Cody Wagner's Blog

In a freak turn of events, local sketch comedy troup, the Cosmonauts, all perished today on a blimp. The world is devastated for two reasons. First, they won’t be able to do any on demand shows. Also, they were THE best sketch troupe in the valley.

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In a fluke turn of events, all recording devices in the world have stopped working. The disruption has caused a commotion world-wide, but we are assured it won’t be fixed until Sunday. The earliest it could be fixed is Saturday night. Around 9:30. Definitely no earlier.

As a result, nothing can be recorded and shared with anyone. Nothing. It’s a travesty.

And in case anyone is wondering, this also includes alien equipment. So if anyone was planning to break into Area 51 and take the ship – that Jeff Goldblum painstakingly prepared to infect with a virus uploaded from an Apple PC – and use that ship to record anything. Well, it wouldn’t work.

The post All Recording Equipment in the World Broken Until Late Saturday Night appeared first on Wagner Writer.

To some backwoods people, The Gay Teen’s Guide to Defeating a Siren (Book 2) has flown under the radar. At weddings, proms, and Mitzvahs both Bar and Bat, people have even asked, “Who are you, bro?”

Well, I’d like to make a statement to all the Brolafs and Brohans out there: Y’all may not be aware, but book 2 is kinda a big deal. In fact, I’ve got quite a few celebrity endorsements out there. And today, for my birthday, I’d like to share them with you:

Rocket Raccoon

Rocket Raccoon may not be gay, but he supports his LGBTQ brethren, especially the big bluish guy who pretty much comes out after admiring Thor’s body in the new movie, Avenging: The Infinity Glove.

Jaden Smith

When Will Smith’s son, Jaden, isn’t doing creepily uncomfortable splits in Karate Kid, he’s making appearances at the most prestigious events. And in addition to a weird coat that was obviously designed by Woody Versace from Toy Story, he likes to carry around a certain book.

Yodeling Wal-Mart Kid

You may not know this, but these are the words that yodeling kid at Wal-Mart actually sings: “Yoooo de lay heeeeeee! I’m Wal-Mart Kid – a lay heeeee! I’ve got a book under my arm – a lay hee heeeee! It’s not Nancy Drew -heee heee a layyyyyy! It’s not as good as Nancy, but it’s still alright – a lay a lay a lay heeeeee!”

Boss Baby

It’s never to early too support your favorite LGBTQ cause. Whether you’re a high schooler dealing with coming out, or even pretty much a fetus, you can step up. Here, Boss Baby is pointing to his favorite novel at a very important presentation.

Deadpool

Yeah, Deadpool is great and all, but he’s nothing compared to the next endorsement…

Bob Ross Deadpool!

It’s only a rumor, but I hear Bob Ross Deadpool calms himself by painting a certain cover over and over. Years ago, Georgia O’Keeffe painted a certain landscape, saying that God promised to give it to her if she painted it enough times. I’m not saying that’s why Bob Ross Deadpool keeps painting my cover, but he *did* say, “God told me he’d give me this book if I paint it enough times.”

The Jurassic World T-Rex

Now this one is truly an honor. Just imagine how hard it is for a poor t-rex to open a book and turn the pages. Despite the trouble, our friend here insisted on the paperback version. He also insisted on reading it aloud to me. It was fun. And loud.

The Golden Girls

Thank you for being a friend, indeed. I can’t say why Dorothy is trying to turn the pages of my novel with a remote control. But I *can* say that a certain book helped repair the rift between Bea Arthur and Betty White. It wasn’t mine, but whatever.

The post 8 TGTGTDAS Book 2 Celebrity Endorsements appeared first on Wagner Writer.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ll know the Oscars aired this past weekend. But what you may not know is that The Gay Teen’s Guide to Defeating a Siren (Book 2) was actually among the nominees for best picture! Don’t believe me? Well, here’s proof:

Get It

In this harrowing tail, The Gay Teen’s Guide to Defeating a Siren goes up for auction. Only it’s a homophobic auction, and whoever buys the book plans on using it as a torture device. The book’s only chance is to fight back and prove that gay books are just as strong as straight books.

