Fiction and Writing


  • Quick Copyright

  • Authors and Books

  • 100 Greatest Queer Novels

  • Early Queer American Novels






























  • Stuff to Read Online

    The internet is a great place to read materials published by amateur or up-and-coming writers. You can find everything from original short poems and 100-part epics, to old familiar favorites.

    Unless otherwise marked, all the works listed in this section are lesbian works.

    Sapphic Voices: Lesbian Fiction and Poetry Online: Works are linked here by genre.

    Hear Me Out: Lesbian humor site!

    Wild Women Dreamin' Wet: Read some fantastic stuff or submit your own works to be hosted.

    Isle of Lesbos: Poetry, Classical Art (and prints for sale), and quotations from famous lesbians.

    GirlDates: A literary section at this personals site with poems that rank above-average. Submit your own work under "Details".

    Sapphic Ink: a lesbian literary journal: No longer published, but still containing a very nice archive of fiction, poetry, and book reviews.

    Lesbian Write: Spotlight on lesbian poetry.























    Online Stories and Novels Worth Reading

    If you know of any stories, novels, or poems online that are worth reading, please email me.

    The Speed of the Beat of My Heart by Michal Salat and Joann Muscolo. A brawling, womanizing tattoo artist with a seductive smile and a shady past. A promising young poet and scholar who harbors a secret of her own. When the fates knock these two together, can anything but trouble and heartache lie ahead?

    Lucifer Rising by Sharon Bowers. Recommended Read. Fallen DEA agent Jude Lucien, haunted by her past, meets Miami Herald journalist Elizabeth Gardener whose only objective is to expose to the world the powerful woman's dark secrets. A painful event however brings them closer than Liz banked on, and soon she learns enough about Jude to discover she's "more and less" than what she seemed before. Available through Amazon.com beginning November 15. Sequel (in progress): Past the Point.

    Tropical Storm by Missy Good. The politics of big business inside the EDS corporation. A hostile takeover of a small computer media company leaves many jobless, and somehow brings two unlikely lovers together. One is a take-no-prisoners business shark, the other is an upscale midwestern Senators' daughter. Together the two face, and beat, the odds. Set in colorful Miami. A sweet lovestory, complete with several sequels. Available at Amazon.com.

    Sharp by Sharon Bowers, who says: "After reading it, people always give me that hesitant kind of look, like they're afraid to ask me about it. Like I've revealed some sort of dirty secret about myself. I'm never sure what to say to them on such occasions. They seem to conflate the narrator and the author. And all I can say is that the story is a part of me-- as are all the other fictions that I've written. Beyond that... who knows?"

    The Deal by M. Ryan. This one is an extremely well-written piece, that revolves around the lives of two women, one in the business of TV ratings, and the other in the sport of golfing.

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    Recommended Books
    (title, author)

    To recommend a book, please email me.

    Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit -- Jeanette Winterson

    Written On the Body -- Jeanette Winterson

    Other Women -- Lisa Alther

    Ransacking the Closet -- Yvonne Zipter

    Trash -- Dorothy Allison

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    Writing Resources

    How to Creat a Character Profile: from Writers Write, a worksheet and short discussion of solid characterization.

    Steaming Up Your Love Scenes by Emma Holly. This is a good online-workshop that walks you through the how's and why's of the love scene in your writing.

    Stacey's Place For Readers and Writers of Lesbian Fiction: Tons of resources and information about writing lesbian fiction.

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    Quick Copyright

    Please note the person that wrote this is a writer, not a lawyer.

    If you write something, it's yours, regardless of whether or not you stick "© My Name, 1999" or not on it. The copyright symbol, name, and date come into play when only legal proof must be shown. Here is a simple way everyone can legally prove their work is their own.

    Copyright law now applies to the internet. All works published on the internet are the intellectual property of the artist, as is the law offline. (Note - one may want to pay attention to the member agreements on many 'Free Webspace' providers, as several state that publishing via their service qualifies a person to lose all rights to their work and, in effect, grant the service full and irrevoable rights to it instead.)

