If You Can Carry a Tune

If you can carry a tune you might be one to sing those awfully sad songs of love lost ... at least on a rainy day? Or like Erin with her "Haunted Past" (**) you might just hear the echo of a sad tune while you nurse a drink meant to sooth the heartache .... but I guess you know that a drink will not get Erin anywhere but closer to the memory of the terrible day when Gillian left her. Knowing Larisa we won't have to watch Erin waste away though, but we may have to watch the ladies dance around a bit before they kiss and make up.

Now grab a coffee while I find something with a good tune for you to read ..... how about Kim Pritekel's "Twilight"(**). In this story there is music to be found, as in the popular singer and songwriter Christine who is badly in need of a helping hand to get her act back together and find a little happiness ... and she might just find what she needs in Willow a nurse, wife and soon to be expecting mother ... yes you might say that Kim Pritekel has her work cut out for her if she wants the ladies to be more than friends. If you choose to sing along with Christine and Willow then settle in for a long read - it's a catching one with hurt and comfort, drama and romance and a well defined cast of characters. I would say that "Twilight" is among Pritekel's most well tuned stories.

Sometimes the tunes you play will get you fame and a truckload of money but most often it might not even put bread on the table or a roof over your head. Take Sam for instance she lives her life in her car going where the next job is most likely to be found. One day Sam finds herself stranded in the small town of "Piperton" (**) and her ability to play the piano and sing a tune the shortest way to a bit of cash. Even if her tunes ain't getting her a world of fame, Sam's soft songs of lost love is what gets her a new chance in life .... the attention of Janie. I'll leave you to explore the route that Sam and Janie travel on your own.

When we leave Piperton I suggest we explore one of the less talked about F/F fiction sites "Sapphic Voices" lets do so by listening in on Storm and her Stormtroopers soon to be Stormclouds in F.J.Davey's "Images"(**). This is music meeting the world of business and an unnourished heart finding love in a new and unexpected place. It's also a chance for you to explore the overseas .... well I guess that really is a question of where you have set up home ... but to me Australia and Zimbabwe is definitely out of everyday reach. So if you are willing to take a chance with the popular tunes of the Sixties, Eighties and even Nineties then follow along and see how the fierce temper and hot looks of lead singer Storm sparks when met with Kathryn's smooth businesslike manners and cool distance. The question is if there will ever be more than just sparks flying .... and I might warn you it's not just you and me looking in on Storm and Kathryn we got another a pair of eyes, a pair of too interested eyes, following the moves. So watch out !

I'm going to leave you to the music of your own choice but on my way out I'll set up a list of stories sporting protagonists who have a connection to the music scene. The stories might not quite match the above mentioned in quality but you might still find something that matches the rhythm of your heart:

• Sidney's Serenade by JL Nickey 
• Two Part Harmony by Colleen
• The Sister by Zuke
• Magic of the Heart by CJ Harte
• Whips and Chains by Larisa

If you have stories you want to add to the list please let me know!

Piperton by Carrie Carr

You could call Sam a drifter as she is living out of her car, travelling all over the Southwest never stopping long enough to settle down anywhere. It’s hard to tell what keeps her going, as she doesn’t seem to be looking for anything in particular. Maybe moving along in it self is reason enough for her to go from place to place, or maybe she just hasn’t come across that someone who could give her reason to stop, changes her life and settle down?

Had she been given a choice, Piperton in small town Texas would properly not be a place Sam would want to stop for more than gas, but as her beat up car breaks down for good, she has to stay for a while getting together enough money to buy another car to get back on the road.

In a town like Piperton Sam’s sticks out as the butch lesbian, looking the part with her heavy work boots, tight t-shirt and wallet on a chain. This doesn’t make her stay in Piperton any easier, and perhaps slightly more dangerous that she had bargained for.

So what’s to do for someone like Sam in a town like Piperton? Well if you’re a bigot you might say that she would spend her time corrupting the local woman, but that’s really not Sam’s intention at all. What she does need though is a friend, and after a bit of a bumpy start Sam lucks out – twice.

Not only dose Sam meets Betsy who gives her a job, a place to stay and a sense of family, she also catches Janie’s eye. Janie is a rather disillusioned, unfashionable kind of woman, who lets her father and her rather unattractive boyfriend run her life. I would say that she comes across as rather unhappy, but somehow lacking the reason or ability to changes her life. An uneasy friendship with Sam changes all that, and Sam becomes the catalyst to alter not only Janie's life, but the lives of others - including her own.

The first part of the story is rather bleak, painting the picture of two woman not really having found happiness in life and not really looking for it either, but the story brightens up as Sam and Janie strikes up a friendship that moves along towards an attraction.

There are a couple of loose ends in the story as pointers towards a history of hate crime by Janie’s “ex (almost) father in law” is laid out, but really not expanded on. It doesn’t really matter as the basic non-lesbian friendly environment in Piperton comes across just fine without it.

You might like to know that Piperton seems to have made it into print, which I think is a bit surprising, as I could point to other stories of better quality, which hasn’t made it into print, but it might be that the printed version has a broader storyline or something that could warrant publishing.

Anyway why not enjoy a little on-line entertainment when it's free of charge?