Lesbian Authors Guild
Nik Nicholson
Nik Nicholson is an author, poet, content editor, writing coach, painter, education performer and a writing/ publishing workshop facilitator. In 2009, Nicholson began research for her first independent project, Descendants of Hagar. In addition to traditional research of the period, she also surveyed and interviewed a number of masculine-centered women. Their responses exposed the challenges of coming to terms with and expressing their sexuality and gender role.
Her work has been featured in several anthologies. Her debut novel, Descendants of Hagar, won the 2013 Lambda Literary LGBT Debut Fiction Award. It's the first of a two-part series, which also includes Daughter of Zion, about a woman coming to terms with her masculinity in the early 1900's. Daughter of Zion is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2016.
Nik was just awarded the Regional Artist Support Grant 2015. Which is funding the research for her second novel, Daughter of Zion.
Click on the links below to find out more about Nik
Descendants of Hagar
It's 1914 in Zion, Georgia, during the Black Codes, when Negroes were lynched for one wrong glance. A time when marriage was an agreement between men; a woman's father and the man he chose for her. Most women had no romantic interest in their future husbands. In the worst case, they were promised to complete strangers.
Madelyn "Linny" Remington is the great-great granddaughter of strong-spirited ex-slave, Miemay, who oversees her rearing. While other women were raised to be broken, Linny was reared to build and repair. When other women were expected to be seen and not heard, Linny was expected to vote beside men. As other women prayed they would be chosen for marriage before they were too old, Linny cleaned her rifle to hunt. While her sister hoped to honor her husband by bearing a son, Linny wondered how a single woman could provide for herself, when only male children could expect an inheritance.
A secret has Linny slated as her father's favorite son. Until Linny makes a promise that frees her from a conventional woman's role, but the promise also brings shame on her family. Will Linny, threatened with alienation, honor her promise? Or bow to her father's will and go back on her word?