Gender Diversity in Writing: A Q&A with James Stryker and Release Day for BOY: A Journey

James Stryker's new book, BOY: A Journey debuts Monday! 

I devoured the ARC for BOY in a couple of hours on a frigid, snowy afternoon, and it is brilliant. It follows the story of Luke, a young man with a chip on his shoulder, who learns after his father's death that Jay, his father, was a transgendered man. Luke's personal evolution from self-centered boy to a caring man is a story that is fraught with emotion, told through the different points of view of three men who loved Jay for different, often complicated reasons. Luke's initial feelings of betrayal grow into an intense curiosity and need to know why Jay hid the truth from him, and he seeks out Tom, his father's oldest, most trusted friend. Meanwhile, Luke's brother in law, nicknamed 'Ginger', deals with the fallout at home after the loss of his father figure and professional mentor.


James took time to sit down with me in my cyber-library where we talked about writing gender-diverse characters, who are at the core of his last novel, ASSIMILATION, his new novel, BOY, and two of my own recent works. 

James: So, what has always impressed me about your writing is how you continuously push boundaries even within the LGBTQ spectrum.

Elisabeth: That’s what writing is all about, isn’t it? Pushing boundaries of imagination and maybe making people think about things in a different light. Fiction can help broaden how someone sees the world, and that’s especially important for gender diversity. We’re constantly bombarded by societal messages and expectations of what gender is, based solely on our anatomy. It happens all our lives, from the day we’re born. Society says that there is a hard psychological disconnect between male and female, and we can’t be both. It’s demanded we conform to a male or female role. I believe people are starting to reject that conformity and recognize that all human beings are capable of both roles—there is no disconnect.

James: But the concept of being outside the binary can be difficult to comprehend. Why do you think that is, and how would you explain gender fluidity?

Elisabeth: Being outside the binary is something I believe is far more common than people realize. Being male or female is important for means of reproduction, but it has little to do with who we feel we are on the inside, how we express who we are, or whom we find sexually attractive. To me, it is the ability to recognize and express the part of the “self” that doesn’t match outward gender. Because society has drilled it into our heads that you can’t possibly be both, it can even cause body dysphoria.

James: That makes sense, and it sounds like there are many similarities to being transgendered.

Elisabeth: Definitely. But someone struggling to understand might be confused to learn that it’s actually very different from being transgendered, which is the central theme of your new book, BOY: A Journey. How would you explain the important differences between the two?

James: There are many interpretations, but for me the key difference is the word “fluidity.” Being transgendered isn’t something that is in a state of flux. In BOY when it’s revealed to the main character, Luke, that his father was a transgender man, his mother offers a simple explanation to his question of “what that means,” if I can quote it here.

Elisabeth: Of course!

James: Thanks –

“It means his gender identity didn’t match his body. His brain was that of a regular man, but his body didn’t develop correctly. He was born with the physical characteristics of the opposite sex, and that’s how he grew up,” she said. “When he was legally able to, he changed his name, he began hormone therapy, he moved away, and he started a normal life.”

Elisabeth: I love the way she says ‘he started a normal life’.  It kind of confirms that everything that went before wasn’t his normal life.

James: Exactly – once he transitioned he achieved his definition of normality without any variance. So at its base, what Luke’s mother describes is what transgendered means to me – a definite, consistent sense of a gender identity that is, devastatingly, incongruent with one’s physical characteristics. The typical reaction to being transgendered is taking action to bring the body more in line with one’s identity, while for someone who is gender fluid, permanent body modifications usually wouldn’t be high on the list. In my experience, a gender fluid individual is comfortable “flowing” while a transgender person would wish to be recognized within the binary.

Elisabeth: Gender fluidity seems to be an individual thing in regard to comfort level. Some of the people I interviewed in my pre-writing research found it liberating, while others found it more confusing and dysphoric. But I think you’re correct when you say a transgendered person wants their gender identity recognized, not their anatomy.

James: I’ve had the pleasure of reading one of your novels, but your latest story, “All That Entails” made the cut into NineStar Press’s “Beneath the Layers” anthology. Congrats!

Elisabeth: Thank you! I’m very excited to be included.

James: Can you give your audience a sneak peek of what they can look forward to?

