Rainbow and Travel Icon festooned banner for I Heart SapphFIC 2026 Sapphic Reading Challenge Week #8 featuring Nevada and Italy.

Stories of Joy in Italy Makes Me Wanna Go!

Karin Kallmaker Readers and Libraries, Velvet in Venice 1 Comment

ON THE PAGE

So Many Stories of Joy

Everything beamed to the world from Milano-Cortina made me want to go. (Again.)

Poland’s Pierogi Plush stole my heart. Luge Relay is insane. And I was truly happy with the number of medals and personal bests scooped up by #TeamQueer. The 2026 Winter Games in Italy’s Milano-Cortina area were So. Much. Fun. With so many compelling stories.

My wife is a total Olympics nerd and we watched the recordings of live feeds when possible, avoiding what networks packaged as interesting – guaranteed to be Americans mostly. Trust me on this: excellence, bravery, commitment, and resilience are traits all Olympians share.

For example, the American media mostly missed the Cross-Country 4×7.5km Relay somersaulting fall, broken ski mishap wherein Sweden’s Ebba Andersson recovered enough to still help her team to a Silver medal.

Her time wasn’t a personal best, but what a personal best!

Some of my favorite moments were the venues that showed off the stark, captivating mountains and the deep blue winter skies. Some feeds, during breaks, roamed over random video from downtown areas where, in spite of the cold, people were sipping coffee or having a pastry at tiny tables along cobbled streets. There were the occasional glamor shots of vineyards and country houses. Quick peeks at onlookers peeling open croissants and even enjoying gelato as snow drifted down on the scene.

Would I eat gelato in a snowstorm? Yes. Yes, I would.

The Figure Skating Gala had numerous nods to Italian music regardless of the skater’s nation. That includes Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama’s choice of Pavarotti’s “Nessun dorma” from Turandot. I’m not an opera buff, but knowing that the aria says, “None shall sleep … look at the stars that shiver in love and hope,” really resonated for me. The final cry, three times, of “I will win!” (my god, that man could sing) – it all fit these games so well.

Only a few get medals, but many, many of the competitors were winners by their own history, struggles, and standards.

A Diversion to Gelato is Necessary

For no reason at all (eyelash flutter), here’s what gelato looks like in Italy.

At home I make do with the very good Talenti cold brew coffee gelato paired with a good story that captures the raucous chaos and simple serenity that a single moment in Italy can be.

In a Heartbeat

Oh Italia. Italia. Doesn’t all of that make you want to visit? I would go again, in a heartbeat. However, I accept that budget and time aren’t going to allow for that any time soon, but – as I said above – I know how to travel without leaving home. So do you! And I Heart SapphFic is here to help!

I Heart SapphFic is Here to Help!

This week the IHS Reading Challenge has a selection of books set in Italy. You’ll find books by Fiona Zedde, Miranda MacLeod, Kim Pritekel, Brey Willows, Edale Lane, and many more, including Velvet in Venice by yours very truly.

Never heard of the IHS Reading Challenge? Um, you need to go right here, right now. (And I just gave myself a Fatboy Slim ear worm. My mind is truly a weird place most days.)

There’s also a giveaway of 10 books – Italia for free! Included are books by Catherine Maorisi and Georgia Beers.

Banner displaying Cover Velvet in Venice, a Coin of Love romance by Karin Kallmaker. Cover features a young, poised black woman with natural hair gazing at the skyline near the Grand Canal. Caption It all Started with a song. Review quote A touch of magic in a perfect romance.

 

Traveling by Book

Traveling via reading is something I have always loved, and I truly think it’s second only to actually being there when it comes to immersion in a place. Inevitably I want the food too, but that’s what kitchens are for. Tonight the menu is capellini with shrimp, lemon, and capers. Super simple, and very Italia, oh Italia to me.

Happy reading – and happy travels!

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2026 Sapphic Book Bingo banner with stacks of books, letters in rainbow colors and wavy rainbow ribbons over the pink background

Jae’s Sapphic Book Bingo 2026 – Check Off the Boxes Guide

Karin Kallmaker Readers and Libraries, Sisters of the Pen 0 Comments

ON THE PAGE

January was three months long. February started yesterday, and it’s already almost over. I definitely feel like I’m in a time slip. My birthday is a few weeks away and no doubt it will arrive tomorrow.

