Golden Crown Literary Society award winners

The Golden Crown Literary Society has just finished its annual conference and given the awards for 2015. If you haven't seen it, here is the list:

Award Winners of 2015

Ann Bannon Popular Choice

• Olive Oil & White Bread by Georgia Beers, Bywater Books

Tee Corinne Award for Outstanding Cover Design

• Ann McMan, TreeHouse Studio for Everything, Bedazzled Ink Publishing

Trailblazer Award

• Joan Nestle

Directors’ Award

• Watty Boss

Lee Lynch Classic Award

• Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, Published by Daughters Publishing Co.

Anthology/Collection (Creative Non-Fiction)

• An American Queer: The Amazon Trail by Lee Lynch, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders by Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall, Published by Bold Strokes Books

Anthology/Collection (Fiction)

• Wicked Things: Lesbian Halloween Short Stories Edited by Jae and Astrid Ohletz, Published by Ylva Publishing
• Unwrap These Presents Edited by Astrid Ohletz and R.G. Emanuelle, Published by Ylva Publishing

Debut Author

• Never Too Late by Julie Blair, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• Just Intuition by Makenzi Fisk, Published by Mischievous Books
• Stick McLaughlin: The Prohibition Years by CF Frizzell, Published by Bold Strokes Books

Dramatic General Fiction

• The War Within by Yolanda Wallace, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• Loved and Lost by Stephanie Kusiak, Published by Sapphire Books Publishing
• Everything by Carole Wolfe, Published by Bedazzled Ink Publishing

Erotica

• Heart's Surrender by Emma Weimann, Published by Ylva Publishing
• Best Lesbian Erotica 2014 by Rachel Windsor, Self-Published
• Escapades by MJ Williamz, Published by Bold Strokes Books

Historical Fiction

• Tangled Roots by Marianne K. Martin, Published by Bywater Books
• Waiting for the Violins by Justine Saracen, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• Bright Lights of Summer by Lynn Ames, Published by Phoenix Rising Press

Mystery/Thriller

• The Acquittal by Ann Laughlin, Published by Bold Strokes Books
  
• Left Field: Lillian Byrd Crime Series Book 5 by Elizabeth Sims, Published by Spruce Park Press
• The Consequence of Murder by Nene Adams, Published by Bella Books

Paranormal/Horror

• The Magic Hunt by L.L. Raand, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• The Devil You Know by Marie Castle, Published by Bella Books
• Dogs of War by Geonn Cannon, Published by Supposed Crimes

Poetry

• Undone EM Hodge, Published by Sapphire Books Publishing
• kissing keeps us afloat by Laurie MacFayden, Frontenac House

Romantic Suspense/Intrigue/Adventure

• The One by JM Dragon, Published by Affinity Ebooks Press NZ Ltd
• Sharpshooter by Julie Murrah, Published by Sapphire Books Publishing
• Switchblade by Carsen Taite, Published by Bold Strokes Books

Science Fiction/Fantasy

• FutureDyke by Lea Daley, Published by Bella Books
• Return of an Impetuous Pilot by Kate McLachlan, Published by Regal Crest Enterprises
• Rabbits of the Apocalypse by Benny Lawrence, Published by Bedazzled Ink

Traditional Contemporary Romance

• Kiss the Girl by Melissa Brayden, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• Nightingale by Andrea Bramhall, Published by Bold Strokes Books
• The Midnight Moon by Gerri Hill, Published by Bella Books

Young Adult

• Double Exposure by Bridget Birdsall, Published by Sky Pony Press
• Riding the Rainbow by Genta Sebastian, Self-Published
• Just Girls by Rachel Gold, Published by Bella Books

Olive Oil & White Bread by Georgia Beers

Publisher:       Bywater Books

A straight person would not write this book. It wouldn’t occur to him or her that there was a need to write a book about a couple that meets, falls in love, and has a completely normal life that spans a long relationship. Where is the story in that? Well, Nicholas Sparks might write it, but it would be short and poignant.

Gay people don’t usually write these books either. Their books are about “hot young things” consumed with sexy encounters that may turn into relationships, and that is usually where the story ends. Sometimes they throw in a message with the story and a romance. Or they write mysteries, supernatural stories, space adventures or whatever the genre and the main characters are made lesbian or gay, but really don’t need to be. Basically, the reader is getting a straight story with gay/lesbian characters and the readers like that because they can relate to the characters. That’s fine.

Then there are exceptions like Olive Oil & White Bread. There is nothing extraordinary about Angie Righetti and Jillian Clark. One is a salesperson and the other teaches elementary art. They fall in love, buy a house, then buy another house, acquire a dog, deal with family events (happy and sad) and confront what can happen to a relationship when it’s taken for granted instead of nurtured. That is what makes the book worth reading. The reader gets to see the couple grow together and apart and back together. They deal with situations everyone faces - the death and aging of parents, the differences in families and the struggle to balance work with home. There are the crushing effects of the losses of a beloved pet and a life-long friend. In other words, these are just normal people going about their lives. And that is what makes this book important.

If you have friends, family or anyone who “just doesn’t get” what gay people are about; if they don’t understand the importance of gay marriage; if they think gay people are a threat or different or whatever, this is the book you want to give them. This is the book that will show them that gay people don’t have wild and perverse sex lives (at least not all of them), they buy houses in the suburbs, love and screw up. In other words, they’re just normal.

Georgia Beers has many strengths as a writer. She’s written outstanding romances, poignant stories based on 9-11 and won awards for her books. Olive Oil & White Bread may be her gift for the gay community to the rest of the world though. It proves there just isn’t that much difference between us.