young adult GLBT novel available for pre-order
Posted on November 30, 2008
Greetings, all–
If you’re interested in finding young adult novels that deal sensitively with GLBT issues, you might consider picking up Barbara Clanton’s stuff.
Out of Left Field is available for pre-order (and then order! ) from Starcrossed Productions. Here’s the direct link. And here’s what the book is about:
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High school junior Marlee McAllister lives and breathes softball. She’s the pitcher for the Clarksonville Cougars in the North Country of upstate New York. With the season opener approaching, Marlee and her best friend, Jeri D’Amico, go to scout their rivals, the East Valley Panthers. The Panthers’ star pitcher, Christy Loveland, took the All County pitching title the preceding year. It is a title Marlee covets. Marlee and Jeri settle in for the game but as the Panthers take the field, Marlee finds herself staring at Susie Torres, the Panther left fielder.
For reasons Marlee doesn’t understand, she’s drawn to Susie. Over the course of the next few weeks, Marlee and Susie will slowly act on their mutual attraction. But suddenly Susie pulls away without explanation and Marlee realizes it has to do with Christy. Susie won’t explain the bond she and Christy share but whatever it is threatens Marlee’s burgeoning relationship with Susie.
Struggling to maintain her grades, dealing with the ever-increasing estrangement from her best friend Jeri, and handling the pressures of the All County Pitching competition, Marlee also has to confront the bittersweet realities of what it might mean to be gay.
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If you’d like to know more about the author, you can check out her website here. The book will ship December 15th. Congrats, Barbara!
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Be a better writer. Read.
Posted on November 28, 2008
Hi, all! It’s the day after Thanksgiving here in the States and I’m chillin’ because I have a horrible aversion to the holiday season. So I’m getting caught up on my reading. Why?
Aside from the obvious (it transports me, allows me immersion in other places, times, and cultures), it helps me write better.
Every teacher I’ve had who loved the written word and who encouraged writing read copiously. Across genres. As many different writers as they could. From reading, you develop an inherent sense of how writing works, of how good grammar, syntax, and spelling operate. The more you read, the more that sense of how things should work embed themselves in your brain. Read genres you don’t normally read. Pick up some nonfiction and read that. Read some of the best journalists who publish their work in venues like Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Adventure, and Outside. Check out literary journals for some of the best cutting-edge fiction out there.
Be curious. Try new things.
And read.
Hope your Friday’s going well.
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Updates
Posted on November 19, 2008
Been sup-ah busy, friends! Just finished up going through the edits for “Friends in High Places,” my sci fi novel that will be released through Bedazzled Ink hopefully in December. You can also see what that’s about by going to the “Books” page here.
State of Denial, the second in my New Mexico series–this one starring Detective Chris Gutierrez–is typeset and hopefully on its way to the printer. I don’t have a definitive ETA on that, but hopefully it’ll be in December. Keep in mind that Regal Crest suffered a slight setback because of Hurricane Ike, and had to relocate for a few weeks. They’re doing their best to make sure things stay as close as possible to schedule, but don’t forget to figure in a little bit of “Act of God” time. If you’d like to read the first chapter of State of Denial, click HERE. You can also access it from the Books page on this groovy site.
And remember, you can find me blogging over at Outer Limits as well as at MySpace.
Thanks for stopping by and hope everything’s groovy with everyone!
peace!
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