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30 April 2007 This past week has been just nothing but work, work, and work on Eyes of Desire 2. Only last night did I "true-biz" figure out how to organize over 70 wildly divergent and diverse "voices" in the book. This was a very, very tough editorial challenge in terms of making the book accessible to those who don't know anything about Deaf people and to those who already know a lot about Deaf people and to Americans who may not know much about Deaf GLBT life outside their country. I had a similar challenge with the first edition, but Eyes of Desire 2's scope is much broader and international in scope. Yesterday Lou and I biked over 16 miles around Minneapolis and had a grand time exploring the various neighborhoods in the city that we call home. I am afraid that we might not get as many opportunities to bike in such glorious weather once the summer heatwave hits, making it impossible to bike pleasantly except early in the morning or late in the evening. Just a few more bits of news from the Bookland: I finally got the ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 numbers for my novel Men with Their Hands, which will now be published in December 2007. (A certain major online bookseller says that its pub date is January 2008, but I'd much rather that you buy directly from Suspect Thoughts Press and get your copy early!) I've updated my MwTH page accordingly. The other bit of good news is that my sixth book When I am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden has begun shipping today. I'm very happy about that and I can't wait to see my own copy for the first time! Tonight I go to a producer's workshop provided by the Minnesota Fringe Festival to learn how to become a more effective producer with my new show I Never Slept with Helen Keller. 23 April 2007 Sorry for not blogging much lately. Heavy-duty editing of Eyes of Desire 2 continues. The book has over 70 people from 15 countries, and I'm not quite done! This new collection will surpass the first edition in every which way, so I'm very, very excited. More news to come soon! 16 April 2007 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOU!!! 14 April 2007 Today was a gorgeous spring day, so once I picked up the showtimes and venue information for John Lee Clark's new show I Never Slept with Helen Keller from the Minnesota Fringe Festival (yes, the information is now posted on my Events page), I had to walk around West Bank near the University of Minnesota campus. I found the neighborhood to be diverse and a bit odd; you have a very expensive Mountain Engineering store and then you have a cheap Chinese bakery and the MayDay Bookstore (very leftist-oriented). Oh yes: Back to the show. Ticket reservation information will be posted later on. You can check my Events page, however, for the performance dates for your calendar. I've been sifting and sorting through the 70-plus stories and poems I've accepted for Eyes of Desire 2, trying to figure out its overall narrative thread. I am still working on including a few more countries in the book, but I think the book is more or less done in terms of its structure. Of course, more details to come when it's ready. Patience, patience! 13 April 2007 It used to be that I would go months without updating my blog, but I've actually gone eleven days without saying hello around here? But I do have a very good excuse. I have been truly hard at work on editing Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader, which now has over 70 contributors from 15 countries all over the world; these days I am focusing on reaching out to more countries before I truly wrap it up. Compared to its predecessor, this collection is far more inclusive of the entire GLBT spectrum but also the D/deaf spectrum, yet even more focused. This book has been a lot of work, but I am very excited because it will have a lot of new firsts. It is so rewarding when I know how this book would bring the international Deaf GLBT community closer together. More details to come when it's ready. 4 April 2007 Another celebrity flash! It turns out that I now share an intimate relationship with the allegedly heterosexual 40-year-old virgin otherwise known as Steve Carell, the star of NBC's The Office. You don't believe moi? Check out the still below, from the end credits of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and examine that red arrow very, very closely. |
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| 3 April 2007 My appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent is now official television history: Never before did a Deaf character sign, "B-o-t-o-x inject-face facial-expression stiff" and I was the first to do so! Boys and girls, I'm no longer a footnote in the entertainment industry! |
