Today I’d like to talk about own voice writing. Own voice writing refers to books or stories that are written by authors who share the same identity or experience as the characters they write about. An example is a novel about a transgender person written by a transgender author, or a book about a refugee … Read more
We’ve all been to book conferences or conventions (at least we had prior to the pandemic). These events have moved to virtual settings and for the most part they are good substitutes until we can get back to face-to-face events (remember to get the vaccine shot). However, I have a feeling virtual cons will still … Read more
After the pandemic hit, our lives moved online with surprising speed. All of a sudden, all those work meetings, gatherings with friends, and other social activities that we used to drive to were taking place in the virtual world, and we had to learn a new word. Or at least, a new meaning for an … Read more
I would kill for a Frappuccino. Which is my gay, overly dramatic way of saying that I am sick to death of banging around the inside of this house and am ready to re-embrace my life in the real world. Sadly, the real world isn’t quite ready to embrace me yet. Not safely, anyhow. On … Read more
Normal. Such a deceptively boring word. Before 2020, I wanted to be anything but normal. Normal was boring. Normal meant being just like everyone else. Normal was for losers. What a difference a pandemic makes, and what a beautiful word normal turned out to be. On March 18th, 2020, Mark and I made our last … Read more
Oh, it’s been an “interesting” year, hasn’t it? If an author wrote this year’s events in a novel, she’d be universally panned for her lack of realism. Oh, c’mon, people would say, all that horrible stuff couldn’t happen in a decade, let along twelve months. Well, ha. Right? I’ve been very fortunate in that I kept my job(s), … Read more
Windows are my gateway to the world. Ever since childhood I have been a daydreamer and window watcher. Train windows, airplane windows, waiting room windows, classroom windows, car windows. Looking back at all of the places I have lived over the years, my desk has always been near a window. 2020’s desk placement is no … Read more
Ring the bells that still can ringForget your perfect offeringThere is a crack, a crack in everythingThat’s how the light gets in. “Anthem,” Leonard Cohen Last month I wrote about the challenges of running a writer’s group during a pandemic. This week I thought I’d tackle what it’s like to be a writer at this … Read more
About four years ago, Pat, Christopher and I sat down for lunch at the Tower Cafe, and daydreamed about what it would be like to have a local queer writer’s group. Within a couple weeks, the Queer Sacramento Authors’ Collective (QSAC) was born, and shortly after that, we had our first Milk and Cookies Reading … Read more
We’ve all heard it time and time again. “I’m going to retire and write my book. I can do better than the writers out there,” our best non-writer friends say. Sometimes we argue. Mostly we stay still and grin to ourselves. Being an author is one of those weird professions that simultaneously makes the writer … Read more