Elisabeth: I wrote Darian and Henry’s story after wondering how a transgendered individual in the 1700s could have coped with being forced to be female, having virtually no rights of their own, and being married off to a husband they’d never met.

James: Fascinating. It really was well-done and I don’t think I’ve read anything like it.

Elisabeth: I don’t know if this story’s been told before: a gender fluid, bisexual nobleman meets his unexpected match in an arranged marriage with a transgendered man.

To your knowledge, has there ever been a book like Boy before?

James: Actually, after finishing Boy, I had one of those goosebump moments – I was wandering through the library and randomly picked Jackie Kay’s Trumpet from a shelf. Trumpet was inspired by the life of Billy Tipton, an American jazz musician who lived his adult life as a man, and it follows a son who discovers his father was born biologically female.

Elisabeth: So, your main character learns his father was raised as a female? How did you approach that?

James: Original drafts had Luke focused on the concept of Jay being transgender and difficulty accepting his father’s LGBT identity. After several, several attempts, I realized that the conflict didn’t align with Luke’s character or what I wanted for the book. Changing the struggle to Luke’s overall relationship with Jay and feelings of inadequacy and insecurity made the story flow smoothly. And I really didn’t want to write another “challenged to accept” book – it felt verging on LGBTQ stereotypes. Do you ever come across that in your own writing? How do you avoid common pitfalls when developing plots or creating characters?

Elisabeth: I think the most important thing to remember is that the characters are, first and foremost, human beings, with flaws and attributes just like any other human being. Once I figure out who they are, I work on what’s in their heads, and do some research if there’s any question on how they might react. For my sci-fi novel Dalí, I interviewed several persons who identify as gender fluid. The character is physically neutral and identifies as neither male nor female, but is capable of assuming a masculine or feminine identity in different situations. I also researched the Hijra community, because there is a large intersex population in the future I imagined, fighting to be recognized as a third gender for the human race.

James: Dalí is ground-breaking in so many ways, I really applaud you for the amount of work you put into it. In addition to the meticulous world building, I loved your characters. Dalí has a “larger than life” quality, yet maintains relatability.

Elisabeth: That’s something that really struck me also: the humanity of your characters: the ability to relate to them, and understand what they are going through. How did you prepare to write them?

James: I try to search for parallels between my characters’ experiences/emotions, and my own. “How did you feel when” and “how would you feel if” are common questions I repeatedly ask myself.

If I could rewind to a question you asked a bit ago – my “approach” to writing a character who learns his father was raised as a female. I was struggling to write Luke as being intolerant and unwilling to accept Jay because I can’t relate to those sentiments. To finish the book I needed to change his character to allow me to draw from feelings I’m familiar with – insecurity and inadequacy. For even my “worst” characters, I need to identify with the core emotion and let it “mutate” to extreme.

Elisabeth: And I can think of some pretty intense characters in your books! It can be a little scary as a writer to recognize the darkness in ourselves and transmute it into a character.

James: You’ve got that right! The best example I can think of is Robert from Assimilation. His actions make my stomach roll, but he’s driven by a passionate desire to have his family reunited, which I understand. I can still write him with empathy even while his motivation compels him to do terrible things. I was actually a little nervous to put Assimilation out there because of how dark it becomes – representing the LGBTQ community is something I take very seriously, and a negative reaction to the book weighed heavily on my decision to publish. Is that something you’ve worried about, or what feedback have you received from the LGBTQ community on your writing?

Elisabeth: So far, it’s been positive. I want to continue to be sure I have input from several different viewpoints in terms of sensitivity when I write LGBTQ characters.

James: Gaining viewpoints is great advice for anyone wanting to include gender diversity in their writing. But what do you feel is the most difficult aspect of representing the gender diverse community?

Elisabeth: I want to make certain my characters live and breathe, and that they connect with people on an emotional level—that they’re recognizable and others might see themselves reflected by them in some way.

There’s a huge push for diversity in books, and also a push for “own voices” –what would you say to an aspiring writer, who might be non-binary but uncertain whether they should share their writing, about the importance of representation in literature? 

James: I feel that a beautiful quote by Senator Robert F Kennedy from his South Africa address speaks volumes to what I’d advise: 

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

I can understand how representing gender diversity can be intimidating for anyone, whether non-binary or not, and there are disagreements even within the LGBTQ communities themselves about ideal representation etc.

