Sassafras Patterdale's Blog, page 3

I Moved!

Hello! I wanted to let all of you know that my partner Kestryl and I along with our cats and  dogs have relocated from Brooklyn, New York to Portland Oregon!  It was a huge move (we drove cross country with our beloved fur-babies) and the move in many ways was about meeting the health needs of our dogs – I wrote a lot about why we decided to make this big move for Grok Nation: https://groknation.com/home/pet-cente...

I have a bunch of new writing projects in the works (sneak peeks available on my Patreon) and as always I’m updating about those, cute pet pictures, and everything else about my life and work on @SassafrasLowrey on facebook /twitter/ instagram/ tumblr!

This was a huge move, but I’m really excited to be living on the west coast again, Portland has given me a very warm welcome and I’m excited for all our new west coast adventures!

xoxo

Sassafras

Leather Ever After!

SECRET REVEAL! my anthology Leather Ever After an anthology of kinky fairytales is coming back in print THIS MONTH!!!! The collection which includes stories from some of the best kink writers, has a new cute cover and is being re-published by the amazing Circlet Press!!!! pre-orders of ebooks now available  here print pre-orders coming soon!!!

When first published Leather Ever After earned an Honorable Mention for the National Leather Association Writing Award and the Rainbow Book Award!

It’s such a fun fun collection with stories from some of THE BEST writers in BDSM fiction!

xoxo

Interviews for Left Out: How Marriage Equality Abandoned Homeless LGBTQ Youth

My name is Sassafras Lowrey, I’m a queer author and formerly homeless LGBTQ youth. For the last sixteen years I have worked with and on behalf of current/former homeless LGBTQ youth to uplift our stories, as an advocate, public speaker, and author of policy recommendations. I am currently working on a new nonfiction book– Left Out: How Marriage Equality Abandoned Homeless LGBTQ Youth which will be published by The New Press.

I am looking to have on-the-record conversations via email with a few current/former homeless LGBTQ youth (you are welcome to use pseudonyms in our conversations) to expand the scope and voice of the book. Anyone whose interview is used will be compensated with one copy of the book when it releases.

Please contact me by email at SassafrasLowrey@gmail.com or send me a private message @SassafrasLowrey on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr

You can learn more about me, and my work here at www.SassafrasLowrey.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updates

Oh . goodness I didn’t actually post a May month of review! Ack! Things have been so good, and so busy!!!!  It was my birthday month, I had a super special birthday and have been doing tons and tons of writing. I’m much much better about updating my social media pages  where I post links. I’m writing so so so much — on my new nonfiction book, and on other projects!

Want to know more about what I’m doing? Friend me on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr and please check out my Patreon! 

April!

Beep Beep! It’s May!!!! May is one of my favorite months because it’s my birthday month! I’m really looking forward to my birthday party (this year it’s harry potter themed!)   Apologies that it took me a couple of days into May to get this posted, I was finishing my last packet of the semester for my MFA program and time got a little bit away with me at the end of the month!

April was a bit of a whirlwind in really good ways – I did a bunch of writing. I wrote articles for Dogster about dog health, and my monthly column for Curve magazine. I’ve been posting lots of content on my YouTube – if you’re interested in my kink/leather content please check out my channel and subscribe!

In April I also did a solid amount of work on some new fiction work, knocked out the end of one chapter, and another full chapter on my nonfiction book. I did the last of my high school visits for the school year with Lost Boi (so much fun!), and of course if you’ve been following me on social media you know that one of the big things that happened this month was traveling to Los Angeles as a Finalist for the Point Foundation scholarship. I’ll find out if I got the fellowship sometime late in May, but no matter what happens honestly, I’m super proud and excited that I made it this far in the process.

I read a bunch of books for school and a few for pleasure.  I wasn’t super in love with a lot of what I read in April, but probably my favorite thing I finished reading was the Leia origin book (because star wars nerd and there is a lot of cool queer content in it – I’ve been trying to find the time to finish reading this book for months I actually started it when we were on our way home from Disney World in early February!!!) As always you can keep up with what I’m reading on goodreads – please friend me! I would love to know what you’re reading because I’m always looking for things to add to my “to read” stack!

