Paul Alan Fahey's Blog, page 4
November 24, 2014
My Shortest Post Ever!
Hi, and welcome to my very short Tuesday Goodreads blog. Today my post is going to be even shorter than ever.
I wanted to wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. I hope it’s one of yours, too.
Again wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.
I’ll see you next Tuesday after the holiday.
The Best Is Yet To Come,
Paul
Getting Gertie Out
I wanted to wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. I hope it’s one of yours, too.
Again wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.
I’ll see you next Tuesday after the holiday.
The Best Is Yet To Come,
Paul
Getting Gertie Out
November 18, 2014
LGBT Seniors and Eldercare: Privacy Issues and Discrimination
Hi, and welcome back to my weekly Goodreads blog post.
This coming Sunday, November 23rd, JMS Books will release my novella, Getting Gertie Out
—a contemporary lesbian fiction.
Most of us are likely aware of abuse and neglect in senior care facilities. This issue is nothing new. It’s been going on for years, and I bet we all have examples of our own that speak to this issue. I certainly do.
But did you know that LGBT seniors face discrimination in eldercare for quite specific and different reasons? I have to admit I didn’t. It took a while to sink in. We’d made so much progress over the past decade, how could something like this even be possible? Well, believe me it is, and there’s current research to support it. (I’ll have a page on my author website soon dedicated to this topic.)
Q: Is this problem new to you or is it something you were already aware of?
Here’s a little about the novella:
Getting Gertie Out tells the story of LANTA CROSS--a sixteen-year-old girl at odds with her adoptive mother, BERNADETTE--who takes a part-time job at St. Catherine’s Eldercare. There she befriends an elderly lesbian resident--GERTRUDE WEISS--and gradually becomes aware of the ongoing abuse at the home.
SHORT EXCERPT
I called Gertrude’s name. Knocked three times on the bathroom door, waited, and then opened it. Empty. I went back to the door and looked down the corridor. I’d learned over the past few days, the place was pretty much a ghost town during activities. It was so slow that I often ventured into the staff room and stood around chatting with the nurses and other staff members on their breaks. Like me, they were wary, always checking their watches. Then glancing at the door for a possible Ms. Andrews sighting. As far as I could tell, they were terrified of the small woman.
Gertrude was going to be very late for Bingo. Would they blame me? I imagined someone calling out I-25 in her absence, the one and only number on Gertrude’s card necessary for a grand slam win. She was missing all the fun. It was then I saw the notebook. One of those stapled things used for school exams—the dreaded blue book. Just looking at the damn thing made me sweat. But that didn’t stop me from going further.
Mistake number one. I sat down on the bed. I’d already been warned by one of the nurses to always look busy. “Never sit unless you’re on break. They’ll fire you if they catch you loafing. No matter how bored you are, stay on your feet.”
Mistake number two: I picked up the book. Gertrude had written her name in black ink on the cover. She had beautiful handwriting. The book was like a diary I supposed. Personal stuff. But since it was out in the open, I thought, why not? Like I said, two big mistakes, one right after the other.
I flipped through the book, went back to the beginning, and started to read.
March 15, 20--
I don’t like this place, Phyll. I never liked it. Even when I saw it the first time I hated it. Hated it on sight. I’ve never done that before. Hated anything. But I hated this place. I still hate it. I’m stuck. Really stuck. I’m in here, hook, line, and sinker. No stopping to collect 200 bucks and not a Get Out of Jail card in sight. Just me and the rest of the inmates.
* * * *
That’s it for today. Thank you for stopping by. Very soon we’ll have a giveaway of Getting Gertie Out,. I hope to see you here next week.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
This coming Sunday, November 23rd, JMS Books will release my novella, Getting Gertie Out
—a contemporary lesbian fiction.Most of us are likely aware of abuse and neglect in senior care facilities. This issue is nothing new. It’s been going on for years, and I bet we all have examples of our own that speak to this issue. I certainly do.
But did you know that LGBT seniors face discrimination in eldercare for quite specific and different reasons? I have to admit I didn’t. It took a while to sink in. We’d made so much progress over the past decade, how could something like this even be possible? Well, believe me it is, and there’s current research to support it. (I’ll have a page on my author website soon dedicated to this topic.)
Q: Is this problem new to you or is it something you were already aware of?
Here’s a little about the novella:
Getting Gertie Out tells the story of LANTA CROSS--a sixteen-year-old girl at odds with her adoptive mother, BERNADETTE--who takes a part-time job at St. Catherine’s Eldercare. There she befriends an elderly lesbian resident--GERTRUDE WEISS--and gradually becomes aware of the ongoing abuse at the home.
SHORT EXCERPT
I called Gertrude’s name. Knocked three times on the bathroom door, waited, and then opened it. Empty. I went back to the door and looked down the corridor. I’d learned over the past few days, the place was pretty much a ghost town during activities. It was so slow that I often ventured into the staff room and stood around chatting with the nurses and other staff members on their breaks. Like me, they were wary, always checking their watches. Then glancing at the door for a possible Ms. Andrews sighting. As far as I could tell, they were terrified of the small woman.
Gertrude was going to be very late for Bingo. Would they blame me? I imagined someone calling out I-25 in her absence, the one and only number on Gertrude’s card necessary for a grand slam win. She was missing all the fun. It was then I saw the notebook. One of those stapled things used for school exams—the dreaded blue book. Just looking at the damn thing made me sweat. But that didn’t stop me from going further.
