It takes two to tango

No matter the time or the place there is one couple that you can't separate - want to take a guess ? Nope ..  you won't find the answer in the picture this time, even if pictures paints a thousand words! .. and this is an awfully nice picture ... it could very well be the climax of a lesfic story line as in ... no I'm not the writer - I'm the reader! And that's who they are, the couple .. not the dancers silly ! The couple that you can't separate, the couple who need each other like ... well whatever You Need.

... the reader and the writer .. it's a bliss when you find each other. You can be her first, she can be your latest and you can be each others ... whatever you are it might be for life. 

You can bookmark her, put her among your favourites or on a shelf - she won't mind. She will think of you while she puts her words on paper and ponders the story line, but you don't have to brush your teeth before you take her to bed. 

It's a match made in heaven, but it's not free. You'll have to commit your reading time as she will have to commit herself to slaving over the keyboard. She will wonder if you read her lines, as you will wonder the meaning of her words. 

You are together yet separate, your lives merely touching, but still she can linger in your head for days like the tune of a favourite song that you hum to yourself over and over again.

What you do to her is your choice, but if you like her writing drop her a line - STOP lurking and be a pal feed the bard!  ... now I don't know the couple but they could easily picture characters from a favourite story line - even if short blond and tall dark aren't in the picture.... could it be Caid the "Balantine Babe" from Dabkey's "And Playing the role of herself" and her love interest Robyn who just happened to be sporting both a very visible boyfriend Josh and a less obvious stalker. Well probably not as both Caid and Robyn tends to be a bit protective of their private lives and not much is private when you are an actress. On the other hand it might be Mimi and Jolly as you might say that privacy is not high their list. Mimi is waiting in the wings - and not quit patiently - for the love of her life, Jolly to notice what is right in front of her eyes ... the love of her life, and once the cobweb has been dusted of Jolly's mind, they find "A place to Dance" very much in the spotlight or rather in their fathers face ...yes check it out!

Dancing is certainly not uncommon in our lesfic story lines and to some it's almost a lifestyle. Take Sheridan who is a regular on the dance floor with just about any hot babe that she can lay her eyes on ... well that is until Keefer happens to put herself firmly in the picture, but "Caution: Under construction" might just leave you a little breathless even if you aren't  joining the ladies on the dance floor. 

If you go for the more serene dancing then an evening in the company of D.S. Bauden and "A Saving Solace" might be more to your liking. It's just one dance in the confinement of Kelly's home but it does take the story and the ladies to the next level. As is the case for Laurel and her friend Caden in Kim Pritekel's "Again". A dance in the privacy of home is just the thing that gets things moving towards the living happily ever after. If this is playing it a bit safe then try your hand with Xenasgrll's "A Safe Place" where Paige treats Madison to a dance which would not be deemed safe in a public place. Do you want me to go on .. then lets turn up the heat a notch with J Brownell's "Now and Forever" this time the ladies doesn't even make it to the dance floor even if they are dressed up to the nines and almost there, but then again they don't really need to go to the next level, they are already there. 

Now don't get the impression that a dance is all it takes, sometimes a dance can spell disaster waiting to happen as is the case for Clancy in "Miss-Match" by AC Henley, but then again Max wasn't really whom she should have chosen for her first dance and she might think to thank Carmen for getting her ass out of trouble. As for dancing with the "wrong" woman Artemis Callaghan will set up Kit for trouble in the long run by accepting a dance with the wrong sister at the right time. A mix up YES - is it easy to fix - NO or YES - as long as you don't mind playing the fence a bit. Follow the ladies in Hen Night, Wedding reception, Honeymoon, Divorcee.

Go on there is a woman and a writer out there who is the ONE for you....

The best of ....

Some pen's seems to never stop but keep on turn out a never ending stream of fics. Even today in the "dry season" of online Lesfic you can still find Kim Pritekel posting stories with The Academy of Bards when they run their specials for Valentines Day and Halloween. 

You will recognise the formula of LOVE and the steamy exchange of affection when you venture out with Kim Pritekel, but if you take the long way round the writing from this pen you will find quite a number of well written fic's, especially those penned in what I take to be the early days.

It properly won't take You long to catch that the "fan" part of the equation with Kim Pritekel is "feisty blond", "tall and dark" or just the "bluest eyes meeting green" ... we are as often is the case talking Uber Xena fiction.

