Point of View

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Point of View: Grateful Amidst the Rubble

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On paper, it’s been a fairly disastrous week. One of our dear friends is dying of cancer, and to watch him and his family going through this just breaks our hearts. On Saturday, my Mac – the one I use fourteen hours a day, seven days a week – gave up the ghost, deciding it wanted to reboot every 30-60 seconds. And Facebook suspended my account – apparently because their new AI bot thought I was “impersonating a business.” – and in an instant I came this close to losing a community that I have spent fifteen years building. That’s … Read more

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Point of View: Changing of the Guard

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change - deposit photos

Sometimes life’s events bring us an unexpected clarity, when a series of events combine to touch us in unexpected ways. Mark and I are at the age where we’re starting to lose people we care about – friends and family alike – many of them gone far too young. People with which we share a cultural lexicon, folks who grew up in the same world that we did and share our worldview. In the last three years alone, we’ve lost three beautiful souls, including a writer friend, a neighbor and big fan of my work, and a beautiful young woman … Read more

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Point of View: Coming to Terms With Age

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birthday candles - deposit photos

This year I turned fifty-five. I honestly don’t know how it happened. Last time I checked, I was thirty-five. And suddenly now I’m getting the AARP invite emails. Where did the time go? They say age is a state of mind, and that’s partially true. We often feel far younger than we are. But age is also thinning and graying hair, expanding waistlines, new medications and teeth teeth teeth! I wish I could state-of-mind myself back to twenty. Or maybe twenty-five. Mark and I have a good friend who was born after we met. She’s super smart and pop-culture aware, … Read more

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Point of View: Indie or Bust?

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Yes I Can typewriter page - deposit photos

“Self publishing” has been around for a long time. Before the days of the internet (yes, I am that old), it used to mean using a “vanity press”—derogatory slang for a company that would print the books for you, and then leave a pallet of them on your doorstep. After that, the rest was up to you. Some of these companies would provide marketing and other services, often at an exorbitant cost, offering dubious value for the work. The enterprising self-published author would then schlep their book around to local bookstores, events, and anywhere else they might make a sale, … Read more

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Point of View: Something Old, Something new

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model from Love & Limitations cover

Hey all… this week, I thought it would be fun to share a few excerpts from my fourth annual short story collection. This one’s entirely contemporary – four MM romances and one found-family tale. There’s something old (the four MM romance stories) and something new (The Boy in the Band) here for you to enjoy. Three of them take place around Christmas, and three have transgender characters. And just for kicks, I’ve thrown in the original source image for the cover above. 🙂 Here’s the final: If you’re so inclined, you can pre-order a copy here (all buy links). So … Read more

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Point of View: Holidays Past

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Grandma and Granpa Coatsworth's House

The holidays are almost upon us. These days, they are so much different than they were when I was younger. I was a child and grandchuild of divorce, which did have some benefits. At one point, I had – and I counted them – 10 grandparents, and one year I had five different Christmas celebrations, with all the attendant presents. I cleaned up that year. The main event, though, was always at my grandparents’ house – my dad‘s parents. Grandpa John was a minister in the Disciples of Christ church. He was a good man – a bit closed off … Read more

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Point of View: Broken Again

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broken arm

Well, I am broken again. For those of you who didn’t see the news on Facebook, I was riding my bike (yes, I know) and managed to run into a parked car. I still don’t know how I did it, other than to say that I glanced over my shoulder, and when I looked back, the car was there. I want to think that it was a magical car, and that it just appeared out of nowhere. But my friends have assured me that this was probably not the case. I managed to break my wrist, and it’s not clear … Read more

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Point of View: Meet the Author

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Hey all… in the midst of all the angst in the world, I wanted to counter-program for a week, so I thought I’d do one of those “meet the author” things, and share a few bits you may not know about me. So strap in and enjoy! 1) I Speak (Kinda) Fluent Italian Back in 2005, when Mark and I were planning our first trip to Italy, we decided we needed to learn a little of the language so we could get by on the basics – you know, “We’d like a table for two.” “Ice, please.” And “Where’s the … Read more

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Point of View: You Can Go Back (But Should You?)

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Back in Time - Deposit Photos

Frasier is back. We saw the previews a month or two ago, and were convinced that it was going to be a total train wreck. But we’ve watched the first three episodes now, and it’s actually not bad. The show’s tone picks up pretty adroitly where the original series left off, and if it’s not quite as fresh as it once was, it’s still fun to settle back into Frasier’s world, as comfy as Martin Crane’s chair. And last Friday we watched Beverly Hills Cop and Flashdance back-to-back, and it was fun to travel back the 80’s again, my formative … Read more

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Point of View: Letting in the Light

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Light and ladder - deposit photos

Not since the depths of the pandemic have things seemed so dark. And at least then, there was a brief (these things are always brief) feeling of unity as we faced the viral invader together. Now there are wars breaking out, senseless and savage slaughter, rapidly escalating climate change, political chaos, and, as if nature had a sense of humor, a fiery eclipse. It’s enough to throw even the strongest of us into despair. I’m not immune, either. Though I have a generally optimistic mindset, one that usually springs back quickly, even I find myself dragged down by the seemingly … Read more