Astrid Amara (born November 9, 1972)

Astrid Amara lives in Bellingham, Washington. She spends her days working as a civil servant, her nights sleeping, and the time in between either writing, riding horses, hiking around with her dogs, or staring at the wall. (Picture: Astrid Amara (r) with The Archer's Heart's cover artist at YaoiCon 2008)

Hell Cop, co-authored with Nicole Kimberling & Ginn Hale, won a 2009 Rainbow Award as Best LGBT Futuristic.

Source: http://www.astridamara.com/about/

Further Readings:

The Archer's Heart by Astrid Amara
Paperback: 656 pages
Publisher: Blind Eye Books; First edition (September 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 097898613X
ISBN-13: 978-0978986131
Amazon: The Archer's Heart

In the ancient kingdom of Marhavad, noblemen dominate the lower castes, wielding mystic weapons, known as shartas, against any who oppose them. For generations the rule of Marhavad's kings has been absolute. But now the line of succession is divided, and whispers of revolution are heard in even the royal palace. Keshan Adaru, an outspoken man of unearthly charms, welcomes these changes. All his life he has foreseen an uprising that will shatter the castes and end the tyranny of the old laws. His visions have driven him but now, at the brink of their fulfillment, he finds himself obsessed with Prince Jandu Paran-- a man whose entire family must be destroyed if the kingdom is to be freed. Tarek Amia would gladly see Jandu Paran brought low. Born the son of a charioteer, Tarek has no love for the royal princes who have slighted and insulted him all his life. Only Keshan's philosophies have elevated him from the brutal ranks of common soldiers. Tarek owes Keshan his devotion, but he is a pragmatic man and when he discovers Keshan's reckless affair he realizes that Keshan may have to be sacrificed for the sake of his own revolution. Young Prince Jandu Paran has never concerned himself with court intrigue. His life has been dedicated to the lordly art of archery and mastering the immense powers of the shartas. Handsome and arrogant, he is sure that no man can surpass him and yet Keshan Adaru's mere touch brings Jandu to his knees. But his desire for Keshan is more than forbidden; it threatens to destroy Jandu's pride, position and family. In the midst of this turmoil, an unspeakable event forces Jandu to redefine the meaning of honor and loyalty. And now, as armies arise to war, each man must decide where his allegiance lies and what he will sacrifice in his heart and on the battlefield.

Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling and Ginn Hale
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (October 14, 2008)
Amazon Kindle: Hell Cop

Welcome to Parmas City, where demons and sorcerers live among ordinary people and a few tough Hell Cops protect them all. Jay, Argent, and Ben are three of them, and they've just met the men of their hottest dreams.

Next of Kin by Astrid Amara
Jay Yervant is a Hell Cop so powerful that his bare skin incinerates anyone he contacts. Isolated, he is tortured by desire, until he meets Brian, a sensual young man who touches him with impunity. But Jay's burgeoning hope is threatened when a malevolent sorcerer unleashes a host of demonic assassins against Brian. Keeping his lover may cost Jay his life.

Red Sands by Nicole Kimberling
Anthropologist Michael Gold's got problems. His apartment's been ransacked, his dad's missing, and he's been framed for murder. As a half-demon he expects trouble from the city's Hell Cops. Instead, he gets Argent, a man with intimate knowledge of Michael and whom Michael can't penetrate with his psychic powers. So does Argent want to clear him or expose him?

Touching Sparks by Ginn Hale
When photojournalist James Sparks discovers an underworld of sorcery, blood sports and demonic drug traffic, he turns to Detective Ben Moran, a hard-bodied Hell Cop whose touch sends James's pulse racing. But when James uncovers evidence of police corruption he realizes that Moran may be in as much danger as he is.

More Spotlights at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

More Rainbow Awards at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards

Donald Vining & Richmond M. Purinton

Donald Vining (Benton, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1917 – January 24, 1998, New York City) was a gay diarist.

