Damn Straight - Softcover

Q. Most of the action in Damn Straight happens at 'The Dinah,' a major LPGA golf tournament. Why there?

A. Well, that tournament is to women's athletics what the Michigan Festival is to women's music. You know, all you have to say is, "Michigan," and gay women know what you're talking about. It's the same with "The Dinah." That's actually the original name for the tournament: The Dina Shore Invitational. Then it was called the Kraft Nabisco (during which time this book is set, then the ANA Inspirational, after the different sponsors. Anyway! For decades it's had a real mystique: it's the top championship in women's golf, therefore all the top players are there, therefore they'd all give almost anything to win it. So there's an atmosphere of suspense built right in. If you've ever gone to watch, there's a thrill in the air that you just don't feel anywhere else. 

For another thing, it's this huge lesbian jamboree. Women from all over America--all over the world, even--come to root for their faves and party down. The big hotels throw these massive parties where women get together and dance and drink and have a great time. Some come only for the parties. Last year during tournament week I was talking to a young woman in a hotel lobby. I asked her whether she was going to get out to watch the golf today. She gave me a blank look and said, "There's golf?" 

Q. So, do you know a three-iron from a bunker rake? 

A. I do. In writing this story I saw an opportunity to make use of my knowledge of golf. I wove the game into the story. My main character, Lillian Byrd, describes watching--really closely watching--champions practicing and playing. She understands the strategy of the game, and she understands the physics of the golf swing. Being Lillian, however, she's not such a great golfer herself. 

Q. Will non-golfers be able to relate to the story? 

A. Oh, definitely. My editor doesn't golf and she loved it. None of my advance readers were golfers and they loved it. I might note that it's possible to appreciate a game even if you don't play it. I don't play football but I like to watch it. And I like to listen to knowledgeable people talk about it. 

Q. In Holy Hell, you established Lillian Byrd as a bit of a goof. That is, someone who isn't very sophisticated. What was it like putting her into a glitzy environment? 

A. Oh, it was so much fun. The thing is, Lillian may not be sophisticated, but she's alive, she appreciates beauty, she appreciates sex, she appreciates good things. I mean, a world-class athlete is an awesome physical being. They're so healthy, so beautiful and competent. The body awareness they have is incomparable. Lillian gets into that sort of stuff. 

And I realized that by setting the story in a glitzy milieu, I could use Lillian to explore so much: lust, money, fame, achievement, social conflict, obsession. And I did, and it was fun. 

Moreover, while Damn Straight mostly takes place at a big-money international event, it's a story about people. Lillian gets into trouble, of course--she's so good at that. She gets hit on by a big LPGA star, and she falls for her, and from then on she's a captive of her own emotions. Her emotions lead her to make certain choices. See, the golfer Lillian falls in love with has a secret she wants to keep hidden. And she's in danger. Lillian perceives that if she can make the danger go away, she'll be a hero to her love. And the more she works on it, the more she understands that the danger is rooted in that gorgeous golfer's past. The golfer doesn't want her to go there. But Lillian loves her and wants to protect her. So what's she going to do? 

Q. The humor in your books is fairly understated, and it's aimed in unexpected directions. Would you go so far as to call it subversive? 

A. I guess my books could best be described as deadpan comic noir. The humor of my stuff is a slippery thing. What's funny about it can't really be explained. It's sort of like, if you have to ask "In what way is this funny?" you're never going to know. 

I wouldn't have thought to use the word subversive, but it makes me feel special, so yes, I'd call my humor subversive. I like to get people to laugh at things they formerly took totally seriously. For example, I'm proud of Lillian's obsession with reading a series of cheesy crime stories, featuring a heroine named Calico Jones. She's ashamed of liking these sexy, melodramatic, cliché-ridden stories, but she can't put them down. And she can never remember the author's name. I make myself laugh every time I think of that.

"Lillian Byrd is wry, acerbic, intelligent, common-sensical, and just foolhardy enough to keep the plot moving without making readers want to kill her before the baddies do... Read it. You'll love it. You'll want more." -- Liberty Press