Love is the Universal Story

I have not and will not ever use any form of generative A.I. to draft or complete my work. I have not and will not ever knowingly use A.I. produced graphics or text in my marketing.

Generative A.I. is built on theft of copyrighted material through means that encouraged and supported outright piracy. It's unethical to use it. Full stop.

Additionally, I believe that using generative A.I. replaces an author's essential voice with that of a machine that cannot be original, inspired, passionate about the words or the people those words are intended for.

Lesbian is My Power Word

We use language to describe our world. When the world changes, the language changes. I grew up in a world struggling to say lesbian loud and often, without shame. It's my power word, and I've always used it as my primary noun for women who love other women. But it leaves out some people in the community I love.

But it's not a power word for every woman who exclusively loves other women. I don't mean to imply that it is, even though brain muscle memory may have words come out of my mouth that sound like that's what I'm trying do. It's like remembering to use someone's requested pronouns - the heart is there - at times the brain might be slow.

Sapphic Covers Everybody

"Sapphic" is the only description that doesn't exclude love stories with bisexual, nonbinary, or transwomen characters. Not all lesbian books are sapphic, but all sapphic books can have lesbian stories in them. Please see the other sections on this page, "The Need for Lesbian and Sapphic Representation" and "I Believe in the Big Queer Tent" for more on all of these constantly evolving and nuanced topics.

Exclusion Gets Us Nowhere

By definition, "lesbian" excludes people who are members of the larger sapphic community. Yes, there is a sapphic community. The majority of those in it are lesbians. My use of sapphic is meant to include all, just as "queer" is meant as an even larger umbrella.

While it's true that lesbians are the largest membership in the sapphic community, we should all know that the concept of "majority rules" can easily lead to tyranny - look around, it's happening right now as compassionless and cruel majorities remove us and our existence from classrooms and libraries.

Common Ground is our Strength

We have so many examples in the mainstream world of majority tyranny. I want to be part of a community that knows better than to abuse the privilege of being in the majority. That's why I love the word sapphic as an umbrella term in the book community - we meet on our common ground.

• Reading Romance to Escape – From What? To What?
• We're Not Children Anymore, Right?
• Okay Lesbian Boomer – Diaspora and Other Rewards

The Big Queer Tent is big enough for all of us. A real lesbian is one who says she is. A woman is one who says she is. The right to self-define belongs to everyone. For more on this topic see:

• Keeping it "Real" and Buying into the Big Lie
• To the Girly-Girls Who Like Girls
• Casting the First Tweet - Why Someone Else's Gender is Not About Me
• Thread on Why As a 60+ Cis Lesbian I Can't Fathom NOT Standing with Transfolk
• Okay Lesbian Boomer – Diaspora and Other Rewards

• Interviews over the years
• Fun, Arbitrary Questions and Karin's Fun, Arbitrary Answers

Writers in a small niche market feel piracy intensely. Books are the only form of entertainment that has gotten cheaper and cheaper over the past decade, and there are still those who refuse to pay for their entertainment or to work with a library.

If you won't pay for reading, you will get reading that's not worth paying for. Voices you love will go silent. Please support the only writers who are telling your stories for you to enjoy.

See blog for further information about the damage piracy does to sapphic fiction writers and readers.