Long Beach Pride

On another note... If you're in the L.A. area this upcoming weekend, you have to check out the Long Beach Pride festivities. May 19 and 20, 2007.

It's one of my favorite pride events in Southern California.

And the major event entertainment on Sunday night only... our Dream Girl, Jennifer Hudson!
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Wine. Texting. Scandal.

Um. Of course texting and driving are a no-no.

But texting and drinking. A MAJOR no-no.

It all started with a wine tasting party I got invited to. Very fun, and very suburban, straight-laced crowd. You know the kind... commute two hours back and forth, to buy a home you rarely get to enjoy, and look forward to weekend Costco trips. That kinda crowd.

But somewhere between my third and fourth "tasting" I sent a text message to a friend -- okay, a bunch of friends -- with the most scandalous confession. Centers around the whole "friend's exes and exes friends" topic that too is a major no-no.

So once I'm home, and in the middle of the night, I start getting a myriad of responses from friends from across the country. Yes, ACROSS the country. Some funny, some asking what's up, most saying "Child, don't drink and text!"

That's the lesson for today. Don't drink and text. Oh, and don't drink and drive too. Or drink, come home from a club, and call. Ewwww.

By the way... I didn't DO anything along the "friend's exes and exes friends" topic. And now that I made the electronic confession, I know I won't do anything about it either. I'm far from a Carmen Mesta (Young and Restless fans, you know what I'm talking about... YouTube link 1, YouTube link 2).
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Free Stuff Friday!

On a more happy note...

Ring the dinner bell... come and get it!

Um. I just got a HUGE box of stuff from my publisher, Kensington, and I want to share with you!

Specifically, it's a 31-page "Exclusive First Look At This Year's Best Gay Fiction!" from my publisher.

Included as one of the top releases for the year is my upcoming novel, Right Side of the Wrong Bed. There is an excerpt of the book in the sampler.

If you want one, or a dozen for your book club -- absolutely FREE -- hit me up at my email: fsmith827 at gmail dot com.

In the email subject line, put "Free Stuff Friday!", and in the email, give me your name and mailing address. You can also say some nice, and clean, things too! I'll send you one (or a dozen) of the 31-page samplers from Kensington.

Hope you got the email code... Not wanting spammers hitting me up. Again, fsmith827 at gmail dot com.

Hope it's a Good Friday and weekend for you! Feel free to link up the Free Stuff Friday on your own site! And the book is now available for pre-order on many online retailer sites.

Find your favorite site and order away!!! :-)
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Club Fighting. Part 2.

So it's getting hot. People will be eating less, drinking more, and taking those volatile body chemistries to clubs, prides, and other summer outings.

All of which can lead to Club Fighting, something I wrote about a few years back.

Seems one of my 1988 Boys has developed Club Fighting mentality recently. Can't figure if it's the new "friends" made since moving to L.A., or if it's just one of those things... like some people are just naturally pleasant and others are naturally attitudinal. Who knows? I do believe that young people have to be EXTRA picky about their friends. Cool and cute don't always cut it.

Now... I'd like to think I'm one of those naturally pleasant people. Or maybe I'm just a realist.

I know that when in crowded places where people drink, there will be: shoes stepped on, boyfriends looked at/flirted with, people taking the offensive with their attitude, and other "so-called" trials and tribulations. Therefore, if you know it's a possibility, you're less likely to be upset when it happens. (On that note, can we PLEASE take "trials and tribulations" out our LGBT/people of color vocabulary??? It's not like we're on freaking Dynasty and we have an empire about to be destroyed...)

I've come to understand, through my academics and my work with students, that the "attitude" displayed is usually due to one being angry/insecure about one's self. And that the only way to overcome "attitude" is to work on the areas, or work to accept and be okay, about one's challenges.

Are any of you reformed club fighters? Or reformed attitude boys/girls? How did you come out of it? What can we do to make sure the upcoming summer is a good, and safe, one -- emotionally and physically -- for our brothers and sisters?
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Chalk. And Other Politics.

So I've been hearing some good things about this new film, Chalk, opening up this weekend. It's an independent -- the kind I generally go for -- and it's getting great reviews by those in the know.

Follows the lives of first-year teachers in public education. It's a film, but done in a documentary style, ala the fabulous Best In Show. Did you know that half of all first-year teachers in public education quit teaching within three years? Somehow, the idealism of the the job gets tainted by the reality of teaching for test scores, administration, and children with unique behaviors (a term I learned from one of my former students who teaches children with unique -- aka unruly -- behaviors).

Chalk, apparently, aims to show the highs and lows of public education from a teacher's perspective. And a plus... if you go with an educator, you get two-for-one admission during opening weekend! At least that's the rumor I heard. Check it out.

