Authors

This is a list of current UK authors. Note that many UK authors write both non-lesbian fiction too, so we have highlighted their lesbian work in particular here.

Clare Ashton is the author of the best-selling romance Poppy Jenkins and Lambda and Goldie finalist romcom, That Certain Something. Her  first novel, Pennance, was long-listed for the Polari Prize and is an atmospheric intrigue-romance set in Cornwall. After Mrs Hamilton is a Golden Crown Literary Society award winner and an intricate tale of secrets and obsession set in London and Oxfordshire. More about Clare Ashton.

Cari Hunter lives in the northwest of England with her wife, two cats, and a pond full of frogs. She works full-time as a paramedic and dreams up stories in her spare time. Cari enjoys long, wind-swept, muddy walks in her beloved Peak District and forces herself to go jogging regularly. Although she doesn’t like to boast, she will admit that she makes a very fine Bakewell Tart. Her first novel Snowbound was awarded an Alice B. Lavender certificate for outstanding début. Bold Strokes Books published her second novel Desolation Point in April, 2013, and a follow up, Tumbledown, was published in February, 2o14. No Good Reason – her first foray into the police procedural/crime genre – won the 2015 Rainbow Award for Best Lesbian Mystery/Thriller, and its sequel Cold to the Touch was released hot on its heels in December. She is currently hard at work on Book III of the Dark Peak series, A Quiet Death. Cari can be contacted at: carihunter@rocketmail.com, via her blog, or by dropping by and saying hi on Facebook .

Patricia Adams-Wright was born in Halifax, a town of West Yorkshire, in the north of England. After qualifying as a Home Economics teacher in Liverpool, she moved back to her home town where after a variety of teaching jobs and a bad accident which claimed most of her mobility, she finally began working for Her Majesty’s Inland Revenue. Patricia has held a disabled status for many years, but running her own paranormal group help to while away the sleepless nights, but eventually had to retire, again due to mobility issues. Her ambitions had always included writing a book and at the age of fifty-eight, she began her first novel, Run. You can find out more about Pat here.

Kiki Archer is an ex-teacher who based her first two novels within the school setting. But She is My Student and Instigations both focus on the importance of coming out and being true to who you are. The funny, light hearted and easy read chick lit novels, quickly became bestsellers. Kiki is an active advocate for the LGBT community and believes that ‘gay rights’ will soon become a non issue.

I. Beacham grew up in the heart of England and has possibly the most lovely reading voice ever (seriously, you need to listen to this woman read!) Her first novel Sanctuary was published by BSB, and her second novel The Rarest Rose was published in July, 2013. More about “Beach” can be found here.

Catherine Blackfeather is a dancer, live storyteller and poet. For 25 years she lived in West Wales and set up writing workshops for other people through her organization Storywrights. Somewhere along the way she found herself writing too.  She has written many short stories in the folk tale format, which she performs as live tellings in her local area or as Dubhna Rhiadra in Second Life.  Recently she has begun to draw more on her lesbian identity and life-experiences in her writing and has moved into writing ‘proper’ novels. Her debut novella is Mitchie.

Andrea Bramhall hails from Stockport originally and now runs a campsite in Deepdale. Somehow she finds time to write novels and scuba dive! Her debut novel Ladyfish was published by BSB in October 2012. In 2014, her third novel, Clean Slate, scooped a Lambda Literary award for best lesbian romance. Here’s the link to Andrea’s blog.

Joanna Briscoe  was born in London and grew up in the West Country. She writes for the Independent and the Guardian, and lives with her partner in London. She was the recipient of a Betty Trask Award for her first novel, Mothers and Other Lovers, and her other books include Sleep With Me, Skin, and You: A Novel. More about Joanna can be found on her website.

Orla Broderick lives on the beautiful Isle of Skye, Scotland. She has been funded, supported and encouraged by HI-Arts. She was mentored by Roger Hutchinson (Calum’s Road, The Silent Weaver). She attended the HI-Arts writers masterclass with tutors Angus Dunn, Kevin MacNeil and Andrew Greig and an Arvon work-in-progress workshop with tutors Jane Rogers and Lesly Glaister. The January Flower was edited by Peter Urpeth (Far Inland). She is Irish, originally from Co. Donegal but was raised in Co. Wicklow. She went to an all girls Irish Catholic Boarding school, but was always in trouble with the nuns, so she learned to write as one way to escape. Orla has participated in and devised creative writing workshops. Mostly, she likes to walk by the river and dream.

