P. Rhapsody O'Brien (she/her)

🏳️‍🌈 Every single time the world needed a strong black lesbian voice, Penny Mickelbury rose to the occasion.

• Bold • Brilliant • Unflinching

📸 Photo by Tiny House Photo

#Trailblazer2025 #GCLS2025 #LiteraryIcon #SapphicLiterature #QueerLit

Flat Rhapsody making the rounds at the GCLS conference in Albany. I have the best Writing Academy classmates ever! @goldencrownls.bsky.social @gcls-wa.bsky.social

Calling all sapphic authors and readers!

🏳️‍🌈 The Sapphic Action Support Squad (SASS) is launching a community-driven newsletter on May 8th, dedicated to uplifting sapphic literature, its creators and readers. Each issue will feature:

Updates on issues impacting the sapphic literary community, author resources, calls to action, and give opportunities for readers and reviewers to engage.

Stay informed, inspired, and connected. Sign up for the newsletter and access the author resources survey here: linktr.ee/SapphicActio...

Sign the Petition Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training

Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training - Sign the Petition! chng.it/ZtwdJgx5Sm via @Change

"Our words are never going to be erased, no matter who tries to erase them." - Lynn Ames
#GCLSWA #GCLSWritingAcademy #gcls
@authorlynnames.bsky.social

Such a great morning! Sat on a panel on mentoring for the @gcls-wa.bsky.social - worked all morning on my edits on ARTHUR UNDRESSED for my agent @staceykondla.bsky.social then took a walk in the sun to the library for two Canadian books! Going to work a few more hours, then read all day.

Thanks! You just reminded me to call the library and renew my card! :)

[stage whisper]

Librarians are holy people—pass it on.

BookSky #AuthorSky #LGBTQSky #SapphicBookSky #BooksNotBans #FightCensorship

Don't miss it!

None of them have been able to do that. I wonder if it's a shadow of the TWO DEAD CHILDREN looming over him.

Hey everyone! For a limited time – one week only! – all our e-books published in 2023 are discounted! 🎉

www.ylva-publishing.com/current-deals/

Why buy from us directly?

- Own Your E-books
- Multiple Formats:
- Direct Support: Your purchases allow us to invest in new, exciting books.

5 Calls Spend 5 minutes. Make 5 calls. Make your voice heard.

www.5calls.org or you can download the app and start calling your reps! Don't like talking on the phone? Neither do I. Don't know what to say? There is a script you can read. I customize it to fit my style.

Multiple federal agencies join investigation into disappearance of 14-year-old Emily Pike Indigenous teenager Emily Pike was reported missing from Mesa in late January, and her remains were found weeks later near Globe.

@maddow.msnbc.com
I know there's a new sh*t show every day with that orange turd in the WH. However, this issue needs national attention. People need to know what's happening with indigenous women & children! What kind of POS does this?? www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

www.instagram.com/reel/DGl2QPy...

I've been playing around in Canva today. Now it's time to get some writing done. 🤪

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions.” —Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

#AuthorSky #BookSky #LGBTQSky #SapphicSky #BooksNotBans #FightCensorship

I had a bit of fun today in Canva. :) I can't say enough about WA and how hard the staff works to provide top-notch instructors, classes, and mentors.

From WA2 on 2-8-25: "The art of fiction is the art of withholding information." -Katherine V. Forrest

Apply here: bit.ly/3WslMPU

#gclswa #lesfic

Same here!

🤝 What’s one thing you have in common with the MC's in your WIP? We all love horses.

💥 What’s one thing that’s different? They live in the old west.

Dolly is all that and bag of chips!

Our LGBTQ+ voices matter. Our stories matter. WE matter.
Now is the time to follow your dream of writing that queer novel. GCLS WA was the best investment I ever made in myself as a writer. Not only in terms of education but also in terms of community.

www.goldencrownliterarysociety.org/education

1/3

It’s time for an episode of: Maya is a Lying Liar

Liz: Maya told me why you “really” didn’t want to wake up this morning.
Me: She did? Do tell. Why didn’t I want to wake up this morning?
Liz: She said it was because you were out until 4am.
Me: [eyes wide, eyebrows raised] I was?

2/3

Liz: You were.
Me: And what was I doing until 4am?
Liz: You know...you were at the stripper party.
Me: [had no clue my eyebrows could rise that high] The stripper party? Where?
Liz: [rolls her eyes as if that was the stupidest question she’s ever heard] At the cop shop!

3/3
Me: A stripper party at the cop shop? Why was I there?
Liz: Because you’re the one who trained them all!
Me: So it was a graduation party??
Liz: No, it was just a stripper party at the cop shop.
Me: Maya is a lying liar. I’m not a trainer.

Happy Valentines Day!

Legacy queer publishers have played a vital role in shaping our LGBTQ literary landscape.

Yesterday | Today | Tomorrow

Don't forget to thank them for the decades of heavy lifting—the words you're reading & writing today are the product of their hard work & sacrifice.

#BookSky #AuthorSky #LGBTQSky

YouTube video by GoldenCrownLS From Novice to Novels - The GCLS Writing Academy Experience - Conference Clip

youtu.be/ZptdnP_QZPU?...
#lesfic #saphicwriter #gclswa

ReadOUT 2025: Queering the Narrative an OUT Arts & Culture LGBTQ+ Literary Festival

Florida LGBTQ+ community needs to know it's not forgotten. ONLY $10 to attend the ReadOut Festival of LGBTQ+ Literature (virtual or in-person) for the ENTIRE WEEKEND, including the MY SPICY VALENTINE event with sexy scene readings by audiobook narrator Quinn Riley! givebutter.com/readout2025

Next week with the Writing Academy:
WA1 2/1/25 Revision - Karelia Stetz-Waters
WA2 2/1/25 AUTHOR PODS: Character Workshop - Finnian Burnette
WA3 2/1/25 How to work with an editor - Virginia Black

Lynnette Beers in a garden, patio in background. She is smiling. Long brown hair wearing a dark collarless sweater.

Lynnette Beeres instructing for WA2 today!