What the fckity fck

HI PEEPS!

Yeah, so, trying to avoid any weird-ass AI censorship with that title. LOL

How are y’all? It’s been a minnit and I apologize profusely. The truth is, this whole pandemic shit has basically wiped writing off the face of my earth, because guess what? Life gets in the way.

During this pandemic, I have been taking care of some elderly relatives in addition to myself, and our world shrank to a microcosm during pre-vax lockdowns. I’m in the States, and some jerkwad state governments have loosened restrictions this year, which means a tidal wave of the unvaxxed amidst Delta variant creating problems for those of us who are vaxxed and who, like me, are still living like we’re in lockdown. I’m masking when I have to go out and still social distancing because I don’t want to bring cooties home to the older folx, you dig? Even though we’re all vaxxed.

And let’s just clear this up now — just because you’re vaxxed (hopefully) doesn’t mean you still can’t get COVID. The difference is, the vax will hopefully decrease your symptoms and keep the majority of the vaxxed out of the hospital, and that’s a primary purpose, is to free up hospitals/healthcare resources and hospital workers so they’re not burning out/dying.

Getting a vax is community love. Continuing to mask is also community love. It shows that you care, and that you don’t want to spread cooties to your community and friends and family.

Anyway, writing.

A lot of my fellow writers have confided to me that they’re experiencing writers’ block and other issues with regard to writing, and they’ve been experiencing this since lockdowns and, between you and me, the anxiety engendered by the previous US administration.

Y’all, that’s legit. Don’t feel guilty if you’re not able to write. Don’t feel guilty if you’re not able to deal with all the apocalyptic bullshit going on and you just can’t do X, Y, Z or whatever. That’s fine. Say no to loading your plate. Set your boundaries. If you are a creator and you’re having trouble creating, it’s okay. Everything has been a hot mess for months (who are we kidding–centuries), and in this country, at least, we’ve all seen the cracks in our infrastructure and the systemic inequity undermining everything. We’re also seeing a surge of anti-rights movements and people who have no problem resorting to violence against their fellow travelers to get whatever weird conspiracy-addled crap they want.

So be gentle and kind to yourself as you start navigating this new world. Because the truth is, the pandemic is not over and COVID is not going to go away. It’s another disease that we will have to learn to live with, and until we have managed to build up natural immunity as a species, we need to be careful and protect ourselves and others. We are not ever going to go back to pre-COVID life. And that’s not entirely a bad thing.

Here’s what I’ve been doing to get the creative coffee percolating:

  • Reading. I’ve been reading a fuck-ton of fiction, including nutty Florida stories by Carl Hiaasen; another Florida thriller writer Randy Wayne White; a historical mystery series set in New York City by Victoria Thompson; a translated dark Swedish thriller by Stefan Ahnhem; the new Star Wars novels in the new ‘verse, and lots of nonfiction, including Lillian Faderman’s The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle. I pretty much read every day, now, and it not only provides an escape, but also inspiration.
  • Watch some TV. Go ahead. If you can, binge watch your guilty pleasures. I’ve been watching the Brokenwood mysteries on Acorn TV and Murder, She Wrote on Peacock. I find that watching stuff I enjoy helps me unwind and also inspires me to create.
  • Work out. I have a regular workout regimen, so I work out 4-6 days a week via workout programs on TeamBodyProject.com. But it doesn’t have to be that way; if you take a mile walk every day, you’re getting good exercise and it helps clear your head. Just be careful out there and always carry a mask. 🙂
  • Garden. This is something I picked up during the pandemic and it brings me a lot of joy and peace to be working with plants. I have flowers and veggie plants, now, and I find that working with them and learning more about how to be a better cultivator is really meditative.
  • Doing jigsaw puzzles. By hand. Over the past year I’ve worked dozens of these on an old card table. I really like the thousand-piecers for a challenge. I do landscape images, seascapes, and Americana. It’s really relaxing and meditative for me.
  • Therapy. Yeah, I said it. I’m in therapy (again — I’ve done therapy quite a few times during my life). I started back up last year because I realized I needed some extra help on working some shit out, and I am a huge proponent of therapy. Just make sure you find the right therapist for you, within your means.
  • Podcasts. JFC, people. I’m a podcast addict. I listen to several true crime podcasts but also this great oral history podcast called Making Gay History. And I listen to some excellent news podcasts including In The Thick (news from a POC perspective). Stay away from news channels. All kinds. And do NOT get your news from social media. Podcasts, legit blogsites, and newspapers (indie and LA Times enewspapers) are, I’ve found, the best way for me to stay informed and absorb information and mull it over without the constant bombardment of reality-show news. That shit is designed to fill you with fear and dread, which contributes to the divisiveness around us. So remove yourself.

