THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders — excerpt nominated for a #Pushcart — #amreading #LGBTQ

Since the Biblical season is on us and everybody is holy, I am re-posting a published excerpt of my novel, THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders published by Adelaide Books (New York/ Lisbon). (For more information about the book — click here.)

This piece was first published in aaduna and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

The Mother  

(sometime early in the first century)

In the beginning was the Mother.

In the womb, Tamar took mental notes. The heavens trembled — at least it felt like the heavens. Maybe it was just gas. The Mother shifted. At first, it was too dark to see. But Tamar could feel. At first it felt like chaos — like everything was unconnected. But then she felt something holding her. A curved wall. She was leaning into it. It was soft and warm. She felt her backbone curve behind her. She was half of a circle. Was she floating? There was a chord attached to her belly. She relaxed once she realized that she wouldn’t float away.

There were appendages coming out from her shoulders. She looked down below the chord. On the lower part of her body there was a small bump and on either side of that were two more appendages. There was liquid all around her. She felt warm and safe. She didn’t have to worry yet about breathing.

Whoosh. She flinched. Slosh. Gurgles whizzed by. There was an abbreviated bubbling. After it repeated three times, she identified the sound as a hiccup. After a few moments, there was silence. Then there was a contented hum coming from the distance. Tamar knew it was the Mother, and it calmed her.

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The darkness lifted. She saw a distant light glowing through the pink barrier. She looked down and noticed tiny extremities with red lines moving through them. They were attached to the ends of two appendages, on each side of her. She found that she could move them, as if she were trying to grasp something. She knew that these movements would come in handy later. The light went out. Darkness. Tamar felt herself in her body.

She was perfect.

When she woke again, she blinked for the first time. It felt good so she did it again. The pinkish yellow glow came back. She clenched and unclenched her fingers. She rubbed the short one across the tips of several of the others, and felt a roughness. She felt a nourishment rushing from the chord through her body. And it was good. She went back to sleep for a long while.

When she woke, she stretched and yawned. She saw a pinkish yellow glow. It was faint and came from the other side. She looked toward the light and saw the sack next to her. There was someone inside who looked like her. It even had a light glowing around its edges — just like she did — down its extremities and around its fingers and toes. She remembered now that she had entered one body of two. Her twin was beside her. There was a large, round dome attached to a small body like hers. The big round dome faced her. The eyes looked at her. One blinked and the other stayed open. The two corners of the lips went up. Somehow she knew that this was a smile. Her twin was welcoming her. She wanted to welcome him back, but something stopped her. She didn’t know who her twin was. Was her twin part of her? She wasn’t sure she wanted to be part of someone else. She definitely didn’t want to share her Mother.

There were appendages on both sides of his body. There were five fingers attached to the end of each appendage. The fingers clenched and unclenched. They seemed to wave at her. Tamar thought about waving back, but she didn’t. She wasn’t sure if the thing next to her in the translucent sack could see her. So she pretended that she didn’t see it. Then she looked down and saw something protruding. At first she thought that she was seeing a shadow. She moved her head slightly. The shadow was still there. She looked down at her own body and saw that she also had a third appendage on the lower part of her body. It was much shorter than the two other limbs. She clenched and unclenched her fingers. They were all there — five on each side, including the shorter ones at the ends. None of them had fallen off. She looked down again. Somehow she knew that this protrusion made her a boy and knowing this made her angry.

She knew her name was Tamar, but she had forgotten where it came from. She knew that Tamar was a girl’s name, and that she was a girl. She had a vague memory in her cells that she had come from a single egg, fertilized by a trail of light that had come just for her. And she remembered that another egg, fertilized with its own stream of light, was next to her and that the two eggs had merged. They crossed over and into each other, exchanging some vital information. Tamar’s egg knew that it was female. But it absorbed a sequence of information that told it that its genetic material that it would be male and female. The secret language of the cells said that each of the eggs would be XX and XY.

The thing next to her had a longer protrusion than her. She took comfort in that. Perhaps this meant that she was really a girl after all. But the thing next to her — gradually, she came to think of him as her twin — would most likely be lording his superiority over her forever.

On the sides of the protrusion were two lower appendages. She found that she could use her mind to stretch them. And once she stretched them, she realized that these were her legs and that her feet were attached to the ends of them. She kicked at the inside of the pink cushion that surrounded her.

