A.M. Leibowitz

queer slice-of-life stories

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Rainbow Snippets: Taking a Drive

Fiction, Writing

Happy Saturday! Hope everyone’s doing well. After the wind storm, we also ended up with a snow storm and over 26 inches of snow over roughly a day and a half. Two more days off from school meant two more days of not working. Sigh. So I still don’t have much to show for my writing effort.

We saw Beauty & the Beast yesterday, and it was wonderful. I can’t say enough good things about it. I definitely had my doubts, especially after so many friends posted that they were wary about a few aspects. But I’m happy to say that it was every bit as good as I’d hoped.

I’m snippeting again from Pink in the Mirror, my recently re-released short story about drag racing, the 1950s, and a young woman finding herself. Here, she’s wondering where the road will take her, both literally and figuratively.

She rolled slowly out of the shed and up to the same open strip of road she’d taken earlier for the trial run. For a moment, she idled there, staring down the darkening road ahead. It would be so easy, she thought, to take off. At the end of the three miles, the road made a north-south T. She could choose where she wanted to go, find her own path and forget about her parents’ pressures and junior college and Russ. She glanced at Dottie, wondering how she would feel if Barbara suggested it.

Purchase links: Amazon | Kobo | Scribd | Inktera | iTunes | Barnes & Noble

Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!

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WIPpet Wednesday: Shorts part 3, Dinner

Fiction, Other Relationships, Writing

Happy Wednesday! Excuse my cranky mood. In the last week, we’ve had 4 days off from school, a wind storm, and a giant snowstorm. I’m used to spending most of my day alone and having plenty of time to work. Only one out of the last 7 days has been a work day for me, and I’m going bananas.

Meanwhile, I did at least get some things accomplished. I finished going over the print proof for Nightsong, which is out in May. Confession: I hate going back over my novels before release. There are so many things I’m second-guessing, especially in this one because there’s a sensitive subject involved. And of course, I’m flipping out that the several reviewers who have taken it will hate it. I’m not popular with a particular type of reader, and I always worry those sorts will take my books because I know I can’t meet their expectations. (It’s happened before.) Anyway, I need to stop doing this to myself.

I also have gorgeous new cover art for Keeping the Faith and a November release date for that one. The short story I’ve been pulling from is in a collection I plan to release self-pubbed over the summer, hopefully July, currently titled Leaps of Faith.

Now for the WIPpet. Remember, LR has been trying to figure out how to tell her family something. She’s stalling, even though deep down she knows it will be all right. Here, she acknowledges Cat’s not going to let it go, but he may be hiding something of his own.

WIPmath: 3/15 = 3 + (1 x 5) = 8 paragraphs, mostly dialog.

Mom put a steaming bowl in front of her along with a spoon. LR picked up the spoon and hesitated. Despite her earlier misgivings, the soup smelled good, and her stomach rumbled. She supposed if it made her sick later, at least she might feel better in the moment. Cat had made himself something else. He couldn’t tolerate spicy foods at all. He sat down across from LR and began eating as well.

“Why aren’t you with David?” LR asked.

“He’s working all weekend.”

She frowned. “I thought he switched to the clinic to avoid the weird hours.”

“No,” Cat corrected her. “He switched because hospital work is too hard on him since the stroke.” Like Cat, David had hemophilia, and he’d had a mini-stroke the previous summer.

“Oh. They’re open on weekends?”

“He’s putting in some volunteer hours at the women’s center. So I’m going to help Dad with a few things while I’m home, and I’ll do my usual time at the cafe.”

LR wanted to ask if everything was okay between them. It seemed to her that Cat could’ve gone to David’s apartment after working hours. She dropped it. If Cat wanted to tell her anything, he would include it in their late-night talk after their parents had turned in.

Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Witt for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!

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Rainbow Snippets: Pink in the Mirror

Fiction, Writing

Happy Saturday! I’ve missed posting and reading the other snippets. I saw my last one was nearly a month ago! I had to take 3 weeks off for the school musical and a weekend trip with my kids’ youth group.

Keeping the Faith is now in the hands of my publisher. It’s neither a work in progress nor a published novel, so I’m shelving it for the time being. I’ll probably snippet from it once it’s out in the fall.

I have several WIPs going because my brain hasn’t decided what to focus on. I was going to get down to business this week, but several things happened. My spouse went out of town for work. While he was away, we had a giant-ass wind storm which closed local schools and wreaked havoc everywhere. We never lost power, but we did have a neighbor’s tree crush our fence and our trampoline. I’ve had a house full of teenagers for three days due to the kids’ friends not having power.

