Lessons in Teenage Biology, in stores soon. Buy the ebook now. It's in the syllabus.

 

 It's a book! 

It's really amazing how much work goes into doing such a thing even when it's a small project. If I only knew I would have so much technology to conquer back when I wrote this story in 1986 I might not have even bothered.

 Raise a hand if you're one of those antiquated old-fashioned people who actually used a manual typewriter back in the 1980s. And then there was remembering all the events from the 1970s and trying to get it right.

What followed was the manuscript of my first long short story (I don't think I even knew what a novella was back then!), moving it around from box to box until sometime in the 1990s I decided to scan it. I only had a photocopy as a back up. I think I had to wait until they were scanners.

Then, with the text, I read it and re-wrote it a few times, but put it aside. Many books later, I thought I had learned all there was to learn about publishing, specifically self-publishing where you get to do all the work yourself (Yay?), make a little bit more money than a small press would pay in advance (Yay!), but not much because you don't have an army of editors, publicists and distributors, and begging for agency is off the table.

But I thought I'd learned all the tricks in the book; personal website, migrating content, layout code on my website, domain linking. But there were so many new things to try. I decided to crank up the old Mailchimp and only sent out about 100 press releases. Three replied, so far. I'm told that's a good rate. I don't know anymore.

I have yet to send out stuff other than a few social media spots. A book trailer's on its way, not that I think it leads to sales, but it's fun to do. And I know how to do it.

Then of course, is looking at a multiple series of PDF proof and making correction after correction after correction. And then you find out that the Library of Congress only sends out your control number after you've approved the final interior PDF (It's 2024909132, by the way).

New book outlets and the "disappearance" of PINS

While the holiday shopping season may be over, authors like myself hope that you still consider buying books. A new outlet, along with a recently developed one, provide the opportunity to purchase books like mine from independent booksellers online. 

One book that you won't find among those is my first novel PINS. I'll explain why, but first the good news.

ShopQueer.co is a new LGBTQ-owned online shop co-created by author Eric Servini. They're growing their inventory evevry day, and you can find the best recent LGBTQ books there.

It was very easy to use as an author. I simply entered my ISBNs of my books and in a matter of days they were (almost) all listed. 

And with Bookshop.org, I was able to list almost all my books, including The Lost of New York, written by my uncle seventy years ago. The straight-themed novel, which I edited and self-published, doesn't quite fit into a queer-focused seller's inventory (You can read more about that on my website).

But why is my debut novel far and wide missing from these lists? That's because if you ask a bookseller for the copy, they'll look it up on the wholesalers list like Ingram and Baker and Taylor, which consider it out of print. But that's not true. In fact I still have about 150 copies left.

The problem is, since I closed Myrmidude Press as a DBA, I stopped shipping to Ingram, Baker and Taylor and other smaller book distributors. So, according to them, the book has run its course. You can also find use copies on Amazon and elsewhere, of course. And via e-books/Kindle, all my other books are available as well.

Having contacted wholesale buyers/resellers, they don't buy a case full of old books, especially more than 20 years old. Which make sense, but it would be nice if some smart professor added the book to their curriculum lesson that I can to ship some free copies to some university. PINS was part of nearly a dozen college courses years ago.

But with the flood of new LGBTQ literature, there's really no need for it right now and most people are reading online, and even on their phones.

But what bugs me is the idea that PINS is considered out of print when it actually isn't. Having self-published in a variety of formats, I have found that Ingram is the most dependable and easy for bookstores to find your books. Also, by not publishing through (evil) Amazon, indie booksellers are happier to carry your books. It is a bit of a hassle; you have to input chapter by chapter and the formatting can be difficult with a limited array of fonts. 

And if you didn't know, PINS actually had two printings. The first edition was only a thousand copies. It was all just a big experiment to see if it would work. It did. After the success and reviews, I then ordered five thousand copies from the printer in Michigan. I review excerpts to the front and back cover; well, most of them. There were so many! And then cleaned up all the typos and adjusted the coloring on the cover art.

The idea of doing a third printing would put it back in circulation in any bookstore in the world. I'm considering it now and I understand that it's a lot of work when I have other books already in the process. 

In the meantime, however, if you're reading this, and I know people aren't reading blogs much anymore, but feel free to inquire, send me an e-mail or a DM on my Facebook author page, and I'll be happy to send you a few free paperback copies of PINS while they last. 