“Ow,” said a woman’s voice. It was the voice of the Mother. Tamar knew that she had to get the Mother’s attention first. She kicked again.

This time she felt a gentle hand push down on the other side of the pink cushion. Her twin nudged the Mother back.

“What are you trying to tell me, my son?” asked Mother.

I’m a girl — a girl just like you Mother, Tamar tried to say. But speech eluded her. She had yet to utter her first cry. But she had to get Mothers attention —

to read the entire piece in aadduna, click here

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What’s in a name? — a #UU reflection #secularhumanist #amreading

Recently, I participated in a service on the topic of secular humanism at the Unitarian Universalists of Mt. Airy in Philadelphia. The YouTube video of my part of the service is immediately below and the text is under that.

Since becoming a Unitarian Universalist, I’ve learned there is a theological name for what I am: a secular humanist. But in my book, this doesn’t mean there is no mystery in my life. In fact, I live in the mystery.

As a writer, I live in a world where people become other people in my mind. I call them characters. History often comes alive. And increasingly, especially since I’ve become vegan, talking animals come to me and tell me their stories. I live in a world where stories take on life and often become puzzles. For every beginning, there is an ending, and I usually don’t know that ending until I get there.

I did this with my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders when I was in a group here called “The New UU” some years back when I first joined. Since I was raised secular, I wasn’t only new to being a Unitarian Universalist, but to religion in general. I decided to read the Bible, which wasn’t required, but I wanted to be thorough. Besides, I had always wanted to read the Bible since the tenth grade when my English teacher described it as the best work of fiction ever written.

When I began reading the Bible, I started wondering what if? I wondered what if there were strong women? And what if some of those women loved other women? What about gay men? What if there were transgendered people? How did they survive? What if some people did not fit the binary? What if some people were gender-fluid? How did they manage to survive in the harsh desert culture?

So, in some ways, I am a believer. I’m a believer in stories and I’m a believer in re-inventing those stories. Like many writers, I’m a believer in myth and in inhabiting that myth and rewriting it until it suits me. Often that is my entry point to myth. I read the reinterpretation and then I read the myth it is based on.

I’m a believer in change and knowing why that change is necessary.

And I believe in the inquisitive mind, including my own. Maybe it took a long time for me to believe in myself. Sometimes it feels that way and sometimes it doesn’t. But I did have to invent myself, in a culture where I am different in many ways. And I am proud of that difference.

I am a deeply intuitive person, so I don’t always know how things happen. But I know that they do happen. And I know that being part of this congregation has deepened my belief, particularly my belief in myself. So, I profoundly appreciate being here with you, as we invent our moment.

–Namaste

For information on my most recently published novel Loving Artemis click here

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Finding the Light–#UU #amreading #Hanukkah

I am reposting this talk that I gave to mark the occasion of Hanukkah. The talk was a Unitarian Universalist (UU) service that was called “Ringing in the Light.”

I talked about my childhood memories of being touched by Hanukkah and my experiences in celebrating the Winter Solstice and with the Gnostic Gospels. You can see my words below on the YouTube video or read the reflection below that.

Janet Mason on Light – YouTubeAuthor Janet Mason talks about finding the light through a child memory of a Hanukkah play, celebrating the solstice, and the Gnostic Gospels in a Unitarian Universalist context.www.youtube.com

As far back as I can remember, the light beckoned.

The sun was a ball of fire in the sky.  The light changed into vibrant colors in the morning and the evening.  It filtered through the branches of trees.  The sunlight had, in fact, shined down and helped to form the trees.  So the light was in the trees (along with the rain and the earth).

Even when it was cloudy, I knew the sun was there. Sometimes I could see the ball of sun outlined behind the gray clouds.

The first time I remember being drawn to the light in a religious context was when I was in elementary school watching a play about Hanukkah.

Despite its nearness to Christmas on the calendar, Hanukkah is one of the lesser holidays in Judaism. Hanukkah, also called The Festival of Lights, began last Tuesday at sunset and ends this Wednesday, December, 20^th, at nightfall.

When I asked my partner what Hanukkah meant to her, she responded that it is a celebration of survival, hope and faith.

The holiday celebrates the victory of the Maccabees, detailed in the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud.

This victory of the Maccabees, in approximately 160 BCE –  BCE standing for Before The Common Era — resulted in the rededication of the Second Temple.  The Maccabees were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea.

According to the Talmud, the Temple was purified and the wicks of the menorah burned for eight days.

