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My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Arthur Wooten

March 8, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Welcome Arthur Wooten to the blog today. As part of the My Favorite Book blog series he’s here explaining which of his own titles is his favorite, and with seven highly acclaimed books under his belt, it was not an easy choice. Arthur, over to you.

Arthur: I love all of my titles. Truly. But On Picking Fruit is my firstborn. And although it’s a work of fiction, many of the gay dates from hell are drawn from my own life. And I’m proud to say that I was a pioneer to indie publish it back in 2005.

A few months later Alyson Books found it in a “dump” pile at The Advocate, read it and then offered me a three-book deal and republished OPF exactly word-for-word in 2006. [Read more…] about My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Arthur Wooten

Van Cliburn – LGBT Music Monday

March 4, 2013 By Brandon 2 Comments

April 1958, a 23 year old gay man from Texas won the first International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. His album of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto became the first classical recording to sell one million copies. He was the first classical musician to get a ticker tape parade in NYC and later the cover of Time magazine. The events and the fame that followed never diminished his humility and kindness, but did accentuate his immense talent. And if you erroneously believe that his music isn’t still an influence, I suggest you watch the second video.

My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Suzie Carr

March 1, 2013 By Brandon 2 Comments

I was so honored to be asked by Brandon to contribute to this special blog series on LGBT writers. Brandon asked me of the six novels I’ve written, which is my favorite and why? Hands down, one of my favorite books I’ve written is The Muse, a lesbian romance novel that deals with the tough subject of bullying. I released it in December 2012 and have received some really inspiring feedback from readers.

The book is about how a provoking set of tweets from a beautiful girl (Eva) challenges an insecure girl’s (Jane) sense of identity. At twenty-nine, my character, Jane Knoll, is convinced that she will never experience her first kiss. Bullied as a teenager, she lives life under a veil of insecurity and loneliness. Her social life consists of television reruns and a weekly laundry night with her neighbor, Larry. Then, hope rises when Jane starts following her beautiful, magnetic co-worker Eva on Twitter. [Read more…] about My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Suzie Carr

LGBT Music Monday – Sacha Sacket

February 25, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Sacha Sacket is a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. He wrote this song in tribute to Jamey Rodemeyer, a 15 year old bisexual teen who took his own life. From Iran, and both bullied and harassed himself, Sacket’s song is a haunting tribute not only to Jamey but to all the youth we have lost.

#makealawforjamey

Unplug – LGBT Author Belo Cipriani

February 22, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Welcome Lambda Literary Fellow Belo Cipriani to the blog. He stopped by to let us know that it is okay to unplug once in awhile. And for those of you who have not read his heart-wrenching memoir yet, I highly recommend it. ~B.

Sometimes, I forget that I cannot see. The mere thought of dismissing such a grand part of my physicality cracks up people. “How is that possible?” they ask. Initially, my replies dealt with aspects of my rehabilitation. I reasoned then that learning to do everything the blind way had me back to coasting independently in society, thus allowing my vision loss to feel less prominent. Although I do not rule out this notion completely, I now believe that unplugging during times of frustration has proven to be key. [Read more…] about Unplug – LGBT Author Belo Cipriani

Amazon, Inclusivity and Suicide: Why I Bother To Write At All

February 18, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

dave arney

As writers we sometimes find ourselves becoming confidants for readers. I know it has happened to me more than once. The reader connects and they want to share something with you; something they have never divulged to another soul, and then you scramble…wondering what words touched their heart enough for their confidence, and more importantly, you ask yourself what you can do to help. Friend and author, Dave Arney, who writes under the pen name Michael Moye is here to tell us about his book and his own recent experience. ~B.

I write primarily for the Young Adult/New Adult audience, which means I try to at least keep up communication with various members of that age group via Google+ and Twitter so I’m not horribly out of date about what’s going on.

On Valentine’s Day, I received a chat from a beta reader I’d met in a few communities on Google+. He’s extremely talented with editing, and actually made some great suggestions on cleaning up some rough patches, in addition to helping me gauge interest, hook, all the good stuff.

He told me he was going to kill himself. [Read more…] about Amazon, Inclusivity and Suicide: Why I Bother To Write At All

Special Guest Post – Author Kia Zi Shiru

February 15, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Thank you so much for having me here today, Brandon. Today I’ll be talking a bit about how my own life and the life of people I know or read about got mixed up within the writing of the Black Sheep Trilogy.

Black Sheep over all deals with a few over reaching themes: abuse, self mutilation, depression and, most of all, love. What I’ve experienced within the LGBT community is that almost everyone has to deal with these subjects either for themselves or because of friends at one point or another. They are strong themes and I might have overestimated the impact some of these things have on one’s life and how to express them properly within my writing. [Read more…] about Special Guest Post – Author Kia Zi Shiru

Interview with New LGBT Author Edward Jakab

February 12, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Welcome first time author, Edward Jakab to the blog. Since it is so close to Valentine’s Day I thought we would talk about young love, and Mr. Jakab’s first book, Fearless, is about just that.

B: Tell us about how you got started and where Fearless came from?

E: I first started writing screenplays; they were always about this guy named Jacob Moore who is based on me. I wrote the book mainly because the story needed to be told. I just kept going back to those couple of moments in my life when everything was great with my first boyfriend, but then that took me to the time I told him about the other guy and how guilty I felt. But the other guy, he was the one. I know people say that all the time about everyone, but I truly feel he was the one, and he still is in some ways. [Read more…] about Interview with New LGBT Author Edward Jakab

LGBT Music Monday – Elliott Alexzander

February 11, 2013 By Brandon 1 Comment

A vibrant young artist, Elliott Alexzander will be someone to watch. Please note that he will not be captured within the confines of your gender stereotypes and uses multiple outlets for his personal expression. He says that when he performs he wants you to walk away feeling happy, sad, confused, and maybe even a little ambitious, and you can feel that with the massive amounts of energy he throws off.

In his own words: “I believe creativity should have no limits. One thing I would love to bring attention to through my music is the fact that music is actually changing, becoming more refined and automated. I believe as a true artist I have the task of cohesively embracing modern technology in my music but also honoring the skill and talent it takes to maneuver an instrument, such as my voice. What I want more than anything in the world is to simply feel connected with people. I want a story that will be remembered forever and inspire generations.” [Read more…] about LGBT Music Monday – Elliott Alexzander

Interview with LGBT Author Gregory G. Allen

February 8, 2013 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Some of you may recognize Mr. Allen from a previous post. He’s an outstanding author, a good friend, and he has a new bestselling book out about fatherhood which we’re talking about here today.

B: Welcome, Greg. It’s a pleasure to have you back on the blog.

Greg: Thanks, I’m really excited to be talking to you about my latest book COOL SIDE OF THE PILLOW. You’ve always been so supportive of my work and I really appreciate that.

B: Cool Side appears to signal a change for you. Can you tell me about that?