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2014 GRL Blog Tour: E.J. Russell
Jul. 1st, 2014 07:39 am
Starting from March up until September I will be part of the 2014 GRL Blog Tour as featured blogger. I will host authors attending the GayRomLit Retreat in Chicago (October 16-19, 2014: gayromlit.com/content/2014-grl-featured-bI’m inspired by possibilities. Potential. The promise of a glorious dawn shimmering at the edge of an ominous event horizon. From my perspective, nothing embodies that hope as perfectly children – any children, although I can only speak with authority about my own.
(Despite appearances, we did not raise a pack of vampire children. These pictures – taken three years apart – illustrate the fascination our cherry tree holds for two-year-olds.)After my daughter was born, my previously dormant maternal instincts kicked in with a vengeance. When my twin sons were born three years later, these escalated to a near-fanatical avoidance of anything that even suggested a threat to them. (I haven’t been able to read a “children in peril” story since 1989.)
As my kids grew up, the things they inspired me to avoid turned into things they inspired me to seek out. For instance, we maintained residences in two different school districts for four years so my sons, who are both dancers, could attend the only arts magnet school in the area. As a result, at his senior capstone presentation, one of my sons was able to announce to an auditorium full of students, parents, and teachers:
“When I was a sophomore, I realized I was gay. That’s right. A ho-mo-sex-u-al. And you know what? Nobody cares. You could dress up like a rainbow for a week – in fact, I think Bette did that once – and nobody cares.”Sadly, if he had attended the high school in our more rural home district, I doubt his experience would have been the same. But the fact that he could say that with perfect ease, that more kids, gay or straight, can navigate the frightening waters of adolescence with less worry about the censure of their peers or the judgment of disapproving adults, is truly an inspiration.
As more states allow marriage equality, my hopes for a true HEA for all three of my kids – my two gay sons and my straight daughter – increase. In a recent conversation with my elder (by eight minutes) son, I told him that I’d purposely avoided contact with my fundamentalist relatives so that he and his brother wouldn’t be subjected to their anti-gay attitudes. His response?“Bring it. I’m ready for them.”
I’m so inspired by his confidence, his comfort in his own skin.
Makes me want to dress up like a rainbow for a week.
About E.J. Russell: E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer and business intelligence consultant. She returned to her childhood love of writing fiction after her twin sons learned to drive and she no longer spent half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class.
Her daily commute now consists of walking from one side of her office to the other — from left-brain day job to right-brain author cave — where she’s perfected the fine art of typing with a cat draped across her wrists and a dog attached to her hip. Her stories include gay and straight characters because her life includes gay and straight characters (as does everyone’s).
Website: http://www.ejrussell.com
Twitter: @EJ_Russell http://twitter.com/ej_russell
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/e.russell.author
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ej_russell
Email: ejr (at) ejrussell.com
E.J. Russell is offering a copy of Northern Light to one commenter on this blog. You can comment on LJ or DW if you have an account (I will send a PM to the winner), if you don't have an account, please leave a comment on DW with a contact email.
Northern Light (Entangled Ever After) by E. J. Russell Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: 95 pages
Release Date: September 2013
Publisher: Entangled: Ever After (September 30, 2013)
ISBN: 978-1-62266-284-5
Amazon Kindle: Northern Light (Entangled Ever After)
Haunted by more than the past…
Nothing gives art fraud investigator Luke Morganstern a bigger rush than busting forgers, the low-life criminals who dare victimize true artists. But when his latest job sends him to a remote cabin in the Oregon Coast Range, he’s stunned to discover the alleged forger is his former lover, Stefan Cobbe, the most gifted painter Luke has ever known.
Stefan, left homeless and destitute after the death of his wealthy partner, doesn’t exactly deny the forgery—he claims he doesn’t remember, an excuse Luke can’t accept.
But Luke’s elderly client suggests Stefan may be telling the truth and presents another possibility—a dark presence in the woods, a supernatural fury simmering for decades. Luke must face down his fear of the uncanny—and admit his feelings for Stefan—if either of them is to survive.
( Excerpt )
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