By
Cheyenne Blue (Guest Blogger)
Thank
you, Lisabet, for once again hosting me on your site. It’s always a
pleasure to be here.
I’ve
been lucky enough to live in a few countries over the years: England,
Scotland, Ireland, Colorado in the United States, Switzerland. And
Australia.
All
of those countries are special to me in some way: the community and
humour in Ireland; the footpaths, pubs and tiny villages of the U.K.;
those bloody beautiful Colorado Rockies and the equally gorgeous
Swiss Alps. But if I had to pick one place to live for the rest of my
life, it would be Oz. I wasn’t born in Australia, but I was lucky
enough to become an Aussie citizen nearly thirty years ago. My accent
is now a strange mix of Brit, with a strong overlay of Australian,
with a few words that I will forever and always pronounce the
American way (I’ll say “ruff” not “rooof" but I will
NEVER say “al-oo-min-um”). Most people I meet assume I’m
Australian, and if asked where I’m from, I will say I’m an
Aussie. If you’re ever unsure of my accent though, ask me to say
“the car is in the car park”. Those long vowels give me away.
All
this is a long winded way of saying that, to quote the words of a
popular song, I still call Australia home. I’ve been back here for
seven years now, living in a rural area of Queensland, and spending
as many weekends as I can going bush, which is what we Aussies call
the back country.
Over
the years, my stories have usually been set in the country where I
was living or visiting at the time. You can trace my movements over
the globe through my stories: the United States, with diversions to
Canada, the UK with diversions to mainland Europe, many set in
Ireland. And now back to Australia.
I
have
a
new
novel
out,
Not-So-Straight
Sue.
It’s
the
story
of
Sue,
an
ex-pat
Aussie
lawyer
living
in
London
who,
like
so
many
Aussies,
answers
the
siren
song
to
return
home.
Not
to
a
big
city,
but
to
outback
Queensland.
Not-So-Straight
Sue
is
a
tale
about
coming
out,
friendship,
lawyers,
doctors,
the
Australian
outback,
dogs,
family,
small
towns,
ex-girlfriends,
finding
your
place
in
life,
horses,
rural
life,
wine-drinking,
stripteases,
camper
vans,
star
gazing,
horse
riding,
“Waltzing
Matilda”,
and
of
course
love
and
sex.
Lots
of
love
and
sex.
Not-So-Straight
Sue
is
the
second
in
my
“Girl
Meets
Girl”
series
(the
first
being
Never-Tied
Nora
https://amzn.com/3955334511
)
however
each
of
the
series
is
a
standalone
book
with
overlapping
characters.
Here’s
the blurb and an excerpt.
Blurb
“Sorry,
I’m straight.” Those words, accompanied by a smile, were the ones
Sue Brent used to turn down women. But the truth was buried so deep
that even her best friend, Nora, didn’t know that Sue was queer.
Sometimes, Sue even managed to convince herself. The only person in
London who’d seen through her façade was Moni, an American
tourist.
When
a date with a friend’s brother goes disastrously wrong, Sue has to
confront the truth about herself. Leaving London, she returns to
Australia to take up the reins in an outback law practice. Back in
the country of her birth, she is finally able to accept who she is,
including facing Denise, the woman who burned her so badly years ago
and set her on the path of pretence. But it’s not until Moni
arrives in Queensland to work for the Flying Doctors that Sue is
finally able to see a path to happiness. However, as things start to
go her way, Denise arrives in Mungabilly Creek, begging a favour that
might destroy Sue’s new relationship.
 |
| Image of outback Australia by Rossco, Pixabay.com |
Excerpt
And
then it was New Year’s Eve, the day Moni was arriving.
I
was prowling the house by five in the morning, long before Moni would
even have left the Isa. I took Ripper for a walk down to where the
creek had now retreated back to its bed and only a few pools of water
remained. Ripper had a standoff with a goanna, and the reptile
definitely won, as Rip retreated behind my legs. The goanna scrabbled
off up a tree. I stared out over the dry landscape and wondered what
tonight would bring. Three days with Moni. Three days. Two nights.