Siren Thread

In Siren Thread, fashion designer Blaize Trales mourns the loss of a relationship with his parents after coming out. Obsessed with making amends with his mother, he secretly sews her name into everything he creates. Soon, he enters into a romantic courtship with Timothy Howeth, but has to bow out when the Siren gets involved and puts red socks in the laundry with all of Blaize’s creations.

The Book

Talk about a page turner! In The Book, Meryl Streep is the first female publisher who tries to get The Gay Teen’s Guide to Defeating a Siren published. However, due to its pro-gay material, people try to ban TGTGTDAS! The case ends up going to the supreme court and, well, you’ll have to watch the rest to see what happens.

Three Books Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Based on a true story, Three Books is about a 14-year-old who rents three billboards drawing attention to the fact the Siren’s identity remains unknown. The Siren secretly takes offense and brings Zimmerman’s Zealots into the mix as she tries to get the billboards taken down. Then other stuff happens and the movie ends either happy or sad.

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Being an LGTBQ indie author, I publish through Amazon and am reliant of them for paperback printing and sales. Without them, I have almost nothing. I think 99% of indie authors feel the same.

When releasing TGTGTDAS 1, I ran into issues, but managed to get the book live fairly unscathed. Now that I’m trying to launch the second novel, I’ve run into massive problems with Amazon. Let me share the issues with both novels, along with a bit more information on Amazon:

TGTGTDAS 1 – The VERY FIRST person who ordered Book 1 (from Amazon) received a Bible-related book instead of the novel. I’m not kidding. Please keep in mind my novel is LGBTG and actually has the word “Gay” in the title.
TGTGTDAS 2 – Typically, Amazon has a 3-day turnaround for launching approved paperbacks. From what I’ve heard, the actual turnaround is much shorter (1-2 days). But they say 3-5 days, just in case. Well, it’s been over two weeks since I officially approved the book for launch, and it’s still not available on Amazon’s website. It completely decimated my book launch. In the meantime, I have gone rounds with them. In a nutshell, they’ve said the book should be live and they can’t figure out why it isn’t. At this point, they said it could be a week or more before I have further updates because their volume is so heavy at this time (although the mistake/bug is on their end). I’ve talked to fellow authors – who don’t write LGBTQ – and they’ve never run into such an issue. In fact, most people say, “My book went live in a day.”
In 2009, a bunch of LGBTQ books vanished from Amazon’s search listings. There are articles out there about it. Amazon claimed it was a fluke thing. But it still happened, and we just don’t know what occurred behind the scenes. Given this history, my situation becomes even more relevant.

Here’s the giant question: Is this pure coincidence or is homophobia involved? I know there are tons of gay books/products out there. But mine is one of the few YA books with “Gay” in the title so it’s an easy target. What’s to stop a bigoted employee – who has direct access – from interfering? I mean, how hard is it to grab a Bible and throw it into a box out of protest? Or to flag a book and prevent it from launching without going through tons of hoops?

I actually debated this a lot and thought it really could just be coincidence. However, that didn’t make me feel any better, and I didn’t know why. I know I’ve made my share of mistakes, and I don’t want to fault others for making their own. Still, something about the situation really bothered me, and I finally realize what it is:

Say this really is a coincidence (and homophobia has nothing to do with it). No big deal, right? Wrong. This is STILL a major issue. Why?

Because there is ZERO accountability from Amazon.

Other companies have guarantees in place that encourage good performance from themselves. Amazon has nothing in regards to indie authors. There are no repercussions from their end when stuff like this happens. Theoretically, they could sit on their hands for a year, never launching a book – and potentially ruining an indie author’s career – without a single repercussion.

Amazon needs to take some accountability. I mean, how delayed is too delayed with a launch? As I’m nearing the 3-week mark, it really really really feels unacceptable. They need to do something that makes them want to provide better customer service. There should be a guarantee in place that, if a book doesn’t launch within X days, the author receives Y (whether it be advertising space, promotional materials, etc…). They enforce certain criteria on us. It’s only fair they do the same to themselves.

OK. I’m stepping off my soap box now. But before I go, I want to say one last thing:

Gay or straight, black or white, male or female, other or other – Indie authors deserve better.