So if you are game I'll start you out with my favourite Kim Pritekel story "Again"(****). You'll find a little of every romantic theme in this story. A young love lost, a life torn apart by critical illness, a friend that will stand by you through it all and not the least of all a new chance of finding love and LHEA. If you aren't familiar with Kim Pritekel this is not a bad way to meet up for the first time.

When you've overcome the seriousness of a brain surgery with Caden and Laurel in "Again" you might want to go "Bible Thumping"(*). We are still on the issue of a young love lost by the interference of parents not quit happy with a daughter looking to find love with a fair maiden ... 

If you want to go further down the road with Kim Pritekel You'll have to have a stomach for a bad start in life as in child abuse and serious neglect or if we are talking mature women it's "battered wife" and the likes. It's not as if "bad times" take over the storyline, but it's on the other hand often present as the setting and often not just as hint of bad times passed. If you are OK with this premise you might want to spend some time with "Control"(**). Alexa Hofmann helped pen this long and well developed storyline unfolding the lives of Garrison and the girls Keller and Parker, and how they came to be a loving family.

You'll find a similar harsh family situation in a number of stories by Kim Pritekel but if you go for the longer fic's as in "The Long Road Home"(**) this plays in well with the storyline of love "Lost and Found" (**) and the "Outcome"(**) is a given. Alexa Hoffmann also helped pen this last fic which seems to help with the romantic build up and reduce the formalistic steamy affection, but don't worry You'll never be left at the wrong side of the bedroom door when Kim Pritekel is around.

There are more ways than one to get over "Old Wounds" and have a new beginning and with Kim Pritekel we get a lot of different story lines for the same eternal road to love and LHEA. The stories are mostly contemporary and you will find no werewolf's or "Twilight" (**) setting but if you do go out one night to the Ditterman's bridge in Oklahoma you might just for a minute think that You've landed in just such a Twilight zone as Willow in her clown suit dive into the ice cold water after a leather clad figure. Do dive in with her and follow the slow building of friendship, a not so usual family setting and perhaps a looong way down the road .... some love and affection.

If You do want to get up close and REAL personal You probably should have a go at "Safe Word" (*) this is PWP as in "Plot what Plot" but it's written for the 2007 Valentines Day invitational on The Academy so romance is part of the equation even if it starts out as a "no strings attached" party of black clad figures hunting for fresh meat in the shadows of darkness.... Be Safe! Don't get to close to the action unless you know the Safe Word !

A few of the fic's by Kim Pritekel are no longer available at The Academy but if you want to have a look at these you can go back in time with a little help from the "The Waybackmachine" and find working links to "Collector" and "Wild" (-) be warned "Collector" is way past my comfort zone.

I'll leave you with a "Lesson" (**) another extra long fic on the theme of young love that never dies penned by Kim Pritekel and Alexa Hoffman. This is - as a number of stories by this pen - a tale of young love rekindled when girls turn into women. This time you find the story in a college setting and the women joining forces in Psyche 101.

I say You've got a lot of reading on your hands if you want to get yourself acquainted with the pen of Kim Pritekel. Do let me know if you find that one of Kim Pritekel's fic's made their way to your personal "Top 10" ... and while you read on I'll go update "Listmania" and "Top 10s" with a few stories I find missing on my lists.

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!

By Request

Looking for a story ?

The Listmania page on F/F Fan Fiction Reader's Corner is my favourite feature on this blog, and I'm happy to say that Listmania is also by far YOUR favourite  too. That is if we go by the statistics offered by Blogger. In the last week You've viewed Listmania 198 times - well perhaps not all those page views were YOURS but someone did go search for a little something to pass time!

Listmania is the crutch I lean on whenever my memory of a storyline don't really match up with a title or author or when I need a little taste of romance but can't come up with a story that fits with my mood, and I do hope that you find it helpful too.

The categories listed on Listmania are put together to tease ... and guide (!) your search for a  romantic online fic and I must admit that I have great fun putting together the teasers.

Now I've received a request to add a topic to the list of categories on Listmania and that's great as I'm running low on ideas of my own! So if you have a theme or topic that you would like to focus on in your online reading don't hesitated to ask for a list. Who knows I might have come across a story that fits with your interest that you haven't read yet. You can post a comment below or PM me on The Athenaeum Forum (User name UNKN) if you have a suggestion.

Now lets get on with the new list. The request I received asked for a list of stories focused on a pair of women who "met as kid's" and I was lured onto the theme by a teaser .... a link to a medical romance that fits right with this new category of fics! I guess that some of you've realized that I favour romantic fics that includes a lady in a white coat! 

