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LGBTQ

Resources for Sapphic Literature Authors

July 13, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Resources for Authors

This week’s blog post focuses specifically on resources for sapphic literature writers. This is intended to be a living document. Links will be added as they are found.

Here are some of the best online writing and information resources for  sapphic fiction authors:

  • From award winning author and senior Ylva Publishing editor, Jae, her website and newsletter for authors, The Sapphic Quill, and her craft books and tips newsletter written under her legal name, Sandra Gerth.
  • Malinda Lo’s Blog – Sections on writing and on LGBTQ YA Fiction
  • Not specifically sapphic, but imminently useful: Writing with Color, a Tumblr site dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial, ethnic and religious diversity.
  • Writer Beware: For ALL writers. Educate yourself. Stay safe from scams and scammers.

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Writing workshops and Training: There are many writing workshops that focus on sapphic fiction. These workshops can be a great way to learn from experienced writers and get feedback on your work.

  • Lambda Literary – Resources for Writers – Their stated goal is to help writers at all stages of their writing journey. Specifically check out their Learn with Lambda programs for LGBTQIA authors.
  • Golden Crown Literary Society – Offers an annual writing academy that meets weekly, virtually for 9 months each year and includes a mentorship program, an annual conference with a craft track, and numerous online educational opportunities throughout the year, many of which are free.

~~~

Online communities: Besides the resources we’re beginning to develop here at MyQueerSapphFic, there are many online communities for sapphic fiction authors where you can connect with other writers and with readers, get feedback on your work, and learn about the industry. Some of these sites and communities also review books and/or allow advertising. Some of our favorite communities include:

  • iHeartSapphFic – Reader heavy focus with lots of promos for authors to participate in (mostly free/some paid advertising spots) and a book finder database that puts ours to shame. We’re working on it!
  • iReadIndies – A place for readers of indie published books and a collective for indie authors (not published through any established large publisher, university press, sapphic press/publisher, or other LGBTQIA press/publisher).
  • Lesfic Marketing Alliance Facebook Group – Just what it says. Authors only, getting together to share tips and help each other promote.
  • The Lesbian Review (TLR) – Reader heavy focus built on thousands of book reviews. Also review movies and more. There are opportunities to promote and to appear at reader facing events (mostly online through webinars and on Discord)
  • Queer Romance Ink – Mostly a place to advertise (author pays). Large, searchable book database for readers that is growing more sapphic, but leans heavily toward gay fiction. Not just romance.

~~~

Review Sites and Book Bloggers: Some sites and bloggers accept ARC copies, some do not. Some use Netgally. Check with each individual site or blogger before requesting a review or sending your book/eBook.

  • KittyKat’s Book Review Blog
  • (The) Lesbrary
  • Lesfic ARC Club – A facebook group where you can find reviewers
  • Lesfic Sapphic Women Loving Women Book Reviews and Promos – A Facebook group where you can find reviewers
  • Lez Review Books 
  • Mx Pheobe’s Viewpoint
  • Rachel’s Sapphic Reviews
  • Rainbow Book Reviews 
  • Rainbow Round Table – News and reviews for GLBT books from the American Library Association (ALA)
  • Sapphic Book Review
  • Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – Not a sapphic site but they review romance books with any pairings and they list sapphic books in their book finder.
  • The Lesbian Reading Room – This site previously run by Velvet Lounger may be offline. Velvet can be found in Facebook sapphic reader groups doing promotions.
  • TLR (formerly The Lesbian Review)

~~~

Agents and publishers: There are a number of publishers who specialize in sapphic fiction. If you’re interested in getting your work published traditionally rather than self-publishing, you can research them to find the right fit for you. Agents are typically necessary for large, mainstream publishers. There are far too many of those publishers and agents to list.

The publishers below lean toward sapphic literature or accept it exclusively. Each will typically take a direct submission. Check their websites before submitting for information and guidelines.

  • Affinity Rainbow Publishing
  • Aunt Lute Books – Radical feminist press that does publish queer/sapphic books
  • Bedazzled Ink
  • Bella Books
  • BLF Press – (Concentrates on queer women of color)
  • Bold Strokes Books
  • Bywater Books
  • Desert Palm Press
  • Dirt Road Books – Publisher appears to be defunct
  • Flashpoint Publications – Absorbed Regal Crest Publications
  • Sapphire Books Publishing
  • Triplicity Publishing
  • Queen of Swords Press
  • Ylva Publishing

Other publishers who focus on LGBTQIA fiction and often take direct submissions:

  • Carnation Press
  • Cleis Press
  • Dreamspinner Press
  • Interlude Press
  • Launch Point Press
  • NineStar Press
  • Pride Publishing
  • RedBone Press – (concentrates on black lesbians and black gay men)
  • Riptide Publishing
  • Supposed Crimes

These lists are by no means exhaustive and will continue to evolve.