But the most important thing of all…my short FF historical story, Pink in the Mirror, re-released!!!!! It was published with Torquere. I got my rights back, commissioned a gorgeous new cover, and now my baby is back out in the world. Here’s the blurb:

Before, Barbara’s goal was to win the county drag race. Now all she wants is to win Dottie’s heart.

It’s California in 1958, and Barbara is two different people. By day, she works as an assistant seamstress. By night, she’s a drag racer preparing for the biggest local event of the summer. Her only hope to make it out of town is to win the race and spend a couple of years in junior college. If she can put him off long enough, she can gently let down the polite young man with whom she’s keeping up appearances.

What Barbara hasn’t counted on is how drawn she is to vibrant, gorgeous Dottie, the woman who comes to watch them prepare for the race. A single evening with Dottie convinces Barbara she’ll never be happy with an artificial life. Now she’ll have to make a decision about what she wants before it’s too late.

I’m snippeting from Pink today because I don’t have enough of anything else yet to be worthwhile. Technically it’s 8 sentences, but some of them are short dialog. Enjoy!

Her car sat in the center of the room, covered by a canvas tarp. Slowly, Barbara pulled it back to reveal her pride and joy—a 1954 Chevy Bel Air, jewel green with a white roof.

Beside her, Dottie sucked in a sharp breath, and Barbara’s insides warmed. She wanted to impress Dottie, wanted to please her. Dottie brushed Barbara’s arm as she passed, slipping closer to the car, and goose bumps broke out along Barbara’s skin at the contact.

“It’s gorgeous!” Dottie exclaimed. She turned to Barbara with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Does it run?”

Purchase links: Amazon | Kobo | Scribd | Inktera | iTunes | Barnes & Noble

Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!

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In case you missed it…

Links, News, Odds 'n' Ends, Writing

It’s been a busy week here. Maybe yours has been too. I’m wrapping it up with the highlights from my blog.

Tuesday, I re-released my short story, Pink in the Mirror. Formerly published with Torquere, it’s now all on its own.

Purchase links:

Amazon | Kobo | Scribd | Inktera | iTunes | Barnes & Noble

Wednesday, I offered a snippet of one of my current works-in-progress. The giveaway for Pink in the Mirror is now closed, but you can still read the post.

Thursday, I announced an open call for guest posts and reviews, whether by name or anonymous.

I’ve also done some re-organizing of my blog. You can find the quick links for everything here.

On Saturday, I’ll be back to sharing from my various LGBTQIA-themed work for Rainbow Snippets. You can read past entries here.

Next week, I’ll be resuming reviews and sharing about what I’ve been reading this week. You can see previous posts here or use the form to request a review. FYI, I no longer review much romance or erotica unless it’s atypical of the genres. But hopefully other readers will submit their reviews of those.

Have a great weekend, all!

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Guest posts & anonymous reviews

Anonymous Reviews, Books, Guest Post

Over the last few months (okay, probably longer), I’ve been considering how to make book space safer for both authors and readers. We’ve lost book outlets and blogs where people could share their thoughts. Publishers and retailers have closed. I’m still working on solutions to some things, such as a free communal database and other projects, especially where one genre or “pairing” isn’t centered over another. But until then, I’m offering my website/blog as a safe zone.

So, what does that mean? For now, it’s that I’m giving space for guest writing and for both standard and anonymous book reviews.

Typically, I don’t post reviews below a 6 (3 stars on Amazon/Goodreads). There are a lot of reasons for this, but primarily it has to do with an understanding that an author is probably looking to promote their work by sending it to reviewers. If I can’t assist with that, then I don’t feel it’s worth either of our time. If I can’t give a positive review on my blog, I don’t hide it. I let the author know, and I may or may not post to Amazon or Goodreads, but it won’t usually appear here. Exceptions are books I’ve purchased rather than ones I’ve been requested to review.

The reason I’m saying that is to explain why you will never see an anonymous review from me. I’m willing to be the “bad guy” and make someone angry because I pointed out something in their book which I felt was handled poorly. Does it mean I may be blacklisted as an author? Yep. It’s a risk I have to take as a reader.

The same thing applies with my regular blog posts. I screw up, but I’m fairly free to speak my mind on a subject whether others agree (publicly or privately) or not.