Mistake number one. I sat down on the bed. I’d already been warned by one of the nurses to always look busy. “Never sit unless you’re on break. They’ll fire you if they catch you loafing. No matter how bored you are, stay on your feet.”
Mistake number two: I picked up the book. Gertrude had written her name in black ink on the cover. She had beautiful handwriting. The book was like a diary I supposed. Personal stuff. But since it was out in the open, I thought, why not? Like I said, two big mistakes, one right after the other.
I flipped through the book, went back to the beginning, and started to read.
March 15, 20--
I don’t like this place, Phyll. I never liked it. Even when I saw it the first time I hated it. Hated it on sight. I’ve never done that before. Hated anything. But I hated this place. I still hate it. I’m stuck. Really stuck. I’m in here, hook, line, and sinker. No stopping to collect 200 bucks and not a Get Out of Jail card in sight. Just me and the rest of the inmates.
* * * *
That’s it for today. Thank you for stopping by. Very soon we’ll have a giveaway of Getting Gertie Out,. I hope to see you here next week.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
November 11, 2014
All Good Things...
Hi, and welcome back to my Tuesday short blog on Goodreads. It’s been a busy week for me.
The giveaway on Too Long Among the Dead has ended. There’ll be more to come I promise around the release of my new lesbian fiction, Getting Gertie Out. The release date is November 23rd from JMS Books.
First, I don't want to forget that today is Veterans Day. I want to take time to thank all veterans for their dedicated and loyal service to their country. Maya Angelou said it best: “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” I couldn’t agree more.
On another front, I’m thinking of ending my WWII gay historical romance series, Lovers and Liars
. I’m thinking maybe one more novella might tie up the series.
Right now, here’s how I view the overall story arc for Lovers and Liars :
Act I: Bomber’s Moon
Act II: Weep Not for the Past
A Manx Tale
A Christmas in Kent
Act III: A Deadly Game of Malice
Q: Q: Any thoughts from those of you who’ve read the last installment, A Deadly Game of Malice? I’d love to know what you think about where we are right now.
I’m not sure how one knows when a series has ended, but I think I’m on the right track. Either A Deadly Game of Malice will be the last novella or there’ll be one more wrap up installment. I’ll be thinking more on this issue as I plan a guest post for December 30th at ARe Cafe. Hope you’ll come check it out. I’ll remind you as we get closer to the posting date.
A Little background on Lovers and Liars:
Two books set during WWII, inspired Lovers and Liars. I highly recommend them both to you.
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters “follows the fragmented lives and the strange interconnections between Kay, Helen and Julia, three lesbians, Viv, a straight woman and Duncan, her brother, a gay man—their secrets, shames and scandals that connect them despite their different experiences. The war, with its never ending night watches, serves as a horrifying context, backdrop, and metaphor as a constant reminder of the morbidity that surrounds life and love.” From Wikipedia.
Although the tone in Ms. Waters’ amazing book--she tells her story backward from 1947-1941-- is very different from mine, I wanted to explore gay life during the period by reimagining private conversations people might have had about post traumatic stress to marriage and gender equality and even to smoking while pregnant.
Mrs. Miniver
by Jan Struther is another wonderfully written book set in rural WWII England. The central character, Mrs. Miniver, is a British housewife who, along with her family, struggles to survive the hardships of war.
Ms. Struther wrote a small postscript of a short story, "Mrs. Miniver Makes A List," that inspired my series short novella, A Christmas In Kent.
Okay, that’s it for now. Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next week. We’ll talk more about Getting Gertie Out and why I just had to write it. See you then.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
The giveaway on Too Long Among the Dead has ended. There’ll be more to come I promise around the release of my new lesbian fiction, Getting Gertie Out
. The release date is November 23rd from JMS Books. First, I don't want to forget that today is Veterans Day. I want to take time to thank all veterans for their dedicated and loyal service to their country. Maya Angelou said it best: “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” I couldn’t agree more.
On another front, I’m thinking of ending my WWII gay historical romance series, Lovers and Liars
. I’m thinking maybe one more novella might tie up the series. Right now, here’s how I view the overall story arc for Lovers and Liars :
Act I: Bomber’s Moon
Act II: Weep Not for the Past
A Manx Tale
A Christmas in Kent
Act III: A Deadly Game of Malice
Q: Q: Any thoughts from those of you who’ve read the last installment, A Deadly Game of Malice? I’d love to know what you think about where we are right now.
I’m not sure how one knows when a series has ended, but I think I’m on the right track. Either A Deadly Game of Malice will be the last novella or there’ll be one more wrap up installment. I’ll be thinking more on this issue as I plan a guest post for December 30th at ARe Cafe. Hope you’ll come check it out. I’ll remind you as we get closer to the posting date.
A Little background on Lovers and Liars:
Two books set during WWII, inspired Lovers and Liars. I highly recommend them both to you.
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters “follows the fragmented lives and the strange interconnections between Kay, Helen and Julia, three lesbians, Viv, a straight woman and Duncan, her brother, a gay man—their secrets, shames and scandals that connect them despite their different experiences. The war, with its never ending night watches, serves as a horrifying context, backdrop, and metaphor as a constant reminder of the morbidity that surrounds life and love.” From Wikipedia.Although the tone in Ms. Waters’ amazing book--she tells her story backward from 1947-1941-- is very different from mine, I wanted to explore gay life during the period by reimagining private conversations people might have had about post traumatic stress to marriage and gender equality and even to smoking while pregnant.