Vining was the only child of Charles Horace Vining, Jr. and Marjorie Crossley Vining. His parents separated when he was young, and he and his mother were poor. He grew up in various towns in eastern Pennsylvania, graduating from high school in Bloomsburg, PA in 1933. He began keeping a daily diary while still a teen-ager. He attended Carnegie Tech briefly in 1934–1935 as a drama major, but could not afford to continue. He was a student at West Chester University in Pennsylvania between 1937 and 1939, where he was active in local theater groups, before to his admission to the Yale School of Drama as a playwrighting major. Before World War II, a number of his plays were produced for the stage and for the WICC Radio "Listeners' Theatre", broadcast on the Yankee Network. His plays were subsequently published in such volumes as Yale Radio Plays and Plays For Players.

He moved to New York City 1942, where he had a variety of non-professional jobs, notably as a clerk at Sloane House, the YMCA on West 34th Street. In the 1950s he served as Drama Editor of What's Cookin' magazine and wrote numerous freelance articles and stories for other varied publications and periodicals. Vining's playwriting ambitions gradually petered out, and he eventually took a full-time position in the Development Office at Teacher's College, Columbia University, spending 30 years there in a job he disliked before taking early retirement, in part so he could start his own publishing company, The Pepys Press, named in honor of one of the most celebrated of all diarists, Samuel Pepys. Vining's small publishing firm, operating out of his condominium apartment at Fifth Avenue at 108th Street, produced five volumes of his acclaimed Gay Diary as well as the anthology, American Diaries of World War II, and other works.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Vining

Donald Vining was a pacifist who admitted his homosexuality to his draft board because his mother needed his support, and he could not afford to be placed in a camp for conscientious objectors. Twenty-four years old when America joined the war, Vining kept a diary in which he recorded affairs with soldiers, sailors, marines, and civilians. Many of these encounters occured at the Sloane House YMCA in Manhattan, where he worked as a desk clerk. In 1942, he wrote, "Just as I put on my robe to leave the shower room, in comes a nice-looking well-built boy. Something destroyed my usual timidity and I walked right up and ran my hands over him. "Do you mind?" I asked, without a quaver in my voice. "No," he said casually, and he went on drying himself. I would have had him come to my room, but he had a double room with a fellow, who came to hunt him up." --The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America by Charles Kaiser

In 1943 the police arrested Donald Vining and several other men sitting on the benches by an entrance to Central Park simply because they were in a cruising area; a judge dismissed the charges, but only after the men had spent a night in jail. --Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 by George Chauncey

Donald Vining's diaries are a fund of useful information. The volume on gay life during World War II is especially strong, offering a fantastic inside look at attitudes and behavior in New York and LA. Vining self-published an abridged version of the diaries during his life and the volumes can be found in many gay libraries. --Christopher Bram

( Donald Vining, 1991, by Robert Giard  )

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Kate Clinton & Urvashi Vaid

Kate Clinton (born November 9, 1947) is an American comedian specializing in political commentary from a gay/lesbian point of view. Clinton has lived in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts with her partner Urvashi Vaid since 1988. Vaid was executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1988–1992 and has been an activist and writer since that time. Clinton's 2006 tour marked her 25th anniversary as a professional stand-up comedian.

Clinton was born in Buffalo, New York. She was raised in a large Catholic family in the state of New York. She attended Le Moyne College, a small Jesuit liberal arts college in Syracuse, New York and received her Master's degree from Colgate University in the Village of Hamilton. Clinton went on to teach high school English for eight years before becoming a comedian.

She began her stand-up career in 1981 using her lesbianism, Catholicism and current politics for her jokes. Clinton is a self-described "fumerist," or feminist humorist.

In addition to comedy appearances and one-woman-shows such as Lady Ha Ha, Climate Change, Correct Me If I'm Right, All Het Up and Kate´s Out Is In, she has written three books, Don't Get Me Started; What the L and I Told You So.

Clinton has 8 CDs including Climate Change and has two DVDs available.

She is a regular columnist for the national monthly magazine The Progressive and has been a past columnist for the national gay news magazine The Advocate. Her blogs can be found on The Huffington Post. She has made numerous appearances on television, and has served as grand marshal of gay pride parades. When the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan began, she was a part-time commentator on CNN.