Those are a few of the things I’m doing and you know what? I actually am writing again. I’ll be posting some fanfic soon and I’m finishing up expanding a short story into a novella that I hope to publish soon. It’s different — YA teen detective kinda stuff.

So, yeah. There’s a lot of horrible shit going on, and you are totally legit in not feeling very creative if that’s where you are. But try to find a little bit of joy in each day, and remember to be kind to yourself and others. There seems to be a dearth of that.

Love and peace! And I think I’m gonna make this blog shit a regular thing again. MUAH!

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You can choose to be childless

Hi, friends. Some thoughts.

Women and Words

Hi, all–

Just putting in some thoughts even as Women and Words winds down to its hiatus (which begins June 1, ICYMI).

I read an essay today on Feminist Giant by Mona Eltahawy titled Essay: Unmothering.” Eltahawy is a feminist author and speaker.

It starts thus:

I am childfree by choice.

My maternal grandmother had 11 children. My mother is the eldest of those children and she has three children of her own. I am the eldest of those children and I am glad to have none of my own.

It is still a taboo to say that.

She continues, discussing her realization that she didn’t want kids and that she never wanted them. And I think about all the ciswomen out there who have been pressured or felt pressured to reproduce. Eltahawy did marry a guy, but divorced a couple years later:

If marrying him was the biggest…

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Online promo tips for your book!

Hi, all–

If you’re working on a first manuscript, you need to start thinking about how to publicize your book. Whether you’re indie or working with a publishing house, the brunt of getting the word out fall on YOU, the author.

If you’re an already published author, then you’re always trying to find new ways to get the word out about your book, and we’ve all had to adjust in this pandemic era.

To that end, I ran across this great post by historian Lindsay Chervinsky who writes nonfiction, but she has some awesome tips about publicizing your book online. She posted these tips over at Medium, so

HAVE A LOOK.


Some good ideas, there, and a lot of them dovetail with some of the things I’ve posted here over the years. You can’t not promote, anymore. But there are ways to do it without being tedious. Think outside the box. Think about themes. Think about cool stuff for a newsletter. Think about doing podcasts (that is, being a guest on one). No venue is too small if you’re passionate about what you’re writing.

And don’t just stick to finding out what fiction writers are doing, if that’s your gig. Have a look at promotion of nonfiction, too. Chervinsky is focused primarily on nonfiction, but you can adjust these tips to your own use and figure out creative ways to approach your own material. Don’t feel you’re limited to just listening to other fiction authors. Branch out. 🙂

Hope everyone is having a fab day.

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Yeah…about that whole Pride thing…

Hi, friends. Thought I’d share this post I did over at Women and Words, my other hangout. Take care of each other.

Women and Words

Hi, Queerfolx.

Especially white queerfolx.

Okay, relax. If it makes it any easier, white peeps, I’m white, too. So maybe you’ll be more comfortable with a white person telling you to think about some things.

Let’s talk a bit about a galvanizing reason behind these protests. And as I write this, US military forces are literally being deployed to possibly enact lethal force on their fellow Americans — in response to peaceful protests of thousands of POC and their allies.

Please think about that, too, as you read this. About the United States military being sent to possibly employ lethal force against American citizens.

Primarily, think about police brutality, because that’s a major driver of the current protests.

I wanted to bring this up today because June is Pride month, and it’s important to remember that the modern LGBTQ rights movement was launched in the early morning hours of June…

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LOL still not writing, but I am publishing. And podcasting.

