Tag: authors

Everybody has a story

There is this really cool site that I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned on my Live Journal. It was started by a Houston artist and has been supported by a group of gifted people over the years.

The site is called Purse Stories. [ETA in 2022: It is regrettable that this site went away, because it had the only copy of my wee story.] Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a writer, but I think if you read some of the stories on the site, you’ll see how diverse in style and tone they are. Most are very, very short. They offer funny, touching, nostalgic, and thought-provoking writing.

If you’re like Tim and I were several years ago, just reading the stories will make you want to submit one of your own. Maybe you have a memory connected to a purse you’ve owned, or a mother’s, aunt’s, sister’s, or friend’s purse.

If you contribute, let me know, so I can read your story. Or just enjoy reading the many stories on the site, and tell your friends about it.

And the famous get famouser

Congratulations to Famous Author Rob Byrnes, whose new novel WHEN THE STARS COME OUT is now available online and from your local chain and independent bookstores. I was privileged to read the manuscript and I’ve just ordered my copy because I look forward to reading it again.

From Publisher’s Weekly: Byrnes… plumbs the depths of variously closeted men in this sly charmer. (C)lever dialogue and an astute rendering of the prices people pay to keep secrets buried add crossover appeal.

Rob also excerpted portions of the novel here and here. Buy and enjoy! And if you’re in NYC or DC, check out the sidebar on FARB’s site for information on signings and readings and really, just a chance to get drunk with FARB. Because who wouldn’t want that?

A little Houston culture

Here in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood is a lovely little bed and breakfast that often hosts social and charitable events, the Lovett Inn. (I love going to parties there!) Recently, it became the Lovett Inn Boutique Hotel. The inn has begun displaying the works of local emerging and established artists.

I learned about the gallery by reading Houston’s fabulous OutSmart Magazine. The August issue also includes AN on the 2006 BookExpo America, which mentions, among others, our editor John (we love him!) and our fellow author and friend Greg Herren.

P.S. Whenever I say I LOVE something, I hear the voice of my friend Denece in my head making fun of me. If you’re reading this, Denece, hush!

State of The Compound: Temptations

Victories: Yesterday I finished a chapter. It was probably the chapter that intimidated me the most. Today, I plan to finish another one.

Mishaps: Unfortunately, as I’m sure EVERYONE who deals with computers knows, no matter how many times you get burned and tell yourself you’ll never do THAT again…

I saved a For-Tim-and-Jim-To-Read draft over a working draft and lost about eight pages of writing I was doing on two different chapters. Those particular pieces of writing were saved nowhere else. It’s only eight pages, not as bad as the time I lost 200 pages, but still…

At moments of realization like that, it’s hard not to wish I were:


Filling this canvas with the painting that a lovely person has commissioned from me. Or:


Getting lost in one of the three books I’m simultaneously reading, all of which are completely absorbing for different reasons.

I’m sorry if I’m not responding (or am responding s-l-o-w-l-y) to your e-mails, phone calls, or your wonderful blogs and journals. I’ll be more communicative soon.

Where they do it

I’m not saying which of these authors I know of and which I never heard of, because my ignorance is woeful and only discredits me, not them. But I really enjoyed visiting author Paige Cuccaro’s site and checking out the pictures listed on The Cave. You can click on photos and see the offices, nooks, and sofas where some authors do that thing they do. (And, like me, you can get your reading glasses and try to figure out what books they have on their shelves.) Cuccaro also includes links to the web pages and works of these writers. You may find a new reading pleasure!

I try to keep my work space as organized as possible, because when it’s a mess, I can’t focus. Looking at some of these writers’ spaces made me realize that ideas about clutter vary quite a lot. Also, I need something on the blank wall in front of me that might inspire me. Hmmm… Could be time for me to commission a painting from Timothy J. Lambert…

Why do they trouble themselves?

If you read Greg’s LJ entry, you can see a suggested way to respond to this action (free books!), but here’s the account of what’s going on at a lovely bookstore in Atlanta that I enjoy visiting when I’m in that city. What makes me sad is that I’ve watched one GLBT bookstore after another close over the past five years as people read less or buy their books online. If any good can come from these protests, maybe it’s that consumers will value Outwrite Books more.

From Southern Voice online:

Anti-gay protesters target Outwrite
Pickets for 3 weekends disrupt business, says gay bookstore owner
By DYANA BAGBY | Jul 7, 4:50 PM

Anti-gay protesters have been gathering for the past three weekends at the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue in Midtown Atlanta in front of the popular gay bookstore, Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, holding up signs and shouting messages from a bullhorn, according to store owner Philip Rafshoon.

