January! It’s the first month of the year and I can’t believe it’s already over! This has been a super super busy month for me !!! Want to know what I’ve been up to?
MFA – I started grad school! I’ve got the hoodie and everything! I went to Vermont (where it was -20 degrees F!!! ) for my first MFA residency. It was 10 days long, and I survived! I was really worried about going and being away from home that long. I made friends! I wrote stuff! I read aloud! I love my advisor for this semester! I hiked through the narnia woods to the library! I made a semester plan I feel good about! I’m a grad student and studying queer fairy tales!!!! Since getting home I’ve been studying/writing my little <3 out!
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I QUIT MY MUGGLE JOB!!!!! This is going to be my highlight not just for the month, but also for my year, and honestly probably for my life! As many of you know my muggle job has been breaking my spirit for years and I’ve been trying to balance a lot – writing all my books on the subways and on lunch breaks at the bubble tea shop and….. I just can’t do it anymore. Kestryl and I made the decision that it was the chance to make a HUGE life transition not just for me, but for our whole family. I’m going to be writing full time, and doing the grad school thing! Definitely making some big dreams come true – looking forward to being able to write TONS for all of you!
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BOOK DEAL! This has been in the works for a few months but I was finally able to make the public announcement that I’m writing a new nonfiction book! The book I’m writing is titled “Left Out: How Marriage Equality Abandoned Homeless LGBTQ Youth” I am so excited about writing this book that is deeply rooted in conversations that I’ve been having for the last decade! I’m really excited about working in nonfiction again, and with such a fantastic publisher!
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Dogs! It was super hard to be away from my pups for 10 days while I was at my MFA residency, even though I knew they were home with their Daddy and their kitties having a great time. Since getting home I’ve definitely made up for lost time and have been having lots of fun winter beach adventures in outer Brooklyn. Baby Sirius is also getting to get back into Rally Obedience and has been taking an Advanced Rally class and we’ve been having a really great time – this is a sport that is so perfect for a still – developing puppy, and one that I’ve always wanted to have a chance to play more with.
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YouTube – I started making more regular YouTube videos specifically for my littles community! I’m not exactly sure what I think of it yet – but i’m trying to keep it cute/simple and am having a surprising amount of fun with it and have been getting sweet feedback from viewers (it’s weird to not say readers) about the content. So much of the ageplay /littles community is on tumblr and youtube I just felt a little inspired after a conversation I had on my social media channels where I had conversations with different folks about how we didn’t feel represented in a lot of littles content Check them out here
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Reading! I’ve been reading a bunch because see above: graduate student! I’ve been pushing through a book a week! My most favorite book I read in January absolutely is “Beneath The Sugar Sky” the third book in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series (which i’m super obsessed with). I was WAITING for this book, and it came out while I was at my residency and I of course ordered it, and it was at home waiting for me. Also I got to read it FOR my MFA program which made it even better!
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Lambda Writers In School – I’m so thrilled that Lost Boi and I are part of the Lambda Writers In Schools program this year which is locally in partnership with the NYC Department Of Education! This spring I’ll be visiting several high schools with Lost Boi (that’s right with Lost Boi!!!! How much do I wish i got to read super queer books in school when I was a high school student???) anyway the very first of my high school visits with Lost Boi was this month and I had SUCH. A. GREAT. TIME!!! I got to visit with the students at Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan. The students were so engaged, and thoughtful and had really interesting questions about writing, publishing, and of course the book!
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I dyed my hair a reddish color! I like it!
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Things I wrote that were published this month: include my monthly column at Curve Magazine which you can read here , and a story at Dogster about dog friendly workplaces
(I intentionally didn’t do a lot of writing this month to give myself a chance to adjust to graduate student life + for these few weeks while i’m doing the full time student thing + the full time muggle thing + the writing thing ++++++++ but have no fear, lots more writing coming very soon!!!!
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I think that’s pretty much all for January! 2018 is definitely off to a very busy and exciting start for me! February is going to be my first month without this muggle job and I’m so excited! As always I post lots and lots on my facebook/twitter/instagram/tumblr so please friend me if you want to see all the updates about projects I’m working on, cute dog pictures, etc. etc. etc <3
xoxo