A.L. Brooks currently resides in London, although over the years she has lived in places as far afield as Aberdeen and Australia. She works 9-5 in corporate financial systems, and spends many a lunchtime in the gym attempting to achieve some semblance of those firm abs she likes to write about so much. And then promptly negates all that with a couple of glasses of red wine and half a slab of dark chocolate in the evenings. When not writing she likes doing a bit of Latin dancing, cooking, travelling both at home and abroad, reading lots of other writers’ les-fic, and listening to mellow jazz. Her first novel, The Club, will be published July, 2016.

Rebecca Buck lives in Nottingham and writes historical fiction from a “gender/queer perspective”. Her latest novel The Locket and the Flintlock – published by BSB – gives a queer twist to the legend of the Highwayman woman. Rebecca’s website can be found here.

SJ Campbell is the author of Little Whispers, a collection of short stories, and Violet’s Story, both of which will shortly be available as paperbacks. His novel The Knowing, which is the first in the Jen Keith trilogy, will be out as a paperback and e-book, from publisher Austin Macauley this summer. The Knowing is a supernatural drama set in Glasgow, with a little bit of romance thrown in between psychic Jen and her police officer girlfriend, Kate. Scott is Scottish, grumpy in the morning, (his girlfriend might say he was grumpy all day), supports Arsenal and Rangers, and drink lots of Irn Bru. He is partial to a tattie scone and square sausage when he goes home. He likes music to be played loudly and is not keen on spiders. At all. You can hook up with Scott on Twitter: @RingeAlba or on Facebook.

Crin Claxton was a festival director for the wonderful (and much missed) YLAF, lives in London where s/he works as a theatre technician and lighting designer. His/her second novel The Supernatural Detective was published by BSB in 2013 and a sequel currently is in progress. Read more about Crin here.

Vicki Clifford is the author of a series of crime novels featuring heroine Viv Fraser. The series starts with Beyond Cutting. Vicki has a varied background as a freelance hairdresser with a PhD in psychoanalysis and until recently taught religious studies at the University of Stirling. You can find out more about Vicki and her Edinburgh crime series on her website.

Dalia Craig writes erotica including lesbian erotica. She has written a number of novels including Bound by Consent. You can find more about Dalia here.

Sky Croft is an author with Regal Crest. She was born and raised in England, though she has always dreamed of living in the beautiful Scottish countryside, in particular, the wild rugged Highlands. From a young age writing has been her greatest joy, and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in whatever story she is working on. Her novels include the Mountain Rescue adventure series (beginning with Mountain Rescue: The Ascent, which won a Goldie in 2014), Amazonia, and the supernatural Shadowstalkers. You can read all about Sky and her forthcoming books here.

Barbara Davies grew up in the Midlands, worked in computing in Surrey, then moved to Gloucestershire where she’s now a freelance writer. Her novels include Licensed to Spy, Rebeccah and the Highwaywoman, and the Goldie and Rainbow Award-winning Bourn’s Edge. Read more about Barbara here.

Lesley Davis is a West Midlands-based BSB writer whose novels include Dark Wings Descending and Playing Passion’s Game. You can read more about Lesley here.

V.T. Davy was born in London, and now lives in the Channel Islands. When not working in an office crunching numbers, Vic is a writer of L.G.B.T. and historical fiction. Vic has been a writer and amateur historian for decades, with a special interest in British history between the wars, and the German occupation of the Channel Islands (1940-1945). Vic’s first novel, Black Art, is a thriller featuring Arty Shaw, the world’s first female-to-male transgender genealogist/detective. It was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ top 100 books of 2012. Vic’s writing also examines issues of gender and sexuality, an area in which Vic is interested, being transgendered. Vic’s second novel, A Very Civil Wedding, is a lesbian romance that examines the issues surrounding same-sex marriage. Vic has an M.B.A. from the University of Durham and is a member of the Institute of Fundraising. For more information about Vic, head over here.

Rachel Dax is a writer and filmmaker. After The Night is a love story set in a British prison in 1960, which examines homophobic prejudices and societal pressures alongside the romantic narrative. The Legend Of Pope Joan is a three part fast-paced pansexual, gender-bending, theological extravaganza set in the 9th Century. More about Rachel Dax.

Ellen Dean writes lesbian fiction (Beautiful Strangers is an Amazon and Smashwords best-seller) and general fiction, non-fiction, short stories and screenplays. Along with her other writing projects she is working on Beyond Midnight, the sequel to Beautiful Strangers. She is a radio presenter and makes short, funny films. Ellen is Patron of Outpost Housing Project, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. More about Ellen.

