Where are the lesbians?

[FranW]

A couple of interesting blog posts. First, a lament about the dearth of lesbians in YA.

Lesbian visibility is pretty bloody terrible in the fiction I enjoy, or even fiction I don’t. So the schtick of those graduated-from-HP-fanfic YA writers, who are ever so lauded for their beautiful wonderful inclusivity? It’s nine times out of ten about hot, hot gay boys. Hot, hot gay boy angst. You’d be lucky if one of the girls in the background… somewhere… likes other girls… somewhere… honest.

http://requireshate.wordpress.com/2011/ ... -lesbians/

Second, the revelation by an author that her lesbian ebooks are selling relatively well:

I have 4 Lesbian titles out, of the 9 books I’ve published. When 2011 is over (depending on my 4th quarter sales), I will have made somewhere between $5,000-$6000. 90% of what I earned is from my Lesbian romances. Lesbian romance sells well.

http://kbgbabbles.blogspot.com/2011/12/ ... -well.html

[ElaineB]

I'm terribly clueless about all this but have heard that gay men are much more likely to be published by mainstream presses than lesbians.

[FranW]

Has anyone read "The Vampire Tapestry" by Suzy McKee Charnas? She's been a noted lesbian writer for decades and this book was published by Simon and Schuster in 1980, so I'm surprised the book has been re-released with such a cheesy cover

Hailed by Stephen King as “scary and suspenseful” and “unputdownable,” and by Peter Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, as “The best vampire novel I have ever read,” The Vampire Tapestry examines the classic monster as a biological, rather than supernatural, predator who awakens from hibernation every few decades needing to relearn human culture.

After years of secret effort, the self-styled Edward Weyland has become a respected anthropology professor and director of a sleep research lab. With reliable access to unsuspecting blood donors, he grows complacent and makes a near-fatal error. First critically wounded by a strong and canny woman, then imprisoned and humiliated by a power-mad Satanist, he is forced on a journey toward an empathy with his prey that threatens the foundations of his survival.

http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/novels ... 0340a.html

I'm not sure if it's my cup of tea or not, though the protagonist Katje does look interesting.

[Baker]

I've read her all-female dystopia novels (Motherlines etc), but had no idea she had written any vampire stuff. As for the cheesy cover, I think that's a bid for the Twilight fans.

[FranW]

Really? I thought Twilight was all red roses on a black background? By cheesy in this case I meant "really bad photoshopping that looks like it was done by a ten year old." Crap quality, poor design.

[wildlx]

Like Baker I read her Holdfast Chronicles series, which I highly recommend, but not any vampire stuff.

[ElaineB]

Yeah, Twilight covers aren't cheesy. Maybe the stories are...