Everyone deserves to find themselves in the books they read. We are actively looking for trans*, queer, and genderqueer characters, which again is a representation issue. We also publish in all genres: contemporary, scifi/fantasy, futuristic, historical, suspense/mystery/thriller, erotica. Our core genre is male/male romance, but we’re actively seeking and have published lesbian romance and menage romance with rainbow interaction. If it has LGBTQ characters, we’re interested in considering it for publication. Sarah Frantz: Riptide is very committed to the full spectrum of representation of the LGTBQ rainbow, and we publish anything and everything with rainbow content. Some great titles we have are Changing Worlds by Cari Z (gay science fiction), To Pierce the Sky by Erik Moore (lesbian paranormal), Love Continuance and Increasing by Julian Griffith (bisexual historical), and Pearl by Kelly Rand (trans* historical). We don’t shy away from stranger or edgier topics like tentacles, incest, gun kink, or darker BDSM. We offer novels, novellas, short stories, and anthologies that star all types of characters.

Armstrong: Storm Moon Press publishes erotic romance and erotica titles in the QUILTBAG spectrum.

Jessica Luther: What is the range of titles available from your press?

They have published 100 separate titles so far. Riptide is even younger than Storm Moon, having in business for 2.5 years, since October 2011. Sarah Frantz is Senior Editor at Riptide Publishing. Armstrong says, “We’re small, and we have limited staff, so we don’t publish as many titles as bigger publishers in our genre. Founded just over three years ago, they have published 172 titles in print and digital. Armstrong is an owner and the editor-in-chief of Storm Moon Press. Last week, I interviewed two editors at specialty romance presses about the queer-centric titles they publish. There are romance novels featuring LGBTQ characters, but readers likely have to seek them out. This same question should be asked for people across the spectrum of sexuality, especially in the romance where the plot is often built around relationships leading to either tragecy or happy endings. “Don’t people like me deserve a happy ending, too?” she said. Recently, I talked with Indian-American romance novel author Suleikha Snyder about her work writing romance tales starring people of color.