‘Desires Reborn’
By Penny Pepper
Published by Bejamo Press
RRP £3.99 (Ebook)
Reviewed by Maria Grazia Zedda, Managing Director, Wideaware Training & Consultancy Ltd
Sexy? Undeniably. Revolutionary? Probably, for some. But ‘Desires Reborn’ is more than a collection of erotic stories all tied together by the disability experienced by the characters. ‘Desires Reborn’ is a celebration of sex and how passion can help us reconnect with who we are, our longings and our lives, all of us, younger or older, disabled or not.
‘Desires Reborn’ touches on political and social issues and various settings in which disabled people discover and experience relationships - often in contexts of exclusion, prejudice and assumptions of others and the inner suspension between the need to belong and independence.
But most of all, ‘Desires Reborn’ is really about true excitement of that energy: forget about perfect bodies and prescribed conventions, it's all about a connection with the other and with ourselves and elevates us and ultimately renders us perfectly human. Straightforwardly narrated over the backdrop of an indie London, it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Highly recommended for readers 18+
Available to purchase from iTunes store, and all good online bookshops including Amazon.
With an exclusive Paralympic-suggested story, award-winning writer Penny Pepper releases the ebook "Desires Reborn" - the explicit loves and losses, desires and disappointments of a group of disparate disabled characters.
As Team GB pushes for medals in the London Paralympics, Penny prises open the long-closed door to disabled people’s relationships, in her explicit collection of short stories, available in all ebook formats, including Amazon for Kindle, and Itunes for Ipad, Ipod touch and Iphones.
Says author Penny Pepper: ‘I wrote the stories ten years ago. But people continue to ask about our relationships and our sex lives. It remains a deep taboo.’
The stories feature a wide range of characters and situations, some of which will be new to readers. Yet, as Penny points out, ‘Disability is a universal experience and within that is the need to be desired and loved – to explore sexual pleasure – as with all human beings.’
She has also written a cheeky exclusive story "Bound and Devoted" to commemorate the Paralympics, when the world will be focusing on disabled athletes and disabled people in general.
Penny, a writer and performer from Islington, London, brings her provocative voice to a wider audience with this release. A wheelchair-user since childhood, Penny has been a professional writer for over ten years. She is well-known across the spoken word scene and has taken work to New York, the Edinburgh Fringe, Trafalgar Square, London and throughout the UK.
Rob Young, award-winning writer says: ‘Desires Reborn is an intelligent examination of desire and disabled people. And if it’s passion your after why choose grey when you can have scarlet?’ Rob has worked tirelessly to help Penny’s work gain more attention. He adds, ‘Her intelligence, passion and sheer exuberance sing from the page. There is an elegant mind at work here. She distils her passion then filters it through craft without ever losing a drop of its raw emotion. That is a rare skill and should not to be underestimated.’
Penny leads an extraordinary life and dramatic life, not merely because she is disabled. Punk claimed her at an earlier age, and in the 90s her own band Spiral Skymade no 2 in the Italian indie charts. For the print copy of "Desires", Penny went through the roller-coaster experience of working with Tony Cowell, brother of Simon Cowell of X-Factor fame. Winning an ‘Erotic Oscar’, nude modelling and burlesque performing are a few of the other roles she has found herself in as she strives to breakdown barriers and discrimination.
Her hope is for "Desires Reborn" to reach a larger readership while the world focuses on the elite Paralympians. ‘We need the attention to stay after the games. In the everyday sense, ordinary disabled people are facing tough times with many unfair attacks on their basic freedoms. These pieces are in essence the political made personal. So I hope "Desires Reborn" can play a role in reminding people that hard-won rights are crucial and must remain if we are to live fully and with some contentment.’ She laughs. ‘At least, the point is, we should have the freedom to fail, to be miserable, to experience loss – as much as anyone.’
To encourage people to think, to question, to value difference and disability, bringing it back to the heart of society in a three-dimensional, full-bodied, and perhaps surprising way, is the passion that drives her as a writer. ‘I like examining what is in the shadow, what is not acknowledged. And our stories are unique because they have not yet been truly told,’ she says. ‘But we have to break away from the stereotyping – which is not of our own choosing. I aim to show that outside of labels - we feel and love, we hate, we yearn - and we lust.’
You can purchase 'Desires Reborn' for £3.99 at Amazon and at Itunes.