But there was only enough sacred oil for one day’s lighting. It was a miracle.

Hanukkah is observed by lighting the eight candles of the menorah at varying times and various ways.  This is done along with the recitation of prayers.  In addition to the eight candles in the menorah, there is a ninth called a shamash (a Hebrew word that means attendant). This ninth candle, the shamash, is in the center of the menorah.

It is all very complicated of course – the history and the ritual – but what I remember most is sitting in that darkened auditorium and being drawn to the pool of light around the candles on my elementary school stage.

I am not Jewish.  I say that I was raised secular – but that is putting it mildly.  My mother was, in fact, a bible-burning atheist.  Added to that, I was always cast as one of the shepherds in the school’s Christmas pageant since I was the tallest child in elementary school.

Also, I had Jewish neighbors – and as a future lesbian and book worm growing up in the sameness of a working class neighborhood — I may have responded to difference and had a realization that I was part of it.

Then I grew up, came out, thanked the Goddess for my secular upbringing, and celebrated the Winter Solstice with candles and music. This year, the Solstice falls on December 21st. The Winter Solstice (traditionally the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year)  is this coming Thursday in the Northern Hemisphere of planet Earth – which is where we are.

One of our friends who we celebrated the Solstice with is Julia Haines. Julia is a musician who has performed at Restoration.  She has a wonderful composition of Thunder Perfect Mind which she accompanies with her harp playing. You can find her on YouTube. Thunder Perfect Mind, of which I just read an excerpt, is one of the ancient texts of the Gnostic Gospels.

The Gnostic Gospels were discovered in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.  Originally written in Coptic, these texts date back to ancient times and give us an alternative glimpse into the Gospels that are written in the New Testament. They are so important that they are banned in some conventional religions.  And in my book, that’s a good reason to read them.

Reading them led me to think of myself as a Gnostic – meaning one who has knowledge and who pursues knowledge – including mystical knowledge.  The Gnostic Gospels have provided me with inspiration for my writing, particularly in my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders, soon to be published by Adelaide Books. And they also inspire me in the novel I am currently writing — titled The Unicorn, The Mystery.

I am inspired by the Gnostic Gospels in part because they let in the light.  In particular, they let in the light of the feminine.

As Julia says in her rendition of Thunder:

am godless

I am Goddess

So how does finding the light factor into my experience of Unitarian Universalism? Later in life, after fifty, I found a religion that fit my values.  I found a religion wide enough – and I might add, secure enough – to embrace nonconformity.

In finding a congregation that is diverse in many ways – including religious diversity – I have found a deeper sense of myself.

And in that self, I recognize that the darkness is as least as necessary and as important as the light.

As a creative writer, I spend much of my time in the gray-matter of imagination.

It is in that darkness where I find the light.

Namaste

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Mental Health!? — What’s it all about? #amreading #MentalHealthAwareness

As part of a larger annual Unitarian Universalist service on Rosh Hashanah and mental health, I talked about how I have been taking care of my mental health lately. The talk is on YouTube and below the video is the text.

Lately, I’ve been consciously taking care of my mental health. Perhaps this is because we are increasingly living in a toxic society—so it seems to me.

Perhaps it is because I am a writer and the flip side of having the muse come to me and insisting that I write a novel in a few months, leaves a huge swirling void inside of me, where negative emotions can and do linger.

This past summer was a particularly good one (for my writing) and a bad one for me personally as the result of going so much deeper in my work was that I felt myself to be physically depleted when I was done, which was an unusual feeling for me.  I felt empty, numb, and uncharacteristically angry. The lingering effects were that I felt myself being a bit depressed or more than a bit, also unusual for me. At this point, I felt myself as being outside of my life. I felt disconnected.

Fortunately, I was able to get back on track through my routine of self-care which includes a daily walk for at least twenty minutes, avoiding all animal products, and doing a regular yoga practice. Perhaps it was my new little cat Peanut who brought me back to myself. For who can stay depressed with a morning routine of a rapidly growing young adult cat pouncing onto your chest and licking your face?

In my mid-sixties, I have come to the conclusion that I must consciously work on myself not only to survive but to thrive. All of this caring for my physical body also helps my mental health because everything is connected. After a medical scare about four years ago, I am still thankful and relieved to be healthy and to be here.

