Friday, May 9, 2014

Genuine Chemistry



I'm going to have a story in that lovely book right there. It's called "Genuine Chemistry," and it's about a gender-nonconforming moonshiner who's lying low in a small factory town until an elegant widow waltzes into her life.

I had a whole lot of fun researching it—so many fascinating transitions happened in the twenties. It made me realize that the 60s weren't the only time sexual freedom increased in the world. And there are plenty of nuances, such as the significance of Chanel No. 5 perfume (a scent that was intended to mingle the muskiness of the "scarlet woman" with the floral aroma of the "nice girl"). Check out these gorgeous perfume ads. I also found great resources about historically accurate underwear (thank you, Vintage Dressmaker!), and 1920s slang, and one academic paper I used for information on words used for lesbians in the 1920s.

What I did not find great information about was strap-on sex in the 1920s, so I used some imagination, combined with the knowledge that there are pictures from the 1800s of it occurring, so it was a thing people had done.

I'll post a snip from the story when the anthology is out!

No comments:

Post a Comment