~~~

These books offer insights into the craft of writing sapphic fiction, as well as advice on how to represent sapphic characters and relationships in a way that is authentic and respectful.

  • Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels – by Gwen Hayes – Not sapphic, but inclusive and a must for romance writers
  • Writing the Other: A Practical Guide to Inclusive Fiction by Paula J. Massood

~~~

Awards: There are multiple awards programs for LGBTQ+ books. Some are dedicated to sapphic books and some exclusively to gay books or bisexual books. Other awards and award programs are more general in nature. Listed below are reputable programs authors and publishers can submit to. Many require a submission fee which helps to keep the awards program viable. Some of the organizations giving awards are profiled in other areas of this blog post.

The Goldies – Sapphic exclusive awards in multiple categories given in July of each year by the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) for works published between January 1st and December 31st of the previous year. To facilitate judging, GCLS staggers the submission deadlines. Submissions generally start in late August or very early September of the publishing year for all books published through at least the first half of the year (January through June). the final submission period ends in mid to late January of the year following the year of publication. There is a submission fee.

The Lammys – Given by Lambda Literary each year in May or June for (primarily) books published in the previous calendar year. There are exceptions. Lambda has lesbian specific categories, gay specific categories, bisexual ones, and transgender ones. There are also some overall LGBTQ categories not broken out by orientation including – for some reason – the broad category of ‘Mystery.’ Submissions begin September 1st of the publishing year and extend slightly into the year following. There is a scaled submission fee.

The Lesfic Bard Awards – Sapphic exclusive awards in multiple categories given annually for books published the previous calendar year. Submissions are generally open all year for books published that year and close in January of the year after the publishing year. There is a submission fee. Note, if you write gay fiction as well, they also sponsor the Gay Scribe Awards.

The Publishing Triangle Awards – The Publishing Triangle presents 10 awards annually. Two awards, one for non-fiction, and one for poetry are lesbian only. Others are closed to sapphic books and still others are open to the full spectrum of LGBTQIA orientations. Submissions open in late September and run through early December of the publishing year.

Foreward Indies Book of the Year – These prestigious awards are open to all indie published books, both by individual indie authors and authors from small and boutique presses like those of you with Bella, Bold Strokes, Ylva, etc. Submissions are open year round. They close on January 31st of the year following the publishing year. Finalists in all categories are named in March. Winners are named in June. There is a (steep) fee to submit.

Ippy Awards – An unaffiliated, but prestigious awards program for independent publishers/indie authors who publish books for an English speaking audience. There are dozens of award categories including one for LGBTQ+ Fiction. Early bird entries are in September and November. The current entry cutoff is March 16th, 2024. Submission fees are required for each category of submission.

Stonewall Book Awards – Sponsored by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table. The award honors one exceptional book each year in each of three categories (adult fiction, adult non-fiction, and childrens/YA). Submissions (free) are open during the publishing year. The winners are announced in January of February of the year following the publishing year with the actual award (plaque and monetary) given at the ALA annual conference in June.

Please note: The Rainbow Awards were given each year by Elisa Rolle through 2021. They appear to have stopped with that year.

~~~

Here are some other resources that you may find helpful:

GCLS LogoThe Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) – Mentioned above under workshops and training – A nonprofit organization supporting an international community of readers, writers, publishers, editors, audiobook narrators, and fans devoted to increasing the diversity, accessibility, quality, and visibility of sapphic and women-loving-women literature.

 

 

 

 

Lambda Literary Foundation websiteThe Lambda Literary Foundation – Also, mentioned above, Lambda Literary provides resources for LGBTQIA+ writers, including a mentorship program, a writing retreat, and a literary awards program.

 

 

 

 

The Publishing Triangle is a professional organization for LGBTQIA+ writers, editors, and publishers. They offer a Publishing Triangle websitenumber of resources for writers, including a mentorship program, a writing contest, and a book fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Author Resources Tagged With: Lesbian, Lesfic, LGBTQ, literature, Queer, sapphic, WLW

2023 Goldie Award Winning Books

July 4, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Goldie WinnersThe 2023 winners of the annual Goldie Awards bestowed by the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) were named on Saturday, July 1st at the awards ceremony held at their annual convention, which was in Denver, Colorado, this year.