The post Is Amazon Homophobic (Or Do They Mistreat All Indie Authors)? appeared first on Wagner Writer.

Why Marketing Doesn’t Suck

So Cody wrote a really great guest blog for me recently, titled, “Why Marketing Sucks” and it got me thinking about why marketing sucks. And how to make it suck less, and the things that don’t suck about it.

While this may seem like it’s in opposition to his piece, it’s really not. Everything he said holds true. It’s just that for every silver lining, there is the cloud. In this scenario, Cody’s the cloud and I’m the silver lining, so it’s a bit like exactly the opposite of hanging out with us in person.

Making Marketing Fun

Most of marketing is so boring. Just so, so, so boring. Especially if you aren’t the type to really enjoy hanging out in big groups, networking, and telling strangers how awesome you are. Or writing fluffy guest posts for every Jane, Joe, or Richard Zuka on the internet.

Somewhere in there it’s nice, as a writer, to actually write things. Write things that people see and enjoy. Write for fun! And marketing takes away from all of that. Except if you can find a way to market yourself by doing exactly that.

So anyway, it gave me an idea. What if I could market in a way that let me write for fun, possibly might pay for my time, and would let others market at the same time? What if I could “crowd source” my marketing?

We’re supposed to be creative types, right? It’s really on us if we can’t find an entertaining and fun way to make sure the world notices us.

Cody gets some credit here, because our semi-weekly meetings to discuss marketing really kicked my brain into gear.

What I came up with is this:

A monthly ebook anthology. The Bite Monthly e-Book Anthology

I could do something I enjoy (writing!) and some other things I enjoy (editing!), and I can get the word out about other great writers while also enjoying the limelight. It’s my hope that by including a group of great, but less known, writers, our combined fan-bases might coalesce into something of one of those rising tides that lifts all the boats.

By necessity, the first book will be more about assembling a cadre of topnotch content creators than a single theme, but from there on out, each anthology will have a theme.

Basically, I want to get the word out about me, about other great writers, and I want it to not suck in the process.

So if you happen to be a writer who wants to get attention for actually writing a story please check out The Bite and consider submitting. The first deadline is February 28th, but there’s every theme every month after that.

At the end of the year, we’ll do a Best of anthology, and, now that I think of it, we might do a Wildcard themeless anthology every February. We’re playing this a bit by ear, but, damn it, we’re going to have a little fun doing it!

The post Announcing The Bite – A New Monthly eBook Anthology! appeared first on Wagner Writer.

I think this speaks for itself:

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A few weeks ago, I announced the first draft of TGTGTDAS Book 2 was done. Since then, I’ve been barraged by questions, requests, demands, etc… And by “barraged”, I mean one person has reached out asking about my shirt size (women’s ‘smedium’).

All authors work differently. And what happens after a first draft can vary from writer to writer. Therefore, I wanted to give everyone a quick head’s up about what happens next. It will be a fun insight into the writing process! And by “fun” I mean you may just want to shoot yourself. Also, you’ll get an idea for when the novel might be released. And THAT’S the important thing.

1. The Waiting Game

When I finish any piece of writing, I put it away for awhile. No looking at it, no touching it, no nothing. It’s basically a vial of smallpox.

Why? Because I want it to be as “new” as possible when I begin editing. As the author, I know every single twist and turn. That makes it really hard to read it as your average reader. It’s difficult to gauge if the tension/conflict/pacing are all correct because there are no surprises.

Putting the novel away helps with that; it makes the book more fresh. There have even been times I’ve forgotten certain scenes and got to read them as any other reader. It’s actually pretty cool and improves my edits.

So that begs the following question: How long do I let it stew?

Good question, imaginary person! It depends on the length of the work. For my average short story, I let it simmer for about a week. I let more lengthy works sit longer. I’ve found that a month is a good period of time. So that means book 2 is going to sit for another week and then it’s time to start working on the second draft!

2. Bring on the Second Draft

After the novel’s smallpox heals, I sit down and read it. And I try to do it as quickly as possible. This isn’t the time for spell/grammar checking. Nor* is it the time to analyze things like sentence/paragraph structure. This read-through is all about plot/pacing/conflict/continuity. In other words, does the story, as a whole, work?

