Debbie McGowan's Blog, page 19

The Making Of Us - Piercings #RainbowSnippets #LGBTQIA

Brief explanation:
Another snippet from The Making Of Us .

The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I.

The main characters are Jesse and Leigh, who first appeared in Taking Him On (Book Two), which is Noah and Matty’s story.

The Making Of Us is first-person, told from Jesse’s perspective.

Here’s the snippet:

I liked piercings. They were fun, and if I’d been slimmer, or less bothered about not being slimmer, I’d have probably got my eyebrow pierced, although…maybe it would draw attention away from the rest of me.

I couldn’t recall if Leigh had piercings when I first met them. I was kind of overwhelmed, and everything had gone a bit hazy and soft focus. Whether Leigh had them or not, I’d still feel the same, but the nose stud was definitely recent.

Would the one on their lip make kissing more difficult?

* * * * *
Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

* * * * *
Thanks for reading,
Deb x

#WIPpet Wednesday - Not My Coach #amwriting #BeBoldForChange #lgbtqia

WIPpet numbers for 8th March, 2017:
No numbers, because I checked the count for my WIPpet snippet, and this number magic happened:


WIPpet Context:
It’s International Women’s Day, so I thought a WIPpet featuring a female character would be most appropriate. This is one of my three (it was only two this morning) current works in progress, tentatively titled Not My Coach . It’s a stand-alone story, featuring Charlie Davenport (a minor character elsewhere in the HBTC universe). The cover is a placeholder, probably…

She appears mostly in Two By Two (Season Six) and Those Jeffries Boys (character special), as well as a couple of chapters in Reunions (Season Seven - out in April). I was reading Beginnings (free ebook)—the first prequel—this morning, in which Charlie is still in a pram.

A few years have lapsed since; in this snippet, Charlie is thirty-five.

* * * * *

“Get warmed up, Charlie. Nish is coming off.”

She was out of her tracksuit in seconds and up on her feet, jogging on the spot, stretching her hamstrings, the left still tight from her injury, but she was so done with sitting out, and it’d loosen up soon enough, if Nish actually made it off the pitch before the final whistle. It was taking her forever.

“Coach, she needs help.”

He glanced to the pitch first-aiders, but they weren’t looking his way. “She’s nearly here now.”

Nish was barely halfway, although that was plenty close enough for Charlie to see the pain on her face, symmetrical dark brows pinched together, nose wrinkled and teeth bared.

Charlie stepped closer, toes on the touchline, ready for the tag, waiting, waiting… Nish stumbled, cried out.

“Coach!” Charlie pleaded, but he waved her concern aside, his attention on the action in the penalty box. They’d played on; still Nish was getting no closer. To hell with the red card, Charlie couldn’t stand by and watch her suffer. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she drew breath to shout—

“Charlie, it’s ten past six.”

“Ah…shoot.”

* * * * *What is WIPpet Wednesday?

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404


Thanks for reading
Deb x

Book Review: Transphobia by j wallace skelton, illustrated by Nick Johnson

Title: Transphobia: Deal with it and be a gender transcender
Author: j wallace skelton, illustrated by Nick Johnson
Publisher: James Lorimer & Company Ltd.
Published: 1st January, 2017
ISBN: 9781459407664
Link: http://www.lorimer.ca/childrens/Book/2892/Transphobia.html

Blurb:
Who do you think you are? Part of identity is how people experience their gender. Transphobia is intolerance of any part of the range of gender identity. This accessible, illustrated book offers information, quizzes, comics and true-to-life scenarios to help kids better understand gender identity and determine what they can do to identify and counter transphobia in their schools, homes and communities. Considered from the viewpoint of gender challengers, gender enforcers and witnesses, transphobic behavior is identified, examined and put into a context that kids can use to understand and accept themselves and others for whatever gender they are — even if that's no gender at all!

Review:
Transphobia is a book written and illustrated for children (the language suggests older children and young adults) which looks at how our actions can - by choice or design - be transphobic. It could be read by young people independently, but it does lend itself to a more structured setting, such as a youth group or classroom, or even a book parents and children could read together.

The book follows a similar format to the workbooks that are used in 'social studies' lessons in the UK. It's vibrant, with lots of discussion activities, and whilst there is a fair bit of text, it's broken up with illustrations and presented in different ways throughout the 32 pages.