The I Am affirmations are similar to Buddhist affirmations, such as “May I be peaceful.” Except that by using the words “I Am,” the speaker and the hearer are placing themselves in the present and using positive thoughts to create what is already in them.

Now, thanks to the I Am affirmations I have found on YouTube, I have also been able to consciously raise my vibration. I can feel myself getting lighter and happier as I listen to the words.

It is thought that the I Am philosophy dates back to teachings described in sacred texts.  I learned that the first recorded use of the term “affirmation” was in 1843 by the philosopher, writer, and Unitarian minister Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson wrote: “Every man is an affirmation of himself.”

In some of the I Am affirmations that I listen to, the announcer says, “I am patience; I am tolerance; I am good enough; I am pure love.”

I listen to the meditations some mornings; sometimes when I am doing my yoga practice; and several times I found I am meditations that lasted all night long. The words entered my subconscious and came back to me when I needed them.

Another meditation focuses on gratitude and says, “I am grateful for the air in my lungs.”

Would you all say that with me now?

“I am grateful for the air in my lungs” …

Thank you!

This is a good reminder that I am indeed grateful for the air in my lungs.

On this Jewish New Year – as always – I am also grateful to be here with you.

–Namaste–

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Rewiring for change: a #UU reflection, #EnvironmentalJustice #amchanging

As part of a Unitarian Universalist service focusing on Environmental Justice, I revisited the concept of gratitude in the midst of chaos. The talk is on YouTube and below the video is the text.

Most mornings, for the past year, I wake up, play gratitude affirmations on my phone and go back to sleep. I continue doing it because I can feel the positive results.  My vibrational frequency is becoming higher. Just this morning the person saying the affirmations emphasized that expressing gratitude is essential for change. She also said that expressing gratitude is one of the quickest ways to experience happiness and that true expressions of appreciation are one of the most direct ways to experience the divine.

I have found that being consciously grateful has changed my life. I am grateful for it all. I am grateful for the air in my lungs. But this morning as I write, the air in Pennsylvania is dangerous to breathe. I am doing the things that I need to protect myself—such as staying indoors and foregoing my daily walk. My partner, Barbara, and I are wearing masks when we have to go out and are also checking on friends and family who have breathing conditions.

It shouldn’t be this way and it could have been different, but this is the reality of the situation that we live in.

I am still grateful for the air in my lungs. I am still grateful to be alive. I am still grateful to be living on this beautiful planet we call Earth.

As we can see from the realities of climate change, or climate devastation as some call it, we are living in a time that requires change. It is sad—for many reasons. But it is also the reality we live in.

When I was going to a plant-based diet, for health reasons—now almost four years ago—I heard the motivational speaker and author Dr. Will Tuttle say that animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gasses than the entire transportation sector combined.

I’ve also heard and experienced that people following plant-based diets feel better because they know they are helping the planet and the animals as well as themselves.

Going to a plant-based diet has changed my life. I am here, for starters.

I feel like the gratitude affirmations work better for me because I now am more open to messages from the universe because I no longer have the suffering of animals in my body. We are living in a time of change–and to be around to be part of that change and to witness the change requires us to take care of ourselves—now, perhaps more than ever—and that includes our mental health.

Taking care of my mental health has led me to listen to the gratitude affirmations. I have the same impulses as any other human animal.  Because of our ancient fight-flight response, it is more natural for human beings to be negative than positive. But we can train our brains to respond more to positive stimuli. The complexities of neuroscience are simplified in the statement that neurons that fire together wire together.

Since I am rewiring my brain to be positive, I see the signs of positive change rather than simply observing all the negative things and becoming depressed. I am delighted when I see the electrical outlets resembling gas pumps that are popping up here and there to fuel electrical cars. When my partner, Barbara, and I run errands in our hybrid and I see food trucks that offer fresh fruit and fruit smoothies without scary dairy, I am equally excited.

The earth is changing. In many ways, it is protecting itself from further harm. When we change with the earth instead of clinging to the old ways that harm ourselves as well as the earth, we are part of the change. I am deeply grateful for being part of the change just as I truly appreciate being here with all of you.

I am going to end with a mantra or a prayer:

May the earth and all her inhabitants be healthy. May we all be free.

–Namaste–

For more information on my most recent published novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Reviewing Audre Lorde: what she said then about now — #AudreLorde #Resistance #amreading

As part of a Unitarian Universalist service focusing on women’s history month, I revisited the work of Audre Lorde in her book Sister Outsider, Essays and Speeches, first published by The Crossing Press in 1984.

