Me Time
Liminal Moments and the Desire to Move Forward
"The liminal spaces between states of being can be intimidating and even debilitating. But remember these in-between places are temporary, and they actually have much to teach you about your strengths, goals, and needs. Take advantage of this time to learn what you want next and start making moves toward it." From the site betterup.com
At the end of last year I left full-time employment after working in many fulfilling jobs over the last 40+ years. I decided to become a consultant, using my experience, skills and contacts to provide help to foundations and non-profits (my consulting website is here. I figured I could do this for about 3 years and then fully retire. I was very busy during the first 6 months of this year and then things quieted down a bit. They could start up again or not. We'll see.
Over these last few weeks, Jews like myself have been observing what we refer to as the High Holidays (or High Holy Days): the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). At my synagogue, our long-time, beloved senior rabbi announced late last year that she'll be stepping down at the end of June 2024. On Yom Kippur she spoke to us about the concept of "liminal space," the transition time between stages when you're going from something known to something unknown.
This concept resonated with me. I seem to also be in some kind of in between place in life, trying to do my best but struggling in some senses. One casualty of this time is that I've stopped writing, and as I thought about how I could atone and do better during the coming year, the need to figure out how to begin writing again kept emerging in my thoughts. I guess you can call this a type of new year's resolution but it feels deeper than that. Now I need to figure out how to move from a need and desire to an outright strategy. Stay tuned.
AND, I wanted to make sure we all acknowledged and celebrated BISEXUAL VISIBILITY DAY for the bi+ members of our community, so here's a fun article about bi+ celebrities and also a piece about books with bi main characters in the next section.
16 Bisexual and Bi+ Celebrities to Celebrate Bisexual Visibility Day | Teen Vogue
September 23 is specifically dedicated to fighting biphobia of all kinds, including discrimination or stigma against all people under the bisexual umbrella. The bi umbrella encompasses all kinds of bi+ identities, from pansexuality to queer and beyond.
Sapphic Lit and Other Book Stuff
Working with Beta Readers: 12 Do's and Don'ts for Authors
Learn how working with beta readers can improve your book & your writing. Here are 12 essential tips, including how to pick the right beta readers. From the Amazing Author, Jae.
Beta reading 101: How to be a (better) beta reader
In this post, I’d like to explore the beta reader’s side of the relationship and give you some ideas on how to be a (better) beta reader. From the amazing Jae!
Should Writers Read Their Reviews – Writer Unboxed
What, if anything, can be gained by writers reading their reviews?
That’s the question I posed to five published writers of various genres who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity. Are there pros and cons to take from reading your reviews?
Who Needs Plot When You Have Vibes?
“Don’t be mistaken; there is a plot,” one commentator clarified on a “no plot, just vibes” BookTok roundup. “It’s just inside the characters.” What the novels often lack in a plot-driven narrative, they make up for in insightful conversations between characters or their internal monologues. Most strikingly, a common thread running through the genre is women authors creating female characters who are often difficult and complex.
National Novel Writing Month — 5 Tips to Avoid Burnout as a Neurodivergent Writer
For neurodivergent writers, burnout can be even more damaging than usual. We can be much more sensitive, both mentally and emotionally, than our neurotypical friends and family.
Writing About Pain: Invisible Injuries and Conditions - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
when the source is internal, writers have to work harder to connect the dots for readers, especially if the character themselves is unaware of what’s causing their distress, or they choose to mask their pain
The Fanfic-to-Romance Pipeline Goes Mainstream in Publishing
The appeal is understandable: Fic writers bring knowledge of how to market a story and build an audience, a boon for editorial houses. The fans authors have gained writing fic will buy books, in some cases carrying them to the best-seller list. For writers who demonstrate a facility for telling a certain kind of story, the process of transitioning into writing traditional books is as much a matter of format and structure as anything else.
Bisexual representation in literature: 20 books that celebrate diverse bi+ experiences - News Is Out
Bisexual Awareness Week is the perfect excuse to dive into these twenty books featuring bi+ characters and stories. However, there’s so much to love in this list that you’ll want to read these books all year long.
Where to Publish Flash Nonfiction & Micro-Essays - Erika Dreifus
a guide to journals and magazines that publish flash nonfiction/micro-essays.
The Peril and Promise of Writing in First-Person POV | Jane Friedman
But to effectively execute this elevated brand of first-person narrative, writers must navigate a complex set of rules and avoid any number of pitfalls that will turn a novel into a flat, dull expanse of prose. I suggest that first-person POV is the most misunderstood and also the most difficult voice to master.
How the Hell Has Danielle Steel Managed to Write So Many Books?