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Lou was kind enough to do a screen capture of my most famous moment of notoriety on television. Please stare at the image and let it burn into the darkest recesses of your brain. But seriously, I will blog in detail about my experience on the show later, most likely later in the day when I've had my fifth martini to recover from this blazing moment of fame. I hadn't wanted to do so before because I was afraid of giving away the full impact of my 38-second scene (yes, Lou did time it as well), and I didn't want to get into the National Enquirer. Whoops! Too late now. 1 April 2007 Last night Lou and I went to see the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus concert, sign-interpreted by the inimitable David Evans. In spite of my limited hearing, the men were wonderful to hear, and having David interpret was even more of a treat. He's just brilliant! (Full disclosure: He works as MNRAD's Events Director, and he's just as great in that department.) Yesterday was also the final deadline for my anthology Eyes of Desire 2, and I was very happy to have gotten some truly terrific last-minute submissions. This book is going to be amazing, and I know I will have every reason to be proud of being able to bring together some of the most diverse voices from within the Deaf GLBT community on an international scale. Now I have to edit, which I will do over the next few days. 29 March 2007 A most unexpected alert appeared in my mailbox a few minutes ago. My fellow ASL storytellers and I have apparently appeared from our night last Saturday in NorthNews, a neighborhood newspaper in North Minneapolis. Check it out! 28 March 2007: 11:27 p.m. The building frenzy surrounding Law & Order continues with this clip of the preview. If you watch carefully, I'm the fella on the videophone. :-) 28 March 2007: 10:30 a.m. My sister just emailed me to say: "You were on TV last night. I watched the preview for next week's Law & Order: Criminal Intent and there was a snippet of you on the videophone. Cool, way cool!" As it turns out, the terse summary for "Silencer," next week's episode, reads: "The detectives investigate the murder of an esteemed ear surgeon." Wow! I'm already on national television, and I've never seen the preview. Dang! Then I got this email from Guthrie Nutter, a wonderful actor who's starred in my film Ghosted (a new special effects editor will be working on the film's unfinished effects later today): "After much rumor and anticipation, NBC has made it official! LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT is featuring an episode called "Silencer", starring a talent-heavy cast of Deaf actors, including: Deanne Bray Alexandria Wailes Garrett Zuercher Darren Frazier Hillary Baack Willy Conley Raymond Luczak Adding to the excitement, NBC broke history by hiring the most Deaf extras (35 people, myself included!) for a network TV episode. Please tune in to your local NBC provider on Tuesday, April 3rd at 9pm to watch the exciting bullet-ridden drama unfold! Also, if you plan to watch this episode with a group of friends, please, please, please turn your TV on, or record the episode so the Nielsen ratings go through the roof! Then more Deaf actors will be asked back to work! Tell your family and friends about this! Support your friends! Support your acting community!" Amen! 26 March 2007 Yesterday Lou and I went out for a bike ride that took us around three lakes nearby: Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, and Lake Harriet. On the 12-mile ride, we stopped by the Rose Garden off Lake Harriet, and it was really strange to see waist-high piles of composted leaves on nearly all the rosebeds. I can't wait for spring to spring free of its winter shackles and allow dozens and dozens of roses to waft again. There are moments when I am glad that I am deaf, and one such moment happened yesterday. As much as I love Lake Harriet and its surrounding environs, the constant sound of huge planes readying for a landing and taking off was a major distraction. I do not honestly know how hearing people can tolerate that if it's such an annoyance while wearing my hearing aids. I just turned off my hearing aids for a little bit and that was much better, but still . . . . All in all, it was a great start for the first of my many bike rides for the year of 2007. It's also strange that even though it's late March, it's been rather hot. (Yes, hot.) I've actually worn a pair of shorts today. 23 March 2007 Today I got a surprise package from my mother. It turns out that my father had saved just about every piece of writing I'd ever sent him, so there is a ton of letters that I wrote to my parents during the 1980s while at Gallaudet. It's truly extraordinary that these densely-written letters were never lost, so ironically, even though my father has been dead for 17 years, he has never quite left me. I'm just feeling a bit sad that he's still gone and yet emotional just thinking about how he had taken pains to save all those letters! He didn't have to, but he did. Last night Lou and I ate out at Christo's, definitely the best Greek restaurant in Minneapolis and one of my top favorites around here. It was a rare treat to eat out since Lou is usually so busy in the evenings during the week. He really lit up at the superb quality of their cuisine. Their dip sampler and lamb shish kebob was delightful. I just don't get why more Americans aren't into Greek food. Sorry for having been away from this blog for a while, as I've been hard at work on Eyes of Desire 2. Part of my many rewards from working on the project is discovering again the true diversity of "voices" from all over the world, which I will share more about as soon as the book's finalized. Keep those amazing stories coming! 18 March 2007 In advance of my appearance on the TV show Law & Order: Criminal Intent on April 3rd, Lou surprised me with a graphic promoting the show. I was a bit embarrassed, but awww, wasn't he sweet? (I've also posted it in my Events & Appearances page.) |
