Where the Hope Comes From

Every time Pride Month rolls around, I find myself thinking about—long-time readers, prepare to be unsurprised—the whole non-inheritability of queer culture thing all over again. The sheer volume of "I don't even know what I don't know" that comes to most queerlings when they realize they're different, but by virtue of the people around them, …

Historical Romance and Queerness as Up For Debate

I recently joined the RWA despite knowing full well it wouldn’t necessarily be a place I’d be welcome. I’m a queer writer of queer stories—including romance—and seeing some forward motion in the organization made me think perhaps it was time. Or at the very least, it was time enough to try and get involved, rather …

WROTE Podcast — The Queerlings

Hello, happy Friday, and oh my God it's almost December. That last part is the total shakedown of nerves over the launch, tomorrow, of Exit Plans for Teenage Freaks. I'm fine. It's fine. (I'm not fine. I'm a mess.) But! I got to go spend time with the brilliant Vance Bastian over at Writers on the …

#PrideMonth — Family Values

I live in a bubble. More specifically, I live in a queer, lower-case-L liberal bubble. I often hear people refer to living in a bubble as a bad thing, and I do understand why. The bubble gives you a skewed view of what you think most people think. Talking about queer rights in my bubble doesn't …

They Both Die at the End, by Adam Silvera

Before I say anything else about the book—I was lucky enough to get an ARC, along with what seems like a few hundred others—I want to say, clearly and primarily: I loved this. It was clever, and had feeling, and had me, to my core, resonating with the queerness of it all. I also want …

Writing Wednesday – Source Material

It's been a solid and mostly good week this week. I've had mostly good news and a few happy surprises, most centrally an invitation to come chat with a high school GSA. I'm going to pepper them with (I hope) valuable questions and get feedback on what it's like to be a queer teen these …