Mrs. Miniver
by Jan Struther is another wonderfully written book set in rural WWII England. The central character, Mrs. Miniver, is a British housewife who, along with her family, struggles to survive the hardships of war. Ms. Struther wrote a small postscript of a short story, "Mrs. Miniver Makes A List," that inspired my series short novella, A Christmas In Kent.
Okay, that’s it for now. Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next week. We’ll talk more about Getting Gertie Out and why I just had to write it. See you then.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
November 4, 2014
Giveaway: E book of Too Long Among the dead
Hi, Just thought I'd try out this Rafflecopter system and see if it works. I'm giving away one e book copy of my gay paranormal romance, "Too Long among the Dead." This isn't part of my Lovers and Liars series. But I think it's something you might like.
Info on the book here:
http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?ma...
Enter today through midnight Nov 10th.
Good luck. I'll be in touch with the winner. If this works, there'll be a lot more to come in the future.
Paul
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Info on the book here:
http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?ma...
Enter today through midnight Nov 10th.
Good luck. I'll be in touch with the winner. If this works, there'll be a lot more to come in the future.
Paul
a Rafflecopter giveaway
A Goldilocks Kind of Thing
Hi, and welcome to my short Tuesday blog post. Today let’s talk about creating mood and atmosphere in historical novels.
“When writing historical fiction, capturing a mood is more important than recreating every detail of a certain time or place.” --Anne Perry, bestselling writer of historical fiction and detective novels.
Ms. Perry’s quote really gets at the heart of period detail. How much is too much? When is too little not enough? And what’s just the right amount? Like Goldilocks.
In my gay historical romance series, Lovers and Liars,
I try to add as much detail as I can without overshadowing the story and taking the stage away from my characters.
One of the major resources I use for the series is a huge—hernia-inducing volume titled: The Timetables of History
. I love this book because it tells me year by year what’s happening in several areas: history/politics; literature/theater; religion/philosophy/learning; visual arts; music; science/technology/growth; and daily living. Of course I use other resources like the Internet, BBC videos, travel and history books, and just about anything I can get my hands on for the specific year I’m covering.
Let’s take the second novella in Lovers and Liars and I’ll provide a few examples of what I’m talking about: bits and pieces of period detail woven into the fabric of the novella.
Weep Not for the Past
:
--When the story opens, Leslie Atwater is staying with Caroline, his lover Edward’s cousin, in an isolated village in the English countryside. U-boats patrol offshore and there’s a constant threat to British livelihood. With Edward away on government assignment in East Africa, Leslie becomes depressed, restless, and bored.
--Caroline, raised in a wealthy family, is used to all the things money can buy. The war has brought with it many “inconveniences”. She complains to Leslie about the clothes rationing and feels she has nothing suitable to wear. “I’ll be damned if I’ll do what that silly woman Mrs. Sew and Sew says on those even sillier posters we see everywhere now. Make do and mend. Never.”
--Cyril begins to fall in love with Caroline. One day while passing Cyril’s bedroom, Leslie hears him humming “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” a song that's all the rage on both sides of the Atlantic.
--In an attempt to lighten Leslie’s mood, Caroline drags him on an outing to a first aid workshop held at the vicarage where he meets and befriends Evangeline Blake—an elderly woman who reminds him of one of his favorite stage actresses of the time, Gladys Cooper.
--Evangeline recommends he read Before the Fact,
a popular mystery novel about a woman who is convinced her husband is going to kill her, and this sets the plot in motion.
These are only a few period details from Weep Not for the Past ; hopefully after reading the novella, you’ll say there were enough of them and not too little. ☺
Now for a bit of good news!
On November 23, JMS Books will release my lesbian fiction, Getting Gertie Out , a story of LGBT elder abuse in a rest home.
Q: Did you know “senior care facilities and home care providers are not always welcoming and friendly to LGBT seniors? While, they might not be openly hostile, the caregivers may lack sympathy or training to provide care to the LGBT community. Senior care facilities may force same-sex couples to live in separate rooms because they are not married. Additionally, resident seniors may create an unfriendly and discriminatory atmosphere. There are many seniors that still have a homophobic mind-set and are extremely conservative.” From lgbt seniorhomecare.com. 7/11/2014.
For a closer look at Getting Gertie Out , you can read a short synopsis and excerpt here:
http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?ma...
Okay, that’s it for today. Don’t forget to vote!
See you next Tuesday.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
“When writing historical fiction, capturing a mood is more important than recreating every detail of a certain time or place.” --Anne Perry, bestselling writer of historical fiction and detective novels.
Ms. Perry’s quote really gets at the heart of period detail. How much is too much? When is too little not enough? And what’s just the right amount? Like Goldilocks.
In my gay historical romance series, Lovers and Liars,
I try to add as much detail as I can without overshadowing the story and taking the stage away from my characters. One of the major resources I use for the series is a huge—hernia-inducing volume titled: The Timetables of History
. I love this book because it tells me year by year what’s happening in several areas: history/politics; literature/theater; religion/philosophy/learning; visual arts; music; science/technology/growth; and daily living. Of course I use other resources like the Internet, BBC videos, travel and history books, and just about anything I can get my hands on for the specific year I’m covering. Let’s take the second novella in Lovers and Liars and I’ll provide a few examples of what I’m talking about: bits and pieces of period detail woven into the fabric of the novella.
