Roberta S. Barnes (1940-2005)

I've been meaning to do this for a while now, ever since Aunt Roberta passed. First of all, she was my cousin, not my aunt. But since she was some seventeen years older, it was only natural to call her "Aunt Roberta." She was a remarkable woman, in many, many ways--writing was only one of her talents--and she deserves more than this small tribute of mine. But let it stand, poor as it is, as a last labor of love. And let it stand, too, as a monument to our mutual past, to a time that is not so long ago. Aunt Roberta wrote most of her stories in the 1970s and 1980s, but they of necessity echo her own memories of earlier times and her temperament, which some may find "old-fashioned." She did, of course, keep up with the latest trends and fashions, and she always took a keen interest in young people, but I think you will find her fiction speaks to those deeper, more lasting yearnings of the feminine heart, and will of necessity reflect a more structured and, if I may say so, a more dignified and elegant society.

In the stories to come, some ficitonal young women will have their bottoms spanked. But the watchwords here are Cute and Wholesome. Aunt Roberta always respected women's sensibilities. Here, ladies, you may tarry safely, and always, I hope, feel warm and loved.

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