Books: JD

In Mark Merlis' new novel "JD" Jonathan Ascher, an acclaimed 1960s radical writer and cultural hero, has been dead for thirty years. 

When a would-be biographer approaches Ascher’s widow Martha, she delves for the first time into her husband’s papers and all the secrets that come tumbling out of them. 

She finds journals that begin as a wisecracking chronicle of life at the fringes of the New York literary scene, then recount Ascher’s sexual adventures in the pre-Stonewall gay underground and the social upheavals that led to his famous book “JD.”

A Q&A With Marc Freden, Author of 'Not Too Cocksure'

Producer, entertainment journalist and on-camera personality Marc Freden has promised to reveal the ‘dark side of the bright lights’ with a explosive series of sexually charged scandalous novels revealing Hollywood’s unspoken truths. The first, Not Too Cocksure, introduces the recurring character of Mica Daly—an ambitious entertainment journalist who becomes the topic of his own story when his involvement with the meteoric rising star, Chad Martin, goes from the murmurs of gossip to the stuff of Hollywood lore.

Who is Mica Daly?
Mica Daly is an aggressive, ambitious entertainment reporter and a keen observer of the world around him. But unlike many reporters in today’s media world, he is not fishing for the lowest common denominator, trying to ruin lives or find the scandal. He still believes there can be entertainment in entertainment reportage. As you see in Not Too Cocksure his moral high ground gets him in trouble as he becomes a fall guy. But as you see as the books evolve, you can only push him so far and soon his experience become his education. 


How much of the book is based in fact? It is all based in fact. The truth is far more entertaining than the fiction. The fiction stems from placing these amalgam characters in certain circumstances which link the fact based plot line together. That is certainly the case in Not Too Cocksure.
 
Are you concerned that you will be biting the hand that feeds you? No! I am more concerned that the reader is sated. I have no problem pulling back the curtain on Hollywood and the world of celebrity and entertainment and telling what I know. My anecdotes have been the subjects of years of cocktail chatter, I am excited about sharing them with a broader audience.
 
More and more actors are coming out of the closet. Is the threat of outing still relevant? Coming out in Hollywood is still a ‘dollars and sense’ situation for many actors. Will the studios back you in the same way? Will there be roles available for you? Are you relegated to character roles versus leading roles? But, moreover, coming out is a personal decision and should not be thrust upon you. What Mica faces is a moral dilemma as much as a career crossroads. This is also a story about how low the media will sink to get the story and at what cost. As such this story is relevant on many levels. 

What can we expect from Mica as the books progress? I think Mica can’t help but become a product of his environment. The entertainment industry doesn’t change because you have a moralistic ideology. In order to succeed, he is going to have to find a way to exist in a system that is unfair, favors cronyism, rewards mediocrity and protects the scandalous. And he will. The question is: will his success reveal a darker, more ambitious, Mica? Let’s face it, in order to be a player, you have to play the game.

Books: Broken Child, Mended Man

Broken Child Mended Man, by Dr. Adam Starks, tells the harrowing tale of a neglected upbringing and transition into foster care; a microcosm of the 500,000 children currently locked in the same system. However, and against all odds, Dr. Starks triumphed through his pain to achieve trend-bucking success. In this raw and frank memoir, Dr. Starks lays his life story bare, and through a display of what can only be described as resilience in its most primitive form, offers hope to others who feel their past has to define their future.

Books: From Stressed to Centered - A Practical Guide to a Healthier and Happier You

It's not too late for that New Year's restart; a chance to re-launch your life, liberated from overwhelming stress.  Dana Gionta, Ph.D. and Dan Guerra, Psy.D. who are experts in clinical psychology and behavioral change, have written the definitive book on stress relief and self-care - From Stressed to Centered - A Practical Guide to a Healthier and Happier You.

From Stressed to Centered offers a comprehensive approach, thoughtfully crafted structure, and practical methods that yield long-term results. From Stressed to Centered is a top to bottom offering that includes innovative Stress Management and Self-Care assessments which are powerful evaluative tools culled from Drs. Gionta and Guerra's years as behavior change experts within both clinical and organizational environments. From there, the book offers easy-to-integrate life-changing strategies to release yourself from stress and find a centered core from where you can be your most present and do your best work. From Stressed to Centered teaches you how to manage your stress through simple, actionable, portable techniques in only a few moments - anywhere, any time. The book also provides you with proven strategies to help you create your own powerful self-care toolkit to recognize and avoid burnout and stay on a low-stress path.

