by straight people.

Which is crazy, because it’s a general self-help book for women. Masturbation isn’t just for gay women. Just because it was written by a queer woman, doesn’t mean it should automatically be shelved in the LGBT section. 

There was a sad comment on my second book. One woman told me we are past all this and we are all sex positive. I was like, “Oh honey, you have no idea.” She said my book about female orgasm was not necessary and that scared me even more. I feel really responsible as a lesbian with all the “secrets.” I feel like we should share them.

One time, I ended up out with three or four straight couples after a reading. The men were looking at their partners saying, “Why don’t you tell me this stuff?” And it was earth shattering for me. We [queer women] are always with our community. It’s not a conversation queer women are having. In the straight community they are saying, ““Of course you can get off in 13 seconds of penis in vagina intercourse and nothing else. That’s what they show in all the movies. That’s what’s in the magazines.”

I’m a writer who sleeps with women. I’m not a queer writer. I want people to know I’m queer, definitely, but it is confounding because this book is universal.

I like to say that I am uniquely qualified, because I did live on the other side of the fence. Theoretically I was a practicing hetero for some time- I know what it is to sleep with men. I would like more straight women to read my book. Straight women find the writing the most profound, queer women are like “right on.”

The community at large thinks of being queer as a lifestyle. But we are all people just trying to figure it out. I get asked relationship questions, it’s a little different, but it’s still two human beings trying to live. The straight community can learn a lot from the queer community meanwhile the straight community has all these rules they have to life by.

Any final thoughts for our readers?

I would like to see the fun put back in sex! If you don’t laugh once during sex you are doing it wrong. Women say they could “never tell” xyz to a partner. But sex should be fun! There’s so much pressure to be hot and have hot, crazy, wild, sex. But good sex involved being connected to another person or humans. Making sex fun again is part of my mission as well.

In the name of women’s empowerment- I want to remind women that masturbation and orgasm is both their right and their responsibility. Masturbation is part of taking care of yourself. Every average, healthy woman should be masturbating.

As I say in my book, “Your orgasm is your responsibility. No one else can make you come. Another people can help facilitate your orgasm. But they can’t make you come. If you can’t make yourself come, you can’t expect anyone else to be a part of making you come. How can your partner help you if you don’t know how it works yourself?”

You heard Jenny! Go out and masturbate! You can find Jenny at her website, www.thejennyblock.com. Purchase her books on Amazon, and like her on Facebook.

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

The post Author Jenny Block on masturbation as self care and female orgasm as empowerment first appeared on Lesbian.com.