Introduction
by Lori L. Lake

Welcome to the session entitled "The Emergence of the Lesbian Romantic Hero and The Plot She Thrives In." My name is Lori Lake, and I am your MC for this two hour presentation. Jean, Jane, Rad, and I have written something like 35 books - and counting - all focusing on lesbian heroes and with romance usually a central aspect. Together, we decided that we had a lot of thoughts and beliefs to share about writing books with lesbian characters. Over the last six weeks, we've discussed by email various aspects of the lesbian literary character and decided we would each do a short presentation and highlight our discoveries. After we are done, we'll have a Q&A session. So we ask that you hold your questions until the end.

Let me take a moment to introduce my three partners in crime:

Radclyffe, the most prolific of us, is from the East Coast. She has published eighteen action/adventure and romance novels since her first came out in 2001. Rad is going to focus her comments on elements of The Butch Heroine Archetype.

Jean Stewart, from the Pacific Northwest, has published six novels, with her first coming out in 1992. She's the old hand here with 12 years of experience, and she is going to talk to you today about The Femme Heroine Archetype.

Jane Fletcher hails from England. She's the author of four inventive adventure/fantasy novels with her first book being published in 1999. Jane is going to focus on The Plot our Heroines Thrive In.

As I mentioned, I am Lori Lake. I've written five novels, a collection of short stories, and edited an anthology about mothers and daughters with my first published in 2000. I hail from Minnesota, and for my part of this presentation, I am going to start with An Historical Backdrop for Jean and Rad and Jane to work from.

The presentations were given in this order: Lake, Radclyffe, Stewart, & Fletcher.
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