Kicking Off National LGBT Month with a Story, a Pledge, and a Dragon (And Why I Need Your Help)

Hello Trickyverse,

Thank you for Coming out to a special edition of Writing is Tricky.  Today, October 1, marks the start of the 20^th anniversary of LGBT History Month. Its intent (summed up nicely from Wikipedia) is “to encourage honesty and openness about being LGBT.” 

There are quite a few milestones in LGBT history, but the day that I most enjoy is October 11: National Coming Out Day

This reason this day resonates for me is because it is a day of both recognition and of action. It is a day, where those of us struggling with our sexual orientation/identity are not only reminded that others came before us but also that we are not alone. We are not outcasts. We are not ugly things, grisly things, disgusting things, undeserving of decency, respect, or a basic right to love who we want to love, or even to love ourselves. It’s a day where our community, including our closest friends and allies, step forward to say: You are you, you are human, and you are beautiful but most importantly, you are never alone.

Coming out is not an easy thing. We hear gay jokes, religious-misinformed rhetoric, and some equally shocking things from the mouths of those we feel closest to when they think no one will hear. For me, I sometimes feel like I had it easy. Most of my family supported me, even if most of them didn’t always understand what it meant having a gay cousin, brother, uncle--back when it was new. Just having that support, knowing that I always had a place to go, seeing their courage, gave me (and still gives me) strength.

 

Not everyone has had a family or the support that I have had, but luckily, there are now programs out there that didn’t exist years ago, or at least they didn’t exist in the tiny neck of the woods where this little magician grew up.

I know I just said coming out was not easy.  Scary is a closer word to the feeling. Terrified is closer still. Back then, I worried about my life, my morality, my soul (not to mention fearing retribution with a tire iron for finally being honest about who I was).

Knowing where I grew up and knowing that I would not be here today without the love and support I had (seriously, I despised myself back then) . . .

. . .I will be donating all of my royalties from my novel Only Human, purchased from Amazon (Kindle version or paperback) for the month of October to the Boston Allianceof Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Youth (BAGLY). 

“BAGLY works with LGBTQ youth across Massachusetts—and beyond!  Through leadership development, health promotion & services, social support, events, and the statewide GLBT Youth Group Network, BAGLY is at work in our communities to support LGBTQ youth.”

It is my sincerest hope that this turns into a monetary gift that far surpasses anything I could have given on my own.

Please help and spread the word!

Share this with your friends, family, coworkers . . . anyone who you think might be able to help. Heck buy them a copy!

Tell me about it @mikemehalek so I can share as well. And next month, I hope I have a big number to report.

Thanks and Love,

-Mike

         

                                           

Kindle Edition

         
                                                                                               
                                                                                                Paperback Edition

Please Give a Warm Reception to Amy Kaufman Burk

One of the most enjoyable parts of posting covers and new books for other authors is getting introduced to great new fiction and to meet wonderful new people.

Today is no exception.

Let me introduce to you, Amy Kaufman Burk and her debut novel Hollywood High: Achieve the Honorable.

I found Hollywood High searching the top 100 Kindle books in gay and lesbian literary fiction and saw this title at number three. I backtracked Amy to her blog and read a few entries.

I was impressed with both her personal story and inspiration for the novel (I was shocked and saddened when I read it).

Also, as I get older, I become more and more intrigued with the 70s, the decade in which I was born.

For those reasons, I just had to give this one a read.

Currently I’m about 20% through the novel, and I am enjoying the characters Amy has brought to life. I’m reminded of my own high school days, although I must admit they were a little—lot—less intense. I can't wait to pick it back up.

I reached out to Amy and asked to include her book on my blog and was thrilled to have her agree.

So allow me to turn the mic over to Amy Kaufman Burk and welcome you to Hollywood High.

Hollywood High: Achieve The Honorable is a fictionalized account of my first year of high school, inspired by the violence I witnessed targeting gay students. I was deeply affected by this bullying, and at 15 years old, I promised myself I'd write about it some day.

Hollywood High tracks Caroline Black, a straight LGBTQ ally, as she transfers from an all-girls prep academy, to the local public school, Hollywood High, with gangs, over 40 native languages, teen prostitution, and extreme violence toward the gay students. The story follows Caroline's group of friends as they grow aware of homophobia, both in their environment and in themselves, and find paths to becoming allies.

I posted on my blog about he original bullying incident that inspired my novel. "Everyone Can Be An Ally" 

Amy Kaufman Burk grew up in the Hollywood Hills.  Her father was a screenwriter and her mother, a social anthropologist.  Amy was raised in a home with thousands of books.  She was an avid reader as a child, and still is.