Kayla Gornick
Kayla Gornick is a lifelong Midwesterner with a great love for the Great Lakes. She is also a southpaw, an aspiring librarian, and an all-around oddball. She enjoys a variety of creative outputs, especially ones she is not particularly good at. A self-identified storyteller through and through, she is also delighted to be a part of Weird Little Beasties, a small, independent, and entirely-woman owned visual novel game studio, and is honored to be a new member of the Desert Palms Press family.
The first lesfic book by another author that spoke to me was:
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
My Favorite book of all time (today) is:
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
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A serial killer's daughter must prove her innocence when a new killer starts copying her infamous father's heinous crimes. Karina Jäger has spent twenty years running from her father’s legacy. As the daughter of a notorious serial killer, she’s built a quiet life far from the headlines. Even Aubrey Peterson, the tenacious true-crime author writing her father’s biography, can’t ruin what Karina has made for herself. But when fresh bodies appear in Karina’s sleepy Wisconsin hometown, suspicion turns toward her. With a copycat killer at large, Karina must confront a darker truth: she may not be so different from her father after all. And Aubrey might just be too tempting to resist. Natural Predator includes violence, death, and a consensual love scene. It is recommended for mature readers.
In the Underground, it's deadly to have talent. Your best bet is to remain mediocre. Otherwise, being extraordinary can put a target on your back and a bullet in your heart. Or worse.
She's sitting there, casually reading the news with a cup of coffee in her hand, as if she didn't just kill someone.
In a world where you need to be mediocre to survive, the extraordinary must live under the radar. When Valerie witnesses an assassination and the dark words which led up to the act, her reality turns on end. As she discovers life-changing details about her identity and her world, Valerie finds that she's falling for the assassin herself.
Vega includes violence, abuse, and death and is recommended for mature readers.
A Cass and Ari Adventure Book 3
Some secrets deserve to remain hidden, and others revealed. Ari and Cass must choose wisely.
When a colleague is murdered in Aswan, famed archaeologist Dr. Cassandra Stillwell discovers the man had found a scroll that may reveal Cleopatra’s elusive final resting place. As Cass pursues the truth on Philae Island, one that may forever change historical understanding of the Last Pharaoh’s ultimate fate, dangerous rivals close in and the Nile’s annual flood looms.
Across the world, her partner, Ari Morgan, returns home to North Carolina to rescue a family friend trapped in a nursing home that isn’t what it seems, fending off dangerous bureaucratic flood waters of her own.
Two investigations—one ancient, one urgent—pull Cass and Ari into a race against time, testing their courage, loyalty, and the bond that holds them together.
Zayla was just an infant noxling when her bitterroot offshoot was destroyed by a terrible suncreature. No one from her home survived. And from what she knows of her Nemora history, she shouldn’t be alive either.
But she is. There’s a constant hum inside her, a shaking that grows more violent and painful each time she harnesses her crafting to do her bidding. Nature is clearly trying to finish the job the suncreature started.
Her only hope is to finish walking the path. When she completes this sacred rite of passage, she'll never need to use her crafting again. She has to get to Ratnaa Grove, her final stop, and the quickest way there is through the deadly Cinder Forest. With the help of her sibling Oryn and an alluring musician named Shadre who they met along the way, Zayla fends off bloodthirsty suncreatures and discovers an invasion of evil sun goddess worshippers bent on razing the Groves.
As she struggles to survive, betrayal lurks on every side, and her crafting demands a higher price than even she expected. But the fate of the Nemora Groves, and the world as she knows it, might just lie within her.
Freelance pilot and treasure hunter Helen Highwater finds herself in too deep when she agrees to retrieve an ancient mask from a long-forgotten temple. Suddenly her employers are trying to kill her and silence her forever. She enlists the aid of Abigail Dawson, a prim English historian and archaeologist whose dreams of fieldwork have run aground in the backrooms of an old museum. Together they must race against time and Helen’s pursuers to decode the mystery of the mask and discover a terrifying secret that has lain dormant for centuries.
A String of Days by Barbara Lynn Murphy (2023 Lesfic Bard Award winner in Fiction for When It's True). When her research-seeking niece asks Debra Jordan to help her with insight into the romantic life of a lesbian, Debra shares her journey, from the passion of first love to the heartbreak of loss, sparing no details as she recounts the highs and lows of a life well-lived. Debra weaves through the stories of the women she’s loved and sometimes lost. Along the way, she learns that giving up on love is not an option because happily ever after isn’t just reserved for fairy tales.
From the author of How Sweet the Sound, Not Sorry, Not Too Old, and Not Again. Photographer Karla Berne finds herself in the middle of a a ritualistic serial murder inquiry when her drone captures the image of one of the victims. Love interest Aspen Ambrose knows more about the murders than she lets on, walking a fine line of deception to protect Karla from becoming the next victim. Will Karla forgive Aspen in this novel of betrayal, magic, murder and romance?
