Biographical Information
About Past Lavender Certificate Winners

Brenda Adcock (2007 Certificate Winner for Pipeline) Brenda Adcock has three published works, including Pipeline, a 2007 Golden Crown Literary Award finalist for Debut Author. Her publisher, Regal Crest Enterprises, has since released Reiko's Garden and Redress of Grievances. Originally from the beautiful Appalachian region of Eastern Tennessee, she now resides with her partner, Cheryl, in the Hill Country of Central Texas near Austin. As a teen she wrote serial stories to entertain her friends. She has spent the past twenty-three years teaching high school social studies, eventually returning to writing to entertain herself. When not working or writing she and her partner enjoy creating stained glass and shooting pool at their favorite neighborhood bar. They are the parents of four grown children and two lively grandchildren. You can find out more about her work at her website.

L-J Baker (2008 Certificate Winner for Broken Wings) has lived in the USA and the UK, but home is New Zealand with her civilly united partner. In addition to Broken Wings, she has published Lady Knight. She is currently writing more books and hopes to soon have more novels in print. She writes in different genres, but her first love is lesbian fantasy. She is delighted when readers admit they don't normally like fantasy, but ended up reading one of her books. You can find out more about L-J's work at her website.

Amy Briant (2011 Certificate Winner for Shadow Point) is a native Californian. She grew up in a part of San Diego called Point Loma, which greatly resembles Shadow Point except for the malevolent phantom. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay area. Her second novel, Romeo Fails, is coming from Bella Books in February 2012. Befriend her on Facebook or you can find out more about Amy's work at her website.

Nat Burns (2011 Certificate Winner for Two Weeks in August) has always been a huge fan of the written word. A journalist for many years, she veered off into a career of software instruction and editorial systems management as she compulsively wrote fiction during every free moment. She has two published novels with Bella Books, Two Weeks in August and House of Cards, with three more slated for 2012. Natty has recently moved from South Texas to New Mexico where she writes full-time. You can find out more about Nat's work at her website.

Jaime Clevenger (2005 Certificate Winner for The Unknown Mile) Jaime Clevenger is the author of Whiskey and Oak Leaves, Sign on the Line, All Bets Off, Call Shotgun, and the Golden Crown Literary Award Finalist, The Unknown Mile. She lives in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner and three cats. She's an emergency veterinarian who writes novels and short stories on her days off. She studies public health issues with a focus on animal-related diseases and has a horse named Sequoia that she loves to ride. She teaches karate part-time and is interested in all forms of martial arts. You can find out more about her work at her website.

Gina Noelle Daggett (2011 Certificate Winner for Jukebox) is an award-winning writer, director, producer, speaker, and columnist in CURVE Magazine. A cum laude graduate from Pacific University's Creative Writing Program, she won a grant from POWER UP for her debut novel, Jukebox, when it was a work-in-progress. She is currently adapting the novel into a screenplay, which she plans to produce and direct through her production company, Chateau Entertainment. In 2010, Daggett won OUTtv's Hot Pink Shorts contest, which enabled her to write and direct her first short film. OUTtv also made a documentary out of the process. Gina is best known under the penname "Lipstick" in the popular national advice column Lipstick & Dipstick featured in CURVE. Voted the No. 1 column by readers, Lipstick & Dipstick have also published a book: Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships (Alyson Books 2007) and speak regularly on college campuses. When Gina's not pounding the keys of her computer, she's pounding the pavement with her running shoes, skiing in Whistler, or beachcombing for sea glass. She lives in Vancouver, BC. You can find out more about Gina's work at her website.

Catherine Friend (2008 Certificate Winner for The Spanish Pearl) is the author of two novels from Bold Strokes Books, The Spanish Pearl and The Crown of Valencia, with a third due out the end of 2008. Her memoir, Hit By a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn, was a 2007 Golden Crown winner and a finalist for both a 2007 Lambda Literary Award and the Publishing Triangle's Judy Grahn Award. Her next nonfiction book, The Compassionate Carnivore: Or How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat, will be released in May, 2008. Catherine has written six children's books, and the latest, The Perfect Nest, was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award and was chosen by the young reader programs of California, Arizona, and Kansas. For her children's work, she was the 2007 recipient of the Loft/McKnight Artist Fellowship in Children's Literature. Catherine and her partner of 25 years raise sheep in southeastern Minnesota. You can find out more about Catherine's work at her website.

Gabrielle Goldsby (2005 Certificate Winner for The Caretaker's Daughter) Gabrielle Goldsby is an Oakland, California, native currently living in Portland, Oregon, with her Partner of nine years. She is the author of several short stories and four novels, The Caretakers Daughter, Never Wake, Such a Pretty Face, and Wall of Silence. Gabrielle is hard at work on her next novel, Remember Tomorrow, scheduled to be released by Bold Strokes Books in 2008. You can find out more about her work at her website.

Nairne Holtz (2008 Certificate Winner for The Skin Beneath) is a Montreal-based fiction writer whose first novel, The Skin Beneath (Insomniac, 2007), was a finalist for Quebec's McAuslan First Book Prize. She is also the co-editor of No Margins: writing canadian fiction in lesbian (QPress, 2006), which was shortlisted for a 2007 Lambda Literary Award. Currently, she is working on her second book, This One's Going to Last Forever. You can find out more about Nairne's work at her publisher's website.

