Of Drag Kings and
The Wheel of Fate
By
Susan Smith (Smitty)
Yeeee-haw! Giddy up, sweetlings, and hold on tight. I mean it.
I'm about to send you off on a wild, rollicking, exhilarating ride, and
when you dismount you'll be sore at all the right places and - I assure you -
you'll be grinning widely.
Nope, not a
Western. Not a "poor young jockey
and a wealthy horse owner" story either.
Matter of fact, no equestrian anywhere in sight. Having said that, I do admit that the opening
allusion is a miserably misdirected one, but - what the hell - I don't feel
like changing it now. One thing is true,
though - this story *will* exhilarate you, it *will* keep you up in awed
anticipation the night before you're supposed to make a very important (and
therefore somewhat lucid) presentation at work, it *will* make your buttocks
numb and your eyes dry. You. Will.
Love. It.
Under one
condition: You must believe in soulmates.
Taryn and
Rosalind are most unlikely of couplings.
A twenty year old drag king with enough baggage to last her through the
next lifetime and a half and a thirty-three year old college professor, freshly
divorced and - to the best of her knowledge - straight.
Jerry Springer
material or just another day in
Well, I ain't
done yet. Hows about we introduce to the
mix a host of old, familiar characters under new guises, witchcraft, great sex,
past-life misdemeanors, transsexuals, drag queens and frost it all with
tremendous love and talent for writing?
You getting
the idea yet?
Our
star-cross'd lovers must battle socially-bred insecurities, bad karma from the
last time around, homophobia, ageism, gender issues, burden of fate and, in the
midst of it all, still manage to have mind-blowing, soul-melding sex. No small feat.
Smitty here,
as you will see, manages to pull it all off with such seeming ease, each word
she imprints on the screen imbued with a life of its own, that you will find
yourself re-reading certain sentences and shivering with awed chills. There is no fault with characterization, with
evocative imagery, moving descriptions, breathtaking emotions. Having said that, one of my friends to whom
I've forwarded the story read the first few chapters and then replied, and I
quote: "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't stomach all that soulmates crap. Gag me with a pitchfork! Ew!"
This from a woman who cannot find the perfection that is Angelina Jolie
attractive. That should tell you a lot
about her…
And on that
note, beware, be ready, find some comfy pillows and go read. And make sure you drop Smitty a line or
two. It's bad ju-ju if you don't, you'll
come back as a Republican in your next life!