The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast

Is Your Sapphic Protagonist Worried About the Wrong Things?

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 352 with Heather Rose Jones

In this episode we talk about:

• How to make the conflicts in a sapphic historical romance more realistic

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

On the Shelf for September 2026

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 351 with Heather Rose Jones

Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.

In this episode we talk about:

• My non-fiction book The Theory of Related-ivity: A History and Analysis of the Best Related Work Hugo Category
• Resources for the Anthropic class action settlement
  • Authors Guild explainer
  • Writer Beware resource page
• Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
  • The Copper Line (Still Sisters #1) by Gabi Prevot
  • The Bitter Cut (Still Sisters #2) by Gabi Prevot
  • The First Tin (Still Sisters #0.1) by Gabi Prevot
  • The Yard Light (Still Sisters #0.2) by Gabi Prevot
  • The End Crowns All by Bea Fitzgerald
  • Locusta by Emily Dexter
  • Sweet Mother, I Cannot Weave by T.D. Cloud
  • Empress, Goddess by Morgan H. Owen
  • My Betterhalf: A Novel of the Ladies of Llangollen by Genevieve Sinclair
  • A Study in Silence by Elizabeth Louise
  • A Match for Lady Adelaide by Verity Fairbanks
  • Time Never Waits (Chathom Chronicles # 1) by Samantha Calcott & Melinda Lauer
  • Her Lady's Companion by Odette Valehart
  • The Crooked Medium's Guide to Terror (Crooked Medium #2) by Stephen Cox
  • A Ruin of Roses by Corinne Astier
  • The Last Telegram of Mrs Hudson by Mattea Orr
  • A Deadly Entanglement (Harriman & Mancini Mystery #2) by Cathy Pegau
  • The Borderless Sky by Kim Kirkley
  • The Marigold Room by Josephine Bray
  • You Made Me Love You by K D Jensen
  • The Quiet Fields by Zinnia Bradley
• Other Books of Interest
  • Crazy Woman (The Crazy Woman #1) by K'Anne Meinel
  • Women of Adventure (The Crazy Woman #2) by K'Anne Meinel
  • Hearts on the Table by Susan Metallo
• What I’ve been consuming
  • How to Fake it in Society by K.J. Charles
  • The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
  • Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
  • A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau
  • Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
  • The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
  • Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher
• Call for submissions for the 2027 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Love for Love’s Sake by Shannon Lippert

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 350 with Heather Rose Jones

This quarter’s fiction episode presents Love for Love’s Sake by Shannon Lippert, narrated by Heather Rose Jones.

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Links to Shannon Lippert Online

• Website: shannonlippert.wordpress.com
• Bluesky: @shannonxl.bsky.social

On the Shelf for August 2026

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 349 with Heather Rose Jones

Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.

In this episode we talk about:

• A brief recap of the podcast’s history.
• Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blog
  • Roulston, Chris & Caroline Gonda, eds. 2023. Decoding Anne Lister: From the Archives to ‘Gentleman Jack’ . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 9781009280723
  • Blumreich, Kathleen M. “Lesbian Desire in the Old French Roman de Silence,” in Arthuriana 7:2 (1997): 47-62.
  • Paton, Lucy Allen. 1907. “The Story of Grisandole: A Study in the Legend of Merlin” in PMLA vol. 22, no. 2. pp.234-276.
  • Schleiner, Winfried. 1992. “Le feu caché: Homosocial Bonds Between Women in a Renaissance Romance” in Renaissance Quarterly 45: 293-311.
• Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
  • Bodhi and Gwen by Del Robertson
  • The Education of Miss Pryce by Hannah Briar
  • The Language of Flowers (Lavender Society #1) by Hannah Briar
  • The Lost Brontë by Catherine Friend
  • Going Down at the Point by Kimberlee Jarrett Wilson
  • The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood
  • The Keeper's Light (Edge of the World #1) by Margaret Fridley
  • The Tailor's Treasure by Alison McKenzie
  • The Haunting of Avis Lovelock by M.K. Hardy
• Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

10th Anniversary Special: Interview with Linda Garber

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 348 with Heather Rose Jones

An interview with Professor Linda Garber about her research into lesbian historical fiction.

