Writing

Rainbow Snippets: Shiny and New!

It’s nice to be back! We had a great vacation at Cedar Point in Ohio. My 12yo is a roller coaster enthusiast, and he has literally been researching them for years to know all the relevant info (speed, length of track, height, drops, inversions…the whole thing). The first day we were there, he saw this t-shirt and declared he would “earn” it by riding all the coasters on it. He made it to all 6 (plus a couple more and two repeat rides); I only made it on 4. There wasn’t time for all of them, plus Top Thrill Dragster was a big, fat hell no for me.

Anyway, on to this week’s snippet. I’m beyond excited to be posting from a new WIP. Well, sort of new. I’ve had a few scenes written for a while, but I’m now working on it in earnest. This is from Nightsong, the sequel to Anthem. My MC is an opera singer, and these are the first six sentences of the novel.

Nate Kingsley was on the theater’s third floor in the classroom wing, washing dishes in the lounge. While he was busy with his task, a young man with light brown hair and eyes to match bounced in. He grabbed a peach from the fridge and stood in the middle of the room, waiting for Nate to acknowledge him. Del was nothing if not attention-grabbing, still in costume from the rehearsal going on downstairs. He’d initially been hired because Nate had seen him in a performance of The Magic Flute—it was no surprise he’d played Tamino, and Nate’s company had been casting for their version of the same opera. When Del auditioned, Nate had pushed hard for him.

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!

WIPpet Wednesday: Crash Landing

Fiction, Other Relationships, Writing

I’m sorry I missed a few weeks. Between one thing and another, it’s been really busy! We had end-of-year things with the kids, followed by our big family vacation to Cedar Point in Ohio. That was really fun. My 12-year-old has been talking about it for years, and we finally went. When we got there, he saw this excellent t-shirt with 6 of their big roller coasters on it. His goal was to ride all 6, which he did—some twice. I only made it on 4 of the 6 because I refused to ride the one that’s basically one giant vertical drop, and there wasn’t time for the other one. If you go, and if you like roller coasters, my favorite was Gatekeeper.

On to the WIPpet. This is possibly the last I’ll post of Cat for the time being. The novel is done, it’s been beta’d, and I’m doing one last read-through before I send it to my publisher. Provided all goes well, it will be out of my hands before the next WIPpet Wednesday. I’m both happy and sad, but I know I’ll get to revisit Cat next year when I finish the final part of the series.

WIPmath: 29 sentences for the 29th. This is not especially graphic, but there is definitely some violence, and Landon has moved past being creepy into assault. So if that’s something you’re sensitive to, you may wish to skip the excerpt.

“Your friend looks like he’s had a bit too much. Better get him out of here.”

“Right, on my way.”

Landon half-lifted him and sort of carried him to the door, where they slipped out around a few people coming in. It was warmer outside than inside, but the air was fresh, and Cat took a deep breath in a renewed effort to stay coherent. He let Landon guide him out to the parking lot, hardly registering where they were going until they were leaned up against a car. Landon didn’t make a move to unlock it or help Cat inside. Instead, he leaned Cat against the door and pressed up to him. Cat grunted in pain at the contact, but at least Landon was holding him up, and he was a little more clear than he’d been at the bar.

Cat took the opportunity to reach for his phone again, and he hit Zee’s number. While it was still ringing, Landon grasped it and tossed it aside into the dirt, and the sound stopped. He put his face right up against Cat’s.

“Glad I finally got you alone,” Landon murmured in his ear. “Didn’t think you really meant what you said earlier, not after I heard you in the bathroom. So hot. Should have been for me.”

“What?” Cat heard the slur in his own voice.

“I told you, I always get what I want.” He bit Cat’s earlobe, hard.

Cat’s head buzzed, and he pushed at Landon. “Stop…I can’t—”

His protest was muffled by the first blow, which caught him off-guard and knocked him to the ground. His phone lay next to his head, and he turned toward it when he heard Zee’s voice. “Zee?” he said. “Please! I need—”

This time, what cut him off was a foot landing a solid blow on his side. Landon was saying things to him, but none of them made sense—something about it being his fault. Cat gasped, trying to piece together how he’d gotten where he was and what the hell was happening. He never arrived there; something hit his head, and everything went black.

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!

Rainbow Snippets: Drive Shaft

Writing

Happy Saturday! I know it’s been a rough week for a lot of us. I hope everyone is hanging in there.

This is probably my last snippet of An Act of Devotion, since my book tour ends tomorrow. Next week, I’ll be on vacation—family trip to Cedar Point in Ohio! First trip we’ve taken together in years that wasn’t just to visit family. Obviously I will be a bit busy. After that, I have other things to post snippets from, so stay tuned.

This section requires a tiny bit of explanation. Both AJ and Adam are graduate students working for the college. I did this job when I was a grad student, so much of what happens is based on personal experience. In this section, AJ is talking to his co-graduate assistant. The class she’s taking—and the requirements—was a real one I took. We had to plan and carry out a program in one of the dorms. And yes, we really did have beer goggles, condoms, and an anatomical model for the demonstration. 10 points for Gryffindor if you catch what the name refers to.

