Bold Strokes Books (BSB)

Owner and publisher Len Barot has elevated fiction through her intense and ongoing efforts on behalf of LGBT writers around the world. Her company, Bold Strokes Books, is on the leading edge of LGBT literature thanks to Len and her staff of talented editors, led by Jennifer Knight, and her volunteer support staff.  

  Dr. Shelley Thrasher

Dr. Shelley Thrasher is Andrews & Austin’s personal goddess of editorial. Tall, slender, smart, and with the longest, most charming Southern drawl, Shelley is a consummate professional and relentless when it comes to every aspect of the manuscript. Shelley has a BA, MA, and PhD in English and a career as a university English professor. She’s attended writing workshops in New York, Colorado, Florida, and Iowa. She holds the distinguished title of Professor Emerita of English and is an author herself, having published numerous poems in nation-wide magazines. She has been a substantive and copy editor for BSB since 2004, where she has edited prize-winning books by Andrews and Austin, Gun Brooke, and JD Glass.

      Connie Ward

Connie Ward is BSB’S Publicist and Author Liaison Consultant and Andrews & Austin’s, and every author’s, fearless friend. With humor and a kind heart, Connie tirelessly coordinates author events for BSB with booksellers and reading groups, arranges print and online interviews, and serves as author liaison by compiling and updating press packages. Connie has over thirty years of experience in administration and the business world and has won awards in both fields.

Sheri, artist extroidinaire, created the banner logo for our site, as well as the book covers for Combust the Sun, Stellium in Scorpio, Mistress of the Runes and Uncross My Heart.

Barbara Kiwak, whose fine art is shown in the Berkley Gallery in Virginia, created the book cover for Venus Besieged.