Books and Media Mentioned

• Garber, Linda. 2022. Novel Approaches to Lesbian History. Palgrave. ISBN 978-3030854164
• Cruikshank, M. (ed) 1982. Lesbian Studies: Present and Future. The Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 978-0935312072
• Garber, Linda. 2001. Identity Poetics: Race, Class and the Lesbian-Feminist Roots of Queer Theory. Columbia University Press.
• Schwartz, Selby Wynn. After Sappho. (novel)
• Keen, Suzanne. 2003 Romances of the Archive in Contemporary British Fiction. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802086846 (credit for the phrase “romance of the archives” which I’ve been misattributing)
• Martinac, Paula. Out of Time. (novel)
• Davies, Stevie. Impassioned Clay. (novel)
• Friend, Catherine. The Spanish Pearl. (novel)
• Dickinson (tv series)
• Gentleman Jack (tv series)
• Arnold, June Davis. The Cook and the Carpenter. (novel)
• Faderman, Lillian. 1981. Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present. William Morrow and Company, Inc. ISBN 0-688-00396-6
• Hall, Radclyffe. The Well of Loneliness. (novel)
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (movie)
• The Favourite (movie)
• Ammonite (movie)
• Saturday Night Live “Lesbian Period Drama” (sketch on YouTube)
• Desert of the Heart (movie) based on Jane Rule’s Desert Hearts
• A Knight’s Tale (movie)
• Giffney, Noreen, Michelle M. Sauer & Diane Watt (eds). 2011. The Lesbian Premodern. Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-230-61676-9
• The Belle of Amherst (movie)
• Gomez, Jewelle. The Gilda Stories. (novel)
• Giddings, Megan. The Women Could Fly (novel)
• Korn, Gabrielle. Yours for the Taking (novel)
• Pérez, Emma. Forgetting the Alamo, or, Blood Memory (novel
• McCollum, Hilary. As a Lover (novel)
• McCollum, Hilary. Golddigger (novel)
• Gagehabib, LaVerne. The Blacksmith and the Doctor (novel)
• Winterson, Jeanette. The Passion (novel)

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Links to Linda Garber Online