Speaking of my birthday, I know several birthday twins now, and the amazing Jae is one of them. We also share a birthday with Glenn Close and Moms Mabley, all of which gives me a nice, shiny feeling. But I digress.

It’s 2026 and the Books are Sapphic

Speaking of Jae – the new annual Sapphic Book Bingo has of course begun, and I thought it might be helpful, in these financially challenging times, to help fill out your card with books already in your library.

Don’t have a clue what I’m talking about? Go here immediately! As Jae explains in the rules, there’s a lot of leeway to play and, with the minimum of completing a single row to enter for prizes, it is never too late to start.

The bingo cards are right here for download. Main Categories card and Hidden Gems card.

Audiobooks are Reading!

It’s not open to debate. While they may be different centers of the brain at work, a storying entering through your eyes versus your ears is a difference that makes no difference – it’s all reading. In the below list a square image means the title is also in audio, so check your existing downloads!

Main Categories

book cover sugar lesbian romance novel featuring baker with plate of cookies, subtitle "Kallmaker stirs up another sweet and funny recipe for romance in this tale of one women's search for Ms. Right"

Character is a Baker: Sugar. Also qualifies for Character is a Firefighter. Three women want sugar from Sugar, who can’t make up her mind. Finding Ms. Right is no piece of cake.

 
book cover lammy goldie winner kiss that counted

Golden Retriever/Black Cat: The Kiss that Counted. Also qualifies for Character Hiding a Secret. With CJ Roshe’s past hunting her down, she can’t offer Karita Hanssen anything more than kisses and goodbyes – not even her real name.

 
Audio book cover for Touchwood 30th Anniversary Edition by Karin Kallmaker, read by Angela Dawe

Published Before 2015: Jae kindly highlights Touchwood in her blog for this category. Her blog has 14 other pre-2015 titles, including the incomparable Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest. If you want the full list of my titles that are pre-2015, visit The Order of Books here at my site. A pre-Stonewall survivor. An out, proud woman of the Gay 90s. Decades separate them. Passion – and books – ignite them. Even when the world disapproves, love finds a way. The author’s cut of this beloved classic.

 
Cover, audio edition of Simply the Best by Karin Kallmaker, read by Abby Craden

Character works in Fashion: Simply the Best. Cynical New York journalist Alice Cabot isn’t about to succumb to the charms of California’s beaches, fake Hollywood glamour, or simply perfect Pepper Addington.

 
book cover Pas de Trois lesbian short story

Free book: Pas de Trois. Short story (they count!). Perma-free only on my site. Helen and Diana have one thing in common: they both loved Edie. As they sit together at Edie’s wake, their mutual grief forms a bond that takes a surprising turn.

 
Cover Cowboys and Kisses written by Karin Kallmaker, read by Ann Shanks Etter

Sapphic Western: Cowboys and Kisses. Is there a future in a prairie town where Darlin’ is her only name? A historical romance where the women save themselves – and each other.

 
A glowing young black woman with natural hair and red lips looks over her shoulder through mottled light at the Grand Canal and skyline of St. Marcos Plaza in Venice. A glass of deep red wine is in the foregound. A Coin of Love Romance, Velvet in Venice, Karin Kallmaker, Goldie and Lammy Winning Author

No or low angst: Velvet in Venice. The allure of Venice keeps Artie Bryson happily buried in the past. Until the night Nikki Velvet’s sultry voice lures Artie into the Casino di Venezia cabaret. And the night after that…

 
book cover paperback romance conductor baton

No or low angst: Paperback Romance. Carolyn falls for tall, dark and … female … in this classic homage to the romance genre. But this is not your mother’s Harlequin!

 
book cover lesbian stories in deep water cruising seas

Takes Place on a Boat: In Deep Waters 1: Cruising the Sea Inter-connected short stories co-written with Radclyffe. Also qualifies for Strap-On Sex. Set sail on a very wet cruise.

