Robin Reardon's Blog: Robin Reardon: Speaking of writing..., page 8
May 20, 2015
A Conversation with the Author
Every so often I have a chat with the famous Ramble Redhead, that wacky gay fellow who seems to know everyone.
He's posted our recent conversation, which rambles from the topics of my stories to current events concerning human rights. Take a listen!
If the Redhead and I didn't cover something you'd like to hear about, let me know and we can include it next time.
Hear the conversation. http://ec.libsyn.com/p/0/9/a/09a339d4...
He's posted our recent conversation, which rambles from the topics of my stories to current events concerning human rights. Take a listen!
If the Redhead and I didn't cover something you'd like to hear about, let me know and we can include it next time.
Hear the conversation. http://ec.libsyn.com/p/0/9/a/09a339d4...
February 11, 2015
A LINE IN THE SAND now in e-book
In 2011, I donated a novella-length work to an anthology called AWAKE. Proceeds for that publication went to The Trevor Project. The publication is now out of print, but I don't want my story to die. So I've published it as an e-book.
A Line in the Sand
You can get it wherever e-books are sold!
http://www.robinreardon.com/books/ali...
A Line in the Sand
You can get it wherever e-books are sold!
http://www.robinreardon.com/books/ali...
December 24, 2014
Help! What to tweet?
For any of my readers who are on Twitter, I've finally taken the plunge. You can find me at @therobinreardon ("robinreardon" was taken).
And now... what to tweet? Here are some ideas I had:
1. Thoughts that occur to me as I'm writing
2. My take on (and retweeting of) news items concerning LGBTQ issues
3. Poking bears (like, when I tweeted to Mike Huckabee that LGBT couples had redefined marriage--his worst fear--by making their marriages more stable than those of others, per an Advocate article)
4. Requesting your suggestions for titles, character names, plot twists, etc.
Would any of these be of interest to you? Do you have suggestions for me about what you might like to see on my Twitter feed?
Thanks for our ideas, and thanks for reading!
And now... what to tweet? Here are some ideas I had:
1. Thoughts that occur to me as I'm writing
2. My take on (and retweeting of) news items concerning LGBTQ issues
3. Poking bears (like, when I tweeted to Mike Huckabee that LGBT couples had redefined marriage--his worst fear--by making their marriages more stable than those of others, per an Advocate article)
4. Requesting your suggestions for titles, character names, plot twists, etc.
Would any of these be of interest to you? Do you have suggestions for me about what you might like to see on my Twitter feed?
Thanks for our ideas, and thanks for reading!
July 31, 2014
Announcing: EDUCATING SIMON, my sixth novel
Being gay. Being transgender. Autism. Synesthesia. The Scripps National Spelling Bee. The Boston Marathon bombing. London vs. Boston.
What do all these topics have to do with each other? They’re all included, in one way or another, in my sixth novel, EDUCATING SIMON.
Everything sixteen-year-old Simon Fitzroy-Hunt loves in is in England. There’s his school, his boyfriend, his cat, and especially Oxford University, which Simon plans to attend just as his beloved late father planned. But all of Simon’s certainties come crashing down when his mother remarries and drags him to Boston with her.
Furious and unforgiving, Simon finds plenty to resent in America. His stepsister is overindulged by her father and struggling with Asperger syndrome. And Simon’s school project—coaching a young student for the national Spelling Bee—hits a complication when eleven-year-old Toby makes a confession: there’s a girl trapped inside his body, and her name is Kay.
Helping Kay find her way begins changing Simon, too, presenting different perspectives and revealing a strength that’s gone untapped until now. And as the life he’s known and the future he envisioned slip further away each day, he realizes he can either lose his direction entirely, or forge a new—and perhaps even better—path.
To get your copy, printed or electronic, go to your favorite physical or virtual book store. Here are a few options:
Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Educating-Simon...)
Barnes & Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/educa...)
iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/educ...)
Thanks to everyone who has read my books in the past. If you also read EDUCATING SIMON, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
What do all these topics have to do with each other? They’re all included, in one way or another, in my sixth novel, EDUCATING SIMON.
Everything sixteen-year-old Simon Fitzroy-Hunt loves in is in England. There’s his school, his boyfriend, his cat, and especially Oxford University, which Simon plans to attend just as his beloved late father planned. But all of Simon’s certainties come crashing down when his mother remarries and drags him to Boston with her.