Beatrice Donahue is a poet at heart. The Blue Hour marks her first foray into the world of short stories. If you follow the quiet hum of eccentricity, you will usually find her at home in Southwest England, except when she is not. An avid reader who never judges a book by its cover, Beatrice enjoys exploring and expressing aspects of human sexuality through her own writing. Beatrice’s novelette The Blue Hour was published by Ladylit in May 2013.

Emma Donoghue is an Irish writer who writes both critically acclaimed non-lesbian fiction (Room) and award-winning lesbian fiction (Sealed Letter). More about  Emma Donoghue.

Lyn Dowland is a widely traveled working musician living in the United Kingdom. In addition to poems and plays, she has always written for personal pleasure. Lyn’s début novel Distance Learning was released in September 2013 by Bella Books.

Maureen Duffy was born in Worthing, Sussex in 1933. She is said to have been Britain’s first lesbian to ‘come out’ in public, and made public comments during the debates around homosexual law reform. In 1977 she published The Ballad of the Blasphemy Trial, a broadside against the trial of the Gay News newspaper for ‘blasphemous libel’. Her first openly lesbian novel was The Microcosm (1966). More about Maureen, her novels, plays, and poetry can be found on her website.

Stella Duffy is a writer and performer and has written numerous plays, novels and short stories. Her lesbian fiction includes the Saz Martin detective series (starting with Calendar Girl) and the gripping Parallel Lies. More about Stella Duffy.

Amy Dunne was raised in Derbyshire, England. She attended Keele University and graduated in 2007 with a BSc in philosophy and psychology. After graduating, she worked for a while with vulnerable young people until she moved on to deliver training and educational courses. She is currently in the process of setting up her own speech writing business aptly named, Gift of the Gab. Her debut YA novel, Secret Lies was published in 2013, and her second novel Season’s Meetings will be published in December, 2014. She is currently working on a futuristic, post-apocalyptic series. You can find out more about Amy over at her blog.

Sally Edwards hails from Shropshire and specialises in stories that feature disabled characters. How to Love was her debut – the story of a young disabled lesbian woman, coming of age, living a life of independence, and finding love. You can find out more about Sally on her website.

Suzanne Egerton’s illogical career path has zigged up to doorsteps with a bag of cleaning products, and zagged through jewellery shops and casinos. She is currently a fitness instructor, and lives in Motherwell. Writing has been a constant in her life, but only since a move close to the artistic honeypot of Glasgow has it become The Other Job. Suzanne loves the scary presence of an audience, and has read her work at numerous events, including the Edinburgh International Book Festival. So far she has refrained from throwing up in the wings. Her debut novel is Out Late with Friends and Regrets, and her blog can be found here.

Rachael Eyre has been mad keen on writing and fictional worlds since the age of seven- she hasn’t changed much in twenty years. Noticing there was a real gap in the market for gay and lesbian themed fantasy/sci fi/adventure fiction, she decided to fill it. She would never write something she wouldn’t want to read herself. The Governess is her first completed novel. Her second, The Revenge of Rose Grubb, will join it on Kindle shortly. A revenge saga spanning thirty years, it takes in school bullying, faked deaths and our culture’s unhealthy obsession with celebrity. Our heroine won’t stop till she’s collected her enemy’s scalp. Rachael is currently writing her third novel, Love and Robotics. It’s her first attempt at writing a proper love story, even though the lovers are a (male) robot and an equally male raddled old explorer. She lives in Lancaster, UK with her long suffering partner Ruth. She loves dragons but doesn’t like ferrets. At all. Rachael doesn’t seem to have her own blog but there are a few posts over on her Goodreads author page.

V. A. Fearon was born in Hackney, in the east end of London to West Indian parents. She has a degree in psychology and has worked as a criminal lawyer in London for most of her adult life. Her work in criminal law brought her into contact with some of the most dangerous and some of the most vulnerable people in the capital. Echoes of this can be seen in the characters penned in the DANI series, the first of which is The Girl with the Treasure Chest.

Jane Fletcher  is a GCLS award-winning writer and has also been short-listed for the Gaylactic Spectrum and Lambda Literary awards. Writing largely in the fantasy genre, she has two ongoing series, the Celaeno series and the Lyremouth Chronicles. Jane is a Bold Strokes author and her website is over here.

