Jan’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2008)

Jan’s comments from the queer lit group.

Wanted to tell you about a project of which I'm a small part:

Kickstarter Campaign to Publish Best Bisexual Short Stories

I think it's important to get fiction out there with bi characters so that bi people can see their lives mirrored in literature. It's one more step toward lowering the bisexual suicide rate, which is higher than that of lesbian, gay or straight people.

And besides, there are great prizes for Kickstarter donations! ;)

The Bi Writers Association (BWA) is celebrating National Coming Out Day by announcing that nominations are now open for its second annual Bisexual Book Awards. Any 2013 book with a bisexual character, bisexual storyline, bisexual subject matter or bisexual theme, is eligible for nomination. Awards are open to all authors regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Books can be nominated by the author, publisher, or the Bi Writers Association, however, anyone may contact BWA and suggest a book for nomination. There is no fee to nominate a book.

A panel of judges will decide each category. Books are judged on three main criteria: quality of overall writing; quality of writing about bisexual characters, bisexual themes or bisexual material; quantity of bisexual material. Finalists will be announced by May 1st, and winners will be announced at the Bisexual Book Awards in June of 2014. The Awards date is TBA. The Bisexual Book Awards will be preceded by BWA's annual multi-arts reading, Bi Lines VII, which will feature bi book authors of 2013.

“Bisexual books have few opportunities for recognition, even at LGBT book awards,” says Bi Writers Association founder Sheela Lambert. “Last year there was only one bisexual category at one LGBT book awards. Bisexual books deserve more attention than that, so we created our awards in order to shine a spotlight on them. In addition to recognizing books and authors for their achievements, the Bisexual Book Awards process creates a complete annual list of bisexual books for readers, and encourages more bisexual books to be written and published,” says Ms. Lambert.

To nominate a book, first read the Bisexual Book Awards Guidelines at the URL below, then send an email to the Bi Writers Association at info (at) biwriters (dot) org with: name of book, author name, publisher, year of publication and whether it is fiction or non-fiction; then request a nomination form.

http://biwriters.livejournal.com/9352...

It's that time of the month again. I'm delighted that my poem "Intersections" (about bisexuality and gender fluidity) is a finalist for the November Goodreads Newsletter Poetry Contest, along with fine poems by a couple of my friends! Please vote for your favorite at
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
by Monday, October 30, at midnight!
Best,
Jan

I'm thrilled that my poem "Lady in the Tower" is one of six finalists for the Goodreads Newsletter Poetry Contest. Hope you'll vote for your favorite poem at http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Warmly,
Jan Steckel
Author of the Lambda-Literary-Award-winning book
The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011)

I'm delighted to announce that my first full-length poetry book, The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011), won a Lambda Literary Award last week in one of the two bisexual categories. The "Lammies" in New York City are the premier international queer book awards. I'm now busy selling copies of the book to pay off my credit card bill for the trip to Manhattan, where I got to meet lots of wonderful queer writers, editors and publishers. Among the speakers at the ceremony: lesbian feminist thinker and writer Kate Millett, actresses Olympia Dukakis and Ally Sheedy, and Armistead Maupin (author of Tales of the City).

Copies of The Horizontal Poet are now on sale at the following fine independent bookstores: The Laurel Bookstore in Oakland, California; The Beat Museum in San Francisco, California; Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara, California; and Bluestockings in New York City.

You can also order the book directly from its indie publisher Zeitgeist Books at www.zeitgeist-press.com. If you prefer a signed copy, you can order one from me for $14 plus $2 shipping ($16 total) as a check or money order sent to Jan Steckel/PO Box 18797/Oakland, CA 94619, or for $16 sent to me via PayPal to Jmsteckel at aol dot com. Be sure to include your mailing address and to whom you want the book signed.

Jan Steckel
https://www.facebook.com/TheHorizonta...

Jan Steckel (JanSteckel) | 189 comments Hi All,

Here's a 5-minute video I just bumped into online of me reading at the San Francisco Public Library's Lambda Literary Finalists' reading last week. It contains 4 poems from my new poetry book, The Horizontal Poet, which is shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award, a prestigious award for LGBT writing (I'm the B).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chWLAn...

I'm having a sale now: free shipping for anyone who orders a signed copy of the book for $14 by May 11. I'm raising money to go to the Lambda Literary Awards Ceremony in NYC in June. You can send a check to Jan Steckel/PO Box 18797/Oakland, CA 94619 or order via PayPal at Jmsteckel at aol dot com.

Can you post some video of a favorite queer writer reading their own work?

Ninevices wrote: "Hello queer lit lovers! I call myself Ninevices because it says more about who I am than what my passport does, so yeah. I'm glad I stumbled on this group - mostly due to my already being friends w..."

Welcome, Ninevices! Since I haven't posted here in a while, it's probably time to re-introduce myself. I'm Jan Steckel, an Oakland, California poet and writer. My first full-length poetry book The Horizontal Poet is now available from Zeitgeist Press. It's a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in the Bisexual Nonfiction category, but only because they don't have a Bisexual Poetry category -- yet!

You can order a signed copy from me for $14 + $2 shipping mailed to Jan Steckel/PO Box 18797/Oakland, CA 94619, or you can send it via PayPal to Jmsteckel at aol dot com. It will eventually appear on Amazon, but for now you can order copies directly from the small publisher at http://www.zeitgeist-press.com

Have you checked out Goodreads Author J.M. Snyder's Rainbow Reviews website yet? J.M. just posted a review there of my chapbook The Underwater Hospital at http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=1418. It's the only bisexual poetry book on the site -- so far!

If the review interests you, you can buy a copy of The Underwater Hospital from Zeitgeist Press at http://www.zeitgeist-press.com.

Best,
Jan Steckel
http://www.jansteckel.com

The last queer book I read was For the May Queen (Vanilla Heart Publishing, 2008) by Kate Evans. Kate is my colleague in Woman-Stirred, a queer women's writing collective, and is also on Goodreads. I really enjoyed this book, her first novel. I expected the protagonist to be queer, which she's not. It is, instead, about how people deal with their friends' alternative sexualities. I think it might be a good gift book for friends or relatives who are coming to terms with our sexuality.

Hi everybody,

I'm Jan Steckel, a bi writer and reader from Oakland, California, USA. I'm interested in all kinds of queer books, especially bi ones. Though it's hard to define what a "bi" book is. Is it one by a bi writer? With a bi character? Does that character have to be shown in sexual relationships with people of either sex? "No" is my knee-jerk answer here.

I'm a member of the queer women's writing collective Woman-Stirred at http://woman-stirred.blogspot.com. I recently won the 2008 Gertrude Press Fiction Chapbook Contest. Gertrude is a GLBT small press, and they'll be publishing my fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks next month. I also have a small poetry chapbook out from Zeitgeist Press called The Underwater Hospital, that has love poems both about women and men in it.

Looking forward to reading about all of your literary interests.