“Revenge is a Bitch to Swallow”
Claudia Christian
Lyons, B., Christian, C., Pray, T., England, C. J., Sullivan, P., Norris, G. L., Phelan, S., Leathers, M., Cooper, A., Clovin, B., Durham, S. 2007. Forbidden Love: Wicked Women: Issue 2. Cedar Falls: Under the Moon Press.
By Jacqueline Fox and Desiree Washington
Claudia Christian, actor, model, singer, and director makes her debut in erotic fiction with “Revenge is a Bitch to Swallow,” a short story in Forbidden Love: Wicked Women, an anthology about unapologetic and unabashedly sexual women.
Christian’s sexy heroine, Tanya, is a woman of many talents: she has a rock-climber’s physique and agility, rides a Harley 883 Sportster, and can kick out a roundhouse powerful enough to bring a buffalo to its knees. A new member of the Larimer County Rescue Station just outside of Denver, Tanya is drawn to the mountains and to helping others. Despite her abilities, she is relegated to doing office work.
Tanya’s boss, Earl, has it in for her, although it is not revealed why. He is attracted to her no doubt, but cannot seem to do more than taunt her with racial slurs and sexual innuendo. Eventually, Earl becomes motivated to send Tanya out on a rescue, perhaps by a desire to punish Tanya for having sex with women. The assignment proves to test not only Tanya’s physical strength, but her mental resolve as well.
Tanya’s a runner. She has run so long she has forgotten what real comfort feels like. She is not rooted, but clearly uses the events of her history to stay weighted down from the inside;he mourns the death of her mother and the loss of family. But like all of the female characters in this collection, Tanya’s ability to keep her eye on the prize is unstoppable.
Tanya’s gender is not lost on her for a second and she is not above flaunting her female attributes to achieve her goals. And, while she clearly enjoys the strength and territory of a male lover, Tanya slips in and out of lesbian lust with the ease and grace of a pro, leaving us wondering what it would take to get this girl to finally settle down.
Ultimately, Tanya’s encounters on the mountain are racy, life affirming, and at times, horrific: she’s forced at gunpoint to perform oral sex on a man “who hasn’t taken a bath since Nixon was president,” following a beating from his grizzly sidekick. Revenge becomes an obvious leap for Tanya.
This is a witty and solid first-effort by Christian. She takes themes of female adventure and sexploration, makes them pliable and real, and tosses them against a very realistic 1950s-style backdrop. It would have been nice to see more of Tanya in action; she is alluring. Yet, we only glimpse who she is and what motivates her.
Says Christian on writing erotica, “[It] is difficult. How many different ways can you say ‘penis’?” Yet, Christian pulls no punches in describing the sexual predilections of her characters, whether they are lusty, sweaty, beer-bellied bigots or petite and feminine newcomers, dreaming under the fuzz of a first lesbian encounter.
Forthcoming works by Christian include “Past Loves”, an erotic short story based loosely on the Sacred Band of Thebes. Part of an anthology titled Sacred Band of Thebes, “Past Loves” is scheduled to be released in July by Under the Moon Press. “It is well written, and is a very well researched story of reincarnation,” says Terri Pray, co-author and co-editor of the Sacred Bands anthology.
Also in print later this year is My Life with Geeks and Freaks, a full-length book which chronicles Christian’s adventures as a guest panelist on the Science Fiction convention circuit.
Forbidden Love: Wicked Women: Issue 2 is available in paperback online at Amazon.com. For more about Claudia Christian, go to www.claudiachristian.net.