On the Shelf for October 2025
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 325 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
  
  
  • Bray, Alan. 1996. Homosexuality in Renaissance England. Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 9780231102896
  
  
  • Downing, Christine. 1989. Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love. The Continuum Publishing Company, New York. ISBN 0-8264-0445-6
  
  
  • Reineke, Martha & Christine Downing. 1993. “Within the Shadow of the Herms: A Critique of "Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love" [with Reply] in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, Vol. 19, No. 1: 81-101, 103-106
  
  
  • Downing, Christine. 1994. “Lesbian Mythology” in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, Vol. 20, No. 2, Lesbian Histories: 169-199.
  
  
  • Nelson, Max. 2000. “A Note on the Olisbos” in Glotta, 76. Bd., 1./2. H.:75-82
  
  
  • Bremmer, Jan. 1980. “An Enigmatic Indo-European Rite: Paederasty” in Arethusa, Vol. 13, No. 2, Indo-European Roots of Classical Culture: 279-298.
  
  
  • Arkins, Brian. 1994. “Sexuality in Fifth Century Athens” in Classics Ireland, Vol. 1: 18-34.
  
  
  
  



• Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
  
  
  • Florence Syndrome by Catherine Martini
  
  
  • Red Wake, Black Flag by Dahlia Quinn
  
  
  • Boardwalk Desire by Melody Ashford
  
  
  • Thrall of Deception (Tales from Norvegr) by Edale Lane
  
  
  • Angel Maker (Karen Memory #3) by Elizabeth Bear
  
  
  • Secrets of the Night by Shelby Banks
  
  
  • Gold for the Dead (Cantor Gold #7) by Ann Aptaker
  
  
  • A Lady Most Wayward (The Queen's Deadly Damsels #5) by Darcy McGuire
  
  
  • The Impossible Act of Georgia Cline by Eline Evans
  
  
  • Iceberg by Gun Brooke
  
  
  • A Legacy of Blood and Bone by Millie Abecassis
  
  
  • Gladiator, Goddess by Morgan H. Owen
  
  
  • Her Wicked Roots by Tanya Pell
  
  
  • The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
  
  
  • When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee
  
  
  
  



• Other Titles of Interest
  
  
  • Toni and Addie Go Viral by Melissa Marr
  
  
  
  



• What I’ve been reading
  
  
  • Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher
  
  
  • Illuminations by T. Kingfisher
  
  
  • A Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
  
  
  • The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones
  
  
  • The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones
  
  
  • Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
  
  
  • The Rosetti Diaries by author
  
  
  • The Illhenny Murders by Winnie Frolik
  
  
  • Copper Script by K.J. Charles
  
  
  • That Self-Same Metal by Brittany H. Williams
  
  
  • The Tropoholic's Guide to Internal Romance Tropes by Cindy Dees
  
  
  • Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti
  
  
  
  



• Call for submissions for the 2026 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.


• This month we interview Raven Belasco and talk about:
  
  
  • The real historic background of Sadie the Goat and Gallus Mag
  
  
  • Vampire stories and time-travel stories as mirror images
  
  
  • Expanding formats
  
  
  • World-building and inventing languages
  
  
  • Lesbian sex in the 19th century
  
  
  • That Lesbian Vampire Pirate Story by Raven Belasco
  
  
  • Sadie the Goat (Wikipedia)
  
  
  • Gallus Mag (Wikipedia)
  
  
  
  

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 Raven Belasco Online

• Website: ravenbelas.co/


• Twitter (X): @RavenBelasco


• Instagram: @raven.belasco


• YouTube: @ravenbelasco


• Facebook: author.ravenbelasco