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Still toiling away on Eyes of Desire 2. It's gonna be an awesome kick-ass book. Keep those submissions coming! 17 March 2007 I've been keeping a bit quiet these days due to my work on Eyes of Desire 2, so it was time for me to get my head out of the sand and see what was out there. My day started with my sister Mary and I eating out at the Egg & I, a straightforward no-fuss place that served eggs any way you want them, and then later I went to Vera's. Tonight's MNRAD coffee get-together was really nice--about 16 people showed up, which wasn't bad at all considering that it was St. Patrick's Day. Then I got a lovely notice that a Deaf Pagan (yes, Virginia, such folks exist!) actually posted my call for last-minute pieces for Eyes of Desire 2. I don't know who she is, but I was very flattered that she felt my project worthy of mention in her blog. Check it out over there! 14 March 2007 These past few days have been really busy. Work on Eyes of Desire 2 continues at a breakneck pace, but I have been making a lot of progress. Thank God for the Internet, though--it's made my job as editor that much easier! I've also updated my Events page, so check it out! I've just learned that the air date of my appearance on the TV show Law & Order: Criminal Intent has been changed to Tuesday April 3rd, not on March 20th as originally thought. Please pencil that date in your calendars! 12 March 2007, 8:10 p.m. Hot off the press: My publisher (Suspect Thoughts Press) sent me the graphic of the cover for my novel Men with Their Hands. It's not quite polished as it's going into their fall catalog, but it will be refined prior to the book's publication. Nevertheless, it should give you a good idea of what the book will look like. I've set up a new page for the novel. After 20 years, the book is becoming less and less of a dream and more and more of a reality. Check it out! 12 March 2007, 10 a.m. Seeing Scissor Sisters sing so salaciously was ... ooh! But seriously, they were great at working the crowds at Myth last night. Today I have to do laundry, work on a few pieces for Eyes of Desire 2, and follow up on the details for MNRAD's next general meeting on March 24th. 11 March 2007 One strange thing of note grabbed my attention, which I've scanned and highlighted in yellow for your enjoyment, from the brochure I'd gotten prior to my eye exam yesterday. |
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Kinda nifty, no? 27 February 2007 Lou has taken issue with my first sentence for my entry dated 26 February 2007 below, so I'm gonna try to fix it as follows: Because the MNRAD Valentine's party had been unfortunately cancelled, Lou and I decided to watch Martin Scorsese's The Departed the night before it swept the Oscars." That better, Lou? 26 February 2007 Last night being the Oscars, Lou and I decided to watch Martin Scorsese's The Departed, which had come out on DVD a few weeks before on Saturday night; after all, the MNRAD Valentine's party had been unfortunately cancelled. The film was wonderful, and it may very well be his best since either Casino or Goodfellas. But the fact that he's never won an Oscar earlier for directing films like Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Mean Streets, all of which are purely seminal films that will continue to be digested and studied by future generations, has been just plain criminal. I was naturally thrilled when the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and I was glad that Gore took a minute to highlight the urgent need to change the way we consume energy. Global warming is still the biggest crisis of our time, and if you haven't seen the film, you truly owe it to yourself and your future descendants to do so! André has informed me that so many people have loved my work on his web site. I'm pleased. He has a new show opening this Thursday, so if you live in the DC metropolitan area, please go! 23 February 2007 Bad news. Due to the expected blizzards this weekend, MNRAD's Valentine's party has been cancelled. Please check back at their Web site for our next exciting event! 2 February 2007 Looks like André Pellerin's web site is indeed working! Please check it all out, particularly the cool "what" page. He's an amazing potter and painter who deserves a lot more recognition than he's getting! He's already earned a permanent place on my links page too. Otherwise it looks as if the state of Minnesota is gonna get hit with two waves of snow starting tomorrow and may last more or less until Sunday. Yikes! But I am so glad that I have Kowalski's, Lund's, the Wedge Food Co-op, and Rainbow Foods all within walking distance should I run low on food. Who needs a car when you've got all those places accessible by foot? 21 February 2007 Great news! The Minnesota Fringe Festival has accepted my proposal to direct John Lee Clark in a one-man show called I Never Slept with Helen Keller this August. It promises to be a very unique look into what it means to be a deafblind person today. John and I may collaborate on the script by having him sign his stories in ASL on videotape, and then I will translate his ASL into English, which he would then rewrite as needed; not sure yet just how we'll do this show, but that's part of the fun. I am very excited about this. It is high time that people out there really hear what Helen Keller has meant to some deafblind folks today. I will post more information about the show as details are confirmed. That said, things are truly moving forward for my friend Andre's web site, which should go live by tomorrow. Can't wait for the new site password! 