Fanny Blood & Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. (P: ©John Opie (1761-1807)/NPG 1237. Mary Wollstonecraft, ca. 1797 (©4))

Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationships, received more attention than her writing. After two ill-fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay (by whom she had a daughter, Fanny Imlay), Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin, one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement. Wollstonecraft died at the age of thirty-eight, ten days after giving birth to her second daughter, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts. Her daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, would become an accomplished writer herself.

After Wollstonecraft's death, her widower published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for almost a century. However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's advocacy of women's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important. Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and work as important influences.

( Read more... )

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

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 Pierson & Monica Coleman

Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American vocalist, lyricist, and one of the lead singers and founding members of The B-52's. A multi-instrumentalists, she played guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the B-52s, she has performed alongside Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson, and Keith Strickland. She is the owner of Kate's Lazy Desert in Landers, California and Kate's Lazy Meadow in Mount Tremper, New York, a rustic modern lodge in New York's Catskill Mountains. She operates the businesses with her partner, Monica Coleman. Pierson and Coleman have been together since 2003. (P: Kate Pierson in 2009)

In February 2015, Pierson released her first solo album, Guitars and Microphones, featuring material co-written by Sia Furler.

Pierson was born in Weehawken, New Jersey and raised in Rutherford.


Moet & Chandon Toasts The 139th Kentucky Derby - Day 2. In This Photo: Monica Coleman, Kate Pierson
Kate Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American vocalist, lyricist, and one of the lead singers and founding members of The B-52's. A multi-instrumentalists, she played guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. She is the owner of Kate's Lazy Desert in Landers, California and Kate's Lazy Meadow in Mount Tremper, New York, a rustic modern lodge in New York's Catskill Mountains. She operates the businesses with her partner, Monica Coleman. Pierson and Coleman have been together since 2003.

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

( Further Readings )

Ciaran Dwynvil: a guest post

Matchmaking

Have you ever been set up on a blind date? If you were and enjoyed yourself, chances are the matchmaker knew you and your date really well. Finding a new author to your liking is a bit like a blind date. You pick up their book and hold high hopes for an evening spent in a delightful company. Sometimes the hopes come true. Sometimes they don't.
To avoid the latter in our case, let's see without more ado, if I can entertain you with stories to your taste. If we find out that we're a good match, I have two gifts for you, but all in the right time. Let's do the reader-writer matchmaking part first.
I'm your kind of a writer:
• if you love gay historical fantasy and/ or gay romantic suspense
• if you know that in the name of love, a man can build or destroy, nurture or hurt, live or die, and sometimes all of that in the course of one story.
• if you know that one man can be both cruel and gentle, brutal and kind, fierce and fearful, open and restrained, good and evil, strong and vulnerable, as what face of his he lets you experience depends on his feelings for you and on his circumstances.
• if you love reading about immortals who have passions and fears just like mortal men.
• if you don't avoid violent scenes in your reading.
• if you love stories full of intense sensual charge and vividly portrayed sizzling passion that goes beyond the boundaries of vanilla lovemaking.
• if you like reading about dominance and submission, and understand that in a historical fantasy setting modern BDSM as we know it today doesn't exist.
• if you believe that love is stronger than death but rarely walks straight paths. In my stories, the men who are together in the beginning of the tale, may not be together at its end. They may find their true love much later in the course of a story than in a classical romance.
• if you believe in the power of forgiveness in true love, and don't condemn a man for flaws he has or mistakes he has made.
Sounds good to you? If it does, I'm glad you've read your way through to this point. Let's spend some delightful evenings together. We can start right away with Throne for the Idol, the Compulsion Reads-endorsed prequel to my gay historical fantasy series Guardian Demon. You'll get it from me as a welcome gift if you sign up for my Circle of VIP Readers at: www.ciarandwynvil.com

Here's the book blurb:
Throne for the Idol (Guardian Demon) by Ciaran Dwynvil
Publisher: Ciaran Dwynvil (July 9, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Throne for the Idol (Guardian Demon)