Hi, friends–

JFC I just have not been in the mood to write. And for writers, that might be a problem. But whatever. I’m trying to hold down a fort here with some relatives who are in higher-risk groups for COVID-19, so I’m making a lot of decisions about how we get supplies and what they can or can’t do. They’re not always happy about it, but then, nobody is truly happy right now, so we’re all just sucking it up and being responsible toward each other and our larger communities.

I have, however, been doing a bunch of editing and prepping as the publishing house I co-own is putting out a couple of things in the next couple of months. Check out the Dirt Road Books Facebook page or Twitter account (@DirtRoadBooks) for deets.

I’ve also been able to do some small projects around the house like painting and doing some grounds cleaning and other stuff of that nature. I’m still podcasting biweekly with author and colleague Lise MacTague — we do the Lez Geek Out! podcast, which deals with queer and feminist rep in various media. We just posted episode #76, which is about representation and gender in media, and we had awesome queer book reviewer Tara Scott with us to talk about things gender-related like gender expression, gender presentation, gender vs. sex, butch and femme, gender queer, gender nonconforming…you get the point.

You can check that out HERE on Apple podcasts (but we’re on a bunch of other platforms you can think of, too). If you dig it, please like and subscribe so others can find us, too. 😀

And you can find Lez Geek Out! on our website at lezgeekoutcasts.com and on Twitter (@LGOpodcast).

A couple of reminders. May is Mental Health Awareness Month (super important, but maybe now more than ever). Here are some links for resources:
Mental Health America
Mental Health America resources that are COVID-19 specific
National Alliance on Mental Health
NAMI’s LGBTQ resources
Human Rights Campaign and LGBTQ people (HRC partners with Mental Health America)
National Council for Behavioral Health
Anxiety and Depression Association of America
15 mental health podcasts for people of color
Project LETS, resources for people of color

It’s okay to feel like poo. It’s okay to not be okay and to talk about it.

Take care of yourselves and others as you can, and if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask.

by Categories: Business things, Life Stuff, Publishing, The Writing Crazy, Writing LifeTags: ,

Still not writing, but I’m damn sure talking about it

Hi, friends! My colleague and friend Lise MacTague (if you haven’t read her stuff, omg, DO SO NOW and hit the link to check out her website) and I do the Lez Geek Out! podcast, and we just dropped episode 75, in which we talk about the joys and pitfalls of writing book series.

You can find Lez Geek Out! on all the major podcast platforms if you’re interested or you can go to our website to check out previous episodes, which involves talking about fangirl stuff, books and authors we love, movies we watch, and TV shows and comics we’re checking out. We’re all about queer and feminist rep.

Here’s the link to our website:

RIGHT HERE!

Here’s the direct link to episode 75 on iTunes: HERE

So if you’d like to hang out with us this week as we chat about our experience writing series. please do!

And you can find us on Twitter: @LGOPodcast. Let us know if there’s something queer/feminist rep you’re into and maybe we’ll get into it on one of our episodes!

Take care, everyone. Stay safe.

by Categories: Podcasting, Podcasts, Writing, Writing Life, Writing Process, Writing tipsTags: , ,

I’m not f*cking writing; it’s an apocalypse

Hi, friends–

I really, really hope you’re all doing well and staying safe and I hope that you’re able to find the resources you need to get through this giant bucket of fuck that has beset us.

I’ve been talking to my writer friends and some are throwing themselves into their next writing projects while others just can’t and they’re feeling really freaked out about not writing to which I say:

It’s all right.

These are fucked-up times, and we all have to figure out what works for us to get through. Some of us are struggling with anxiety and depression. Some with hunger. Some are struggling with no jobs. Some are struggling because they’re trying to balance what work they have with suddenly homeschooling kids in the house. And some are dealing with ill family members (blood-related or not) or dealing with illness themselves or, goddess forbid, dealing with a loss as a result of this pandemic.

