Aurora Rey's Blog, page 7

Top Ten Things I Learned at GCLS

Last week, several hundred lesbian readers, writers, and publishers descended on New Orleans for the Golden Crown Literary Society annual conference. With that many lesbians in town, I think NOLA was even rowdier than usual. And that’s saying something.

It was my first time at a lesbian literary event, so even though I’m a Louisiana native, I knew I’d learn a lot. And boy did I. Here’s my top ten list:

10. Free writing is a great way to get unstuck.

9. Lesbians love karaoke.

8. Submitting a l...

A Year of Aurora Rey

I got a notification from WordPress today that my site is up for annual renewal. I had one of those cliche moments of being surprised that a whole year has passed while at the same time feeling like it’s been forever. You know that feeling, right? Then I started thinking about all that’s happened.

A year ago, I’d just finished my first full manuscript. I sent it off to Bold Strokes Books with high hopes and a little squee in my heart. I created a website and a twitter account and thought all...

With Liberty and Marriage for All

I’ve spent much of my day bathing in the ebullience of my facebook and twitter pages. Shortly after the SCOTUS decision was announced, rainbows and kissing couples and heartfelt reactions were everywhere. I smiled, I laughed, I cried a little. Tears of joy mostly. There were a few tears, too, for the men and women who were shut out of their partner’s hospital room or funeral, whose children were taken from them, whose families were ignored or torn apart because they had no legal protections....

Being Femme

Some are born femme. Some achieve femme. Some have femme thrust upon them.

Of course, it’s not always that simple.

The label of femme was thrust upon me while I was in graduate school. My girlfriend and I went to some LGBT pride event and a woman who was only slightly older than me nodded knowingly. “You’re a femme.”

I’d heard the term, but didn’t know what it meant. At least not beyond knowing I liked girly things but not girly girlfriends. I started reading, joined a couple of online forums...

Sometimes, It Matters Too Much to Agree to Disagree

I’ve done a pretty good job of separating my worlds. There’s day job world and family world, friend world and lesbian romance novelistworld. At times, I allow them to overlap. Sometimes, they even play nicely together. When it comes to myself, however, things get a little tricky.

I know at work to avoid talking about politics. And I know that there are members of my family that I can’t talk to at all anymore and maintain my sanity. I know who to compartmentalize and how.

I have a few cousins,...

Out and Proud

It’s pride month, such an uplifting time of year. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve read quite a few coming out stories. Some have been funny, some sweet; some have been downright raw. There seems to be a common thread, though–hope. The luxury of hindsight helps, for sure, but it’s the spirit that counts. Even when things are hard, even when you think you might throw up just thinking about it, there is the hope that things will get better. They did, they do. If you’re questioning that right n...

Life at Fifteen Acre Wood

The farmhouse I’d been fantasizing about? We bought it. Well, sort of. We did buy and house and it is out in the country. The house itself is new, the brainchild of some guy who bought the property after the original house burned down. It has a big, old horse barn, though, and nearly fifteen acres (hence the name). For being a new construction (or, rather, a converted pole barn), there’s no shortage of projects. I think my partner might start a drinking game based on how often I start a sente...

All My Selves

I had a conversation recently with a fellow author about keeping track of all the versions of ourselves floating around. Specifically, we were talking about pen names and social media and the like. It got me thinking, though about all the different identities we put out into the world.

Even without different names, there can be a lot to keep track of. There’s day-job me, the dean, who maneuvers in a business school with disconcerting ease. There’s the writer, who feels the most like the most...

Ode to NaNoWriMo

As someone who did NaNoWriMo for the first time last year, I’m oddly attached to it.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of being introduced to NaNoWriMo, let me tell you a little about it. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and it happens every November. Each year, thousands of people flock to nanowrimo.org and pledge to write at least 50,000 words between 12:01 a.m. on November 1 and 11:59 p.m. on November 30. (Yes, the minutes matter, as evidenced by entire discussion threads devoted t...