Lee Winter (born in Christchurch, New Zealand)[1] is the pen name[2] of an Australian journalist and novelist specializing in lesbian fiction.
Lee Winter spent her early years growing up on the Gold Coast, Queensland,[3] 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 2015 Winter released the novel The Red Files; Marisol Cortez of Lesbians on the Loose described it as "a great read by a promising debut author", praised the writing and characters, and noted the inspiration from Winter's journalism career.[4] 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."[5] Both of these novels were nominated for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery and won the Golden Crown Literary Society for Mystery/Thriller: The Red Files in 2016 and Requiem for Immortals in 2017.[6]
In 2017 she wrote the novel Shattered,[7] which won the 2018 Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy.[6] In 2020, she wrote the novel Hotel Queens, which won the 2021 Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Romantic Blend.[6]
In 2023 Winter started a new book series, The Villains, with The Fixer as the inaugural title.[8] 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."[9] The Fixer broke its publisher Ylva Publishing's record for most preorders. That same year, Winter released another novel, Chaos Agent, which Tucker said "surprised [her] with its smart and heartfelt combination of questions about morality and ethics, as it concluded the story that began in The Fixer.[10] Writing for AfterEllen, Claire Heuchan described The Villains as "a slick political thriller [l]ike Scandal if Olivia Pope was sapphic", noting that the relationship between the series' main characters Eden and Michelle was "the ultimate Opposites Attract romance".[11] She was one of three winners of that year's Alice B Readers Award.[12]
According to Heuchan, Winter's novels include a "deep understanding of media, politics, and how power is structured".[11]
Winter works as an editor part-time.[13]
On the Record series
The Villains series
Standalone novels
| Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The Red Files | Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery | Nominated | [14] |
| 2016 | Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Mystery/Thriller | Won | ||
| 2017 | Requiem for Immortals | Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery | Nominated | [15] |
| 2017 | Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Mystery/Thriller | Won | ||
| 2018 | Shattered | Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy | ||
| 2021 | Hotel Queens | Golden Crown Literary Society Award for Romantic Blend |