New from GCLS this year, after receiving a substantial grant from the Aronson-Besthoff Fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, are monetary awards for the highest scoring debut novel, the highest scoring book in each genre category, and the highest scoring book in each of the ‘non-novel’ categories like, non-fiction and poetry.

Also now receiving monetary awards are the top three books determined by ranked choice voting for the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. The institution of monetary prizes necessitated changes in how the Ann Bannon entries were voted upon.

GCLS names 25% of all books entered in each category as finalists as determined by the rankings of the judging panel for the category. In each category, 10% of all entered books ultimately receive awards, allowing more than one winner in larger categories.

Winners are listed below in the order award categories were presented by the GCLS at the awards ceremony. Monetary prize winning books are listed first and noted in each category.

General Non-Fiction:

Half InHalf In: A Coming of Age Memoir of Forbidden Love by Felice Cohen/Dividend Press – Felice and her book were profiled here previously. – Also won $1,000 prize

***

Audiobook Narrator:

This was a new category this year. There were more than 30 audio books entered, and three winning narrartors were chosen.

Dead Woman’s Revenge narrated by Rebecca Lowman* of Orange Skye Audio (Published by Dreamspinner Press)

 A Whisper of Solace (previously profiled on this site) narrated by Abby Craden* of Tantor Media (Self Published by Milena McKay)

Dead Letters from Paradise narrated by Christine Williams* of Susie Bright/Audible Studios (Published by Bywater Books)

*Links to narrator names go to the lists of Audible audio books they have narrator credits for including the book they won for. Not all books they’ve narrated are sapphic books.

***

Romantic Blend:

EnigmaEnigma by Suzie Clarke, published by Bold Strokes Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

Despite Chaos by Stacy Lynn Miller, published by Bella Books

Secret Agent by Michelle Larkin, published by Bold Strokes Books

***

Contemporary Romance Short Novels:

Trial and ErrorTrial and Error by Carsen Taite, published by Bold Strokes Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

Truly Wanted by J.J. Hale, published by Bold Strokes Books

Perfect Rivalry by Radclyffe, published by Bold Strokes Books

***

Fiction Anthologies/Collections:

Defiant HeartsDefiant Hearts – Lee Lynch, published by Bold Strokes Books – Top Scoring $1,000 Prize

 

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Mystery/Thriller/Crime:

DelafieldDelafield by Katherine V. Forrest, published by Spinsters Ink – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

Hunting Gold by Ann Aptaker, published by Bywater Books

Last Chance Chicago by Diana DiGangi, published by Bywater Books

***

Young Adult Fiction:

Can I Trust HerCan I Trust Her? by Frances Lucas, published by Bella Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

***

 

Contemporary Romance – Mid Length Novels:

The Last Lavender SisterThe Last Lavender Sister by Melissa Brayden, published by Bold Strokes Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

She’ll Steal Your Heart by Rachel Lacey, Self Published

With a Twist by Georgia Beers, published by Bold Strokes Books

I Dare You to Love Me by Lori G. Matthews, published by Bella Books (Lori has a short mystery in a giveaway available through July 5th, 2023)

Christmas Mouse by Rachel Spangler, published by Brisk Press

***

Paranormal/Occult/Horror:

The Wicked and the WillingThe Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan, published by Shattered Scepter Press – Top Scoring Novel Prize, $1,000. (Previously featured on this site)

The Mermaid Hypothesis by Siri Caldwell, published by Brussels Sprouts Press

***

Poetry Collections:

Time Out of TimeTime Out of Time by Arleen Paré, published by Caitlin Press and Dagger Editions – $1,000 prize winner

***

 

General Fiction:

Dead Letters from ParadiseDead Letters from Paradise by Ann McMan, published by Bywater Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize $1,000

The Barrens by Kurt Johnson and Ellie Johnson, published by Arcade – Skyhorse

***

New Adult Fiction:

Catching FeelingsCatching Feelings by Ana Hartnett Reichardt, published by Bold Strokes Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize, $1,000

***

 

Historical Fiction:

Once in BerlinOnce in Berlin by Jo Havens, self published – Top Scoring Novel Prize, $1,000

Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity by Suzanne Moss, published by Aesculus Books (previously featured on this site)

***

 

Erotica:

EscortedEscorted by Renee Roman, published by Bold Strokes Books – Top Scoring Novel

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Contemporary Romance – Long Novel:

Plain English by Rachel Spangler, published by Bywater Books – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

