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Lurking in Their Words by Leigh Alder

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I can’t remember not loving books.  From earliest childhood, I craved picture books and their glimpses into other worlds. After learning to read, I dove headfirst into the reality the author served up, and I stayed beyond the final word, closing my eyes and daydreaming, extending the story.

When I landed in university, I majored in English Literature. It kept me in a steady but daunting pile of novels that I had to read, although it usually wasn’t a chore. Still. Some of them were…challenging.

Around that same time, Olivia Records was in its nascence, Martina Navratilova was tearing up the tennis courts, and the second wave of feminism was trying to embrace sapphic culture. And in the midst of this heady milieu, I searched for more books.  But rather than getting mired in the often depressing and demeaning lesbian fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, I wanted books that better reflected me and the changing culture.

Enter Rubyfruit Jungle, a book about a contemporary young woman coming out and living by her personal motto of putting her money into her head, i.e. getting educated.

After my formal schooling, I took learning into my own hands and lapped up the sapphist classics like Virginia Woolf and Gertrude Stein and found myself lurking in their words, between their lines, and in their symbols.

Fast forward to 2024 and we’re in the midst of a lesbian fiction explosion. Everyone from wonderful indie houses like Butterworth Books to “Big 5” publishers is looking to represent lesbian literature. But much of what’s available seems to fall into the youthful romance category. So, I tailor my writing not only to increase overall lesbian fiction offerings but to show a wider range of experiences: older women, women in unhappy same-sex relationships, women who don’t have a clear, linear direction in life. Women like so many of us.

As a child, teen, and adult, I relished finding myself in the pages of books. I hope to bring some of that same happiness to other readers.

Leigh Alder’s story, Bomb Cyclone, is in SapphFic Eclectic, volume 5.

Sweet Wrappers and Juice Boxes by Rhiannon Grant

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Sapphic books are important to me as a way to see myself represented in stories. I love to read – it’s a running joke in my family that I’ll read anything, up to and including sweet wrappers and fruit juice boxes – and I read widely across lots of genres, but there’s something special about reading a book, something a complete stranger wrote and published for the world to see, and feeling a deep connection with it. I get that thrill when I read a book set in the city where I live (which is not an especially common setting for stories, unfortunately). I get that thrill when I read about a character with the same body shape or neurotype or habits as me (which leads to a possibly unfortunate fondness for extremely meta books about people who love reading). And connecting with a character over shared desires, such as a shared attraction to women, is a particularly strong version of that thrill.

My interest in sapphic and other queer stories was shaped by what was and wasn’t available when I was young. I have always read a lot, but I grew up in Britain in a peculiar time when Section 28, a rule banning teachers from ‘promoting homosexuality’, meant that nobody felt able to talk openly about homosexuality in schools but a lot of people were thinking about it. Neither the absolute silence of genuine ignorance nor the kindly quiet of acceptance were available. Instead, much was silenced, thought or hinted at but not said openly. That sort of thing annoys me immensely and when teenage me realised what was happening I went to public library to try and discover the voices which were missing in my school library.

I didn’t find much, and what I did find was mostly about men – a biography of Elton John stands out in my memory as a near but not quite success, definitely leaving me with more questions than answers! So exploring sapphic books and seeing the way online book selling and networking enables readers to find what they long for as well as letting authors reach their audiences, supporting each other as we connect through our shared interests, is a constant source of pleasure and excitement for me. 

I talk about books and lots of other things on social media: @sapphicprehistory on TikTok, Rhiannon Grant on Facebook, @rhiannonbookgeek on Bluesky, and find other links from my website .

Rhiannon Grant’s story, Recoonection, is in SapphFic Eclectic, volume 5.

Pure Indulgence by Maggie McIntyre

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When I came back to fiction writing in the summer of 2018, it was like turning a key in a rusty lock of an old garden gate. I had been so long away that all my creative muscles had almost atrophied. I felt like the poor woman in the 18th century who was locked in an attic for twenty years by a sadistic husband, and now I could dance and play again. But my imprisonment had been self-inflcited.

I was writing. I had just completed an autobiographical account of my life as a grants assessor travelling around the world , which had been the first  full length manuscript I’d completed since my thirties. 

But then I discovered fanfiction,  especially Archive of Our Own and delved into that wonderful resource, marveling at the talent of so many writers. I had a go myself, and ended up writing more than 480,000 words across twenty two stories for Carol and the Devil Wears Prada collection. It’s immediate, it’s free to post, the community is generous and caring, and it’s anonymous. You live or die by the quality and appeal of your writing, simple. 