Neve Fontaine is an indie writer who was born and raised in South Yorkshire, England. She likes to travel and hopes to have travelled the globe before she leaves this world. When Neve’s not writing, reading, or fixing things, she likes to take photographs, bake biscuits, and play guitar – she says it’s soothing, or cathartic when ‘rockin’ out.’ With a background in tourism and hospitality, Neve’s had a varied worklife and lived in more places than she’s had birthdays (spread across half a dozen countries). Exploiting the phrase ‘variety is the spice of life’, she’s done everything from take kids kayaking, adults test diving, picture framing, dog walking, and running pubs and clubs. You can find out more about Neve here at her blog.

Jenny Frame is from the small town of Motherwell in Scotland, where she lives with her partner, Lou, and their well loved and very spoiled dog. She has a diverse range of qualifications, including a BA in public management and a diploma in acting and performance. Nowadays, she likes to put her creative energies into writing rather than treading the boards. When not writing or reading, Jenny loves cheering on her local football team, which is not always an easy task! Jenny has signed with Bold Strokes Books and her début novel A Royal Romance will be published in 2015. You can catch up with Jenny over at her blog, or on Facebook.

Pauline George has come from Aircraft Mechanic, Motor Mechanic, and Signal Operator to Writer, giving her plenty of grist for the writing mill. Pauline was born in the beautiful county of Kent and is the eldest of four children. She now lives halfway between the buzzing metropolis of London and the quiet countryside of the Surrey Hills. Although Pauline has always enjoyed writing she has never really had the nerve to ‘put it out there’ with many a story finishing up in the waste bin. However she has co-written a musical and a one act play which were performed at her local amateur dramatic society. In her spare time Pauline indulges her hobbies of walking and photography, but even then her mind is busy creating the stories she hopes you will enjoy reading. Her debut novel is Jess.

Kirsty Grant was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and raised in a little town called Bonnyrigg. She has been writing for many years but it was only recently, after the death of her mother that she decided to give up a long career as a retail manager, and study English at the University in Stirling, where she now resides. Kirsty’s début, Loved, Settled and Understood was published by Melange Books in June. More information about Kirsty can be found on her blog or over on her Facebook author page.

Nicola Griffith is an award-winning author and an editor, whose novels – Ammonite, Slow River, the Aud novels – have earned her the Nebula, Tiptree, World Fantasy and six Lambda Literary Awards. Her most recent novel is the historical epic Hild, and more about Nicola can be found here.

Catherine Hall is the author of Days of Grace, the Green Carnation-winning The Proof of Love and The Repercussions.  Now based in London, she worked in documentary film production before becoming a freelance writer and editor for a range of organizations specializing in human rights and development. Read more here.

Mari Hannah was born in London and moved north as a child. Sponsored by the Home Office, she graduated from Teesside University before becoming a Probation Officer, a career cut short when she was injured while on duty. Thereafter, she spent several years working as a film/television scriptwriter. During that time she created and developed a number of projects, most notably a feature length film and the pilot episode of a crime series for television based on the characters in her book, the latter as part of a BBC drama development scheme. She lives in Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. In 2010, she won the Northern Writers’ Award. Mari is the author of the Kate Daniels crime series: The Murder Wall (which the Guardian newspaper called “a satisfyingly meaty read”) Settled Blood, and Deadly Deceit. Her website with loads more information about the author and her books can be found here.

J.T. Harding lives close to Hereford and is a writer of erotic fiction.  In her own words, Tess believes that true eroticism only comes from character and storyline. Therefore, her fiction may take a while to get going, but it will get you there in the end and, it can be argued, will result in greater satisfaction. More about Tess and her novels can be found here.

Kerry Hudson was born in Aberdeen. Growing up in a succession of council estates, B&Bs and caravan parks provided her with a keen eye for idiosyncratic behaviour, material for life, and a love of travel. Her first novel, TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE-CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA was published in July 2012 and has been shortlisted for the Southbank Sky Arts Literature Award, Guardian First Book Award, Green Carnation Prize, Author’s Club First Novel Prize and Saltire Scottish First Book of the Year. Kerry’s second novel, THIRST, was developed with support from the National Lottery through an Arts Council England grant and will be published by Chatto & Windus in 2014. She currently lives and writes in Hackney. Her blog can be found here.

Beatrice Hitchman was born in London and studied English and French at Edinburgh University followed by an MA in Comparative Literature. She lived in Paris for a year and when she moved back to the UK worked as a documentary film editor and also wrote and directed short films. In 2009 she completed a Creative Writing MA, and won the the Greene & Heaton Prize for best novel-in-progress. Her debut Petite Mort was published in and was short listed for the Polari Prize. It was adapted for Radio the 4 Woman’s Hour programme as a ten-part serial starring Honor Blackman.