Chemistry by Rachael Sommers, published by Ylva Publishing

Purposefully Accidental by G Benson, Self Published

Over the Moon with You by Jaime Clevenger, published by Bella Books

Something’s Different by Quinn Ivens, published by Ylva Publishing

***

Science Fiction/Fantasy:

EnduranceEndurance by Elaine Burnes, published by Mindancer Press/Bedazzled Ink – Top Scoring Novel Prize – $1,000

The Mage and the Monster by Barbara Ann Wright, published by Bold Strokes Books

***

 

Debut Novel:

The BarrensThe Barrens by Kurt Johnson and Ellie Johnson, published by Arcade – Skyhorse – Top Scoring Debut Novel Prize – $1,000

Truly Wanted by JJ Hale, published by Bold Strokes Books

Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity by Suzanne Moss, published by Aesculus Books (previously featured on this site)

Honey in the Marrow by Emily Waters, published by Ylva Publishing

Love and Duty by Catherine Young, published by Bold Strokes Books

***

Sandra Moran Writing Academy Scholarship: Beth Caldwell

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Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award:

If I Dont AskGold and $3,000 – If I Don’t Ask by EJ Noyes, published by Bella Books

Just a Touch AwaySilver and $2,000 – Just a Touch Away by Jae (This book was previously featured on this site)

Broken Beyond RepairBronze and $1,000 – Broken Beyond Repair by Emily Banting (This book was previously featured on this site)

***

 

Tee Corinne Award for Outstanding Cover Design:

Observations on the Danger of Female CuriosityObservations on the Danger of Female Curiosity by Suzanne Moss, published and cover by Aesculus Books (This book was previously featured on this site)

***

 

Lee Lynch Classic Award:

 

Home GirlsHome Girls by Barbara Smith

From the book blurb and from Amazon:

“The pioneering anthology Home Girls features writings by Black feminist and lesbian activists on topics both provocative and profound. Since its initial publication in 1983, it has become an essential text on Black women’s lives and writings. This edition features an updated list of contributor biographies and an all-new preface that provides a fresh assessment of how Black women’s lives have changed-or not-since the book was first published.”

Contributors are Tania Abdulahad, Donna Allegra, Barbara A. Banks, Becky Birtha, Julie Carter, Cenen, Cheryl Clarke, Michelle Cliff, Michelle T. Clinton, Willie M. Coleman, Toi Derricotte, Alexis De Veaux, Jewelle L. Gomez, Akasha (Gloria) Hull, Patricia Jones, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Raymina Y. Mays, Deidre McCalla, Chirlane McCray, Pat Parker, Linda C. Powell, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Spring Redd, Gwendolyn Rogers, Kate Rushin, Ann Allen Shockley, Barbara Smith, Beverly Smith, Shirley O. Steele, Luisah Teish, Jameelah Waheed, Alice Walker, and Renita Weems.

***

Trailblazer Award:

The Trailblazer Award is given annually by GCLS to an author for lifetime achievement. The 2023 awardee is:

Alison Bechdel

Alison’s brief bio:

ALISON BECHDEL has been a careful archivist of her own life and kept a journal since she was ten. Since 1983 she has been chronicling the lives of various characters in the fictionalized “Dykes to Watch Out For” strip, “one of the preeminent oeuvres in the comics genre, period” (Ms.). The strip is syndicated in 50 alternative newspapers, translated into multiple languages, and collected into a book series with a quarter of a million copies in print. Utne magazine has listed DTWOF as “one of the greatest hits of the twentieth century.”

Her books and collections of some of her comic strips are available in English on Amazon. Some books have also been translated into German.

***

Note: All of these books are available at Amazon. Many which were by traditional publishers and small sapphic presses are available both directly from the publisher and at all other major retailers. Over time, we’ll add the top scoring books to this site with all purchase links from the publishers and all retailers, followed later by links to and/or pages for all of the other award winning books. This is a major undertaking as I do it all by hand. I wanted to get the list out to you as soon as I could. We’ve included the publisher information. Please shop for these bo wherever you feel comfortable.

The Amazon links here are affiliate links. We (this site/Erin and I) earn a small commission if you purchase a book. Those commissions help to defray the cost of maintaining this site and sending out the weekly newsletter.

The authors appreciate your support and we at MyQueerSapphFic do too! Thank you for reading and loving sapphic literature!

~Anne

Filed Under: Awards Tagged With: Award, Awards, books, Fiction, GCLS, Golden Crown Literary Society, Lesbian, Lesfic, LGBTQ, literature, sapphic, WLW

Sapphic Led Families

June 7, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Saturday evening I had an online chat with Erin that started out being about the ultimate demise of Women and Words which I realized when I was looking for some inspiration for a sapphic literature blog topic that hadn’t been overdone. Our conversation veered off course as they sometimes do and ended up being about our children.