Carrie appeared in the doorway. “My curriculum development professor is having us run a mini program in the residence halls to practice before the health fair. We took a class survey, and most of us wanted to do it on alcohol consumption. We’re using the mocktails as a jumping off point.” She stepped past AJ and into the stock room.“Do you need other stuff, too?” he asked. “There’s a bunch of good materials.”

Carrie emerged with the laminated cards in hand. “For the fair, yeah. I’ll want the beer glasses and the dick model.”

AJ snickered. “I should find the guy I gave the glow-condoms to. He didn’t want them after all. You could use them for the demonstration instead of wasting decent ones.”

“Oh, those are the worst!” Carrie said then clapped a hand over her mouth. She slowly lowered her fingers. “Not that I would know, of course.”

“Of course,” AJ said. “They’d be fine for the demo, though. I doubt Drive Shaft cares what you put on him.”

No more hedging. No more hiding. No more closets.

News, Odds 'n' Ends, Social Justice, Writing

I haven’t exactly known what to say about the shooting in Orlando. I’ve mostly been sharing other people’s words because I think they’ve said it better than I could. Heck, even some allies have said it better than I could, and I’m a card-carrying member of the LGBTQIA community. Maybe being a step closer or a step removed means being able to find one’s words more easily; I don’t know.

Even now, I wasn’t planning on posting. After all, anyone who has cared to follow my blog, my writing career, my Twitter, my Facebook page, or interact with me in person on a level greater than “how’s the weather” pretty much knows where I stand. And then I read this post by the marvelous Hans Hirschi. Go read it. It’s long, but it’s completely worth the time it takes. My thoughts can wait until you’re finished.

Are you back? Okay. So, what really struck me was the part about making heteros feel comfortable. I can’t count the number of times I’ve done that. Or I’ve been embarrassed because the heteros got uncomfortable around me. Like I needed to apologize. I’ve been doing that dance since I was 13.

I used to get teased, back in school, for being a “lesbian.” Never mind the fact that I didn’t even identify as bisexual back then! I didn’t really have a concept of anything but gay and straight, and I knew I liked boys…a lot. Okay, I wasn’t totally boy crazy. But I had plenty of crushes! Even had a boyfriend in ninth grade, and I had a years-long crush on my bestie (er…if he’s reading this, as we’re still friends on Facebook, he now knows this about me…sorry!).

Except really, they weren’t totally wrong. Only I minimized it, hid it, denied it…all to make them more comfortable. To make them believe I wasn’t going to perv on them in the locker room (good grief, none of them were that special) or try to grope them or whatever (yeah, real things they suggested I might do). And naturally, my involvement in a religious community stamped out any sense that it might really be okay to like girls (gentle reminder, I had no concept of other genders back then).

My first real crush on another woman was in college. I won’t embarrass the poor woman (also still a friend) by giving clues about who she is. However, I was still very much keeping tight control on all of my feelings. I was still worried I might make someone “wonder” about me…make them uncomfortable. Funny thing is, of all the people I could have crushed on, I picked a person who is now herself out. Too bad neither of us was ready when we were eighteen.

To this day, I tend to minimize everything. After all, does it matter? I’m married to a man. I don’t want anyone to worry that I’m leaving my spouse or that I might be creeping on them or thinking about them in a decidedly more than friendly way. I can pretend that I’m just your average suburban WifeMommy.

Only I can’t. I have my first genuine lesbian romance coming out (heh) in July. Sure, I’ve dabbled. I’ve written three flash fictions (all under 2k words). I have side characters who are bisexual and lesbian women. But something in me stopped short at anything more because it might make people uncomfortable. It might make people see me differently. It might make people hate and fear me.

If I were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it might make someone take violent action against me.

A man shot up a club full of Latinx LGBTQ+ people reportedly because they made him uncomfortable. Perhaps this was because, as his father suggested, he didn’t like seeing them being publicly affectionate. Perhaps this was because, as other media has suggested, he had internalized homophobia. Since we don’t have him here to ask, we can only speculate. The bottom line, though, is that he was uncomfortable with us enough to want to do lethal harm.

Look, I know that personal safety is a must. You’ll never find me trying to convince anyone they should be public in any way about their identity because it can be deadly. Hell, it can be deadly if the only place you’re out is where you theoretically should have been safe.

But I’m tired of playing that game in my everyday life. I’m tired of locking things away, compartmentalizing them, pretending they don’t matter, all to make heteros feel all right about sharing a room with me. Anyone who is deeply bothered by the fact that I love people who are not men can feel free to find other friends to hang out with. And please don’t worry, if you’re the sort of person who feels weird around me, there’s a better than average chance you’re not a person I would develop romantic feelings for, trust me.