Or you could just go to your local library. I recently checked, and was happy to see that 84 U.S. libraries have a copy.

So until the next book project is under way, I'll consider revamping PINS one more time. It's done me well with a translation, a stage adaptation and an audiobook. 

Until then, buy my other books, and other authors' books, on ShopQueer.co and Bookshop.org

 

Among the recent reviews on Amazon, I'll leave you with this expanded insightful rave (with spoilers!) from reader Philip:

"Jim Provenzano explores the homophobic teenage jock culture which sometimes can escalate to ugly incidents in his 1999 first novel PINS. The story is told through the eyes of 15-year-old sophomore Joey Nicci ("his name was not pronounced Nitchey, but Nee-Chee, after which he was dubbed Neech") who has just made the varsity squad wrestling team and fallen for teammate Donald "Dink" Kohrs ("everybody called him Dink because his penis was small -- Dinky Dick -- but the way it pushed up in his sweat pants, Joey figured that wasn't always true"). While Neech and Dink explore their mutual attraction, the team's bullies direct their homophobic wrath against Anthony "The Whiner" Lambros who not only is gay but perhaps more damning is a poor athlete who never wins a match. It's a brutal ending for poor Anthony, and that tragic moment becomes a turning point for Joey Nicci.

"Provenzano provides an authentic voice in portraying the high school locker room, and accurately captures every nuanced dynamic in this complex environment. PINS honestly portrays wrestling's homoerotism and how that can result into homophobic defenses among teenage boys, and captures the innocent rough-and-tumble world of boys and how that can escalate into sinister over-the-line violence.

"Joey Nicci is a likable kid with a Jersey accent -- he wrestles in the "one-twenny-six" weight class -- that makes me smile each time it comes out but it's not so constant that you have to be fluent in "Nerk" (translated as "Newark" in the King's English) in order to understand him. Neech is as nuanced as the book. He's no choir boy but he's a good kid who in the end does the right thing after appreciating that one doesn't go along just in order to belong. It's also refreshing to see a teen character who genuinely loves his family which is there for him in both the triumphant and the trying times. "It's an Italian thing," as Joey says.

"God bless Joey Nicci in PINS. Notwithstanding all the homophobic crap that Neech went through on his high school wrestling team, he found love and kissed a boy."

Felice Picano & Jim Provenzano talk Gay Hollywood, hosted online by Bureau of General Services-Queer Division Nov. 12

These days, it's difficult to plan in advance. Will your favorite restaurant re-open? What are the revised hours of your local bookstore? Will November 3 welcome a days-long Biden/Harris Happy Dance, or a rightwing hellscape of violence? Who can say? fortunately, it helps to stay hopeful, make plans, like the November 12 online chat I scheduled with best-selling author Felice Picano, hosted by the Bureau of General Services-Queer Division in New York City (3pm PST, 6pm EST).

On my last two trips to New York (for Lambda Literary Awards), I tried to schedule a reading, but it didn't happen. While I plan a book's publication date months in advance, like many independent authors who self-publish or work with small presses, virtually knocking on a bookstore or community center's doors doesn't always get a good response, or any reply. 

So, I'm super-happy to connect with Felice and BGSQD for this event. Here is more info:

Best-selling author Felice Picano and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Jim Provenzano will discuss gay writers, actors and directors in Hollywood framed through their two novels, Picano’s Justify My Sins: A Hollywood Novel in Three Acts (Beautiful Dreamer Press, 2019) and Provenzano’s Finding Tulsa (Palm Drive Publishing, 2020).

With two similar yet unique perspectives on the filmmaking industry told in gay fiction, the two authors will share the inspiration for their new and recent novels. Both fully explore the behind-the-scenes process of film industry success –and failure– via two very different narrators.

Along with his prolific authorship, Picano has given PowerPoint lectures about historic LGBT figures in Hollywood more than a dozen times at colleges, historical societies, religious groups, and major libraries across the U.S. and also in Canada.

In addition to being an author, Provenzano has been a photographer and journalist in LGBT media for three decades. His film experience includes production work on short films and numerous music videos in the 1980s. He also wrote and directed several plays and choreographed dozens of dance and multimedia works.

This is a free event, but donations of any amount to support the Bureau’s work are very much appreciated! You can make a donation when you register for the event. Thank you for your support!