Weep Not for the Past
:--When the story opens, Leslie Atwater is staying with Caroline, his lover Edward’s cousin, in an isolated village in the English countryside. U-boats patrol offshore and there’s a constant threat to British livelihood. With Edward away on government assignment in East Africa, Leslie becomes depressed, restless, and bored.
--Caroline, raised in a wealthy family, is used to all the things money can buy. The war has brought with it many “inconveniences”. She complains to Leslie about the clothes rationing and feels she has nothing suitable to wear. “I’ll be damned if I’ll do what that silly woman Mrs. Sew and Sew says on those even sillier posters we see everywhere now. Make do and mend. Never.”
--Cyril begins to fall in love with Caroline. One day while passing Cyril’s bedroom, Leslie hears him humming “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” a song that's all the rage on both sides of the Atlantic.
--In an attempt to lighten Leslie’s mood, Caroline drags him on an outing to a first aid workshop held at the vicarage where he meets and befriends Evangeline Blake—an elderly woman who reminds him of one of his favorite stage actresses of the time, Gladys Cooper.
--Evangeline recommends he read Before the Fact,
a popular mystery novel about a woman who is convinced her husband is going to kill her, and this sets the plot in motion. These are only a few period details from Weep Not for the Past ; hopefully after reading the novella, you’ll say there were enough of them and not too little. ☺
Now for a bit of good news!
On November 23, JMS Books will release my lesbian fiction, Getting Gertie Out , a story of LGBT elder abuse in a rest home.
Q: Did you know “senior care facilities and home care providers are not always welcoming and friendly to LGBT seniors? While, they might not be openly hostile, the caregivers may lack sympathy or training to provide care to the LGBT community. Senior care facilities may force same-sex couples to live in separate rooms because they are not married. Additionally, resident seniors may create an unfriendly and discriminatory atmosphere. There are many seniors that still have a homophobic mind-set and are extremely conservative.” From lgbt seniorhomecare.com. 7/11/2014.
For a closer look at Getting Gertie Out , you can read a short synopsis and excerpt here:
http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?ma...
Okay, that’s it for today. Don’t forget to vote!
See you next Tuesday.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
October 28, 2014
Talking About the “T” in LGBT Literature
Hi, Welcome to my Tuesday short blog post.
Let’s talk about transgender lit. I’ve read some wonderful books in this LGBT area, and this year there seem to be quite a few good ones adding to the genre. I have a few I’ve read and would like to recommend.
But first, what do we mean by transgender literature?
Lambda Literary defines transgender fiction as “novels, novellas, short story collections, and anthologies with prominent bisexual/transgender characters and/or content of strong significance to the bisexual/transgender communities. May include historical novels, graphic novels, cross-genre works of fiction, humor, and other styles of fiction.”
Lambda considers transgender nonfiction as “non-academic, non-fiction works with content of strong significance to members of the transgender community. Includes a wide range of subjects for the general reader (e.g., history, memoirs, public policy, law, politics, poetry, community organizations, humor, spirituality, parenting, religion, spirituality, relationships, travel).
Here are a few gems in transgender fiction:
1. Catherine Ryan Hyde’s Jump Start the World
was chosen for the American Library Association's Rainbow list, and was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. It also won first and second place in two categories of the Rainbow Awards.
Here’s a little about Jump Start the World:
“When Elle meets Frank, the guy who lives next door, she can’t stop thinking about him. Frank isn’t like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He’s gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard. But Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender. And when Elle learns the truth, her world is turned upside down.”
2. Sally Bosco’s Cevin’s Deadly Sin
is a finalist for the 2014 Rainbow Awards in transgender fiction.
“Cevin’s Deadly Sin is the story of a hetero, teen cross-dresser: his struggles with first love, self-identity and bullying during his senior year in a small, Florida town. When Cevin finds the one person who can accept him for himself, he has to figure out how to deal with her bully brother and make peace with his identity in order to save his own life.”
Now for a few recommendations in transgender nonfiction:
Both of the following books are 2014 Rainbow Award Finalists: Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders by Diane & Jacob Anderson-Minshall and An Unspoken Compromise by Rizi Xavier Timane
Here’s a short synopsis of Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders
:
“Imagine if, after fifteen years as a lesbian couple, your partner turned to you and said, “I think I’m really a man.” For the authors of Queerly Beloved, this isn’t a hypothetical question. It’s what really happened. Eight years later, the couple not only remains together, they still identify as queer, still work in LGBT media, and remain part of the LGBT community. How did their relationship survive a gender transition?”
And a synopsis of An Unspoken Compromise
:
“An Unspoken Compromise is the story of a Nigerian-born transgender minister and certified grief recovery specialist. He grew up in an extremely religious Christian home and was subjected to multiple exorcisms and other reparative attempts by his family and the church to “pray the gay away.” The book takes you through his journey of self-discovery and spiritual exploration coming out as a lesbian and later making the transition to a male.”
Q: How about you? Have you read any books in transgender lit you’d like to recommend to our readers?
Until next week then.
The best is yet to come.
Paul
Let’s talk about transgender lit. I’ve read some wonderful books in this LGBT area, and this year there seem to be quite a few good ones adding to the genre. I have a few I’ve read and would like to recommend.
But first, what do we mean by transgender literature?
Lambda Literary defines transgender fiction as “novels, novellas, short story collections, and anthologies with prominent bisexual/transgender characters and/or content of strong significance to the bisexual/transgender communities. May include historical novels, graphic novels, cross-genre works of fiction, humor, and other styles of fiction.”
