Fran Annaford
Lesbian romance set in the world of film, theatre, opera and politics.
When the pandemic struck and Fran Annaford’s career in the music and entertainment world was on hold, like many in isolation enduring boredom not assuaged by binging on TV films, she discovered a new hobby. One that has become her second profession.
She has released an eight-book set of lesbian erotic tales, entitled The Starnberg Series and is in the middle of its sequel, The Westminster Series.
The books are a collection of fast-moving novels about the lives and loves of gay women working in the arts, (primarily opera, theatre and film) and subsequently politics. The setting for the romance literature is Southern Germany and London.
Fran knows well the worlds she writes about, giving her books the authenticity and chemistry not often seen in this genre. Her books derive their accuracy from her professional experience.
“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 who move through all twelve books, although each one is stand-alone.
The gripping, page-turning stories engage readers on many levels, from the emotional and entertaining to the erotic and adventurous.
The eight books in the Starnberg series are:
The Starnberg Series begins with the love story between an operatic soprano and a pianist and fledgling 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 favourite, 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.
Fran Annaford’s books centre 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. Involving disloyalty, heartache, and hurt. But also, joy.
You don’t own me is set within the rampant homophobia found in the folk music world, where a part of Fran’s professional life has been spent. This is a world-wide problem, and it is not getting any better as intolerance for being outside the so-called norm surges again. Fran has enormous respect for the country singers who have come out. She sincerely hopes that these fanatical times will end soon and balance regained.
The Westminster Series is set loosely in and around the Palace of Westminster, the British parliament. Fran’s expertise derives from the politics she studied, although she eventually decided against that career in favour of the Arts. The characters who dominate the series are Catherine Fitzwilliam and Amber Reynaud, both members of parliament, albeit on opposite sides of the aisle, and with wildly different ideologies.
The four books in the series are:
Characters from the Starnberg Series appear sporadically.
Over the span of her books, Fran has created an increasingly wide network of professional women, who build a support system crossing borders and nationalities.
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.