So why not start the new list with a doctor ... you know one of those women with a white coat, warm hands and a wondrous heart that you will find in the first category on Listmania.

Follow me or perhaps you would rather follow a seven year old blue eyed girl who tags along with  her father on his rounds in the paediatric children's ward at Bostons Children's Hospital. If you do you'll witness the first meeting of the blue eyed girl and a green eyed toddler, who is a surgical heart patient at the Hospital. Now hold on as we move fast forward to the present day and the paediatric ICU ward at Egelston Children's Hospital in Atlanta where you'll meet the 30 year old Dr. Alexander Morgan a brilliant surgeon who goes by the name "The Breathtaking Bitch" and her favourite nurse Bryn O'Neill, who just happens to have a special gift for telling the little patients stories that keep them calm and rested while they recover.

You might have guessed that this is almost as Xena Uber as it gets but what you might not have guessed is that the women have no clue that they are "old acquaintances", so what we are about to experience is the slow process of realising that the bond the women feel they have is not a new thing, but a bond that was formed between to little girls almost 25 years ago. 

"Mended Hearts" by Alix Stokes doesn't have the most well developed storyline or interesting characters that I've come by, but if you are keen on the Xena Uber genre you might have a bit of fun with this story.

With the request for a list of fics on theme "Met as Kids" I also received links to several stories that fit in this new category:

• "Within The Heart" by Lady D (Met as Kids)
• "Tomahawk'd" by DS Bauden (Met as Kids)
• "The Enemy Next Door" by Silverwriter01 (Met as Kids)
• "South Africa" by Anne Azel (Met as Kids)
• "Peruvian Encounter" by Anne Azel (Met as Teens)
• "Family Reunion" by Mavis Applewater (Met as Teens) 
• "The Reef" (Sam and Jody series) by Lois Kay (Met as Teens)

As you might have guessed I haven't had the time to read the stories mentioned above so I'll let you explore these on your own.

I have however pinpointed a few fic that fits in this category as well:

My favourite "Met as Kids" fic is "Beginning" by Fingersmith. This story has a little of everything - love and romance, drama and spice - if you want to know more follow the link to the review.

A close second in this category is "Comic Book Life" by Zee. This is romance and humour all in one but as far as the romance goes it's rather one sided in the early years. You can read more about this fic if you follow the link above to the reviews of Zee's stories.

I think that I'll also include one of my favourite PWP/romances in the category "Met as Kids" even if one of the kid's is actually a teen when the girls meet. If you haven't visited with Wilder as she tries to convince Darcy that sex with a woman is much better than with a man - you ought to run along right away and do it - visit with Wilder I mean ... well that is if you are not at the Office. Ups seems I forgot to mention in which story Wilder and Darcy appears ... if you haven't guessed by now its "Unlimited Sexual Favours" by Cephalgia and MJ. I might have mentioned it once or twice before.

It will also be worth while to spend a bit of reading time on Dee's fic "Fenced Fields". Even if this is much more romance and a lot less spice compared to "Unlimited Sexual Favours". This time we move into the rural area of the States to follow Molly as she works hard to convince Eunice that love might be coming her way. And while we are hopping around in the rural areas of the States I might as well mention "One Two Oh" by A.C. Henley. I'm not quite sure when Rose and Critter actually met for the first time but I gather that they both lived on Rose's father's ranch for quite a few years before Rose was caught by her father while in a lip lock with Critter at the tender age of 14 ... need I mention that he was not amused ? I'm a fan of A.C. Henley so if you don't mind a bit of horse manurers then ride along with Critter and Rose into the sunset.

I don't know if you'll be willing to go native but if life on the prairies are not too much of an outdoor experience for you then look up "Drifter" by D. This time you'll get the complete story of growing up and falling in love with your best friend. While we are on the subject of going native you might also want to take a look at Kim Pritekel and Alexa Hoffmann's "Wild". This time we will find one of our girls living her life in the woods in Main but nevertheless the story is set in modern time.

The last fic I can think of right now is "My Sisters Keeper" by Mavis Applewater. This is the story of a first love that never dies even if you are broken apart by a hideous mother and the strict rules of Convent ... yes you will find a nun in this story.  

I'll merge the fic's listed above with the existing category on "A Love That Never Dies" in Listmania and create subcategories for the stories involving women who "Met as Kids", "Met as Teens" and "Met in College" - I hope that this will help you in your search for an entertaining romance.

Annual Academy of Bards Valentine Special

Have you checked out the stories posted at the Academy's Valentine's Special 2011?

