Message of Love: On the Road

Some upcoming events will be a lot of fun. I'll be doing a radio interview with Out in the Bay's Eric Jansen, a group reading in Philadelphia May 31, and I'll be attending the annual Lambda Literary Awards in New York City!

Out in the Bay recently celebrated its tenth anniversary at Oasis nightclub in San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the event, and writer Tony Bravo quoted me about the show's longevity. Photographer Carlos Avila Gonzalez even got a shot of me, cohost Marilyn Pittman, and fellow author Mark Abramson sharing a group selfie.
The celebration included clips from the show's remarkable decade of audio documenting notable LGBT people in our community. I felt a bit nostalgic for my high school days of hosting lunchtime rock music sessions on the school's public address system, and for a time doing the morning announcements. Yes, I was an AV geek back in the days when you had to cue up albums and splice reel to reel videotape.

I'l be discussing my latest pair of novels, the Lambda Literary Award winner Every Time I Think of You, and its Lammy finalist sequel Message of Love, Thursday May 14 at 7pm. you'll also be able to hear it recorded later. But live callers can ask questions, and donations to the show (of a certain amount; not sure yet) will include signed copies of the two novels.
Tune in to KALW to hear me talk with Eric Jansen on Out in the Bay.

Five for Philly author reading May 31

At the end of this month, I'll be trekking to New York City for the Lambda Literary Awards on June 1. 

But the day before that, I'll be reading with four other gay author/poets at Philly AIDS Thrift/Giovanni's Room.

Authors Dean Kostos, Matthew Hittinger, Paul Lisicky, Kelly McQuain and myself will read excerpts from our new works. Each of us has a Philadelphia connection, either by living there or being from there, and in my case, having penned a novel that's mostly set there (Message of Love). It's particularly meaningful for me to read there, not just because of the inspiration I got from my 2012 research visit. But I also wrote a section of a chapter set in the original Giovanni's Room 30 years ago. Here's the Facebook event page. Do RSVP!

The next day, June 1, it's back to New York. The Lambda Literary Awards identify and celebrate the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender books of the year and affirm that LGBTQ stories are part of the literature of the world.

The 27th annual awards ceremony will be held at the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union. About 25 years ago, I was a weekly visitor to Cooper Union, where the second home of ACT UP New York held its weekly Monday night meetings. I lived only a few blocks away in the East Village. I don't recall having ever been up on the stage for announcements, but it would be a wonderful return if I did.

As you can read, my winning a Lammy in 2012 was a thrilling night. 
Of course, I'm just happy to be a finalist and to have an opportunity to schmooze with my colleagues and literary heroes. My co-finalists in Gay Romance include Lloyd A. Meeker, Barry Lowe, Timothy Lambert and R.D. Cochrane (co-editors), David Reddish, Georgina Li, L.C. Chase and Jeff Mann. Check the titles in my previous post here.

Notable honorees this year include John Waters and Rita Mae Brown! Among the many famous presenters are Liz Smith and Gloria Steinem.
 
Pretty neat, although I wish I'd been a finalist the year John Irving was honored. His books were a strong influence on my early writing as a teenager. But who am I to complain!

Liz Smith & Gloria Steinem