Spring has finally arrived in NYC (somehow this week it’s nearly 90 degrees which is way too hot for spring) I’ve been growing tons of flowers and vegetables and most of the baby sprouts have started to go outside! It’s so exciting to watch plants grow! This spring we had TONS of tulips and daffodils that we planted last fall come up- it makes the whole front yard feel like magic.

Coming Soon:

Registration is open for the class I’m teaching at LitReactor on Kink/BDSM/Leather writing!  Have you registered yet?

 

I’m posting lots of fun exclusive content on my Patreon!  Reward levels start at $1 it has been such a fun experience to have a place to share in-progress and super new work with my supporters!

 

 

xoxoxoxoxo

March In Review!

March was a really busy and amazing month – I can’t believe that it’s already April! In March I had the incredible opportunity to do multiple visits to high schools in NYC with Lost Boi. I still honestly can’t believe that I got to visit with English Classes and LGBTQ clubs with this book – and the questions that they asked, the thoughts they had about characters and plot completely blew me away! I’m just in awe at the depth with which the students engaged with the book. The Lambda Literary Writers in Schools program is so fantastic -I’m really honored to have been selected to be part of it this year.

 

March was a busy month where I needed to also stay close to home a lot. Sirius my 15 month old puppy got spayed + a preventative gastropexy procedure to prevent bloat so I spent a lot of time helping her to recuperate, which was a nice cozy time of reading and writing.

I’ve still been making my little/leather videos on youtube and having a ton of fun with them and the opportunity to connect with leather community in this new way – especailly with other littles who might not have a lot of access to littles community.  Also this month was Easter!!! Lots of fun dying eggs and leaving treats out for the easter bunny was had at my house.

The dogs and I played around with fun trick training this month. My dog Charlotte earned her Expert Trick Title, and I had a lot of fun judging trick titles for other dog/people teams (did you know I’m a Certified Trick Dog Instructor? If you ever want to get into the sport of dog tricks let me know!)

I’ve been working really really hard at school. I have surprised myself with how much I have enjoyed being in this MFA program. I’m writing a bunch, taking exciting risks with my creative work, reading a lot a lot and I’m just so grateful that this is the work that I am getting to do right now and that I’m able to dedicate myself to studying.

In March I also learned that I have been selected as a Finalist for the Point Foundation LGBTQ Scholars Program!  This has been a super engaged process – I was thrilled to have been a semi-finalist, and to get to the phone round, to make it to being a finalist is really thrilling. Next step is that I along with all of the other Finalists will be flown to LA for two days of interviews and presenting on my work later in April. ::fingers crossed::

I’m deep in my work on my nonfiction book Left Out: How Marriage Equality Abandoned Homeless LGBTQ Youth. I’m really loving how it’s coming together. This book is a new voice for me, and a new writing process – I’m sending each chapter to my editor at the publishing house as I write. I just actually sent Chapter 2 this morning – it’s a fast-paced exciting way to write where I have been finding myself writing/editing/revising multiple chapters at the same time. I’m thrilled to be in a position to write this book and I’m really excited to get it all on paper and out into the world!

Speaking of writing in the world…. In March I did a lot of writing for a few publications. I wrote my monthly gay pets column at Curve Magazine, Several stories for Dogster: Emotional Support Dogs, Airline Safety for Dogs, Cucumbers,  Ending The Dog Meat Trade, Dogs and Mushrooms and a piece for Catster about zoomies! I also wrote a flash nonfiction piece about my writing process for my MFA programs blog titled ‘these words can’t wait for spell check’, and a piece for Lambda Literary about being a Queer graduate student and how I selected the right MFA program for me.

Lots of love to my Patrons over at Patreon! I’ve been sharing lots of new work there – and it’s been such a fun new opportunity to share work that’s in development and to connect with readers! Check out all the fun behind the scenes perks!

 

Coming Soon:

I’m thrilled to announce that I’m going to be teaching a new writing class with LitReactor in June – Leather/Kink/BDSM Writing for a post fifty shades world! Registration for the class is open now!

xoxo

February came and went! It’s a short month but it just se...

February came and went! It’s a short month but it just seemed to fly by, which makes sense when I think about it becuase FEbruary was……. The beginning of a whole new life for me. That sounds dramatic, but really, the kinds of changes that happened this month have been life changing.  In January I put in notice at my muggle job and February 2nd was my last day!!!  Now, everyday I wake up completely in awe at how much has changed for me – I feel like a different person it’s remarkable how much a toxic job can impact every area of your life. 

