#sapphic literature

[jeniferprince]

I can’t...

I made this illustration based on a beautiful scene from “FORGET ME NOT”, Alyson Derrick’s upcoming book. Learn how you can pre-order and get a print with this illustration here! <3

[zombie-bait]

Highly recommend the 1872 novella Carmilla to all the wlw iwtv fans out there, it's about a gothic lesbian vampire-human romance and it lowkey changed my life. Like I cannot explain to you how shockingly gay and poetic this story that came out two decades before Dracula is. I'm a little devastated it took me this long to read it tbh

(And if you're looking for a good retelling that embraces the gay further I recommend Carmilla and Laura by S.D. Simper. It's not as poetic but it focuses on internalized homophobia, religion and has a happier ending)

[bonewreath]

i’ve pushed myself to read more sapphic literature this year, so here are some of my favs:

mistakes were made by meryl wilsner - spicy! age gap! secret relationship! this was one of the best books i read this year, i devoured it in just a few days. delicious smuttiness

sorry, bro by taleen voskuni - bi girls in love <3 super fun, lighthearted read with beautiful armenian representation.

we do what we do in the dark by michelle hart - this one is a lot heavier and, ahem, darker. another age gap and some angst but there’s a happy ending!

when katie met cassidy by camille perri - this one is about first-time sapphic revelations which i loved, really easy to read too.

one last stop by casey mcquiston - if you look past the occasional cringy millennial quip, this book is so fun and heartwarming. kinda sci-fi too?

honorable mention for the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon - not strictly dedicated to a sapphic love story (it’s a giant fantasy novel first), but so worth a read. one of the queen’s handmaidens is an undercover sorceress sent to protect her and they fall in loooove.

[burninbriight]

shotout to women being in love with other women in classic literature and to paintings of women being gay and kissing and touching and staring longingly at one another shotout to lesbian erotic subtext and to fruits that symbolise the vagina shotout to obscene and erotic and tender and soft sapphicism represented in art i love you

[taliabhattwrites]

For Trans Rights Readathon, consider 'Dulhaniyaa', a desi F/F tale of forbidden love. A woman, promised to a man, can't help but fall for her transfem dance instructor. Written by a desi transbian, at a modest 39k words. Preorder linked here, ARCs available on request.

[violetsdust]

let me be a nerd for five minutes — can we talk about the gearbreakers duology?

poc main characters that are also sapphics, science fiction with heavy cyberpunk influences and fucking mechas, religious themes, citicism towards authoritarianism, generational trauma, actually good lesbian rapresentation (because its a rarity) and characters that are easy to love and to empathize with. its really just fun to read. i understand everything, but i think we should really hype this type of books. i need more sapphic sci-fi. here are the super cool covers.

[aaronstveit]

— Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea

[apolline-lucy]

Any tips for writing sapphic romance

I don’t think writing sapphic romance is much different from writing any kind of romance. Feelings are feelings, and human beings are human beings. We all experience love in very different ways, and yet it renders us crazy and desperate all the exact same.

I don’t write romance, but romantic fantasy; the nuance is that rather than having the plot gravitate around a relationship, the relationship supports my plot (usually a magical adventure of sorts). And whether i write wlw, mlm, or else, I don’t change my formula. I make every character unique and imperfect, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

What I like is putting them in uncomfortable situations (aka hell) and then watching them suffer, really. I put together people that originally don’t belong together + forced proximity + having them face their fears + having them help & rely on one another + slow burn + making them actually get to know one another + making them doubt and cry and get real with their emotions and feelings + having their beliefs being ripped apart, twice, because betrayals + pain pain pain

Too often, I read romances that start with a physical attraction and never elaborate much deeper. Attraction is great for just dating, it’s great for erotica, but if you want a much stronger story and a relationship to seem believable, they have to go through rough patches, they have to test their limits and see the worst of each other. No one’s perfect. That’s cliche, but that’s true. Your characters can’t (and shouldn’t) be perfect either—that’s boring and no reader will identify with them. Us readers are like our characters, we want someone who will keep on loving us when we’re bleeding and screaming and hurting and making mistakes (deadly or else).

That being said, writing sapphic literature, and not necessarily romance, allows me to get more chances to explore some topics that are important to me: feminism, feminine rage, women’s sexuality, inclusiveness, friendships between women, trans women, women of colour, women being women, women supporting women, etc.

These can all be written into non-sapphic stories, of course, but the more you make space for women into your pages, the more characters are women, the more voices you give them. And us women have so many things to say.

When people ask me why I choose to write sapphic stories, here’s my answer: I simply love writing about women because women can be anyone and everything, and that’s enough for me.

Hope this helps🖤✨

[russiansappho]

The Dawn of Eternal Winter by Veronika Sizova

[jeniferprince]

the amazing Courtney Summers has a new book coming out and she commissioned me to work on a print for the preorder campaign incentives! <3 she sent me this beeeeautiful, intimate scene and some ideas and we worked together to create this illustration that I'm very proud of! I couldn't be happier with this collaboration. :) "I'M THE GIRL" is a queer coming-of-age thriller. When two young women team up to find the killer of a thirteen-year-old girl, they're thrown into a seedy world of extreme privilege and wealth—and the fight for their lives. to learn more about how to get the book aaand the print, go to @summerscourtney instagram page! :)

[i-indigo]

We're strangers now.

It's strange

To pass you by on the street,

When last year you would bathe me in kisses.

I Wanted To Accompany You To The Bus Stop

[taysvenus]

[charmmsydiary]

sapphic vamp series 🧛🏻‍♀️🦇🩸 Carmilla & Laura, Marion & Lisavet, Christabel & Geraldine

[1920legends]

My Angel flung out of space…

[bones-clouds]

best books i read in 2024:

"all that consumes us" erica waters

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, 5

genre: horror/thriller, gothic, dark academia, wlw

synopsis:

Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil. Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.

The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate.? Except once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls. And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri—one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.

All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition—and its inevitable price—always claims its due.

[taliabhattwrites]

'Dulhaniyaa', my desi lesbian romance, is out now!

You can order it now on Amazon!

Desi lesbians

Bollywood inspiration

Like "CRA" if it was queer

Arranged Marriage, Forbidden Romance and Runaway Bride

Cis protagonist with a trans love interest