Lynn Ames

Lynn Ames (born October 10, 1960) is an American writer whose works feature female protagonists, past and present. She has authored sixteen novels spanning a variety of genres, including historical fiction, thrillers, and LGBTQ+ romance, and a biography of softball player and bowler Dot Wilkinson. Ames has collected six Goldie Awards from the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) and was keynote speaker at the 2023 GCLS annual conference. Her contemporary romance novel, All That Lies Within, won the GCLS Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award in 2013 and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Lesbian Romance.

Early life and education In 1982, she graduated cum laude from Middlebury College with a bachelor's degree in history and a minor in psychology. She received the Marci J. Stewart Award for “the student in history who has shown outstanding personal and academic qualities.”

Early professional career Ames began her career as a broadcast journalist, news anchor, and news director for WQBK AM & FM, a radio station in Albany, New York. In 1987, she was named press secretary to New York State Senate Minority Leader Manfred Ohrenstein. In 1989, Governor Mario Cuomo tapped her to become spokesperson for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, then the third-largest prison system in the country.

In 2001, after a six-year stint as Vice President of the New York State Credit Union Association, Ames established her own public relations firm where she specialized in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.

Writing career In 2004, Ames published her first novel, The Price of Fame, with Intaglio Publications. Her next four novels also were published by Intaglio. In 2010, Ames took back the rights to all of her works and created Phoenix Rising Press. In addition to issuing second editions of her first five novels, Phoenix Rising Press became publisher of record for her eleven subsequent works of fiction.

Writing influences Ames draws on her experience as a journalist and governmental spokesperson to create plots and characters. This is particularly notable in The Price of Fame, the first book in the Kate & Jay series. As described in The Lesbian Review, Jay “is in Albany to interview the Governor of New York when she turns on the TV in her hotel room and sees a face she’s been thinking about for five years.” Kate “is at the state capitol building, covering the wreckage after an explosion and helping as many survivors as she can.” The two women reconnect, resulting in a “page turner” that is “a lot of fun to read.”

In reviewing Chain Reactions, a Writer’s Digest honorable mention for genre fiction, Lambda Literary advised “readers who enjoy a blend of contemporary and historical fiction” to pick up the book, as it is “fascinating, compelling, and well-researched, giving a glimpse into what will be for many a little-known contribution women made to the war effort in WWII.”

Ames also has won a Goldie Award and other recognition for her humorous novel Great Bones, published in 2018, and for other comedic work.

Personal Ames resides in Asheville, North Carolina, with her wife, Cheryl Pletcher.

Works

(All works published by Phoenix Rising Press unless noted)

Nonfiction Out at the Plate: The Dot Wilkinson Story (2023), Chicago Review Press,

Series

Kate & Jay series The Price of Fame (2003, 2nd edition 2010) The Cost of Commitment (2004, 2nd edition 2010) The Value of Valor (2005, 2nd edition 2010) Final Cut (2016)

Mission: Classified series Beyond Instinct (2011) Above Reproach (2012)

Standalone fiction

Historical fiction Eyes on the Stars (2010) Bright Lights of Summer (2014) Secrets Well Kept (2019)

Contemporary romance Heartsong (2007, 2nd edition 2010) One ~ Love (2010) All That Lies Within (2013) Chain Reactions (2019) 46 (2020)

Romantic comedy Great Bones (2018)

Anthologies and collections “In a Flash” (included in Outsiders, a collection of five short stories, published by Brisk Press, 2009) “It’s a Dog’s Life” (included in Lesbians on the Loose: Crime Writers on the Lam, edited by Lori L. Lake and Jessie Chandler, published by Launch Point Press, 2015) e

Novelty works Digging for Home (2014) A Christmas Tail (2015 – Kindle only) ASIN: B019MZNDJI

Awards and other recognition 2007 - The Value of Valor, Arizona Book Award Winner - Best Gay/Lesbian Book 2010 - Outsiders, Golden Crown Literary Society Award Winner - Short Story/Essay/Collections (Lynn Ames, Georgia Beers, JD Glass, Susan X. Meagher and Susan Smith)