Rebecca Idris is a British author living in London. She writes contemporary stories set in urban, modern England, exploring themes of postcolonial politics, emerging immigrant identities, and gay and lesbian humour. Her début novel, The Sitar, was long-listed for the Polari Prize. The best I can find for Rebecca in terms of a blog is her twitter feed and an interview with the Gaysian blog.

Lauren James is a UK based Young Adult author of The Next Together and forthcoming lesbian YA novel The Last Beginning (due for release in October 2016). She is an Arts Council grant recipient, and is longlisted for the 2016 Branford Boase Award. She is now 23, and lives in the West Midlands. Lauren sold the rights to her first novel The Next Together, a Young Adult science fiction romance, when she was 21. It was published in September 2015 by Walker Books in the UK and Australia. Rights have sold in over six territories worldwide, including the USA. It was described by The Bookseller as ‘funny, romantic and compulsively readable’. You can read more about Lauren here at her blog, and she has an LGBT YA review page here on Tumblr.

Toni James is the author of Crossing the Line and The Lost Resort. More about Toni James.

Evangeline Jennings is the author of Riding in Cars with Girls, a crime-themed collection of essentially feminist, very noir, and almost entirely queer short stories and novellas. She is also the founding editor of the Pankhearst writers collective. Born and raised in Liverpool, Evangeline now spends most of her time in Austin, TX, writing stories about girls. Sometimes women. Usually her girls love other girls, and often they drive cars — two reasons why she never sells in Saudi Arabia. Evangeline also writes about gender, sexuality, and violence against women. Like Valentina, her characters often seek bloody satisfaction. Sometimes they find it. You can find out more about Evie at her blog.

Jackie Kay  is highly entertaining. If you ever get a chance to go to one of her readings, go! She writes critically acclaimed poetry and prose and her work, including Trumpet based on the life of Billy Tipton, contains some fabulous lesbian characters.

Jackie Kennedy lives in Scotland. She lives an ordinary life, doing ordinary things. Until she flips open her laptop… Her début novel Denial was released by Affinity eBooks in August, 2013. You can contact Jackie at omegathirteen@ymail.com.

Jody Klaire started writing in 2011 and although she had been writing music and lyrics for fifteen years, becoming an author had never been something she aspired to. However, the moment that she began to compose the story for her first novel, she was hooked. Hailing from Wales, Jody has been many things from police officer to singer/songwriter and tries to use her experiences in life to evoke vivid pictures. She aspires for her characters to touch the hearts of the reader. She lives with a host of furry friends: her golden retriever, several gerbils, some sneaky house mice, and a neighbour’s cat. She loves writing, sport, music, art, and teaching herself new subjects. Jody is a proud member of the GCLS, The Writer’s Workshop WordCloud, and is delighted to be a part of the Bedazzled Ink family. Jody’s debut novel, The Empath is due out in summer 2014. You can read more about Jody here at her blog, or on her Facebook page.

Anna Larner has a degree in English literature and master’s degrees in word and visual imagination, and museum studies. She has written and curated a permanent exhibition of LGBT voices and memorabilia, based at Leicester’s LGBT Centre, one of the first permanent exhibitions in the UK. As a member of the steering committee for the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland LGBT History Project, Anna is passionate about preserving LGBT history and ensuring that LGBT voices are heard. When she’s not writing or reading, she loves lazy Sunday lunches and all things Scandinavian. Anna lives in Leicestershire with her partner Ang. She has recently signed with Bold Strokes Books, and her début novel, Highland Fling, will be published in 2017. You can find out more about Anna here at her blog.

Rebecca S. Lazaro writes about female sexuality, emotional analysis and the psychology of dysfunctional relationships and her debut novel Unravel is available on Amazon. Rebecca’s short story Cut to the Core will be published in the anthology The Black Room Manuscripts: Volume Two. She is currently working on her second novel, merging issues of mental illness, addiction and promiscuity. She can be contacted via Facebook.

VG Lee is an author and a stand-up comedian. She has published four novels: The Comedienne, Diva Books, 2001, The Woman in Beige, Diva Books, 2003, Diary of a Provincial Lesbian, Onlywomen Press, 2005 and Always You, Edina, Ward Wood Publishing 2012. In 2008, her short story collection, As You Step Outside was published by Tollington Press. More about VG Lee.

