NOTE: ceLEStial books is not directly involved in the organisation, monitoring, or selection of the winners for these awards, but welcomes the opportunity to publicise the winners for 2018.
Announcing the 1st Annual
Lesfic Bard Award Winners!
The 2018 Lesfic Bard Awards’ winners and finalists were chosen by a volunteer group of literary professionals, who spent countless hours reading submissions from publishers and independents. Today, we're excited to announce the winners and finalists in our various categories.
WINNERS
 CONTEMPORARY FICTION The winner is: Lise Gold for the book French Summer Synopsis: Newly divorced and bought out of her company, Nathalie rents a holiday home in the South of France. After years of hard work and a failed marriage in Chicago, she’s looking for some peace and quiet, a place to clear her mind and figure out her future. Lena loves women, her dog, and landscaping, but that’s about as complicated as it gets. When she meets her new tenant for the summer, it proves hard to stay professional as a caretaker, especially when that tenant turns out to be everything she ever wanted and more. As time passes and boundaries blur, the moment of goodbye becomes inevitable. Nathalie isn’t looking for a new love, especially not in the form of a woman, and Lena has no desire to get her heart crushed again. Is it possible to find home in a place you’ve never been? And is it worth the risk, giving up everything for someone you’ve only just met? They say home is where the heart is… Bio: Lise Gold is an author of lesbian fiction. Her romantic attitude, enthusiasm for travel and love for feel good stories form the heartland of her writing. Lise's novels are the result of a quest for a new passion, after working as a designer for fourteen years. Lise lives in the UK with her wife. Please feel free to connect on social media to stay informed about future releases and don't hesitate to give feedback and spread the love! Website: www.lisegold.com Publisher: Lise Gold Books  ROMANCE The winner is: Ennis Bashe for the book The Gift of your Love Synopsis: Neely has always been able to see things—the details others miss, flashes of color that tell her how people feel, and more. She's been called everything from witch to psychic to freak. But a lifetime of seeing what the rest of the world misses still didn't prepare her for being taken hostage mid-escape by a man with tentacles. Publisher: Less Than Three Press |  DRAMA The winner is: Pat Adams-Wright for the book The Harbinger Synopsis: Ellie Hanray, interior designer, and an out and proud single lesbian is slowly emerging from a period of deep mourning, after the death of her five-year-old son, Alex. He’d been conceived by donor insemination after her maternal instincts and ageing began to set alarm bells ringing. Although the coroner had declared his death to be a tragic accident, Ellie continued to blame herself. She’d taken her eyes off him for a moment while talking to her friends, when he slipped and fell from the slide. Now she sat on a park bench looking at the place where he’d died, although it was covered by a large snowfall. She was reflecting how close she felt to him in this area when she was visited by a very distinctive robin, who had a small patch of black feathers on its shoulder. At first, he kept his distance, but as time progressed, he became tamer, until she was convinced, through some kind of telepathy, he carried the spirit of her son. Bio: Pat Adams-Wright was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK, on the 15th October 1954, in Wellesley Barracks, to a sergeant major father and a working mother. Teacher trained in Liverpool, she actually taught very little during the austere period for practical subjects, doing any work she could find to keep the wolf from the door. However, this did provide plenty of experience and writing material. Finally settled into a teaching job, disaster struck after an accident left her disabled. After many years of using writing to distract her from pain, she successfully completed her debut novel, RUN, which was published on the 18th April, 2015. She is now in the process of writing her second. Publisher: Self  HISTORICAL The winner is: Kristen Wolf for the book Escapement Synopsis: Be transported into an intoxicating world of beauty and passion by this heart-wrenching and gorgeously-written gem. Set in the turbulent Romantic era and spun by the perceptive yet unusual housekeeper of a brilliant composer, the tale reveals the agonies and joy of artistry, love affairs, obsessions, and the gaping wounds wrought by secrets. Brimming with intrigue and unforgettable characters, ESCAPEMENT delivers a breathtaking tribute to the redemptive power of human creativity and the enduring light cast by our deepest desires. Bio: Kristen Wolf is a best-selling and award-winning author and creative living in the Rocky Mountains. She holds a B.A. from Georgetown University where she was nominated to the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. After working several years as a reporter, she won a full scholarship to the prestigious creative writing program at Hollins University and earned her M.A. in creative writing and film. Publisher: Pixeltry |
Finalists
DRAMA
Sarah Libero for the book The Power to Choose
Synopsis: Lisa Owens has recently moved to the lakeside town of Winchester, Maine. When the situation at her new job becomes uncomfortable, she turns to Carrie Sawyer, owner of the local café, for support. Carrie grew up in Winchester and seems to know everything about everyone there.