“They were here the Saturday before Atlanta Pride, on June 17, and then on the Saturday of Pride (June 24) and then were here again last Saturday,” Rafshoon said.

The group typically consists of 15 to 20 street preachers, Rafshoon said. They all hold up signs that say, among other things, “Homosexuality is sick, wicked and an abomination before God” and “Don’t dress your daughters like whores.”

Rafshoon said last week they arrived at about 9:30 a.m. and stay for about two to three hours.

“One guy has a bullhorn, and I’ve heard him say they were going to keep coming back every Saturday,” he said.

It is unknown which anti-gay group the protesters represent.

Atlanta Police Department officials have told Rafshoon the protesters have a right to free speech. Rafshoon said he is also seeking the help of the Atlanta City Council for some kind of recourse.

The APD did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

“Besides impacting my business and other business, it could be a volatile situation here,” Rafshoon added.

Several gay advocates and customers have showed up as part of smaller counter protests, holding up their own signs, Rafshoon added.

And then…

…there are the books that didn’t change my life but which I loved so much that I read them over and over and over when I was growing up. Some of them are still my comfort books.

Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre

Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice

Elswyth Thane
Dawn’s Early Light
Yankee Stranger
Ever After
The Light Heart
Kissing Cousins
This Was Tomorrow
Homing

Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca
My Cousin Rachel

Mary Stewart
Madam, Will You Talk
Wildfire at Midnight
Thunder on the Right
Nine Coaches Waiting
My Brother Michael
The Ivy Tree
The Moon-Spinners
This Rough Magic
Airs Above the Ground
The Gabriel Hounds
Touch Not the Cat

Georgette Heyer
any of her regency romances

Francis and Richard Lockridge
any of their murder mysteries

Agatha Christie
any of her murder mysteries

Mignon Eberhart
any of her murder mysteries

Mary O’Hara
My Friend Flicka
Thunderhead
Green Grass of Wyoming

Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer

Louisa May Alcott
Little Women
Little Men

Taylor Caldwell
Melissa

Margaret Mitchell
Gone With The Wind

E. Phillips Oppenheim
The Great Impersonation

Edna Ferber
Saratoga Trunk

Phyllis A. Whitney
The Winter People

Victoria Holt
Mistress of Mellyn
Bride of Pendorric

Another time I wish I was in NYC*

From an e-mail from Rainbows & Triangles bookstore in NYC, news about one of my favorite authors:

Rainbows & Triangles Books welcomed Andrew Holleran with open arms last week as we and many others celebrated the publication of Holleran’s new novel, Grief from Hyperion Books.

Holleran Day began with his arrival at our store on a very rainy Wednesday noontime hour. We had put together a remarkable (if we do say so ourselves) window consisting of all of Holleran’s works, in every translation, cover, printing, etc. that we could get our hands on (the real coup in the window was the prepublication galley of Dancer From The Dance, then called THE Dancer from the Dance). As he walked toward the window, Holleran was beaming to see his work in innumerable forms, many of which he had never seen before. Holleran sat with pen in hand for a good hour, signing book after book for us, and regaling us and impromptu fans with wonderful stories.

The Center signing was spectacular — close to 200 Holleran fans packed the room (including every young literary lion around along with the estimable elder lions by the names of Larry Kramer and Edmund White). After the gracious and true Will Schwalbe, Editor-in-Chief of Hyperion Books, made the preliminary introductions, Holleran took the stage to an ovation eclipsing those of many a Carnegie Hall diva. Holleran then read (wonderfully) from Grief, followed by a fascinating chat/Q&A, deftly guided by Charles Flowers of the Lambda Literary Foundation. And then, Holleran met with his fans and friends, signing book after book.

*I know that because of subjunctive mood, the title should be “I wish I WERE in NYC,” but I don’t care. It’s part of my new Outlaw Mentality.

Like Bonnie and Clyde, but without Clyde…or guns

Walked to the post office to mail some bills. No bug incidents. However, there were three more jaywalking episodes. Clearly, being without a car has catapulted me into a crime spree. What’s next? Seventeen items in the 15-item line at Kroger’s? Stay tuned.

FARB, I got the samplers. (Very cool.) I hope only the samplers were supposed to be in the envelope, which was totally ripped open. If it included any salacious notes to Timothy or pictures of a three-way with you, the boyfriend, and a certain New Orleans author at the Lammys, postal employees everywhere are having more fun than I am.