Fantasy authors with non-straight female protags and/or characters with development

[hawkwing_lb]

A list for my own convenience

Elizabeth Bear
Naomi Kritzer (second-world)
Kristopher Reisz (urban)
Mary Gentle (fantastical alt-hist)
Laurie J. Marks [?] (second-world)
Jane Fletcher (effectively fantasy with SF justification)
Phyllis Ann Karr (second-world)
Gael Baudino (medievalesque, second-world {?})
Catherine M Valente (fairy-tale)
Kim Harrison (urban, vampire!sex)
Tanya Huff (second-world)
Manda Scott (Boudica, fantastical historical re-imagining)
Jacqueline Carey (second-world, but fudging the lines to include her, really)
Mercedes Lackey (likewise, in a different fashion)


*counts*

So, fourteen authors. I've read works by nine of them. One is out of print, two only marginally fit the criteria of character-with-development, at least two are small press and damnably hard to find except online, and one has one of the most annoying casts of characters I've ever read.

And no, these sets don't overlap.

If I've missed someone - specifically fantasy, now, and with actual narrative arc for non-straight female characters - feel free to point them out.

Hmm. Now I'm tempted to ask the same question of science fiction, just for the purposes of comparison.

ETA 21-10-07:

I'm told I should add Elizabeth Lynn, Ellen Kushner (Privilege of the Sword) and Jo Clayton to the list.

So. Seventeen, then.