I’d
drunk a pot of coffee by eight, dashed off emails to Nora and Ger,
Jim, and my parents by half past, and by nine I’d given up all
pretence of calm and sat on the front veranda staring at the road.
It
was nearly ten when Moni’s Holden drove down the street to take a
wide looping turn into the driveway. Ripper and I leapt down the back
steps. Before she turned the engine off, I pulled open the door, and
she was in my arms. When our kiss finally ended, she unwound her arms
from around my neck and said, “I don’t need to ask if you missed
me.”
My
lips tingled from the touch with hers. She grinned at me, moved to
the boot of her car, and opened it with a flourish. “Just how much
wine did you order?” Six cases were crammed into the boot.
“I
only ordered three.”
“Looks
like they messed up. There was one delivery of three cases, and the
next day the same came again.”
“I’ll
email them. This is to replace Ken’s good wine that I may have
accidentally swallowed since I’ve been here.”
“It’s
good stuff. I know that for a fact, as one of these cases now only
has eleven bottles in it.”
“We’ll
drink a bottle tonight for New Year’s.”
“Yes.
Tonight.” She moved back into my arms. “I hope your plans include
more than wine. I know mine do.”
I
couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were huge, her lips were curved in a
half smile. My girl. That was how I thought of her. And after
tonight—my lover. Maybe my future.
“They
do. My plans for tonight include you. Just you.”
There
was a shout from the street “Sue! Hey, Sue!” It was Billy, his
arm still in a sling and strapped to his body. He came down the drive
to where Moni and I stood. “Happy New Year. Youse going to the
Royal tonight? There’s a band, and I’ll shout you a drink. Been
working with Cookie. That was a great idea of yours, Sue. Y’know, I
like this cooking lark.” He paused, noticing, apparently for the
first time, how close I was holding Moni. “This your girlfriend?”
I
nodded.
“Well,
I’ll shout the two of youse later.” He turned and went down the
street in the direction of the Royal. It could be a long night for
Billy.
Moni
reached up to stroke a finger across my lips. “I guess we’re
going to the pub tonight.”
I
caught her finger as it returned for a second pass. “Sounds like
it. But when we come home…” I let the sentence hang in the air.
She
visibly shook herself. “Let’s get your bottle shop’s worth of
wine inside. I’m dying of thirst. I spilt my water bottle into the
gearbox about fifty kilometres out of the Isa.”
We
carried the wine into the laundry, minus a couple of bottles that
went upstairs for later. Moni retrieved her case and carried it up
the stairs to the house. She dragged it through the living area, into
my bedroom, and dropped it on the floor. “This is where I’m
sleeping tonight. Any arguments?”
I
had none.
Not-So-Straight
Sue
is
available
now
from
Ylva
Publishing
and
starting from
2
November
2016
on
Amazon:
Want to win a
copy of Not-So-Straight Sue? Leave me a comment with your email
address, telling me where you call home... and why. I’ll randomly
select a winner from among the people who comment.
About Cheyenne Blue
Cheyenne
Blue’s fiction has been included in over ninety erotic anthologies
since 2000. She is the editor of Forbidden
Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire,
a 2015 finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and Golden Crown
Literary Award, and of First:
Sensual Lesbian Stories of New Beginnings.
Her
collected lesbian short fiction is published as Blue
Woman Stories,
volumes 1-3, with more to come. The first two books in her romantic
Girl
Meets Girl
series, Never-Tied
Nora
and Not-So-Straight
Sue
are out now from Ylva Publishing, with the final book Fenced-In
Felix due
in November 2016.
Cheyenne
has lived in the U.K., Ireland, the United States, and Switzerland,
but now writes, runs, makes bread and cheese, and drinks wine in
rural Queensland, Australia. Check out her blog at
www.cheyenneblue.com
and
follow her on Twitter
at @IamCheyenneBlue and on Goodreads
at https://www.goodreads.com/CheyenneBlue
