Sandra Moran’s first novel, Letters Never Sent, resonated deeply in the LGBT community when it was released a little more than a year ago.

She discusses her story of three women, united by love and kinship and struggling to conform to the social norms of their times, which won 2013 Rainbow Awards for best lesbian historical romance and best lesbian debut novel. This year, it earned the Golden Crown Literary Society’s General Fiction Award and Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award.

An assistant adjunct professor of anthropology at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Moran previously worked as a reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal and on the staff of Kansas Gov. Bill Graves.