Karin
Kallmaker and her partner of more than 30 years reside in the San
Francisco Bay Area. They were married on August 25, 2008, and are the
mothers of two children, Kelson and Eleanor

This is the thirty-sixth post in a series highlighting the best gay and
lesbian
authors from the 20th century (with a few before and after that period)
who have recorded in fiction, and nonfiction, the history of gay people
telling what life is, and was, during an important time of history.

Karin
Kallmaker (born 1960) is the prolific American author of lesbian
fiction whose works also include those originally written under the name
Laura Adams. Her writings span lesbian romance, lesbian erotica, and
lesbian science-fiction/fantasy. Dubbed the Queen of Lesbian Romance,
she publishes exclusively in the lesbian market as a matter of personal
choice..

Personal data

Born
1960, Sacramento, California. B.A., Business Administration, California
State University, Sacramento. Kallmaker has 18 years experience with
non-profit financial management. Workplaces, such as an association of
home and health care service providers to the elderly, a private lender
investing in projects to benefit low income people, and a half-year at
an oil refinery, have provided background for many of her novels.  
Visit her web site  www.kallmaker.com


Lesbian romance novels

Considered
a master at characterization, Kallmaker's work reflects the interior
lives of her lesbian heroines, set primarily in romance novel
situations. "Credible and spirited" protagonists also face contemporary
social challenges, resulting in a body of work that reflects lesbian
community history since her debut novel, In Every Port (1989), which
included events surrounding the assassination of Harvey Milk in 1978.
Her typical heroine is "the kind of indestructible and talented woman we
all dream we could be -- much like Molly Bolt in Rubyfruit Jungle."

In
spite of publishing the majority of her work as lesbian romance genre
fiction, "there's something original to every book", featuring "complex
stories of believable, vulnerable lesbian characters who grow strong
through facing tough issues." Deeply influenced by mentor Katherine V.
Forrest as an emerging writer, her fifth novel, Painted Moon, was hailed
as "the next Curious Wine," and remains one of her most popular novels,
fifteen years after its original publication. Crediting Jane Austen as a
foremother of the modern novel, Kallmaker's Just Like That is a lesbian
version of Pride and Prejudice.

Another
homage-by-genre-twist novel is Christabel, inspired by the Samuel
Taylor Coleridge poem of the same name. Written initially under the pen
name Laura Adams, Kallmaker dedicated the novel to Jeannette Howard
Foster for her examination of the lesbian subtext, moving her to retell
the story with the women triumphant.

Her novels include the
Golden Crown Literary Society and Lambda Literary Foundation
award-winning 18th & Castro, In Deep Waters 1/2, Just Like That, The
Kiss that Counted, Maybe Next Time, and Sugar. Her writing career began
with Naiad Press, one of the shaping publishers of lesbian fiction. In
2001, she placed her work as Laura Adams with a new press, Bella Books.
After Naiad Press closed in 2003, she moved the remainder of her lesbian
romance titles to Bella. In 2008, she joined Bella Books as the press's
first Editorial Director.

Short stories and essays

A
"cleverly inventive" short story writer, she has published more than
five dozen short stories in collections from her own publishers, as well
as anthologies from publishers like Alyson, Circlet Press, Bold
Strokes, and Haworth Press. The genre of her stories go from vanilla
romance to explicit erotica. In a May 2006 interview with Q Syndicate,
Kallmaker discussed some of the resistance she faced to the idea that a
romance writer could also write erotica. "...Part of my goal for writing
erotica was to decriminalize lesbian sex for lesbians, especially those
in committed couples and those who don't live in an urban Mecca with an
out-and-proud sex-positive attitude."

Published essays have
dealt with issues of identity for the author. In 1993, she wrote "When I
Grow Up I Want to Be a Lesbian" for Multicultural America: A Resource
Book for Teachers of Humanities and American Studies, which explored the
disconnect between different stages of coming out, when she first
observed the community but did not yet feel a member of it. Ten years
later, after the birth of her two children: "For many years I was, by
all outward appearances, a suburban married woman.." In 2007, in Love,
Castro Street, her essay "Where One Size Fits All" concluded the
award-winning anthology with "No matter what my clothing of the day
might be, from a shy writer offering to sign her first novel to a
seeming soccer mom with two kids in tow, Castro Street has never refused
me entry. The potholes, the crowds, the scary traffic are still there,
but somehow the street is larger than ever.”

