This statement came to me from Troy Johnson of www.AALBC.com. Kudos to Zane for creating work that celebrates our lesbian sisters and for continuing to publish work that appeals to the LGBT community – and shame on anyone who has a problem with that.
Zane?s Apology for the Status of Today?s World
At first, I was going to hold my tongue about this issue; I really was. When one of the biggest National chain bookstores informed my publicist that my latest book was ?too racy? for me to do signings there, I discussed it with a few people and let it go. When a book club service that has carried every last one of my other titles decided ?to pass? on this one because they did not feel it fit their demographics, I let it go. But, there is always that proverbial last straw and that straw broke the camel?s back last night. I received an ?Apology? email from a person who runs an online magazine. It was an apology to her subscribers because someone was offended by her promotion of my latest title. She vowed to not promote any more erotica or books that were not PG-13 rated. I emailed her back to ask if that includes street fiction or roughly 85% of the novels on the market that have some form of violence, profanity, or sexual content.
The book that I am referring to is ?Purple Panties: The Eroticanoir.com Anthology.? Now there have been many Eroticanoir.com Anthologies, including ?Succulent: Chocolate Flava 2? that just celebrated six weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List earlier this year. No one had a problem with that anthology or any of the ones before it. They sold them like candy, threw them in the front windows of bookstores and had huge displays, and made them the automatic shipments for book club members. From day one, with ?The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth,? I have never toned down my content. It has always been what is has been. All of a sudden, there is ?an issue.?
The only difference between ?Purple Panties? and the nearly two dozen other titles that I have written or edited is that it is a collection of LESBIAN EROTICA. To that, I say shame on it all. It saddens me that we still live in a world that is so sexually oppressed. Now I am not saying that people need to rush out and read the book, or any of my books. I am saying, point blank, that people have a ton of sexual hang-ups that they need to get over. Everything is not for everybody but to ?be offended,? to claim that a book is ?too racy? for booksignings but ?Succulent? was not too racy a couple of months ago, nor ?Dear G Spot? before that, or the book before that and so on, makes the real rationale behind it obvious. Will they feel that same way when ?Honey Flava? comes out two weeks from now or ?Another Time, Another Place? in early June? ?Zane?s Sex Chronicles? in August? ?Sensualidad: Caramel Flava 2? in August? Will they feel that same way when my next full-length novel ?Total Eclipse of the Heart? comes out in November? ?Head Bangers 2: An APF Sexcapade? in March? Will those books be ?too racy? for booksignings or to be featured?
Do not mistake this as some sort of plea to sell books. ?Purple Panties? is currently #442 on Amazon.com, just as high, or higher, in rank than any book that I have ever put out. It will sell like crazy because it is a book that was long overdue. There are millions of people in this world in same gender loving (SGL) relationships. Who has the right to judge them, or tell them what they should or should not do with their lives?
This saddens me because I have now gotten a glimpse?just a tiny, miniscule glimpse?of the discrimination that homosexual and bisexual people face in this world; especially in American society. Eleven years ago I set out on a quest to liberate and empower women?both sexually and overall. To know that we still have such a very long way to go is disappointing. I am not a lesbian but not because I have anything against it. I am just attracted to men. However, I know consider myself an ?honorary lesbian? because I am pissed off at the injustices directed towards them and their gay male counterparts.
I am not going to go on and on about this but I had to speak on it. Life goes on.
Blessings,
Zane
P.S. Do not think that, for one second, this will deter me from my path. ?Missionary No More: Purple Panties 2? is complete and will be released on schedule next January. ?Flesh to Flesh? edited by Lee A. Hayes, a collection of GAY EROTICA, will be released later this month. I am proud of that book as well. People love as they love; not as directed.
Comment(s)
She’s the queen of black books. And therein is the problem. I am wading through the swamp of homophobia in our community–indeed among some of her stalwart fans–and going straight to another higher and drier place. Basically, do we really need street lit porn for lesbians? Is that truly a step up? I love Zane and we marylanders gotta stick together but she knows where I stand on some of this stuff. She’s self-deprecating, and, unlike many of the authors and newly minted moguls and mogulettes in this umbrella genre, does not proclaim herself bigger than anyone in literature. NONETHELESS, I don’t see the need for yet more segmenting and pigeonholing. You see what will happen. A thoughtful poet or novelist who seeks to bring life and electricity to her pain pens something and the publishers pass. Triple Crown, or Strebor publishes a new line called “CHOCOLATE PUSS-LICKERS” and that’s the new norm (I just made that title up…shows where my mind is).
Comment(s)
LGBT books have been around a lot longer than is generally known. In creating and publishing gay and lesbian anthologies, (by authors of color), Zane introduces readers to a new variation on the genre. She is branching out with an open mind to include LGBT works in her catalog and that’s a step forward. Diversity is a hallmark of the LGBT community, and perhaps we should be thankful that literary moguls like Zane are permitting gay and lesbian lit onto their imprints, and wondering when more publishers will follow suit. THe demand, as Zane points out, is certainly there.
The fact that “Purple Panties” meets resistance in spite of its success, is testimony to the pervasiveness of bigotry, and the need for perseverance on the part of those who write in the LGBT genre.