Elisabeth: I agree, even in the community, it seems there are varying opinions.

James: Definitely, and I think the scarcity of characters outside the non-binary scope contributes to a feeling of isolation for many LGBTQ readers. Traditionally, things that are “odd, unnatural, and not okay” are shuffled into a dark corner and not talked about. Each piece of gender diverse writing “stands up” for a marginalized group, supporting that gender outside the non-binary is nothing to be ashamed of. To a writer considering sharing their story, I’d say that every ripple is needed to form the current, and we need you!

We need books like Dalí and stories such as “All That Entails” to celebrate the presence of gender diversity. I appreciate all the work you’ve continued to do, Elisabeth, and can’t wait to see what you come up with next!  

Elisabeth: Likewise, James, and congratulations on the release of BOY: A Journey!

Uncomfortable Epiphanies

It's been over a week since the election. That it's taken me this long to get my thoughts in order is telling of how badly the outcome shocked me.

The day after, I read through tears about the terror of my friends, a loving same-sex couple whose adoption of two beautiful children will be finalized this weekend. Their fear was that their marriage could ultimately be annulled by this administration, the children taken away from them.

And even as a bisexual woman, in a long term heterosexual relationship, it occurred to me I will never know the fear of my marriage being invalidated, nor my children being removed from me on grounds of my sexuality.

This is privilege.

I read about the efforts of individual senators moving forward to garner support to 'register' the Muslim community. Dear God. We've seen this before in America, in Japanese internment camps during World War II. We've seen this in Nazi Germany, with numbers tattooed on the forearms of men, women and children whose only crime was their DNA.

And I will never be subjected to this in America, by virtue of my white ancestry.

This is privilege.

A white female who makes house calls as a nurse, I have never been stopped for being a white woman in the wrong part of town at 2 AM; harassed for sitting outside my own place of work during a night shift in a running car because of the color of my skin, as happened to a coworker; nor for driving a car that is "above my station". I will likely never know this.

This is privilege.

It's always been difficult for me to speak aloud my own mind on political and religious subjects. I freeze, panic, cry: the sequelae of a toxic relationship which rears its ugly head even twenty five years later with the fear my own opinions are somehow invalid and indefensible. But this excuse in itself, while valid, is still a privilege. Even if I didn't speak out, my life was largely unaffected because I couldn't be identified with any of these groups.

Something changed inside me on Wednesday, with the fearful, the outraged, and the collectively stunned community of friends on Twitter and Facebook.

I can no longer be silent. Not with the appointment of Vice President-elect who believes in the psychological brainwashing of 'conversion therapy'.  Not with the appointment of a man who preaches white supremacy into one of the President-elect's highest cabinet positions.

While I still find it palm-sweatingly impossible to lift my phone and call my conservative Kansan representatives, I am going to email, postcard, and letter the hell out of these people and remind them who Bannon really is.

I quietly came out on Twitter Wednesday as bisexual. Although my private actions have always been supportive of LGBTI friends and family, I have to stand up as one of the community or be forever damned as a hypocrite. Better a late coming out, than never. I told my mom. I still haven't come out to my extended family, but if you're reading this *waves*. Hi, guys.

I have made a pledge to speak out and most importantly ACT when I see racism and bigotry against any minority happening in front of my eyes. Silence is validation, no matter my personal opinions. I have to act, or it  means NOTHING.  I've noticed the invisibility of our hijab-wearing locals, even here in this small enclave of diverse, liberal east-central suburban Kansas. Maybe our schedules have just been clashing lately, but it makes me worry they're afraid.

Yes, these are baby steps. I have the privilege to do this small ways at first, whispering before I learn to scream from the rooftops.

Not everyone else does.

It's an uncomfortable epiphany that came home this week. I will continue to pray in my humanistic/agnostic ways that cooler heads and the stubbornness of American partisan politics will prevent repeating the mistakes of the past. But peppered through my pleas to the universe for balance will be more actions to make it so.

Holy crap, it's November.

Like most folks, I think, I'm ready for 2016 to be over. I am a subscriber to the theory that David Bowie was the glue holding reality together, and now that he's gone...yeah. You know the rest of the story already!