Lambda considers transgender nonfiction as “non-academic, non-fiction works with content of strong significance to members of the transgender community. Includes a wide range of subjects for the general reader (e.g., history, memoirs, public policy, law, politics, poetry, community organizations, humor, spirituality, parenting, religion, spirituality, relationships, travel).
Here are a few gems in transgender fiction:
1. Catherine Ryan Hyde’s Jump Start the World
was chosen for the American Library Association's Rainbow list, and was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. It also won first and second place in two categories of the Rainbow Awards.Here’s a little about Jump Start the World:
“When Elle meets Frank, the guy who lives next door, she can’t stop thinking about him. Frank isn’t like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He’s gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard. But Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender. And when Elle learns the truth, her world is turned upside down.”
2. Sally Bosco’s Cevin’s Deadly Sin
is a finalist for the 2014 Rainbow Awards in transgender fiction.“Cevin’s Deadly Sin is the story of a hetero, teen cross-dresser: his struggles with first love, self-identity and bullying during his senior year in a small, Florida town. When Cevin finds the one person who can accept him for himself, he has to figure out how to deal with her bully brother and make peace with his identity in order to save his own life.”
Now for a few recommendations in transgender nonfiction:
Both of the following books are 2014 Rainbow Award Finalists: Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders by Diane & Jacob Anderson-Minshall and An Unspoken Compromise by Rizi Xavier Timane
Here’s a short synopsis of Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders
:“Imagine if, after fifteen years as a lesbian couple, your partner turned to you and said, “I think I’m really a man.” For the authors of Queerly Beloved, this isn’t a hypothetical question. It’s what really happened. Eight years later, the couple not only remains together, they still identify as queer, still work in LGBT media, and remain part of the LGBT community. How did their relationship survive a gender transition?”
And a synopsis of An Unspoken Compromise
:“An Unspoken Compromise is the story of a Nigerian-born transgender minister and certified grief recovery specialist. He grew up in an extremely religious Christian home and was subjected to multiple exorcisms and other reparative attempts by his family and the church to “pray the gay away.” The book takes you through his journey of self-discovery and spiritual exploration coming out as a lesbian and later making the transition to a male.”
Q: How about you? Have you read any books in transgender lit you’d like to recommend to our readers?
Until next week then.
The best is yet to come.
Paul
October 21, 2014
Do You Have a Favorite Blog?
Hi and Welcome to my Goodreads Tuesday blog post.
This coming Saturday I’ll be part of a local mystery panel to discuss publishing in the E-Age. I’ll be talking about blogging so I thought I’d start off a discussion on the topic.
I’m totally a mess when it comes to techie type things, so I was thrilled to discover how easy it is to start and maintain a weekly Goodreads blog. Once you have an author’s page or dashboard, away you go.
Since I’m a writer, I normally visit a few weekly writer’s blogs. High on my list are the following:
1. Anne R. Allen’s Blog…with Ruth Harris: http://annerallen.blogspot.com
Anne’s award-winning writers’ blog—voted one of 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest—is definitely the place to be every Sunday morning. Her posts are topical and informative with up-to-date information on writing and publishing; they’re also fun reads. You can’t go wrong here. Highly recommended for writers and readers. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot.
2. Wordmonger—C.S. Perryess Writes About Words: http://csperryess.blogspot.com
Charlie Perryess’s blog is a hoot and every week the reader gets a good dose of interesting facts about word origins and how their definitions have changed over time. Whodathunk etymology could be this much fun? Not I. But it is.
Most of you know I write LGBT historical romance and contemporary fiction. I have three favorite book review sites I follow:
1. Elisa--My Reviews and Ramblings for great book reviews, unbeatable LGBT history posts, and news about the annual Rainbow Awards.
http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwid...
While you’re there, be sure and take a look at Elisa Rolle’s wonderful new book: Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time. Days of Love
“Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families.”
And check out this year’s list of 2014 Rainbow Award Finalists. Lovers and Liars I’m there under gay historical romance. Whodathunk? Winners will be chosen December 8, 2014.
http://reviews-and ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4452585.html
Q: How many of this year’s LGBT Rainbow Award finalists have you read? Which ones would you recommend to our readers?
2.The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com
For anyone interested in LGBT lit, this is the place to go. Lisa Horan and her terrific staff offer daily in-depth book reviews of what’s new in the field. I never miss it. It’s become quite a habit. Give it a try and you’ll never miss a post.
3. Prism Book Alliance (PBA) http://www.prismbookalliance.com
PBA is another great LGBT reader/writer blog I enjoy. PBA is Brandilyn Carpenter’s brainchild. Brandilyn and her staff feature several book reviews each day that cover a wide spectrum of LGBT lit. So many good books, so little time. Catch up here.
Q: Do you have a favorite blog you follow that you’d like to recommend to our readers?
Take care.
I’ll be here again next week when we’ll be talking about transgender lit. Same time. Same station.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
This coming Saturday I’ll be part of a local mystery panel to discuss publishing in the E-Age. I’ll be talking about blogging so I thought I’d start off a discussion on the topic.
I’m totally a mess when it comes to techie type things, so I was thrilled to discover how easy it is to start and maintain a weekly Goodreads blog. Once you have an author’s page or dashboard, away you go.
