Lesbian Stories | Lesbian Fiction | Lesbian Books | Jennifer L. Jordan Appearances

Appearances - Jennifer L. Jordan - lesbian author

Golden Crown Literary Society Conference
August 2008 • Phoenix, Arizona

For the first time ever, I attended the Golden Crown Literary Society Conference – an amazing lesbian writers conference that attracts lesbian authors and lesbian readers from around the world.

More than 200 lesbians gathered to share stories, attend workshops, network, and celebrate – all the best in lesbian fiction, lesbian books, lesbian novels, and lesbian poetry.

Below are some highlights from the weekend:

•I connected with dozens of lesbians who have read some or all of the books in the Kristin Ashe lesbian mystery series. The connection, in person, more than anything else, was what I loved about the conference. Writing lesbian fiction is an extremely challenging avocation. For six to eight months, I spend thirty or more hours per week creating a lesbian book that will be published one or more years after I complete it, only to have someone three miles or three thousand miles away read it months or years after it’s first published. Typically, we never meet, the readers and I, separated by time and distance. For seventy-two hours, we came together, and it was very, very cool!

•I also had a blast teaching a workshop on plotting and outlining a novel. Although I was outnumbered by lesbian romance writers, there were other lesbian mystery writers, sci-fi writers, and young adult writers in the crowd as well. At the end of the workshop, to practice the principles I’d taught, we plotted a novel, as a group. Due to time constraints, the finished product was a little rough, but we were well on our way to creating a potentially best-selling lesbian romance. The story, as we planned it, would have centered around a doctor and a hospital administrator in Chicago who were at odds professionally, but drawn to each other sexually. Forces working against their eventual happiness included a meddling (perhaps menacing) ex-lover and a troubled teenage son (who might have been struggling with coming out, autism, and/or self-mutilation). If we’d had another hour, we could have tightened up the plot enough to at least determine whether we had enough material and substance to start outlining and writing a novel – which was the point of the workshop.

•I interacted with Lori L. Lake, the lesbian author who invited me to attend and present at the GCLS conference. After watching her in action throughout the weekend and listening to all of the lesbian authors who thanked her at the awards ceremony, I’m convinced she’s the most influential lesbian writer of my generation. Her teaching, mentoring, support, and enthusiasm clearly have far-reaching influences that will help shape lesbian literature for years to come.

•I also had a chance to spend time with Nann Dunn, a lesbian author and poet, and the driving force behind Just About Write, an outstanding website that contains lesbian book reviews, columns, how-to-articles, calls for manuscripts, and poetry. The website is an amazing resource – one of the best in lesbian publishing. Stop in once, and you’ll soon be bookmarking the site! And Nann is a delight! She not only won the 2008 GCLS Directors' award for all of her contributions to the lesbian writing community, but she also convinced me to attend her panel on poetry (which might have been the harder feat). I shocked myself by loving the poetry readings, in particular the poem Nann wrote about the day in September when no planes flew.

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