As mind-bogglingly bizarre as this year has been, it's been productive in terms of writing as I escape into my own head and worlds that dance to a tune I control. I finished my space opera, now receiving the last-minute scrutiny of my CP's and the first queries are out to my Chosen Ones, lol. The sequel to my first fantasy novel was released in July and is getting lovely four and five star reviews. 

One of my CP's for DALÍ, which features a gender-fluid main character, challenged me to enter something for an LGTBI anthology. I finished the first draft of that today. I'd forgotten how much I love challenges--it's what got me back into writing after so many years of radio silence. Challenges often force me to write out of my 'comfort zone' and try something new. What emerged from this one was an unexpected, sweet, regency-ish romance. I may have to write more about these characters, as they're making me fall in love with them. I write best when I'm obsessed. 

With the fun and madness of Halloween over and the promise of my brother's roast turkey on the horizon, it's shaping up to be a lovely end of the year, if I can get through the next week with my sanity intact. If I don't wake up into a dystopian society next Wednesday, I'll be satisfied.

Time for the hard work: Query and synopsis!

**Apologies. I've been trying to fix the formatting on this post but to no avail!**

Finished revisions to DALÍ on Friday last week! It's off for a read with fresh eyes. Now comes the really hard work. 

Queries. Synopsis.

 

We hates it, precious!

I talked to my CP this afternoon, and he agreed it is evil, but necessary. His own novel is in submissions with publishing houses at this moment, and he still said that querying was the real work. Yeah, let's take your entire novel and squash it down into three paragraph blurb that catches an agent's imagination and attention. THEN, let's squish it into bare-bones for a full synopsis! *weeps*

Improving my writing and my queries seem to be separate skill sets. It's definitely an art form. I've lurked QueryShark, and viewed a dozen how-to blogs, and it still eludes me. I've decided to call in the big guns this time. I really want to do every part of this process justice! I'm anxious to start querying, but I'm taking a deep breath. I've queried too early in the process in the past, and I don't want to make the mistake again. 

So in between drafts of the query, and waiting for the judgement of my trusted partners in crime, I'm looking at Publisher's Marketplace and making my list ...checking it twice...researching deals to see if they're "nice" (points if you get that reference)!

 I can do this. It's gonna be epic, right?

Two Spotlights today!

I have two lovely hosts today on my book world tour :-)

Share My Destiny

Mello and June, It's a Book Thang

The tour is starting to wind down, and it's been lovely. Three more stops (one a review), and it will be done. In the meantime, I'm nose to the keyboard on edits for DALI.

Miley the Book Junkie Reads TRUTHSONG!

This is the kind of review that makes me all warm and fuzzy, and a little bit squishy.

"Beautifully written. Well crafted, molded, and solidified. This was high fantasy at its finest."

The Book Junkie's Reads has different interview with little ol' me today, and the review...pardon me while I smile. A lot.

A Night's Dream of Books made me blush!

A Night's Dream of Books gave me an amazing compliment. I'm still reeling. 

"I felt totally thrilled and delighted while I read this excerpt. There's a certain musical flow to the language. This reminds me of one of my favorite writers of all time -- J.R.R. Tolkien. The characters encountered here also remind me of his work. This is not a bad thing at all. It simply shows that the legacy left behind by this author has continued to bear fruit. So I would say that Hamill is a worthy successor to him! I love the whole scene, her very visual descriptions, her invention of these curious, yet beautiful creatures, the Gwaith'orn.... Everything in this excerpt gives promise of a richly-detailed world-building, with a magical, totally enthralling atmosphere. I can hardly wait to get this book, as I definitely want to read it as soon as I can! Kudos to Hamill for getting me so interested in her book with just this short excerpt!"

I'm also spotlighted 3 Partners in Shopping today. They have a ton of books on their site, so check  'em out!

Sneak Peek at my new work in progress, DALI!

Roxanne's Realm has my very first interview as an author, and a little snippet of my new adult sci-fi work, DALI.  It's a book I'm working on with editor Jami Nord's guidance, and I'm seriously excited about how it's shaping up under her suggestions. I can't wait to get to a point where I can start querying this one.

The tour de blog continues this week, with a few reviews coming up...*bites nails*

Tour de Blog, Day Three!

Fang-Tastic Books is my gracious host today, spotlighting my book and the rafflecopter. Stop by and see some of the great books Roxanne has on her site!

I've had a lot of fun so far. Later in the tour, I'll be seeing some reviews, which is always a nail-biting experience...