Now, this all seems good to an adult, but having worked through these kinds of books with UK high school students (particularly those aged 14-19), I know from experience that they don't always engage effectively with this format.

Given the time restrictions on teaching, it is unlikely that as a curriculum topic, this would be given more than an hour or two, and it's a topic that requires more thinking/free discussion away from the examples in the book. Therefore, it's best used as a resource to be dipped into, as there are discussion activities that would work with students from around the age of 10 to 19 with some core information that is relevant to all.

There are references to Canadian legislation and statistics at the bottom of some pages (the book was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council), but this is a great resource for educators in any English-speaking setting. Finding the relevant laws would make for another interesting activity for students/young people reading this outside of Canada.

The content is excellent, and is likely to inspire some positive discussion amongst young people who are not LGBTQIA and haven't had cause to consider how their behaviour/language impacts on others. It's also affirming for LGBTQIA students and offers some excellent guidance for everyone on how to deal with their own and other people's passive and aggressive non-binary/transphobia.

As someone with 18 years' experience as a teacher/lecturer, I am happy to recommend this book, in particular as an educational resource for teachers, youth group leaders and parents.

Received through NetGalley.

The Making Of Us - The Friend Zone #RainbowSnippets #LGBTQIA

Brief explanation:
Another snippet from The Making Of Us . Progress is slow, but I'm making some, at least.

The Making Of Us is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I.

The main characters are Jesse (Noah’s best friend) and Leigh (Noah and Matty’s new housemate). The story is first-person, from Jesse’s perspective.

Here’s the snippet:

All through school, people had told me I was a good friend. By ‘people’, I mean ‘girls’, and by ‘good friend’, they meant ‘not boyfriend material’. I didn’t really mind that much. The number of mates I had who hit on girls just because they could, it made me feel a bit sleazy on their behalf. They liked the girl, sure, and I don’t think—I hope they didn’t—force themselves on anyone, but they’d go too far, too quickly and without getting to know each other.

I don’t know, maybe spending my teens perpetually ‘in the friend zone’ coloured my perspective, but getting to know someone before you jumped their bones seemed like the way to go to me.

* * * * *
Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

* * * * *
Thanks for reading,
Deb x

#WIPpet Wednesday - The Making Of Us (Not a Girl) #amwriting

WIPpet numbers for 1st March, 2017:
13 (day, month) paragraphs from The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out Book Four)
WIPpet Context:
So…this is the second snippet from The Making Of Us . You can read the first one here:

This is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I.

The main characters are Jesse (Noah’s best friend) and Leigh (Noah and Matty’s new housemate). The story is first-person, from Jesse’s perspective.

This is part of the prologue, and it’s hot off the keyboard. WIPpet Wednesday inspired me to get a bit of writing done this evening. :)

* * * * *

We took our drinks to the living room, where Mum resumed her usual seat in the corner of the sofa. I sat in the armchair, aware she’d turned down the TV.

Oh…sugar. What had I done?

“So, who is she?”

“Who’s who?” My face. My face. My super-heated, traitorous face!

Mum turned and studied me, twitchy-mouthed from the smile she fought. “You’re glowing, Jesse.”

Glowing? I was bloody burning up. Seriously, think head like Mars, hurtling towards the Sun as it goes supernova. There was no point even trying to lie my way out of this one, not that I often lied to my mum. She was a cool mum, and we talked about all kinds of stuff all the time. Politics, money, the state of the NHS, my studies, her job, what was going on with my mates or hers… Instant crushes in pizza restaurants, not so much.

“Not a she,” I said.

“OK,” Mum nodded. A frown replaced the smile, still concealed but not judgemental. She was trying to figure it out. She wasn’t the only one.

“Leigh is…” I scratched my chin. Leigh is so gorgeous, I’ve unequivocally proved love at first sight exists. Beyond that? “Not a girl,” I said and shrugged. “I thought Leigh was a girl, but Matty said not.”

“A boy?”

“I don’t think so? Leigh prefers they, not he or she. And…”

“And…?”

And my head was totally done in. I knew what I felt, and it felt good in a shivery, slightly out-of-body way. “I dunno, Mum.”