19 February 2007 These past few days I've been working hard on my friend Andre's new web site, which should go live in a few days. I'd promised to do it for him a year ago, but now that he has a very important show coming up next month, I thought it was high time that I deliver. Of course, once the site goes live, I'll be sure to post a link here and on my links page. 16 February 2007 These past few days have been really busy--working on pieces for SIGNews, preparing a few book proposals (yes, I'm always hungry for another book contract), and working on my author's questionnaire for Suspect Thoughts Press, which they will use to market my novel Men with Their Hands. And oh yeah, it appears that the air date of my little national television debut on Law & Order: Criminal Intent is March 20th. Be sure to look out for the episode titled "Silencer" here. All of this will be confirmed here, naturally. (Thanks to Lou for providing the link.) Have a great weekend, all! 14 February 2007 Happy VD! May you all get happily infected with love and friendship! 13 February 2007 Shooting my one scene with Deanna Bray in the TV show Law & Order: Criminal Intent yesterday went well. My plane trip home to Minneapolis was delayed by an hour but I was sure happy to see Lou again and sleep in my own bed after having had to sleep in four different beds over twelve days. Being back home has never felt so good. And of course, here's a big Happy Birthday to Elsa!!! She turns 13 today. (Scroll down for a picture of her.) Now that I'm back, I have a great deal of stuff to catch up on. Have a great day, everyone! 10 February 2007 Today my friend Andre and I will go walking through Dupont Circle and possibly Georgetown. Nothing spectacular, but that's exactly what I want. I do miss walking through these neighborhoods sometimes, as they often remind me of what I was like when I was young. It'll be a good "revisit." 9 February 2007 A most surprising bit of news happened yesterday: My agent (no, not that kind of agent--the other kind of agent who handles actors) informed me that I got a small part on the TV show Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Whoa! Thanks to a friend who'd urged me to look into this, I decided to audition for a bigger part on the previous Monday just before I came down to DC. I felt that my audition went well, but I knew that my odds of getting anything, especially when I didn't have a headshot and a formal acting resume, were quite small. I pretty much decided to forget about it. Whoops. I start shooting this Monday. (Yes, this Monday.) As of now, I have absolutely no idea what my character is (it must be a very small part because they want me for only one day), but I don't care. I think it'll be a fantastic learning experience, which is why I'm eager to do it. I'd be curious to learn who got the part I'd tried out for. And yes, my dear friends, I will keep you posted as to when the episode featuring your budding TV star (moi? hah!) is going to air. Yesterday I finished correcting the galleys for my new book When I am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden, so I'm going to drop them off at the Gallaudet University Press offices early this morning. The book is still on track to appear next month. Anyway, I'm off to give a few presentations at Gallaudet today. Hope to see a few more of my old friends and make some new friends, which is what always happens whenever I visit my alma mater. As one of my friends once said, "Life is good." Indeed! 7 February 2007 Had a wonderful day meeting with Pia Taavila's creative writing students at Gallaudet and a group of really great Honors students. I also did some research at the Gallaudet Archives and ran into some old faces and made some new friends, so today was really nice. Lou was sweet enough to email me a picture he'd snapped me with Elsa, my favorite dog in the whole world. She will turn 13 on February 13th, but I think it's kinda nice that I'll be able to celebrate her birthday a day early, the day I leave New York. Anyway, heeeeeeeeeeeere's Elsa! |