Let the tale carry you to the Lindisfarena Monastery to witness a dark romance between Brother Rikard and High Demon Semiazas, the First of the Fallen.
A chaste virgin and a devoted servant to Maker, Rikard leads a quiet life in the monastery until the days of his sexual awakening. Haunted by desires he can’t name yet, he finds a release for his suppressed longing in music.
The low, dark, tortured tones coaxed forth by his fingers fill Semiazas’ ears with an urgent, irresistible, red call. In different red than blood this call pulses, and Semiazas can’t resist the strange allure of a misalliance with a mortal man.
A single kiss, so unlike anything either of them has expected, sets events in turbulent motion. Rikard’s ultimate surrender to his dark idol is just a question of time. But there is only one punishment his order has for those who leave Maker’s path. Death.
Will Semiazas save Rikard? Find out in this story that interweaves dark fantasy and romance that will make your heart beat faster.

But wait, I've promised you two gifts. So, here's the second one: everyone in my Circle of VIP Readers is going to get a free copy of Unalloyed Love, Part 1. This book is going to be released just a couple of days from now: on the 1st of May. That's the date when I'll e-mail my VIP Readers a free download code. If you have an itch for reading a nearly 110-thousand-word-long, super-sexy gay romantic suspense about love, death, and redemption for free, make sure you sign up for my Circle of VIP Readers here: http://www.ciarandwynvil.com/

The book blurb:

In a world where Light and Darkness gave birth to the Skies and the Void, to the Earth and the Waters; in a world where the first betrayal tore them apart and robbed them of their home, Darkness has been waging war on their blood children for four thousand years. When High Demon Belial embarks on the quest to understand an unalloyed power that may give his liege lord Darkness the final victory, Archangel Endingale will do anything to destroy the unknowing mortals who hold the first key to Belial’s enlightenment and true understanding of the powers of Love.
Master Viktor, a tortured murderer who has escaped justice, has built a new, respectable life for himself as the Reformer in a Reformatory for Young Gentlemen.
Wild and stubborn Amedee, Baron Drakeson’s grandson, acquiesces to a stay in Master Viktor’s institution only with reluctance, but his latest betrothal gone awry in a most unfortunate manner doesn’t give him any other option.
Haunted by concealed guilt, Master Viktor recognizes signs of torments that Amedee holds locked deep inside, and sets out to cleanse his new ward’s invisible festered wound.
As he takes control over his ward’s body and carnal urges, Amedee’s heart is touched too. When shy affection is born, Master Viktor at last cuts open the source of Amedee’s pain and guilt.
But can their feelings blossom into true love? Will they and their bond survive the destruction unleashed by Archangel Endingale?

( And an excerpt )

***

I think I've usurped Elisa's blog for long enough at this point. I'll be delighted if you take me up on my offer, but now it's time for me to handover this place back to her. After all, a guest is only welcome if he doesn't stay too long.
Thank you, Elisa, for having me and my books over today. It's been a pleasure for me to come for a visit.

2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: The Best Corpse for the Job by Charlie Cochrane

The Best Corpse for the Job by Charlie Cochrane
Gay Mystery / Thriller
Paperback: 262 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (July 22, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626491925
ISBN-13: 978-1626491922
Amazon: The Best Corpse for the Job
Amazon Kindle: The Best Corpse for the Job

Tea and sympathy have never been so deadly.

Schoolteacher Adam Matthews just wants to help select a new headteacher and go home. The governors at Lindenshaw St Crispin’s have already failed miserably at finding the right candidate, so it’s make or break this second time round. But when one of the applicants is found strangled in the school, what should have been a straightforward decision turns tempestuous as a flash flood in their small English village.

Inspector Robin Bright isn’t thrilled to be back at St. Crispin’s. Memories of his days there are foul enough without tossing in a complicated murder case. And that handsome young teacher has him reminding himself not to fraternize with a witness. But it’s not long before Robin is relying on Adam for more than just his testimony.

As secrets amongst the governors emerge and a second person turns up dead, Robin needs to focus less on Adam and more on his investigation. But there are too many suspects, too many lies, and too many loose ends. Before they know it, Robin and Adam are fighting for their lives and their hearts.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html