But then I wanted to escape the clutches of DWP and wrote my first, very bumpy sapphic novel, Isabel’s Healing, for which I was lucky enough to win the Lesfic Bard award for new writing, and those locked gates against passionate sexy fiction were well and truly opened.

 It was a simple, age-gap, opposites-attract novel, by no means perfect. But it’s still probably my favourite. Isabel started a series, all set more or less around a women-led aid agency in London, with five more novels following the adventures of Isabel and friends.  The fourth in the series, Love Under Lockdown, was runner up in the Lesfic Bard awards for Romance in 2022.  

I have also written four novels set in California media land, with the second of those also being a Lesfic Bard runner up , this time in ‘action and adventure’, a stand-alone novel, and my own miniseries of fantasy adventures based on the late Roman empire.

I write because I love it, pure indulgence, whether with scratchy pen, fading cheap biro, laptop, desktop, tablet or phone.  It’s like dancing and I think it’s an incurable disease! The only thing I hate is marketing, which is why you’ve maybe never heard of Maggie McIntyre!

Maggie McIntyre’s story, The Seduction of Rosie Barnes, is in SapphFic Eclectic, volume 5.

Disrupt and Disentangle by Louise Morley

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I’m an academic moving (slowly) into writing fiction. Why? I get so frustrated whenever I get the rare opportunity to read fiction myself. So many of the literary hot reads are profoundly heteronormative and bereft of characters who come anywhere near my experiences, feelings, aspirations. The LGBTQAI+ community, when allowed to enter, is also often represented in simplistic, monochromatic ways, with limited opportunities to intersect sexuality with other structures of inequality such as age and social class. And yet our lesbian lives are so diverse, rich and complex, and overflowing with dramatic opportunities! There is also an abundance of comic gold! The dating scene itself is like a gripping detective novel – trying to work out what on earth is happening and whether these people are really who they say they are!

I attempt to include different sources of knowledge and data in my writing. I’m a sociologist who has worked on five continents. I’m a public speaker, researcher, and academic writer – mainly on the topics of power, inclusion, equality, difference, and diversity. But I am also active on the lesbian scenes in London and Brighton, and regularly encounter situations that intrigue, puzzle, and excite me. They are screaming out to be explored, analysed, and narrated. I often find myself drawing on theories of micropolitics – that is how power gets relayed, withheld, and communicated through everyday practices, exclusions, coalitions, and language. It can often be via throwaway remarks that people reveal information about themselves, for example. I find that my sociological imagination can be extremely helpful in analysing the complexities that lie behind surface presentations.

But it also provokes accusations from some people that I overthink – something that I hotly deny. Critical thinking is central to my existence, and I won’t apologise for this feature! I also try to bring my insights from therapy into my understandings of relationships, anxieties, and responses. All around me, I hear platitudes, binaries, and certainties that I want to disrupt and disentangle. I used to try and provoke and stimulate in my academic writing and keynote presentations. Now I am aiming to do this via my storytelling. Join me?

Louise Morley’s story, Dear Lesbopops, is in SapphFic Eclectic, volume 5.

Lesbodacious by Allison Fradkin

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I adore Young Adult fiction, especially own-voices Sapphic stories that vibrantly and valiantly validate and celebrate the characters, their feelings, and their lived experiences. Growing up, there was very little in the way of representation, respectful or otherwise. Fortunately, in the late 1990s, I discovered Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden, which led me to another book of hers, Good Moon Rising. The latter, a love story between lesbian thespians, especially appealed to me because I also loved theatre. I felt like the book was written for me.

That’s why, when it comes to queer representation in literature, visibility is both viable and valuable; and there’s nothing more admirable than authenticity. There was far less reading material available back then for and about young women who were coming of age and coming out (at least to themselves), but seeing myself depicted in writing made me feel empowered and emboldened to embrace my lesbodacious self. Eventually, when I felt sufficiently safe, I shared this part of myself with the most important people in my life, and my unapologetic declaration of lesbi-independence was one for the books.

You’re welcome to friend / tag me on Facebook (Allison Fradkin).

Allison Fradkin’s story, Lady Balls, is in SapphFic Eclectic, volume 5.

Sapphfic Lottery Win by Arbor Lear

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Hi there, I’m Arbor Lear and I’m a sucker for a good romance.

That spark of a first meet, the smoldering embers that build into an inferno that then engulfs the heart, mind, and soul. That’s what draws me into the characters and the story. Sapphic stories were hard to come by when I was growing up. It was rare to see a representation without it being tongue in cheek or implied. While there were amazing early authors such as Sarah Waters, Rita Mae Brown, and Fannie Flagg who changed the dialogue, it really wasn’t until twenty years ago that our stories became much more mainstream.

