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Cory’s Year In Books

Cory’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at Cory’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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2,160 books | 199 friends

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Cory Allen

Goodreads Author

Born

Pennsylvania , The United States

Website

https://www.coryallenbooks.com

Twitter

AuthorCoryAllen

Genre

Biography, Memoir, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

March 2023

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Life has not always been easy for Cory Allen. But sharing his story and finding connections with people who have similar struggles has given his life purpose. Cory, a Supervisory Special Agent, found courage in his own journey as a gay law enforcement officer, but it was when he released his memoir, Breaking Free, that he realized just how much he could give back.

Cory grew up in rural western Pennsylvania and, when his parents divorced, moved to a conservative suburb of Richmond, Virigina. There Cory faced the reality of domestic violence in his own home. He spent 10 years trying to protect his mom from an abusive partner, often being the one who had to call the police to intervene. Those early interactions with law enforcement made a last Life has not always been easy for Cory Allen. But sharing his story and finding connections with people who have similar struggles has given his life purpose. Cory, a Supervisory Special Agent, found courage in his own journey as a gay law enforcement officer, but it was when he released his memoir, Breaking Free, that he realized just how much he could give back.

Cory grew up in rural western Pennsylvania and, when his parents divorced, moved to a conservative suburb of Richmond, Virigina. There Cory faced the reality of domestic violence in his own home. He spent 10 years trying to protect his mom from an abusive partner, often being the one who had to call the police to intervene. Those early interactions with law enforcement made a lasting impression as Cory realized how much an officer could help. While in Richmond, Cory worked in the service industry and later tried his hand at music, even traveling to Nashville to record country music, but it didn’t quite stick. He found himself unsure of what he wanted to do, but realized he tended to thrive in a structured environment, so he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at 21. Suddenly, it seemed natural that he would pursue a career in law enforcement himself, following in the footsteps of several family members, as well as those who showed him kindness as a child.

Becoming a police officer at 24 and then a Special Agent for the U.S. Secret Service felt right to Cory, but it also meant hiding his sexuality. He had to live dual lives: one as an officer and one as a gay man. He worked high level jobs for the U.S. Secret Service, including protection assignments and criminal investigations, and in 2016, Cory received the ultimate assignment as a Secret Service Agent: to protect the Obamas. He spent two years as Michelle Obama’s Secret Service Agent and became part of a tight-knit group who traveled the world together. It felt like an opportunity for Cory to be himself and in 2017 he slowly began coming out to people in his close work family.

“Even now there's an inherent risk in owning my identity because law enforcement is not known for being open minded,” he says. “It's straight, white male dominated. I'm a white male, so I've gotten to this point in my career, undoubtedly, because of some of that. But there was this big hesitation that being out it would stymie my future.”

After leaving the U.S. Secret Service in 2019, Cory moved to Fresno for six months. It was a period of reflection as Cory considered the whirlwind of his past 10 years. He’d worked with the Obamas, met Tom Hanks and Bruce Springsteen, been backstage with Jay-Z and Beyonce, protected the Pope, fanned out on Anderson Cooper, traveled to dozens of cities, and begun to own his identity. He wanted to catalogue it all, at least for his future children. What began as a few notes on his phone quickly became an entire book. Cory moved again, to San Francisco, and when Covid hit he realized he wanted to bring his journey to the world.

Breaking Free: A Saga of Self-Discovery by a Gay Secret Service Agent, Cory’s debut memoir, was released in 2023. Since then, he’s discovered how much sharing his own story has helped others. During a book reading at a local shop, one of the employees was inspired to come out herself. One of his colleagues, who has been in law enforcement for years, confided in Cory that she hopes to eventually find the confidence to come out after hearing him speak about his book. The messages on social media and at events are similar. Cory’s candidness and vulnerability are giving others permission to do the same.

“In this environment that we're in where the LGBTQ+ community is under attack, there's a huge need to be an advocate,” Cory says. “And I'm willing to do that. If I have the platform, then I want to use it. I never imagined myself to be a writer—I was always a creative storyteller—but now I write articles regularly and want to share aspects of my story that could help others ...more

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Cory Allen’s books

Average rating: 4.03 · 90 ratings · 24 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	Breaking Free: A Saga of Self-Discovery by a Gay Secret Service Agent 4.03 avg rating — 89 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Brave New You really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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6 posts
Cory Allen's Blog

Out100 Nominations!

Hi all, I need your help! I'd love to make the Out100 voting list this year, to have greater impact and advocacy with the LGBTQ community, for my writing and activism. Head over to the below link and I'd be honored if you nominated me! (I'm up against celebs with entourages of people who do this for them)

https://www.out.com/out100/voting Read more of this blog post »

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Published on July 24, 2024 09:37 • Tags: lgbtq

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Cory’s Recent Updates

Cory Allen wrote a new blog post Out100 Nominations! Hi all, I need your help! I'd love to make the Out100 voting list this year, to have greater impact and advocacy with the LGBTQ community, for my writ Read more of this blog post »
Jul 24, 2024 09:37AM · like
Cory Allen rated a book really liked it The Wonder Weeks: How to Stimulate Your Baby's Mental Development and Help Him Turn His 10 Predictable, Great, Fussy Phases Into Magical Leaps Forward by Hetty van de Rijt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 24, 2024 09:34AM · like
Cory Allen rated a book it was amazing Breaking Free: A Saga of Self-Discovery by a Gay Secret Service Agent by Cory Allen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 03, 2023 08:54AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Breaking Free by Cory Allen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Breaking Free by Cory Allen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Cory Allen (?)

“The courage it takes to leave behind what’s not for you anymore is the same courage that will help you find your way to what is.”
― Cory Allen

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“We had some stellar supervisors on evening shift, particularly the sergeants who worked the east end of the county. You wanted to be a better officer because of them and emulate their style of leadership. They also made working fun. They were there when you needed them, always available to answer questions or resolve a complex problem if you couldn’t, while never belittling or managing in a condescending manner. As long as you were productive, competent, and looked out for your peers, you were given the liberty we all sought.”
― Cory Allen, Breaking Free: A Saga of Self-Discovery by a Gay Secret Service Agent

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