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| 6 February 2007 After a whirlwind weekend in which I met Lou's siblings and spouses in New York where they were celebrating their mother's 70th birthday, I am barely decompressing here in DC. For now, the most exciting news is that Suspect Thoughts Press has changed their publication date of my novel Men with Their Hands from the spring of 2008 to October 2007. Yes, you read that right--a mere nine months from now! Yowzah! I will try to update more often later this week. (I'm feeling quite tired tonight.) 31 January 2007 I'm a bit tickled that Gallaudet University has asked me to give a presentation about my experiences as a gay man in the fall of 1984; my alma mater has definitely changed for the better in this regard. They wouldn't have dared to promote an event like this back then. The title of my little event? *Ahem.* "Raymond Luczak: A Different Time, A Different Person." When? Friday February 9th from 12 noon to one. My events page has more details. Can't wait to visit New York and see my favorite dog in the whole world: ELSA!!! (I'll post pictures of her when I return.) 29 January 2007 Just learned that my interview with SHAPE was posted yesterday. Check it out! I also have some disappointing news: My stash of Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader is nearly gone. It is no longer available for sale, at least not from me. You might be able to find an used copy elsewhere online. Sorry! Thus my search for a publisher for Eyes of Desire 2 continues. 26 January 2007 Another reading come and gone! My reading at the Intermedia Arts Center last Wednesday went well, and I got to meet a few new faces as well as greet some friends. Today I went over to downtown St. Paul to see John Lee Clark who had wanted to treat me to a congratulatory lunch in honor of my QueerLit 2006 Contest win. (Scroll down to my entry for 1 January 2007 to see what the heck I'm talking about.) It was so great to catch up with him. These days I'm reading up on CSS design with an eye toward revamping my web site big time. I feel that my web site has gotten a tad wieldy, which has become harder to maintain quickly, so I'm looking for better design solutions. On a separate topic: This is kinda gruesome, but if you are keen on learning the expected "average" day of your death, check out this site. According to them, I am supposed to die on February 5, 2045. Yikes! I have less than 30 years left to make a difference. 23 January 2007 Pah! The revamped MNRAD web site is up. Those who've seen its previous incarnation will agree that this new version is not such an eyesore. Aside from rehearsing for my reading tomorrow night (you are coming, right?), I've been savoring the first few episodes of Moonlighting's fourth season. So far it's a tender elegy to a passionate affair, so if you've never seen the first two seasons of the show, you might find it a trifling boring. But for those who cared about Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis), it's a waltz nearly gone wrong and just as compelling. Check out this unofficial site sometime. 22 January 2007 Another busy weekend gone. Last Saturday about 20 people showed up for the MNRAD general meeting, and I'm happy to report that MNRAD has now a new logo, which will be posted on its new web site. Yesterday I worked on its web site revamp, which was badly needed. After a few more tweaks, I will ask my team to give feedback on it before it goes "live." All this web site work has made me realize how badly I need to learn CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to make my site redesign much easier and less time-consuming. (Yes, my own web site is due for a major revamp.) Lou and I watched three films this past weekend: Superman Returns (okay), Fight Club (I'd seen it a few times before but he'd never seen it before), and Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink), a sweet film about a boy who truly believes that he is a girl. I'd seen that one once before, and more than a decade later, it has held up very well, particularly when the transgenderist experience while growing up is becoming better understood. 19 January 2007 The informal MNRAD social gathering at Vera's Cafe last night was great--approximately 13 people showed up! I am confident that over a period of time, more and more people will "hear" about these monthly get-togethers and join right in this revived tradition! Prompted by yet another opportunity to get more exposure for my work, I took a gander at my bio and realized that it needed some tweaking and updating. (There! It looks so much nicer now.) I've also changed my bio picture. Check it all out! Aside from my first MNRAD general meeting as president tomorrow (you are more than welcome to join us tomorrow from 1 to 3 pm--see my Events page for directions), I have nothing concrete planned for this weekend. I know that I will want to start watching the fourth season of Moonlighting, some of which I'd never seen, but after having seen its first three seasons straight through on DVD over the past 18 months, I would consider it to be the best television show of the 1980s. (I'd missed some of the original airings when I was in college at the same time.) 17 January 2007 More SIGNews work today. Because I will be going to New York and Washington, DC early next month, I have to do some work in advance. Otherwise I am devouring Joe Miller's Cross-X, an engrossing account of a group of African-American kids in Kansas City's worst high school who dare to take on a bunch of white kids in the art of debating. (The title refers to "cross-examination," part of the debaters' jargon.) Because my copy is from the Central Library, I have to finish it before February 2nd. It's so compelling that I know I will be able to swallow it all before I leave. Before I forget, please join me and all of us at MNRAD at Vera's tomorrow night (that's Thursday night the 18th from 6 pm to 8 pm) for a fun-filled coffee social and help support a local GLBT business! See my Events calendar for more information.) 