It is also Nation Poetry Month and I wanted to bring you review of a book written by the important poet Audre Lorde that was so important to me when I was a young poet.

The review is on Book Tube and below the video is the text.

Recently, I reread Sister Outsider, essays and speeches by the important and often quoted poet, Audre Lorde. Sister Outsider was first published in 1984 by The Crossing Press.

Lorde was born in 1934 and died in 1992, having been cut down by breast cancer in the prime of her life.

I was fortunate to hear the poet Audre Lorde speak and read several times when I was in my twenties. Lorde was an important figure to me when I was a budding writer and a young adult looking inward and outward and making sense of life.

It was interesting to re-read this book which I had last read close to the date of publication and to see the places where I had highlighted Lorde’s words.

In this collection of writing, Lorde writes about the importance of speaking your truth, of being all parts of yourself, accepting difference, knowing yourself, and being unafraid to feel. Since so much has changed since she died, I found myself wondering what she would say about the mess we are in now.

And there in her essay, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex” is a clue to what she would say and did say as she foresaw the future. In prose, she writes: “Change means growth, and growth can be painful.”

Then she includes “Outlines,” an unpublished poem:

We have chosen each other

and the edge of each other’s battles

the war is the same

if we lose

someday women’s blood will congeal

upon a dead planet

if we win

there is no telling

we seek beyond history

for a new and more possible meeting.

Rereading Sister Outsider, essays and speeches by the important poet Audre Lorde first published in 1984 by The Crossing Press reminded me of who we can be.

This is Janet Mason with reviews for Spotify and Book Tube.

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde– a #UU reflection #AudreLorde #LGBT #amreading

This past week, I participated in a Unitarian Universalist service for women’s history month. The service gave me pause and cause to revisit the work Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. My reflection is on video below and under that is the text. Thank you.

I was fortunate to hear the poet Audre Lorde speak and read several times when I was in my twenties. Lorde was an important figure to me – as a budding writer and as a young adult looking inward and outward and making sense of life.

Lorde was born in 1934 and died in 1992, having been cut down by breast cancer in the prime of her life.

Recently, I reread Sister Outsider, essays and speeches by Audre Lorde, first published in 1984 by The Crossing Press. It was interesting to read this book which I had last read close to the date of publication and to see the places where I had highlighted Lorde’s words.

Her essay “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” was written as a response to the organizers of an academic panel that had invited Audre Lorde to speak but otherwise failed in their representation of women of color – sadly something that happened frequently.

In her essay Lorde writes:

“What this says about the vision of this conference is sad, in a country where racism, sexism, and homophobia are inseparable. To read this program is to assume that lesbian and Black women have nothing to say about existentialism, the erotic, women’s culture and silence, developing feminist theory, or heterosexuality and power.”

….

She goes on to write:

“For women, the need and desire to nurture each other is not pathological but redemptive, and it is within that knowledge that our real power is rediscovered. It is this real connection which is so feared by a patriarchal world. Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women.

“Interdependency between women is the way to a freedom which allows the I to be, not in order to be used, but in order to be creative. This is a difference between the passive be and the active being.”

And

“As women, we have been taught either to ignore our differences, or to view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change.”

She also writes in this essay:

“Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society’s definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference — those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older — know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths. For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. And this fact is only threatening to those women who still define the master’s house as their only source of support….Racism and homophobia are real conditions of all our lives in this place and time.”

And she invites us to action:

“I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lives there. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices.”

In this collection of writing, Lorde writes about the importance of knowing yourself, speaking your truth, being all parts of yourself, accepting difference, and being unafraid to feel.

In her essay “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” she explains:

“The white fathers told us: I think, therefore I am. The Black mother within each of us  — the poet – whispers in our dreams: I feel, therefore I can be free.”

–Namaste

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Politeness equals death: #govegan #climatechange #amreading #LGBTQ

Lately, I’ve been thinking about politeness. I was at a luncheon, when a woman sitting at my table, said she usually is a vegetarian but eats the local food when she travels out of politeness. She gave the example of drinking a bowel of bull’s blood which she was served in a Latin American country. The table mates (of which my partner and I were half the table) were busy agreeing that that was the most disgusting thing we ever heard of. (I’m sure there are more disgusting things — but at the time and while we were eating…)

At the time I said something positive about how much things have changed now and that there are vegan restaurants all over the globe. This is true, but you do have to look for them. At the time, when I was happily eating my vegan soup and salad, my partner was extolling the benefits of veganism at every opportunity. (Just try to stop her!)

