Lethe's gay titles include an array of
gay-positive novels, poetry,
erotica and literature for gay men & lesbians. Lethe is one of the
world's
leading publishers of gay and lesbian spirituality, poetry, and
independent fiction. Below is a list of Lethe Press's books of
specifically lesbian
interest.
The Mile-High City has its troubles. Fortunately it also has a
troubleshooter, Riley Connors, who s more than what she seems: law
student, waitress, and flirt. Because Riley has a past and connections
that enable her to protect the people around her. She's a nemesis to
many. Her penchant for investigating and meting out justice to
criminals and scum that the law has not touched is about to be tested
when Riley meets Ali Garcia, a girl who presses every one of Riley's
buttons, from caution to distrust to desire. Ali's in danger and Riley
finds herself unable to resist, knowing full well that even her wiles
and skills at handing out justice are about to be tested.
“Imagine an upperclass English girl kidnapped by pirates when she was
eleven, and eventually returned to her family. If this sounds familiar,
you’ve probably either read the classic book A High Wind in Jamaica by
Richard Hughes, or seen the movie. Whatever you may imagine, Jean
Roberta has taken the grown-up Emily far beyond your—or the younger
Emily’s—wildest speculations.
“This is, indeed, a ‘Bawdy Novella,’ but there’s more to it than that.
Emily is a smart and spirited heroine, adventurous enough to see the
bright side of the unspoken (and unfounded) assumption that she must be
‘damaged goods.’ If her best friend at their elite girls’ school
‘believed that I carried unspeakable knowledge like hidden treasure
under my clothes,’ all the better for getting, and sharing, such
treasure. When the friend ultimately lacks the courage for a permanent
relationship, Emily tosses off the constraints of 19th-century English
society and returns to the sea on a more-or-less pirate ship manned by
gay fugitives from the British Navy.
“The adventures that follow would be fun even without the sex, but sex
does flow with more intoxicating effect than sailors’ grog or pirates’
rum. While Emily does find female companionship, she is not too set in
her ways to sample other couplings—or triplings, or more—and neither
are her shipmates. The main characters are not only multi-talented as
to sex, but multi-dimensional people. The historical setting, from
England to the West Indies during the American Civil War, is
convincing, and if the sex occasionally reaches into the realms of
fantasy, what could be better for a decidedly Bawdy Novella?”
—Sacchi Green, author of A Ride to
Remember, editor of Girl Fever
“The language can be lush, and the passions do flame… Elements of
fantasy make their way into these tales as allusion, echoes of old
myths and fables: Rherlotte as the hunter’s goddess Diana in mortal
form, the household of women in ‘Virgile’ like some elaborately
metaphoric medieval verse about an uncanny court…”
—Faren Miller, Locus Magazine
World Fantasy Award winner Tanith Lee channels the allusive Esther
Garber to tell these dark, erotic tales of lesbian ardor and obsession.
The “fatal women” found within these pages lead exotic lives and
adventures and have grim secrets. From fin de siècle Paris to Egypt of
the 1930s and contemporary England, the Garber novellas create feverish
dreams of danger, scandal, and sensuality.
This new edition includes the novella “Femme Fatale,” never before in
print, as well as an essay by Mavis Haut, author of The Hidden Library
of Tanith Lee, about the eminence of this collection within
Lee’s body
of work.
Heiresses of Russ 2012: The Year's Best
Lesbian Speculative Fiction
Connie Wilkins & Steve Berman, editors
“Several of the fantasy selections use the witch as a classic symbol of
female mystery and power, but the stories have a good breadth of
setting, and each has a distinctive voice. Showcasing a mix of authors,
from superstars like Nalo Hopkinson to promising newcomers like S.L.
Knapp, this solid, well-chosen collection will be enjoyed by genre fans
of all genders and orientations.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Our worthy mission was to highlight the breadth and quality of lesbian
speculative fiction published during the past year, but our even higher
purpose has been to provide a book that any readers with a taste for
quality science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all their permutations
will enjoy.”
An unexplained astronomical phenomenon brings a woman and her
grandfather closer while she questions the meaning of faith. African
villagers in need of aid are sent automatons rather than human relief
workers. Mermaids devour men drawn by their song, but what will happen
to a steampunk submersible piloted by a woman? Two teenage girls
discover that memories are held in the fine aromas of perfumes. A
family of sisters in Mexico discovers a fallen angel. These are tales
of the strange, the wondrous, the eerie, but all are richly told
stories of women facing the unknown and how they are changed by their
experiences.