Lisa soon discovers that her boss seems to have many secrets, and with Carrie’s help, begins to dig deeper into her boss’s activity. As the two women work together to expose a cover-up, their attraction to each other begins to grow.
But Carrie is certain that Lisa doesn’t feel that way about her—especially when Toni, the woman that Lisa had a major crush on back in college—enters the picture.
Bio: Sarah Libero is a fiction author, and this is her second book with Bella Books. She was born and raised in Maine. She lived in Massachusetts for several years before moving back to Maine where she currently works as a software developer and lives with her Siberian Husky. Her books take on scenes and places that she is familiar with from around her home state.
Publisher: Bella Books
Sarah Libero for the book The Power to Choose
Synopsis: Lisa Owens has recently moved to the lakeside town of Winchester, Maine. When the situation at her new job becomes uncomfortable, she turns to Carrie Sawyer, owner of the local café, for support. Carrie grew up in Winchester and seems to know everything about everyone there.
Lisa soon discovers that her boss seems to have many secrets, and with Carrie’s help, begins to dig deeper into her boss’s activity. As the two women work together to expose a cover-up, their attraction to each other begins to grow.
But Carrie is certain that Lisa doesn’t feel that way about her—especially when Toni, the woman that Lisa had a major crush on back in college—enters the picture.
Bio: Sarah Libero is a fiction author, and this is her second book with Bella Books. She was born and raised in Maine. She lived in Massachusetts for several years before moving back to Maine where she currently works as a software developer and lives with her Siberian Husky. Her books take on scenes and places that she is familiar with from around her home state.
Publisher: Bella Books
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Annette Mori for the book Unconventional Lovers
Synopsis: Bri and Siera are young women with huge hearts and strong wills; they want nothing more than to find a peaceful and secure space to be, a place that fulfills their needs and gives them the freedom to be themselves. But the world is a harsh place for anyone who is different.
Bri’s Aunt Olivia is a vet with a thriving practice. She is set in her ways, single and surviving, channeling her emotions into her work and her love of Bri.
Siera has a supportive but silent father, an overpowering helicopter mom, plus her Aunt Deb who adores her.
Despite their individual battles against hurt, prejudice and rejection, can these four women find love against the odds?
Publisher: Affinity Rainbow Publications
Annette Mori for the book Unconventional Lovers
Synopsis: Bri and Siera are young women with huge hearts and strong wills; they want nothing more than to find a peaceful and secure space to be, a place that fulfills their needs and gives them the freedom to be themselves. But the world is a harsh place for anyone who is different.
Bri’s Aunt Olivia is a vet with a thriving practice. She is set in her ways, single and surviving, channeling her emotions into her work and her love of Bri.
Siera has a supportive but silent father, an overpowering helicopter mom, plus her Aunt Deb who adores her.
Despite their individual battles against hurt, prejudice and rejection, can these four women find love against the odds?