Politics. So funny how you can pick up on people's agendas. I was recently in a meeting, and someone's name kept coming up -- people criticizing their work, complaining about their alleged money management problems, disorganization, etc... This is a person of color they were criticizing, so of course internally I'm not feeling the direction of the conversation. But wanting to keep the conversation from turning on me I kept quiet. How do you handle the delicate nature of politics within your places of interest?

Finally. Politics. Please check on your voter registration status, make sure you're on your city/county rolls, and that you haven't been moved. Google: check voter registration status, and then find your state or city.

Yeah, I know the U.S. Presidential election is over a year away. But I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a scholar in African American Studies and one from Political Science, who both maintain that the recent U.S. Department of Justice scandal (Alberto Gonzales firing federal judges) is about our Republican buddies trying to find replacement judges who will support their statewide efforts to throw likely Democratic voters off the rolls -- i.e. black, Latino, women, and people who have been incarcerated. Because as we've seen in 2000 and 2004, if you know you can't win... you gotta cheat.

Anyway, hope it's a good Thursday for you. L.A. is on fire, less than 10 miles from my house, but all is good still. Just staying out the ash-filled air.
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Linking Up

Trying to be better with using my computer/writing time better. Got up at 5 am the past two days and managed a few pages of work.

But, a few sites of note that recently came to my attention. Might be good for you too?!?!?

Don't know much about the black LGBT scene in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but Lauderdale Boi is doing the most to keep people informed of what's happening in the area. Good site.

Writers. Found this GEM of a site: A Newbie's Guide to Publishing by JA Konrath, that's chock full of notes on what to do once/if you're published. Of course the advice is good, even if you're in the wrting phase, so that you know what comes post-writing, post-agent, all that jazz.

Of course... for writers, the most important thing is the writing. And Tayari Jones always has great motivation up on her site regarding the writing process and making sure your writing is as good as it can be.

Finally, there are many MANY independent bookstores that stock books... and many times they can meet or beat the prices of online or chain stores. So a quick shout out to a few faves I've heard from people across the country: Outwrite Books (Atlanta), Lamdba Rising (East Coast), Books Inc. (San Francisco), Hue-Man Books (NYC), Karibu Books (Maryland), Esowon Books (Los Angeles), Skylight Books (Los Angeles), Unabridged Books (Chicago), and A Different Light (northern and southern California).

What are some sites or bookstores you've checked out lately that we should all know about?
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Writing After Hours

So most of us who love writing work a day (or night) job that supports our habit, something I've written about on numerous posts.

This weekend, one of workshops I wanted to attend but didn't (because I wanted to see Victoria Rowell and Eric Jerome Dickey) was a session called Writing After Hours.
It was aimed at those of us who work or do school full time and write. It featured panelists who do both.

My writer friend Fiona Zedde managed to secure some notes from the session, and there are some tips that sound pretty promising to me as I continue to navigate two career world. Hope some of these are helpful for you.

1. Using commute time. The commute time is a wonderful opportunity to use to think about your story, jot notes, or record ideas. The panelists offered that turning off the radio/talk shows while commuting helps you focus on story. Of course, if your commute is a train, using your iPod with soft jazz or classical music can help with concentration.

2. 5 - 10 pages a day. One panelist offered that after hours writers plunge forward and shoot out 5 to 10 pages of work a day. Within a few short weeks there is a working draft of a novel that will most definitely need revising. But the object, since time is often a challenge, is to finish something. ANYthing. Because most of us who start... don't.

3. Use break time at work. Often, we have down time during which Internet research can be done. Fifteen minute breaks can be used for jotting notes, recording dialogue, scribbling in notebook. At my day job at the university, I hear and observe a lot that is a catalyst for ideas. Use those moments to help move your story forward.

4. Wake an hour/two earlier. Use one/two hours at night. Pretty straight forward. Often, that might mean giving up or DVRing a favorite tv show, missing a night at gym, or being a little sleepy in morning. I personally love the early morning hours -- 4:30 to 6:30 -- for writing. But that's just me.

5. Give up Internet. Well, not completely. But I have wasted many an hour Internet surfing, doing emails with my favorite people, etc... when I was supposed to be writing. Internet is fine. But trying to remain disciplined in the use, especially while working on a writing project, helps.

Anyway, take what you want. Use what you can. Offer suggestions here if you have ideas for Writing After Hours.
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Bjork Is Back

And she's back with some sick beats from Timbaland, an all female Icelandic orchestra, and other creative, unpredictable and hot goodies.

Volta.

Tuesday, May 8.

Fell in love with the song Innocence, which you can hear on a Bjork MySpace site among others.

Can you believe it's May already?
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