Diana Gabaldon (born January 11, 1952)

Diana J. Gabaldon (born January 11, 1952) is an American author, known for the Outlander series of novels. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantasy.

Gabaldon was born on January 11, 1952, in Arizona, of Mexican and English ancestry. Her father, Tony Gabaldon (1931–1998) was an Arizona state senator from Flagstaff.

Gabaldon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Northern Arizona University, 1970–1973, a Master of Science in Marine biology from the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1973–1975, and a PhD in Behavioral ecology from Northern Arizona University, 1975–1978. Gabaldon received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) degree from Northern Arizona University in 2007.

As a full-time assistant professor in the Center for Environmental Studies at Arizona State University in the 1980s, Gabaldon did research, was a scientific computing and database expert, and taught university classes in anatomy and other subjects. She was the founding editor of Science Software Quarterly. During the mid-1980s, Gabaldon wrote software reviews and technical articles for computer publications, as well as popular-science articles and comic books for Disney.

In 1988, Gabaldon decided to write a novel for "practice, just to learn how" and with no intention to show it to anyone. As a research professor, she decided that a historical novel would be easiest to research and write, but she had no background in history and initially no particular time period in mind.

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

Further Readings:

Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon
Series: Lord John Grey
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Dell; Reprint edition (October 28, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440241480
ISBN-13: 978-0440241485
Amazon: Lord John and the Private Matter (Lord John Grey)
Amazon Kindle: Lord John and the Private Matter (Lord John Grey)

The year is 1757. On a clear morning in mid-June, Lord John Grey emerges from London’s Beefsteak Club, his mind in turmoil. A nobleman and a high-ranking officer in His Majesty’s army, Grey has just witnessed something shocking. But his efforts to avoid a scandal that might destroy his family are interrupted by something still more urgent: The Crown appoints him to investigate the brutal murder of a comrade-in-arms who may have been a traitor. Obliged to pursue two inquiries at once, Major Grey finds himself ensnared in a web of treachery and betrayal that touches every stratum of English society—and threatens all he holds dear. From the bawdy houses of London’s night world to the stately drawing rooms of the nobility, Lord John pursues the elusive trails of a vanishing footman and a woman in green velvet, who may hold the key to everything—or nothing.

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

Floyd Sklaver & Marc Acito

Marc Acito (born January 11, 1966 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is a United States novelist, humorist, and screenwriter. His comic novel How I Paid for College won the Oregon Book Awards' 2005 Ken Kesey Award for Best Novel, was voted a 2005 "Teens Top Ten for favorite young adult book" of the American Library Association. Acito is openly gay and lives with his partner since before 1988, Floyd Sklaver. They met in New York City years ago, when Floyd was running a theatrical production company that produced Broadway shows. They hit it off and became life partners.

They both love show biz. Marc eventually became a professional opera singer. But back then, Floyd was working really, really hard. By 1990, he was getting burned out. Marc wanted to study in Colorado, so Floyd decided to make a complete change. He landed a job in Portland and said goodbye to Broadway. Sklaver is now a docent at the Portland Art Museum.

In April 2008, Acito published Attack of the Theater People, a sequel to How I Paid for College.

He is also the writer of the syndicated humor column "The Gospel According to Marc", which ran for four years in nineteen gay publications. His humorous essays have appeared in many publications including The New York Times (April 3, 2006) and Portland Monthly magazine (January 2007, February 2007); as well as on NPR's All Things Considered (October 4, 2006 and April 16, 2009).

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

Further Readings:

How I Paid for College by Marc Acito
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books (August 2, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767918541
ISBN-13: 978-0767918541
Amazon: How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater
Amazon Kindle: How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater

A deliciously funny romp of a novel about one overly theatrical and sexually confused New Jersey teenager’s larcenous quest for his acting school tuition.

It’s 1983 in Wallingford, New Jersey, a sleepy bedroom community outside of Manhattan. Seventeen-year-old Edward Zanni, a feckless Ferris Bueller–type, is Peter Panning his way through a carefree summer of magic and mischief. The fun comes to a halt, however, when Edward’s father remarries and refuses to pay for Edward to study acting at Juilliard.

Edward’s truly in a bind. He’s ineligible for scholarships because his father earns too much. He’s unable to contact his mother because she’s somewhere in Peru trying to commune with Incan spirits. And, as a sure sign he’s destined for a life in the arts, Edward’s incapable of holding down a job. So he turns to his loyal (but immoral) misfit friends to help him steal the tuition money from his father, all the while practicing for his high school performance of Grease. Disguising themselves as nuns and priests, they merrily scheme their way through embezzlement, money laundering, identity theft, forgery, and blackmail. But, along the way, Edward also learns the value of friendship, hard work, and how you’re not really a man until you can beat up your father—metaphorically, that is.

How I Paid for College is a farcical coming-of-age story that combines the first-person tone of David Sedaris with the byzantine plot twists of Armistead Maupin. It is a novel for anyone who has ever had a dream or a scheme, and it marks the introduction to an original and audacious talent.

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