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You Have an Opinion and It Matters

Karin Kallmaker Readers and Libraries

I love your books. More people should read them!

It’s a corollary to “I love lesbian books! How come so many lesbians don’t know they exist?” These are statements and questions often uttered at Golden Crown conventions and I don’t attend an event where someone doesn’t say something along those lines. The follow-up is often something like, “What Can I do to help?” Read More

cover The Kiss that Counted, Goldie winner medla, Lambda winner medal, by Karin Kallmaker "Full of suspense and mystery, deeply moving characters and storytelling." Lambda Literary Review

Thinking for a Living – and Thankful

Karin Kallmaker Awards and Reviews, Craft of Writing, Kiss That Counted

One Simple Comment

“Your characters are always people I feel like I know.”
It was a simple comment from a reader last week at the Golden Crown convention, and one I really appreciated. We went on to discuss how I draw on real life and I’ve been mulling over the reader’s parting comment – that I must have interesting friends and family to have so much material to work with. Read More

lez review books banner stepping stone grab some popcorn and enjoy

That Pivotal Moment in Every Love Story

Karin Kallmaker Craft of Writing, Stepping Stone

One of the challenges of writing romance novels is using a tried-and-true formula. Some theorists might suggest that makes writing them easier, but I disagree. If I wanted to write the same romance novel over and over, it might be simpler, but I want every novel to have fresh characters, a new setting, a unique (to me at least) underlying premise of conflict, and characters who have choices that previous characters haven’t faced. Read More

coffee biscotti while women discuss books

Sharing Passion in Public

Karin Kallmaker Cheers & Chocolate

A new guilty pleasure has entered my life: The Best Thing I Ever Ate. This half-hour food orgy showed up on the Food Network recently, and I’m hooked. The basic format is familiar stars like Bobby Flay, Cat Cora, and Rachel Ray choosing dishes within a theme, like “fried,” and discussing where they had the best item ever in that category. Sometimes the star is at the restaurant and a little featurette shows how the item was made. Read More