Catching Up: Lesbian Cowboys

Here we go again, with the Table of Contents and introduction to Lesbian Cowboys (Cleis Press). Rakelle Valencia and I co-edited this one, and finally won a Lambda Literary Award for it, after two previous anthologies--Rode Hard, Put Away Wet (Suspect Thoughts Press) and Lipstick on Her Collar (Pretty Things Press) were Finalists. I know my introductions must seem biased, and why not? Still, recognition from the folks at Lambda is a good indication that my writers are every bit as good as I think they are.


Contents
Freedom Rides Radclyffe
Queens Up Andrea--Dale
Fucking With the Farrier Rakelle Valencia
Man Enough Cecilia Tan
The Hired Hand Delilah Devlin
Nightmare Jean Roberta
Fancy Pants Roxy Katt
Two Fronts Craig J. Sorensen
When the Rodeo Comes to Town Jove Belle
Girl Cowboy Charlotte Dare
An Immodest Woman Elazarus Wills
Cully’s Run Cheyenne Blue
Bareback DeJay
The Adventures of a Lesbian Cowboy Teresa Wymore
Pulling Sacchi Green

Introduction

"Cowboy" is a calling, a vocation, not a gender, and some of the toughest cowboys aren't boys at all. The life is rough and gritty, as much down to earth as tall in the saddle. The lesbian cowboys in these stories work hard, play hard, and love hard, in the Old West, New West, or anywhere in the world. Above all, they ride hard, whether on a horse or a woman.
“Cowboy" is also a legend, an attitude, and a state of mind. These women do the work and walk the walk. They know what they want and take it, and give back as good as they get. For all their similarities, each is a distinct individual, with stories that vary from profoundly moving to gripping to as edgy as shiny spurs. The settings cover a wide range, as well, from Australia to New England to the Great Plains and the Rockies, and from the wildest days of the west through two World Wars to right now.
In contemporary stories, Radclyffe and Jove Belle give us very different views of riders who hold their own in the limelight of the rodeo, and then hold a woman close to ease their aches and loneliness and tension. Jean Roberta and Elazarus Wills follow loners running away from themselves until older and wiser lovers set them back on track. Cheyenne Blue shows the conflict between traditional cattle ranching and the new environmentalism in Australia, when sparks fly between opponents. Rakelle Valencia and Sacchi Green portray very different equine specialists, one a farrier and one a pulling horse competitor, driven to the edge by extreme desires. Roxy Katt injects humor into roleplaying, while DeJay brings heat and tenderness to a tale of longtime lovers. Delilah Devlin’s “Hired Hand” is every inch a woman, and more than a match for any man.
Some of the action is set in historical periods when the only way for some women to be themselves was to pass as men. Andrea’s Dale’s poker player has to do it long enough to win that all-important pot; Teresa Wymore’s Pinkerton detective takes on the lifelong role with gusto; and Cecilia Tan’s young ranch hand survives an initiation in an old-west bordello to prove that she’s “Man Enough”. In a later era, during World War II, Craig J. Sorenson’s young rebel proves her ability to run the ranch as well or better than any man when her brothers are lost in battle, while Charlotte Dare’s drifter keeps searching for somewhere to live out an identity that matters more even than love.
Ride along with us on these fifteen erotic adventures of lust, dust and leather, ropes and saddles, with lesbian cowboys vivid enough to be real and sexy enough to fantasize about. If you work up a sweat, and we sure hope you do, come right on down to the bunkhouse and join us. There’s plenty of steam in the shower, and the loving is hot anywhere you look.