title: Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire
author:  Amber Dawn 
description: <i>Fist of the Spider Woman</i> is a brave, bold, eye-opening book. Amber Dawn deserves credit for probing beyond the shiny surface of modern womanhood to the places we often dare not go, but should. By turns chilling and erotic, the stories in <i>Fist</i> are unforgettable, and will speak to women who are strong enough to own up to their fears and traverse to the other side of them. <br />Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor, <i>Best Sex Writing 2009</i> (<i>Rachel Kramer Bussel</i> 2009-02-01)<br /><br />Amber Dawn has a beautifully twisted mind; I'm a fan. This book isn't about desire despite fear, or fear that triumphs over desire--<i>Fist of the Spider Woman</i> asks, "What are you afraid of?" and then spins a multi-dimensional, multi-genre web that is sexy, poignantly scary, and politically astute. If Charlotte were all grown up, queer, kinky, and foul-mouthed, <i>Fist</i> would be the stuff of her dreams. <br />Anna Camilleri, author, <i>I am a Red Dress</i> (<i>Anna Camilleri</i> 2009-02-01)<br /><br />One of the best among this collection is Nomy Lamm's "Conspiracy of Fuckers," a story about a phone sex worker.... Just as compelling is Amber Dawn's "Here Lies the Last Lesbian Rental in East Vancouver," which takes place in a house inhabited by a young dyke couple and haunted by a violent lesbian ghost. <br /><i>GLBT Roundtable Newsletter</i> (American Library Association) (<i>GLBT Roundtable Newsletter</i> 2009-04-01)<br /><br />The most engaging stories [in <i>Fist</i>] are those that manipulate the horror genre to construct an elevated understanding of the queer experience. <br /><i>Xtra! West</i> (<i>Xtra! West</i> 2009-04-22)<br /><br />This anthology of horror stories, with literary styles that span gothic, speculative and noir, expresses the fantasies of queer women and provides strong characters in place of the genre's stereotypically scantily dressed victims. <br /><i>Ms. Magazine</i> (<i>Ms. Magazine</i> 2009-04-23)<br /><br />Megan Milks' "Slugs" is a perfect mix of crazy sexual tension, genderfuck and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired freakish horror. Body horror is also a theme in Michelle Tea's "Crabby," but this story is far more entrenched in real life and comical to boot. Kristyn Dunnion's "Homeland" is almost an homage to Hitchcock, as a homicidal lesbian hustler gets the tables turned on her in spectacular fasion by her would-be victim. <br /><i>Philadelphia Gay News</i> (<i>Philadelphia Gay News</i> 2009-07-05)<br /><br /><i>Fist of the Spider Woman</i> applies the tropes of the horror genre---suspense, fear, surprise---to the horrors of real life, and allows its characters the courage and grit to come out on the other side, scarred, but surviving. <br /><i>make/shift</i> Magazine (<i>make/shift</i> 2009-10-07)
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  “You’re coming with me,” he said.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  With his free hand, Caine reached inside his jacket pocket and drew out a pair
  of silverstone handcuffs. He tossed them on the balcony between us. The metal
  clinked to a stop at my booted feet.
  
  
  
  
  
  “Put those on.”
  
  
  
  
  
  “Handcuffs. Kinky. But I prefer to have a bit more freedom during sex. Don’t
  you?”
  
  
  
  
  
  Caine jerked as though I’d yanked the gun out of his hands and shot him. His
  eyes flicked down my body, going to my breasts and thighs, before coming back
  to my face. Yeah, he was thinking about it. All the distraction I needed.
  
  
  
  
  
  “There’s no need to bother with those because you aren’t taking me in,
  detective.”
  
  
  
  
  
  “Where are you going to go?” Caine asked. “You’re trapped up here.”
  
  
  
  
  
  I smiled. “Me? Trapped? Never.”
  
  
  
  
  
  I turned, leaped up onto the balcony wall, and launched myself over the side
  into the darkness below.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  More praise for SPIDER’S BITE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Spider’s Bite is a raw, gritty and c