Fan fiction was where I first started reading sapphic stories that captured my imagination and resonated with me. I branched out from there and then read Radclyffe, Gerri Hill, Jae, JJ Arias, Kim Baldwin, Melissa Braden, Brey Willows, Robyn Nyx, Carson Taite, and so many more talented sapphic authors. Their remarkable craft of building characters and weaving the lesbian narrative allowed me to escape into their books for years. The variety of genres and individual truths that are being explored today truly allows something for everyone. Through the years, I’ve enjoyed writing and constructing characters in my mind but never put it out there for anyone else to see.

I feel as though I’ve won the lottery as I’ve finally found a community of writers who are supporting me and my writing dreams. This community has allowed me to look behind the curtain and see my writing future filled with sparkling possibilities. I’m excited to explore with you the tales I want to tell, and I hope you enjoy my writing. You can follow me on my socials, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Instagram

TikTok

Arbor Lear’s story, The Starlight, is in SapphFic Eclectic, volume 5. She’s currently working on her debut novel, Racing Hearts.

Books Under My Bed by Julie Logwood

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The first truly queer book I owned was an anthology of lesbian short stories that I bought at a yard sale in San Francisco, brought home and promptly hid under my bed. I was 16 and out, my parents were supportive, but having a whole world of queer stories to myself was so thrilling it felt illicit. 

I was, and remain, a voracious reader. As a kid I was drawn to stories of escapism, whether it was new worlds or ways of living differently in this one, I wanted to be transported, lost in other realities. By the time I purchased that slim tome, something had shifted. I had begun to search for myself in the worlds I was escaping to, and I was coming up short more often than not. That book was a balm, and began a lifelong affair with queer literature, from classics to camp. 

I still love a good escape, and delight in seeing echoes of myself and my community in the words of others. I recently happened upon a short story that casually featured gay parents, and I realized how hungry I’ve been, as a lesbian parent, to see my new reality reflected through fiction. The joy in that spark of recognition is what drives me to read in, and to write for, this wonderful community. There’s so much diversity in the stories to be told about queer lives, so many facets for exploration, and it’s the quest of a lifetime to find all the amazing authors bringing them to life.

I’m forever grateful to those giving these stories a chance, both by getting them out into the world, and by taking them in once they’re out there.  Without publishers and audiences willing to take a risk on them, my world as a reader and a writer would be much less fun. And there would be far fewer books under my bed. 

Julie Logwood’s story, Archival Enemies, is in SapphFic Eclectic, Volume 5.

Not the Odd One Out Anymore by Lee Haven

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You could say I discovered Sapphic fiction by accident. I was finishing listening to an audio book on my way home when I got the usual “if you enjoyed this book, you might like this” recommendation. The book I just finished was paranormal fiction. One of my favorite genres, together with fantasy. So, I opened the first recommendation in the list to read the blurb. I think I ended up reading it four or five times because I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Partly because I’d never seen sapphic representation in a book before and partly because the blurb and book were in English. Which isn’t my native language, so I didn’t quite trust that I got it right. However, I got the audio book and started listening to it immediately. Even though it was a fairly long book I finished it in a day and a half and I was in tears by the end of it.

Listening to that book I found something I didn’t even know I needed at the time and that in a sense was seeing myself represented in a book. It had the power to make me feel less like the odd one out. It also made me feel less alone in the world. It threw me a lifeline at a time I really needed one.

After that I went looking for sapphic books and found out quickly that there weren’t many in my native language. I’m very happy that that has changed in the past couple of years. But I found many more books in English and through social media, the reading community that came along with it. Subsequently, it led me to fly to England a couple of years later to attend a book event in Nottingham. It gave me a community where I feel like I belong.

Facebook

Instagram

Welcome to my world

Lee Haven’s story, Blood Moon, is in SapphFic Eclectic, Volume 5.

Courageous and Legendary by Erin Rockfort

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I’ve always been an avid reader, always enjoyed the thrill of escaping into different worlds, into different people, into different ways of being.

In particular, I loved science fiction and fantasy, stories about galaxies and magic, spaceships and dragons. As a quiet, sometimes lonely kid, I was attracted to stories with compelling characters and complex plots, stories about triumphing the face of overwhelming odds. Connecting with fiction also gave me opportunities to connect with other people, to engage in animated discussions, debates, and theorizing about our reading.

