It's a trope of both literature and film. We have two protagonists thrown together by circumstances, allies working together. They don't particularly react to each other as attractive romantic possibilities, and instead we find them interacting as people with skills and talents, areas of expertise and passionately held principles. And they come ( Read more... )

One of the early reviews of GenderQueer noted that my thoughts and attitudes during my later teenage years in my book reminded her of the Nice Guys ( Read more... )

“I agree! There’s no reason for all these labels! Just be who you are!” This comment was written in response to last week’s blog post, which was about retaining the authority to invent your own label instead of feeling like you have to choose from among the existing gender identities that you’ve heard about ( Read more... )

Today I want to talk about sexual feelings. Surprisingly, we don't do that often. We discuss sexual orientation, and gender identity; but our thoughts and attitudes about sexuality itself are often the same as the ones held by the prevailing culture and we're prone to repeating them, unexamined.

Consider this paragraph:

The habit of using women ( Read more... )

In my blog post of two weeks ago I wrote that I'd been mulling over the possibility of marketing my book as something akin to "Nice Guy Testifies & Tells His Side of the Story ( Read more... )

I've been considering an additional way to present and market my book: as "Nice Guy™ Tells His Side of the Story" or "Testimony of a Self-Identified Nice Guy™" or something of that ilk.

I've blogged in the past about how I've perceived a connection between the Nice Guys thing and where my head is at (or has been at in the past), things that I see ( Read more... )

I had a very good time with the editor Barbara Rogan's author's colloquium, which ended last Thursday. Unlike some of these courses, which often focus on teaching a technique and then leave you to the task of applying what you learned to your actual work on your own time afterwards, this was one that encouraged us to use our work-in-progress as ( Read more... )

I do tend to whine a bit. In here, and on the topic in general. Comes with the territory: when atypical female people set out to draw attention to social feminization and the expectations and roles and whatnot that they have to cope with, it's widely perceived as aggressive belligerent ranting; when we do our version, it's naturally going to be ( Read more... )

So if you've been reading these things, you've probably got some idea of how I perceive myself: kinda sweet, bit on the prim side, warm and loving when people open up to me and share, a bit reserved otherwise, serious and righteous in a confidently cheerful sort of way... Sexually more of a reactive person than an initiator, shy about my appetite ( Read more... )

So I've written this book about being a male person who is akin to male-to-female transgender folks except that I don't think I'm in the wrong body and am not trying to pass for "female" so much as be understood as "girl in male body". And about being attracted to female people but specifically AS a girlish rather than boyish-persuasion kind of ( Read more... )