Clare Lydon is a London-based author who penned her first novel at primary school and it scored 9.5/10. She’s still not sure what she was docked half a point for. A lack of lesbians perhaps? Her début novel, London Calling, certainly addresses that issue, featuring a cast of London ladygays & their mates who Clare hopes are reflective of life in modern-day London. She’s already working on her second book which should be out later this year. You can find out more at Clare’s website, and she also tweets! Twitter: @clarelydon

Megan Magill lives very happily with her wife and two spaniels in a small cottage in the Cotswolds. By day she works in the field of investment management, by night her fingers dance across the keyboard as her imagination comes to life. Megan’s double life extends to her hobbies too. As a country girl she enjoys walking and riding in the idyllic landscape around her home. As a nerd she is drawn to the latest consoles and the enticing world of sci-fi. Luckily, the changeable English weather provides enough balance for her to enjoy both. She is the author of mystery romances A Question of Integrity and A Question of Courage. More about Megan’s novels can be found on her Regal Crest author’s page.

Devon Marshall is a UK-based author of indie les-fic. Dante’s Awakening (Vampires of Hollywood Series #1)  was published by Untreed Reads.  The second book in the series is due out in summer 2013. Voodoo Woman (New Orleans Mystery Series #1) is available as an ebook and paperback.  You can get signed copies of  Voodoo Woman, and regularly updated info from Devon’s website: Devon Marshall Writes.

C.K. Martin loves writing character driven stories, so you’ll find her books in the romance, crime and fantasy genres. She believes that realistic, diverse and engaging characters shouldn’t come at the expense of great plots – readers deserve to have both – and is a big fan of the slow burn when it comes to relationships, so be warned!

When she’s not writing, she can usually be found with her nose in a book (or pressed against the Kindle screen). Her third biggest passion in life is travel, so although she says she’s based in England, for much of the year you won’t find her there. Instead she’ll be hanging out with her wife in some amazing city or, more likely, at the beach. Read more about CK and her novels here at her blog.

Rain McAlistair writes modern lesbian romantic fiction. She started writing in 2010 and has published three novels (Dove, Bridge, and Moonchaser.)  Her stories and characters are mainly based in Ireland with some of the action taking place in England. Her influences are Emma Donoghue, Jenny McKean-Tinker and Diane Salvatore. She was born in Warwickshire in 1962 and has settled in the West of Ireland with her partner, two dogs and a cat. Rain’s website can be found here.

Val McDermid writes incredibly successful crime novels. Her early novels feature a lesbian journalist Lindsay Gordon and Trick of the Dark is wonderfully full of lesbians. More about Val McDermid.

Chrissie McDill describes herself as “an ageing writer for the more mature lesbian”. She has lived in London and Surrey where she beat the feminist drum to become one of the first women branch managers of a national building society in the early 80’s. She left in 1988 to start her own women’s taxi business which has provided her with a wealth of ideas for her stories. Since retiring and moving back to her native Scotland, she has published No Way to Live, a psychological thriller about a woman haunted by her past and terrified of her future. Chrissie lives with her partner and two bonkers, but loveable, Cairn terriers in South Lanarkshire and can be contacted on Facebook. She also has a web site.

Gill McKnight moves between Ireland, England and Greece and somehow still manages to find time a) to be simply lovely and b) write novels. The latest instalment in her Garoul series Silver Collar was released in December. In 2012 she was awarded the Alice B. Medal for services to lesbian literature. Gill’s blog is right here.

Charlotte Mendelson was born in London and grew up in Oxford. She has written and reviewed for the Guardian, the TLS, the Independent on Sunday, the Observer and elsewhere. Her many literary prizes include the Somerset Maugham Award, and she was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2008. Her novels include Love in Idleness, Daughters of Jerusalem, and When We Were Bad. Her forthcoming novel, Almost English, is due for publication in August 2013. Charlotte’s official website can be found here.

Emma Rose Millar is a single mother who works part-time as an interpreter. She is a writer and editor of historical fiction. Her first novel, Strains from an Aeolian Harp was published in November 2012 and made the final round of the Chaucer Awards. She is now writing her second novel Five Guns Blazing with American author Kevin Allen. Emma has had two short stories published in the best selling lesbian anthology Sunkissed by Freya Publications. She worked as editor on Steph A Amey’s debut novel Holloway 8632 which was published in September 2013. Find out more on her blog.

H.P. Munro lives in Edinburgh with her wife and a wauzer named Boo. She started writing in 2010 when a new job took her away from home a lot and she found herself in airports, on flights, and in hotel rooms with an M&S meal for one. The job didn’t last but the love of writing did. Her début novel Silver Wings was shortlisted for the Golden Crown Literary Society Historical Fiction award in 2014, her second novel Grace Falls was published in Feb 2014, swiftly followed in late May by novel number three, Stars Collide. You can find out more on H.P.’s website, or on her Facebook page, and she is also on twitter @munrohp

Niamh Murphy writes stories that combine romance and escapism. Her début novel  is The Mask of the Highway Woman. More about Niamh.