• Website: academic website

On the Shelf for June & July 2026

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 347 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
  • Moore, Lisa L. 2005. “Queer Gardens: Mary Delany's Flowers and Friendships” in Eighteenth-Century Studies Vol. 39, No. 1 (Fall, 2005), pp. 49-70
  • O’Driscoll, Sally. 2003. “The Lesbian and the Passionless Woman: Femininity and Sexuality in 18th century England” in The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation 44.2-3. p.103-31
  • Peakman, Julie. 2004. Lascivious Bodies: A Sexual History of the Eighteenth Century. Atlantic Books, London. Chapter 8 “Tribadism: ‘A New Sort of Sin’”
  • Anonymous. 1697. The history of the intrigues & gallantries of Christina, Queen of Sweden, and of her court whilst she was at Rome faithfully render’d into English from the French original. London: Richard Baldwin.
  • Abbott, Carmeta. 1993. “The Portrait as Text: Two Depictions of Madame de Saint-Balmon (1607-1660)” in Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social Justice vol. 19, No. 1.
  • Bell, Rudolph M. 1987. “Renaissance Sexuality and the Florentine Archives: An Exchange” in Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3: pp. 485-511
  • Reynolds, Nicole. 2010. “Cottage Industry: The Ladies of Llangollen and the Symbolic Capital of the "Cottage Ornée"” in The Eighteenth Century, Vol. 51, No. 1/2: 211-227
  • Vicinus, Martha. “Lesbian Perversity and Victorian Marriage: The 1864 Codrington Divorce Trial” pp.92-94 in Journal of British Studies 36, no. 1 (1997).
  • Liddington, Jill. 1993. “Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, Halifax (1791-1840): Her Diaries and the Historians” in History Workshop, 35: 45-77.
  • Orr, Dannielle. 2006. A Sojourn in Paris 1824-25: Sex and Sociability in the Manuscript Writings of Anne Lister (1791-1840). (Doctoral Dissertation, Murdoch University)
  • Roulston, Chris & Caroline Gonda, eds. 2023. Decoding Anne Lister: From the Archives to ‘Gentleman Jack’. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 9781009280723
• Book Shopping
  • Norton, Rictor. 1997. The Myth of the Modern Homosexual: Queer History and the Search for Cultural Unity. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-33892-3
  • Mansel, Philip. 2001. Paris Between Empires: Monarchy and Revolution 1814-1852. St. Martin's Press, New York. ISBN 0-312-30857-4
• Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
  • Dreaming of Jerusalem by Susie Helme
  • Silk Road Runaways by Christine Inserra
  • Chivalry in the Shadows by Meg Merriet Wahlberg
  • With My Own Hand: The secret life of Marie Maitland, Scotland’s sixteenth-century Sappho by Ashley Douglas
  • Bound By Silk & Salt Water by Caren Cross
  • Tempest: A Novel of Anne Bonny, the Pirate Queen Who Disappeared by K. Knight
  • The Ruby Reaper (The Ruby Reaper #1) by Eline Evans
  • The Emerald Eclipse (The Ruby Reaper #2) by Eline Evans
  • Mr. Moore by Giny Morales
  • The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley by Lindz McLeod
  • Caroline's Courtesan (The Comerford Courtesans #4) by Jess Michaels
  • Pretence & Pretentiousness by Lynn Kear
  • A Season of Teeth and Silk by Henriette Twinne
  • The Art of Longing by Michael David
  • The Green Seal (Blackthorn Hall Romances # 3) by E. L. Vale
  • What the Willow Kept (The Women of Sapphire #1.5) by L. Creeke
  • When Embers Find Her (The Women of Sapphire #1) by L. Creeke
  • The Wrong Widow (Cielo Seco # 1) by D. S. Briar
  • Gold Rush 1860 by Randa Hink
  • Two Whoops and a Holler by Carmilla Deane
  • Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden
  • Disfigured (New York's Gilded Age #4) by Joseph P. Garland
  • Becoming Legends Elsie-Bessie: A Love Story (book #1) by Barbara Barna Abel & Shannon McMahon Lichte
  • Lena and Miss Cawkwell by Julie Bozza
  • Murder by Degrees by Rachel Ford
  • A Blue Note by Katrina Jackson
  • Little Wild by Laura Evans
  • The Malign Ghosts of Summer by Ann McMan
  • Cold Water by C. R. Ellery
  • The Rude Bird (New Orleans Noir # 1) by M. R. Dimond
• What I’ve been consuming
  • Platform Decay by Martha Wells
  • Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
  • Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorofor
  • A Change of Pace by J.A. Stevens
• Call for submissions for the 2027 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Women and Same-Sex Marriage in Western History (Reprise)

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 346 with Heather Rose Jones

In this episode we talk about strategies for getting your historical protagonists hitched across the centuries.

• How the concepts of “women”, “same-sex”, and “marriage” are being defined for the purpose of this discussion
• Cultures that may have supported marriage between women as an equal option
• Cases of same-sex marriage enabled by presenting as an opposite sex couple
• The permeability of the “opposite sex” requirement in actual practice
• Using the forms and rituals of marriage, even when the legal status was not available
• This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:
  • Marriage between women
  • Female husbands

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

So You’re Writing a Sapphic Historical Romance: Questions to Consider (Reprise)

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 345 with Heather Rose Jones

In this episode we talk about the questions to ask about sapphic relationships and how they are perceived in your story’s setting:

• How easy is it to live outside of the heterosexual marriage paradigm?
• What are the economic, legal, and religious constraints on your characters?
• What is the ordinary “background noise” of non-sexual displays of affection?
• How does the culture of the setting understand privacy and how does that affect your characters’ behavior?
• What are the realities and perceptions around sex between women in this setting?
• How does the culture of the setting understand gender and sexuality?
• How are female couples depicted in popular culture of the time?

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

When Did We Become Lesbians? (Reprise)

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 344 with Heather Rose Jones

In this episode we talk about:

• The history of words for women who loved women throughout recorded European history.
• What words were used?
• Where did they come from?
• What shades of meaning did they have?
• How did those meanings change over time?

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

Salt for the Unmarried by Khayelihle Benghu

The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 343 with Heather Rose Jones

This quarter’s fiction episode presents Salt for the Unmarried by Khayelihle Benghu, narrated by Heather Rose Jones.

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

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: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop
• Bluesky: @heatherrosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)