Lee Winter

Lesbian fiction author Lee Winter. Illustration by Marcus Wells.

Lee Winter (born in Christchurch, New Zealand) is the pen name of an Australian journalist and novelist specializing in lesbian fiction.

Biography Lee Winter spent her early years growing up on the Gold Coast, Queensland, before her family moved to Brisbane. Originally, she had a three-decade career in journalism, winning awards for her work. Later, she became a novelist, specializing in lesbian fiction, covering genres from mystery and thriller to romance. In 2016, she wrote the novel Requiem for Immortals; Tara Scott of Lesbians on the Loose said, "if I want to read something from a different genre, it’s a relief to not have to leave lesfic to find it, and Requiem for Immortals perfectly scratches that itch." Both of these novels were nominated for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery

In 2017 she wrote the novel Shattered, which won the 2018 Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy. Writing for Autostraddle, Christina Tucker said of the book, "If you have ever known the joy and the pain of being totally head-over-heels invested in a slow burn, incomplete fanfic, then The Fixer is for you, I promise." The Fixer broke its publisher Ylva Publishing's record for most preorders. Writing for AfterEllen, Claire Heuchan described The Villains as "a slick political thriller like Scandal if Olivia Pope was sapphic", noting that the relationship between the series' main characters Eden and Michelle was "the ultimate Opposites Attract romance". She was one of three winners of that year's Alice B Readers Award.

In 2024, Winter's Chaos Agent won for best Romantic Blend at the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) Awards, as well as winning its top prize, the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award (Gold).

Works Novels On the Record series The Red Files. Book 1. (2015) 2. Auflage. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2021. Under Your Skin. Book 2. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2018.The Villains series The Fixer. Book 1. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2023. Chaos Agent. Book 2. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2023. Number Six. Book 3. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2025.

Standalone novels Requiem For Immortals. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2016. Shattered. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2017. The Brutal Truth. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2017. Breaking Character. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2018. Changing The Script. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2019. Hotel Queens. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2020. The Awkward Truth. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2021. Vengeance Planning for Amateurs. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2024. When She Flies. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2026.

Short fiction Love is Not Nothing. E-Book. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2017. Sliced Ice: Lee Winter's Iconic Ice Queens. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel 2021. When DC Loved Iowa. Ylva Publishing, Kriftel, 2025.

Awards Golden Crown Literary Society Ann Bannon Popular Choice (Gold)Won 2026Number SixGolden Crown Literary Society Award for Romantic Blend Golden Crown Literary Society Ann Bannon Popular Choice (Silver)Won