On the Shelf for October 2025
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 325 with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.
In this episode we talk about:
Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blog
Bray, Alan. 1996. Homosexuality in Renaissance England. Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 9780231102896
Downing, Christine. 1989. Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love. The Continuum Publishing Company, New York. ISBN 0-8264-0445-6
Reineke, Martha & Christine Downing. 1993. “Within the Shadow of the Herms: A Critique of "Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love" [with Reply] in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, Vol. 19, No. 1: 81-101, 103-106
Downing, Christine. 1994. “Lesbian Mythology” in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, Vol. 20, No. 2, Lesbian Histories: 169-199.
Nelson, Max. 2000. “A Note on the Olisbos” in Glotta, 76. Bd., 1./2. H.:75-82
Bremmer, Jan. 1980. “An Enigmatic Indo-European Rite: Paederasty” in Arethusa, Vol. 13, No. 2, Indo-European Roots of Classical Culture: 279-298.
Arkins, Brian. 1994. “Sexuality in Fifth Century Athens” in Classics Ireland, Vol. 1: 18-34.
Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
Florence Syndrome by Catherine Martini
Red Wake, Black Flag by Dahlia Quinn
Boardwalk Desire by Melody Ashford
Thrall of Deception (Tales from Norvegr) by Edale Lane
Angel Maker (Karen Memory #3) by Elizabeth Bear
Secrets of the Night by Shelby Banks
Gold for the Dead (Cantor Gold #7) by Ann Aptaker
A Lady Most Wayward (The Queen's Deadly Damsels #5) by Darcy McGuire
The Impossible Act of Georgia Cline by Eline Evans
Iceberg by Gun Brooke
A Legacy of Blood and Bone by Millie Abecassis
Gladiator, Goddess by Morgan H. Owen
Her Wicked Roots by Tanya Pell
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee
Other Titles of Interest
Toni and Addie Go Viral by Melissa Marr
What I’ve been reading
Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher
Illuminations by T. Kingfisher
A Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones
The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
The Rosetti Diaries by author
The Illhenny Murders by Winnie Frolik
Copper Script by K.J. Charles
That Self-Same Metal by Brittany H. Williams
The Tropoholic's Guide to Internal Romance Tropes by Cindy Dees
Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti
Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.
This month we interview Raven Belasco and talk about:
The real historic background of Sadie the Goat and Gallus Mag
Vampire stories and time-travel stories as mirror images
Expanding formats
World-building and inventing languages
Lesbian sex in the 19th century
That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story by Raven Belasco
Sadie the Goat (Wikipedia)
Gallus Mag (Wikipedia)
A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.)
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
Twitter: @LesbianMotif
Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon
Links to Heather Online
Website: http://alpennia.com
Email: Heather Rose Jones
Mastodon: @
[email protected]
Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)
Links to Raven Belasco Online
Website: ravenbelas.co/
Twitter (X): @RavenBelasco
Instagram: @raven.belasco
YouTube: @ravenbelasco
Facebook: author.ravenbelasco
New Zealand