Unfortunately, this means that there are books I won’t read (due to content I’m unable to handle or because the genre is outside my usual). Not only that, I’m only one person. I can’t review all the books even within the types I like! I also cannot speak to every issue that could be important to authors, reviewers, and readers, especially when it comes to marginalized communities and groups I’m not part of.

Here’s where I need to rely on you. There are books which are not getting into readers’ hands, books with few or no reviewers, books with poor reviews because they were not a good match for most review sites, and books which defy genre or genre conventions and have been turned away or rated poorly. How can we help create a perfect match between readers and books? By opening up space here for you all to tell me about books you love that aren’t getting much notice.

Although many people are fine with attaching their name to a review or post, not everyone has that luxury. People whose primary income is from the book industry cannot speak freely sometimes. This includes positive feedback as well. Amazon has barred people from reviewing books by the same publisher, and that can mean losing all rights to be sold there. They’re also touchy about authors reviewing colleagues’ work. But certainly expressing a negative view can result in serious consequences elsewhere. Readers run the risk of being attacked by fans of an author or book, particularly if the author is one of the more popular ones. People on the publishing end are even less in a position to voice concerns.

Once again, the same applies for expressing opinions. I dared speak up about some things I found troubling in my book circles, and I was shocked that some people who had come to me privately then publicly said exactly the opposite, thus withdrawing any support for me. I understand why. There is a (justified) fear in going up against some forces.

What this says to me is that safe spaces are needed more than ever. So I’m offering mine. This doesn’t come without some rules. I’m not going to entertain hate speech or bigotry. Whether or not a guest post or review fits here is at my discretion. Book reviews or blog posts which attack anyone directly or name-call are not appropriate. I need folks to be clear on the guidelines before asking me to post something and also to be aware that submitting it isn’t a guarantee I’ll post it. I’m taking a risk here as well, and I’d like my space respected.

If you want to submit a guest post (anonymous or not) or a review (anonymous or not), please use the links below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Submit a Guest Post

direct link

Submit a Standard Review

direct link

Submit an Anonymous Review

direct link

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WIPpet Wednesday: Shorts, part 2 – Soup & a giveaway

Fiction, Other Relationships, Writing

Happy Wednesday! First the big news: I just re-released my short story, Pink in the Mirror, which was formerly published with Torquere. If you like the 1950s, drag racing, and women who love women, you might enjoy it. Here’s my blog post about it with the fabulous (and very pink!) cover as well as all the purchase links.

Since today is International Women’s Day, I’m going to give one copy of Pink in the Mirror to a random commenter (comments left here and on other social media are all included). If you don’t want to be entered for that, just say so in your comment. If you do, then make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

On to the WIPpet. I’m currently posting from my anthology-in-progress. These are all stories set in the same world as Cat, Micah, & co. They are not primarily romance, and not all of them are LGBTQIA-themed. I’m sticking with LR again this week. She’s emerged from her nap, but she’s not ready to talk about what’s on her mind yet. First, dinner with her family.

WIPmath: 3/8 = 3 + 8 = 11 paragraphs, mostly dialog.

LR crept out of her room. The headache wasn’t gone, but it was better than it had been. She descended the stairs and entered the kitchen. Cat had a paper in hand, and Dad was looking it over and humming, nodding his approval. Maybe a song Cat had written. Mom was heating something on the stove. All three looked up when LR cleared her throat.

“LR!” Mom exclaimed, leaving the pot on the stove and coming over. “I thought you were going away with friends.”

“I, uh, wasn’t feeling up to it.”

Mom put a hand on her forehead. “You’re awfully pale, but you don’t feel warm.”

LR sniffled for effect. “Maybe just a cold or something. I have a headache,” she added, hoping it would make her story more plausible.

Nodding, Mom said, “Better to get rest, then. It’s not a lot of fun to travel while sick, and you risk sharing germs.”

“Right.”

“You want something to eat? I’m heating up the leftover sausage soup from last night.”

LR’s stomach lurched at the thought of putting anything, especially spicy soup, in it. “No, thanks.”

She wanted to go back to bed. No one would have objected. But Cat was eying her, and not in a way that made her think he merely felt bad for her. His expression clearly said, we’ll talk later. She should have known she wouldn’t be able to keep anything from him.

Sliding into a seat at the table, she said, “I changed my mind. Soup sounds good.”

Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Witt for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!

 

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