Finding Tulsa - book release event Sept. 22 at Dog Eared Books with Baruch Porras-Hernandez

Join me in a chat with author Baruch Porras-Hernandez on Sept. 22 at 8pm PST as we discuss my seventh novel Finding Tulsa. Hollywood, the 1990s, gay sexuality and musical theatre are among the topics in my new novel, which is available now (pre-order until Sept. 22) through online retailers and by ordering through your favorite independent bookstore.

 While I will be at Dog Eared Bookstore, it will be closed by that time. But if you're in San Francisco, you'll soon be able to buy my new and previously published books there. Yes, Dog Eared and many other bookstores are cautiously open to the public. Mask up, squirt some sanitizer on your hands, and shop on!

RSVP on the Facebook event page, or directly on the EventBrite invite. You'll get a link to the Zoom chat, where, after talking with Baruch, I'll take questions from attendees. Once again, Tuesday, Sept. 22 (which is also the Autumnal Equinox) at 8pm Pacific Time, 11pm East Coast, so you can show up in your pajamas, considering you may have spent all day in them anyway.

Yes, the West Coast is burning, the East Coast is flooding, political turmoil is daily -heck, more than daily- inducing nausea and outrage in millions nationwide, and a global pandemic is killing thousands a day. So why and how do authors and other artists continue to promote their works? We'll discuss that as well.

It's often a struggle to get fans to show up at readings. I dislike relying on social media platforms that have been proven to be complicit in corruption and disinformation. But most of us, the smart ones, at least, can weed through the political lies to share good news. I hope you can do the same.

 

 

And, on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7pm PST, I'll be online again, reading a short except from Finding Tulsa with three other gay male writers; Richard May, Wayne Goodman and Rob Rosen. Visit the Perfectly Queer Readings Facebook page for info and a Zoom link.

For links to my previously recorded talks, visit my events page.

Also, my first advance review has been shared on GoodReads:

"'Finding Tulsa' belongs in company with 'The Lost Language of Cranes' by David Leavitt and 'The Mysteries of Pittsburgh' by Michael Chabon. If I had not known going in that this novel was a work of fiction, I would have assumed it to be an autobiography. The narrator is focused on himself alone and makes no assumptions about the other cast of characters around him. In the first chapter, narrator Stan gives a clear indication of what to expect: "This story goes back and forth, but loops around itself. My life/career/whatever, misguided as they come, is based purely on the loss and discovery of men."

 

And check out my first (online) published review on Joyfully Jay! Reviewer Camille really got the intent of Finding Tulsa and offers insight and some apt critique.

 

Keep up with events and reviews on my Facebook author page and website, www.jimprovenzano.com.

And follow me on the other things!

https://twitter.com/jim_provenzano

https://www.instagram.com/jimprovenzano/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/620500.Jim_Provenzano

http://www.amazon.com/author/jimprovenzano

https://www.youtube.com/user/Cyclizen

Finding Tulsa on NetGalley, Bookshop, Publishers Weekly, and around the world

My seventh novel, Finding Tulsa, is getting around with less than a month before its official publication date. You can choose from supporting my IndieGogo campaign, simply ordering it in advance, or even get a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I've also got more interviews online and even a YouTube playlist.

First up; my fundraising campaign has raised enough to pay a few bills (money already spent, by the way). Yesterday I shipped almost a dozen paperback editions the day after they arrived at my work office. I could have waited a few days to leave them for our postal worker to pick them up, but since I only work at the office a few days a week, I decided to trek to the nearest post office to 'get 'er done.' and buy stamps. A full hour later, in a socially-distanced line of 15 or so people, I got that taken care of.

You can still get a paperback and/or ebook edition, and for larger donations, receive some of my previously-published acclaimed novels. I also still have free promo codes for the engaging audiobook adaptations of my my fourth and fifth novels, Every Time I Think of You and its sequel, Message of Love. Both got lovely reviews on the Big Gay Fiction Podcast.

Of course, advance orders on Amazon will help my book's ranking upon its release, placing it higher with more visibility. Understandably, some people are not using Amazon for a bunch of justified reasons. So I asked the folks at BookShop.org to list Finding Tulsa, and they kindly obliged. You can support independent bookstores by buying it and my other books there. 

Feel free to 'game the system' by then posting your reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and Kobo (ebook only) as well.

With Kobo, I did notice some country restrictions, so you can chose your area, be it through a U.S., French, German, Dutch (?), Canadian or Japanese distributor.