Furious and unforgiving, Simon finds plenty to resent in America. His stepsister is overindulged by her father and struggling with Asperger syndrome. And Simon’s school project—coaching a young student for the national Spelling Bee—hits a complication when eleven-year-old Toby makes a confession: there’s a girl trapped inside his body, and her name is Kay.
Helping Kay find her way begins changing Simon, too, presenting different perspectives and revealing a strength that’s gone untapped until now. And as the life he’s known and the future he envisioned slip further away each day, he realizes he can either lose his direction entirely, or forge a new—and perhaps even better—path.
To get your copy, printed or electronic, go to your favorite physical or virtual book store. Here are a few options:
Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Educating-Simon...)
Barnes & Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/educa...)
iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/educ...)
Thanks to everyone who has read my books in the past. If you also read EDUCATING SIMON, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
March 18, 2014
Your life is worth more...
… than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure.
You might have already heard about The Real Story Safe Sex Project (http://brenthartinger.com/therealstory/), created and managed by author Brent Hartinger. The intent is to use entertainment and popular culture to spread information and awareness about HIV/AIDS and safer sex for gay youth and men.
Brent thought I was up to the challenge of writing a short story that fits the parameters of the project without having it be preachy or overburdened by details about HIV/AIDS, and he asked me to contribute to the effort.
You can let me know if I succeeded. My story, Giuseppe and Me, is available FREE OF CHARGE in various formats from the locations below. Here's a synopsis of the story.
Alessandro Lupo (Alex) is a sixteen-year-old gay foster child who has been moved from "home" to "home" in New York City. Isolated by circumstances and by the protective shield he's surrounded himself with, he wanders the streets of the West Village and gravitates toward Stonewall Inn, where the 1969 riots planted the seeds of the gay civil rights movement. Having been raped at his previous foster home, he worries about HIV and about ever being able to enjoy sex.
Alex, whose parents had both been Italian, feels his lack of family keenly. As he wanders the city streets, he scrutinizes people who might also be Italian. Alex is short for Alessandro, which means defender of men; Lupo means wolf. But Alex feels fearful most of the time—fear not just of Derek, the other foster teen in his current home, but also of life in general—and wishes for the courage of his 19th century countryman, Giuseppe Garibaldi, with whose statue in Washington Square Park Alex has imaginary conversations.
Then Alex meets two people who represent polar opposites: one who validates the low opinion Alex already has of himself; and another who helps him see himself in an entirely new light and teaches him that his life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure.
Giuseppe and Me is available free at the following outlets:
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Giuseppe-Me-Rob...
iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/gius...
Barnes & Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/giuse...
Other formats (Smashwords)
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
HIV is on the rise among gay men. Those who weren't born yet, or who aren't old enough to remember the 1980s, might not understand how serious this is. You didn't see friends and loved ones fall victim to what was called "the gay plague." You didn't feel the burning sting of a seemingly apathetic society who didn't think dedicating money and resources to something that affected "only the gays" was important. You didn't see the AIDS Quilt get bigger and bigger with the names of the dead. For a time, these horrors had the beneficial effect of making safe sex really, really important. But the trend is now turning in entirely the wrong direction.
As of 2012, the AIDS Quilt had more than 49,000 quilt panels, and names are still being added. The quilt is estimated to weigh more than 53 tons, and if it were to ever be assembled it would cover more than 1.3 million square feet—more than 23 acres. It's too big to be assembled completely in one place; it won't even fit onto the National Mall in Washington D.C.
My first book was dedicated to a dear friend who died of AIDS. Please. Don't become one of those panels. And don't let this scourge take over your life.
For more information about The Real Story Safe Sex Project and access to other efforts in support of the effort, see that section of Brent Hartinger's website: http://brenthartinger.com/therealstory/
You might have already heard about The Real Story Safe Sex Project (http://brenthartinger.com/therealstory/), created and managed by author Brent Hartinger. The intent is to use entertainment and popular culture to spread information and awareness about HIV/AIDS and safer sex for gay youth and men.
Brent thought I was up to the challenge of writing a short story that fits the parameters of the project without having it be preachy or overburdened by details about HIV/AIDS, and he asked me to contribute to the effort.
