We welcome fellow Sapphic Planet member Sofia Antonia Milone to our pages today. She and we are celebrating the launch this month of an exciting year long project, and her new book, Age of Aquarius, is the premier offering.
Let me start this by stating I am not a blogger, I’m barely even a writer. This is all new to me. It’s still fresh, and fun. I’m still reeling from the fact anyone thinks something I have written is worth reading, never mind publishing.
As with most things I end up doing I was standing in the wings watching, learning, and knowing that one day someone might say ‘can you do that?’ and I’ll find myself saying ‘Let’s find out.’
So here I am, with a small, unassuming book out: A novella, the first in a series named Sapphic Signs written exclusively by the authors of Sapphic Planet for Torquere Press. Why? Because everything is an opportunity, if you look at it from the right angle. Because it was time to see if I could.
Now I come to write this guest blog, a very kind offer from fellow Planeteer Adriana Kraft and once again I realise I have no idea what I’m doing. I ask myself why I deign to think I can do this. And then I remember why I started writing in the first place.
I started writing, as many do, out of frustration. The fiction that interests me, with gay women as central figures, is not to be found in abundance (yes, there are some great books out there, but not enough say I). And much of that which is readily available is riddled with cliché in both character depiction and plot.
I write because I am both an unsatisfied and dissatisfied reader. Even some of the great writers of lesbian fiction have fallen short for me and I find myself clinging desperately to the few stories I have loved, over and over again.
I write the type of fiction I want to read, and I want to read depictions of gay characters, central to a storyline, who are not embroiled in some coming out journey, but rather are just living their lives, during which something interesting enough happens that deserves to be written about. Be that murder, love, or alien abduction.
I’ve had my fill of sexual discovery, and I’m not even that interested in happy ever after. I hope to write about people who are real, with the struggles we all have. Characters who can be described beyond their sexuality. People who are identifiable, but not boring; Exciting, but not ridiculous; Gritty, yet sexy.
I am a romantic at heart, but I also don’t do soppy. I enjoy tales of rejection, or redemption. I like it when things are not smooth, not obvious, not easy; when life throws a spanner, when people’s intentions are unclear, or misinterpreted. I enjoy reading that people make mistakes, and screw up, and struggle to regain themselves. And I love when these things are never truly resolved, because I’m too old for fairy tales, and far too cynical.
If I’ve managed to achieve some of the above in such a short story remains to be seen. This story, Age of Aquarius, is a taster, a learning curve in how to craft a readable story with likeable, or at least believable characters. I wanted to learn about them as I wrote, and did a ridiculous amount of historical research in hopes of achieving a real sense of their lives in such a short space of time.
In the very least I’m very proud to be counted amongst the illustrious list of contributing writers at Sapphic Planet. If people like what I do I am confident they will let me know.
You can read a sample of Age of Aquarius HERE
You can find author Sofia Antonia Milone at the following links:
Facebook Sofia Antonia Milone
Author Group Sapphic Planet
Yahoo Group Sapphic Readers
Twitter @FiaMilone
Artist, Composer, Author, Musician. Fia is also known for being lead singer in UK punk/rock band GeEkgiRL. “Ladies, we can do it all.”
