Lashings of Sauce

Introduction

Introduction

The year 2012 is exciting for Britain, what with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, hosting the Olympics, and most importantly of all, the third annual UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet! To celebrate this year’s event in Brighton, our charmingly decadent south coast resort, we decided to ask the attending authors to celebrate everything that makes Britain and mainland Europe a great place for GLBTQ folk to live.

In Lashings of Sauce you’ll find seasoned writers rubbing shoulders with the fresh talent on the scene. You’ll find stories both saucy and sweet, along with many poignant and thought-provoking contributions. Most stories are set in contemporary times, but we also have tantalising touches of science fiction, the paranormal and magical realism, along with intriguing journeys into the recent and more distant past.

Not all of our writers are British. We have contributions from American, Canadian and Belgian writers, as well as Britons currently living in mainland Europe. What everyone’s stories have in common, though, are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and genderqueer characters enjoying what Britain and mainland Europe have to offer. Our wonderfully diverse range of cultures and landscapes, and our colourful and quirky people have proved to be a fabulous inspiration for our muses.

I would like to thank all the authors for their generosity in providing their superb stories for free, so that the profits from this anthology can be used to help secure the future of the UK’s premier convention for GLBTQ literature. If you enjoy their contributions, please show your gratitude by going out and buying some of their other work. I would also like to thank Alex Beecroft, Charlie Cochrane, Clare London and JL Merrow for volunteering to help me select and edit the stories, and to everyone who kindly volunteered to help with proofreading.

I hope you enjoy the read—I know I did!

Josephine Myles, May 2012