Mosaic of Air

by Cherry Potts

Originally published twenty years ago,the sixteen short stories in Mosaic of Air reflect and explore Lesbian life in
the 1990s through myth, mystery,history, fantasy and science fiction.
Delving into lecturing spiders, Helen of Troy, seaside libraries, space pirates and computers that fall in love, murder disability and memory; Mosaic of Air explores many genres and many voices.
Challenging, touching and funny but most of all taking a delight in all that women can be.

Cherry Potts writes with economy,punch, panache.
Ellen Galford
Definitely about women in space,not the usual glossy tomboys of standard sf.
Gwyneth Jones
Delightful … both a hilarious spoof of one-man-and-his-computer myths such as 2001, a Space Odyssey; and a reflection on the limits of love and power.
Zoë Fairbairns

Genres: Short Stories, LGBT

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Cherry Potts is a Londoner born and bred. She is the author of two collections of short stories: Mosaic of Air, and Tales Told Before Cockcrow: Fairytales for Adults; a photographic diary of a community opera The Blackheath Onegin, and has had several stories in anthologies. Her Lesbian Fantasy Epic, The Dowry Blade is out in February 2016 and she is currently working on her next collection, a science fiction novel, and a timeslip-young-adult kinda thing. She also runs workshops for writers exploring NLP (Neurolinguistic programming) approaches to language and characterisation and teaches Creative Writing at City University as a visting lecturer.In her spare time Cherry is the owner of Arachne Press, and (co)editor of London Lies, Lovers' Lies: Short Stories, Weird Lies, The Other Side of Sleep, Solstice Shorts and Stations: Short Stories Inspired by the Overground Line.

Reviews

[Cherry Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it. so I think it's wonderful.

[Tasneem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a giveaway and I must admit I was really pleased with this collection of short stories. The imagery is wonderful and the writing strong. Potts is a gifted story-teller. I shall look out for more of her work for sure. I especially enjoyed "THE BONE BOX" about a man who was not a giant.

[Tammy Tudor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book I would usually read but was pleasantly surprised. Very interesting and beautifully written.

[Yusuf Ahmed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent lesbian lit. Title story had me on the ropes; the rest, however, didn’t have the same punch. Ironically, lots of unclear pronoun usage.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

tl;dr – be gay and do crime etc.

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I honestly wasn’t sold too much on the first story, unfortunately, but when Cherry Potts began to focus more on quotidian reality, I felt that Mosaic of Air began to become just a bit more tangible. The later fables of elemental ladies and historical royal dramas were strong in their own ways, but it was Potts’ keen insight into the daily lives of lesbian women in the 80s and 90s that, I felt, left the most impact. Her navigation of the constraints of compulsive heterosexuality and gender norms in general is achingly realistic, and it’s done in such a way, with such normal, human characters with normal, human emotions and normal, human desires, that you instantly relate to them, instantly want them to break free of the binds both subtle and explicit that have locked them into an existence that they don’t want. Yet despite the similarities of their circumstance, many of her characters don’t feel like carbon copies – they are each unique.