Tree Time: Limbs and Loving for the Holidays

Delancey tree lot in SF

Delancey Street, the multi-state nonprofit known for Christmas tree sales, set up one of their lots near my home over Thanksgiving weekend, and naturally, I got nostalgic for big tree holidays with my family. 

I only recently found out the extent of goodwill Delancey does for housing, rehabilitation and other social services, and that it's located in several states, not just a few empty lots in San Francisco.

But I also remembered the funny chapters from my fifth novel Message of Love, where Reid gripes about the massive consumption and subsequent destruction of evergreen and spruce trees.

I no longer buy a tree, in fact, like Reid, my fictional alter ego, I refrain from purchasing trees, but do splurge on a small wreath for my apartment door.

Delancey tree lot near Market St. Safeway, SF

Seeing one of many "Charlie Brown" tiny trees does make me nostalgic for the small apartment trees I bought years ago. It also reminds me of the tiny evergreen sprout that becomes an important and metaphoric part of the growing love between Reid and Everett, the main characters in my fourth novel, Every Time I Think of You.

Giving Thanks, a bit early

I have to be thankful, not for food or health of any of that, but for, after all these years, after trying numerous careers and jobs, finally being a full-time writer. That's not something most people who aspire to it get to do.

And it's been almost a month since I blogged anything because frankly, I was busy writing. Sure, fun features at work, emails, Facebook posts, and birthday cards; okay, I watched some movies. But you know, I just cancelled my Netflix as an impetus to watch fewer movies and write more. Also, Netflix sucks. And Hulu sucks. And even the (alleged) online TV show sites I (may or may not) visit that have cable shows...well, they suck sometimes, too. So it's on to the writing.

Query Books - Kickstarting a New Small Press

Check out my one-minute stop-motion love letter to LGBT literature made to help Query Books' Kickstarter campaign! They'll be republishing out-of-print books by renowned authors.
Query Books, started by Ken White, a book industry professional and former manager at San Francisco's Books Inc. in the Castro, has revealed his plans to start a small press focusing on out-of-print books by notable gay authors.

Query Books-Jim Provenzano from Ken White on Vimeo.

Among the rewards for supporters are print and ebook editions of their first project, James Broughton's Coming Unbuttoned. 

It was great fun sorting through my current book collection, and spending an afternoon taking pictures for this little clip. The first draft was about six minutes long, so I just edited and sped up a few sections. 

While I am an obsessive book collector, specifically of LGBT literature and nonfiction, over the years I've given away so many more books that weren't in my home when I shot this. But still, I hope it entertains and inspires.

Donate what you can, and support queer lit!

Looking Good: Beauty Standards & Disability

Who deserves to be visualized in media when discussing disability? It's well known that attractive people are treated better by others.  And when you think of the term 'model,' you think of beautiful men and women. 

While contemplating the visuals for my last two novels, I spent days searching stock image licensing companies to find imagery that would represent the two main characters in both Every Time I Think of You and its sequel Message of Love.

And I failed.

I failed because I didn't settle for what was available, because the images for rent did not include young men who resemble the main characters, in particular, Everett Forrester.  Stock images of wheelchair users, are kind of stupid, as this snarky yet accurate AutoStraddle listicle shows.

British trainer Jack Ayers

Most stock image companies portray disabled people -specifically wheelchair users- as either frail, in a hospital, alone, or conversely, as super athletic.

An exception is PhotoAbility, which has a more diverse array of images, but none of their images include two men together that could even slightly be implied as gay.

Also, as I've written before, I did not want to specifically 'brand' the books as disabled-inclusive, or specific. I never shied away from mentioning it as part of the story. I simply thought that the nature field guide look of the two covers was more metaphoric, while referencing an actual part of the story, Reid's love and study of nature.