Genta Sebastian's Blog, page 19

The magic of Christmas discovered in May

There's a euphoria burbling in my chest, simmering in the time it's necessary to wait. I find my knee jiggling under the desk, a symptom of an excitement that simply cannot be contained. It leaks out from me in the odd heart skipping a beat, or a sudden catching of breath at the merest passage of thought. 

Something is caught in my throat. It's the balloon of anticipation which has grown around my heart. It's full, threatening to splatter excitement at any moment, but hoping to burst when...

The Red Sea on Facebook

You've seen them, and if you haven't then you're either blind, or *GASP* not on Facebook. They're the red equal signs that started appearing on Tuesday when the Supreme Court took up the Prop 8 case. By the end of yesterday, nearly a quarter of my friends list were flashing the neat red squares with the two pink rectangles upon it.

Many of them had been uniquely altered to suit the personality of the person displaying it. Mine, at the time of this writing, is:     I saw someone e...

History Is Being Made

Our wedding day.I haven't had butterflies this active in my stomach since the night I stood in line during a San Francisco winter rainstorm to have my chance to marry the woman I love. If we win today, can I sue the state of California to undo their vicious invalidation and reinstate our wedding day as Feb. 16, 2004? I'm serious. Can I?

I'm being flooded with memories fast and furious. So I'm going to share a piece I wrote in 2005 about our experiences during that now infamous, first Valentine...

Advice To The Parents Of A Bullied Boy

Today on FaceBook a friend directed me to a mother who's trying to fight against the bullies in her son's middle school. After introducing ourselves and telling her about my book, she asked to read it. This is the letter I sent her.
Hi C----, nice to meet you. The more people like us talk to each other, sharing our stories and telling our truths, the sooner acceptance of bullying will end. Working together we can make a difference.   I can't know for sure, but I'd bet you and your husba...

The Best Revenge

As the author of The Boxer Rebellion it may be obvious that I have strong feelings about bullying. You can therefore imagine how happy I was to find this on YouTube today. It's a highly emotional piece, so be forewarned. And remember: It does get better. If you're being bullied now try to find help, and if you think that's just impossible then hunker down and wait until you get out of school because IT DOES GET BETTER. And then you can turn all that pain and anger into art. Like this:


To This...

She Asked, "Why Are Gays Pedophiles?"

Three months ago, while I was busily putting 50,000 words of a novel together during National Novel Writing Month, a curious thing happened. I'd recently started The Ladies Who Write, a group of women authors who get together to write, discuss ideas, hash out difficult plot problems and other things. Because of the nature of the book I had just finished writing, The Boxer Rebellion, I had outted myself as a lesbian to them. One night, just before last Thanksgiving, I was gathering my things t...

Writing Humor Ain't Funny

Okay, well maybe it is. I mean I do make myself laugh out loud at my own brilliance, except for the moments when I'm jeering at my total lack of talent.

I've never set out to write a funny book before. The four other novels I've written have had funny moments, which is what led me to believe I might actually have what it takes. But I've been known to deceive myself before.

Excerpt from today's writing on Jazzy's Ghost, my new work in progress:
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FREE e-BOOK Today

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FEB. 7, 2013  Want something exciting to read this weekend? This gripping tale is just the thing! Download the Kindle version for free until midnight tonight.

Excerpt:The hair on the back of Nick’s neck stood up. Something was not right. Warning signals were sounding in his head. But what was it? What was there about this group of students milling around the parking lot that was different from any other day?They were the same kids as always, well, mostly. The pep...

Pondering Plot Twists...

Life is a complicated thing. There's so much more to it when you really pay attention.

I learned this from a High School Teacher (thanks Mr. Lipston) when he asked the class to watch a lit candle in a glass container as he topped it with a lid. He told us to repeat the experiment and write down exactly what we saw.

Being all of fifteen at the time, I think my brilliant response was simply: The flame gets shorter until it disappears.This is a true statement, but it is so much less than what I se...

It's The Night Before NaNo

It used to be I celebrated the 31st of October because of Halloween. Now I celebrate because, at midnight, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) begins.

For those who don't know, November has become a month when people all over the world concentrate on producing words, 50,000 of them to be exact, in the shape of a novel. It's not a competition in the traditional sense, everyone wins who completes their goal before midnight November 30th.

You'll never find a more supportive opportunity t...