This read-thru also includes the emotional flow. People who know me from writers’ group know I’m huge about characters and emotions. I firmly, 10000% believe characters drive the story. Everyone has been through good/bad times. It’s how we, as individuals, react to those times that make stories unique. Therefore, I really try to analyze the emotional flow. To do this, I try to put myself in the characters’ shoes and gauge if their reactions feel genuine. Sometimes, I’ll find that a character seems to overreact hugely to something. Or that there isn’t enough buildup to justify a certain reaction.

That’s a big part of the second draft for me.

Now, some people have asked me about beta readers and taking my first draft to writers’ group. There’s certainly nothing wrong with it. In fact, I know tons of people who start getting feedback after their first draft. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for me. Why? Because my first drafts are a MESS. For reals. They’re a GIGANTIC mess.

I write my first draft as quickly as possible: no re-reading, no editing, nothing. I’m really just trying to vomit the story down on paper and that’s it.

Consequently, the draft is chock full of errors. On top of that, I run into situations where I don’t want to deal with something in the moment. For example, there’s a lengthy conversation that needs to happen near the beginning of book 2. And I know where the conversation should head. But when I was writing, I didn’t want to deal with that conversation because I didn’t know exactly what needed to be said. However, I knew EXACTLY what happened after the conversation. So I literally wrote “[Insert fun conversation here]”, skipped it, and kept right on going.

I also write lots of random notes. These can include potential spoiler questions (“Does the way Blaize react to this situation give away what happens later?”, etc…), plot holes (#spoileralert), and even notes to myself (“Good job with this chapter, Cody!”). Seriously. I write stuff like that throughout.

That’s why I don’t have people read the first draft Part of the purpose of my second draft is to fill in all the holes and fix all these potentials issues.

* This may be the first time I’ve ever written “Nor.”

3. The Book Becomes an Extrovert (Writers’ Group!)

Once all the high level issues are resolved and the novel is more complete, I take it to writers’ group. That consists of bringing questionable chapters for 2-3 months and receiving critiques. Questionable chapters include the beginning (as the beginning of any novel is crucial) and any other sections I’m not sure work.

At writers’ group, I get feedback from TONS of different people. The way group is structured, I end up with different people most weeks. So I get to hear from beginners, experts, and everyone in between. Using this input, I edit the novel and come out with the third draft.

4. Beta Readers

By this point, the novel should be feeling pretty good. And it’s time to give the whole thing to beta readers. Unlike writers’ group, this phase has a select group of people read the ENTIRE novel.

What is their job? Well, I choose people of different ages and skill levels. So their duties can vary. Honestly, I’m just wanting their overarching thoughts. I’ll usually include a questionnaire that asks about plot, characters, tension, etc… And I also ask for a Rotten Tomatoes score. This is my chance to see if the novel, as a whole, works for different audiences.

For book 2, I’m going to use three rounds of beta readers. The first will consist of five people. Then I’ll make edits and circulate it to the second group. Lather, rinse, repeat to the third group and the next draft will be done!

5. Professional Services Time

Now that the novel’s overall structure is good, it’s time to hire professionals. This includes a content editor, who will also look at plot, tension, and voice to see if anything crucial is missing. Although I’ve already analyzed these high-level components several times, a professional editor will often provide expert advice that was previously omitted.

In addition to a content editor, I also hire a copy editor who will review the tiny things like spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Although I said “tiny”, I don’t want to underestimate the importance of a content editor. Spelling errors will absolutely destroy the credibility of a book. In fact, most indie book contests eliminate books with lots of small errors.

While all this editing is going on, I also bring artists into the mix to make the cover.

6. Publishing Time!

At this point, I have all the components needed: a fully-edited book and all the assets to go with it. Using these pieces, the book is ready to go live!

DUN DUN DUNNNN!

OK now all this leads to the ultimate question you’re probably wondering:

When will the book be published?

Wellllllll, it’s hard to say. I expected book 1 to go live about 6-9 months after the first draft was done.

Didn’t happen.

I ended up rewriting entire sections of the novel from scratch. Therefore, it ended up taking WAAAAY longer than I thought. While the first draft took three months, I spent two years editing.

