Is it already August?! I don’t know how this happened, but it means we’re closer to the autumn (and getting closer to our trip to Disney World) so i’m not complaining!
What was I up to in July???
- Last week a reader sent me this AWESOME picture from Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon! If you see my books out in the world please send/tweet/instragram pictures @ me!!! One of my favorite things is seeing my books out in the world!
* My July started with reading as part of The Hustle reading series at WORD bookstore. The event is focused on the real working styles of writers, how we pay our bills, and how we organize our work. Definitely a fun event to be part of!
* In July Daddy and went on gaycation up to Provincetown with our dogs. I went offline (other than to post cute dog beach photos) and it was EXACTLY what i needed. I spent every day playing in the water, having fun with my family, reading lots of books, and not checking my email! Definitely the break I needed. I kayaked for the first time – we went out in the ocean all the way from town out to a lighthouse, and were surrounded by seals! Unfortunately the photos of seals didn’t turn out so you’ll just have to take my word for it. I did upload approximately three million pictures of my dogs on Facebook and Instagram so definitely check those out!
* For those of you who follow my dog writing – I’ve been taking on online summer intensive training course from Absolute Dogs (based in the UK) with Charlotte. The class is specifically for reactive dogs and is game focused.It’s been fun to stretch my dog training brain muscles this summer and have an excuse to spend lots of time everyday training. We’ve been seeing a LOT of success from the class, and I’ll be writing all about our experience later this summer on Dogster!
* Surprisingly I came home from gaycation to several invitations to write focused on all kinds of things from being a teenage runaway, being a little and my D/s dynamic with Daddy, to queer literature (clearly i should go on gaycation more often)! So I’ve hit the ground running with writing since being back in the city. It’s fun to be writing so much again — several of these pieces should be releasing in the next few months – i’ll update here, and as always on facebook/twitter when different things go to press.
* In July my PETS column at Curve Magazine was an emotional one talking about the pets of Orlando victims, and how as queer pet-parents we need to think about the safety of our own pets always, but especially in the aftermath of Orlando should something happen to us.
* The big news from July was finishing my leather/queer Christmas novella A Little Queermas Carol that will be coming out this holiday season! This has been a fun little project that grabbed my imagination and I”m so looking forward to being able to share it with all of you! I have been working with the fabulous artist KD Diamond (who did the cover art for my novel Roving Pack) to come up with something extra special for this novella (which I hope to be able to show you soon!)! Just this weekend I locked in the final version of the text and sent it off to be laid out! I feel so lucky to have readers that get as excited as I do about projects like this – and I can’t wait to hear what y’all think! especially the ageplayers!
* I’ve been reading lots of books – and keeping with my book a week goal. I’ve now surpassed my Goodreads 2016 goal of reading 50 books (currently at 56!). Follow me on Goodreads to checkout what I’m reading! Definitely my favorite books I read in July were “Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon” and “Like a Woman” both of which were stellar in (obviously) different ways.
* Popculture babble: I tried to get into playing pokemon go because everyone here in Brooklyn was playing but I got a little bit board faster than I did with nekoatsume (since I don’t know the characters well). I did however (i don’t know how I’ve never seen it!) discover the movie Wreck It Ralph- which I’m pretty obsessed with now. Also so glad that season 6 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has turned itself around after a fairly disappointing start. I’m refusing to see Finding Dory because the reviews tell me it’s all a bio family reunification plot (eww) and also avoiding secret life of pets – because I hate stories of lost pets, I just want an hour and a half of them playing in their apartments (essentially an extended trailer would have made me happy)
UPCOMING:
* This fall i’ll be facilitating a LGBT Fiction reading group at The Center For Fiction here in NYC! It’s going to be really fun! Click here for more info about the class here as well as information about how to register!I know space is filling up quickly so please spread the word and register soon! We’re going to be reading: 1) Under the Udala Tree, Chinelo Okparanta 2) God In Pink, Hasan Namir 3) Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson 4) Like Son, Felicia Luna Lemus 5) Life is Wonderful, People Are Terrific, Meliza Bañales
* I’ll have a story in the print issue of Dogster Magazine this August – which should be hitting newsstands any day! This article is similar to some of mine that went viral last spring encouraging dog parents to obey leash laws to keep the world safe for reactive and other special needs dogs.
* Stay tuned for information about pre-ordering A Little Queermas Carol this fall!!!!