Our Team

In 2014, in response to author Nancy Garden’s passing, authors Marianne K. Martin and Sandra Moran spoke at the National Women’s Music Festival in Madison, Wisconsin on the history and impact of twentieth century lesbian fiction. This presentation became the outline for a film project. Marianne and Sandra felt an urgency to interview lesbian authors to document their experiences and stories as a vital component of LGBTQ history.

Tragically, Sandra was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and passed away in November 2015, a few weeks after the diagnosis, at the age of 46. Sandra’s widow, Cheryl Pletcher, and Marianne K. Martin continued the film project in memory of Sandra. Cheryl and Marianne were introduced to filmmaker Lisa Marie Evans in 2016 and filmed their first interview a month later at the Golden Crown Literary Society’s annual conference.

Below is an introduction to our team. We are passionate about ensuring this film is seen, these stories are heard and our history is known.

Lisa Marie Evans is a filmmaker and animator. She co-directed, edited, and animated In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction. In 2020, In Her Words was the first film to win the Publishing Triangle’s Michele Karlsberg Leadership Award. Since April of 2022, the film has reached audiences across Italy, Ireland, Spain, Germany, England, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States.

Evans was a keynote speaker at VIII Gendercom: the International Conference on Gender & Communication held in Viterbo, Italy in 2022. She received a grant from the US Embassy in Rome to support the 2024 International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia and the advancement of the LGBTQI+ policies, including a screening of In Her Words at Sapienza University in Rome.

Evans debuted an animation to accompany a bassoon performance by Lia Uribe of Fernando Fernández's Enredadas Alegrías at the 2023 International Double Reed Society conference in Bangkok, Thailand. She is a 2021 recipient of the Arkansas Arts Council’s Fellowship Award in Cinematic Arts. Evans co-produced Beyond Belief: Three Stories of Faith in Action, part of a 2016 national initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in partnership with Kansas City PBS.

Over the past 20 years, Evans has mentored hundreds of multidisciplinary artists. Currently, she is the Director of Creative Development for CACHE where she designs and leads grant programs, project support and professional development programming for artists. Since 2020, she has overseen the distribution of over 1 million dollars to 215+ creatives.

Marianne K. Martin is the award-winning author of twelve novels of lesbian fiction, including five Lambda Literary Award finalists. Among the accolades she has received are Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards, Global Ebook Awards, eLit Award, International Book Award, USA Book News Best Book of the Year Award, Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) Goldie Award, the 2012 GCLS Trailblazer Award, and the Alice B. Foundation Award for outstanding body of work. In 2013, she was inducted into the Saints & Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, and in the same year she was selected as one of GO Magazine’s 100 Women We Love.

Marianne is a founding partner and co-owner of Bywater Books and Amble Press. She is a member of the GCLS Sandra Moran Writing Academy Scholarship Committee. Alongside co-creator Sandra Moran, Marianne developed the framework and vision for In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction. Marianne is a first-time filmmaker and co-director for In Her Words.

Cheryl Pletcher has over three decades of experience in Strategic Planning, Operations, Finance, Project Management, Marketing, and Sales. Cheryl holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Among her professional accomplishments during a 32-year career at John Deere Company: Cheryl was the first woman to run a factory in the 150+ year history of the company. Cheryl managed Deere's Augusta, Georgia tractor factory, overseeing the production of 40,000 tractors annually. In addition to her professional career, Cheryl also served on the board for United Way and Heartland 180. Cheryl is a first-time filmmaker and the widow of Sandra Moran.

Sandra Moran was an author and assistant adjunct professor of anthropology at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. A native Kansan, she worked professionally as a newspaper journalist, a political speech writer, and an archaeological tour manager. In her novels, she strived to create flawed characters struggling to find themselves within the cultural constructs of gender, religion and sexuality. She authored the following books: "Letters Never Sent," "Nudge," “The Addendum,” and “All We Lack.” In the Fall of 2015, Sandra learned that she had Stage 4 cancer. On November 7, 2015, Sandra passed away surrounded by family and friends. Her final novel, "State of Grace," published posthumously in the summer of 2016, was the recipient of an IPPY Award in 2017.