Is seeeing believing, or the other way around?

My story "Believing is Seeing"has been published in a wonderful online journal called Press 1.

In this story, I wanted to challenge myself to write from a gay man’s point of view. As it turned out, the three main characters are gay men, a first for me. My favorite is Chester, who is an amalgamation of several people I’ve known.

To read the story, click here.

Leaving the Baby

Tonight I'm going to dinner with Ishmael Beah.

Okay, there will be about 15 other people there, too--but I might actually get to watch him eat from across the table.

Afterward, he's speaking on campus. (For more information, click here.)

I'll update my blog tomorrow to let you know what the event was like. And meeting him.

*

Just found out that my story, "Leaving the Baby," will appear in Queer Collection: Poetry and Prose 2008.

Here's the first paragraph of the story, a teaser (I hope):

The first time Michelle left the baby alone was unintentional. And brief. She’d forgotten about him for just a few minutes when she went outside to get the mail. Actually, not quite forgotten—but she experienced a moment when her body was her own. Her brain felt as squishy as Sammy’s soft spot, and the cold sun was blinding.

Bisexual Lesbian

My story "Art Making" will be published in the forthcoming Best Bi Short Stories, and the editor asked me to write a little blurb about myself and my story. Here 'tis:

When I'm in the mood to use a label, I identify as a "bisexual lesbian." I've been mongamously partnered with my soulmate, Annie, for 14 years and hope to remain that way for years to come. However, before I met Annie, I had been only in relationships with men (including a five-year marriage). I don't want to deny that those relationships are part of who I am, and yet I feel very woman-focused. That's why "bisexual lesbian" works for me.

My story "Art Making" emerged around the time Annie and I decided not to have children. It was a decision we were happy with, although it signaled a life shift because we'd both tried in the past to get pregnant. This decision got me thinking about the drive to have children, as well as the intriguing tensions between suburban and bohemian life--particularly the ways in which these lifestyles affect and are affected by child-rearing and art-making.

In the story, I was also playing around with the instability of desire and identity. Michelle is seen in the world as a lesbian, but she lives out desire bisexually. I think that is true for most people: that our labels do not match the complexities of our identities and desires. As Foucault says, we are freer than we think.