Genre: Supernatural Romantic Comedy
Sexy superstar idol Chevalier has a problem. Shy and publicity averse,
he escapes his fans by morphing into a woman, thanks to a family gene.
However, this ability will not last forever, and in any case will end
the first time he – or she – has sex.
Six years into an amazingly successful career when he had no time to do
anything but work, it’s now time, after twelve years of switching
between the two aspects, to work out which one should become permanent.
The challenge, while dating in both aspects, and trying new things to
help settle which of two different futures will be best, is to work out
which choice will bring the greatest happiness. Of course all this has
to be done without revealing the family secret.
This proves harder than expected, as both aspects interact with a lot of
the same people, several of whom notice that the two aspects are never
seen together.
Complications abound as work and social pressures combine to create
unexpected situations which threaten to derail the process of making the
right decision.
The concert had been a great success. As always. He was wildly popular,
with his slim physique and knock'em dead looks, but it was the voice
that captured them. Women and girls swooned over him, and he was not
unaware of the occasional glances he got from men. As the stadium
cleared out, Chevalier locked himself in his changing room. Changing
room. He laughed at the thought. Yes, that's what he did in here, but
nobody suspected what changed. The transition took a few minutes, but
the body needed several more to recover. That was one reason the door
was locked. The other was that he didn't want anyone to discover his
other clothes. They also fit a five foot ten person, but not Chevalier,
at least not when he was Chevalier. Three inch heels and a B cup
wouldn't do anything for his image, if they were found.
Another seven minutes later, she emerged. She was dressed to be ignored.
Undistinguished working clothes that looked like they had been worked
in. Nothing to draw attention to herself. The heels were to make her
taller than Chevalier. In five years as Chevalier's administrative
assistant, more gofer in the eyes of his management company, nobody had
suspected Serina Sharpe was also Chevalier.
She had Chevalier's clothing and stuff in an anonymous bag, and walked
confidently out of the exit, straight past the crowd of fans aching for a
closer look at their idol. An idol that nobody ever saw leave. Even so,
there was still a crowd of hopefuls, all of whom ignored her, a
nondescript woman who didn't deserve a second glance.
As far as Chevalier's management company, MAK Industries, was concerned,
she was a necessary evil. On paper she worked directly for Chevalier
and was supposedly his cousin. She had become not only a buffer between
him and his managers, but between him and the world.
In the taxi she took back to the hotel, she remembered the night when he
was thirteen. Puberty had arrived, and he woke up in the middle of the
night, exhausted and sweating, as if from a disquieting dream. Absently
he went to scratch his balls. They weren't there. Neither was the other
thing that should be close by. Instead there was a slit. He had run to
his parent's bedroom, frightened out of his mind. As soon as they had
turned on the light, his father had said, "Calm down. I didn't know
whether this would happen to you, but I know what it is."
"What!" he, or was it now she, had screamed. "You knew this might happen and you said nothing!"
His mother's calm voice took over. "We didn't know whether it would
happen or not. If it didn't, well, we would have scared you for nothing.
Your father's family has a gene that affects roughly three children out
of four. At puberty you gain the ability to switch sexes."
"You mean I'm a girl now?" It was almost a squeak.
"Yes, Steve." His father explained, "But only for the moment. You can
change back and forth, until you decide which one suits you the best. It
takes a lot of energy, so I wouldn't do it too often."
"Daddy, you mean you were a girl once?" He fought to keep his voice normal.
"Yes, but I much preferred to be a man. One word of warning. This
ability will only last until you have sex for the first time. After
that, you're stuck with the role you chose. Also, if you don't make a
choice, sometime in your mid to late twenties, your body will choose for
you, and it may not be the one you want."
"Don’t worry, love" his, or was it now her, mother said, enveloping her
in a warm and comforting hug until she stopped trembling. "Tomorrow we
can go out and buy you a lot of girl's clothes. I always hoped I could
do girly things with you." The enthusiasm in his mother's voice gave him
pause. He knew she had wanted a daughter, which was why they had tried
for his brother, Dave, who was ten now. He loved her, and if this would
give her joy, then he would be a dutiful daughter for a while.
Buy Link: Amazon
I was educated at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, where I lived in what
was supposed to be an enormous pentacle built by a mad sorcerer. That
may have affected my outlook on life.
I made my career in casinos, first in London, and then in The Bahamas,
having now worked for what is now Atlantis casino on Paradise Island for
almost forty years. I really enjoy meeting all sorts of interesting
people every day, and that gives me an awful lot of insight into
people’s characters which I can use in my writing.
I run a pit that is located between two enormous glass sculptures by
Dale Chihuli of the sun and the moon. This means that I tell people that
I can always be found ‘between the Sun and the Moon in Paradise’.
Having read SF and Fantasy from a very early age, it was probably inevitable that I would write my novels in that genre.
When I need to chill I take the ferry to one of the other islands, which
is fabulous for doing absolutely nothing. Except writing of course.
I am married and have two wonderful daughters, and two furry cats who often sleep with us.
I started out by writing stories from the casinos where I worked, as
many were worth recording, and some were truly outrageous. I started
novel writing when I had exhausted what was truly a mother lode of
entertaining vignettes.
I don’t write for a particular market, but I write what I would like to read myself, and I always try to be different.