15 January 2007 My Minnesota Literature reading at Macawber's Bookstore yesterday went very well, which pleased me to no end. Amy Amundsen voiced my signing, and she did a *fantastic* job. The editor of Minnesota Literature has asked to publish my essay, "Hearing Me, Hearing You," which had won a honorable mention, in a future issue of their monthly newsletter. I said, "Sure." Now I have to start rehearsing for my next reading on January 24th. Oy vey! (Please do check my Events and Appearances page, which I've now updated with a brand-new picture, from time to time. Thanks!) 12 January 2007 Today I went down to the Central Library to find books to help me learn the program InDesign, and I was disappointed to see that nearly all were checked out. Still, I enjoyed my time at the still-spanking-new Central Library, which made me very glad that I have a Minneapolis Public Library card! When I returned, I found an email from a local theater informing me that my proposed project was rejected. Pooey! But I am not going to give up. If anything, it's given me more time to work on the forthcoming Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader. (Believe it or not, I am now waiting for a very serious publisher to get back to me as to whether his company can afford to bring out my anthology.) Tonight Lou and I will go see William Gibson's play The Miracle Worker at The Torch Theater. It should be worthwhile to revisit the show that they'd done so well last year. And yes, I'm already rehearsing my little essay "Hearing Me, Hearing You," which won an Honorable Mention, as part of the Minnesota Literature reading on Sunday. (Check out my Events calendar for more information!) 10 January 2007 A friend sent me this link featuring one heckuva dog. Check it out and hold your jaw up while you watch. Today is laundry day while I start another piece for SIGNews. More research! 9 January 2007 While I worked on preparing for my readings this Sunday (and again on the 24th), I was literally on the edge of my desk chair watching the live transcriptions of Steve Jobs's keynote earlier today at MacWorld Expo when he began talking about the iPhone. I was not terribly impressed with Apple TV, which had been previously announced as "iTV," mainly because it's not clear whether closed-captions could appear through Apple TV and more importantly, movies and TV programs sold through the iTunes Store are not closed-captioned or subtitled. That's why I haven't downloaded any of their movies. But more importantly, the iPhone looks truly incredible (the superlatives for the first iPod seem quite pale compared to the accolades surrounding the iPhone) and promises to blow every single smartphone out of the water and transform an entire industry, especially when Apple has invested over 200 patents into the iPhone and made it very clear that it will fight to protect these patents. Very strong words of warning, indeed. Nevertheless, the iPhone given its incredible flexibility promises to be my next Internet communicator of choice once it ships in June. 8 January 2007 (2:39 p.m.) Pah! I've posted my brand-new links page after wanting to do that for years. (It will be updated again soon.) In the meantime, go enjoy your browsin' over thar, y'all hear? 8 January 2007 (11:17 a.m.) I know, I know--I'd posted my previous blog entry just before I went off to bed, but I got some news for those of you who'd asked about my Teegarden book, which comes out in March 2007 (already that soon?). Please check it all out, including its book cover! Incidentally, I've been slowly collating some of my favorite links with some commentary for a brand-new page, which I hope to post later this week. Now I have to go put away all those holiday ornaments . . . . 8 January 2007 (12:08 a.m.) Last Saturday Lou took about 700 pictures of moi with an eye towards revamping this web site along with a few needed author and publicity shots. He demonstrated yet again how wonderful the program Aperture is in terms of photo management and retouching compared to iPhoto. It's my hope that Apple will bundle that program with Final Cut Studio, which is what I use to edit my work for Web and DVD, so that when I finally upgrade to an Intel Mac, I can upgrade to the Universal Binary version of the suite and own a copy of Aperture. But anyway, the picture below best describes how I'd felt (oh man, did we shoot that many?!?) after it was all over: |
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But seriously, Lou has turned up some fine pictures. You'll be seeing his work soon! 7 January 2007 Before I start working on yet another piece for SIGNews which is due tomorrow, I just wanted to share with you part of the press release that came from Suspect Thoughts Press that explains how the Project: QueerLit Contest worked: "Authors may not be previously published or contracted to be published for a novel in any form. Previously published chapbooks, nonfiction, shorter fiction and collections of short fiction, and other work published in multi-author collections, magazines, etc. does not disqualify them. A novel with queer or bent content refers to a novel of any genre or blending of genres with LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer), or with alternative themes, situations, voice, or characters. The author (and the novel) does not have