On a more personal note....

Originally I began this blog as a vehicle for my book, but soon I completely forgot about the book and started blogging just about LGBT news.  Tonight, however,  I'll do a quick blog about a reading I did in Philadelphia over the weekend as a benefit for Giovanni's Room, the oldest LGBT bookstore in the US, and quite possibly in the world. (See photo)

LGBT bookstores are closing around the country.  Once they were the only place where LGBT books could be bought, but as LGBT lit has become more mainstream, lots of LGBT books are available in chain bookstores, not to mention amazon.com, which also provides anonymity for someone who isn't quite comfortable with his or her sexuality.  This is a shame, because LGBT bookstores are more than places to buy books.  They are community centers, places to drop in and spend a quiet hour with other LGBT folks.  While the growing acceptance of LGBT people certainly has its up side, it also has some down sides, and this is one of them.

So I was excited to be part of an evening of 20 authors reading from our works.  I read a short passage from my story collection, then a short passage from A Passionate Engagement, my memoir that focuses on the same-sex marriage movement. It will be released in October, 2010.

What was nice about the event was that the people who came really listened to what we were reading.  (I tried to convince myself that their attention was on me, not of the wall of erotic magazines that was in back of me while I read.)  People asked good questions after the reading, and I was able to meet a few authors I admire as well.

Tomorrow I'll dig back into the world of news.  Thanks for listening.