 
Cover audio version of My Lady Lipstick by Karin Kallmaker, read by Abby Craden

Character with a Disability: My Lady Lipstick. Diana Beckinsale is the most alluring woman Paris Ellison has ever met, but Paris can’t condone her madcap plans. Not when Diana is a completely different woman every time they meet. It’s all fun and games until somebody loses her heart.

 
NEW! Above Temptation audiobook, written by Karin Kallmaker and narrated by Quinn Riley.

Thriller or Suspense: Above Temptation. How long can Tamara Sterling and Kip Barrett hold tight to their ethics when they’re longing to hold tight to each other?

 
cover, Frosting on the Cake 3 Audiobook. Up close photo of lavishly decorated chocolate cupcakes with pink white red yellow frosting. Subtitle Still Crazy After All These Years. by Karin Kallmaker Read by Angela Dawe

Established Couple: any of the Frosting on the Cake anthologies. Every short story features couples who are in it for the long haul.

 
Wild Things audio version cover

Sapphic Character Involved in Politics: Wild Things. Dutiful daughter Faith Fitzgerald has met the perfect man. There’s just one problem: she’s in love with his sister. Sydney Van Allen‘s political ambitions don’t allow scandal, let alone love.

 
Cover, The Butch Across the Hall. An erotic short story by Karin Kallmaker. Pride rainbows watercolors across a wooden door.

Strap-On Sex: In addition to above, The Butch Across the Hall. Reader Favorite! Humor, tenderness and high-erotic energy combine when an inexperienced lesbian finds the courage to knock on her neighbor’s door.

 
book cover all the wrong places sexy romance by karin kallmaker

Strap-On Sex: All the Wrong Places. A steamy look at sex and the single girl as Brandy weighs her free-for-all life against her growing feelings for her best friend.

 
book cover sixteen shades of lesbian love

Strap-On Sex: 18th and Castro on Kindle as 16 Shades of Lesbian Love. Behind every door is a story of lesbian passion. First time couplings and couples who mix lust and love make 18th and Castro the hottest sapphic address in the City by the Bay.

 
Cover audio version Warming Trend by Karin Kallmaker, read by Abby Craden

Set in the Mountains: Warming Trend. A river of ice has frozen Anidyr Bycall’s life. The future looks even colder when she returns home to the glaciers of Alaska, the mistakes of her past, and the disdain of the woman who once loved her.

Hidden Gems

Cover, Audiobook edition of Captain of Industry by Karin Kallmaker

Blond Butch Character: Captain of Industry. What happens when passionate attraction gets in the way of cherished dreams? Strong women like Jennifer Lamont and Suzanne Mason can have everything – except each other.

 
Audio book cover for Touchwood 30th Anniversary Edition by Karin Kallmaker, read by Angela Dawe

Main Character 50+: Touchwood. A pre-Stonewall survivor. An out, proud woman of the Gay 90s. Decades separate them. Passion – and books – ignite them. Even when the world disapproves, love finds a way. The author’s cut of this beloved classic.

 
Cover audio version of lesbian romance Roller Coaster by Karin Kallmaker, read by Angela Dawe

Main Character 50+: Roller Coaster. Laura Izmani is glad of her new client, a wealthy actress who needs a private chef for her twins. She’s also grateful that Helen Baynor doesn’t remember their first meeting on a roller coaster ride that changed their lives.

Sounds Familiar, But..?

Click any link to arrive a new page, right here at my site, with more information and a sample from each story. To be honest, a lot of the information on the page is to refresh my memory, and I wrote them. So it’s no shame at all if you’re not sure.

Happy reading to everyone! I write my books to be re-read, and I hope visiting an old friend again gives you as much pleasure as it did the first time.

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banner reading CHEEZE DOODLEZ in orange-yellow type

The Profundity of Cheeze Doodlez

Karin Kallmaker Cheers & Chocolate, LIFE + STYLE 0 Comments

Like most people, we had a set of refrigerator poetry magnets in our junk drawer for quite a while.