Science fiction and fantasy novels as Laura Adams

Under
the pen name Laura Adams, Kallmaker has written lesbian science-fiction
and fantasy titles that include a "chilling brush with reality” .
Though the novels include strong lesbian romance story lines, their
themes revolve around the power of lesbian community and spirituality.
Writing career
In Every Port (1990)
Touchwood (1991)
Paperback Romance (1992)
Car Pool (1993)
Painted Moon (1994)
Wild Things (1996)
Embrace in Motion (1997)
Night Vision (1997) (writing as Laura Adams)
Christabel (1998) (writing as Laura Adams)
Making Up for Lost Time (1998)
Watermark (1999)
The Dawning (1999) (writing as Laura Adams)
Unforgettable (2000)
Frosting on the Cake (2001) (short stories)
Tunnel of Light 1: Sleight of Hand (2001) (writing as Laura Adams)
Substitute for Love (2001)
Tunnel of Light 2: Seeds of Fire (2002) (writing as Laura Adams)
Maybe Next Time (2003)
All the Wrong Places (2004)
New Exploits 1: Once Upon a Dyke (2004) (with Johnson, Szymanski, Watts)
One Degree of Separation (2004)
Sugar (2004)
Just Like That (2005)
New Exploits 2: Bell, Book and Dyke (2005) (with Johnson, Szymanski, Watts)
18th & Castro (2006) (short stories)
New Exploits 3: Stake through the Heart (2006) (with Johnson, Szymanski, Watts)
Finders Keepers (2006)
New Exploits 4: Tall in the Saddle (2007) (with Johnson, Szymanski, Watts)
In Deep Waters 1: Cruising the Seas (2007) (with Radclyffe)
Christabel (Second Edition) (2008)
In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip (2008) (with Radclyffe)
The Kiss That Counted (2008)
Warming Trend (2009)
Stepping Stone (2009)
Above Temptation (2010)

Awards
2010 - Stepping Stone – Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Lesbian Romance
2009 - The Kiss that Counted – Lambda Literary Award Winner, Lesbian Romance
2009 - The Kiss that Counted – Golden Crown Literary Award Winner, Ann Bannon Popular Choice
2009 - In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip - Lambda Literary Award Winner, Lesbian Erotica co-authored with Radclyffe
2008 - In Deep Waters 1: Cruising the Seas - Golden Crown Literary Award Winner, Lesbian Erotica co-authored with Radclyffe
2008 - Finders Keepers - Golden Crown Literary Award Finalist, Lesbian Romance
2008 - Finders Keepers - Golden Crown Literary Award Finalist, Ann Bannon Popular Choice
2007 - 18th & Castro – Golden Crown Literary Award Winner, Lesbian Erotica
2007 - 18th & Castro – Lambda Literary Award Finalist, LGBTQ Erotica
2007 - Finders Keepers – Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Lesbian Romance
2006 - Just Like That – Golden Crown Literary Award Winner, Lesbian Romance
2006
- New Exploits 2: Bell, Book and Dyke - Golden Crown Literary Award
Finalist, Lesbian Fantasy co-authored with Julia Watts, Therese
Szymanski and Barbara Johnson
2006 - All the Wrong Places –Golden Crown Literary Award Finalist, Lesbian Romance
2006 - All the Wrong Places – Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Lesbian Erotica
2006 - All the Wrong Places – Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Lesbian Romance
2005 - Sugar - Golden Crown Literary Award Winner, Lesbian Romance
2005
- New Exploits 1: Once Upon a Dyke - Lambda Literary Award Finalist,
Fantasy co-authored with Julia Watts, Therese Szymanski and Barbara
Johnson
2004 - Maybe Next Time – Lambda Literary Award Winner, Romance
2003 - Tunnel of Light 2: Seeds of Fire - Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Fantasy
2002 - Substitute for Love - Lambda Literary Award Finalist, Romance
Other recognitions
2004 Alice B Medal - The Alice B Readers Award for body of work
2008 Selected as guest lecturer, Distinguished Author Series, Stonewall Library and Archives
2008 LJ Maas Memorial Award for mentorship of new and emerging writers