“I keep working. The more you shy away from the material, the worse it gets. You’re better off pushing through and ending up with 30 dead pages you can correct later than just sitting there with nothing,”
10 Steps to Better Fiction Writing Through Reading | by Denise Todd | Medium
By taking a structured approach to your reading, and doing it again and again, the techniques and narrative devices used by successful authors will become part of your writing tool kit.
National Novel Writing Month — Unlocking the 8 Secrets of Web Novels
Web novels (and their variants) are original stories that are published on the internet in chapters, instead of offering the finished product from the beginning. They resemble self-publishing because the author takes care of the entire process (writing, editing, publishing, promotion), and fanfiction because they maintain close contact with the readers.
News You Can Use
Queer Woman Sha’Carri Richardson Is Now Fastest Woman in the World
out American runner Sha’Carri Richardson won the 100-meter world title at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary on Monday.
Delighting crowds at the National Athletics Center in Budapest, Richardson ran a personal best time of 10.65 seconds, making her the fastest woman in the world.
Mets honor lesbian baseball legend Maybelle Blair
Blair — who was a pitcher with the Peoria Redwings in 1948 — gushed with pride about her love for baseball and vividly recalled her playing days with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a women’s league that gained prominence through the film “A League of Their Own”
12 Movies to Watch This Fall - by Kira Deshler
Most of these films have some sort of gay element to them
Queer women are still overlooked in rom-coms
'Red, White & Royal Blue' and 'Heartstopper' have landed queer love stories in the mainstream – but where are all the lesbians and non-binary people?
'Bottoms' Draws on a Legacy of Lesbian Camp - cindyt.rizzo@gmail.com - Gmail
Lesbian losers are finally enjoying their time in the spotlight and getting the girls in the process. And that? That’s camp.
Jodie Foster & Annette Bening's 1st 'Nyad' Clip Shows Power of Queer Women's Friendship
it also delves into an abiding friendship between queer women and chosen family. Double Oscar-winner Jodie Foster plays Nyad’s best friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll, who was at Nyad’s side for the 110-mile swim acting as guide, cheerleader, caregiver, and nutritionist while also thinking on her feet to ward off sharks and jellyfish.
"Everything Everywhere" First With Main Lesbian Character To Win Best Picture | Autostraddle
Everything Everywhere All At Once is the first winner in which a queer female character was explicitly named as such — and not just that, but her queerness is integral to the film’s plot. Stephanie Hsu’s Joy Yang is the gay daughter of lead character Evelyn Quan Wang (Michelle Yeoh) and Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) in the film
Remembering Deborah Sundahl, Lesbian Porn Pioneer | Autostraddle
Debi’s projects — and all those that followed — were primarily an offering to the lesbian community she loved, an attempt to provide it with sexual entertainment and affirmation. But the projects were also an important political statement.
Can RHONY Handle a Lesbian Housewife? - by Kira Deshler
From the very first episode, lesbian and sapphic fans fervently latched on to Lyons, which is not at all surprising when you consider the tastes of young lesbians online. The site formerly known as Twitter is now filled with fancams of Lyons looking especially seductive or charming. “jenna lyons has me on chokehold. Afraid i’m never moving on,” one viewer wrote. Other fans have taken to calling it “The Jenna Lyons show” instead of RHONY. “not enough jenna lyons in the jenna lyons show last night,” another viewer complained. “
Lisa Ben: Lesbian Media Pioneer, Cat Lady, and Hometown Buffet Superfan | Autostraddle
In 1947, Edythe Eyde, writing under the pseudonym “Lisa Ben,” launched the country’s first-ever lesbian magazine, Vice Versa. Her boss at RKO Pictures in Burbank wanted her to look busy even when she had no work to do, so she’d use her office’s manual typewriter to write the magazine and carbon paper to print 12 issues of each issue, which she distributed for free, imploring readers to pass it on to another lesbian when they finished.
Autostraddle Acquired by Queer Wellness Company For Them
after bootstrapping this business for fourteen years – especially in a climate where independent media publications are shuttering and downsizing every day – I’m looking forward to handing over the reins to Kylo and For Them to preserve and maintain Autostraddle’s legacy.
Autostraddle’s New Owner Promises a New Era. Readers and Writers Have Questions | Them
the inherent tension that exists between the importance of paying people fair wages and the perception of selling out. Without the infusion of capital that the merger represents, Autostraddle may not have survived. With the infusion, it becomes yoked to systems — venture capital, privacy laws — that were not designed with the queer and trans community’s best interests in mind.
Sinister Wisdom Takes a Stand - CURVE
It feels like a watershed moment for our community when such a longstanding publication decides it is time, and not only assembles an extensive and enthusiastic editorial team — it attracts a record number of submissions from trans/feminist contributors.
Helpful Tools
Free AI Writing, PDF, Image, and other Online Tools - TinyWow
Free AI Writing, PDF, Image, and other Online Tools - TinyWow
