Iza Moreau

Iza Moreau’s Followers (21)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
daniella
30,580 books | 2,299 friends

Robyn A...
29 books | 102 friends

R.E. Co...
1,348 books | 19 friends

Thomas ...
12 books | 148 friends

P.V. Le...
88 books | 38 friends

Kim
Kim
133 books | 160 friends

Paula K...
2,243 books | 54 friends

Tim
Tim
0 books | 25 friends

More friends…

Iza Moreau

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
Genre

Influences
Maggie Estep, Sarah Waters, The Bronte sisters--Acton, Currer|, and El ...more

Member Since
August 2012


Iza Moreau is a three-time Lesfic Bard Award Winner, a two-time Rainbow Award Winner, a a Golden Crown Finalist, a , and a 10-time Next Generation Indie Award finalist. She lives in the Deep South and counts Sarah Waters, Maggie Estep, and the Bronte sisters--Acton, Currer, and Ellis--among her literary influences.

THE NEWS IN SMALL TOWNS, the first novel in the Small Town series, was a Next Generation Indie Award finalist in both Mystery and Regional Fiction.

The second, MADNESS IN SMALL TOWNS, was also an Indie finalist in Mystery.

SECRETS IN SMALL TOWNS was a Golden Crown Finalist in Mystery/Thriller as well as an Indie finalist in Lesbian fiction.

MYSTERIES IN SMALL TOWNS was an Indie finalist in Lesbian fiction.

The XYZ MYSTERIES was a fi
...more

To ask Iza Moreau questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Iza Moreau After writing and publishing a dozen books between 2012 and 2022 I found myself in a quandary. There were still two books in the Elodie Fontaine serie…moreAfter writing and publishing a dozen books between 2012 and 2022 I found myself in a quandary. There were still two books in the Elodie Fontaine series that demanded to be written but I had exhausted my store of plot devices and conversations. The quality of my writing was fine; I just didn't have any more ideas.

As a connoisseur of lesbian mystery novels, I had been knocked off my reading couch by the novel Where the Hell is Tessa Ryker, by R. E. Conary, which had won that year’s Rainbow Award for Lesbian Mystery. It is the latest book in his own series of lesbian mysteries—The Rachel Cord Confidential Investigations. His handling of a teenage co-protagonist was consistent with my own characters in the Elodie Fontaine series and his style was similar—but not too similar—to my own. I realized that if he consented to help me, not only could he feed me ideas, but his style would invigorate and spice up my own.

So I swallowed hard and sent him an email along with the first 4 books in the series, which he read conscientiously. Then he wrote back and said that he would be happy to co-write the last two books. And I’m delighted to say that Bob is fabulous to work with and we turned out both remaining books—Billy’s Legacy and Stormy Weather, in under a year.
So, are the final books as good as the first? I think so, yes. Although the series takes place within a school year, Elodie grows until her later adventures deal with more adult subjects and we try to push the envelope in what constitutes a modern—versus a Nancy Drew—girl mystery.

And it is worth remembering that most of the Nancy Drew mysteries were written by several different authors under the name of Carolyn Keene. Many, if not all, of these had co-writers so that the ones written by Mildred Wirt Benson got their ideas from either publisher Edward Stratemeyer or his daughter Harriet Adams. And both the Vicki Barr and Cherry Ames series of girls’ mysteries were written by both Helen Wells and Julie Tatham (although not together.) Bob was my Stratemeyer!

So co-writing YA mystery books has a long tradition. I’m glad to be part of it. Check out the whole series; I think it’s a good one and it is certainly ground-breaking.

And there’s no way I could have finished it without R. E. Conary.(less)
Average rating: 4.11 · 340 ratings · 58 reviews · 36 distinct worksSimilar authors
The News in Small Towns (Sm...

3.85 avg rating — 89 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Madness in Small Towns (Sma...

4.29 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Secrets in Small Towns (Sma...

4.42 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Mysteries in Small Towns (S...

4.13 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Question of Breeding

4.29 avg rating — 14 ratings3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Tank Baby (Elodie Fontaine ...

4.07 avg rating — 14 ratings3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Swamp Girl

3.13 avg rating — 16 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Trail Ride and Barn Dance A...

4.18 avg rating — 11 ratings3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Ghost in the Piano (Elodie ...

4.10 avg rating — 10 ratings3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The XYZ Mysteries

4.44 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2016 — 4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Iza Moreau…

Another Winner

Last week I was honored to receive my third Lesfic Bard Award for lesbian fiction. What's more, I did it in three different categories. Tank Baby, the first book in my Elodie Fontaine mystery series, won in the Young Adult category. In 2022, Persephone's Mare, a novel set in a world that reveres horses, won in the Fantasy category. And this year, the last book in the Elodie series, Stormy Weather, Read more of this blog post »
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on June 07, 2024 19:26
The News in Small Towns Madness in Small Towns Secrets in Small Towns Mysteries in Small Towns
(4 books)
by
4.09 avg rating — 199 ratings

Tank Baby Ghost in the Piano Horses Wild Desert Girl Stormy Weather Billy's Legacy
(6 books)
by
4.04 avg rating — 47 ratings

Iza’s Recent Updates

Iza Moreau wrote a new blog post

Another Winner

Last week I was honored to receive my third Lesfic Bard Award for lesbian fiction. What's more, I did it in three different categories. Tank Baby, the Read more of this blog post »
More of Iza's books…

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Mostly Sapphic: A - Z Author Challenge 2015 35 131 Sep 30, 2015 05:26PM  
Lesbian Mysteries: Books by Members L-Z 1 17 Dec 17, 2017 01:45AM  
YA LGBT Books: * January 2019 New Releases 10 127 Dec 20, 2018 04:57PM  
Aussie Readers: **Autumn Challenge - 1st March-31st May 2019** 278 251 Sep 06, 2019 04:08AM  
Books Ever After: 19 TBR voor 2019 199 204 Jan 05, 2020 06:53PM  
Mostly Sapphic: * BotM Suggestions 97 204 Dec 29, 2025 07:39AM  
49526 YA LGBT Books — 13351 members — last activity 3 hours, 35 min ago
For anyone who enjoys LGBTQ books written for young adults. We're a friendly, supportive group that provides a non-judgmental place to discuss the boo ...more
56640 Connecting Readers and Writers — 3948 members — last activity Mar 18, 2026 11:30AM
We connect adventurous readers with Indie Authors. This group is about connecting writers with readers in a way that has not been done on Goodreads b ...more
116660 Lesbian Mysteries — 270 members — last activity Sep 20, 2023 07:49AM
This group is for those readers who are interested in reading, studying, and discussing the relatively new sub-genre of Lesbian Mystery. Guidelines ...more
25x33 GLBT Book Club - Retired — 253 members — last activity Sep 07, 2023 12:23PM
This group hs been retired. Please join LGBTQIAP+ Lit Lovers: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1225037-lgbtqia-lit-lovers
53792 Indie Book Club — 1637 members — last activity Apr 09, 2026 07:10AM
This group was made as a place to discuss books by indie authors and allow them to pitch their books to an interested audience.
45289 World Mysteries and Thrillers — 2156 members — last activity Apr 18, 2026 08:42AM
The place to be if you love mysteries with an 'international' flavor. Diverse authors, here: Jo Nesbo, Carmen Amato, Henry Chang, Arnaldur Indri ...more
14698 Lesbian Book Club — 5013 members — last activity Apr 16, 2026 02:40PM
Come and read with us. Here there are classics, non-fiction, fiction, and many more in LGBTQA+ literature. Find authors that you would have never read ...more
More of Iza’s groups…
No comments have been added yet.