Finding Tulsa got a brief mention in Publishers Weekly, and on Lambda Literary's website, which will help bookstores and libraries consider stocking it. As I wrote in my IndieGogo campaign notes, small presses face multiple obstacles to get buyers' attention, from stories to shoppers. I may have to buy some more ads, but want to focus on indie LGBT media buys, and not on feeding the quit evil machine of Facebook. Yes, I have to using it and other morally bankrupt social media outlets.

But wait, what was that about a free copy of Finding Tulsa? Well, you can catch the Erie Gay News contest for a chance to win a no-obligation copy. 

But you can also sign-in or sign-up for NetGalley, where thousands of books are available in advance ebook format. Members are asked to post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads or on the Net Galley website. Get Finding Tulsa here.

Instead of bookstore readings, like many others, I'm adapting to online interviews and events. You can view my recent chats with Nicholas Snow on PromoHomoTV, and with new fiction author David Eugene Perry, plus my recent talk with author Wayne Goodman on his Queer Words podcast.

Upcoming, join my September 22 Facebook Live  event with Dog Eared Books on the official release date of Finding Tulsa.

With more than 20 review copies sent to various media and freelance reviewers, I'm eager to read what they think of this, my most epic, adult, and frankly mature novel about summer theater crushes, 1990s Hollywood, gay life, lost and rediscovered loves, and a lot more.

March into the Midwest: Now I'm Here at Prologue Bookshop

Touring bookstores to promote one's books can be very expensive and time-consuming, which is why I'm happy to announce that I'll be reading from and discussing my sixth novel, Now I'm Here, at Prologue Bookshop in Columbus on March 12. That the novel is set in a small fictional town near Columbus, and that I spent a few years at Ohio State University, makes this event particularly poignant. The store will also have a few copies of my first novel, PINS for sale.

GPC coverage of PINS in 1999

The last time I visited Columbus was in December 1999. I read from my first novel, PINS, to an appreciative audience at the now-closed An Open Book (749 N. High St.), and stopped by Cat's Impetuous Books in Stow, where I studied theatre for two years in nearby Kent.

It's hard to believe it's been twenty years since my last visit to Ohio. But with my family gone and few high school and college friends still there, traveling back there isn't as much of an option.

But when a representative from the Columbus Tourism  invited me on a press trip to write about the city's Short North district and growing LGBT community, of course I offered an enthusiastic 'Yes!' and contacted Prologue Bookshop next, because I saw that they host a monthly LGBT book club.

Book Loft, another great store in the area, ordered a few copies of Now I'm Here, which I'll sign on Friday March 13, at around 2pm.

While it's difficult to not feel a bit envious of authors who get national book tours arranged for them by their big publishers, I do feel a sense of pride that I not only arranged those long-ago events myself, but garnered a few reviews and interviews in several regional Ohio publications, including the now-gone Gay People's Chronicle, which gave my event a generous and knowledgeable two-page spread!

This time, I did get a few bites from local media, including this Q&A in City Scene:

"Being openly gay has never been easy, but some eras were more challenging than others. The AIDS crisis and rampant homophobia of the '80s certainly didn’t help the fight for gay rights. Author Jim Provenzano captures a story of love in this tumultuous time in his 2018 book Now I’m Here.

Prologue Bookshop has scheduled Provenzano to read and sign his book on March 12 at 7 p.m. It will be the first time in 20 years that this OSU alumnus will return to Columbus. Using his experience growing up in Ohio, Provenzano creates incredibly realistic characters in his sixth novel."

Prologue Bookshop

Prizm News, the new statewide LGBT publication, also granted me some coverage, with this Q&A:

"The story is saturated with subtle pieces of Provenzano’s past, including a love for Queen music and a unique experience on a pumpkin farm. The narrative also touches on topics of religious intolerance, abuse, and the heartbreak of AIDS."

For directions, visit Prologue's website. You should also follow their Instagram page for fun book recommendations.

If you're on Facebook, RSVP on the event page. If you can't attend, but are nearby, please order a copy of Now I'm Here from the store.

Perfectly Queer: July Lit Event, Summer Reading and Serious Themes

Another reading, another bookstore! July 11, I will be part of a reading and panel discussion with two other authors at the new home for LGBT events with Books Inc, at Opera Plaza on 601 Van Ness Avenue. The Market Street/Castro district store closed, as you may know.