Being part of the writing community, in particular LGBTQIA lit and more specifically m/m romance, I’ve seen a lot of things that make me feel uncomfortable as a non-hetero person. There is a disturbing amount of misogyny, biphobia and sapphobia (fancy word for hating women who love women, in case you wondered). This is not coming from gay men reading m/m romance, for the most part—it’s coming from straight women. While it’s not everyone, it is a sizable chunk of the community. Until now, I’ve catered to that attitude. I’ve tried to make hetero people feel comfortable by not speaking up and by sticking to writing about men.

I’m done. I can’t spend my life making hetero people happy. Not among my real-life friends and not in my reading/writing community. If people are going to get twitchy when I write about queer people who don’t happen to be men, then so be it.

As for the rest of the world, the ones who already hate and fear all LGBTQIA people, I don’t know what to say to that. I know I’m at risk because sometimes people “read” me. I got yelled at from a car window the other day, and not the typical catcalling and “smile for me, baby.” No, the person clearly assumed I was queer and yelled a slur at me while I was walking my dog. On my street. In broad daylight. Because I made him “uncomfortable.”

I don’t really know how to end this, except to say that I’m past caring whether heteros are “uncomfortable.” There is no possible way to satisfy all the conditions which would make them “comfortable” anyway. Instead, I’ll be over here, living my life, writing my words. Maybe I’m finally ready to write the bi/lesbian FF novel that’s been hiding in my story morgue for two years and let it out for the world to see.

Go forth, my out and proud LGBTQIA family, and make the haters uncomfortable.

Rainbow Snippets: No Refund

Writing

Happy Saturday! It’s time for another Rainbow Snippet. I’m sorry I missed last week; it was a big weekend! My kids had their dance recital for tap, jazz, and ballet. Next weekend, it’s Irish dance, and then spring performance season is over. It’s been a good one this year.

Last time we visited with Adam and AJ, Adam was determined not to let AJ get to him. In this week’s installment, Adam puts in a request to exchange the unused novelty condoms for ordinary ones. (For the very curious, my research for this novel involved the Google search term “weird condoms,” and yes, there really are ones with rulers and dead presidents on them.)

Technically, this is more than 6 sentences. But it’s only 6 lines of dialog, so I’m counting it.

“You’re AJ?” Adam asked. At his nod, he continued. “I’m Adam. I was in yesterday.”

“I remember.” AJ’s smile was knowing, as though he’d expected to see Adam again. “Back for more? I guess your date went well.”

“Not that well,” Adam replied. “We didn’t use all of them.” He dumped the packets on the counter. “Normal ones, please.”

“I see. Well, we don’t do refunds. This isn’t customer service here.”

Adam threw his hands up. “Seriously? You’re the one who gave me the wrong kind!”

“Oh, please. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy them.” AJ laughed, and the sound of it made Adam’s head buzz; it wasn’t unpleasant. “You said yourself you didn’t use all of them, which means you did use some of them.”

WIPpet Wednesday: Show Me

Fiction, Other Relationships, Writing

Sorry I missed last week. It’s been good, but we had a brutal few days with various performances. The kids are now down to (in order of appearance): my daughter’s class play, her 5th grade moving up ceremony, and one last dance recital. I think we can do this.

On to this week’s WIPpet. I’m nearly done editing this, so I’m only going to share from it for another week or two. After that, I’ll start posting bits of Nightsong, since I’ve begun writing it in earnest. Last time I posted, I think I shared a bit of heartbreak as Cat and Bryce decided to part ways. This week, they’re sealing the deal.

Note: If you prefer not to read, this contains implied sex. There’s nothing explicit, but I figured I should warn anyway. It might bother some more sensitive readers, especially because they’re in a secluded but public place, and they’re not quite alone.

WIPmath: Nothin’ fancy. Just 8 sentences for the 8th.

Bryce gazed down at him and then let out his breath in a rush as his shoulders slumped. He put his hand on the back of Cat’s neck and drew him in, kissing him long and deep. Cat melted into it, wanting to show Bryce how much he cared about him in the only way he knew how. They lost track of their position in time and space, kissing until both of them had raw lips and aching jaws, and yet they didn’t stop. Every part of Cat’s body was hot and alive, and he wanted Bryce—wanted to prove he would still be there when Bryce was ready.

He pulled back a couple of inches, and it seemed Bryce had the same idea. They pushed their way into the bathroom to the same stall where they’d gone the first time they’d been at the club. Cat wondered if Bryce had what they needed in his pocket but then giggled against Bryce’s mouth as someone in the next stall flicked a condom over the wall, hitting Bryce in the back of the head. Bryce rubbed the spot and grinned, kissing Cat quickly before bending down to retrieve the offending—though welcome—item.

Rainbow Snippets: Shiny and New!

WIPpet Wednesday: Crash Landing

Rainbow Snippets: Drive Shaft

Rainbow Snippets: No Refund

WIPpet Wednesday: Show Me

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