On a safari with Shelfari!

A friend of mine alerted me to this social networking site that revolves around books. I thought it quite lovely, and what's more, they do make it easy to add your shelf of favorites (and a wishlist) to your blog. (No, they're not paying me to shill their web site.) I also think it's great to give a sense of what I enjoy reading so that if there are others who enjoy more or less the same things, it'd be great to connect and make new friends that way.

Anyway, I'll try to update my favorites with short comments about why I liked some of these books from time to time. My list is on the lower right-hand column of this blog.

My sister Mary

Today I went over to the hospital where my sister Mary, who's one year older than I am and who's hearing, held a lovely party to celebrate the fact that it was her last chemotherapy treatment. (She had breast cancer surgery earlier this year, and her tumor was successfully removed. The chemo is basically preventative medicine.)

It was so nice to see her surrounded by her loved ones and friends. I stayed with them for a few hours, so as far as parties in hospitals go, it was a great one. (Yes, I had a bon-bon or two.)

Sleep well, Mary! I'm very happy to know that you'll be around for many years to come! Love ya.

Marginalia

Just a quick note about the fact that my poem "Creeping to the Shortest Day of the Year" just got accepted for publication in MARGINALIA, an annual literary review published and edited by the English Department of Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. I wrote this poem a few years ago on the train back from Washington, DC to New York when I owned a laptop. This is particularly sweet because all this year I didn't try very hard to submit my poems to various literary journals. I need to try harder and submit my work "out there" more often. Ah, the joys and the drags of being a writer! :-/

The launch party for EYES OF DESIRE 2 . . . announced!

For those of you who haven't "heard" already, the very first book launch party for my newest book has been announced. If you're local to the Twin Cities, please come on over to Blue Moon Coffee Cafe (3822 East Lake Street, Minneapolis 55406) on Friday, November 2nd from 7 to 9 p.m. If you want to look at just who the eleven Minnesotans are in the book, please look no further than http://www.handtype.com/media/EOD2BookLaunch.pdf!

I want to thank Lou for taking pictures of my new book from a variety of angles. The one above is probably my favorite shot of all.

Hope to see ya all at the party! Can't wait to meet and greet everyone.

My new book is in . . . my hands!

Hello everyone--

Very few people have seen this blog but I did want to let out a tiny peep of joy that my seventh book, EYES OF DESIRE 2: A DEAF GLBT READER, is finally out. I'm just shocked by how good it really looks. I guess I had low expectations or something, but wow! I'm just very happy about the fact that my three-year journey is actually over.

You would think that I can finally go to bed and rest. (Hah! I'm giving a short presentation in White Bear Lake tomorrow evening.)

And of course, I'm now waiting for a shipment of padded bubble envelopes so I can ship those lovely babies to their new parents who can't wait to read all about the Deaf GLBT community from all over the world! (Sorry about that, but we're all just gonna have to wait.)

Hugs,

Raymond

I've been YouTubed!

Check it all out ....



Thanks to Ocean's insistence (and enthusiasm for the book), I've had my first YouTube uploading experience. But more than that, I hope you will see what she has to say about my new book at http://deafpagan.com/2007/10/07/eyes-of-desire-2-the-video/

Who knew how wonderful some Deaf pagans can be? ;-) Thanks again, Ocean!