Sapphic Led FamiliesErin and her wife are moving their kids with them as they travel the world, schooling them with some lessons and lots of experiences as they go. You can read about the family and their travels on their blog, Wha From Home. Erin says their boys are working on some blog posts of their own for the family travel blog. I can’t wait to read those.

We also talked about the special needs and schooling of the three year old girl in the legal custody of my wife and I since her birth, and the general educational needs and issues with those of the three foster children ages 4, 8, and 13, that have been in our care long term (between two and four years).

Our chat gave me pause…and a blog topic; books about sapphic led families with children. There’s some non-fiction out there. Much of it is well rated, but a few years old or more. Fiction featuring sapphic’s with children is becoming a little more common, especially in the romance genre.

I’ve featured lots of kids in my books, including some kiddos who are the biological or adopted children of sapphic characters because my personal life revolves around family and children. I’d love to put more kids in the books, but I primarily write murder mysteries, so… Let’s just say, having foster kids and dealing with the multiple trauma’s they’ve endured, doesn’t make me want to write books about children in serious harms way.

Today, I’m focusing on books that are non-fiction because I think it’s important that we all see what sapphic led families face and how they cope. Don’t worry! It’s not all doom and gloom.

Memoirs of the Happy Lesbian HousewifeMemoirs of the Happy Lesbian Housewife by Lorraine Howell. Lorrain has actually written a two book series. Both books are quite funny and insightful. At this writing, this is the second book according to Amazon and their series numbering. It was actually the first book Lorraine published. She released it in 2014. The book she numbers as ‘2’ was published in 2022.

Available for $2.99 from Amazon and other major retailers.

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She Looks Just Like YouShe Looks Just Like You: A Memoir of (Nonbiological Lesbian) Motherhood by Amie Klempnaur Miller, published in 2010 by Penguin Random House.

After ten years of talking about children, two years of trying (and failing) to conceive, and one shot of donor sperm for her partner, Amie Miller was about to become a mother. Or something like that.

Some themes are dated here…some are decidedly not. This is available for $15.99 from Amazon and some other major retailers.

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A Secret I Can't TellA Secret I Can’t Tell: The First Generation of Children from Openly Gay and Lesbian Homes by Joe Gantz

In 1977 a law was passed in Florida banning discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexuality. This law was an important step towards respecting gay and lesbian civil rights. However, immediately after it was passed, a group called Save Our Children vowed to overturn the law. This group stirred up so much fear regarding the idea of a gay role model, such as a teacher, interacting with children that the gay-rights ordinance was repealed.

In 1979 Joe Gantz decided to show more realistic and positive gay role models than the distorted images promoted by the campaign, by finding families raising children in openly gay homes and asking them to tell their story. A Secret I Can’t Tell follows five families raising children in homes where one or both parents were not hiding their homosexuality.

This book was first published in 1983. It was republished in 2022 by Joe Gantz with an update from many of the children 40 years later. 

Anne’s Note: This book offers valuable insight into the past because now, in 2023, LGBT rights are regressing again across the US, and most notably in Florida where even speaking the word ‘gay’ is outlawed in elementary schools.

This is available for $9.99 from Amazon and other major retailers.

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Zak's SafariZak’s Safari: A Story About Donor-Conceived Kids of Two-Mom Families by Christy Tyner, illustrated by Ciaee Ching. 

When the rain foils Zak’s plan for a safari adventure, he invites the reader on a very special tour of his family instead. Zak shows us how his parents met, fell in love, and wanted more than anything to have a baby—so they decided to make one.

Recommended for children ages 4 to 8.

This is available for $2.99 from Amazon or free to read in Kindle Unlimited.

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Pride and JoyPride and Joy: A guide for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans parents by Sarah Hagger-Holt and Rachel Hagger-Holt

Pride and Joy is full of stories, advice, and real-life experience from LGBT parents and their children. Sometimes funny, sometimes moving, sometimes surprising, every story sheds new light on what it’s like for LGBT people raising children in the UK and Ireland today.  (Published in  2017 ).

Available from Amazon and other major retailers for $9.99

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Radical RelationsRadical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children in the United States since World War II by Daniel Winunwe Rivers, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2013.

This isn’t the oldest book here, but it’s the most extensive history of lesbian and gay families in the US as the author traces LGBTQ family history back into the 1950s, after the end of the second World War, up until publication.