Books: Gaybash

Set in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, Gaybash explores the boundaries of love and friendship and the unintended consequences of wanting to be somebody else. 

 Matt Tompkins, a reserved gay man, has always played by the rules and has created a comfortable but unfulfilling life for himself. When his bold best friend Greg reaps unexpected rewards for standing up for himself in a very public display, Matt's jealousy leads him to risk everything when he's confronted by two attackers. Determined to be more like Greg, a split-second reaction brings astonishing changes to Matt's life--for better and for worse.

"This Day in June" wins 2015 Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award

“This Day in June” written by Gayle E. Pitman, Ph.D., illustrated by Kristyna Litten and published by Magination Press, an imprint of the American Psychological Association, is the 2015 recipient of the Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award presented by the Stonewall Book Awards. The award was announced today by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Stonewall Book Awards Committee of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting, held Jan. 30 – Feb. 3 in Chicago.

The Stonewall Book Awards are given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience. The award will be presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference in San Francisco in June.

“‘This Day in June’ celebrates the pride and diversity of the LGBTQ community from a child’s point of view. This is the first picture book to win the Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award. In fact, this is the first time in the 44-year history of the awards a picture book was selected. It reflects the ever-growing quality and quantity of LGBTQ picture books being published,” said Stonewall Book Awards Committee Chair Dr. Rebecca D. Hunt.

“This Day in June” depicts a child’s eye view of a Pride Parade, and conveys the excitement, energy and diversity of the many varieties of queer life.

Books: Not Too Cocksure by Mark Freden

Mica Daly is an aggressive, ambitious on-camera entertainment reporter. Chad Martin is a strikingly handsome cater-waiter and ambitious, driven aspiring actor. When their two worlds collide at a dinner party in the Hollywood Hills, Mica and Chad’s lives -- and bodies -- become inextricably intertwined in the first book in author Marc Freden’s new book Not Too Cocksure. 

“It has been said that my novels have all the steaminess of a 50 Shades of Gay and the Hollywood-insider deliciousness of Jackie Collins, which I consider a compliment,” says Freden. “All my characters are drawn from, or are a pastiche of, real Hollywood personalities. People have asked me if certain incidents in the book have really happened. And the answer is yes!”

How to Put Your Inner Child in Time Out - 3 Ways to Retrain Your Brain & Put the Adult in Charge

The human brain is a wonder of the universe, but our understanding of it can seem contradictory, says Steven Jay Fogel, author of the new book Your Mind Is What Your Brain Does for a Living.

“On the one hand, we’re often told of those crucial years that our brain develops in childhood, when we’re rapidly progressing in development of our language and other skills, and our preadolescent and teenage years, when our brains undergo a sort of second Big Bang of learning,” says Fogel.

“But although it may seem that the brain is pretty much set by adulthood, it remains malleable throughout adulthood; it continues to change as we learn and adapt.”

Most of us are unaware that elements of our inner child’s development are constantly tugging atus, and we don’t have a clue that it’s happening, he says. In Jungian therapy there’s a concept called the dark side, or shadow side, the place in our unconscious to which certain feelings and thoughts are banished because they don’t support our image of ourselves, he says.

Books: Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects

Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects takes a long, hard look at getting the short end of the stick, both before and after transition from female to male. This collection of humorous essays explores identity, sexuality, and growing up female in a world with two sexes, two genders – and no exceptions. Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects is available in paperback, on Kindle, and as an eBook download.

Books: The Gay Gospel, A Survival Guide for Gay 20Somethings

In his new book The Gay Gospel, A Survival Guide for Gay 20Somethings in America Today Justin Luke Zirelli says, "So many twenty-somethings I know view themselves as broken or busted beyond repair. The truth is we all have something, or things, that are not quite right inside of us." 

In a new interview with Michael Graves for Lambda Literary, he explains more.

Books: A Well-Seasoned Kitchen

A Well-Seasoned Kitchen is a recipe treasury for cooks who cherish creating delicious meals to nourish relationships with family and friends. Developed by mother and daughter, Sally Clayton and Lee Clayton Roper, the book is ideally suited for today's modern cook who juggles a busy life but finds joy in preparing meals for others. The hardcover cookbook includes 186 tested recipes, planning menus, helpful tips and four-color photos by renowned food photographer Laurie Smith.