Since I’m a writer, I normally visit a few weekly writer’s blogs. High on my list are the following:
1. Anne R. Allen’s Blog…with Ruth Harris: http://annerallen.blogspot.com
Anne’s award-winning writers’ blog—voted one of 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest—is definitely the place to be every Sunday morning. Her posts are topical and informative with up-to-date information on writing and publishing; they’re also fun reads. You can’t go wrong here. Highly recommended for writers and readers. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot.
2. Wordmonger—C.S. Perryess Writes About Words: http://csperryess.blogspot.com
Charlie Perryess’s blog is a hoot and every week the reader gets a good dose of interesting facts about word origins and how their definitions have changed over time. Whodathunk etymology could be this much fun? Not I. But it is.
Most of you know I write LGBT historical romance and contemporary fiction. I have three favorite book review sites I follow:
1. Elisa--My Reviews and Ramblings for great book reviews, unbeatable LGBT history posts, and news about the annual Rainbow Awards.
http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwid...
While you’re there, be sure and take a look at Elisa Rolle’s wonderful new book: Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time. Days of Love
“Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families.”
And check out this year’s list of 2014 Rainbow Award Finalists. Lovers and Liars I’m there under gay historical romance. Whodathunk? Winners will be chosen December 8, 2014.
http://reviews-and ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4452585.html
Q: How many of this year’s LGBT Rainbow Award finalists have you read? Which ones would you recommend to our readers?
2.The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com
For anyone interested in LGBT lit, this is the place to go. Lisa Horan and her terrific staff offer daily in-depth book reviews of what’s new in the field. I never miss it. It’s become quite a habit. Give it a try and you’ll never miss a post.
3. Prism Book Alliance (PBA) http://www.prismbookalliance.com
PBA is another great LGBT reader/writer blog I enjoy. PBA is Brandilyn Carpenter’s brainchild. Brandilyn and her staff feature several book reviews each day that cover a wide spectrum of LGBT lit. So many good books, so little time. Catch up here.
Q: Do you have a favorite blog you follow that you’d like to recommend to our readers?
Take care.
I’ll be here again next week when we’ll be talking about transgender lit. Same time. Same station.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
October 13, 2014
What’s in a First Line?
Hi, This week we’re talking first lines.
Writers call first lines hooks—words that pull readers immediately into the story and, hopefully, keep them reading right through to THE END.
Here are some of my favorite first lines from books old and new:
1. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
2. “Ruth remembered drowning.” Christina Schwarz, Drowning Ruth
3. “I was born into a cliché-loving middle class Virginia family.” Don’t Fall Off the Mountain, Shirley Maclaine
4. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
5. “I have a friend who keeps asking me why I am writing this book.”
Me, Katherine Hepburn
6. “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” The Diary of a Young Girl (The Definitive Edition), Anne Frank
7. “So this, said Kay to herself, is the sort of person you’ve become; a person whose clocks and wrist-watches have stopped, and who tells the time, instead, by the particular kind of cripple arriving at her landlord’s door.” The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: What are some of your favorite first lines from books, short stories, etc.?
Now on to a related subject.
On Thursday, October 16—for one day only—my publisher, JMS Books, http://www.jms-books.com, is offering my lesbian historical, The View from 16 Podwale Street, at a big discount. I hope you’ll give it a try. This novella e book won a 2012 Rainbow Award.
Writing The View from 16 Podwale Street gave me a terrific opportunity to use Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca–quoted above—as a literary device in the story. I hope you’ll give it a try. Then let me know your thoughts.
A short synopsis of The View from 16 Podwale Street:
“It’s April 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. The houses on Podwale Street look so much alike. Yet within the walls of number 16, two women very much in love have created a safe and private world that is now threatened by the mounting tide of Nazism. Will they escape to freedom or is it already too late?”
And like Colombo: “Just One More Thing.”
On the same day, Thursday, October 16, I’ll be talking again to my readers in Italy and guest posting about the award winning anthology, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On. Come visit. There’ll also be giveaways of the book.
Here’s the link for Thursday:
http://erinekeller.wordpress.com
Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next Tuesday.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
Writers call first lines hooks—words that pull readers immediately into the story and, hopefully, keep them reading right through to THE END.
Here are some of my favorite first lines from books old and new:
1. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
2. “Ruth remembered drowning.” Christina Schwarz, Drowning Ruth
3. “I was born into a cliché-loving middle class Virginia family.” Don’t Fall Off the Mountain, Shirley Maclaine
4. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
5. “I have a friend who keeps asking me why I am writing this book.”
Me, Katherine Hepburn
6. “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” The Diary of a Young Girl (The Definitive Edition), Anne Frank
7. “So this, said Kay to herself, is the sort of person you’ve become; a person whose clocks and wrist-watches have stopped, and who tells the time, instead, by the particular kind of cripple arriving at her landlord’s door.” The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
Here’s this week’s question:
Q: What are some of your favorite first lines from books, short stories, etc.?
Now on to a related subject.
On Thursday, October 16—for one day only—my publisher, JMS Books, http://www.jms-books.com, is offering my lesbian historical, The View from 16 Podwale Street, at a big discount. I hope you’ll give it a try. This novella e book won a 2012 Rainbow Award.
Writing The View from 16 Podwale Street gave me a terrific opportunity to use Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca–quoted above—as a literary device in the story. I hope you’ll give it a try. Then let me know your thoughts.