* * * * *What is WIPpet Wednesday?

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404


Thanks for reading
Deb x

Where to find Debbie McGowan (Author) online

Just a quick post this week, in the interests of giving readers as many opportunities to find me online as possible.

My Blog: deb248211.blogspot.co.uk 
My Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/b8emHL

You can find my books here:
Beaten Track Publishing: beatentrackpublishing.com/debbiemcgowan
Amazon: amazon.com/author/debbiemcgowan
Smashwords: smashwords.com/profile/view/debbiemcgowan
Barnes and Noble: barnesandnoble.com/s/debbie mcgowan 

My Websites: 
debbiemcgowan.co.uk
hidingbehindthecouch.com 

Social Networks: 
Facebook Profile: facebook.com/beatentrackpublishing
Facebook Page: facebook.com/DebbiemcGowanAuthor
Twitter: @writerdebmcg
YouTube: youtube.com/deb248211
Tumblr: writerdebmcg.tumblr.com
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/writerdebmcg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writerdebmcg/
Google+: plus.google.com/+DebbieMcGowan
Goodreads: goodreads.com/DebbieMcGowan

The Making Of Us - Meet Jesse #RainbowSnippets #LGBTQIA

Brief explanation:
I finished writing Reunions on Wednesday. Phew! It finished up at 237,000 words, and you can read the final snippet (posted on WIPpet Wednesday) here: http://deb248211.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/wippet-wednesday-reunions-josh-and-sean.html. Reunions is available to preorder and will be published on 19th April, 2017.

So…this is the very first snippet from The Making Of Us !

This is the fourth book in the Checking Him Out series , but it’s a stand-alone story about friendship, love and romance—LGBTQIA, with the emphasis on the B, Q and I.

The main characters are Jesse (Noah’s best friend) and Leigh (Noah and Matty’s new housemate).

So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Jesse. :)

Here’s the snippet:

Some days, I wake up thinking…so what? I’m a fatty. Get over it. I put on my Big and Tall jeans—impossibly enormous, with an invisible diamond section in the crotch so they don’t split—and stride out with pride, shoulders back, ready to take on the world. Other days, I wake up determined that today will be the day I start my diet, follow the exercise plan Matty typed out for me, get fit, lose weight, turn into Jesse Thomas the beefcake, tall, dark, handsome…

It usually lasts until lunchtime, when I give up in favour of silencing the embarrassing rumble in my belly.

That was the mood I was in that morning, motivated by having not succumbed to the temptation of last night’s dinner.

* * * * *
Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

* * * * *
Thanks for reading,
Deb x

#WIPpet Wednesday - Reunions (Josh and Sean - An Ordinary Saturday) #amwriting

WIPpet numbers for 22nd February, 2017:
17 (year) - 2 (month) = 15 paragraphs from Reunions (Hiding Behind The Couch Season Seven)
It’s done! I think. :D It’s with Andrea - my friend/editor/critic/beta-reader and all-round good egg (I borrowed that phrase from her, but it fits so well). She’s freelance, and you can find her at expresseditingsolutions.co.uk.

The final word count is 237k, or thereabouts, but I’m waiting on feedback on the ending, because…well, I can’t say. Nige read it, and his feedback was very useful (grumble, grumble)… Just kidding. It was useful, and he enjoyed it/felt lost once he’d finished it, which is a good thing. He’s a very honest alpha reader (methinks he also likes that title, seeing as he self-ascribed it today).

So, anyway, this is probably my very last snippet from Reunions , which is sad, but it’s a relief, too. I was starting to think I’d never finish it.

WIPpet Context:
This is from Episode Six ( Reunions is divided into six episodes, so this is quite near the end). Josh and Sean are colleagues, friends, rivals and adversaries. They taunt, joust and love each other dearly (you can read more about how they became friends in Ruminations - a stand-alone prequel). Josh has gone round to Sean’s place to talk shop, and Sean has noticed Josh is distracted. The first line is Sean’s.

* * * * *

“I’ve got to say, I expected you to come with armfuls of paper—mindmaps, bullet-pointed lists…”

“There’s this new fad, haven’t you heard?”

“Oh? What’s that, then?”

“It’s called technology.”

Sean loitered in the doorway whilst he waited for the coffee to drip through. “I didn’t think you trusted it to care for your precious things.”

