Lori L. Lake is the author of six novels, two books of short stories, and editor of two anthologies. She is a 2007 recipient of the Alice B. Reader Appreciation Award, and in addition to a 2005 Lambda Literary Finalist in the anthology category, Lori has been the recipient of nine Stonewall Society Literary Awards. Have Gun We'll Travel was a 2006 Golden Crown Literary Award Finalist, and in 2007 she won the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award and a Golden Crown Literary Award for Snow Moon Rising.

Lori lived in Minnesota for 26 years, but has recently re-located to Portland, Oregon. She presents seminars and workshops on writing topics such as character building, plot, the writing process, the writing life, mystery structure, and form and structure in the modern novel. When she's not working at her computer, you can find her either at the local movie house or curled up in a chair reading. She is currently at work on her next novel. Lori very much likes to hear from her readers.

Email: Lori@lorillake.com
Web site: www.LoriLLake.com

Award: 2007 Alice B Medal

Date of Award: 02/01/2007

Description:
The Alice B Reader Appreciation Committee has selected Lori L. Lake as one of six recipients for this year's Alice B Medal which comes with a $500 honorarium, a beautiful medal, and two lapel pins. In their notice of the award, the Committee said "The true mark of an excellent book is that it teaches as well as entertains. Snow Moon Rising does this. (We) can readily see why it took so long in the writing. The committee, to a person, loved this book. (T)he Alice B Medal is awarded to writers based upon their "body of work" not just a single book. Your work to this point has been loved and enjoyed, but this book pushed you over the top, showing us the true depth of your abilities."

Award Web Site:

Award: 2006 Golden Crown Literary Award Finalist

Date of Award: 06/09/2006

Description:
MYSTERY/ADVENTURE/SUSPENSE CATEGORY

Award Web Site: Golden Crown Literary Society

Award: 2005 Lambda Literary Award Finalist

Date of Award: 11/12/2005

Description:
In the Anthology Category

Award Web Site:

Award: 2005 StoneWall Society Awards

Date of Award: 10/11/2005

Description:
2005 Literally Entertaining Award for Have Gun, We'll Travel

For The Record Award for The Milk of Human Kindness

Literary Work Of The Year for The Milk of Human Kindness

Author of the Year to Lori L. Lake for Have Gun We'll Travel

Online Literary Award: for The Lesbian Herstory Portal

Award Web Site: 2005 StoneWall Awards

Award: 2004 StoneWall Society Awards

Date of Award: 10/12/2004

Description:
FAN AWARD Favorite Author

Literary Entertainment Award for "Stepping Out: Short Stories"

FAN AWARD Favorite Short Story for "Afraid Of The Dark"

Award Web Site: 2004 StoneWall Awards

Award: 2003 StoneWall Society Award

Date of Award: 12/10/2003

Description:
Fact & Fable Award-Relationships and People: Awarded for Gun Shy

Award Web Site: 2003 StoneWall

Award: 2003 Twin Cities OutStanding GLBT Author

Date of Award: 10/13/2003

Description:
Lavender Magazine Awards

Award Web Site:

Award: Girlfriend of the Month

Date of Award: 08/08/2003

Description:
Girlfriends Magazine for August 2003

Award Web Site: Girlfriend Award

Award: 2002 Twin Cities Favorite GLBT Author

Date of Award: 11/11/2002

Description:
Lavender Magazine Awards

Award Web Site:

Click on the links to read the review:

Gun Shy as reviewed by Cheri Rosenberg

Have Gun We'll Travel as reviewed by Cheri Rosenberg

Under The Gun as reviewed by Cheri Rosenberg

Shimmer and Other Stories

In these tales of hope and loss, lovers and found family, Lori L. Lake has once more given us an amazing slice of life. A frightened woman stumbles through her daily existence, unsure of her place in the world, until she comes into possession of a magic coat... Tee has a problem with her temper, and now that she's being tested again, will she fail to curb it again? Kaye Brock has recently been released from prison and doesn't have a single friend - until Mrs. Gildecott comes along...

These women and many others, unsettled and adrift and often disillusioned, can't quite understand how they arrived at their present situations. But whether rejected, afraid to commit, or just misunderstood, even the most hard-bitten are not without some hope in the power of love.

Lori L. Lake's talent shines like never before in this collection of glittering tales. Sharply rendered, the tone of these stories reflects their title: silver and gray, shimmery and wintery, yet also filled with the shiny hope of summer. These are stories that bear rereading.