Lee conceived the idea for this cookbook as her aging mother (who was a fabulous cook and hostess) was showing signs of memory loss. Gathering recipes, remembering their shared cooking experiences and relieving family memories provided an opportunity to both keep her mother mentally active and also engage with her. The result of their effort is a wonderful collection of recipes that are uncomplicated, delicious and beautiful-- and work equally well for entertaining and everyday use. Sadly, just as they were finishing the book, Lee’s mom, Sally Clayton, passed away. As the book was originally conceived as a project to mentally engage her mother, a portion of proceeds benefit the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

Marc Solomon's “Winning Marriage” Book Launch Tonight

Marc Solomon, the national campaign director for Freedom to Marry and veteran marriage strategist, continues his national tour in Denver this evening at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art to promote Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took on the Politicians and Pundits – and Won. 

The book, with a foreword by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, has received critical acclaim from Bob Woodward, Dee Dee Myers, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin. 

As a senior political strategist for the marriage movement for more than a decade, Solomon takes readers inside the White House, the Supreme Court, governors' offices and state capitols, as well as into the war rooms of marriage campaigns throughout the country, showing how the campaign for marriage equality has been waged and how it has prevailed.  Solomon chronicles the indispensable role of Tim Gill, as well as the Denver-based Gill Foundation and the Gill Action Fund, in bringing about the victories secured over the last decade.

Books: Winning Marriage: The Inside Story

As the spotlight turns back to the U.S. Supreme Court to potentially bring national resolution to the freedom to marry, a new book by veteran marriage strategist Marc Solomon, Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took on the Politicians and Pundits – and Won, hits bookstores after weeks of critical acclaim. Solomon tells the gripping story of what it took to make a seemingly impossible goal—to win the freedom to marry for all Americans—a near reality in a relatively short period of time. He gives readers a fly-on-the-wall view of the winning strategies that have made marriage equality the most successful social movement in recent American history.

Slate Magazine has dubbed Winning Marriage “the definitive political history of marriage equality,” adding “Activists spent thousands of hours bending the arc of moral justice with their own hands.” U.S. News and World Report calls it "a playbook for progressive causes." The book’s release by ForeEdge/ University Press of New England comes less than a week after the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the freedom to marry, creating a split among federal circuit courts and making it much more likely the U.S. Supreme Court will bring national resolution on marriage by June of 2015. The book also comes a month after the number of states where gay couples can marry skyrocketed from 19 to, soon, 35.

“Winning Marriage is a deeply-reported and deeply-felt insider’s account of the marriage equality movement,” wrote Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward. “Astute, committed, and fair-minded, Solomon’s story chronicles the political sea change on marriage equality.”

Winning Marriage begins at a time when politicians of both parties viewed marriage for gay couples as the third rail of American politics – touch it and a political career dies – to today, when nearly every Democratic and an increasing number of Republican elected officials, as well as the strong majority of American people, embrace it. Solomon provides an insider’s account of how the freedom to marry was won, bringing readers into governors’ offices, state houses, the White House and the Supreme Court, as well as into the war rooms of marriage campaigns across the country.

“Even though I knew where each chapter would end, I was drawn into Marc’s detailed, carefully researched and deeply personal account -- and it left me wiping my eyes and pumping my fist,” noted Dee Dee Myers, press secretary in the Clinton White House. “I can’t wait for the ultimate epilogue.”

Solomon has been Freedom to Marry’s national campaign director since 2010 and has campaigned full-time on marriage for more than a decade. He is hosting a national book tour with launch events in New York on November 14 and Washington, D.C. on November 18. Other cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas City, and Portland.

Christopher Rice: On His New Novel 'The Vines,' the Gay Appeal of the Horror Genre, and Writing Supernatural Thrillers

Christopher Rice talks to Lambda Literary Review about his surprising-yet-not-surprising career trajectory, the gay appeal of the horror genre, literary labels, and readying one of his mother's classic novels for the big screen.

Books: Sweet Tooth

Sweet Tooth (by Tim Anderson, author of the best-selling travel memoir Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries) that tells the hilarious story of a gawky, junk food-loving, and secretly gay Southern teen's being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the same time that his adolescent hormones are going bonkers. Angst, mortal frustration, and much hilarity ensue.