It’s available from Amazon and other online retailers for $9.99

###

Have a book you’d like to share, especially one that’s more current than many of these? Let us know.

Filed Under: Featured Books Tagged With: children, ebooks, families, family, featured book, kids, LGBTQ, Queer, sapphic, WLW

10 Perfect Pride Month Sapphic Reads

May 31, 2023 By Anne Hagan

Pride month will be with us beginning tomorrow in most countries where Pride events can be openly celebrated. In the spirit of Pride, I’ve picked ten fiction books, some out of a promotion, several out of my ‘To Be Read’ (TBR) pile, I’m looking forward to reading in the next month or so. Most are romance, and most have positive themes.

Some of the books are indie and are running in said promotion where I personally have a book listed this month. Some are from publishers large and small.  Most have been recommended to me (even above the promotion) as ‘must read’ stories of sapphic love and pride.

Fluid BondingFluid Bonding: A Sapphic Paranormal Romance was published in August of 2022 by indie author Sienna Eggler – If you know me, you know mysteries are my first love.  This was suggested because it has those intrigue elements I like to see in romance too. Bonus points for having one of the leads be non-binary and neurodivergent.

$4.99 at Amazon and other major retailers.

###

Hugs and QuichesHugs and Quiches was published back in 2020 by indie author/tiny press author Candace Harper. I’m a fan of cooking competition television shows and more than a few people know this. I’m not super talented in the kitchen myself, but my family doesn’t starve either. I live my high end culinary dreams vicariously through such shows. Two people that know this have both recommended this book. It sounds like a great second chance romance for at least one of the main characters, and a thawing the ice queen trope for the other one. Yum!

Also $4.99 at Amazon and other major retailers.

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FlippedFlipped: A Once Upon a Fangirl Book – Another book I missed back in 2020 when Caitlin Ryan self-published it caught my eye in that promo that starts tomorrow. During the pandemic I got hooked on home renovation shows that now vie for my precious few hours of aimless TV time a week alongside those cooking shows/competitions I mentioned. The model on this cover? To me, she looks a little like a longer haired, slightly younger Alison Victoria of ‘Windy City Rehab.’ That’s who I’ll be picturing the whole time I read this story about a travel agent and a ‘lesbian couple’ that remodel homes.

Currently $.99 at Amazon and available via Kindle Unlimited.

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Sips of HerSips of Her (Coffee Shops of Love Book 2) – A 2021 Sapphic romance by indie author Karmen Lee. Karmen is known for the diversity of her romances in both the multicultural aspects of them and in the sexualities/genders of her pairings. This one intrigues me because it offers both the cuteness of a romcom and some steam.

Currently $2.99 at Amazon and available via Kindle Unlimited.

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Deus Ex MechanicDeus Ex Mechanic

I admit to starting this book by Ryann Fletcher when it came out in 2020…right before covid sent my wife home to work for months and my foster kids home to be homeschooled for months. I put it down ‘temporarily’ and lost track of it. It’s been waiting for me in my Kindle ever since. I’ll be starting it over gladly, and now there are four more books in the series to check out too.

At this writing this is $.99 at Amazon and at other major online retailers.

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Swipe Right for LoveSwipe Right for Love This very recent release by Cyan LeBlanc (of fanfic fame) through her own small press, Posies and Peacocks, is quite the modern take on dating via apps. The format of the book is also very modern as each chapter is a date and, until it all works out in the end, it sounds like we’ll only get the viewpoint of one main character. I can’t wait to see how Cyan handles that!

Currently $3.99 at Amazon and available via Kindle Unlimited.

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We finish with four books from large publishing houses, all well rated, and all with either intricate plots or tough themes that resolve well for the sapphics involved. No killing off your lesbians in these stories!

The Fiancee FarceThe Fiancée Farce – Avon published, Lammy Award winning author Alexandria Bellfleur is no stranger to sapphic book lovers, or to anyone who reads romance. This April release gives those book lovers what they love; a fake relationship book about book lovers. I can’t wait to dig into this.

$10.99 at Amazon and most other major retailers.

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Forget Me NotForget Me Not Have you seen the Adam Sandler romcom movie, 50 First Dates, which was based on a true story? If you haven’t, watch it. I’ll wait. After that, lets read Alyson Derrick’s solo debut together and get the deeply emotional side of the same sort of story, but sapphic. Bonus points here from me for setting the story in small town western PA, near where I grew up and an area know well.

This was published in April by Simon and Schuster. It’s available for $10.99 from Amazon and most other retailers.