Publication date: 11/10/2007
ISBN: 978-1-932300-95-6

Snow Moon Rising

Mischka Gallo, a proud Roma woman, knows horses, dancing, and travel. Every day since her birth, she and her extended family have been on the road in their vardo wagons meandering mostly through Poland and Germany. She learned early to ignore the taunts and insults of all those who call her people "Gypsies" and do not understand their close-knit society and way of life.

Pauline "Pippi" Stanek has lived a settled life in a small German town along the eastern border of Poland and Germany. In her mid-teens, she meets Mischka and her family through her brother, Emil Stanek, a World War I soldier who went AWOL and was adopted by Mischka's troupe. Mischka and Pippi become fast friends, and they keep in touch over the years. But then, the Second World War heats up, and all of Europe is in turmoil. Men are conscripted into the Axis or the Allied armies, "undesirables" are turned over to slave labor camps, and with every day that passes, the danger for Mischka, Emil, and their families increases. The Nazi forces will not stop until they've rounded up and destroyed every Gypsy, Jew, dissident, and homosexual.

On the run and separated from her family, Mischka can hardly comprehend the obstacles that face her. When she is captured, she must use all her wits just to stay alive. Can Mischka survive through the hell of the war in Europe and find her family?

In a world beset by war, two women on either side of the conflagration breach the divide-and save one another. Snow Moon Rising is a stunning novel of two women's enduring love and friendship across family, clan, and cultural barriers. It's a novel of desperation and honor, hope and fear at a time when the world was split into a million pieces.

Publication date: 11/05/2006
ISBN: 978-1-932300-50-5

Have Gun We'll Travel

Dez Reilly and Jaylynn Savage have settled into a comfortable working and living arrangement. Their house is in good shape, their relationship is wonderful, and their jobs-while busy-are fulfilling. But everyone needs a break once in a while, so when they take off on a camping trip to northern Minnesota with good friends Crystal and Shayna, they expect nothing more than long hikes, romantic wood fires, and plenty of down time. Instead, they find themselves caught in the whirlwind created when two escaped convicts, law enforcement, and desperate Russian mobsters clash north of the privately-run, medium-security Kendall Correctional Center. Set in the woodland area in Minnesota near Superior National Forest, this adventure/suspense novel features Jaylynn taken hostage by the escapees and needing to do all she can to protect herself while Dez figures out how to catch up with and disarm the convicts, short-circuit the Russians, and use the law enforcement resources in such a way that nothing happens to Jaylynn. It's a race to the finish as author Lori L. Lake uproots Dez and Jaylynn from the romance genre to bring them center stage in her first suspense thriller.

Publication date: 02/05/2005
ISBN: 1-932300-33-3

Milk of Human Kindness: Lesbian Authors Write About Mothers and Daughters, The

Edited by Lori L. Lake, this anthology contains stories, essays, and memoirs by some of the brightest stars in the lesbian writing world:

Cameron Abbott + Georgia Beers + Meghan Brunner + Carrie Carr + Caro Clarke + Katherine V. Forrest + Jennifer Fulton + Gabrielle Goldsby + Ellen Hart + Lois Hart + Karin Kallmaker + Marcia Tyson Kolb + Lori L. Lake + SX Meagher + Radclyffe + J.M. Redmann + Jean Stewart + Cate Swannell + Therese Szymanski + Talaran + Julia Watts + Marie Sheppard Williams + Kelly Zarembski

Don't miss this unforgettable collection!

Publication date: 02/13/2004
ISBN: 1-932300-28-7

Stepping Out: Short Stories by Lori L. Lake

Something a little different from novelist Lori L. Lake. Here is a book of short stories written about ordinary people with uncommon - and also universal - problems.

A mother and daughter having an age-old fight. Small children bullied on the playground taking back their power. A father trying to understand his lesbian daughter's retreat from him. A frightened woman attempting to deal with an abusive partner. An athlete who misses her chance - or does she? An elderly couple stalked by an old woman. These stories and more are told in Jumping Over My Head & Other Stories.