In between blog stops, I'm editing away madly on DALI.  There just might be a sneak peek of this WIP in one of the interviews next week, so stay tuned!

My blog tour goes to the UK today!

Books and Kats hosts my book tour today! This one does have the pictures of my dream cast- check it out at  Guest Post: Truthsong Dream Movie Cast by Elisabeth Hamill.

Thanks to Kat for hosting me today!

TRUTHSONG book tour starts today!

The fabulous Roxanne Rhoads is once again whisking me off on a blog tour!

Today's stops are  at The Book Tree , where you get to hear who'd be my dream cast for Truthsong (although they didn't have room for the pictures. I'll post them after the tour when exclusivity is no longer an issue!)

The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom has a list of my top ten favorite fantasy novels of all time. How many of yours match mine?

There's a raffle copter to win a free e-copy of TRUTHSONG on all of the stops in the next two weeks, so please enter!

A new Blog series: Blood and Guts – Medical Information for Writers

**NOTICE** In no way is this article a tool for diagnosis or meant to serve in lieu of a doctor’s advice.  Please consult the appropriate medical personnel if it applies to you or a loved one. It is informational only!

There are a lot of cliches writers fall back on which have basis in medical fact, but not necessarily accurate in the way it’s portrayed in popular film, television and literature.  In a series of blog posts, I’m going to try to help writers find balance between dramatic license and medical fact for a variety of topics.

In my non-writing life, I am a nurse.  I worked in a hospital medical-surgical unit for seven years, a wound care clinic, a post-partum and women’s surgical unit and briefly, school nursing. For the last three years, I’ve been a hospice nurse.

I personally rely on dark humor to help me cope – a lot of medical personnel do, in a ‘laugh or go crazy’ kind of way. My husband is a paramedic (he will also help me contribute to these posts for EMS descriptions), and we kind of …forget…that we can’t talk about the things we see when we’re out in public. The conversations we have at times would make most people flee in self-defense. Our kids are used to this sort of thing after a lifetime of dealing with our jobs. They just roll their eyes and tell us, “Mom, Dad—you’re scaring the normal people.”

In later posts, my husband (we’ll call him EMT Thor) and I will address some of these processes from a trauma standpoint. “It’s Just a Flesh Wound!” will be the next topic. We’ll discuss blood loss, blunt force trauma, and cavitation injury, among other things.

We’re happy to answer questions or take requests for subjects if there is something specific you want to know. 

In this post I’ll discuss natural death in general, either at the end of a long life, or due to an acute disease process. I’m going to do it as simply as possible, without a lot of gory detail. (That isn’t to say I won’t share gory detail if you think it’s critical to your writing. Just ask… and I won’t promise the rest of the articles will be quite as respectfully presented.)

 Post # 1 : Realistic observations about the dying process

One of the things I have learned in my hospice nursing is: death is an incredibly individual process for each patient. 

How we deal with death and dying is also a personal experience, and there are no ‘wrong’ reactions.  However… If the subject bothers you, please stop reading now. Again, this is a generalized description and does not necessarily happen for every individual.

Early symptoms of the dying process

After a chronic illness or disease process can no longer be controlled by medical intervention, we begin to look for trends that alert us vital organs are beginning to be compromised.

The heart and lungs are arguably the most important organs in the body. When they fail, every other organ falls in line. The heart delivers oxygen-rich blood to the brain and the rest of the body after its trip through the lungs, and if that perfusion is compromised, other organ function begins to decline.

Common trends on vital signs at the end of life: the blood pressure goes down. The pulse goes up, and the respirations go up. Extremely low blood pressures, usually below 80s/40s, are not unusual, and keep dropping as the body shuts down peripheral circulation to the extremities. Hands and feet may become cool to the touch and pulses in the wrists and feet may become weak and thready, or absent all together, especially in the feet.

Average pulse rates for an adult are between 60 and 100. At the end of life, the heart is working twice as hard to deliver oxygen to the brain and vital organs, and heart rates can soar. I’ve seen them as high as 160 beats per minute in the hours before death occurs, but usually, it is somewhere between 120 and 140.