Gray Edwards is finally back on duty, this time assigned to a
Training Unit that does a lot more than training. This high tech
virtual world tests the boundaries of reality. Gray finds herself
flying once again with Dani Brown, and on the Fourth of July they are
under attack during what is supposed to be a routine training exercise
on downrange Fort Carson.
Edwards struggles, with a little help from old friends and new, to save
the survivors, while staying one step ahead of the authorities who are
investigating, and out of the hands of whoever is responsible.
The shocking truth about what really happened is something Gray never
imagined.
From Golden Crown Literary Award-winning author Catherine Lundoff comes
a supernatural novel that will thrill readers.
Becca Thornton, divorced, middle-aged, and barely out of the closet
discovers that life can still hold some strange surprises, when she
discovers that her body is changing; menopause turns her into a
werewolf. Apparently she is not the only one, as a number of women in
her town of Wolf's Point seem to have had the same experience. As the
newest member of the pack, Becca learns her nights are not spent only
protecting the town and running through the woods howling at the moon.
There are werewolf hunters in town and they've got Becca in their
sights.
"Deft humor, hints of romance, and well-constructed suspense leaven the
occasional sturdy earnestness, while the rejection of toned hotties as
the embodiment of supernatural power in favor of women whose lives have
prepared them with the wisdom for their new role is
refreshing." -- Publishers Weekly …read
the full review
Heiresses of Russ 2011:
The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction
edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft & Steve Berman
Welcome to a new annual anthology created in honor of the late Joanna
Russ, American writer, academic, and feminist whose work shone brightly
in the male-dominated field of speculative fiction of the latter part
of the twentieth century.
Heiresses of Russ
offers readers in one volume the best lesbian-themed tales of the
fantastical and otherworldly published during the prior year. Editors
JoSelle Vanderhooft and Steve Berman read countless books, periodicals,
and webzines to collect a range of tales—from new voices as well as
award-winning authors—that celebrate the spirit of Russ’s
fiction: stories of sorceresses and spectral women, lost
daughters and sisters of myth. The transformative power of the written
word becomes magic and tests the boundaries of gender, identity, and a
woman’s dreams.
Stories by: Georgina Bruce, Jewelle Gomez, Michelle Labbé, Steve
Berman, Rachel Swirsky, Ellen Kushner, Zen Cho, Csilla Kleinheincz,
Catherine Lundoff, Nora Olsen, N. K. Jemisin
A Day at
the Inn, a Night at the Palace and Other Stories
by Catherine Lundoff
A Day at the Inn, A Night
at the Palace, the short and fantastical fiction collection by
two-time Golden Crown Literary Award winner Catherine Lundoff, features
engaging stories about swashbuckling female pirates, opera singers and
mercenaries. Follow Shakespeare’s sister, Judith, and solve the
question of who really authored the plays. Consort with highwaymen (who
are more than what they seem), private eyes, bards, spies and even the
fey Queen of Air and Darkness. Thrilling adventures await in these ten
previously uncollected stories about magic, laughter, love, loss and
second chances.
“There are writers of passion and writers of wry
ventures and standing among both their companies is Catherine Lundoff.
Her stories offer memorable characters that I would seek out in dark
alleys during desperate times because only they can save the reader
from the perils ahead.”
—Steve Berman, author of Vintage: A Ghost Story
Winner of a 2012 Stonewall Book Award:
Mark Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature
Award Honor Book
a+e 4EVER - a graphic novel
by ilike merey
Asher Machnik is a teenage boy cursed with a beautiful androgynous
face. Guys punch him, girls slag him and by high school he's developed
an intense fear of being touched. Art remains his only escape from an
otherwise emotionally empty life. Eulalie Mason is the lonely,
tough-talking dyke from school who befriends Ash. The only one to see
and accept all of his sides as a loner, a fellow artist and a best
friend, she's starting to wonder if ash is ever going to see all of
her.... a + e 4EVER is a graphic novel set in that ambiguous crossroads
where love and friendship, boy and girl, straight and gay meet. It goes
where few books have ventured, into genderqueer life, where affections
aren't black and white.
