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
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
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
Happy Pride Month! We’re certainly celebrating Pride differently this year. It’s a great time to pick up a book and read about characters who aren’t living in a pandemic. Here are books from four authors that I’d highly recommend for your Pride reading list. All of these books are from authors of color as in … Read more
A little while back, a poignant and heartfelt letter came from an author in Italy, projecting our futures in the weeks ahead as we followed behind them in distancing, lockdown, and quarantine. In this letter, Francesca Melandri had many things to say: funny (“You will have an unstoppable online social life”), thought-provoking (“You will count … Read more
For years I’ve been saying that the one thing I desperately needed in my life was more time. Well, be careful what you ask for. Yes, I’m still doing my day job (I’m a university professor), and I’m still doing all the work that comes with being an author. But I’m not going into the … Read more