June is Pride Month.
Arizona-born Sue Hardesty began her budding writing career as an editor, refining books for other authors. She collaborated on her first book, a collection of recipes, punctuated by commentary on gender roles and identity, entitled The Butch Cook Book. The book was likened to the old-fashioned church-issued cookbooks, but for a new and decidedly different audience.
Sue published her first novel, The Truck Comes on Thursday: Book 1 in the Loni Wagner Crime Fiction Series in 2008. Primarily a crime novel, it was filled with plot twists, as well as romantic scenarios. The book proved so popular, it received two additional reprints. She ventured into the niche genre of Lesbian Young Adult with Panic in 2013, before returning to the “Loni Wagner” series for two more books.
Sue continued to serve as a book reviewer and critic for her fellow lesbian authors until her passing in December 2022 at the age of 89.