I found out last night that Endurance is a finalist for the Golden Crown Literary Society’s Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. This may not be a “big” award, but it’s one of the few groups devoted to promoting sapphic and women-loving-women literature, especially by small presses and indie authors. The big outfits, like Lambda Literary, have gone mainstream and small presses stand no chance (other than in the Romance category). But I digress.

This is a popularity contest (Endurance is also entered in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category that will be judged). There are authors here who have tons of books out and lots of fans, so to be a finalist means people are actually reading Endurance and liking it. They aren’t just going by name recognition! And while it may be a long short list, there were originally 70 nominated. So again, a thrill for me!

So if you read Endurance and liked it, I hope you’ll consider voting for it. Voting is open until April 30. Just go here: 2023 ANN BANNON FINALISTS

Look over the list, then at the bottom click for the ballot—no need to register or log in. You just need to enter your name and email. That’s to keep people from voting more than once (at least once per email!). Then just follow the directions. They award three places. 

Ann Bannon (now 90) is an icon among lesbian fiction writers, a true trail blazer. She wrote a series of pulp novels in the 1950s and ‘60s. They were best sellers and among the first lesbian novels allowed to end without tragedy (usually one committing suicide). I remember reading them in the 1980s when I was coming out, and just going to the feminist bookstore was terrifying. These books and many others helped me cope and saved my sanity, if not my life. This award honors her legacy, and the world of lesbian or sapphic or women-loving-women fiction has continued to grow and flourish.

These stories matter.

More about Endurance and how to get a copy here.