“It’s not technology I don’t trust, so much as technology in the wrong hands.” Josh retrieved his laptop and started it up, typing in his password at the prompt. “I’ve encrypted all my documents, of course, but it doesn’t take a genius to decrypt them.”

“I think you’ll find it does,” Sean argued.

“I couldn’t do it.”

“I rest my case.” Sean made a quick getaway to deal with the coffee.

“Deductive fallacy,” was all he got out of Josh when he returned and handed over a cup of the rich, steamy brew, immediately followed by, “OK. First item on the agenda…”

“Before that, how about you telling me what’s on your mind.”

Josh frowned at his screen. “Apart from taking you through my paperwork, there’s nothing on my mind. What makes you think there is?”

“No ‘thanks for never singling me out for my immeasurably vast intelligence’. Not even ‘thanks for the coffee’…”

“Thanks for the coffee, Sean.” Josh raised his mug in a parody of a toast and drank heartily.

“God, I almost fell for your sincerity there.”

* * * * *What is WIPpet Wednesday?

WIPpet Wednesday is a blog hop where authors share from their current works in progress - expertly organised/hosted by Emily Witt - and the excerpt has to relate to the date in some way. For links to other fabulous authors' WIPpets, visit: http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=355404


Thanks for reading
Deb x

Sensitivity Reading and the Power of Words

I read an interesting post about sensitivity readers over the weekend, and by interesting, I mean more than a bit offensive and - accidentally, I'm quite certain - an excellent demonstration of why sensitivity readers are important if an author/editor/publisher wants to avoid a public trouncing. (I'll come back to why I have phrased it this way.)

For those reading this post who don't know already, a sensitivity reader is someone a publisher/author asks to read a manuscript to check for potentially offensive/problematic content. This includes the deployment of discriminatory/offensive language, events that may act as psychological triggers and anything else that may be considered a 'sensitive subject' for some readers.

Sensitivity readers have specific expertise, either through professional affiliation and experience (e.g. a nurse in palliative care fact-checking a book dealing with the treatment of terminal illness) or because they are part of the political minority* being written about.

*Political majority/minority refers to the distribution of power, not the size of the population. In the UK, white males are the political majority because they hold more power than any other group, even though there are more females than males (51 and 49 percent of the general population respectively: ONS, 2016).

The discussion I read was, on the whole, against publishers using sensitivity readers, for three reasons:

1. Sensitivity readers are only there to mop up after authors who don't do their research;
2. Sensitivity reading is censorship;
3. Sensitivity reading is political correctness gone mad.

Up to a point, I agree with the first of these arguments. A good author WILL do their research, and if there are persistent and serious errors in their writing - well, they probably need to start over or think about a change of career. Even when they have researched, there is every likelihood errors will sneak past. If the author is publishing independently, then they live and die by their own pen. However, if they've entrusted their work to a publisher, then they should safely presume their publisher has got their back.

That said, no amount of research is going to give an author the necessary insight into what it is like to be a member of a different group than their own, which is why sensitivity reading (but perhaps we need to call it something else) is crucial. One of the comments on the post I read demonstrated this point perfectly:

Like writing about transgendered teens... Having someone [who] lives that particular lifestyle read your work...is not a bad thing.

The comment was arguing in favour of sensitivity reading, although the commenter contended that asking a knowledgeable someone to read should be part of the author's research process, and again, I agree with that. An author does have a responsibility to research as thoroughly as possible - that or pass off their work as fantasy set in a close parallel universe, thereby neutralising factual inconsistencies. And I really don't like the connotation of 'sensitivity reading'. It implies an unnecessary fuss is being made, which trivialises the way language operates as a source of power.

Language as a source of power is the salient issue, and the comment highlights one of the ways this operates. Being a transgendered teen is not a 'lifestyle'. A lifestyle is a set of choices we make about how we live. No-one ever refers to the average white heterosexual male's existence as a 'lifestyle'. There is no choice involved in being white, straight or male. You just are. Needless to say (but I will say it anyway), being black, bisexual, gay, transgender, female, non-binary... is not a lifestyle or a preference. It is who we are.