The essence of frrie Devalleantasy is magic and the
folklore of
women has often dwelt on the innumerable powers they possess. Magic
that heals, magic that destroys, magic that saves their community. All
these elements and more can be found in the queer women of Hellebore
& Rue. These lesbians shape their worlds, their wants and needs,
and, most important, their destinies. Here are stories of a green mage
reuniting with her former partner on one last mission in Connie
Wilkins’ “The Windskimmer”; a shaman calling on the power of the
Medicine Buddha to fight demons in Jean Marie Ward’s “Personal Demons”;
and even an aging school nurse discovering a dark secret about her
heritage in Steve Berman’s “D is for Delicious.” A dozen stories by a
dozen talented authors, including Juliet Kemp, Lisa Morton, Ruth
Sorrell, C. B. Calsing, and other names that promise the reader many
wonders.
A Ride to Remember
takes you on a journey through the sensual
imagination of Sacchi Green, winner of the Lambda Literary Award for
Best Lesbian Erotica. These thirteen stories offer an ever-changing
panorama of encounters between women who know what they want and grasp
it with fierce intensity. Travel the globe, from Alaska to the Grand
Canyon, travel through the ages, from ancient China to Victorian
England to the present day, along a trail of incendiary embraces and
passionate hearts.
Promises, Promises:
a romp with plenty of dykes, a unicorn, an ogre, an oracle, a quest, a
princess, and true love with a happily ever after
by L-J Baker
A talking pearl earring.
A gleaming white unicorn.
A flower from an ogre.
Sandy Blunt, witch, has big dreams but C-average
magic skills. Her only
noteworthy talent is for paying extravagant compliments to women.
Trouble is, when she uses that gift, she unwittingly foretells the
future for a pretty princess. The punishment for prophesying about one
of royal blood is death. With the help of ill-assorted companions,
including a self-proclaimed princess in disguise with a wild
imagination, a self-absorbed member of the royal guard, and the
not-so-average girl next door, Sandy has a year and a day to travel to
far-flung places – encountering such dangerous creatures as a dragon
who writes awful poetry, slovenly elves, and boarding house landladies
– to collect the weird and magical items needed to turn her prophecies
into promises and so evade the executioner.
“Promises, Promises is a
light-hearted, hilarious tale that contrives to be an entertaining read
while it pokes fun at the fantasy genre’s most beloved
conventions: quests, D&D, women warriors in chainmail bikinis,
magical swords and mythical creatures.”
—Catherine Lundoff,
author & Golden Crown Literary Award winner
Wonderful review on Smashwords from Dejay Garden:
"The characters are well developed, the plot line hilarious and the
laughter much appreciated. I read into the wee hours of the night to
finish and my sides ached from laughing. Great book." read
more…
“Livia Llewellyn is a gifted new author who can
write disturbing and fascinating stories which are difficult to forget.
She isn’t afraid to shock her readers with imaginative but brutally
realistic visions about death, sex and love – in her stories these
three ingredients go hand in hand and wondrous and horrifying things
happen. I think it’s fair to say that this collection is pure ecstasy
for all lovers of dark, disturbing and challenging speculative fiction.”
—RisingShadow.net
Death and pleasure. Freud’s Todestrieb, his statement that “libido has
the task of making the destroying instinct innocuous, and it fulfills
the task by diverting that instinct to a great extent outwards....The
instinct is then called the destructive instinct, the instinct for
mastery, or the will to power.” Few authors have spun stories of
Thanatos and Eros as skillfully and powerfully as Livia Llewellyn.
In his introduction to this volume, Laird Barron writes “Scant
difference exists between exquisite pleasure and pain.” An orphan girl
with a mind for anthracite falls into the hands of a cult worshiping an
entombed god. In the Pacific Northwest, evergreens lull prepubescent
girls into their trunks to serve as wombs. A suburban housewife
troubled by her present encounters the sixteen-year-old girl she ached
to touch in her dreams. These ten stories promise to indulge the
reader’s sensibilities, their fears and desires.
The
last thing Gray Edwards has on her mind when she arrives for Basic
Training is falling in love, especially with another woman. Annie
Randall, who at first blush looks to be her polar opposite, turns out
to be someone she can’t live without.
Given the perfect setting for romance, with drill sergeants, other
recruits, no privacy, wrinkled uniforms and days without showers, what
could possibly go wrong?
After Basic is over, Gray and Annie find themselves geographically
challenged as they pursue their individual careers within the military
structure. Gray jumps through all the hoops in hopes of becoming
a pilot, along with Dani, who also just completed Basic, while Annie
studies to be a doctor.
When the schooling is finally over, the reality of their future sets
in. Gray is deployed with Dani and Annie takes matters into her
own hands so that they can finally be together. Nobody wins in
this war, but they fight for what they believe in.