Publisher: Affinity Rainbow Publications
HISTORICAL
Vanda for the book Paris, Adrift
Synopsis: She wanted a safe harbor for their love. But rough waters could destroy any hope of starting over…
Paris-bound, 1955. Alice "Al" Huffman can't wait to reach the City of Light. As soon as their ship arrives, Juliana's singing career will get the spotlight it deserves and the two women will finally bring their relationship out of the shadows. Or so Al thinks.
Before the SS United States hits land, a stranger approaches Al with a Broadway contract for Juliana. But the offer comes with a threat that can't be ignored. And unless Al can find a way out, Juliana's comeback could come crashing down before it even begins…
As she hides the awful truth from Juliana, Al searches for an answer before another obstacle destroys their last chance for happiness…
Paris, Adrift, 1955 is Book 3 in a breathtaking LGBT historical romance series. If you like pulse-pounding suspense, characters who tug at your heartstrings, and true-to-life portrayals of 1950s Paris, then you'll love award-winning writer Vanda's stunning series of novels.
Publisher: Sans Merci Press
Vanda for the book Paris, Adrift
Synopsis: She wanted a safe harbor for their love. But rough waters could destroy any hope of starting over…
Paris-bound, 1955. Alice "Al" Huffman can't wait to reach the City of Light. As soon as their ship arrives, Juliana's singing career will get the spotlight it deserves and the two women will finally bring their relationship out of the shadows. Or so Al thinks.
Before the SS United States hits land, a stranger approaches Al with a Broadway contract for Juliana. But the offer comes with a threat that can't be ignored. And unless Al can find a way out, Juliana's comeback could come crashing down before it even begins…
As she hides the awful truth from Juliana, Al searches for an answer before another obstacle destroys their last chance for happiness…
Paris, Adrift, 1955 is Book 3 in a breathtaking LGBT historical romance series. If you like pulse-pounding suspense, characters who tug at your heartstrings, and true-to-life portrayals of 1950s Paris, then you'll love award-winning writer Vanda's stunning series of novels.
Publisher: Sans Merci Press
ROMANCE
Arden Ellis for the book The False Knight on the Motorway
Synopsis: The world has been cursed by the gods. Their precious relics became poison long ago, and their cities radiate death. It is the dawn of a second Dark Age, if the priests and alchemists are to be believed. Ser Wright of Kenilworth doesn't particularly care how or why the world was broken. Her only concern is regaining favor in the eyes of her lord—and if a menial errand to ransom her insufferable rival is the way to do that, Wright will grit her teeth and dutifully retrieve Ser Kai to face judgement.
But the simple errand forces Wright and Kai into a mission far more difficult: a quest for the legendary counteragent that could lift the curse once and for all. Wright's duty is to retrieve it all costs, no matter who stands in her way—even if that someone is the sarcastic, dishonorable companion who Wright doesn't hate as much as she thought.
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
A NOTE FROM THE AWARDS ORGANISER:
Some categories will have no 2018 winner as there were insufficient entries to judge. Entry fees were refunded to any authors submitting works for these categories. We expect the volume of entries to increase next year when authors witness the tremendous amount of marketing we do for our 2018 winners. Our intention is to learn from each year's experiences, build a solid foundation, and continue to grow as an awards company.
If you don't enter, you can't WIN!
Please share this news and celebrate your favorite authors on social media with the hashtag #LesficBardAwards
For media inquiries regarding this year's Lesfic Bard Awards, contact K’Anne Meinel at kanne@lesficbardawards.com.
Some categories will have no 2018 winner as there were insufficient entries to judge. Entry fees were refunded to any authors submitting works for these categories. We expect the volume of entries to increase next year when authors witness the tremendous amount of marketing we do for our 2018 winners. Our intention is to learn from each year's experiences, build a solid foundation, and continue to grow as an awards company.
If you don't enter, you can't WIN!
Please share this news and celebrate your favorite authors on social media with the hashtag #LesficBardAwards
For media inquiries regarding this year's Lesfic Bard Awards, contact K’Anne Meinel at kanne@lesficbardawards.com.
RSS Feed