When I got older, I realized how rarely I, as a queer person, was represented in these stories I loved so much. My favourite characters, all assumedly cisgender, settled down in happy heterosexual relationships. If there was a hint of queerness, it was only ever implied, and more likely than not, said queer-coded characters either lived lonely lives, or died tragically (or both!).

I don’t need to always see myself in the stories I love. Whether as a result of lifelong conditioning, or just my own inbuilt preferences, I am often happy to read about experiences other than my own. However, persistently feeling left out of things I loved didn’t feel good, and I began to feel terribly at odds with something that had otherwise brought me a great deal of comfort and joy.

Where I could, I attempted to find examples of queerness in stories, but to do so, I often had to look more into the realm of literary fiction, which has never been my favourite. Furthermore, these had the same problems as I had encountered in genre fiction — queer characters could only ever be implied, be sidekicks, be dead. When trying to talk to non-queer friends about this, I received silence and blank stares.

Seeing queer characters become much more prevalent in speculative fiction, in works like Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth and Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds, has been one of my greatest joys. Knowing that I can seek out stories that will live in my heart in the same way that some of my childhood favourites did, and knowing that those characters might be like me, might be queer and courageous and legendary — it kindles something powerful within me, something that might allow me to be courageous and legendary on my own.

I can be found on Bluesky as “pineapplefury” and on instagram as “thepineapplefury.”

Dog Eared Copies by Yvonne Heidt

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We can call it coming out of retirement or shaking off the years-long writer’s block of the century.
Either/Or
TomAto/ToMAHto

So, I did a thing. I wrote a paranormal short story for inclusion into Butterworth Books Sapphic Eclectic Volume 5.
And I appreciate that they have graciously allowed me a reintroduction to the Sapphic Lesfic Community.
The question was posed, what does Lesfic mean to you?
The answer is: Funny, and totally unlike me (sarcasm) I have a story for that!
I came out later in life and had no idea Lesbian Fiction even existed except in snippets of mainstream books.
Which in and of itself is humorous because I am an avid reader. Secret: And those books were all – gasp –
pretty well dog-earred.
It was the first trip I took to the local Barnes & Noble that I happened to come across the section I had never
seen before. I was a kid in a candy store. Not only was I a new lesbian, they had whole books on it! It opened
up a whole new world to me.
Now, before you think I grew up under a rock, ( I grew up in San Francisco – which makes it even more
hilarious) you’d have to know my coming out story. I have it nearly word for word in my debut book, Sometime
Yesterday. Natalie is trying to find a way to tell her mother and best friend that she’s attracted to another
woman. There are a few sentence omissions for space consideration.

“I have something to tell you.”
They both looked at her. “Okay, shoot.”
“I think I’m a lesbian.”
Mary paused for a second and took a sip of her drink. Her mother continued to look at her directly. Neither said
anything.
“Did you hear what I just said?” Natalie raised her voice a little. “I said I’m a lesbian.”
Silence.
“Mom, Mary? Say something.”
“Oh honey,” said her mother. “It took you long enough.”
Mary sipped her wine. “I’ve often wondered. But what brought this on? Is it because of what Jason did to you?”
“What do you mean it took me long enough?” Natalie asked crossly. “I didn’t even think about it until recently.
You’ve often wondered? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Her mother’s tone was gentle. “Honey, do you remember when you used to watch Lost in Space reruns when
you were growing up? What was that girl’s name again? The middle one, you know, cute, long, dark hair?”
Natalie smiled. “Penny, Her name was Penny.”
“Yes, that’s right, Penny. Do you remember telling me you were going to marry her?”
“Mom,” I was nine.”
“Okay, do you remember the Partridge Family? The oldest sister, Laurie? I seem to remember you having a
crush on her also.”
Natalie knew her face turned bright red. “Mom!”
“Oh, and let’s not forget how you would never miss an episode of Days of Our Lives, with that Hope character,
and – “
“Oh, I’ve got one!” Mary shot her hand in the air. “Pick me, pick me!”
Natalie’s mother pointed obligingly. “Your turn, dear. Go ahead.”
“Nat, do remember all the hair bands? You loved them.”
“Mary, they were men.”
“No, Natalie, they were pretty, pretty boys with lots of hair and they wore makeup.”

Me again: I still love those video’s of those pretty pretty boys – And no wonder I was confused!
My point is that Lesfic opened my world to a new community that I felt a genuine part of. I wasn’t on the
sidelines anymore.
To quote Natalie (loosely) again: “It was like all my life I’d been ordering pizza – when what I really wanted was
chinese food!”
Yvonneheidt.com
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Yvonne Heidt’s story, Not This Life, is in SappFic Eclectic, Volume 5.