    But what if you want an official certificate, saying "yes, this work is mine"? There are two quick ways (there are several more ways, but these are quick and easy).

    Take your writing (or idea, or drawing, or photos, etc.) and copy it/them. Place said copy/ies in an envelope, address said envelope to yourself, and pay at the Post Office to have it delivered via certified mail to the addressee (that's you). When you receive the envelope in the mail, you will get a receipt reflecting the date, which is the official date of copyright. Since the Post is government, and since the Post will date your material, the date is official and legally binding.

    Don't open the letter! You're going to keep it filed away for your records. Nothing better than a sealed, officially-dated package to show a lawyer.

    If you're in the mood, you can also take your work(s) to a Notary Public, and for a small fee they'll officially stamp, sign, and date anything you want them to, as long as a) it is clear to them what it is and b) you sign your document/s in front of them, and c) they can sign and stamp it. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask them. Notaries can be found at any large and self-sufficient operation -- banks, courthouses, post offices, Western Union™, department stores, grocery stores, pawn shops, gun stores, hardware stores, etc. The usual fee is around $2.00, and the notarization is official and permanent, as long as the raised seal is always evident.

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    Queer Novels

    In case you were ever curious, here it is. I agree with a few of these entries -- they are fabulous books (namely, anything by Jeanette Winterson is always worth it) -- but you might not be able to tell that some of these novels are `queer', per se, but the list was compiled by recognizing everything from gay storylines to gay themese, and everything in between. Hence, you see Moby Dick.

    100 Greatest Queer Novels of All Time
    by Publishing Triangle
    (received from an Associated Press wire)

    100. Sita, Kate Millett
    99. On Strike Against God, Joanna Russ
    98. In Thrall, Jane DeLynn
    97. Autobiography of a Family Photo, Jacqueline Woodson
    96. Sea of Tranquility, Paul Russell
    95. Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, May Sarton
    94. Wasteland, Jo Sinclair
    93. Funny Boy, Shyam Selvadurai
    92. Rene's Flesh, Virgilio Pinera
    91. Miss Peabody's Inheritance, Elizabeth Jolley
    90. Lost Illusions, Honore de Balzac
    89. Closer, Dennis Cooper
    88. The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon, Tom Spanbauer
    87. Riverfinger Women, Elana Nachman
    86. Hell Has No Limits, Jose Donosco
    85. Les Enfants Terribles, Jean Cocteau
    84. The Story of the Night, Colm Toibin
    83. The Children's Crusade, Rebecca Brown
    82. The Beautiful Room is Empty, Edmund White
    81. Gemini, Michael Tournier
    80. Therese and Isabelle, Violette Leduc
    79. Was, Geoff Ryman
    78. The Exquisite Corpse, Alfred Chester
    77. The Gaudy Image, William Talsman
    76. An Arrow's Flight, Mark Merlis
    75. The Child Manuela (Madchen in Uniform), Christa Winsloe
    74. Les Guerilleres, Monique Wittig
    73. Sheeper, Irving Rosenthal
    72. Paradiso, Jose Lezama Lima
    71. The Changelings, Jo Sinclair
    70. Special Friendships, Roger Peyrefitte
    69. The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell
    68. The Satyricon, Petronius
    67. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
    66. Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
    65. La Batarde, Violette Leduc
    64. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
    63. Lover, Bertha Harris
    62. The Passion, Jeanette Winterson
    61. The Counterfeiters, Andre Gide
    60. Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov
    59. Rat Bohemia, Sarah Schulman
    58. Concerning the Eccentricities of Cardinal Pirelli, Ronald Firbank
    57. Three Lives, Gertrude Stein
    56. A Visitation of Spirits, Randall Kenan
    55. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson
    54. The Young and Evil, Charles Henri Ford and Parker Tyler
    53. The Berlin Stories, Christopher Isherwood
    52. Naked Lunch, William Burroughs
    51. Father of Frankenstein, Christopher Bram

