So this is not one of those hey what is happening with book blog posts. This is one of those state of the world posts, to be succinct it sucks. I am frankly overwhelmed and depressed about the recent upheavals in the united states. I have taken some actions to do what I can. Its not much but I have launched a mini crusade to spotlight as many queer creators as I could. I have done 15 interviews in 15 days. You can check them out at
https://paperphoenixink.com/category/interviews/
The next thing I thought about doing was post a long diatribe about what is happening directed towards my friends and family to let them know how it was impacting not just people all over the country but also their own family members to hope that maybe that would change their opinions. I mean in the first three days the entire transgender community had a target painted on its back. Then last week we got ADHD, Autism and anti-depression medication all being listed as “Dire Threats to the American way of life”. Surely the people around me did not vote for that.
But I have come to a conclusion that the more I try to get people to understand my community the more they tune it out. I have had people tell me to my face that they do not believe in LGBTQ+ rights but it’s okay they still like me even if I am transgender. I have been met with deafening silence when I made an heartfelt request that could they just please watch a Will Ferrell movie (https://www.netflix.com/title/81760197) . I have been told hey I could use some book recommendations but can you just layoff all the gay stuff. None of these are earth shattering but they all communicate one thing. We don’t want to think about you or your issues. So maybe I will just give up. I’ll go to the reunions, maybe see a marvel movie with them once in a while but I am tired of feeling like I am drowning and my family just wants to vote for somebody who is pushing my head under water because they think prices will go down and the rest of things he is doing won’t impact them.
Anyway sorry for the melancholy. There will hopefully be news about the publication of Night Menagerie soon. I’m also going to try and share some stuff from back in the Zine days.
Stay safe and warm everyone.