I’m trying to keep a household with a couple of older relatives even-keel; we’re passing depression and anxiety around like a soccer ball but I’m working on getting household projects assigned practically every day so we all have things to do that maybe have needed to be done in the past.

All these little podunk projects that we laughed off in the past now have profound meaning because they engage us and keep us routinized and no matter how small the task or project, I feel a sense of accomplishment when it’s done. It’s grounding, in seriously ungrounded times.

So don’t feel guilty if you’re not finding the time or the drive to write. It’s okay to freak out and try to deal with things in other ways (please make those healthy things). These are incredibly difficult times, and we’re all trying to figure out how to help ourselves and help others when a lot of us are confined to our households.

So here are a few things I’ve been doing to deal with things while I’m not fucking writing:

  • I’ve gotten a routine going. I’m fortunate in that I still have a day job and though it’s remote, now, I keep regular hours at it and treat it like going to an office. After I’m done for the day, I do evening stuff — make dinner, clean up a bit, then do emails for my writing and publishing stuff (not actual writing) and check in with friends and family.
  • On weekends, I do bunches of little projects. I’ve been painting some trim in my house, for example, and doing some clean-up of the grounds (weather permitting).
  • I’m trying to be kind to myself. So you try to be kind to yourself, too, no matter what form that might take. If you have a few hours and you don’t want to do anything except binge something on TV and you have that luxury, do it. I recommend you watch stuff that isn’t going to increase your anxiety or depression, though. If you can grab a few minutes outside by yourself or with others in your household to play a quick game of catch or something as you’re able, do it. Something that makes you feel good and connected to yourself and maybe others might help alleviate some of the internal turmoil you may be feeling, at least for a little while.
  • If you’re not dealing with as much anxiety and depression as others in your life, check in with those folks and see if they need you to do a regular check-in at the same time every day to help them establish a new routine. It might help you, too, if that becomes part of YOUR routine.
  • Try to do something physical every day. Even if it’s some kind of jerry-rigged home workout using stuff around your house and your body weight. 15-20 mins a day with a set physical routine can do wonders for your state of mind (I also like to dance around my house with earbuds in…SILENT DANCE PARTY!).
  • Make goofy videos or photos to share with your friends and family. And hell, if you want to, post them on social media. Or do like some people and re-create famous artworks with whatever you’ve got.

Point being, shit is real right now, and if you can’t bring yourself to write — if you’re in survival mode however that looks for you — that’s okay. Really. Be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and help how you can.

Take care, all. And if Easter is your thing, I hope it’s safe and happy.

by Categories: Apocalypse, Writing, Writing LifeTags: , , , , 5 Comments

Blog Tour with KD Williamson! “One Reason”

HAI, FRENZ! Welcome to this here whistlestop on the KD Williamson blog tour! We’re celebrating the release of her latest F/F romance, Big Girl Pill, and that involves giveaways and blogs and happy fun times! WOOOOO! See below for the schedule and for the giveaway deets!

SYNOPSIS:

Maya Davis is done hiding. It’s left her empty and out of touch with her family. Now she’s a young woman on a mission: getting rid of residual feelings for her former best friend from college. Her plan is to put herself through a wringer by being in Nina’s upcoming wedding and burning away whatever emotions are left, so she can start anew. Her plan, however, has big holes, and everything she’s been feeling rushes through and leaves her thinking that this was a bad idea.

Nina Sterling is a work in progress, torn between being two very different things—the person others expect her to be and who she wants to become. For the past couple of years, it’s been easier to give in toher demanding, steamroller of a mother and her pleasant but controlling fiancé, but with Maya’s return for a lengthy stay in town, and encouragement from Nina’s hilarious cousin, seeds of rebellion are sown.

As Maya and Nina try to patch up the past and get closer, old sparks rekindle, and as they both grow into who they are meant to be, those sparks might just become a fire.

And now, I’ll leave it to KD. Thanks for joining us. 🙂

One Reason

I don’t write about black people simply because I’m black. That’s only one reason. Having a degree in literature has made me privy to some incredible books and epic poems, but I also got the chance to see a huge selection of harmful tropes and stereotypes about women and about people of color. I told myself that if I ever got to really write I’d do my best to educate and illuminate that POC, especially, are not “other”. Our experiences are similar. Our lives are similar, and I think I really got to showcase that in my latest novel, Big Girl Pill.

