Cut to Ben banging his head against the computer desk again

Or, "more things I shouldn't do." I shouldn't attempt to read "The Most Popular Lesbian Romance Novel Of All Time." Why? Because on one page....on one flipping page...I find not one, but two fairly specific character traits that I've already assigned to "my girls."

You have to understand, ladies and gentlemen, I have this terrifying fear of being unoriginal. That this thing I've been working on for years is going to come out and be judged "nothing we haven't seen before."

Or perhaps worse-that it won't even get to that stage because editors will say something like "We already have thousands of books like that-and they're written by real women, real lesbians."

The more sensitive among you are beginning to figure out why the notion that a vagina instantly confers upon one deeper feeling, greater strength and talent was such a touchy subject for me last week.