Respirations get faster as the lungs try to provide oxygen for the blood the heart is trying to pump. Normal respirations are 12-20 for most adults at rest. At the end of life, respirations usually are in the 30’s, perhaps even the 40s, at rest. A person may use more of their accessory muscles to breathe: muscles in the throat, between the ribs, and in the abdomen. Less chest rise, more belly rise.

Sometimes, we see a pattern called Cheyne-Stokes respirations. This is a pattern of breathing that starts out shallow, works out to a crescendo of deep breaths, tapers back to shallow, followed by a pause in breathing called apnea. Then, the whole pattern starts all over again. I’ve usually seen this in patients with neurological compromise, like brain injuries or strokes, but it can happen to any patient. Apnea can last up to a full minute at times.

As the brain becomes starved of oxygen, or toxic chemical levels in the body rise due to kidney failure, something called terminal restlessness may occur. This can happen hours before or even up to two weeks before death: the patient becomes confused, delirious, can’t relax, and sometimes becomes combative.

A fever unrelated to infection is not uncommon during the early stages of dying, and can be quite high. The body's metabolism is changing and the thermostat is malfunctioning. 

Something else that happens as circulation begins to shut down is mottling. The skin develops a diffuse, purplish discoloration as the blood pressure lacks the sufficient hydraulic pressure to return deoxygenated blood to the cardiovascular system. We usually see this start in areas of the body where capillaries are numerous, such as kneecaps, the fingers and palms of the hands, and the soles of feet. This can also happen across the bridge of the nose. It can progress to all parts of the body. It is a clear sign the circulatory system is failing.  Lividity can also happen before death—the blood pools in the lowest areas of the body, like the buttocks. There is a clear reddish level to the skin where the blood has settled—a bit like red liquid in a white plastic pitcher. It’s more common for this to happen after death, but it can happen a few days before.

“Death rattle” refers to sound made as fluid collects in the lungs. The circulatory system is one big hydraulic pump. When blood pressure drops, it lacks the pressure needed to draw interstitial fluids back into the bloodstream to be redistributed, and it goes naturally to the paths of least resistance. The lungs are built to let oxygen flow back and forth between tissues and the bloodstream, but fluids are not able to move back out once this process is compromised. It may collect in the respiratory system and cause a coarse, rattly, or even bubbling sound as the patient breathes. Expirations may become prolonged, and that sound becomes drawn out. Unfortunately, this may go on for days during the dying process. Medications can be given early to dry up these secretions and keep the patient more comfortable.

Agonal breathing, or “guppy breathing” refers to respirations that are entirely governed by reflex. The mouth and tongue may move, the throat may flex, but very little if any air is being drawn into the lungs. These are usually the last few breaths a person takes. Again, each person’s death is different. Some just…stop. There simply aren’t any more breaths after the last.

The bowels can evacuate in a large movement just prior to or after death. Urine production generally declines as the kidneys lose their oxygenation, and while a person becomes dehydrated during the dying process. 

Quickly after death, changes begin in the body. Color drains from the face as circulation ceases. The eyes do not always stay closed, even when we move the lids into place. The jaw drops as the muscles become flaccid. We will often roll a towel beneath the chin to keep the mouth closed. A few hours after death, rigor mortis begins to set in and the body becomes stiff. This passes somewhere around twelve to eighteen hours after death. 

Although there are common signs and symptoms of dying most people go through, it’s never a ‘classic textbook’ experience. People die in the same way they lived—in their own time, and their own unique manner. 

Book release day for TRUTHSONG!

The sequel is here!  https://goo.gl/mCz7KL

I'm ecstatic if still a bit sleepy from working this weekend, LOL! Telyn's new adventure is released into the wild TODAY! The cover art is from Caroline Andrus of Fire and Ice YA, my partners for this second book in the Songmaker series.

Below is the acknowledgements page from the book - if your name is in this, there's a signed paperback for you. I couldn't have done it without you!

Acknowledgements:

A writer only grows in their craft with the help of other writers as critique partners. I’d like to acknowledge J D Abbas for her excellent dissection of my work and help making this book submittable. Thank you, thank you! My early beta readers are incredible assets who keep me focused and enthusiastic with their feedback. Thank you so much to Sandra Warner, Mark Millham, Jessica Burche, Jeri Grove, Gary McNeff and Gina Juliano.

Thank you to my editor, Aubrey Wynne, who guided me through the early days of internet marketing and press releases, blogs and Twitter with my first book. She has helped me decrease my obsessive use of emdashes and ellipses! Her skill is legendary.