Family as a concept has a huge role in this book. As one family comes together, the other disintegrates. I delve into the importance of loyalty, communication, empathy and caring, which are things most of us strive for in family life. Just because Maya’s family is black and non-traditional doesn’t make that any different. They are flawed, but they don’t have to be broken. They laugh. They try to be there for each other and they try to be honest.

Sound familiar? Nothing “other” and unrelatable about that.

On the flip side is Nina Sterling’s experience, which is completely opposite from Maya’s. Nina doesn’t find strength in that bond. Instead, there’s toxicity. It takes her a while to really see that, but she’s young. Give her a break, yes? Still, she forges ahead and unconsciously forms something completely new for herself, which does indeed lift her up. In other words, they both pretty much strive for the same thing as they move closer toward each other. I mean, it is a romance after all.

So, what I’m trying to say is take away our skin suits and we’re pretty much the same and want the same things. Some may go after it differently, but that’s an individual thing, not a race thing.

How about we just read romance and enjoy?

KD Williamson is a Southerner and a former nomad, taking up residence in the Mid-West, east coast, and New Orleans over the years. She was a Hurricane Katrina survivor displaced to the mountains of North Carolina but has since found her way back to Louisiana where she lives with her wife and the most horribly spoiled pets in history.

She enjoys all things geek from video games to super heroes. KD is a veteran in the mental health field where she works with children and their families. She discovered writing as a teenager with the help of her English teacher, whom she had a huge crush on. With her teacher’s help, KD wrote her first short story but afterward had a hard time finding inspiration. Years later, writing fanfic became her gateway into lesbian fiction.

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Indeed! How about a giveaway? Hit the link to get all signed up.

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY LINK OMG

AND!
To buy Big Girl Pill:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

Find KD:
Website
Twitter (@Rizzleslovr72)
Facebook
Instagram
Goodreads Profile

KD Williamson blog tour schedule:

1/21 Dirt Road Books
1/22 KD Williamson
1/23 Cheyenne Blue
1/24 RG Emanuelle

1/27 Andi Marquette
1/28 Sacchi Green
1/29 Women and Words
1/30 Dirt Road Books

by Categories: Blog Tour, Books, Free Books, New ReleasesTags: , ,

Cookin’ for charity with Dirt Road Books!

Hi, Friends —

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on a cool charity project my fellow founder and colleague at Dirt Road Books put together.

It’s a small book of recipes based on the DRB first year’s newsletter, which included a new recipe every month. My colleague, author and chef R.G. Emanuelle, is in fact a trained chef and she developed several recipes for the newsletter based on seasonal events but also short stories by fellow DRB authors.

So you’ll get a couple of sexy drinkie recipes, a few main dishes, and some sides. There’s a rib recipe and a pickle recipe, for example, and for those of you who are BBQ aficionados, you know BBQ and pickles ARE A THING.

So here’s the thing. Every year, DRB tries to put a project together in time for the holidays that benefits a charity. A Year in the Kitchen with R.G. Emanuelle is this year’s project, and ALL PROCEEDS benefit the Oregon Food Bank. It’s $3.99 to pick up your ecopy, and hot damn, you’re doing awesome-ness in addition to a little bit of cooking.

A Year in the Kitchen with R.G. Emanuelle is a collection of recipes from the first year of newsletters fromDirt Road Books. It offers twelve delectable dishes, from hearty family fare to party take-alongs and fabulous cocktails. Some are seasonal fare while others are inspired by stories written by DRB authors. DRB is proud to donate all proceeds to Oregon Food Bank, which has partnered with agencies that provide spaces that make it easy for the LGBTQ community to access food.

Find it on Kindle, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and other platforms.

Not only will you get some cool original recipes, but you’re helping a great charity out. Thanks and happy Monday!

by Categories: Announcements, Books, Holidays, Things you might likeTags: , , ,