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“Um…” Sally hesitated, pretending to scratch her ear so she could turn her head and steal a look at Max who gave her a nod. “Yeah, sure; let’s do this!” she told Amy.

“Great! I’ll start recording now.”

Sally saw Amy self-consciously fluff her brown locks and then heard her clear her throat. She must have then clicked something because the podcast window on Sally’s screen suddenly started flashing the word Recording in red, in the upper right-hand corner.

“Hi, everyone!” Amy started. “Welcome to another episode of Lesbeing—the Podcast! Yay! I’m your host, Amy Broadnax. Thank you for joining me! Today, for my twenty-fifth episode I am super excited because I have as my guest my favorite writer of lesbian romances, Jillian Ashley! And I know that she is a favorite of many of you as well! Jillian, welcome!”

Sally thought Amy was really good at this. She had a great voice, like a professional newscaster—trustworthy but not without sexiness—and even though the video only showed her from her sternum and up, she exuded an infectious energy and enthusiasm. So captivated was she by Amy that it took her a moment to remember that she was supposed to respond to Amy’s official on-air greeting.

“Oh! Hi, Amy! Um…” Sally tried to remember what guests on things like this said at this point. Then it hit her. “Thanks for having me!”

“Thank you for coming,” Amy replied, and Sally had to stifle a laugh as her mind went directly to imagining Amy, naked in Sally’s bed, peering up at her from between Sally’s legs, Sally’s center still convulsing from a recently-induced orgasm, and Amy purring, “Thank you for coming.”

&nbs

p; “So, let’s get started,” Amy said. “You are a hard person to get an interview with, Jillian! I know many others have tried and failed so I don’t mind admitting to feeling rather excited that you chose to finally come out into the open, as it were, on my show.”

The Max-sanctioned response appeared almost immediately and Sally read it.

“Well, I’m just naturally shy, is all. Even as a little girl I hated school plays or recitals—anything where I’d be the center of attention. It’s why I like writing. I can just keep to myself and not have to feel like there’s a spotlight on me.”

“I totally understand that,” Amy said. “So, let’s start off with some basics first. For example, when did you discover you had a talent for writing?”

“Oh, when I was in high school, actually,” Sally read. “One of my English teachers had everyone in the class write a short story and so I did. When we got our stories back, the teacher had given mine top marks and just couldn’t stop gushing about it. She then encouraged me to take an advanced writing class she taught and that’s when I knew.”

Sally wondered if Max had just related his own experience. She made a mental note to ask him about that later.

“And what made you start writing lesfic?” Amy then asked.

“Um…” she hesitated, buying time until Max transmitted the first sentences of her allowed response. “I have been a fan of lesfic novels for years! I can’t even imagine my life without them! They have brought me so much joy and entertainment, and one day I thought to myself, ‘Why not write one of your own?’ And so I did and that’s how the Gotham series was born.”

“Let’s talk about that for a moment,” Amy said. “You live in Oceanside, California…”

No, I live in Carlsbad. Oh, she means Jillian!

“Right,” Sally said.

“And I don’t detect an accent of any kind…Are you originally from California?”

“Um…yeah; born and bred.”

“But all of your books take place in New York City. What’s the connection?”

Yeah, Max, what’s the connection?

But she shouldn’t have doubted her friend. Before Amy had even finished her question, Max must have known what she was leading up to because his fingers had started flying over his keyboard as Amy was still talking. The result was that Sally had Jillian’s answer ready instantly.

“My Dad is from New York,” Sally read. “The Bronx, in fact. And my family used to vacation there a lot when I was growing up. I love New York; it’s such a great city! And when it came time to decide where I would set my lesfic story, I decided on New York because the city itself kind of becomes a character, you know? And I wanted the women in my story to be products of and reflections of all the urban drama and complications of the Big Apple.”

“Awesome!” Amy replied, and Sally thought that, yes, it was awesome. Max’s answer made Jillian Ashley, as played by Sally Lassiter, seem full of depth and insight.

She had to admit: She was having fun.

Chapter 7

Amy was now about forty-five minutes into her interview with the Jillian Ashley. It was hard for her to remain focused at times because no matter how much she paid attention to Jillian’s answers; no matter how much she thought about what her next question to the writer should be or how to appropriately respond to something Jillian said, part of Amy’s mind simply kept repeating the same thing over and over again.

Fuck, she’s hot!