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By: RYAN LEE
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Fiona Zedde is a chef with words, cooking up spicy, flavorful tales that she hopes will satisfy the appetite of a malnourished audience.
After giving readers appetizers of her writing skills in anthologies including “Best Lesbian Erotica 2004” and “Va-Va-Voom: Red Hot Lesbian Erotica,” Zedde serves up a full course helping in her debut novel, “Bliss,” which was released Aug. 2.
Charis Books & More, the 30-year-old lesbian-feminist bookstore where Zedde also works part-time, hosts a launch party for the paperback on Aug. 6.
“There are so few books out that are written by, or about black lesbians,” says Zedde, a Jamaica native now living in Atlanta. “It’s an untapped market and an underserved community, and I really feel it’s important that we put out some of our experiences as black lesbians.”
Published by Kensington Books, “Bliss” chronicles the self-discovery of Bliss Sinclair, a young, hip, professional who is enjoying her journey through the good life.
“She has money, and a hot boyfriend, and all these glamorous things, but there’s something missing,” Zedde says. “It’s sort of an empty life.”
Sinclair’s understanding of herself and her world are dramatically altered after she is “seduced by a woman in high-heels,” who brings to the surface “all of the things Sinclair has denied herself before,” Zedde says.
Following mouth-watering episodes of carnal lovemaking —“in abandoned warehouses, private fetish clubs, even her own office” —Sinclair finds herself alone and empty, fleeing “to the bosom of her family” in Jamaica in search for peace and understanding.
“Bliss” is a story about self-acceptance, living an authentic life and the importance and endurance of family, according to the author.
A 1998 graduate of New College of Florida, a liberal arts school where she majored in British and American literature, Zedde says she is surprised to have her first novel published so quickly.
She was working on the almost 300-page “Bliss” for about a year when she signed with an agent who sent excerpts to different publishing companies and secured a deal with Kensington Books within two months.
Despite showcasing her work in a string of anthologies after her first published piece appeared in 2003, Zedde didn’t expect to receive support from major publishing companies for her debut novel, she says.
But the writer and her novel benefited from “good timing,” she says, since the book came along as Kensington officials were specifically looking for black lesbian voices.
A common thread throughout “Bliss” is the integration between sex and food, which Zedde called “a natural link” because of her island background.
“I love to eat and it’s something that definitely shows up in the novel,” Zedde said. “Food is sensual in general, and I wanted to link that to Jamaican food in particular.”
The Cajun zest won’t be the only part of the book that has readers fanning themselves and taking sips of water, says Sara Look, one of the co-owners at Charis Books.
“After finishing the first half of the book, I told [Zedde] that I didn’t know I was going to be reading erotica,” Look says with a chuckle. “But I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and am very excited to see her get it published.”
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