K. A. Kron knows first hand about the faceless veterans who were
trapped in a glass closet while serving their country.
Fairy tales have long intrigued readers. They’re the first stories we
remember, and they resonate within us as adults.
In Sleeping Beauty, Indeed, editor JoSelle Vanderhooft
offers us a new take on an ancient theme: fairy tales from a lesbian
perspective. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, from original myths by
talented authors to classics retold with a deft hand, these tales are
by turn erotic and sensuous, loving and wicked. Take a bite of the
magic apple and make this anthology your bedtime story tonight.
Once more Catherine Lundoff offers readers a collection of the sensual
and the supernatural. The stories in Night’s Kiss are perfect bedtime
reading, as long as you keep the night-light on! Here are stories with
alluring vampires and aliens, strange Elvis impersonators and pirates,
as well as a few vengeful goddesses and curious tourists. So get under
the covers, and remember to lick your finger before daring to turn the
page.
LETHE PRESS CONGRATULATES CATHERINE
LUNDOFF FOR HER GOLDIE WIN
Crave won a Golden Crown Literary Award
for Lesbian Erotica!
Crave: Tales
of
Lust,
Love &
Longing By Catherine Lundoff
Catherine Lundoff is one of the most imaginative
writers
working
today. Her daydreams have been published in many anthologies. Her
stories combine passion with the
weirdness of speculative fiction.
In Crave,
Catherine
has collected fifteen of her most recent
tales.
From the howls of
lycanthropic desire offered by the "Leader of the
Pack" to lust and larceny in "Heart's
Thief," these stories will
bewitch and entice women.
Here's
Catherine at the Goldie Awards with her book and her award for
Lesbian Erotica.
Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades
offers readers seventeen original lesbian ghost stories that stories
that range from eerie tales of lost love to the darker side of romantic
commitments, relationships that linger longer than the grave.
At their heart,
ghost stories are often domestic tales, and so there is little wonder
why women have been some of the finest tellers of such stories:
cautionary tales and stories where oppression is avenged by the grim
ethereal, of lovers lost to life but who refuse to part. This rich
tradition finds new voices in Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades. Early
ghost stories are filled with characters that can be read as coded
lesbians--maiden aunts and spinsters--lurking at the fringe of mortal
life. But here are seventeen authors who have spun words that are
fresh. These shades vary from the eerie to the romantic. These are
phantoms who may well menace or linger long in the dreams of readers.
Award-winning editor Catherine Lundoff has compiled a collection of
stories by Sacchi Green, Jean Roberta, Marilyn Jaye Lewis, Melissa
Scott, Elise Matthesen, Lyn McConchie, M. Christian, Kathleen Bradean,
Ka Vang, Dayle Dermatis, L.C. Jordan, M.E. Cooper, Kaite Welsh, Brenta
Blevins, Suzan Tessier, Selina Rosen and Lynne Jamneck.
Hard Road, Easy Riding Lesbian
Biker Stories Edited
by Sacchi Green & Rekelle Valencia
Take a ride—on the wild side.
Sex should be intense, joyful, and
liberating—exactly as
written in these edgy and uninhibited stories. While there are many
anthologies of lesbian erotica available, none so far have focused on
the interaction between the lifestyles and sexual adventures of lesbian
bikers. What’s sexier than a hot woman, clad in form-fitting leather,
fiercely in control of the Iron Horse between her legs?
Lethe
Press Paperback,
216 pages
ISBN 978-1-59021-068-0
A new collection drawing from the many
areas of Mary Anne Mohanraj's work, Silence and the Word
includes
everything from enticing erotica to Sri Lankan-American immigrant
tales, from romantic poetry to provocative essays. Mohanraj boldly
explores sexuality, ethnicity, and their interactions with the human
heart. If you're a long-time fan, you'll be thrilled to have so much of
her work finally collected in one place; if you're a new reader,
prepare to be emotionally engaged, possibly aroused, and certainly
fascinated by what you're about to read.
A Taste of Serendib
a Sri Lankan Cookbook
Mary Anne Mohanraj
Serendib: one of the many names for Sri Lanka, Ceylon,
Taprobane -- an
island nation south of India, rich in tea and spices, vegetables, fruit
and fish, possessing a complex multicultural cuisine. A Taste of Serendib is a collection
of unexpected, delightful, fortunate flavors, forty-five recipes to
tantalize your tastebuds and satisfy your stomach.