    50. Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall, Neil Bartlett
    49. Sister Gin, June Arnold
    48. The Gallery, John Horne Burns
    47. The Story of Harold, Terry Andrews
    46. Eustace Chisolm and the Works, James Purdy
    45. Young Torless, Robert Musil
    44. The Friendly Young Ladies, Mary Renault
    43. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
    42. Women in Love, D.H. Lawrence
    41. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
    40. The Turn of the Screw, Henry James
    39. Cheri, Colette
    38. Another Country, James Baldwin
    37. Aquamarine, Carol Anshaw
    36. The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith
    35. Olivia, Dorothy Bussy
    34. The Swimming Pool Library, Alan Hollinghurst
    33. A Single Man, Christopher Isherwood
    32. The Persian Boy, Mary Renault
    31. Mrs. Dalloway, Virgina Woolf
    30. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
    29. Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison
    28. Two Serious Ladies, Jane Bowles
    27. The Bostonians, Henry James
    26. Other Voices, Other Rooms, Truman Capote
    25. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Getrude Stein
    24. Patience and Sarah, Isabel Miller
    23. Myra Breckinridge, Gore Vidal
    22. City of Night, John Rechy
    21. The Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers
    20. Confessions of a Mask, Yukio Mishima
    19. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
    18. Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown
    17. The City and the Pillar, Gord Vidal
    16. Maurice, E.M. Forster
    15. Dancer From the Dance, Andrew Holleran
    14. A Boy's Own Story, Edmund White
    13. Billy Budd, Herman Melville
    12. Nightwood, Djuna Barnes
    11. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
    10. Zami, Audre Lorde
    9. The Memoirs of Hadrian, Marguerite Yourcenar
    8. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Manuel Puig
    7. The Wall of Loneliness, Radclyffe Hall
    6. Orlando, Virginia Woolf
    5. The Immoralist, Andre Gide
    4. Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust
    3. Our Lady of the Flowers, Jean Genet
    2. Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin
    1. Death in Venice, Thomas Mann

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    Earliest American Gay and Lesbian Novels

    1870 - Joseph and His Friend, Bayard Taylor
    1887 - White Cockades, E.I. Prime-Stevenson
    1891 - Left to Themselves, E.I. Prime-Stevenson
    1894 - Marriage Below Zero, Alfred J. Cohen
    1908 - Imre, Xavier Mayne (E.I. Prime-Stevenson)
    1908 - The Intersexes, E.I. Prime-Stevenson
    1928 - The Well of Lonliness, Radclyffe Hall
    1931 - The Lovliest of Friends, Sheila G. Donisthorpe
    1931 - Strange Brother, Blair Niles
    1931 - Twilight Men, Andre Tellier
    1933 - The Young and Evil, Parker Tyler and Charles Henri Ford
    1935 - We Too Are Dying, Gale Whilhelm
    1937 - Either Is Love, Elisabeth Craigin
    1938 - Torchlight to Valhalla, Gale Whilhelm
    1939 - Diana, Diana Fredericks
    1941 - The Little Less, Angela DuMaurier
    1943 - Winter Solstice, Elisabeth Craigin
    1948 - The City and the Pillar, Gore Vidal
    1949 - Olivia, Olivia (Dorothy Bussy)
    1950 - Quatrefoil, James Burr
    1950 - Things As They Are, Gertrude Stein
    1951 - Divided Path, Niel Kent (William Leroy Thomas
    1951 - Finistere, Fritz Peters (Arthur Andrews Peters)
    1952 - The Price of Salt, Claire Morgan (Patricia Highsmith)
    1955 - The Last Innocence, Celia Bertin
    1955 - Remembrance Way, Jessie Rehder
    1956 - The Hearth and the Strangeness, N. Martin (Beatrice Ann Wright)
    1958 - Rings of Glass, Luise Rinser
    1958 - The Wheel of Earth, Helga Sandburg
    1959 - Heroes and Orator, Robert Phelps

    (compiled by Jim Kepner and Barbara Grier, from Out In All Directions: The Almanac of Lesbian and Gay America)

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