Right after my last muggle day i was whisked away to one of my favorite places in the world – Disney World!  Kestryl had come up with this amazing plan to do a full emotional reset for me and for the two of us- because that toxic job wasn’t just my job, it had a impact on our whole family.  We had a super magical time in Disney, and even got a free pixie dust (gotta love disney magic!) to a royal room!!! The headboard had fireworks and there was magical princess cuteness everywhere in the room.  It was such a specail way to celebrate this big life change, and a fantatic magical reset.

Since getting home I got right to work! I feel like I’m really settling into my MFA program. I got my first packet back (there aren’t grades in my program which I sorta love) but the feedback I got was that what I was doing was “very strong” I have been out of school for 10 years so I had a lot of insecurity about if I could just jump in and do well – turns out I can!  I’m really excited about the creative work I’m doing, and that the format of my program is that the critical work relates directly to that. I have no doubts that going back to school was the eright decision for me.  

I found out that I have been selected as a Semifinalist for the Point Foundation scholarship!!! I’m really thrilled to have made it so far in the process, and had to quickly turn around a packet for the next round of review!! ::fingers crossed::

I’ve continued making youtube videos – what am I doing? I’m not exactly sure, but I’m having fun – and that’s good right?!  I started making regular little youtube videos last month in part because I was really tired of not seeing much of the kind of leather/little content that I was looking for in a lot of littles making videos. I’m still figuring out some of the tech things and I’m trying to not drive myself bananas with editing or anything to keep them fun but adding a little bit here and there. The response I’ve been getting has been super positive which is exciting — definitely something that I want to keep doing, and viewers have been messaging and writing me letters with great suggestions for more videos. Click here to see the videos I’ve made so far

 

Patreon!   

This month I started a Patreon!  I’m so so so grateful for each and every one of my Patrons!!!! I started the account because I wanted to invite people who are excited about my work to join me on this new exciting journey of full-time writing and give you the chance to see early drafts of writing, behind the scenes stuff and more! Check out what I’ve been up to and all the different levels starting at just $1  

 

Writing:

I’ve been doing a LOT of writing (as you might expect) this month with my new schedule.

I’ve seriously gotten to work on my new nonfiction book “Left Out: How Marriage Equality Abandoned Homeless LGBTQ Youth” which is exciting. I’ve been having meeting with community organizers and activists to inform some of what I’m writing and I feel like the voice for the project is starting to take shape.  Unlike any other book I’ve writtten the plan is that I’m sending the book chapter by chapter to my editor at the publishing house which makes it a fun colalborative process. I’ve just sent off the introduction and about half of the first chapter!  It feels good that hte book is beginning to take shape on the page and not just be a thing in my mind.

I’m really falling for the fiction characters that I’ve been playing with. I’ve talked before about how I wrote a book last year that I hated and ultimately shelved, even though I got promising feedback on it. It’s exciting to be in a place where I actively am enjoying what I’m writing again! The initial feedback I’ve been getting has been positive too which certainly helps!

Articles:

(I worked on several other things that will run in the next couple of months but here’s what ran in February)

Curve Magazine:  Dog bred by lesbians wins Westminster

Dogster: (I did a lot of dog writing this month): Sochi Olympic Dog Update, 7 Things for Dog Lovers to Know About the Year of the Dog, Can Dogs Eat Banana , Can Dogs Eat Celery , Top Dog Friendly Companies to Work For, Zoomies

INTO Magazine:  Why Queers Love The World of Disney

 

support me on Patreon!

excited i quit my muggle job? want to help make my full time writer dreams come true? want to read new fiction before anyone else? want to see the first zine i’ve made in a decade? for as little as $1 a month you can support me on my newly launched Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/SassafrasLowrey

January Updates!

my back to school outfit! just a little pink dinosaur!

January! It’s the first month of the year and I can’t believe it’s already over! This has been a super super busy month for me !!! Want to know what I’ve been up to? 

