Ruth Perkinson.(Q+A)(Interview)

A conservative Republican woman in the South who is "in love with her own repression" is not someone you would want to date. However, after you get over that initial concept, Ruth Perkinson's first book, Vera's Still Point, will take you on one woman's path to find what has been missing in her life--love, and maybe a little sex. Perkinson, a Democrat, a former teacher and now a bona fide author, is busy these days weaving more tales and setting the record straight about Southern Republicans.

What was the inspiration for Vera's Still Point?

The inspiration came from a myriad of people and experiences and from my own repressed, provincial battle with self-esteem.

Are there many Vera Currans in the South? Is it possible to be gay and a Republican?

There are Vera Currans everywhere. She's a universal character showing up in your neighborhood, anyone's neighborhood, really. What I mean by that is that she is gay and she's smart and she's well-read and she's funny. The problem is, though, she doesn't know she's alive. She doesn't think anyone sees her. [And] there are gay ...