A short synopsis of The View from 16 Podwale Street:
“It’s April 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. The houses on Podwale Street look so much alike. Yet within the walls of number 16, two women very much in love have created a safe and private world that is now threatened by the mounting tide of Nazism. Will they escape to freedom or is it already too late?”
And like Colombo: “Just One More Thing.”
On the same day, Thursday, October 16, I’ll be talking again to my readers in Italy and guest posting about the award winning anthology, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On. Come visit. There’ll also be giveaways of the book.
Here’s the link for Thursday:
http://erinekeller.wordpress.com
Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next Tuesday.
The best is yet to come,
Paul
October 7, 2014
More Than a Myth
Hi, again,
As a reader, what do you think of when you hear the words myth and book in the same sentence? Is it Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief?
. Or maybe one of Mary Renault’s classics like The Bull from the Sea
—a story that’s much more than Theseus, the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, and a ball of twine.
For me it’s Edith Hamilton’s definitive classic, Mythology
. (I keep a copy next to my computer, along with a decent dictionary and a well-thumbed thesaurus. I’ll tell you why in a minute.)
Ms. Hamilton’s reference book was my first exposure to mythology. Back in the 1960s and the days of Camelot and President Kennedy, we had mythology tests every week in English. I hate to admit this, but I failed almost all of them. Was it Theseus or Perseus who fought the Minotaur? Did Medea kill her children or was it Medusa? See what I mean? I just couldn’t figure out all those same sounding names.
As I grew older, and hopefully wiser, I discovered many successful writers based their stories on myths, legends, and fables. These ready-made tales added depth to the characters, subtext to the plots, and a richness to the story as a whole.
Here are some examples from my own writing.
I. Myths as Motifs and Symbols
One of my early flash fictions, “Slender Thread,” is a story about a convict escaping Alcatraz in a fateful attempt to reunite with his lover. The story, republished in the new Central Coast anthology, The Best of SLO NightWriters in the Tolosa Press, http://slonightwriters.org/page-1862000, features a celestial string—symbolic of Ariadne’s thread that led Theseus safely out of the Labyrinth after killing the Minotaur.
I. Myths for Backstory
In Too Long Among the Dead, a paranormal gay romance, I named one of my six female characters Meeda—an anagram of Medea. Meeda was a woman who was previously confined to a psychiatric facility for killing her infant. Myths can add that extra something that resonates with readers.
II. Myths for Plot
I recently finished a new book, Getting Gertie Out, a story about LGBT abuse in a rest home. (The e book, published by JMS Books, http://www.jms-books.com, will have a November release.)
For this book, I based the main character on the myth of Atalanta—an infant, abandoned at birth and raised by a female bear, who became a fierce warrior. Getting Gertie Out is the story of Lanta Cross, an adopted sixteen-year-old and her mother, Bernadette, and their fight for justice for their elderly friend, Gertrude Weiss.
Q: As a reader, what are your favorite myth-based books and why?
As a writer, have you used myths to enrich your work?
Until next week then,
The best is yet to come.
Paul
As a reader, what do you think of when you hear the words myth and book in the same sentence? Is it Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief?
. Or maybe one of Mary Renault’s classics like The Bull from the Sea
—a story that’s much more than Theseus, the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, and a ball of twine.For me it’s Edith Hamilton’s definitive classic, Mythology
. (I keep a copy next to my computer, along with a decent dictionary and a well-thumbed thesaurus. I’ll tell you why in a minute.)Ms. Hamilton’s reference book was my first exposure to mythology. Back in the 1960s and the days of Camelot and President Kennedy, we had mythology tests every week in English. I hate to admit this, but I failed almost all of them. Was it Theseus or Perseus who fought the Minotaur? Did Medea kill her children or was it Medusa? See what I mean? I just couldn’t figure out all those same sounding names.
As I grew older, and hopefully wiser, I discovered many successful writers based their stories on myths, legends, and fables. These ready-made tales added depth to the characters, subtext to the plots, and a richness to the story as a whole.
Here are some examples from my own writing.
I. Myths as Motifs and Symbols
One of my early flash fictions, “Slender Thread,” is a story about a convict escaping Alcatraz in a fateful attempt to reunite with his lover. The story, republished in the new Central Coast anthology, The Best of SLO NightWriters in the Tolosa Press, http://slonightwriters.org/page-1862000, features a celestial string—symbolic of Ariadne’s thread that led Theseus safely out of the Labyrinth after killing the Minotaur.
I. Myths for Backstory
In Too Long Among the Dead, a paranormal gay romance, I named one of my six female characters Meeda—an anagram of Medea. Meeda was a woman who was previously confined to a psychiatric facility for killing her infant. Myths can add that extra something that resonates with readers.
II. Myths for Plot
I recently finished a new book, Getting Gertie Out, a story about LGBT abuse in a rest home. (The e book, published by JMS Books, http://www.jms-books.com, will have a November release.)
For this book, I based the main character on the myth of Atalanta—an infant, abandoned at birth and raised by a female bear, who became a fierce warrior. Getting Gertie Out is the story of Lanta Cross, an adopted sixteen-year-old and her mother, Bernadette, and their fight for justice for their elderly friend, Gertrude Weiss.
Q: As a reader, what are your favorite myth-based books and why?
As a writer, have you used myths to enrich your work?
Until next week then,
The best is yet to come.
Paul
September 30, 2014
Writing Through Your Fears
Everyone is afraid of something in this life and I’m yet to meet someone who isn’t.
Believe me, writers are no exception.