You read that right. TWO YEARS.

Fortunately, I don’t think that’s going to happen with book 2. As the story was already established, it narrowed down the directions I could go. And I think it’s going to narrow down my editing time. At this point, I’m expecting to edit for about 6 months. That means that the book will likely be release around my birthday next year (May!!). But don’t add that date to your calendars yet (well, you can add my birthday). Depending on how the process goes, things could take a bit longer. The key thing to note is I’m not going to release the novel unless it feels right. No matter how long it takes.

Either way, I hope this post gives you an idea of what’s to come. And you’ll be ready to buy thousands of copies for your friends when book 2 is released

When doing posts, I naturally try to make my titles catchy. I regularly use the words “Amazing” and “Weirdest” and “JK Rowling” to grab attention. And those titles are subjectively not quite as amazing as expected. #exaggeration

Until now!

This past weekend, I went to Detroit and attended Theatre Bizarre with a friend. I didn’t know that much about the event except it’s a “cool Halloween festival at a building downtown” That’s it. And based on those few words, I shelled out money for a plane ticket and Theatre Bizarre passes!

OK I had other reasons to go, but still! Remember what I said about exaggerating in posts. Let’s keep up, people!

OFF TOPIC STORY: Before heading to Downtown Detroit, I decided to make myself up as a plague doctor. I thought it would be fun to spray paint my hair a shiny silver. The idea was creepy cool to me. Except for the fact the paint turned out looking really natural so I just looked like an older version of myself. Behold:

I was tempted to wash it out, but then someone called me a silver fox. That’s something I’ve never heard before and I dug it, so I decided to stick with Gray Cody (TM) as we headed out

BACK TO BUSINESS: Now, I can finally say Theatre Bizarre turned out to be the most AMAZING Halloween event I’ve ever seen. Part performance-based, part freak show, part exhibitionism, and part NSFW, it was a real smorgasbord for the senses. Translation: I was utterly blown away. The production value and effort that went into Theatre Bizarre was truly amazing.

So, without further ado, I’m going to tell you why it’s so epic.

1. Location, Location, Location

When my friend said Theatre Bizarre was put on in a building downtown, I assumed it would be an abandoned warehouse or something. Honestly, I pictured a haunted house type setup, with a cheesy spinning room to make people dizzy. Then we pulled up and I saw this:

That’s THE Masonic Temple in downtown Detroit. Theatre Bizarre was held there. And by that, I mean the ENTIRE temple. Every floor and every room showcased some performance or concert or exhibition. And the natural architecture of the temple enhanced the creepiness. Stone carvings surrounded stages, giant chandeliers hung from the ceilings, intricate patters were carved into wall. It was stunning:

Everything was done up all fancy, even the table settings (or whatever they’re called):

2. My Face Was Stuck in “OMG” Mode All Night

The second we walked in the doors, my jaw dropped. And I didn’t pick it back up until we left 6 hours later. The costumes were grandiose, risque, and out of control. Often all at the same time. I actually saw a lot of other guys dressed as plague doctors. But whereas my mask was $10 dollars and came from the Spirit Store, some were intricately carved and decorated. One group of people came in, all dressed as zombie versions of the McDonald characters. Awesome! At that point, I knew I was in for an interesting ride. Then I walked into a room and saw this:

Yes, this woman is hanging upside down…from hooks in her knees!! And she wasn’t a stage performer or anything. She was just in a box, spinning around. After awhile, she climbed down, and another person – complete with skin holes in another part of his/her body – took her spot and started spinning around. It was insane. And “acts” like that were all over the place.

Even the bathrooms were crazy. Theatre Bizarre made them all unisex. But they weren’t like Starbucks bathrooms with one toilet. These were made to accommodate tons of people, so there were lines of stalls and urinals. To give some privacy, they hung massive red curtains on top of the urinals. So you had to feel your way to an empty spot, climb under the curtain, and pee. At any other venue, it would have been really odd. Actually, it was really odd. But it fit.

