[Sacchi]

Call for Submissions

Lesbian Cops
Editor: Sacchi Green
Publisher: Cleis Press
Story Length: 2500-6000 words
Payment: $50 plus two contributor’s copies
Deadline: August 1, 2010
Release Date: Summer 2011

What is it about lesbian cops? It’s not just the uniform, the confidence, the sense of authority, the hint of danger, although all those things push our buttons. Whatever it is, it turns us all the way on. Your mission is to channel this irresistible force into erotic stories of policewomen in or out of uniform, on patrol or undercover, on the case or under the sheets, or in any other way that heats your creative juices to the steaming point.

I want, as always, evocative atmosphere and setting, a compelling plot or story arc, and, above all, characters with emotional complexity and depth, strengths and vulnerabilities, drawn at least as much from life as from fantasy. I’d also prefer an underlying sense of respect for those whose commitment is to serve and protect, and I’m willing to consider others like park rangers whose missions are similar. Law enforcement personnel from countries anywhere in the world and from any cultures or ethnicities are welcome.

Kink is fine, and if you can make vanilla just as spicy, all the better. Noir, hard-boiled, quirky, lighthearted, transformative, sweet; it’s all good. Strength and even heroism are okay, but no more so than comfort and healing after the stress or trauma that can come with the job. I’ll be using a wide variety of stories, so your best bet is to write about what captures your imagination as well as about what turns you on.

If you’re so inclined, you can check out my previous anthologies (Rode Hard, Put Away Wet; Hard Road, Easy Riding; Lipstick on Her Collar; Girl Crazy; or Lesbian Cowboys) for examples of what I like. But I also like to be surprised.

Send manuscripts as attachments in MS Word (.doc, not .docx) or .rtf to: sacchigreen@gmail.com. Queries welcome.

[Feel free to critique these guidelines! I'm trying to tread a line here between what's expected of erotica and what I want it to be.][Edited to expand paragraph 3.]

[FranW]

Sacch, in this part of the world, cops have to tread a very fine line re sex -- it's acknowledged that people obey cops, and that the uniform imparts power, so truly consensual sex can only happen outside of the cop role. NZ has been rocked by a series of cases of historical rape, where adult (male, married) cops forced or coerced teenaged girls into sex, and more recently by a case where a cop had sex with a prostitute and then didn't pay her, telling her instead he'd not issue her some traffic fines. I personally would be really uncomfortable reading stories where someone was having sex with a cop because she was a cop.

Am I the only one to feel this way?

[ElaineB]

Well, yeah, if it's in the course of her job, but I picture something like meeting her off duty. I mean, cops get to have personal lives, too, right? Or two cops! Say, one is a K9 handler! Hmmm.

[Sacchi]

I foresee more problems with people fetishizing cops to the point of squickitude than with stories about cops exerting undue influence. I'll need to enforce some firm standards. I think I'll add a few more lines about what I'd like to see.

If anybody wants some examples, I have a couple of cop stories from way back I could e-mail. One is kinda over-the-top in ways (but was printed/reprinted at least four times) and the other is, well, over-the-top in different ways, but there's no hint of coercion.

[Baker]

I suppose it would be utterly unethical of me to ask for examples so that I can read your stories, Sacch, without much hope that I could write a story like them.

[Sacchi]

Nah, it wouldn't be unethical, because you probably wouldn't get much enjoyment out of them anyway. And I'm not looking for stories exactly like mine, just illustrating what can be done (and published), and should be done better.

But none of that will stop me from inflicting them on you. You're doomed now. Or maybe not right now, but as soon as I track down the files. And if I pause to reread them first, I'll probably chicken out. They were written a long time ago.

[Baker]

I hope I'm doomed, and you don't chicken out.

[Jove]

Sacchi wrote:

If anybody wants some examples, I have a couple of cop stories from way back I could e-mail. One is kinda over-the-top in ways (but was printed/reprinted at least four times) and the other is, well, over-the-top in different ways, but there's no hint of coercion.

I'm not big on writing cops, but if I promise to TRY, can I see you stories? Pretty please.

[Sacchi]

As kind of an extension of the guidelines, I'm pasting on my reply to a query. I never seem to get enough into my original guidelines, even though they're long enough to gag a goat.

Her note:

I found your request for submission through a writing group.

How much story do you want? Is story more important or the erotic scene? Are you looking for HEA or Happy For Now?

My response:

Ideally the sex would be an integral part of the story; there's a lot you can do with characterization and development of the underlying themes in the context of sex scenes. On the whole I'd say that the story is most important, but the sex should make just as memorable an impact, even if it doesn't take up as much space. As to endings, I don't require any specific level of "happiness"; go with what the story demands. That said, I'd just as soon the endings weren't downright depressing, but I might use a few like that if the the stories were truly outstanding and that ending was the one true, inevitable way to go. What I DON'T want are stories where a main character returns to (or turns to) a heterosexual relationship. I'm also not fond of plots that involve leaving an abusive het relationship for a lesbian one, but I don't absolutely rule them out.

[I'll add here that I will sometimes take (and have taken) stories that I appear to rule out in the above, if they're outstanding on other ways, but I don't want to encourage newbies to write them.]

[Baker]

One of the aspects of your stories I enjoy, Sacch, is the way you people them with real characters with a story as well as the sex. Like that cop one you sent me. Great stuff! Thank you. If you get a bunch of stories even half as good as that, this will be a great anthology.