In a 2013 online discussion, Stephen King11/22/63 confessed his biggest fear was Alzheimer’s.
Mystery writer, Laura Lippman,And When She Was Good is claustrophobic and afraid of submarines. “If the result of climate change is that we have to live/travel underwater—well, then I am truly sunk.”
Author, Brad Meltzer,The Fifth Assassin has a much longer list of fears:
“I’m afraid of heights, snakes, normalcy, mediocrity, Hollywood, the initial silence of an empty house, the enduring darkness of a poorly-lit street, evil clowns, professional failure, the intellectual impact of Barbie dolls, letting my father down, being paralyzed, hospitals, doctors, the cancer that killed my mother, dying unexpectedly, dying for a stupid reason, dying painfully, and worst of all, dying alone.”
Here’s where my biggest fear comes in.
Actually I have two: homelessness and suffering a serious stroke.
I come by the first fear—homelessness—honestly. Raised by a single mom in the 1950s, we lived a kind of nomadic existence on the San Francisco Peninsula. I never knew where we’d land from day to day. Talk about anxiety. Something I’ve never managed to rid myself of. (Terrible sentence but you get the drift.)
The second fear stems from my thirty-year career in higher education as a learning disabilities specialist. I often worked with students who had moderate to severe head trauma, disabilities that often left the student unable to speak, read, and/or write. As part of the disabled student services team, we worked to retrain as many skills as possible.
In 2009 I had a mild stroke in the right eye, compromising my peripheral and lower vision. I have to warn you, if you happen to find yourself someday in Arroyo Grande, California, and shopping in the produce aisle at Trader Joe’s, please walk to my left, or you’re liable to end up in the banana bin. Trust me, this almost happened.
Have I written about my fears?
The first fear, yes. When I started writing for literary magazines in the early 1990s, I based many of my short pieces (fiction and memoir) on my nomadic youth. But I have to admit I hadn’t tackled my fear of strokes—until just recently when I wrote the short story, “Words.”
JMS Books is offering “Words,” Wordsas a free download. It’s a gay romance, very short and fewer than 4,000 words—the word limit for this piece. “Words” follows a gay couple from the late 1970s to the present. A lot of ground to cover, I agree. Was I successful? I honestly don’t know. You’ll have to tell me.
I hope you’ll take a chance on the free download and let me know what you think. Again, it’s a very short story and not a novella—my favorite form—so there isn’t much wiggle room, especially with a 4K-word limit.
Here’s where you can find the FREE download for “Words,” including a short synopsis and excerpt:
http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?mai...
Q: What is your worst fear?
Is it something you feel comfortable talking about? If you're a writer, have you written about it?
Until next week then,
The best is yet to come,
Paul
Believe me, writers are no exception.
In a 2013 online discussion, Stephen King11/22/63 confessed his biggest fear was Alzheimer’s.
Mystery writer, Laura Lippman,And When She Was Good is claustrophobic and afraid of submarines. “If the result of climate change is that we have to live/travel underwater—well, then I am truly sunk.”
Author, Brad Meltzer,The Fifth Assassin has a much longer list of fears:
“I’m afraid of heights, snakes, normalcy, mediocrity, Hollywood, the initial silence of an empty house, the enduring darkness of a poorly-lit street, evil clowns, professional failure, the intellectual impact of Barbie dolls, letting my father down, being paralyzed, hospitals, doctors, the cancer that killed my mother, dying unexpectedly, dying for a stupid reason, dying painfully, and worst of all, dying alone.”
Here’s where my biggest fear comes in.
Actually I have two: homelessness and suffering a serious stroke.
I come by the first fear—homelessness—honestly. Raised by a single mom in the 1950s, we lived a kind of nomadic existence on the San Francisco Peninsula. I never knew where we’d land from day to day. Talk about anxiety. Something I’ve never managed to rid myself of. (Terrible sentence but you get the drift.)
The second fear stems from my thirty-year career in higher education as a learning disabilities specialist. I often worked with students who had moderate to severe head trauma, disabilities that often left the student unable to speak, read, and/or write. As part of the disabled student services team, we worked to retrain as many skills as possible.
In 2009 I had a mild stroke in the right eye, compromising my peripheral and lower vision. I have to warn you, if you happen to find yourself someday in Arroyo Grande, California, and shopping in the produce aisle at Trader Joe’s, please walk to my left, or you’re liable to end up in the banana bin. Trust me, this almost happened.
Have I written about my fears?
The first fear, yes. When I started writing for literary magazines in the early 1990s, I based many of my short pieces (fiction and memoir) on my nomadic youth. But I have to admit I hadn’t tackled my fear of strokes—until just recently when I wrote the short story, “Words.”
JMS Books is offering “Words,” Wordsas a free download. It’s a gay romance, very short and fewer than 4,000 words—the word limit for this piece. “Words” follows a gay couple from the late 1970s to the present. A lot of ground to cover, I agree. Was I successful? I honestly don’t know. You’ll have to tell me.
I hope you’ll take a chance on the free download and let me know what you think. Again, it’s a very short story and not a novella—my favorite form—so there isn’t much wiggle room, especially with a 4K-word limit.
Here’s where you can find the FREE download for “Words,” including a short synopsis and excerpt:
http://www.jmsbooks.com/index.php?mai...
Q: What is your worst fear?
Is it something you feel comfortable talking about? If you're a writer, have you written about it?
Until next week then,
The best is yet to come,
Paul
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