If not you might want to do a sample of the sweets on offer - several well known pens from the online Universe of fan fiction have chipped in this year.

Insane Englishwoman has put together a classic lesfic themed short story "Those Who Cannot See". If you find the theme appealing you can find it fully explored by LJ Maas in "None so Blind" an old favourite of mine.

If you can handle a story with tissue alert look up Lois Cloarec Hart's "Love is" - I must admit that I found it too sad to finish but well written and touching.

Kim Pritekel will serve you with a hot helping - as usual - I might say. "The One You're Looking for" is not the best work from her pen - from the long list of Kim's solo work I think that I would pick "Again" as my favourite, but then again it has been awhile since I have been through the long list of Pritekel fic's.

SX Meager delivers a long time couple, a tiny dog and a park ranger that might be both the last drop of water for the cup to run full or the first drink of a fresh cup - "The near occasion of sin" will promise a new beginning for those willing to give love a chance.

My favourite this year is Artemis Callaghan's "Would like to meet". Just like Pritekel, Callaghan explores the theme of dating sites or lonely hearts ads - but I prefer the slow romancing that we are treated to from Callaghan's pen - it's sweet, but hey it's Valentine's right? But beware I might be biased - I'm a Callaghan fan - so you better go make up your own mind.

Something I Said by Denic

A few weeks ago I reviewed “True Colours“ by Karen A. Surtees and PruferBlue as part of a list on stories with a less than physically perfect protagonist. I’ve been adding to the list since then, so here is an update.

You’re probably already familiar with the very productive pen of Kim Pritekel, a number of her stories have already been reviewed at this site, but I don’t think anyone has mentioned “Eye of the Beholder”. In “Eye of the Beholder” we meet a young blind journalist, who has been assigned to do an article on a beautiful and rather bitchy former model. Kim Pritekel also penned the touching story “Again” about Laurel, who returns to Boston after 10 years, to see her former lover, Caden, who is suffering from brain cancer and wants to see Laurel again before she goes into surgery. This is one of those classic romances of young love that never dies, so rest assured - even if it’s a bit tragic at times - I guarantee a happy end.

In the short story “Sheridans Fate” by Gun Brooke, we meet Sheridan Ward as she opens the yearly stockholders’ convention of Ward Enterprises. This is Sheridans first public appearance after she contracted bacterial meningitis 11 months earlier, now she is bound to a wheelchair and dependent on her personal assistant and nurse - Lark. This is a short, but catching tale of a tough and bitchy executive with a heart longing for love. I understand that the story has been turned into a novel published by Bold Strokes Books.

While we are at it, I think I should also mention “Love’s Melody Lost” by Radclyffe, a novel sporting a concert pianist and composer, who has isolated herself in her home after a car accident that left her blind and without her former feel for music. Anna enters into this bleak house as a “house manager” for the pianist, and manages to put the spark back in her eyes, but love is something that Graham – the pianist - is not yet ready to embrace. Even though the story is well written, I’m not too keen on it, as Graham is portrayed a bit too transgendered for my taste, but it’s well rated on The Athenaeum so – surprise – not everyone agrees with me :-)

The last story to be added to my list of stories with less than perfect protagonists is “Something I Said” by Denic, and this is really something else as the protagonist Conner suffers from Tourette's syndrome. This is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by tics, but in the case of Conner, the tics are mostly vocal and take the form of exclamation of obscene words.

When we meet Conner, the Tourette's has yet again caused her to lose a job, she is banned from shopping in the nearby grocery store, and virtually friendless. Wandering the streets, she encounters the neighbourhood toughs, who don’t take too kindly to her mouthing her thoughts on their mothers and that lands her with a bloodied lip and a black eye. You want me to go on, or do you get the idea ? Conner is at a low point in her life and this is when she starts a string of encounters with a beautiful blond who seems to be stalking her.

Conner’s life turns for the better when she strikes up a friendship with her neighbour, Elmer, an older man who doesn’t seem to take offence by her cuss words, and eventually the friendship with Elmer leads her to meet her blond stalker - Ellison.

Basically “Something I Said” is an ordinary romance, with two woman both reluctant to believe in love, but I must say that Denic has found an original setting for this one. I’ve no idea if the story is true to the plights of someone suffering from Tourette's, but I hope that it won’t offend anyone. When you cut out all the cuss words, you've got a sweet romance and a number of episodes that can put a smile on your face. So don’t hesitate to look up this story even if it is a bit out of the ordinary.