The Perfect Two

When I set out to write Analog to Digital, I wanted to accomplish three things with the story. First, I wanted to write a feel-good short/novella that would leave smiles on readers’ faces. It needed to be sweet. I tend to infuse most of my stories with some degree of angst, but this was intended to be fluff and sweetness. Second, I wanted to write about an established couple so obviously in love, but who still need to work out their existence beyond their initial HEA. I love writing established couples! I was a couples therapist, after all. I love the genuine struggle they have to navigate in the real world.…

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Toolbox Tuesday – Your Voice

One thing I love about MM Romance and LGBTQ fiction is reading about people who have different world experiences than I do. I love that, by reading these stories, I’m allowing voices previously stifled to finally be heard, understood, and empathized with. Until MM Romance came along, most LGBTQ fiction, especially those books and movies with gay characters, ended in tragedy. Happily ever afters? No, that didn’t happen. Most ended in a tragic death, loneliness, despair, or self-loathing. Everything changed when MM Romance came on the scene. People who had never considered reading about men falling in love with men were clambering for more books, more varied stories so they…

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Get Out of the Kitchen

The whole “let’s quit performing all weddings at courthouses because a few clerks don’t want to perform same-sex weddings” debacle in Florida is crazy to me. It’s adults having temper tantrums because they’re being asked to perform a duty for their job. I certainly have moral dilemmas in my own job, but I still have to perform the duties I’ve been hired to do. For instance, I think No Child Left Behind is doing far more harm than good in our country. Teachers are being judged based on how their students perform. That would be fine and dandy if kids all started off on a level playing field: had the…

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It’s Real!

The impact of the DOMA’s demise is having real effects on people’s lives. Binational married couples are now able to apply and be granted a green card for their foreign-born spouse so repeated goodbyes like these seen in the video below will no longer have to happen. Parents will have a much easier time providing for their children, both legally and financially, without having to file stacks and stacks of paperwork. Two medical insurance plans can now become one. Social Security benefits. Military benefits, which include housing and so much more. Married LGBT couples will be able to file taxes and check the box that says Married, Filing Jointly. There…

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Mental Distraction

I finished my rainbow nesting bowls today while I listened to the British House of Lords discuss marriage equality. Sorta fitting, don’t you think? Crocheting also kept my mind occupied since I’m super frustrating with myself for not having enough concentration to write at the moment. I hate these moments. I know I’ll eventually get my mojo back, but right now, writing feels like pulling teeth. I hate this feeling, so I’m better off concentrating on other things. I sure hope this block doesn’t last nearly as long as the last one did.

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Parenting an LGBT Savvy Kid

On May 14, 2013 I signed my fifth-grade daughter out of school and drove to St. Paul, Minnesota so she could be part of history. Governor Mark Dayton signed the Marriage Equality bill into law. I met a friend there as well. She brought her six-year-old son for the same reason. This was history in the making and we wanted our kids to be there for this moment. This was big. We cheered and smiled and sat out in the super hot sun with sweat dripping down our backs, because this was important. Then we went downtown and celebrated. People were so happy. I’ve made very conscious choices about talking to…

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A Dozen

Minnesota Senate Approves Marriage Equality | Advocate.com. My beloved state did it. We passed marriage equality. WE DID IT! I remember feeling something similar to this, but it pales in comparison to how I feel right this second. In 1991 the Minnesota Twins won the World Series. I was in college and not paying much attention to the series at all until there was a dull roar that grew and grew to such a racket that I looked out my dorm room, abandoning my studies. The 3000+ students that went to my small college had poured out of their dorms and were running down the streets cheering and smiling and…

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Tweeting and Connecting

Watching a live event while tweeting can be super fun. I did that during the presidential debates last fall, on last Thursday I did it when the MN House debated marriage equality, and right now I’m tweeting about the same debate in the MN Senate. I’m connecting with people who are just as passionate about this issue as me. I’m “chatting” with locals and people who aren’t local who still give just as much of a damn about this as I do. That’s just plain cool! I love technology. If you want to follow me on Twitter, come on!  

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Half Way There to a Dozen!

I feel like I just ran an marathon. I had so many ups and downs with the MN House marriage equality hearing that I’m exhausted. When Rep. Tim Kelly tried to tack on an amendment to reduce all marriages to civil unions just so he wouldn’t have to vote for or against marriage equality, I about went through my screen. Then my representative got up there and agreed. We will be having words the next time we see each other! Thankfully, that amendment was quickly defeated. Then, they got to the meat of the debate and I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of it. I…

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Excite!

Yesterday as I listened to the SCOTUS arguments in the DOMA case on my laptop, I got an email. I was relaxing in the tub at the time and nearly ignored it. I’m so glad I didn’t. North Star – Rekindled is going to be published. Dreamspinner wants my story. I’m so excited. I can’t wait. NO. Literally, I can’t wait.

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