Release Date: 2/29/2024
Wandering adventurer Revka and her centaur girlfriend Iyarra head west in search of easy work and cheap drinks, and instead find action, adventure, and excitement at every turn. Again. At the very edge of the frontier, the two adventurers find themselves in the little centaur town of Red Valley, last stop of the long wagon trains out west, but the town—and the mountains it borders—guards a secret ancient and terrible, which naturally some bunch of cloaked-and-hooded goons are doing their best to unearth. So the two find themselves caught on both sides of a shadow war between two secret societies, all the while dealing with bandits, stampedes, labor disputes, and the ever-present Code of the West. Will Revka and Iyarra manage to save the day? Will the secret buried deep in the heart of the mountain be revealed? Will the last western town be turned into a tatty suburb? And what of the mysterious goddess maneuvering events behind the scenes? Join Revka and Iyarra in their third adventure in the land of Kalazad, where the west isn’t just wild, it’s downright unhinged.
Sixty something Sam Avery has sworn off new relationships.
Surrounded by supportive friends, she focuses on a cycling trip along
the east coast. The ride should center her and honor the memory of the
love of her life, whose dream was to be riding also. Avid long-distance
cyclist, Lee Floyd, is invited to sub for the missing Deb and sets her
hopes in Sam. While Sam gives Lee no encouragement, she is pulled in as
a nurse helper when Lee’s health takes a turn. Will this necessitated
closeness give Lee’s desires a chance? Or will Sam remain steadfast in
her determination to find her happily ever after in the company of
friends? Something unexpected happens when a chance encounter literally
knocks her off her feet.
From the author of How Sweet the Sound, Not Sorry, and Not Too Old, this is Ann Tonnell’s third Mountains to Coast Romance.
Valis Nyxera Aefbain, queen of the snow elves, must find a consort of magic blood as soon as possible. A dangerous secret slumbers beneath her palace and only a powerful ritual can keep her kingdom safe. Brynn Woodwarden, a wood elf with misfiring magical abilities, hates the snow elves. They killed her brother, Darrow, while poaching unicorns. But dangerous creatures prowl her forest home−twisted, Rotted things that infect anyone they bite. The wood elves can't fend them off alone. Only Brynn's unique blood is suitable for Valis' ritual. Only Valis has the soldiers and alchemists Brynn needs to stop the Rotted creatures. An arranged marriage is the perfect solution−but such a union might be more than either of them bargained for.
2024 GCLS Goldie Recipient - Fantasy
No scribe has ever returned from the Sunglade. It's a continent of burning sunlight and terrifying suncreatures, and the home of the worshippers of Ponuriah, the evil sun goddess. When Adaris Kavari, a disgraced wandering scribe with a lame leg, finds herself following her curiosity too far and gets captured by those worshippers, she's forced to record their side of history in order to survive. Much to the worshippers' glee, Adaris is also a Divus—a race whose crafting is used mainly to heal, and sometimes to hurt—and a terrifying young researcher immediately latches onto her because of it. But Adaris isn't the only prisoner here. She meets an attractive and snarky painter named Rhonwen with an unfortunate link to Adaris' past. Wanting to save them both, Adaris conforms to the sun goddess worshippers' ways while looking for an escape. She knows that once she's free, she'll have recorded a keystone story that would help restore her tarnished reputation and might even turn the tide of the upcoming war. The sun goddess worshippers' influence is strong, especially with the new elements of crafting Adaris encounters—elements that could turn her pitiful crafting into something new and powerful—and her scribe's curiosity twists into something even she didn't anticipate. As a scribe, she's recorded many heroes' adventures. Now, it's her turn to become the hero—by any means necessary. The Broken Chronicles - Book 3
2024 GCLS Goldie Finalist
Then becoming a teacher and high school principal, I also lived a secret nocturnal life−my triple life. Bartending in shady parts of D.C., I was hit by a rock, saw a gun pulled on my friend, and witnessed fights, arrests, and marches that pitted straights against gays. I jumped from girlfriend to girlfriend, courted a few straight girls, and dabbled in activities far different from the straight educator I portrayed by day. On the day of my father's funeral, my mother proclaimed her recognition of my gayness. What I hoped would be a celebration of love and openness was anticlimactic. I had wasted too many years. My father was gone, and I had lost friends rather than share my truth. Against the backdrop of the burgeoning LGBTQ movement, I became a courageous trailblazer and did my own coming out in a big way, I married a woman. Now I share my truth with the world and enjoy the happiness that honesty has given me.
Do not make the mistakes I made. Openly love who you love.
Desert Palm Press
Founded in 2014 by R. Lee Fitzsimmons the mission of Desert Palm Press has been and continues to be the publishing of stories that accurately and respectfully reflect the diverse lives of the Lesbian and LGBTQ+ community. We strive to make silenced voices heard. Our publication list reflects lesbian fiction of many fiction genres and in the future will include, we trust, non-fiction.
Our books are a collaboration of our authors, editors, graphic designers, and proofreaders. We strive to give you, the reader, an experience that embraces and reflects our diverse lives.
Our ebooks and paperbacks are available worldwide. Desert Palm Press titles are available through our website, Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and other third-party retailers. They are also available through Scribd and Overdrive library services.
R Lee Fitzsimmons
Publisher
Desert Palm Press
1961 Main Street, Suite 220
Watsonville, CA 95076