Tag: friends

At last, some news

Tim and I have been trying to get news about a LJ friend, Garry, for days. We contacted people on his “friends” list. Tim has been in touch with a guy who has Garry’s phone numbers and they’ve both tried to reach him, but of course, the phones aren’t working. I found a friend of his (another Becky) who lives in Picayune who’d been posting as late as the morning the hurricane made landfall. Then of course, there was silence from her.

Tonight, Becky responded to my comments on her LJ. She evacuated to NC after Katrina, but was in her house during the storm and lost her roof and most of her ceilings. Her parents live a few blocks from her, and have now evacuated to Natchez. So glad they are all safe. She was able to give us news about Garry, who she spoke to on the phone. His mother lost nearly everything, but Garry is okay, just without power, of course.

It’s an incredible relief to know they’re okay, and I hope we’ll be able to help them in some way when we can all be in touch again.

Thank you to everyone who’s been worrying with us, and for those of you who are on Garry’s friends’ list (‘Nathan and Todd, I think), I know you’re glad to hear this, too. =)

And I let them go thirsty…

Yesterday, our friend Lindsey called Tim to let us know that her father was collecting clothes to take to the Astrodome for the people being relocated here from New Orleans. She and Rhonda knew that we were feeling helpless and asked if we wanted to donate. OF COURSE! And I called my mother, who went through her clothes, too.

As soon as Lindsey and Rhonda found out we had some boxes for them, they jumped in the not-so-trusty truck and drove over to pick them up, even though they’d just gotten home from the gym. And could we just give them the clothes?

No, we had to abuse them. First, River took a flying leap of joy from the front porch to do a body block on Rhonda, who doesn’t weigh much more than River. Clearly, he thought she needed some love. Fortunately, Lindsey had managed to evade his exuberant welcome, but then she made the mistake of stepping inside, where she was greeted by the “We never get any attention, please touch us NOW” reactions of Margot and Guinness, who basically treated her body like a ladder that needed immediate climbing.

Further, just to show that no good deed goes unpunished, even though I KNEW they’d just left the gym, it never occurred to me to offer them a beverage.

Rhonda and Lindsey, tell me what to stock in my refrigerator. I keep water, sugar-free lemonade, Coke C2, and Diet Coke. But I’ll put whatever you like to drink in there and WILL NEVER SO SHAMEFULLY NEGLECT YOU AGAIN.

Meanwhile, kudos to you two and to Lindsey’s father for making it possible for us to help in some way.

P.S. Most of those clothes came from Tom. Who knew my husband had been such a clothes hoarder all these years?

Mississippi Gulf Coast

Today I am horrified by the images and video I’m seeing from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Besides the fact that one of our LJ friends lives there, and we are hoping he and his loved ones are okay, this is where Tim and I visited when researching THREE FORTUNES.

The residents were so gracious about answering our questions. They were frank about what was good and what was flawed about their state, but none of them talked about moving away. It’s home. In our acknowledgments, we specifically thank two Visitors’ Centers, two GLBT bars, and a cafe in Pass Christian. I don’t know if those places are even still there.

The houses that play an important role in the novel were inspired by the coast’s beautiful mansions, many of which survived Hurricane Camille. In fact, Camille has a part in shaping one of our characters, and some of our characters do what I did when I was there one morning–go to the Hurricane Camille Memorial in Biloxi. Tim and I made a video record of some of the places we saw so that when we came back to Houston, our writing would be accurate. It’s heartbreaking to think of all that beauty destroyed.

I can’t believe the devastation. I know there is a tremendous loss of property, but even worse, the loss of lives. I worry about the evacuees, the survivors, the displaced animals. I feel so helpless. I wish our book would sell a zillion copies or be optioned for a movie, so I could donate enough money to make a difference. I wish I could help people clean up and get their lives back.

All I can do for the moment is send good thoughts, good energy, to these coastal people who shared themselves and their beautiful surroundings with us for a time. It will be home again.

An Out-of-Compound Experience

Tonight I had to run some errands, so on a whim, and with low expectations, I stopped by our neighborhood Borders. Alas, no copies of THREE FORTUNES were on the shelf. I picked up another of Greg Herren’s mysteries, MURDER IN THE RUE DAUPHINE (New Orleans being on my mind this evening). I also noted that FARB’s TRUST FUND BOYS looks good in its new trade paper release.

As I was leaving, one of the associates asked if he could help me, so I asked if he could look up two books–Lori L Lake’s HAVE GUN WE’LL TRAVEL, which I’ve heard a lot about, and, well… THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE by Cochrane Lambert.
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Why we are not “like Will & Grace”

Famous Author Rob Byrnes brought the following snippet from Michael Musto’s column in The Village Voice to my attention:

In other gay-straight news, MELISSA DE LA CRUZ (The Au Pairs) and TOM DOLBY (The Trouble Boy) are editing an anthology of essays about the friendships between straight women and gay men. It’s been described as a literary Will & Grace.

Book reviews to the contrary, Tim and I are not like Will & Grace because: 1. Tim has a penis that works. and 2. I have a marriage that works. I guess that means an essay about us wouldn’t make it into the anthology.

P.S. I’m a little confused, because I thought Robert H. Hopcke and Laura Rafaty wrote this book in 1999 and titled it A Couple of Friends.

A Different Farewell


This is one of my favorite pictures I ever took of Timmy (TJB author Timothy Forry), made at Vincent’s one year when he and JM were here from NYC for a visit. We were a big and lively group: Tom, me, Timmy, JM, James, KK, and Lisa. At the moment I took the photo, Timmy was looking at James as he told a story. (James is a mesmerizing storyteller.)
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Kick-starting creativity

Sometimes I just have to get out of the Home Office; a change of scenery can provoke renewed creativity.

Tonight, I’m working at Hollywood Cafe. There’s a Jackie Chan movie on and plenty of patrons chattering, but for some reason, I can still work here.

This used to be Hollywood Cafe and Books. Now the bookstore is around the corner on Fairview; it’s the only surviving GLBT bookstore in Houston. As far as I know, Marlon still works there. I adore Marlon. Stop into the bookstore and say hello to him sometime, or to the equally fabulous Ryan.

The affiliated restaurant next door once gave me some fortune cookies late at night because I was shooting photographs for possible use on the jacket of THREE FORTUNES. Alyson went with their own cover, but I still appreciate the generosity of the restaurant.

Check out Hollywood Cafe for coffee, a snack, their wifi connection, the gigantic TV screen, or conversation on the outside patio, where you can keep an eye on people going in and out of the bars, or maybe get Merlyn to read your Tarot cards.