Here's the link to Books Inc's listing for my reading with Michael Aleynikov, author of Ivan and Misha: Stories, and Na’amen Gobert Tilahun, author of The Root: A Novel of the Wrath & Athenaeum.

Aleynikov's connected stories share the intimate lives of two brother immigrants trying to survive in Brooklyn with their own family troubles and strife.

Saying Goodbye - and Hello - to Bookstores

Tom Schmidt discusses his photos.

This week I attended and read at two of the last three events at Books Inc. in the Castro. The store has hosted hundreds of readings, many of which I attended. It will close next week, and it's a sad day. 

But while that store is closing because of the exorbitant renewed lease costs, Books Inc, itself is thriving, with several other branches throughout the Bay Area. It remains one of the most successful California independent bookstores. 

The gay events and stock will move to the Books Inc, Opera Plaza on Van Ness Avenue. It's often the location for high profile celebrity signings. With its larger size, it can accommodate signings by the likes of Christopher Rice and other big publisher authors.

Forty Wild Crushes: PR campaigns and Bitly links

It's more PR time. Win a signed paperback copy of Forty Wild Crushes, my new short fiction collection. Link: http://amzn.to/1TwAew0
 
"Teenage lust in summer theatre, cheating boyfriends on The Tonight Show, and an escapee from a pumpkin farm; these are just a few of the characters in short stories from Lambda Literary Award winner Jim Provenzano. The five-time novelist shares new and previously published works, and excerpts from forthcoming novels."

The GoodReads promo book giveaway is slower to get approval from their staff, even though it's owned by Amazon.com. Kinda ironic, since Amazon is 100 times bigger than GoodReads. Or not. Anyway, it runs May 14 through May 28.

You can pre-order the Kindle edition now, which will be out June 1. I was informed this is a good way to promote a book, so that when it's released it'll show up higher on sales rankings. Frankly, I'm a bit pre-exhausted with all this expected promotional stuff; giveaways, ARC (Advanced Reader Copies), blog tours, etc. 

One friend said "Get a cat and vlog shirtless with it." 
Yeah, okay, no.

You know how I promoted my first San Francisco reading in, 1994? I was in the anthology Waves, which included the title story, "Forty Wild Crushes."

I stood outside A Different Light Bookstore on Castro Street, handing out little mini-flyers with info about my story and the book, with this picture of a shirtless Robert Conrad, like a street huckster. The Wild Wild West actor is mentioned in the short story. By the time the reading started, the store was packed.

So it was surprisingly appropriate that my colleague Aldo Alvarez (whose short fiction collection, Interesting Monsters, was part of the inspiration for my assembling a short story collection) blurbed my book with this quote:

"Jim Provenzano's short stories are as beautiful and chiseled as a young Robert Conrad, and they make me swoon just as much." - Aldo Alvarez, author of Interesting Monsters, founder and editor of Blithe House Quarterly 

I have some San Francisco area readings coming up in June and July. Follow me on Twitter, where everything's reduced to a Bitly link. PR, Sweetie! Pop-Specs!

Selling point! PR! Giveaway link here!

Lammies, Brooklyn and Broadway

My trip to New York City last week included surprising pastoral and cultural parts of Brooklyn, a fun bar hop, a brilliant Broadway show, a Philadelphia group reading, and culminated in the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards.

My first day proved surprisingly botanical with a long stroll through scenic Prospect Park. I enjoyed Frederick Law Olmsted's other masterpiece, Central Park, on my last NYC visit in 2012.

Prospect Park is of course much smaller, but retains that balance of natural and tarted up landscaping. Open fields echoed with the joyful screeches of packs of school children at recess, and a lone reader under a huge elm (or oak?) proved the tranquility of the park.

Prospect Park serenity

I couldn't help but think about my fictional character Reid Conniff, who spends a good deal of Every Time I Think of You and its sequel Message of Love working in parks or studying plants. Thus the two book covers that sort of resemble field guides to plants.

Of course, my own modern curiosity about plants and trees could have been solved with a few apps, including Leaf Snap and Plant Net. The phone apps let you take a photo of a plant or tree leaf and it identifies the species.

Plants of all types were identified by small nameplates throughout the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, which are adjacent to the western edge of Prospect Park. This highly manicured park includes a rose garden, Japanese mini-lake and landscaping that's beautiful.

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.

A Bookstore's End: How 'Evil' Are You?