D. Jackson Leigh (2011 Certificate Winner for Bareback and Long Shot) grew up barefoot and happy, swimming in farm ponds and riding rude ponies in rural south Georgia. Her love of reading was nurtured early on by her grandmother, an English teacher who patiently taught her to work New York Times crossword puzzles in the daily paper, and by her mother who stretched the slim family budget to bring home grocery store copies of Trixie Belden mysteries and Bobbsey Twins adventures that Jackson would sit up all night reading. It was her passion for writing that led her quite accidentally to a career in journalism and, ultimately, North Carolina where she now feeds nightly off the adrenaline rush of breaking news and close deadlines. She shares her life with her blue-eyed partner, a very wise Jack Russell Terrier, and "the cat" who made herself at home when Jackson and the dog weren't watchful.You can find out more about Jackson's work at her website.

D.L. Line (2010 Certificate Winner for On Dangerous Ground) D.L. Line has been many things at different times in her life: a musician, a pharmacy technician, a bartender, a student, a restaurant owner, a marching band director, and a dog sitter to name a few. Through it all, she has always been a storyteller. D.L. lives in Virginia with her family, including Snickers the Wonderdog. On Dangerous Ground is her first novel. You can find out more about D.L.'s work at her website.

Kristin Marra (2011 Certificate Winner for Wind and Bones) was born and raised in a microscopic town in northern Montana where she developed a voracious reading habit. The wind blew her from there when she reached adulthood. She spent the next eighteen years becoming educated and a lesbian in the western Montana mountains. She finally accepted that cold and snow were never going to be fun for her, so she moved to Seattle to try out gray and rain. She likes that better. Kristin started writing fiction occasionally in the 1990s but never took it seriously until the plot for Wind and Bones lodged in her head. A series of lucky breaks led Wind and Bones to publication by Bold Strokes Books. Kristin is now hooked on writing fiction. Her second book, 78 Keys, will be published in May 2011. She hopes to have a sequel to Wind and Bones completed sometime in 2011.You can find out more about Kristin's work at her blogspot.

Gill McKnight (2009 Certificate Winner for Falling Star and Green-eyed Monster) is Irish and moves between Ireland, England, and Greece in a non-stop circuit of work, rest, and play. She loves messing about in boats and has secret fantasies about lavender farming. With a BA in Art and Design and a Masters in Art History it says much about her artistic skill that she now works in IT. Falling Star was her first published novel, and Green-eyed Monster her second. You can find out more about Gill's work at her website.

Colette Moody (2010 Certificate Winner for The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin) Colette Moody is an avid fan of history and politics. When she isn't doing research or crafting scenes for her next romp of a novel, she can be found doing one or more of the following: watching classic films; sequestered in the kitchen eagerly trying to prove that everything DOES taste better with bacon; meticulously recreating cocktails from the 30s and 40s; or planning her next trip to Disneyland. By day, her alter ego toils at what she fondly refers to as her "crap job." She lives in Virginia with her very naughty dog and her only slightly less naughty partner of 10 years. Her novels include The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin, The Seduction of Moxie, and the upcoming Parties in Congress. You can find out more about Colette's work at her website.

C. Paradee (2005 Certificate Winner for Deep Cover) Carol resides in Northeast Ohio. Carol saw her first episode of Xena in season three and quickly found fan fiction. It inspired her to try her hand at writing, and The Agent was her first story. She also wrote Chasing Shadows, which is now out of print. Some things she enjoys are: Xena, reading, and writing. She can be reached in care of her publisher.

Amy Dawson Robertson (2011 Certificate Winner for Miles to Go) is a native Virginian and graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis. She lives in the Washington DC area, and her writing interests include genre fiction, short stories, and graphic novels. She creates strong female characters in action-packed stories drawn on current events. Miles to Go is Amy's first novel. Her second novel in the Rennie Vogel Intrigue series, Scapegoat, will be released late 2011.You can find out more about Amy's work at her website.

Del Robertson (2009 Certificate Winner for Taming The Wolff) is a thirty-something retail store manager living in San Antonio, Texas. Although not a native Texan, she has resided in the state for over fifteen years. A voracious reader and writer, it is difficult to find her without a notebook in her possession and a pen tucked behind one ear for when inspiration strikes. To date, Del Robertson has a filing cabinet full of unpublished work, as well as fifty-odd stories listed on the Internet. Taming The Wolff is her first published novel. You can find out more about Del's work at her publisher's website.

Carsen Taite (2010 Certificate Winner for truelesbianlove.com) Carsen Taite works by day (and sometimes night) as a criminal defense attorney in Dallas, Texas. Though her day job is often stranger than fiction, she can't seem to get enough and spends much of her free time plotting stories. She is the author of three novels: truelesbianlove.com, It Should be a Crime, and Do Not Disturb (due out in June 2010), all published by Bold Strokes Books. She is currently working on her fourth novel, Nothing but the Truth, which, like It Should be a Crime, is a romance with a heavy dose of legal drama, drawing heavily on Carsen's experience in the courtroom. Carsen is married (Canadian-style), and she and her spouse live near White Rock Lake in Dallas where they enjoy cycling and walking the trails with their four-legged children. You can find out more about Carsen's work at her website.

Cynthia Tyler (2006 Certificate Winner for Descanso) Cynthia Tyler was born and raised in Southern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in family therapy. She lives in Pasadena, California with her partner and their dogs. In her spare time she reads, hikes in the desert, and throws tennis balls for her Golden Retriever. She is currently at work on a new novel. You can find out more about her work at her website.