I’ve been out as a lesbian for a long time. I don’t like to think that it’s possible I’ve been out for as long as I have, but there’s only one alternative to aging, and I’m not ready to [...]
People of color will know this old joke. A writer of color knocks on the door of mainstream success: knock knock. Answer: *silence* Writer of color: “One day, I’ll publish a book disguised as a white man.” Answer: [...]
What’s a sensitivity reader and why are authors increasingly using them? It’s the hiss I remember most. I heard it from three different friends, across three different countries, and it sounded the same in each. I had just told [...]
It’s me, KD. I’m Ylva’s token black writer. Let’s sit on that for a minute. None of it’s true, but it makes a statement. The word, token, has a very negative connotation when it comes to race, gender, and [...]
There’s a look people get when they learn that I am Latina—a narrowing of the eyes, a slow glance up and down my body, and almost every time, a purred “oh…really?” It doesn’t matter that I’m an accomplished creative. [...]
Five things to know about lesfic protagonists: They should be white (Malibu tans are acceptable however), smoking hot (six-pack abs optional), rich (preferably a self-made millionaire), twenty-ish (ahh the perfection of youth), femme (soft butch if you must blur [...]
( Content Note: Suicide ) What is a hero? These days we call everyone a hero, from a child calling 911 to a sporting star doing his multimillion-dollar job. But what are heroes? Really? It’s Wednesday, March 26, 2014. [...]
Ylva’s firing up the party poppers over taking home six Goldies at the Golden Crown Literary Awards (GCLS) at the weekend. The awards recognize excellence in lesbian literature across fourteen genres and in five special categories. Ylva’s winning novels [...]
As an avid reader of lesbian romances, I must have read thousands of sex scenes over the years. There’s a lot of variety—from fade-to-black to explicit descriptions, from vanilla to kinky, from sweet and tender to passionate and raunchy. [...]
It’s 8 p.m. on a Friday and two middle-aged very straight women are speaking in hushed tones about a book that they loved, but ““gosh, I really shouldn’t”.” By now you probably know what book I’m talking about. Fifty [...]