I had a good time at the luncheon, but ever since my thoughts keep ruminating on the word “polite.”

I was definitely more polite before going vegan (to the other human animals, not to the animals that are eaten or to myself). Now after being vegan, going on three years now, I am more compassionate for all sentient beings, but less polite to other human beings in that I am not going along with the crowd in eating animal products.

This leads me to conclude that politeness can cause death.

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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Stronger than we realize — Loving Artemis in review #amreading #lgbtqallies #lgbtqall

I was happy to read this review from Literary Titan and wanted to share it with you. The review captures the feeling that I had after I edited the novel. A fair amount of time had passed since I first wrote the novel and even more time had passed since I had grown up in this place where the novel is set. I realized that I had been more empowered than I thought at the time.

This is true for all of us: we are all stronger than we realize.

Loving Artemis, written by Janet Mason, is a tale of finding love that starts during a time when being LGBTQA+ was not accepted and spans to a time when it has become more accepted. Artemis is a young girl in love with a girl named Linda. She wants to do something to get her attention and thinks that riding a motorcycle will impress Linda. But, as she becomes closer to Linda, Linda isn’t sure what she wants.

Artemis and Linda separate, and Grace come into Artemis’ life. Grace isn’t sure if she could ever love anyone, but the more she gets to know Artemis, the more she realizes she can love someone. However, Artemis falls prey to a devious plan that gets her removed from school. Grace decides to move on with her life and finds the one person meant for her. She sees someone she thinks looks like Artemis at a Pride parade in 2015, and all her memories and feelings come flooding back.

Janet Mason does a beautiful job developing this coming-of-age story. Her character development is well done and allows the reader to easily imagine them in their mind. The character of Artemis is complex and relatable for many people. Her character had a bright future, but she got mixed up with the wrong crowd of people. Readers will want to see if things turn around for Artemis and will be drawn to keep reading to see where she ends up.

Linda is a lovely character filled with self-doubt and unsure of the future. She seemed like she was really trying to figure out what her life should be like. She wasn’t sure if she would go to college or end up like her mother. But she was able to figure out where she was meant to be in the end.

I was especially drawn to the character of Grace. I think her character was stronger than she even realized. Her personality jumps off the page and makes readers pay attention to what she has to say. She knew what she wanted in life and knew how to get it. I enjoyed reading about her character, and I felt like I understood why she made the decisions she did. I wish I was more like her when I was younger.

I loved this book. Janet Mason discussed issues that the LGBTQA+ community has endured for many decades. In addition, she brought up topics of historical significance so that we readers can look up these topics and learn more. I think these are important topics to discuss, and I am glad they were able to bring them up in their book.

Loving Artemis is a heartfelt coming-of-age Lesbian romance novel that follows the lives of women that were just coming into their own back before it was socially acceptable. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in LGBTQA+ topics and ones that love fiction that includes some reality.

Pages: 269 | ASIN : B0B33TZ9DX

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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The Sapphic Book Advent Calendar–“taking back the light:” #UU, #amreading #FaithfullyLGBT

Recently, I’ve been fortunate to connect with the lesbian writer Jae from Germany and to be included on her Sapphic Book Advent Calendar. Since I was raised secular, I don’t have much knowledge about Advent.

But many of my books are inspired by or have religious (as well as queer) themes, so it’s a good fit. In fact, my romance novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love and marriage (published in August 2022 by Thorned Heart Press) was chosen by Kittredge Cherry, publisher of QSpirit, as one of the top LGBTQ Christian books of the year.

In the past decade, I have become a Unitarian Universalist (and a lay minister) as well as a qigong practitioner and I am increasingly drawn to the light which is quite beautiful and different in my region this time of year.

In thinking about Advent, the first thing that came to mind was “Take back the light.”

When I first heard someone talk about Advent, it was several years ago when our then new Unitarian minister talked about the importance of Advent to him growing up in the Christian tradition. He talked about the practice of waiting which I liked.

There is much to be said about inhabiting each moment and there is much to be said about waiting (which is different).

I might be used to inhabiting the moment but being included in the Sapphic Book Advent Calendar is what I’ve been waiting for.

Sapphic Book Advent Calendar

For more information on my most recent novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here:

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