This has been quite a year for Doing New Things in Writing! Things like writing short stories and submitting them for fundraiser anthologies! Here’s QUEER CHEER, benefiting Rainbow Community Center in Concord, CA. Click image below for link!
I have learned that a submission call - the kind that requests a specific topic or theme - really works for me. This particular project was brought to my attention by my anthology colleague Pat Henshaw (writer of M/M romance set in the Sierra foothills of California, a place I love) and in that moment I didn’t think I had an idea. By the time I closed Facebook and got Word open, ping came the idea!
This anthology features stories and poems in various genres, inspired by holidays throughout the year, not simply the year-end ones we see so much of. All are quick reads.
My story VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE features Filipino American paralegal Jimmy Rubio (a former Navy Legalman) and Japanese American lawyer Ren Itano (a former Navy JAG counsel), who meet at a restaurant where they’re attending separate workplace holiday dinners. The story’s action takes place over a scant week, closing on Christmas Day.
I had So Much Fun writing this story. And I loved both these guys so much, I may have to write them a follow-up. They may be in their fifties, but they still have a lot of living (and loving) to do.
Support a good cause, buy a book, and enjoy some Queer Cheer!