Othering is another process we authors unconsciously engage in, and it requires more than conscious engagement to tackle. I'm white English, and it is my 'default' character identity. Thus, on an unconscious level, I won't mention the character's ethnicity if they are white English but I will if they're not, and in all probability I'll assume the character is white in another author's work unless they tell me otherwise. I'm not consciously racist, and I kind of hate myself for being unconsciously so, but I accept that I'm a product of my society, and being aware of that gives me the opportunity to constantly critically engage with the way I think and write. I'm going to get it wrong. It's inevitable. But through researching thoroughly and asking for guidance from those I write about, I give my best effort to not causing harm to another.

And that's key, really. Not causing harm.

Reading the comments on that post (and the article that started the discussion), publishers' incorporating sensitivity reading into their publishing process is perceived as unnecessary censorship by authors/readers, but in the age of indie publishing, authors don't have to kow-tow to publishers, so the censorship argument is irrelevant (Amazon and other vendors have content censorship in place, but that's something else entirely).

What's also important here is that publishers are doing this to avoid litigation (the public trouncing I mentioned at the start). The censorship and sensitivity to the concerns of political minorities are by-products only.

When we use terms like 'censorship', 'offensive' and 'sensitivity' we feed into the notion that this is indeed about political correctness and namby-pamby millennial culture. But it's not. This is about the power of words, and how those words cause real harm. If we describe someone's gender as a lifestyle, or their sexuality as a preference, if we posit a character's 'blackness' above all other aspects of their identity, we are exercising power, and we are endangering people's lives, because at the other end of the scale are the extremes of racism, sexism, gender/sexuality and other forms of discrimination and oppression: conversion therapy, psychiatric/criminal incarceration, white supremacy.

We each have our own world view, and whilst it's shaped by and may be shared with those around us, it is uniquely ours. Our individuality is something to be celebrated, both in ourselves and in others. But that requires more than sensitivity. It requires respect and an understanding that our right to freedom of speech comes with a responsibility that we exercise it wisely.

Thanks for reading,
Deb x

Office of National Statistics (2016) 'UK population by country of birth and nationality grouping, by sex and age: 2014' https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/adhocs/005561ukpopulationbycountryofbirthandnationalitygroupingbysexandage2014 (Accessed 20/02/2017)

Reunions - Josh and George: For Art's Sake #RainbowSnippets #LGBTQ

Brief explanation:
This is another snippet from Reunions (Hiding Behind The Couch Season Seven), which is currently a little under 230k, and I’m on the home straight! Woot!

I decided to go with six short paragraphs rather than six sentences, because I’d have had to make it seven sentences, and I felt the number was more important (the colours of the Pride flag) than the briefness of the snippet.

In this snippet, George is meeting Gabby—an art therapist and fellow student of Josh’s from their undergraduate days—for the first time, with a view to commencing art therapy to treat his dissociative attacks. Josh has just offered to make drinks in order to give George and Gabby time to chat. Zara Lederman (mentioned in the snippet) is a psychotherapist/art therapist who lives and works in George and Josh’s local town, and she rubs George up the wrong way, so he’s come to this introductory meeting with some reluctance.

Here’s the snippet:

“Be right back.”

George followed Josh’s progress down the stairs and turned back to Gabby. It was safe to say she looked nothing like he’d imagined. Zara Lederman’s presence was affixed to his mental representation of ‘art therapist’, and he’d expected Gabby to be a younger version in tie-dyed tunic and Jesus sandals, hair swirled up in a blondish prezel-shaped mess.

She was nothing like that. Apart from a stray daub of yellow on her sleeve, her wool dress was plain, pale smoky grey, worn over dark pants, and her shoulder-length hair was black and pin straight. Her cheeks rose in amusement, pushing her glasses upwards a little. George smiled, embarrassed for staring.

“Come and sit with me, George,” Gabby invited, gesturing as she led the way to an L-shaped sofa in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, he assumed from the draught sneaking past the blind. “Are you warm enough?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, thank you, but if you’re not, don’t worry about me. I can always take my shirt off.” George sat down where Gabby indicated, realised what he’d said and clarified, “I’m wearing a t-shirt as well.” He gave her a grin, and she laughed.

“I’m starting to understand why you’re the centre of Josh’s universe.”

* * * * *
Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

* * * * *
Thanks for reading,
Deb x