When we received them I came up with this stern warning to the household. Or for myself. Cheeze doodlez of all sorts are, after all, delicious.

  refrigerator magnets with black type on white background read LUV IZ NOT CHEEZE DOODLEZ

Recently we had some kitchen work done and had to clean off all the collected magnets and calendars that graced our refrigerator. My wife was the one who put them all back.

She rearranged the words – and lookit! A completely different perspective.

 
refrigerator magnets with black type on white background read IZ NOT CHEEZE DOODLEZ LUV

There’s a metaphor in there somewhere. Meanwhile, it’s making me smile every time I visit the fridge. These days I’m taking all the smiles where I can get them. So I thought I’d share.

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A young white business woman gives skeptical side-eye to the camera.

The Tsunami of Thievery

Karin Kallmaker Business of Books, Resources 5 Comments

It’s taken more than a few days to adjust to the (unfortunately) real world after a wonderful vacation. Before getting into the reason for this post, have a little green break in your day. Imagine a quiet walk in a green forest with good food and company at the end. (Photo from Hamburg, Germany, near where my older son works.)

Not everything is on fire.

A thick wooded green cover of trees over a soft brown earthen path leading into the distance

Down to Business

ON THE PAGE

Modern life 2025: Generative AI is weaponized by unethical people – with little attempt to restrain it by the people profiting from its users – to spread lies daily by the thousands, sow anger to keep us glued to the feed for ads, and STEAL from us with endless scams. Fake facts, fake faces, fake words.

There are no guardrails except our own skepticism.

The new(ish) AI-powered scams that target writers are off the charts for the sheer volume – and their rising sophistication. I know lots of authors have been talking about the onslaught of email spam.

It’s not just email now. It’s also large-scale deployment of chat bots in groups. This article from Victoria Strauss and Writer Beware has all the receipts. Writers, read it for your own safety. There are screenshots of chat bot activity trying to convince an author that they are a book club currently reading their book. Read More

vector graphic of blond person angrily holding up palms as if saying "no way" against vivid yellow banner

Temporary Discontinuation of All International Shipping

Karin Kallmaker Business of Books 5 Comments

The situation is out of everyone’s control. I’ve removed a long political rant, but here’s the short version: Due to the chaos unleashed by the US Government on worldwide trade and small business, I can’t in any kind of good conscience ship paperbacks outside of the United States – at the present time.

When the real pros of small business shipping throw up their hands and say, “WTAF, we have no idea how to plan for these edicts that are happening every single week,” how am I supposed to figure it out? Expensive trial and error?

If you’re on social media you’ve seen authors who live outside the US announcing they won’t be able to ship their books to the United States. The chaos works the other way too. For example:

  • Unpredictable postal increases and surcharges for me, discovered after my shop has tried to calculate the shipping price as accurately as possible. I have never marked up shipping as a profit point, and have always refunded any overage that was charged. My bad for wanting an honest transaction?
  • Even worse: A reader in another country is informed they owe another 15-35% before their local postal service will release the shipment. If they don’t pay, the books signed to a specific person are returned to me. Maybe. If so, what do I do with them then?
  • When the dust settles one of us – likely both of us – are out real cash, and the entire situation leaves a bad taste all the way around. About books we love.

The cost of shipping outside the US is already about the same as the books themselves. I don’t get that many international orders, but the situation still pains me. Ofttimes the reader placing the order is doing so as a very special gift to themselves or their wife, or they’re unable to get the book they want any other way.

There is literally no reason for any of this.

This situation in no means is as dire in the pure scale of what’s unfolding across the United States. For example, canceling access to vaccines that keep people alive. However, it’s another of the thousand tiny cuts that undermine our private pursuit of happiness, so it feels like yet another malicious pile on.

In policy terms, it’s a deliberate swipe at small businesses. Why? Because the mega-corporations (e.g. those who ship phones) will either find or be handed a way to get the de minimis exclusion for themselves. (This is an allowance that exempts shipments valued under $800 from this kind of tariff.)

Such a simple thing – a signed book – rendered too expensive to cross national borders. Am I happy about this? Of course not. I voted for the qualified, joyful woman.

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