to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersexed to be considered. Queer in this context can also mean a bent or outsider worldview. All submissions (the first 20 pages of the manuscript) are 'blindly' reviewed (without knowledge of author's name or synopsis) and rated (on originality, storyline, voice, and, characterization) by members of the Project: QueerLit Advisory and Review Committee, and another applicant. From this judging, the top-rated group of twenty-five Semi-Finalists and six Finalists are selected and awarded. The six top-rated Project: QueerLit Contest Finalists then have their full manuscript blindly reviewed (again on originality, storyline, voice, and, characterization) by the Project: QueerLit Advisory and Review Committee to choose the Contest Winner(s). More information on the Project: QueerLit contest, the Winners, Finalists, and Semi-Finalists for both the 2004 and 2006 contests, and details about Project: QueerLit 2008 is available through the website." I guess you could say that I'm still trying to get used to the idea that my little tome will be published. I will keep you posted of its progress as it begins a whole new journey from my computer to bookshelves everywhere. 4 January 2007 Finally heard back from Suspect Thoughts Press a few minutes ago. My novel Men with Their Hands is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2008. (Yayyy!!!) I am now tightening a brand-new submission for a poetry chapbook competition; even though its postmark deadline is February 15th, I want to get it out of my way and forget about it. Yes, "forget about it." As most writers will tell you, rejection is the name of the game. We each deal with it differently in our own ways, but how do I cope with rejection? It's a bit perverse how I do it, but whenever I send out my work, which I've always made sure that I have truly done my best with it, I expect to get rejected. Sure, I make a note of where and when I've submitted the work, but I do make a point of forgetting about it and moving on to the next thing. You see, if I forget about it, it makes any acceptance that pops up in email and post office box that much more of a sweeter surprise. If I get rejected, it's no big deal. I resubmit it elsewhere and forget about it all over again. As they so often say in Hollywood, "Next!" No wonder that the QueerLit 2006 win was such an awesome surprise. 2 January 2007 After the big excitement over Men with Their Hands yesterday, I'm finally starting to come down from Cloud 9. While I await clarification of details regarding its publication, I am already moving forward with publicizing my January 24th reading at the Intermedia Arts Center near my home. (For more information about the event, please click here.) When I'm not busy working or writing, I continue to consume Knut Hamsen's masterful novel Hunger, which was originally published in 1890. It's surprisingly modern and downright compelling. 1 January 2007 As this is a brand-new year with a lot of promise, I've decided it was time to do away with my old blog page (it's archived here) and start a fresh new page. One of my many New Year's Resolutions is to be more up-to-date with this blog more often, particularly when I have so many irons in the fire. Speaking of such an iron in the fire, one just came up stoking hot an hour ago today: My deaf gay novel Men with Their Hands just won FIRST PLACE in the Project: QueerLit 2006 Contest. I had known since last fall that my book had been shortlisted as one of the six finalists, but I hadn't dared tell more than a few precious souls for fear of jinxing my chances. The book has had a turbulent history, starting back in 1987 with an ambitious first draft that was never finished, and its original title was A Smalltown Boy. It went through a few title changes, a few agents, and way too many rejections, even from the smaller GLBT presses. The fact that the novel scored a first-place grant from the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation for Full-Length Fiction back in 2004 didn't seem to matter to some editors, even though I knew it was a huge honor. But still, it was a major shock to read the announcement from my future publisher, Suspect Thoughts Press. After sharing the wonderful news with some friends, I finally calmed down to write back to my new publisher with these words: "When I read that I'd won the competition, I whooped out of joy and cried out of sadness. Joy, because I'd begun this novel back in 1987, and sadness, because I'd written it specifically for my friend Jack Fennell, who once despaired to me on what he thought would be his deathbed from AIDS (he would die six months later), 'If I go, who's left to tell our deaf gay stories?' He inspired me to find a way to encapsulate some of the stories he'd shared from those who'd died just before him, so I am incredibly honored by this award. Jack would've been so beside himself." This is one hell of a way to begin a new year, especially with a project that started when I was a wee junior at Gallaudet University twenty years before. I feel I am finally able to come full circle. I am just so on Cloud 9 right now! Seriously, may you and yours have a most Happy New Year! Thanks again for your continued friendship and support. Hugs, Raymond
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