You can let me know if I succeeded. My story, Giuseppe and Me, is available FREE OF CHARGE in various formats from the locations below. Here's a synopsis of the story.
Alessandro Lupo (Alex) is a sixteen-year-old gay foster child who has been moved from "home" to "home" in New York City. Isolated by circumstances and by the protective shield he's surrounded himself with, he wanders the streets of the West Village and gravitates toward Stonewall Inn, where the 1969 riots planted the seeds of the gay civil rights movement. Having been raped at his previous foster home, he worries about HIV and about ever being able to enjoy sex.
Alex, whose parents had both been Italian, feels his lack of family keenly. As he wanders the city streets, he scrutinizes people who might also be Italian. Alex is short for Alessandro, which means defender of men; Lupo means wolf. But Alex feels fearful most of the time—fear not just of Derek, the other foster teen in his current home, but also of life in general—and wishes for the courage of his 19th century countryman, Giuseppe Garibaldi, with whose statue in Washington Square Park Alex has imaginary conversations.
Then Alex meets two people who represent polar opposites: one who validates the low opinion Alex already has of himself; and another who helps him see himself in an entirely new light and teaches him that his life is worth more than a few minutes of anyone's pleasure.
Giuseppe and Me is available free at the following outlets:
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Giuseppe-Me-Rob...
iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/gius...
Barnes & Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/giuse...
Other formats (Smashwords)
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
HIV is on the rise among gay men. Those who weren't born yet, or who aren't old enough to remember the 1980s, might not understand how serious this is. You didn't see friends and loved ones fall victim to what was called "the gay plague." You didn't feel the burning sting of a seemingly apathetic society who didn't think dedicating money and resources to something that affected "only the gays" was important. You didn't see the AIDS Quilt get bigger and bigger with the names of the dead. For a time, these horrors had the beneficial effect of making safe sex really, really important. But the trend is now turning in entirely the wrong direction.
As of 2012, the AIDS Quilt had more than 49,000 quilt panels, and names are still being added. The quilt is estimated to weigh more than 53 tons, and if it were to ever be assembled it would cover more than 1.3 million square feet—more than 23 acres. It's too big to be assembled completely in one place; it won't even fit onto the National Mall in Washington D.C.
My first book was dedicated to a dear friend who died of AIDS. Please. Don't become one of those panels. And don't let this scourge take over your life.
For more information about The Real Story Safe Sex Project and access to other efforts in support of the effort, see that section of Brent Hartinger's website: http://brenthartinger.com/therealstory/
June 19, 2011
AWAKE benefits Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is a non-profit dedicated to eliminating LGBTQ teen suicide. I was incredibly honored when I was asked to contribute a novella to a four-story anthology, AWAKE, that benefits Trevor. The stories are one each about a lesbian teen (Nancy Garden), a gay teen (me), a bi teen (Jordan Taylor) and a trans teen (Brian Katcher), and all proceeds go to Trevor. You can order it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
My story is A LINE IN THE SAND, and here's what it's about.
What could have been just another summer vacation on Hilton Head Island for 15-year-old, out-and-proud Dustin Hamilton takes turn after turn as his infatuation for the exotic Randy Aziz spins him in different directions. Dustin's clear but unspoken challenge to Randy, "Come out of the closet for me, just for a week," receives first a tentative and then a joyful "Yes!" from Randy. The boys spend days, and a very special evening, on the beach together, learning that their lives are similar in;some surprising ways. But coming out takes Randy in a direction neither boy predicted. It's a summer the boys--and their families--will never forget.
My story is A LINE IN THE SAND, and here's what it's about.
What could have been just another summer vacation on Hilton Head Island for 15-year-old, out-and-proud Dustin Hamilton takes turn after turn as his infatuation for the exotic Randy Aziz spins him in different directions. Dustin's clear but unspoken challenge to Randy, "Come out of the closet for me, just for a week," receives first a tentative and then a joyful "Yes!" from Randy. The boys spend days, and a very special evening, on the beach together, learning that their lives are similar in;some surprising ways. But coming out takes Randy in a direction neither boy predicted. It's a summer the boys--and their families--will never forget.
Robin Reardon: Speaking of writing...
Author Robin Reardon jots down thoughts, news, whatever comes to mind
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