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The Luis Ortega Survival ClubThe Luis Ortega Survival Club Author Sonora Reyes (The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School) is back with another teen and young adult hit, this one published last week by Balzer and Bray. Trigger warning: It deals with rape as is made very clear in the blurb.

I’ll be reading it. I can’t wait to see how Sonora portrayed these young women supporting each other and standing up for themselves.

It’s available on Amazon and other major retailers from Harper-Collins for $11.99.

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6 Times We Almost KissedLast, but by no means least is, 6 Times We Almost Kissed and One Time We Did. This book by Tess Sharpe came out in January. Hachette has it on sale at this writing for $3.99.  From the blurb, which sounds so sweet, I’d label it teen/young adult on the cusp of new adult.

Available at most majo

There you have the books on my Pride month reading list…that I know about so far. What’s on your list?

~Anne

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Sapphic Books from AA & PI Authors to Check Out

May 9, 2023 By Anne Hagan

 

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month celebrating the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Here at MyQueerSapphFic, we want to celebrate diversity and achievement the way we always do; with books! Anne had a great time selecting these. Some she’s read and loved. Others, she’s added to her to be read pile and they will be read…as soon as she’s done researching pesky backstory for a work in progress.

Anne apologizes in advance if the authors of any of her picks have returned to their roots. Some of these authors are lifelong Americans, born here to parents from other countries. Some immigrated to the US. Without further ado, a few gems from a diverse group of AAPI sapphic authors:

Fiona and Jane Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho (Taiwanese American) – Published by Viking

Best friends since second grade, Fiona Lin and Jane Shen explore the lonely freeways and seedy bars of Los Angeles together through their teenage years, surviving unfulfilling romantic encounters, and carrying with them the scars of their families’ tumultuous pasts. Fiona was always destined to leave, her effortless beauty burnished by fierce ambition—qualities that Jane admired and feared in equal measure. When Fiona moves to New York and cares for a sick friend through a breakup with an opportunistic boyfriend, Jane remains in California and grieves her estranged father’s sudden death, in the process alienating an overzealous girlfriend. Strained by distance and unintended betrayals, the women float in and out of each other’s lives, their friendship both a beacon of home and a reminder of all they’ve lost.

In stories told in alternating voices, Jean Chen Ho’s debut collection peels back the layers of female friendship—the intensity, resentment, and boundless love—to probe the beating hearts of young women coming to terms with themselves, and each other, in light of the insecurities and shame that holds them back.

Spanning countries and selves, Fiona and Jane is an intimate portrait of a friendship, a deep dive into the universal perplexities of being young and alive, and a bracingly honest account of two Asian women who dare to stake a claim on joy in a changing, contemporary America.

I'll be the OneI’ll be the One by Lyla Lee (Korean American) – Published by Katherine Tegan Books (Harper-Collins Children’s)

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.

When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.

But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.

Last Night at the Telegraph ClubLast Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (Chinese American) – Published by Dutton Books for
Winner of the National Book Award
A 
New York Times Bestseller
“The queer romance we’ve been waiting for.”—Ms. Magazine

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. Suddenly everything seemed possible.

But America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

 

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless GirlsLong Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir by T. Kira Madden (AAPI Author) – Bloomsbury Publishing

Acclaimed literary essayist T Kira Madden’s raw and redemptive debut memoir is about coming of age and reckoning with desire as a queer, biracial teenager amidst the fierce contradictions of Boca Raton, Florida, a place where she found cult-like privilege, shocking racial disparities, rampant white-collar crime, and powerfully destructive standards of beauty hiding in plain sight.

As a child, Madden lived a life of extravagance, from her exclusive private school to her equestrian trophies and designer shoe-brand name. But under the surface was a wild instability. The only child of parents continually battling drug and alcohol addictions, Madden confronted her environment alone. Facing a culture of assault and objectification, she found lifelines in the desperately loving friendships of fatherless girls.

With unflinching honesty and lyrical prose, spanning from 1960s Hawai’i to the present-day struggle of a young woman mourning the loss of a father while unearthing truths that reframe her reality, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is equal parts eulogy and love letter. It’s a story about trauma and forgiveness, about families of blood and affinity, both lost and found, unmade and rebuilt, crooked and beautiful.