The Bright Side . . . Vagabonds . . . A Letter From Father . . . Mouse . . . Afraid of the Dark . . . Everything You Learn in Kindergarten Can Ruin Your Life . . . The Jungle Garden . . . Busybody . . . Defending Angels . . . Propane . . . Strange Inclinations . . . The Big Eddy . . . My Lifesaving Journal . . . Jumping Over My Head

Fourteen stories about characters dealing with life, love, and loss. Lovingly crafted, the collection has been described as a series of mini-novels where themes of alienation and loss, particularly for characters who are gay or lesbian, are woven throughout. Lake is right on about the anguish and confusion of characters caught in the middle of circumstances, usually of someone else's making. Still, each character steps out with hope and determination.

Publication date: 11/30/2003
ISBN: 1-932300-16-3

Different Dress

Different Dress is the story of three women on a cross-country musical road tour. Jaime Esperanza is a gaffer/electrician and roadie. The headliner, Lacey Leigh Jaxon, is a fast-living prima donna with intimacy problems. She's had a brief relationship with Jaime, then dumped her for the new guy (who lasted all of about two weeks). Lacey still comes back to Jaime in between conquests, and Jaime hasn't yet gotten her entirely out of her heart.

After Lacey Leigh steamrolls yet another opening act, a folksinger from Minnesota named Kip Galvin, who wrote one of Lacey's biggest songs, is brought on board for the summer tour. Kip has true talent, she loves people and they respond, and she has a pleasant stage presence. A friendship springs up between Jaime and Kip - but what about Lacey Leigh?

It's a honky-tonk, bluesy, pop, country EXPLOSION of emotion as these three women duke it out. Who will win Jaime's heart and soul?

Publication date: 11/30/2002
ISBN: 1-932300-08-2

Ricochet In Time

second edition

Hatred is ugly and does bad things to good people, even in the land of "Minnesota Nice" where no one wants to believe discrimination exists. Danielle "Dani" Corbett knows firsthand what hatred can cost. After they suffer a vicious and intentional attack, Dani's girlfriend, Meg O'Donnell, is dead. Dani is left emotionally scarred, and her injuries prevent her from fleeing on her motorcycle. But as one door has closed for her, another opens when she is befriended by Grace Beaumont, a young woman who works as a physical therapist at the hospital. With Grace's friendship and the help of Grace's aunts, Estelline and Ruth, Dani gets through the ordeal of bringing Meg's killer to justice.

Filled with memorable characters, Ricochet In Time is the story of one lonely woman's fight for justice - and her struggle to resolve the troubles of her past and find a place in a world where she belongs.

Publication date: 11/30/2002
ISBN: 1-932300-17-1

Gun Shy

third edition

While on patrol, Minnesota police officer Dez Reilly saves two women from a brutal attack. One of them, Jaylynn Savage, is immediately attracted to the taciturn cop - so much so that she joins the St. Paul Police Academy. As fate would have it, Dez is eventually assigned as Jaylynn's Field Training Officer. Having been burned in the past by getting romantically involved with another cop, Dez has a steadfast rule she has abided by for nine years: Cops are off limits. But as Jaylynn and Dez get to know one another, a strong friendship forms. Will Dez break her cardinal rule and take a chance on love with Jaylynn, or will she remain forever gun shy? Gun Shy is an exciting glimpse into the day-to-day work world of police officers as Jaylynn learns the ins and outs of the job and Dez learns the ins and outs of her own heart.

**Available in both print and eBook formats.

Publication date: 11/30/2001
ISBN: 978-1-932300-56-7

Under The Gun

Under the Gun is the long-awaited sequel to the bestselling novel, Gun Shy, continuing the story of St. Paul Police Officers Dez Reilly and Jaylynn Savage. Picking up just a couple weeks after Gun Shy ended, the sequel finds the two officers continuing to adjust to their relationship, but things start to go downhill when they get dispatched to a double homicide - Jaylynn's first murder scene. Dez is supportive and protective toward Jay, and things seem to be going all right until Dez's nemesis reports their personal relationship, and their commanding officer restricts them from riding together on patrol. This sets off a chain of events that result in Jaylynn getting wounded, Dez being suspended, and both of them having to face the possibility of life without the other. They face struggles - separately and together - that they must work through while truly feeling "under the gun."

Publication date: 11/30/2001
ISBN: 1-930928-44-0

Jump the Gun

Dez Reilly and Jaylynn Savage are happy together. They have both advanced in their jobs with Jaylynn a Field Training Officer and Dez a patrol sergeant. Dez is now trying to decide what direction to go with her career: To SWAT? Or to investigations? Or does she settle for patrol supervision which she is heartily tired of? With some family complications, a murder of one of their own, and the hunt for a dangerous killer, the girls have their hands full.