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Point of View: Standing Up for Trans Folks

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transgender heart - deposit photos

A few years ago, when the fight for transgender rights and recognition was just gaining steam, one of my older friends from a generation before mine came to me and Mark and said that she just didn’t understand what “the whole transgender thing” was about. I think she asked us because, as a gay couple, she figured we would know, and that we were a safe space where she wouldn’t risk alienating a trans friend or loved one. We sat down with her and explained it as best as we were able – to be clear here, I am not … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Shawna Reppert

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Shawna Reppert

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Shawna Reppert, an award-winning author of fantasy and steampunk, is proud of keeping readers up all night and making them miss work deadlines. Her fiction asks questions for which there are no easy answers, while at the same time taking the reader on a fine adventure that grips them heart and soul and keeps them turning pages until the very end. She shares her home with a tri-color Corgi named Mr Darcy … Read more

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Serial: Down the River – Chapter Twenty-Five

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Down the River Header

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets! Today, Today, Ben finally goes for what he wants and brings Loralei dinner, but all doesn’t go as planned… < Read Chapter Twenty-Four Join my email list to get my weekly newsletter with notifications of new chapters. Chapter Twenty-Five“I’m a Vegan.” Ben climbed the stairs. The … Read more

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Point of View: Stuck in Life’s Elevator

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stuck in an elevator - deposit photos

I have to admit, I’m at a bit of a loss on what to write about this week. Everything feels… stuck. Like we’re in an elevator that never makes it to the ground floor. I’m in the middle of writing three different books – a problem of my own devising, I’ll admit, and one that lets me range through different genres and keep my multi-tasky brain happy. But it also means I’m in three different muddy middles at once. Stuck. I’ve been looking for a new job for a full year now, and though time and time again I get … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Matthew Phillion

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Matthew Phillion

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Matthew Phillion is the author of the Indestructibles, a YA superhero novel series, its spinoff Echo and the Sea, and the Dungeon Crawlers novella series. He is a member of the Salem Athenaeum’s writers committee and was the lead writer for the opioid awareness education stage play Stories of Substance. A former filmmaker, Matthew wrote and directed the feature film Certainly Never, an indie romantic dramedy, and is a journalist and writer with a … Read more

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Serial: Down the River – Chapter Twenty-Four

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Down the River Header

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets! Today, Marissa and Ainsley have a second date… sort of. Or is it a group hang?… < Read Chapter Twenty-Three | Read Chapter Twenty-Five > Join my email list to get my weekly newsletter with notifications of new chapters. Chapter Twenty-FourAt the Gallery… Marissa dried her … Read more

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Point of View: Seasons of Change

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Autumn forest - deposit photos

Fall is finally here in Northern California. Officially, it arrived a little over three weeks ago, but we had temperatures into the hundreds until early last week. Now at last, the days are milder and the Delta Breeze brings us cool air in the evenings. There’s that indefinable sense of change in the air, when the leaves slowly start to yellow, the days grow noticeably shorter, and many of our favorite television shows return, creating a train wreck in our streaming apps. The seasons of life are slowly changing too. Mark and I just said goodbye to two dear friends, … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Christiane Knight

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Christiane Knight

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Christiane Knight [she/they] is an artist, musician, writer, and author of the contemporary fantasy series Stories of the Eleriannan. A former club and FM radio DJ, Christiane’s love of dark subculture and music infuses her work. They write hopeful, magical stories set in the Fae infused version of their already quirky hometown, Baltimore MD. She’s a lifelong enthusiast of faerie, folktales, forests and fauna, especially combined in copious amounts with all-black clothing … Read more

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Serial: Down the River – Chapter Twenty-Three

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Down the River Header

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets! Today, Diego visits the farmer’s market with Gio for a little papà to figlio chat… < Read Chapter Twenty-Two | Read Chapter Twenty-Four > Join my email list to get my weekly newsletter with notifications of new chapters. Chapter Twenty-ThreeAll Roads Lead To… “I don’t know … Read more

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Point of View: Living in a Fantasy

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heartstopper cast

We live in consequential times. In just over four weeks, folks here in the US will be asked to choose a new President, in an election that will have serious ramifications for the future of my country, and for the world. Whichever way it goes. War is exploding in the tinderbox of the Middle East. Hurricanes are appearing and expanding to maximum destructive levels in less than a day. And one of the places we used to get respite – spending time on social media with our friends – has been twisted into a soul-devouring, money-making psychotic hole. So what’s … Read more