Life Is Not a Novel
I’ve always had a very active daydream life.
In Queer Horror Anthology “It Came From the Closet,” Carmen Maria Machado Considers Jennifer’s Body
On queerbaiting, bisexuality, and Jennifer’s Body. This essay is an exclusive excerpt from the queer horror anthology It Came From the Closet, on sale next week.
Author Melanie Bell on her YA Novel “Chasing Harmony” and the Messy Process of Growing Up Queer
“The people I met who were identified as musical prodigies had long journeys involving conflict between their abilities and personal needs and finding who they were beyond the weight of expectations. When I was younger, successes and failures felt huge, and this is the case for Anna too.”
Things I Read That I Love #328: You Never Called That Girl Back Even Though You Were Dating
Topics include the mall, Tinder, Gabby Petito, the abuse scandal at an acclaimed L.A high school, Choose Your Own Adventure books, Crime Junkie, amusement parks, dog breeds and more!
“Middlesex” Has a Complicated Legacy — 20 Years Ago, It Changed My Life
When I read Middlesex, I felt that tinge of recognition I think a lot of queer and trans people look for when they realize something is different about themselves.
Keah Brown on Her New Picture Book and the Importance of Disability Representation for Children
“I was excited to talk about rest for children, to talk about how even rest can be an adventure.”
Author Lydia Conklin on Being Queer in the 90s and Writing Characters in Transitional Moments
“Somebody told me that pretty much everyone who grew up queer, especially in our generation, is a secretive person or has an ability for secrecy.”
K-Ming Chang on Writing Sex Scenes, Profanity in Myths, and Letting Flash Fiction Be Messy
I’m finally getting to write the sex scenes of my dreams — some really weird, some really tender, and others in between.
Honey, I Shrunk the Books: A DIY Guide to Making Miniature Book Replicas
Every time I finish reading a book, I get to work on its tiny counterpart. Now I’ve got a shelf full of minis that make me happy every single time I look at them. Wanna make one with me?
Joe Osmundson on Expansive Science Writing and Living in an Impossible World
“It is tension: living well on a viral warming planet is too much to ask of any person. And yet it is what our circumstances are asking of us.”
Michelle Tea on Queer Pregnancy and Writing a Memoir in Present Tense
“I really want it to feel like you fell down a rabbit hole into this world, because that’s how I felt. That was the reality of the experience for me.”
Chris Belcher on “Pretty Baby,” Dungeon Dynamics, and the Expansiveness of Queer Sex
“I always envisioned this book as something that would allow me to talk about how I got to know masculinity as an adult through sex work and reflect back on how I came to know masculinity from the time I was younger.”
Let’s Hear It for the Disaster Bisexuals
My confused disaster of a teenage self could have used stories from this new canon of disaster bisexuals, stories about sexually fluid people in all their imperfections.
Self-Publishing Taught Me To Rethink Success
Author Sarah Wallace writes on queer community in the self-publishing world and rewriting the rules of her own success.
Davey Davis on “X,” True Crime, and the Fantasy of Screwball Comedy
“The thing that gets me about a lot of people’s just criticisms of Fifty Shades of Grey is, as a romance novel, as a ravishment novel, it’s a lot closer to real SM, real sexy pulp, than most.”
That Was the Era: Photographer Phyllis Christopher on Her Book “Dark Room”
“It was a political statement to portray sex, to portray queer sex, as it was to demand civil rights in the daytime.”
It’s Lit: Queer Youth on an Online Book Club Club That Became Family
“Well the premise combined two of my favorite things: being gay and reading, so I was naturally intrigued.”
Seven Queer Writers Reflect on Their Essays Published in “Sex and the Single Woman”
Behind the scenes with Kristen Arnett, Keah Brown, Rosemary Donahue, Josie Pickens, Vanessa Friedman, Samantha Allen, and Xoai Pham about their contributions to this reimagined cult classic.
Things I Read That I Loved #326: It Was 1997 and Everything Seemed Mostly Okay.
Topics include Barnes & Noble, Black Excellence according to Bel-Air, a dog’s purpose, #vanlife, a nurse imposter, the pursuit of hotness, Los Angeles, Starbucks, the real reason for a recent spike in traffic accidents and more!
Chloe Caldwell on First Periods, PMDD, and That Weird Blue “Blood” in Tampon Commercials
The author discusses her new memoir “The Red Zone,” which chronicles her experiences with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and provides a kaleidoscopic view of how people feel about their periods.