Fran Annaford

When the pandemic struck and Fran Annaford’s international career in the

music and entertainment world was on hold, like many in isolation and

boredom, she discovered a new hobby, one that has now become her calling.

She has released an eight-book set of lesbian erotic tales, entitled The

Starnberg Series.

The collection of fast-moving novels is about the lives and loves of gay women

working in the arts, primarily opera, theatre, and film. The setting for the romance

literature is in Southern Germany and London.

Fran knows well of the worlds she writes about, giving her books a certain

authenticity and chemistry not often seen in this genre. Her books derive from her

professional experiences and personal life.

“I hope readers will fall in love with the characters who are often complex,” says Fran.

“I hope they will enjoy the erotic scenes, and if the stories spark a fresh interest in the

arts world, even better.”

Indeed, readers will be moved and entertained by her passion-filled books, falling in

love with certain characters and having a with you-are-in-the-bedroom feeling

The eight books in the series are:

If Time Were Not A Moving Thing

You Don’t Own Me

Give Me Time

How Can I Be Sure?

All I See Is You

Stay Awhile

Go Softly, Goodbye

Yesterday when I was Young

Despite what the author feels is rampant homophobia in the folk music world, where

a part of her professional life has been spent, she feels it’s very important to publish

these books about characters who discover their sexuality while having to confront

keeping it a secret.

Her books center around women discovering their sexuality and giving themselves

permission to break boundaries and to pursue what their hearts tell them. The books

are also about the pain and challenges that accompany relationships often involving

disloyalty, heartache, and hurt. But also joy. The gripping, page-turning stories

engage readers on so many levels, from the emotional and entertaining to the erotic

and adventurous.

The Starnberg Series begins with the love story between an operatic soprano and a

pianist and conductor. Marie Nyman and Arabella Cooper continue to feature, either

on the periphery or as major characters, in all seven of the following books. By the

last volume, Marie is approaching the end of her singing career (a female opera

singer's career is a short one), and the twins she shares with Arabella Cooper are in

their late teens. Although Arabella carries the narrative in the first book, Marie's life is

more fully explored in subsequent volumes. The Ice Queen character proves once

again to be the most enduring. If any of my readers are at all into enjoying opera,

they will recognize the parallels to the Marschallin in Richard Strauss opera, Der

Rosenkavalier. And if they aren't, then I urge them to Youtube the third Act Trio. Few

people can resist this sublime music, even if they never listen to classical music ever

again.

The opera is a lesbian favorite, featuring as it does the archaic tradition of

cross-dressing. The male lover is played and sung by a woman, who is caught

between her love of two other women. The frisson of seeing women onstage

kissing... and more, and at the same time watching a legitimate opera almost

certainly plays a part in the continued popularity of this piece. And it features heavily

in my books, as does Mozart's Marriage of Figaro where we encounter another

example of crossdressing and sex onstage.

“I can only write about a world not many readers have ever experienced,” says Fran.

“I often feature two interesting women who overcome adversity to fall in love. These

books, in the end, are about the power of attraction and what we each have to do to

overcome adversity in order to find our true happiness.”

The books are available for sale directly from the publisher Austin Macauley and from

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, WH Smith,Thrift Books, Google Books,

Booktopia, Medimops, Fruugo DE, and iMusic.de.