3. The Odditorium and Observatory

After walking around for awhile and exploring different areas, we came across the Odditorium. I wasn’t sure what to expect as we joined tons of people gathered in front of a stage. Then an elderly man, probably seventy, came out and took off his shirt. A young woman entered behind him, rubbed something all over him, and set him on fire.

Yep.

That was the Odditorium.

It was a freak show stage. But a very well done freak show stage. With a TON of acts. We visited the room over and over throughout the night and never saw the same performance twice. The acts we did see included a sad clown stripper (seriously), a woman balancing swords all over her body, a hunched man singing (beautifully), and this gothic dancer:

In addition to the Odditorium, Theatre Bizarre had another performance stage called the Observatory. This one had an entirely different atmosphere. Whereas the Odditorium Oddience (see what I did there?) was loud and crass, me and my friend were shushed walking into the Observatory. We didn’t know exactly what was going to happen but we quieted down as we entered. Three druids sat on thrones watching a stage where a man was sensually tying up a woman. The only sounds issuing from the room were gongs, playing at even intervals.

No one spoke a word.

Why?

Because other druids paced around and, if they saw ANYBODY talking, they kicked them out. We saw it happen over and over. Additionally, if an audience member’s phone was visible, AT ALL, he/she was kicked out. So no talking or texting or pictures were allowed. It was just the sounds of the gongs and the performers. Talk about surreal.

4. NSFW!!!!

Sooooooo I can’t write much about this, LOL! I want to keep this blog appropriate for most ages. But let me just say there were some performances that had me blushing. Big time. And I’ve seen a lot in my 41 short years.

5. Let Your Freak Flag Fly!

This was perhaps one of my favorite things about Theatre Bizarre. And it’s also a tie-in to a previous post about Comic Con. Look at me all cross linking! A couple summers ago, I mentioned that I loved Comic Con because it was so accepting of the nerds and freaks of the world. Theatre Bizarre was no different. The emcee for the Odditorium was a man who was born without forearms. Seriously. His hands sprouted out where his elbows should have been. And you know what? He was about the most popular person at the entire event.

And that was pretty awesome.

I must say, though, the extreme candy for all the senses was also exhausting. When me and my friend left, we went to a diner to eat and talk about everything we’d seen. At one point, we both said how tired we were. Curious, I pulled out my phone and took a selfie. Do you see how fresh-faced I am in the pic at the top? Well this is me and my friend at the end of the night:

I think that says everything But if I have to sum up, I’ll say that, while I did other amazing things in Detroit, the trip would have worth it if I’d simply flown there, attended Theatre Bizarre, then flown home. For reals, yo.

The post 5 Reasons Theatre Bizarre Will Blow Your Mind appeared first on Wagner Writer.

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the St Edward’s campus for the Texas Teen Book Festival (TTBF). There was all this conflicting information that suggested the event could be amazing or a big dull dud (Friends quote!!). First, the exhibition area – where we were located – was smaller than I thought it would be. Admittedly, I pictured something from Comic Con, with hundreds of vendors. While that can be a negative (soooo much competition) it implies a lot of visitors. The 10-12 tables insinuated the event would be relatively small.

Then I looked outside and my opinion started changing. At 7:00AM (an hour before the event even started), a line of teens already wrapped around the building! Seeing so many youths THAT excited about reading surprised me. Then the doors opened I was utterly blown away. We were bombarded ALL DAY by wonderful book nerd teenagers. As it turns out, I was the only LGBTQ author present. Now, while that puts me in a smaller niche market, I felt like THE go-to author for all the LGBTQ kids there. And every second was incredible. I talked to so many people, my voice was aching by the end of the day. But it was 100000000000000 percent worth it (Side Note: I just typed lots of zeros, but what number is that? One hundred trillion? A bazamillion?). Anyway, here were some of the most memorable moments:

1. Of Struggles and Successes

As I just mentioned, the LGBTQ market isn’t as large as others. Therefore, I know I likely won’t get as many visitors/fans as other authors. However, the people I did talk with had real stories to tell. And that’s why I’m so proud of my book. Instead of chatting exclusively about my novel, I got to talk with teenagers about their coming out experiences. Some were great! For example, one girl told me right off the bat that she was straight. She went on to say that her school was trying to start an LGBTQ group. When the school announced it, a group of parents threw a fit and tried to get the group banned. In response, a bunch of straight students started a protest. They stood up and protested against those parents in favor of the group. Consequently, the group was approved and will be starting up. The best part is the girl couldn’t have been more than twelve. So these were middle schoolers standing up for their gay brethren.