Robyn Nyx is an avid shutterbug and lover of all things fast and physical. Her writing often reflects both of those passions. She writes lesbian fiction when she isn’t busy being the chief executive of a UK charity. She lives with her soul mate and fellow scribe. They have no kids or kittens, which allows them to travel to exotic places at the drop of a hat for “research.” She works hard to find writing time, when she’s not being distracted by blue skies and motorbike rides. Her first novel, Never Enough, will be released by Bold Strokes Books in November, 2016. Find out more about Robyn here at her blog.

KE Payne was born in Bath, the English city, not the tub, and after leaving school she worked for the British government for fifteen years, which probably sounds a lot more exciting than it really was. Fed up with spending her days moving paperwork around her desk and making models of the Taj Mahal out of paperclips, she packed it all in to go to university in Bristol and graduated as a mature student in 2006 with a degree in linguistics and history. After graduating, she worked at a university in the Midlands for a while, again moving all that paperwork around, before finally leaving to embark on her dream career as a writer. At the last count, KE had five novels under her belt, with a sixth, Once The Clouds Have Gone, due out in October 2014. KE has a blog over here.

Angela Peach lives with her wife in the New Forest. She loves music, dancing, experiencing everything life has to offer! She is the author of In Reflection, 47, The Blurring, and Playing my Love. Angie doesn’t have a blog but she is on Facebook.

Cherry Potts is a lesbian feminist with a love of fairy tales.  Her published collections of short stories include Mosaic of Air (due to be republished in autumn 2013) and Tales Told Before Cockcrow. She also has three novels on the go, plus nearly enough stories for another collection, and as if that wasn’t enough she is also the founder of Arachne Press. Find out more about Cherry here.

Jane Retzig was born and raised in West Yorkshire. In her late twenties, she moved to London, where her first two novels were published by The Dimsdale Press, the small UK based lesbian publishing house that also launched the writing careers of Jane Fletcher and Christina Smythe. Jane’s first novel Boundaries was re-released last year in Kindle e-book and paperback. This was followed by a new novel The Photograph, and a rewrite of her second novel, just released as The Full Legacy.  As a writer of (fairly gritty) lesbian romantic fiction, Jane’s main influences are the great Northern writers of the 50’s and 60’s – Barstow, Braine and Waterhouse; plus Jane Austen, Patti Smith, British novelist Elizabeth Taylor, Daphne du Maurier, and just about everything ever published by Naiad. Jane is currently living in North Yorkshire and working on her new novel ‘The Wrong Woman’.

Louise Rought is from the North East of England. On Another Level is her debut novel, published by Pegasus Publishers Ltd. More about Louise.

Nita Round has been writing all of her life in one form or another, and she loves telling stories. Her head is full of them, and they all scream for her attention. Chosen as one of the winning entries in a short story competition, publication was the catalyst to write more, and now writes full time.

She loves being outdoors in the garden, or visiting sites of National heritage, but she also loves reading, cooking, gaming and no matter what, she always finds something to do. She lives in the heart of England with her wife of 21 years and their King Charles Cavalier, Rosie. Her debut novel, Knight’s Sacrifice, will be published by Regal Crest in February, 2017, and you can read more about Nita here at her website.

Vicky Ryder is the author of the funny Ey Up and Away! a novel about growing up in Nuneaton. More about Vicky Ryder

RJ Samuel was born in Nigeria, to Indian parents from Kerala.  In 1984, she moved to Ireland to complete her medical studies and has remained there since, apart from a 3-year episode in the southwest of France. Her novels are set in the West of Ireland, in Galway and Connemara, and also in Kerala, India, and include Heart Stopper, Falling Colours – The Misadventures of a Vision Painter, and Casting Shadows – The Further Misadventures of a Vision Painter. RJ’s official website is here, and she can be contacted via:  Email: r.j_samuel@yahoo.com Twitter: @r_j_samuel or over on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RJSamuelAuthor

Shamim Sarif is a writer and film director whose novels include The World Unseen (winner of the Betty Trask Award), Despite the Falling Snow, and I Can’t Think Straight, which she recently made into a film of the same name. Shamim’s official website with  news of all her latest projects can be found here.

Jamie Scarratt was brought up within a few miles of Edgehill and lists amateur theatre, re-enactment, and archaeology amongst her interests and inspirations. She is the author of 30 Days Hath September, and Return of the Raven, and her website can be found here.