Described by Publishers Weekly as "lively and invigorating" and by The Advocate as "uproariously self-deprecating," Sweet Tooth is more than a memoir of Tim's gay, diabetic adolescence in the eighties--it's a celebration of the music he grew up with and that soothed him during all of his teenage cravings: The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo and the Bunnymen, and other new wave greats that he's currently paying tribute to in a series of posts called Sweet Tooth Jukebox over at his blog.

Books: Flower of Iowa

More than two decades in research and writing, Lance Ringel's new eBook FLOWER OF IOWA is a sprawling tale of battle, courage and the resilience of the human spirit. It concerns an American soldier – Tommy Flowers – and a British soldier – David Pearson – who meet during the summer of 1918 in France behind the battle lines in the final months of the war.

Their friendship soon develops an unexpected intimacy. Baffled by their feelings, but committed to exploring them further, Tommy and David do everything to spend time together, even after David is wounded and sent home to England to convalesce.

Ringel first began work on the book in 1992 at the height of the controversy surrounding President Bill Clinton’s campaign promise to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He envisioned a saga that examined a relationship between two soldiers set against the backdrop of WWI. This idea launched Ringel into a five-year journey across America and through Europe in a quest to make sure that FLOWER OF IOWA was as historically accurate as possible. The author visited former battlefields across the French countryside, their surrounding towns, as well as numerous museums in Europe and the United States.

Equally tragic and hopeful, dramatically stirring and historically faithful, FLOWER OF IOWA takes its place among the memorable novels about the Great War, distinguishing itself with a gallery of compelling characters, meticulous research and exhilarating storytelling that vividly captures the war and the universal nature of love.

Books: Confessions of a Drag Queen Tupperware Lady

In 1996 actor Kevin Farrell moved to Hollywood and he began to work steadily. But not steadily enough. So he started doing what he needed to do to make ends meet, waiting tables, catering, the occasional office job, and selling Tupperware ... in drag!

Kevin created an outlandish, larger-than-life character named Dee W. Ieye (pronounced “eye,” get it?), a loud, sassy refugee from a trailer park in Tennessee, and she started to sell. In fact, before long, Kevin — as Dee — became Tupperware’s #1 salesperson in North America for four years running. And you can read all about it in Kevin's new book Confessions of a Drag Queen Tupperware Lady!

Books: Colorado Legends & Lore

Colorado is steeped in stories as unique as the people who settled it. 

Each wave of exploration and settlement brought new tales to explain the mysteries of this incomparable place. With extreme weather and breathtaking landscapes, it seems only natural that Colorado could play host to UFOs, stripper lightning and the Fountain of Love. From creation myths and rumored Aztec treasure to snow snakes and drunken house flies, professional yarn-spinner Stephanie Waters turns an eye to all of it in her new book Colorado Legends & Lore.

Books: A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, D.C.

“They made history and made a difference”

From the turn of the twentieth century through the 1980s, gay people in Washington, D.C. created their own communities, fought for their rights, and, in the process, helped to change the country.

But much of this vivid history had never been documented. Until now.

In A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington, D.C., Genny Beemyn explores how lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals established spaces of their own before and after World War II, survived some of the harshest anti-gay campaigns in the U.S., and organized to demand equal treatment.

Telling the stories of black and white gay communities and individuals, Beemyn provides insights not only into LGBT life, but also on the history of Washington, D.C. and African American life and culture in the twentieth century.

Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, said the book “is at once exhilarating and moving. Brimming with newly discovered information and vibrant sketches of people and historical events brought together with a fresh eye and original analysis, A Queer Capital is an important addition to academic and popular studies of LGBT American history.”

How to Put Your Inner Child in Time-Out: Three Ways To Retrain Your Brain

The human brain is a wonder of the universe, but our understanding of it can seem contradictory, says Steven Jay Fogel, author of the new book Your Mind Is What Your Brain Does for a Living.

“On the one hand, we’re often told of those crucial years that our brain develops in childhood, when we’re rapidly progressing in development of our language and other skills, and our preadolescent and teenage years, when our brains undergo a sort of second Big Bang of learning,” says Fogel.

“But although it may seem that the brain is pretty much set by adulthood, it remains malleable throughout adulthood; it continues to change as we learn and adapt.”

Most of us are unaware that elements of our inner child’s development are constantly tugging atus, and we don’t have a clue that it’s happening, he says. In Jungian therapy there’s a concept called the dark side, or shadow side, the place in our unconscious to which certain feelings and thoughts are banished because they don’t support our image of ourselves, he says.