My debut novel "Just Good Friends?" is the book I wanted to read my whole life but never found, so finally had to write it myself! It follows a group of wealthy 'Yummy Mummies' who appear to have it all, but are their seemingly-perfect lives quite as cosy as they think?
Eleanor’s blissfully unaware that her husband Harvey’s having a steamy affair with a young woman at the Office and is about to turn his back on his lucrative City career. Ruth thinks her husband Simon is working long hours, but he’s more likely to be found tucked up in bed with his mistress (and plotting their divorce). In the middle of it all, a drunken kiss with her good friend Helen suddenly sends Ruth’s world into freefall, and what happens next changes all of their lives forever …
So why did I have to write it?
Brookside's 'Lesbian kiss' in January 1994 was a national talking-point and (unlike its male equivalent on EastEnders in 1986 which caused an outcry), was highly-publicised and eagerly anticipated by the media; the over-riding reason seemingly being the simple fact that it was a kiss shared between two nice 'normal' girls. This group of women are what's commonly referred to today as Lipstick Lesbians.
From the days where Martina Navratilova was seen as pretty-much the world's 'First' (and hated for it) lesbian, through the episode of her TV sit-com where Ellen Degeneres 'came out', to today (where shows like Tipping the Velvet and the L Word air in prime-time TV slots), lesbianism has now become so marketable that many shows appear to deliberately seek any opportunity to include some sort of lesbian content.
Even the slightest hint is guaranteed to feature in a show's trailers (e.g. Jessica's lesbian kiss in the first Series of BBC's Mistresses), so If lesbianism didn't sell, it simply wouldn't be there … would it?
Even Mad Men (and women) are at it!
In Series 1 of Mad Men, Joan's roommate revealed she was in love with her (view it on Links below). Joan's expression barely altered, yet in that one tiny moment we saw her both register and reject the advance then gently suggest to Carol that it was merely down to her simply having "Had a bad day."
Considering the fanatical attention to detail this show prides itself on, I contest that it would have been highly unlikely for a 1960's 'lady' to have made such an open and honest declaration, and that this particular scene was included for one reason and one reason only: lesbianism sells.
You may recall that the very feminine Desperate Housewives character Katherine, left Wisteria Lane to embark on a new life with a woman, and that even the UK's own Coronation Street brought us our first 'proper' lesbian Soap couple – Sophie and Sian – in 2010, which unfortunately ended in misery on their Wedding Day on 29th December 2011 when Sian was devastated to discover Sophie had kissed another girl and (still in her wedding dress), left the Street … forever?
And if that's not enough evidence, a second Series of Lip Service (the BBC's rival to the L Word), is currently airing (May 2012), + October 2010 also saw the release of The Kids Are Alright: the first-ever mainstream movie to feature an openly lesbian couple.
Life Mirrors Art
Then there are TV stars/actresses (e.g. Portia De Rossi and Cynthia Nixon), who clearly didn't view 'coming out' as an issue, and the female singers who know that giving another woman a passionate on-stage kiss is a guaranteed publicity coup – rather than career suicide!
Here in the UK too, presenters such as Mary Portas, Sandy Toksvig, Clare Balding, Sue Perkins, Susan Calman and others are able to make reference to their relationships on prime-time TV/Radio shows without fear of being fired for it. Indeed, (along with many of our gay male TV personalities), they are – in fact – pretty-much regarded as National Treasures.
Lesbianism is fashionable, and more and more 'ordinary' women are also embarking on a whole new life in a world in which they're now relatively free to be able to choose that path.
The stereotypical butch/femme divide and the left-wing separatist (that most people would have recognised as being a 'typical' lesbian some 30 years ago), are long-since gone, and the edges of what defines a person's sexuality – or even gender – these days are now often very-much blurred.
Same-sex relationships are no longer classed as 'wrong' (far from it), but the day when a person will feel able to be fully open and proud of their sexuality in every aspect of their life without fear of rejection or discrimination is still not quite with us; hence my character Ruth's complete and utter collapse as she tries to reconcile her own inherent feelings of prejudice against those of her newly-discovered sexuality in "Just Good Friends?"
A Gap in the Market
Considering the rise in lesbianism's profile within the media over the last few years, it's a real surprise to me that there are still so few mainstream books out there which include anything other than the merest hint of a sexual relationship between the type of professional/independent female characters we would identify and associate with the average chick-lit/women's novel.
Other than Rita Mae Brown's "Sudden Death", or "Loving Her" by Ann Shockley (both of which were extremely popular in the 1980's), I've never really found a 'grown up' novel which includes two women having a lesbian relationship and actually ending up together, rather than just maybe sharing a chasten kiss before running back safely into the arms of the Hunky-yet-sensitive guy at the end!
I'm not suggesting that the whole world is about to 'go gay', but whether we dare admit it or not, it's unlikely there's a person alive who couldn't honestly confess to never having experienced either some sort of 'special' connection or attraction to someone of the same sex – even for a moment – at some point in their life.
When you ask people who were previously 'straight' how they ended up with a same-sex partner, they generally point out that it was often the person they first were attracted to, rather than their sexuality. People don't choose to be gay. It's still a lot easier to be straight!
In a few years time, novels will feature as many same-sex relationships as 'straight' ones, but as the (very sadly departed) writer E. Lynn Harris found when writing about professional black, gay sports/businessmen living quietly in America: the mainstream publishing world appears either slow to embrace, or reluctant to go down that road.
I've found the same to be true here in the UK, but the huge rise in popularity of the ‘Lipstick Lesbian’ in every aspect of the media – except (so far), the mainstream women's fiction market – means it's only a matter of time now before an established author ‘hits’ on the idea of writing a book featuring a genuine love story between two straight/married women; is lauded for their ground-breaking new novel, and I will have ended up missing the boat (story of my life)!
Sooner or later, someone is going to twig that there's a gap in the market for chick-lit-type novels which feature modern, professional gay women, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch that happen without having done everything I could to have got my book out there first, so THAT was why I've had to self-publish it, and now spend 90+ hours a week trying to market it myself via my blog/Twitter etc.
A Little More About the Book
One of the main themes of "Just Good Friends?" is its account of the moral dilemma faced by a married woman whose heart tells her one thing but is afraid of how she feels society will judge her.
It's set in-and-around the area I lived in South West London for two reasons: 1) Because I personally love to read books which are set in places I've been to and 2) they always tell you to "Write about what you know", don't they?
The other story-lines (the ubiquitous 'errant husbands'), are familiar to us all. On Monday mornings in millions of homes across the world, top businessmen leave for work and are often barely seen again until Friday night – such is the demanding nature of their jobs. Who knows what some of them might be getting up to while they're away though?
As the wives of these men will inevitably spend a greater percentage of their lives with their female friends than most, it is not unreasonable to envisage how a close friendship might also conceivably develop into something more over time …
And just a word about Eleanor. As anyone who's ever sat and watched a Disney film with a 5-year-old (or read a Jackie Collins novel), will know … there has to be a 'baddie', but is she really as wicked as she seems?
Click to here buy "Just Good Friends?"
Links
Why it's never too late to be a lesbian!
One in three women prefer spending time with their girlfriends than their husbands
More than half of women are attracted to their female friends
Are you closer to your best friend than your husband?
Video: Mad Men – "1960, I am so over you!"
Mary Portas and her partner are expecting a baby
Mary Portas speaks of her love for her female partner