AMAZING!!

On a sadder note, I also met a girl who had been through an insanely difficult time. She said she’d recently come out to her parents. Unfortunately, her mother disowned her and forced her to move out. Simply because she was gay. And she couldn’t have been more than sixteen. Her father ended up taking her in (her parents are divorced), but he doesn’t agree with her lifestyle either: she’s not allowed to talk about her sexuality. So she’s essentially living with the lesser of two evils and experiencing a very tough time. Luckily, I was able to give her a free copy of my book. It’s not the solution to her problems, but we have to do what we can to support. And that’s why I wrote an LGBTQ book: to provide a little escape for people experiencing a difficult time.

2. Bring on the St. Edward’s PRIDE!

I’d wondered if a Catholic university like St. Edward’s would allow for a LGBTQ group. I honestly didn’t think so. And suddenly a council member from the St. Edward’s PRIDE group came by and talked to me for a long time. She said the group is fully sanctioned by the school, and that made me SO happy. They also have a lot of upcoming events and expressed interest in my helping in some way.

After we chatted, I went with her to a booth the PRIDE group had set up. There, I talked to the members, took some fun pics, and made new friends.

3. Teachers and Librarians Are People, Too!

This makes me sound like an idiot, but I didn’t even think about teachers showing up for the event. DERP! There were entire school groups that showed up to the festival – complete with teachers AND librarians. Before I get into anything regarding my personal experience, can I just say how cool it is to see giant school reading groups? There was a group called the “Page Turners” who all showed up wearing t-shirts. Actually, several groups wore nerdy reading t-shirts, which was so cool. And it was clear they loved to read. By the end of the day, their backpacks were FULL of books. One girl – maybe twelve – showed us how her backpack had broken because she’d bought so many books. Greatness!

Anyway, in addition to students, I got to talk with a lot of teachers. It turns out many of the schools are trying to start LGBTQ groups. So the timing was absolutely perfect. I was able to donate some books and chat with teachers about doing Skype calls with the groups. One teacher was gay herself and we talked for a long time about the struggles of schools and teachers in certain Texas areas.

4. Authors Are a Pretty Cool Bunch, Eh?

Several months ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to join a group called the Young Adult Author Rendezvous (YAAR). The group is comprised of young adult authors from around the country. We have groups online where we share stories, successes, failures, etc… Additionally, they attend festivals around the country. They’re the reason I was able to be a part of the TTBF. And I was able to meet some of the members at the festival. Three of us stayed the entire time and a few others stopped by throughout the day.

Every single one of them was so cool!

One author had a lot more experience than me (seeing as I’ve had one book out less than a year) and she shared so many tips. Another was newer, like me. And we chatted about some of our experiences.

Then there was my straight wifey I met Jacqueline Smith years ago on stage. She and I did Barefoot in the Park together and, in the play, we were married. At one point, she even jumped into my arms and we pretty much made out. It’s the most action I’ve ever gotten from a woman, LOL! Here’s a pic from the play where I’m being totally mean to her:

Well, she’s since become an amazing author and had her own table at the event. We totally got to reconnect and laugh and joke around all day.

5. For One Day, I Knew What It Was Like to be an LGBTQ Celebrity

OK this is last and certainly least, but it was still really fun! Because I was the lone LGBT author there, I felt like a philanthropic celebrity. The LGBTQ teens kept stopping by to talk to me. I took SOOOO many selfies with them. Some even came by and made me autograph posters. Two girls visited like ten times to talk with me.

A guy from the journalism group even selected me for a school paper pic:

Part of me wanted to say, “I’m a nobody! Go get Mindy Kaling’s autograph!” But I totally ignored that voice and enjoyed my little brief moment of fame Now that it’s gone, I’m doing everything I can to bring it back. OK That was totally a joke, but it gives me a new fun blog post idea! Stay tuned!!!!

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