Urvashi Vaid shares homes in Manhattan and Provincetown, Massachusetts with her partner, comedian Kate Clinton. Kate Clinton and Urvashi Vaid met in 1988 at a War Conference, held in February 1988. A friend who was at the conference had this to say about their meeting: "Because some of us in the quartet had recently been dumped by our girlfriends, we called our foursome The Jilted Speak. We spoke and spoke about a lot and a lot. But Kate and Urvashi spoke in a different language to each other."

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Clinton

Urvashi Vaid (b. 8 October 1958 in New Delhi, India) is an Indian-American LGBT rights activist.

Vaid was born in New Delhi, and moved to the United States at age eight with her family. At age 11, she participated in the anti-Vietnam war movement. At Vassar College, she was active in a variety of political and social causes. She received a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston in 1983, where she founded the Boston Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, a non-partisan political organization that interviews and endorses candidates for political office and advocates for Boston's gay community.

Vaid believes that true liberation of lesbians and gays from injustice will only occur when the larger institutions of society and the family are transformed through lesbians and gays working within mainstream groups for inclusion and change. Her book Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (1995), which won a Stonewall Book Award in 1996, addresses her beliefs about mainstreaming.

Vaid became Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1989. She pushed gay issues into the public eye through coordinated media manipulation and staged numerous protests on such subjects as abortion and the Persian Gulf War. Vaid went on hiatus from the NGLTF between 1992 and 1997; it was during this period that she wrote Virtual Equality. When she resumed work at the NGLTF, she served for an additional three years as the executive director.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urvashi_Vaid

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More Particular Voices at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Particular Voices

More Real Life Romances at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

M.J. O'Shea (born November 9)

M.J. O'Shea has been writing romance since algebra class in sixth grade (when most of her stories starred her and Leonardo DiCaprio). When she's not writing, she loves listening to nearly all types of music, painting, reading great authors, and on those elusive sunny days in the Pacific Northwest, she loves driving on the freeway with her windows rolled down and her stereo on high.

Dark Sun won a 2011 Rainbow Award as Best Gay Sci-fi / Futuristic.

Further Readings:

Dark Sun by M. J. O'Shea
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (July 5, 2011)
Amazon Kindle: Dark Sun

Lynx is the spoiled sheltered son of the Dragon Triad, a crime family that rules over futuristic New Seattle. When he gets separated from his cousins during an adventure in the seediest part of town, he meets the man of his dreams in a bar owned by the Phoenix Triad, his family’s bitter rivals. After a night spent in passion, his mysterious lover disappears and Lynx fears he’ll never find him again.

Orion has a secret. On the surface he’s the perfect son, a society prince, heir to the Phoenix Triad’s corporate throne. But in his other life he’s known as Katana -- thief, hacker, hero who steals from the triads to help the poor citizens of Bottom City. Orion knows the pretty Dragon he met in the bar that night is trouble, but he can’t forget the passion they shared.

So when the opportunity arises, Orion captures him and takes him on an adventure he’ll never forget. Will their love match survive the revelation of their true identities and the heat of their families' feud?

More Rainbow Awards at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards

Rainbow Awards pre-party and 8th anniversary (Day 9)

November 2014 marks the 8th anniversary since I opened my first journal on LJ, and the 6th anniversary of the Rainbow Awards and we will have again a 1 month long big bash party. 119 authors, all of them in the 2014 Rainbow Awards, have donated an ebook and I will use them for a Treasure Hunt. Every day, for all November, I will post 4 excerpts (a random page of the book). No reference to title, or author, or publisher. You have to match it with the book ;-) comment on the blog (do not leave anonymous comments, if you post as anonymous, leave a contact email (comments are screened)), you can comment 1 time for more matchings (you can even try for all 4 books if you like, so 4 chances to win every day). Until the end I will not say which matching is right, so you will have ALL month to try. No limit on how many books you can win, the more you try the better chance you have to win. End of November, among the right matchings, I will draw the winners. So now? let the game start!

If at the end of the treasure hunt there will be still unmatched excerpts the giveaway will go to the one who matched more books.

( The books are: )

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