 

Me and MaMa and Me by PutSata Reang (Cambodian American) – Published by MCD
Winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award.
Finalist for the 2023 Lesbian Memoir/Biography Lambda Literary Award

When Putsata Reang was eleven months old, her family fled war-torn Cambodia, spending twenty-three days on an overcrowded navy vessel before finding sanctuary at an American naval base in the Philippines. Holding what appeared to be a lifeless baby in her arms, Ma resisted the captain’s orders to throw her bundle overboard. Instead, on landing, Ma rushed her baby into the arms of American military nurses and doctors, who saved the child’s life. “I had hope, just a little, you were still alive,” Ma would tell Put in an oft-repeated story that became family legend.

Over the years, Put lived to please Ma and make her proud, hustling to repay her life debt by becoming the consummate good Cambodian daughter, working steadfastly by Ma’s side in the berry fields each summer and eventually building a successful career as an award-winning journalist. But Put’s adoration and efforts are no match for Ma’s expectations. When she comes out to Ma in her twenties, it’s just a phase. When she fails to bring home a Khmer boyfriend, it’s because she’s not trying hard enough. When, at the age of forty, Put tells Ma she is finally getting married―to a woman―it breaks their bond in two.

In her startling memoir, Reang explores the long legacy of inherited trauma and the crushing weight of cultural and filial duty. With rare clarity and lyric wisdom, Ma and Me is a stunning, deeply moving memoir about love, debt, and duty.

Marriage of a Thousand LiesMarriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sin (Sri Lankin American – Tamil diaspora) – Published by Soho Press

Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan–American families, while each dates on the side. It’s not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky’s grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she’s never met.

As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade’s worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to walk away from all that she values about her parents and community to live in a new truth? As Lucky—an outsider no matter what choices she makes—is pushed to the breaking point, Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a vivid exploration of a life lived at a complex intersection of race, sexuality, and nationality. The result is a profoundly American debut novel shot through with humor and loss, a story of love, family, and the truths that define us all.

Soft ScienceSoft Science by Franny Choi (Asian American) – Alice James Books (A non-profit poetry press)

A Book Riot Must-Read Poetry Collection

 

Soft Science explores queer, Asian American femininity. A series of Turing Test-inspired poems grounds its exploration of questions not just of identity, but of consciousness—how to be tender and feeling and still survive a violent world filled with artificial intelligence and automation. We are dropped straight into the tangled intersections of technology, violence, erasure, agency, gender, and loneliness.

“…these beautiful, fractal-like poems are meditations on identity and autonomy and offer consciousness-expanding forays into topics like violence and gender, love and isolation.” –NYLON

 

This Time Will Be This Time Will Be DifferetDifferent by Misa Sugiura (Japanese American) – Published by Harper Teen

Katsuyamas never quit—but seventeen-year-old CJ doesn’t even know where to start. She’s never lived up to her mom’s type A ambition, and she’s perfectly happy just helping her aunt, Hannah, at their family’s flower shop.

She doesn’t buy into Hannah’s romantic ideas about flowers and their hidden meanings, but when it comes to arranging the perfect bouquet, CJ discovers a knack she never knew she had. A skill she might even be proud of.

Then her mom decides to sell the shop—to the family who swindled CJ’s grandparents when thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WWII. Soon a rift threatens to splinter CJ’s family, friends, and their entire Northern California community; and for the first time, CJ has found something she wants to fight for.

 

When Tara Met Farah

When Tara Met Farah by Tara Pammi (Indian American) – Indie Author

Horny food vlogger meets grumpy math genius in this emotional, sexy, new-adultish contemporary romance and have to decide if love is worth all the vulnerabilities it demands.

Sunshine Girl needs math lessons…

Nineteen-year-old Tara Muvvala didn’t mean to lead a double life. But her bone-deep aversion to math + a soul-deep desire to please her mother = her failing math grade + exploding food vlog ‘this masala life’. Enter her mother’s research intern and resident math genius Farah Ahmed. Tara makes a deal with Farah – help her pass the math course and she’ll welcome Farah into the local Bollywood Drama & Dance Society.

Grumpy girl gets life lessons…

After losing her mom to a heart attack, dumping her small-minded boyfriend (she’s bisexual, not confused) and reluctantly moving to the US to be near her dad – all in the span of eighteen months, twenty-three-year-old Farah has hit the full quota on LIFE. Two things keep her going – her internship with a brilliant statistics professor and the possibility of meeting her dancing idol through the Bollywood Drama & Dance Society. That is, if her new hot-mess housemate will let her.

Soon Tara and Farah are bonding over chicken biryani, dancing to Bollywood Beats at midnight and kissing against all the odds. And maybe beginning to realize that while life’s even more complicated than math, love is the one variable that changes everything!

Will Tara and Farah realize that together they have the recipe for a Happily Ever After?

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