The Story that Keeps Saving Me, and an Invitation!

I'm ready to share a beautiful peace of the fantasy world born in the backseat of my Rabbi's minivan

I’m not going to bury the lede here since I’m very excited about this: next Tuesday evening a group of writers I am privileged to have worked with over the last ten months are hosting a celebratory reading of the pieces we’ve been hard at work on. I’ll be reading an excerpt from my trans fantasy novel in which a trans teen learns what it means to be embodied even while struggling with dysphoria.

The reading will be hosted virtually on Tuesday, March 18th, at 6pm ET. RSVPs are required, please do so here! Please note that some of the works created in this class contain graphic imagery or themes that may not be appropriate for every audience. I would not recommend bringing a kid under 16 to this event.

Now, to work through this article in backwards order, I want to tell you a little more about the fantasy project I’ve been working on, and the people I’ve been working on it with.

What is an Author?

Lately, I’ve gotten more used to the idea of seeing myself as a writer. An Author with a capital A. Contrary to what you might expect, this change didn’t really align with the publication of my first book, My Child is Trans, Now What?

While I was going through the process of writing that book, I identified less as an author and more as someone with something to say. If you asked me to actually explain the difference between those two things, I would not have been able to. Looking back, I think I felt like I was using writing as a medium for change, not for art. I was an author, just not the kind of author I dreamt of being yet.

I knew I loved writing, but I doubted that I had something else to say, or that I had words beautiful enough to be worth listening to.

The Shift

As I started to spend more time at the Missouri state Capitol testifying in 2023, the weight I bore on my shoulders grew heavier and heavier. I needed an escape. So on the car rides home from the capital, nestled in the backseat of my Rabbi ‘s minivan, I began to write visions of a small community of trans people in the woods. A high-fantasy utopia where we had run away from the kingdom putting a target on our back. The scenes were disjointed, but they centered around feelings of family, magic, and the question of who deserves to belong.

Once I turned in my final manuscript of my non-fiction book in June 2023, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go next. I picked up and put down a few nonfiction ideas, but this story kept calling me back to it. Tentatively, I started to workshop it with a few trusted friends, who were delighted at the story that was emerging, the world I was building.

I find my work often inspired by the lush and cozy yet deep and reflective style of Studio Ghibli films

Then, in early 2024, I was selected for the Grub Street LGBTQ+ novel immersive, a 10 month cohort program for queer authors, working on unpublished manuscripts in a variety of genres.

Y’all, these folks pushed me. Pushed me to actually get some writing done, pushed me to start the Good Queer News that you know and love, pushed me to write a book 10 times better than I thought I could.

Most importantly, they pushed me to infinitely expand what I thought I understood about the word author. There is no line between having something to say, and the art with which you say it. There is also no meaningful connection between the state of being an author and finding “success” in the Thunderdome that is traditional publishing.

These peers, each of them brilliant authors, became some of my dearest friends, my greatest inspirations, and the people I fear the most should I fail to finish this book.

The program has reached its end, and to celebrate , we are hosting a virtual reading to share excerpts that we are most proud of. I’ll be sharing one of my favorite scenes, a dance party in the woods where a young trans man understands what it means to be embodied, even while struggling with dysphoria.

Next Tuesday evening, prepare to be delighted by sweeping biblical retellings, gods of semen and fertility, creeping but profound horror stories, humans turning into plants, gorgeously chaotic queers of historical New York City, the lyrical love story of the great poet Sappho, a magic high school that’s way gayer than hogwarts, and more! There will be plenty of magic, pining, and everything will be very, very gay.

The event is free, but RSVPs are required, so please do so here!