MFA – I started grad school! I’ve got the hoodie and everything!  I went to Vermont (where it was -20 degrees F!!! ) for my first MFA residency. It was 10 days long, and I survived! I was really worried about going and being away from home that long. I made friends! I wrote stuff! I read aloud! I love my advisor for this semester! I hiked through the narnia woods to the library! I made a semester plan I feel good about! I’m a grad student and studying queer fairy tales!!!! Since getting home I’ve been studying/writing my little

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I QUIT MY MUGGLE JOB!!!!! This is going to be my highlight not just for the month, but also for my year, and honestly probably for my life! As many of you know my muggle job has been breaking my spirit for years and I’ve been trying to balance a lot – writing all my books on the subways and on lunch breaks at the bubble tea shop and….. I just can’t do it anymore.  Kestryl and I made the decision that it was the chance to make a HUGE life transition not just for me, but for our whole family. I’m going to be writing full time, and doing the grad school thing! Definitely making some big dreams come true – looking forward to being able to write TONS for all of you!

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BOOK DEAL! This has been in the works for a few months but I was finally able to make the public announcement that I’m writing a new nonfiction book! The book  I’m writing is titled “Left Out: How Marriage Equality Abandoned Homeless LGBTQ Youth” I am so excited about writing this book that is deeply rooted in conversations that I’ve been having for the last decade! I’m really excited about working in nonfiction again, and with such a fantastic publisher!

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Dogs! It was super hard to be away from my pups for 10 days while I was at my MFA residency, even though I knew they were home with their Daddy and their kitties having a great time.  Since getting home I’ve definitely made up for lost time and have been having lots of fun winter beach adventures in outer Brooklyn. Baby Sirius is also getting to get back into Rally Obedience and has been taking an Advanced Rally class and we’ve been having a really great time – this is a sport that is so perfect for a still – developing puppy, and one that I’ve always wanted to have a chance to play more with.

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YouTube – I started making more regular YouTube videos specifically for my littles community! I’m not exactly sure what I think of it yet  – but i’m trying to keep it cute/simple and am having a surprising amount of fun with it and have been getting sweet feedback from viewers (it’s weird to not say readers) about the content. So much of the ageplay /littles community is on tumblr and youtube I just felt a little inspired after a conversation I had on my social media channels where I had conversations with different folks about how we didn’t feel represented in a lot of littles content Check them out here

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Reading! I’ve been reading a bunch because see above: graduate student! I’ve been pushing through a book a week! My most favorite book I read in January absolutely is “Beneath The Sugar Sky” the third book in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series (which i’m super obsessed with). I was WAITING for this book, and it came out while I was at my residency and I of course ordered it, and it was at home waiting for me. Also I got to read it FOR my MFA program which made it even better!

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Lambda Writers In School – I’m so thrilled that Lost Boi and I are part of the Lambda Writers In Schools program this year which is locally in partnership with the NYC Department Of Education!   This spring I’ll be visiting several high schools with Lost Boi (that’s right with Lost Boi!!!! How much do I wish i got to read super queer books in school when I was a high school student???) anyway the very first of my high school visits with Lost Boi was this month and I had SUCH. A. GREAT. TIME!!! I got to visit with the students at Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan. The students were so engaged, and thoughtful and had really interesting questions about writing, publishing, and of course the book!

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I dyed my hair a reddish color! I like it!

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Things I wrote that were published this month: include my monthly column at Curve Magazine which you can read here , and a story at Dogster about dog friendly workplaces 

(I intentionally didn’t do a lot of writing this month to give myself a chance to adjust to graduate student life + for these few weeks while i’m doing the full time student thing + the full time muggle thing + the writing thing ++++++++  but have no fear, lots more writing coming very soon!!!!

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I think that’s pretty much all for January! 2018 is definitely off to a very busy and  exciting start for me! February is going to be my first month without this muggle job and I’m so excited! As always I post lots and lots on my facebook/twitter/instagram/tumblr so please friend me if you want to see all the updates about projects I’m working on, cute dog pictures, etc. etc. etc

xoxo

 

Lost Boi – w/ Lambda Writers in Schools

 I’m so thrilled that Lost Boi and I are part of the Lambda Writers In Schools program this year which is locally in partnership with the NYC Department Of Education! This spring I’ll be visiting several high schools with Lost Boi (that’s right with Lost Boi!!!! How much do I wish i got to read super queer books in school when I was a high school student???) anyway the very first of my high school visits with Lost Boi was this weekand I had SUCH. A. GREAT. TIME!!!

I got to visit with the students at Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan. The students were so engaged, and thoughtful and had really interesting questions about writing, publishing, and of course the book! Click here to learn more about the Lambda Writers In Schools program at Lambda Literary