Giovanni's Room, the oldest U.S. LGBT bookstore in America, if not the world, will soon close. And it's our fault.

Giovanni's Room in June 2012

Think about it. We buy books on Amazon.com. I self-published my last two books with them. It proved to be the easiest and most profitable format for self-publishing authors like myself. Expanding our culpability, we use the arrogant Google, whose motto has quite obviously re-punctuated from "Don't be evil," to "Don't. Be evil!" Google the term "Google buses" to catch up on this ongoing San Francisco controversy. Feel guilty? Use Bing.com instead (even though it pales in comparison).

Our smart phones and Apple computers are manufactured by near-slaves in China who will die from the toxins made with these products. I wrote all my novels on Apple computers. I am right now blogging on a Google platform.

We're evil by association. And the last great American gay bookstore is our latest sacrifice.

How to Succeed in the Book Business While Really Really Trying

Every now and then I get a request from a fledgling (or even successful) author colleague asking for tips on the book business. To me, that's almost like asking a kid riding a Big Wheel for pointers on competing in the Daytona 500.

They also ask to "pick my brain" which sounds painful. It's not, really. 

But the prerequisite to any such talk is that you read one or several of Dan Poynter's books on self-publishing. It's as useful a handbook as my Wolf Cub Scout books were when I was a kid.

Pretty much everything you need to know is in Poynter's books, from developing a book that sells (if that is your goal) to marketing a "difficult" title that may be limited to a subgenre.

By "subgenre," I mean a book that's a genre within a genre, of course.  Take PINS, for example: gay + sports. While my subsequent three books were produced via Print-On-Demand (POD), PINS was done the old-fashioned way.

It's a long involved tale, some of which I'll be explaining within a few brief minutes at an author panel that's part of Word Week. The Noe Valley Book Festival is like a mini-LitQuake. Panels, readings, and a Saturday gathering of many authors selling and signing their books are part of it. It's mostly for Noe Valley area writers, but I got in because I'm nice.

Shelved?

Lots of people are talking about how the online book shopping experience has hurt independent bookstores.

For example, Toronto's Glad Day Bookstore is facing its end after decades of service as a pioneering store.

The Toronto Star reports that John Scythes, who bought the store from founder Jearld Moldenhauer in 1991, has put a sign on the counter inviting anyone interested in buying it to contact him. According to a staff member, he began looking about a month ago, reaching out first to friends and customers first.

Glad Day first opened in 1970, operating out of Moldenhauer’s apartment in downtown Toronto, and was a hub for the city’s burgeoning queer community. (Giovanni’s Room, the oldest gay bookstore in the U.S., opened in 1973.)

So, it was with particular concern that I developed Every Time I Think of You and its marketing campaign, as well as its sales availability, knowing it would be predominantly online. Sorry, indie stores, but I don't have the time to consignment-ship books this time around, nor do I have time for a book tour. It doesn't pay off.

Well, now you can buy it from Giovanni's Room, the historic LGBT bookstore in Philadelphia. It's the oldest bookstore in the USA, and it holds a particular place in my heart. Giovanni's Room hosted the first reading of PINS, my first novel, and it snowed that day in 1999, most of Philly's gay wrestling team came by, plus it was my birthday.

Anyway, there won't be an East Coast reading tour this time around. So buy my books and others through their website and they get a share of the sale. (Sure, it's still the big conglomo I published it with, but you get the idea.)

Every Time I Think of You, now at Giovanni's Room's online store!

Support System

As much I'm tickled by how simple it has been to convert books to Kindle and Nook editions, I still try to support independent bookstores. After all, they were also stocking my books whenever possible, and helping other indie authors with promotions, book clubs, and events.

So it was with sadness that I heard about yet another LGBT bookstore closing, this time OutWrite Books in Atlanta.

So many have closed, yet others have figured out how to survive: online sales, discounts for members, welcoming author events, plus diversifying their stock with some mainstream items.

Giovanni's Room is one of the best. Back in 1999/2000 during my extensive book tour for PINS, I read at Giovanni's Room on my birthday on a night when a lovely snow fell upon Philadelphia.

And because of its history going back to 1973, the pioneering store might just also make an appearance in the possible sequel to Every Time I Think of You. Oops, that's a bit of a spoiler, eh?

Lambda Literary Foundation has the most recently updated list of indie and LGBT-friendly bookstores in the U.S. and Canada. Do patronize them.