Cherry Popping
'Time Out' August 14-21 2002

Ottilie Godfrey discovers a new world of lesbian erotic fiction.

Diva Books have just launched 'Red Hot Diva'. An imprint of 'full-length erotic fiction' books, promising 'wild sex for modern girls' in all manner of guises. Kathleen Bryson, novelist and series editrix, looks like she could play Gloria Graham's room-mate, the blowsy whore-with-a-heart-of-gold, in any film noir. But, although training as an actor, she has contented herself with digging up Viking graves, being in a riot grrl band, and showing her paintings in a brothel.

So, how did a nice girl like her get into the world of smut? 'Millivres were already itching to do lesbian erotica when I started working freelance for them last May. I previously worked on Black Lace and Sapphire, and I edited Millivres gay male erotic imprint Zipper Books, whilst working to bring about my master plan of Red Hot Diva.'

And how did she tackle the irksome task of cherry-picking the chosen few from all that erotica? 'A good story, interesting characters, preference for contemporary tales, and it has to be horny of course! I personally favour snappy and direct sex writing.' Ah, that would explain the first book in the series, Cherry, a tale of a gal anxious to lose her 'lesbian cherry' by indulging in every variation and permutation of sex you could think of, and a few you probably couldn't, just to make sure.

'Well, Cherry is fast-paced, gritty and funny but the next two are totally different. Scarlet Thirst, an erotic vampire crime story, is both a gender-fuck and a genre-fuck of a novel. And The Fox Tales is a collection of stories exploring the erotic fantastical. And the next two books I've got planned are equally unique. Pirates! Jewellery design!'

Is it me or do they sound quite camp? 'As long as it doesn't upstage the horniness factor and turn into pure farce, I think that's fine. I probably try to encourage it, since I'm a sucker for a Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! retro aesthetic.

The first author to embrace the Red Hot Diva mantle is Charlotte Cooper, whose credentials include producing her own queer grrl sex zine Kink, and her work as a porn-packer for swingers' contact mags. Cherry is Cooper's first fiction book, and tells the story of Ramona, who wants to experience the spiritual union of lesbian love because: ' being a dyke is a ticket to freedom, you can behave appallingly whilst maxing-out your credit card on shopping trips to New York and claiming bona fide oppressed minority status. How perfect is that?"

If only. I point out to Cooper that even for an erotic book, Cherry is chock-a-block with relentless lurid sex. Didn't she long to do some dusting after a while? 'No dusting was done throughout the entire writing period, but many tantrums were thrown in E15. Some people assume that I wrote Cherry with one hand down my pants but the sad truth is that most of it was produced whilst eating a lot of sweets and being bratty with my loved ones.'

The lesbian scene doesn't come out of it very well I noted, with its sleazy cohorts and dodgy dress sense. Cooper agrees. 'To me the scene is the place you go if you're looking for action. But desperate drug-fucked lesbians looking for cheap shags are not always the people you want to spend quality time with. Plus I have more than enough action at home, so tend not to view the scene as a viable place to hang out for fun. Having said that, I love online lesbo scene places. You can flirt and misbehave without the threat of a fight at drinking up time.'

While we're on the subject, not since my clubbing nights at Heds have I seen so many psycho-dykes in one place. Even the book's heroine is a thieving junkie whore. So Cooper's not going for the sympathy vote then? 'Some of my best friends are thieving junkie whores! I think Ramona's behaviour is charming and entirely understandable, she is a punk-ass bitch, but humble with it.'

With Larry Clark rumoured to be considering Cherry as his next film, where now? 'I'm looking for glamorous, rich, hip folk who want to bankroll my vanity projects. In the meantime, I hope Cherry gets passed around the playgrounds of Britain with all the best bits underlined, paper-clipped and screamed-over.'

I got interviewed on Technodyke.com by the delightful Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Ray and Dawn from Warwickshire wrote on Divamag.co.uk: we just wanted 2 tell all u dykes out there that havent got ur hands on the new book from red hot diva "cherry" that u best find a copy b4 they r all gone coz oh my god that is a very sexy book and ive never read anything like it b4 and if ur lonely it will give u sum new ideas... 24/08/2002

I got interviewed in Australia by Slit magazine.

Someone wrote this to Diva magazine. She's referring to the mini-book that was given away with the mag in July.
Last week I purchased Diva at Birmingham New Street to alleviate the boring journey ahead.

I started reading the Red Hot book with the three short stories and OH MY GOD! The first story, Cherry, was sooo hot that, well, er, let's just say...by the time I got to Shrewsbury I had to head straight for the ladies, if you know what I mean!

I am horrified. I have never done anything like that before... in a public loo, I mean. Luckily I had a ten-minute wait for the train anyway, and then continued the journey like nothing had happened.

Thank you so much for making what would normally be a tedious journey (? Something is missing from the letter here) and I will definitely ensure that each time I go away from now on, a Red Hot Diva will be the first thing I pack. Hurrah!
Kym, via email, August 2002



Name? Charlotte Cooper
Age? 34
Job title? In no order: Author, Journalist, Zine-Monkey, boss of CharlotteCooper.net.
First job? Saturday girl at the Spastics Society charity shop in Wembley.
Best thing about your present job? I'm the queen of me.
Worst thing about your job? Cabin-fever, cash-flow, self-doubt, the usual stuff.
What brought you to London? Dad's secret work as a spy.
Favourite place to eat? Jai Krishna on Stroud Green Road have been frying my bhajis for ten years. Yum.
To drink? Any overpriced, ultra-chic, minimalist cocktail lounge is good by me.
To be merry? A quick steam at York Hall baths followed by The Imperial Pop Museum at s.m.e.r.s.h would be just perfect.
Best hangover cure? Coca Cola, the Devil's brew.
Best thing about gay London? It's a tacky, ridiculous, jaw-droppingly awful wonderland.
Worst thing about gay London? Some of the lesbians get on my nerves.
When and where were you happiest? Just now, singing along to Johnny Cash in the car.
Last person to see you naked? A creepy, over-friendly woman in the changing rooms at Atherton leisure centre.
Complete the following: "Life would be perfect if..." I had a hot-shot agent pulling in megabucks book deals for me.
TimeOut March 12-19 2003