Manda Scott started writing lesbian crime novels but is better known in the mainstream for her later historical novels. Her first novel Hen’s Teeth was the first in the series of crime novels featuring lesbian psychiatrist Kellen Stewart and short-listed for the Orange Prize. More about Manda Scott.

Jen Silver lives in West Yorkshire with her long-term partner whom she married in December 2014. Reading, writing, golf, archery, and taking part in archaeological digs all form part of Jen’s everyday life. Her novels, published by Affinity eBook Press, include the Starling Hill Trilogy: Starting Over, Arc Over Time, and Carved in Stone. Both The Circle Dance and Christmas at Winterbourne are standalone stories. Jen describes her books as romance for the older generation who believe in growing old disgracefully. Contact Jen at jenjsilver at yahoo.co.uk, friend her on Facebook, or visit her blog.

Ali Smith writes distinctive, innovative and critically acclaimed lesbian and non-lesbian novels and short stories. Girl Meets Boy was Diva Magazine’s readers choice for 2008.

LT Smith was born and raised a Manchester girl (ed’s note: huzzah!) and now resides in Norfolk. She is the author of four novels, all of which were published through PD Publishing (a company that recently closed) including  Hearts and Flowers Border. She has now signed with Ylva Publishing. You can follow her on Facebook or head over here to her blog.

EH Smith is a fiction and fanfiction writer and The Shape Of The Path is her debut novel.  She lives in Kent with her wife and two cats, is currently studying for a BSc in Natural Science and is working towards her second novel.

Kate Snowdon was born in the South of England, raised in the North and Wales, and now happily lives in rural Scotland. Kate’s début novel You Can’t Run From Love was published by Bella Books in February, 2013. More about Kate can be found on her blog.

Alex Spear loves travelling the world listening for stories. Born in London, she now lives with her wife and by the sea.  Many, many decades have passed since Alex was at school but she still gets told off for being easily distracted. She will typically be writing two novels, a blog and a TV script all at once while reading half a dozen novels (none from beginning to end) while talking to good friends online, on the phone, and to her cat. Her novel People Person is available from Amazon and you can find out more about Alex on her blog.

Louise Tondeur grew up in Bournemouth and is now a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Roehampton. She lives in North London with her wife, son and two cats. Her books include The Water’s Edge, and The Haven Home for Delinquent Girls. Her official website is over here.

Rosen Trevithick is a very successful indie author of lesbian and non-lesbian fiction. Her novels include Straight out of University. More about Rosen Trevithick.

Sarah Waters writes critically acclaimed and best-selling historical novels with lesbian main characters which have also appealed to mainstream audiences. Fingersmith is regarded as a modern classic. More about Sarah Waters.

Georgie Watts is a self taught multidisciplinary artist who spends her summers writing songs and making art before filling each dark long winter with poetry, fiction and screenwriting. She grew up in a Town in Buckinghamshire and now lives with her family in rural Norfolk. Her debut novel, Owl Eyes is set in the nineties and is a gritty yet witty coming of age tale of two young women trying to find their way. Find out more about Georgie here.

Jade Winters grew up in London, but always wanted to live by the sea. After many years of living in different parts of the UK, she moved to Dorset with her partner of ten years, where they now live happily with their three cats. One of her ambitions was to write a novel and 143 was borne from the desire to add to the growing genre of lesbian literature. Jade’s blog can be found here.

Sadie Winters lives by the sea in a village on the southwestern tip of England. She is a poet and freelance writer whose work has also appeared in academic collections and magazines like Ms. When she’s not writing, Sadie can be found combing the beaches and watching the waves, rummaging around at flea markets, and, if all else fails, she’ll be in her garden. That or the kitchen. Sadie loves to bake: a fact that greatly inspires her partner and children. Her debut No Fallen Angel is published by Bella.

Jeanette Winterson was raised in Accrington, Lancs by adoptive Pentecostal parents and is an author, poet, and journalist. She wrote her first novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, when she was 23. She has won various awards around the world for her fiction and adaptations, including the Whitbread Prize, UK, and the Prix d’argent, Cannes Film Festival. Her latest novel The Daylight Gate  is a more mainstream offering and was released in August, 2012. Her website can be found here.

Sally Xerri-Brooks grew up in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Writing has been the central feature of her career to date, and her ambition has always been to write and successfully publish a full length novel. She published her début novel Four Movements: Fifty Years, Four People, One Piano in May, 2013.  She is married to Rachel, who is a constant source of encouragement and good humour, keeping her inspired as she continues her literary adventures. For more information about Sally see her blog.