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To my friends, family, colleagues and supporters: As many of you know, I have spent the last several years working on a book called "Girlfag: A Life Told In Sex and Musicals." A "girlfag," says Wikipedia, is "a biologically female individual who feels a strong romantic or erotic attraction towards gay or bisexual men, or their social environment." (Her biologically male equivalent is called a "guydyke.") I started working on "Girlfag" while working on my MFA, and have continued to shape it since then. The book is partly a personal memoir and partly an exploration of the whole idea of girlfags, including such historical figures as Pharaoh Hatchepsut, George Sand and Mary Renault. And it has lots and lots of musical theater, because that's just the kind of girl(fag) I am. I've decided to bring my twenty years of small publishing expertise to bear on making "Girlfag" a reality this year. Toward that end, I have founded a new publishing company, Beyond Binary Books, which will publish literary works from the edges of conventional categories of gender, orientation, race and class. "Girlfag" will be its first publication in the fall of this year. Although my years in small publishing have taught me how to wring a lot of juice out of a small amount of money, this project does require some funding. That's why I'm asking for your help. 1. Be a backer! Even if you only have a dollar or two to spare, every little bit helps -- and I've provided incentives ranging from signed postcards to personal appearances, for every possible level of participation. Becoming a backer at any level will ensure that you're kept posted on the progress of the book from manuscript to finished publication. 2. Boost the signal! At the end of this email, I'll provide a short note that you can: - forward to your personal or business mailing list - include in your newsletter - post on your Facebook, Myspace or Livejournal page - tweet - share on Fetlife and other social sites dedicated to alternative sexual and relationship structures - discuss with your clients, students and friends 3. Tell your friends! Help me build buzz about girlfags and guydykes in general, and this book in particular. The more people that know we exist, the greater the audience for the book (and the more options for relationships that meet the needs of people who aren't well served by traditional categories). Thank you for anything you can do, and for being a part of my life. Hugs, Janet W. Hardy ---- Hi! I'd like you to take a look at the Kickstarter site for a new book project written by my colleague Janet Hardy, the co-author of the well-known polyamory guidebook "The Ethical Slut," at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/janetwhardy/girlfag-a-life-told-in-sex-and-musicals . I know you're a person with an interest in literature and/or alternative sexuality and relationship structures, and I hope you'll be able to help Janet bring her book to the world. [your name]
Terms of Endearment, Edward Scissorhands (partly because I know it was really Vincent Price's last movie, so his death scene just kills me). A TV movie called Alex: The Life of a Child made me cry until I choked. The final episode of Six Feet Under made me cry for three days, a record - I haven't cried that much over quite a few real deaths of people I've known.
A few of you have expressed an interest in my memoir, "Girlfag: A Life Told in Sex and Musicals." I've been shopping it around to publishers for a year or two, but the industry is running scared right now (and rightly so), and nobody's too interested in a literary memoir about what they think is a niche sexuality. So, I'm going to self-publish it under the imprint Beyond Binary Books. I've started a FB group for it at http://www.facebook.com/groups/266988160014719/ ; hope you'll join us there. As it gets closer to completion, I'll post notices of landmarks here (cover design, reviews, news, etc.), but if you're interested in more frequent postings, you should join us on FB. Hope to see you there! -- Janet W. Hardy
Started Weight Watchers again this week, after an abortive stab at low-carbing. LOVING the new Points Plus program - I wake up every morning thinking "oh, boy, I get to eat all the fruit I want!" (Of course, it helps that we're just entering fruit season in one of the best fruit-growing areas in the world.) I'm sitting here eating the dish that Miles long ago dubbed "Purina Mom Chow" - 1 c. lowfat or nonfat cottage cheese, 1 can drained crushed juice-pack pineapple, 1/3 c. Grape Nuts. Saving points for Ben's birthday cake tonight - lemon layer cake filled with strawberry/tangerine preserves and frosted with lemon white chocolate ganache - 14 points for a slice, almost half what I get for the day (not counting the 49 bonus points per week). Fortunately, his birthday dinner is homemade pho, which is sort of a PITA to make but only seems to have 10 points or so for a big bowlful. So far, this plan is feeling healthy, easy, maintainable. I love fresh fruit, and being able to categorize it like celery sticks as "guilt-free" feels amazing.
Sun, May. 15th, 2011, 02:19 pm
Bleagh
I brought a cold germ back with me from Vancouver a month ago, and now neither E nor I can shake it. I've been bedbound for the last three days with a horrible cough plus cold sweats, plus the effects of the only combination that makes it possible for me to sleep for a while (Robitussin + hydrocodone + half a dose of Benadryl). Seeing the doc Tuesday just to make sure it hasn't turned into bronchitis or pneumonia. Meanwhile, E's version has turned into what appears to be a sinus infection. Thank goodness Ben is here to help take up some of the slack, so the household hasn't fallen into *too* much chaos. (Although he has a job interview tomorrow up near Portland, so he may not be here too much longer.) E made a big pot of medicinal chili yesterday, so we're feeding ourselves from that and reminding ourselves that This Too Will Pass.
Otherwise, life goes on. Work is piling up as the days pass in which I'm too sick to do it. I'm supposed to be bidding on editing a couple of novels by two guys that I've already done one for - but a quick read of the first one has me worried; it has structural problems that are too much for an editor to handle. Hopefully, some of them will be resolved in the second one, so that I can suggest trimming both books substantially and turning them into one book. Right now I'm so involved in reading Book 3 of Game of Thrones (perfect sickbed reading, both involving and depressing) that I haven't made time to read the second one, but I have to make myself do it soon so I can tell the guys what I think we/they should do.
The Dudes and I have tickets for a long weekend in Ashland in three weeks; hopefully I'll be All Better by then ::crossing fingers::
I'm off to Australia tomorrow afternoon. I'm feeling utterly underprepared - have barely begun writing notes for the five (!) workshops I'm teaching there, haven't written my packing list, etc. - but I guess I'll manage somehow. It's a long flight and I can draft the workshops en route (at least two of them, Girlfags andf Guydykes and Pain for Pain's Sake, are brand-new written-from-scratch).
This will be the first time in four or five years that I've done workshops, and I'm decidedly ambivalent about it. I know I'm still one of the more knowledgeable and articulate teachers out there on these topics, but it feels very weird to be teaching topics that I'm no longer living. Also, I told them upfront that I'm not doing any demos or hands-on stuff (I still don't trust my ability to stay in ego-state while doing such things, rather than dissolving into a massive energy orgasm) - but that means I have to fill my time, 90 minutes for the Sydney classes and 2-1/2 hours for the Melbourne ones, with actual talking.
I *know* I'm always fine once I get up in front of an audience and the adrenaline kicks in. So my anxiety has mostly been playing out in the area of wardrobe - if it's true that one should "beware of all enterprises requiring new clothes," I'm in deep trouble. OTOH, it's all stuff I'll use for other occasions, white shirts and skinny jeans and such. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The other big concern is surviving the plane trip(s). I just got a TENS unit on Friday and it does seem to help, so between that and some good drugs, I guess I'll manage.
Wish me luck, gang... |
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