nonfiction

Spotlight on LGBT Nonfiction – The Road to Birmingham

January 18, 2015 By Brandon Leave a Comment

Imagine for a moment that your spouse is facing the battle of a lifetime with her health. The prognisis isn’t good. She fights courageously, but in the end, God calls upon her to join Him in paradise. As you try to grapple with the loss of your best friend, her family tries to sabotage your grief and all the things you and your wife held sacred.

You probably couldn’t imagine your life being this way, but for me, it was a constant nightmare. I had to deal with a lot of drama and turmoil after my wife died from a long battle with breast cancer. The Road to Birmingham was my way of dealing with all that happened. It was a way to cope with family. It was a way for me to deal with different friendships that I thought wouldn’t end. It was my road to healing, forgiveness, and acceptance. [Read more…] about Spotlight on LGBT Nonfiction – The Road to Birmingham

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

October 15, 2014 By Brandon Leave a Comment

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Month. Today, Oct 15th, is the day especially set aside for remembrance.

When I first started researching Summer Symphony I found little to help men deal with the pain of losing an unborn child. At the very end, when nearly all the final edits were done, one of my beta readers came across Grieving Dads. It is one of the only online places we could find where men were able to connect and share over the devastating losses they suffered. I asked the host of that forum, Kelly Farley, to stop by and share a little insight with us.

To My Knees

I was lucky enough to live 35 years without having to deal with any adversity in my life. Yes, there were the normal bumps in the road that most people go through, but nothing that brought me to my knees.

In 2004 and right before my 36^th birthday, my luck had run out when I lost my first child and daughter Katie. The death of my daughter dealt a blow that was staggering. However, due to my upbringing and how I thought I was supposed to respond as a man, I refused to allow myself to feel the impact that had been inflicted upon on me. Instead, I stood back up as quickly as possible before someone saw me in a moment of weakness.
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Curated e-Books by Women, for Women

July 8, 2014 By Brandon Leave a Comment

So I came across Shebooks and thought what a great idea it was. I’m sure there are other subscription sites like it out there, which curate books for a particular audience and are successful with it. But this site particularly caught my eye because it deals mainly with shorts and flash fiction (which I’ve just started writing).

There’s no doubt that readers enjoy long books and series, but many times you just don’t have the time. You need a quick book fix, like right now. After poking around some, what really struck me was the quality of the reads available. This isn’t mediocre fan fiction you’ll find on a lot of other sites, these are solid authors who know their craft. I was impressed. The only drawback I saw was that the books are only available via tablet or smartphone, but as they grow, maybe that will change. Check them out, let me know what you think. (I’d like to see something like this for lgbt fiction.)

For those of my female author friends who write MM, I didn’t see any on site, so this may be an opportunity for you to branch out. Especially as the genre grows. Check their FAQ for details.

Affiliate links.

21 Gay Writers talk about The Other Man

May 9, 2014 By Brandon 20 Comments

Welcome writer and editor Paul Fahey, who I invited to the blog after readers nominated the award-winning, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On for a 2014 LGBT Book Gem.

From the beginning, this project has been a labor of love, especially since the charity involved, the It Gets Better Project, is one near and dear to all our hearts. (A portion of the proceeds from sales of the anthology goes to It Gets Better.)

Here’s how the book happened:

In 2010, I met writer, Victoria Zackheim, editor of The Other Woman, at a local writer’s conference. I was immediately fascinated by her book of essays and asked if anyone had considered editing an anthology on the subject from the male viewpoint. To Victoria’s knowledge, no one had written a follow up and she immediately gave me her blessings to edit the gay companion to her wonderful book.

I immediately sent out invitations to some of my favorite male writers and asked them to contribute to the anthology. In the process, I discovered that writers either had an other man story to tell or they didn’t. It was that simple. Eventually I had a strong list of contributors and we were off and running. By early 2011, I had written a detailed book proposal, acquired an agent, the wonderful Jill Marsal of the Marsal/Lyon Literary Agency, and had a complete list of contributors attached to the book. [Read more…] about 21 Gay Writers talk about The Other Man

Interview with Author David-Paul Erhart

September 6, 2012 By Brandon 3 Comments

Today I’m talking with author, musician and NYC marathon runner David-Paul Erhart. Mr. Erhart taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, authored Sound & Symbol (The Rudiments of Music Complete in Two Volumes), and ran in and completed three NYC marathons. His latest project is InnerBouquet, a website devoted to celebrating the lives and accomplishments of LGBT artists, activists and athletes.

B: I read from a piece you had written in 2007 that in a meeting about finding out who your biological parents were, you saw your adoptive mother show a burst of emotion and it made you change how perceive people. Is that reflected in what you’re trying to do now with InnerBouquet? [Read more…] about Interview with Author David-Paul Erhart