Last, I must again thank my family: Mark, Michaela and Gabriel, for recognizing how important writing is to me, sleeping in on mornings when I get up early to write so I can have an extra hour of solitude, and doing the never-ending laundry when Mom is in the throes of a new book. I love you all. 

I will be doing a book tour with the fantastic Roxanne Rhoads of Bewitching Book Tours in August, and there will be giveaways. I will be posting giveaways on Amazon and Goodreads through the month as well- both signed paperback and digital copies, so keep  your eyes open!  

If you haven't read the first book, it's on sale for 99 cents at Amazon, and 50% off at Smashwords through the end of July. 

Updates and Truthsong Cover Reveal!

This has been a busy year so far for me! I finished the first draft of DALI, my new adult sci fi, and got some wonderful advice and feedback from my excellent CP's and my developmental editor, the incomparable Jami Nord at Chimera Edits. I'm really stoked about it and have a self-imposed deadline to have it ready to query in September. 

In between edits for DALI, I've been doing final edits for TRUTHSONG, which has a release date of July 24th. I'm excited to have this one almost in the bag. I have notes for the final book in Telyn's adventures, LORD OF THE WOOD, and I have no idea yet when that will be finished. I'm kind of obsessed with Dali at the moment, and I always work better when I'm obsessed.

But without further ado, here is the beautiful cover for TRUTHSONG, once again rendered by Caroline Andrus, cover artist extraordinaire:

Lost in first draft land!

Whoa, it's been way too long since I updated the blog!

I've been obsessed by a new project-- I'm working on an adult space opera/sci-fi novel with a main character who blindsided me and just started talking. I'm up to 63K with my list of scenes to write getting shorter by the day. I can't wait to get this one out of my head so I can start to edit.

Truthsong will be out in July or August of this year from Fire and Ice YA, and I can't wait to work with my new editor, who is a writer and mentor I admire. You know who you are.

Nectar and Ambrosia has seen some interest and I rewrote the first few chapters in keeping with suggestions from an editor of a small press. We will see if anything comes from that, but the nagging voice I had started the novel in the wrong place has been silenced by that rewrite. Even if they pass, I think it was a good change.

The day the music died

I know I'm not a kid anymore, but last week's loss of David Bowie hit me harder than I thought it ever would. I have already lost some of the musicians I grew up with, like Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, but David Bowie spoke to me on so many levels it was a more personal loss.

I first fell in love with Bowie at a very young age when I saw the album cover of my aunt's copy of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I'd never seen anyone who looked like that. He was beautiful and strange and something about his voice captivated me right away. I am pretty sure I saw the original airing of Bing Crosby's Christmas Special and falling in love with Bing and Bowie's duet of The Little Drummer Boy (yes, I am dating myself). And there was a weird time when my Mom's Barbara Streisand album had a cover of her singing Is There Life on Mars. It just goes to show the power of the songwriter that even her foray into Bowie's territory was kind of cool in a very, very odd way.

I wasn't really into that kind of music yet when I fell in love with the alien on the album cover, so years passed before I rediscovered David Bowie and A Space Oddity in my teens. "The Man Who Fell to Earth" was a bizarre sci-fi movie he starred in and I had the paperback novel with the stills from the film in the middle. Thanks to MTV,  Ashes to Ashes was a visual trip into my old friend's newer music. Suddenly, everybody knew who he was. Fashion, China Girl, Let's Dance, Modern Love, Blue Jean- his renaissance was a thing of beauty that only continued to grow. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" was a beautiful film in which he played a British prisoner of war. "The Hunger" saw him portray an aging vampire. There were other films, but these were my favorites. And then came "Labyrinth".

I sneaked out of work early to see "Labyrinth" at the theater for a second and third time without anybody knowing. Ye gods, the man was beautiful as the Goblin King.

If you haven't seen Bowie's final masterpiece, the video for Lazarus, seek it out. It made me cry. The dying man in the bed, the artist/writer scribbling desperately to outrace mortality and continue to create...he was truly saying goodbye, although none of us knew this until after the fact, when it hit home with all too painful truth.

He was an artist who wed music to science fiction, a consummate performer who reinvented himself over and over. I'm thankful for the body of work he leaves behind.