Last week was Bi Visibility Week, specifically focused on September 23.
I didn’t even know about this until the day itself. Somebody said something on Twitter that brought it to my attention and I was all ‘We have a day? When did that happen?’ Da Shared Brain then proceeded to change all of her FB imagery and I got into a debate about bi-hate at Pride events.
It’s never really been an issue for me before. I’m lucky enough that, outwardly, my romantic relationships are ‘traditional’ in that I’ve ended up with a man and I have two kids (put aside the age difference between us). I rarely have my sexuality questioned because when people see me with Dave, they assume I’m straight and that’s it. As a result being bisexual has never put me in awkward situations or lead me to have difficult conversations. It’s just a part of me. Like my love for cheese.
What I didn’t realise was how long this aspect of me has been part of me.
I ‘came out’ at the end of uni. It got a bit tricky always having to avert my eyes from a pretty woman I couldn’t help staring at and I felt uncomfortable with the general assumption I was going to end up with a man. Before that point I’d heard the word ‘bisexual’ but didn’t really twig what it meant. It just wasn’t important.
But some things did happen and I realised that my staring at other woman wasn’t just about being jealous of their lovely bodies. It was about fancying them and in some cases imagining relationships with them.
Yey me. Figuring it out was a bonus. Telling people who really didn’t care either way was a double bonus. Being told it ‘was just a phase’ only happened once and hasn’t come up again. Score.
But a few weeks back I started looking at some of my older writers. As far back as fifteen years. I would have been in secondary school, about fifteen years old and my stories then features several same sex relationships. They weren’t front and centre, but they were always there, forming background to whatever else was going on. I’d never noticed that before, or realised what it meant. I’m not sure that it means anything, only that I have always been open to the idea of varied sexual preferences and expressions of sexuality. Even as a teenager when I wasn’t exposed to it at all.
How did that happen? Where did it come from? How much has it influenced what I and Raven write at the moment, now that we’re grown ups and able to understand the feels that we couldn’t all those years ago?
I don’t know the answers to any of those questions. But it is very interesting to think about nonetheless.
This last week of September is incomplete but I’m going to write it up as normal anyway and save the month summary for next week. It’s a bit of a cheat (heh) but it does give me a smidge more time to catch up on those things I might have let slip.
Last week
Approach three peer blogs regarding guest posts.
*sings* Two out of three ain’t bad. Yes, two. And there will be more. This is something I’m going to give a lot more attention to. Two is a start, but I’d like to get around seven to do a weeks worth of blog hopping. I think that’s a fair number, right?
Write up small article for submission to Writing Magazine and/or Writer’s Forum about SORB
Done. Can’t send it yet because both want a picture of the cover art, but having it writing is a good start. The next step is easy.
Pick a story to submit somewhere
Done. Twice in fact. One piece of flash and a short story issued into the ether. It would be nice to come back with some positive responses, but we’ll see what happens after the judging.
Spend at least two nights NOT working and combine them with EITHER an early night or a CrossFit/Roller Derby workout*
Early nights. No skating as I’ve not been my best and I’ve also been away, but those early nights are really starting to do me a ton of good. Don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner!
This Week
It’s all about marketing this week. making a plan to let the world know SORB is on the way. Let’s see…
- Approach four more blogs regarding guest posts/interviews.
- Research poster opportunities in local stores/hangouts (library / city centre info desk / my various coffee shops / book stores)
- Check out BBC Radio Leicester for similar speaking opportunities
- Find a networking event to attend in the near future
Get my Goodreads account working and check it at least twice in the week- Outline plan for ‘subscriber zone‘ on this blog and on main website
- Spend at least two nights NOT working and combine them with EITHER an early night or a CrossFit/Roller Derby workout*
Seems like a lot, but I don’t think it is. A lot of this I can get done while out and about on the road with the boys and it shouldn’t take more effort than I normally spend going into these places and sitting down with a coffee. Just means speaking with the management (most of whom I’m on good terms with). As for the rest, it means using my time on the Internet for proper searching, rather than searching interspersed with Twitter chatter 😉
*I’m keeping this ‘non writing’ goal in because it’s a health thing and my health has a direct affect on what I’m able to achieve career wise.
Nice. I don’t like the drop shadow beneath the title (the font is strong enough that the shadow is a shade too much) but the rest of the detail is lovely. Good use of colour, a steam (if a little clichéd image) and a tagline that adds just the right amount of extra detail.
Alana wants to shake up her sex life with a bit of open air sex. Fortunately for her, husband Doug is more than happy to oblige her in this kinky fantasy at a play party arranged by business partner Killian. However, Killian is not content to simply watch. He wants in on the action too but more than that, he wants to control it.
Alana: feisty, smart and not afraid to ask for what she wants. I like that. She was also real. Her moment of panic somewhere in the middle was just perfect in light of the fact that she had just done something so different and intimate. I liked that time was given to explore this reaction.
Fuck me with a pointy stick (actually, don’t, thanks) there was loads. Another one of those stories that starts with a slow burn. But once it got going, by god, I needed to stay close to the shower. Quite glad I was reading this at home rather than out and about.
First of all, thanks 
Thrilled at how this week has gone. Making my to-do list smaller has prevented me freaking out about how much needs to be done and just doing it.
It’s all about the little things. This is the last week of September, so I’ll need to do some sweeping to ensure that all the main goals for the month are met.
Did I think of Kickstarter? Or Go Fund Me? Or any of the dozen others I found?
Spend at least two nights NOT working and combine them with EITHER an early night or a 
For me,t his cover tried to be too many things at once. It needed to be either the scaled background with text OR the cool chick with the blade with the text. Both somewhat detracts from the effect of both and makes them less than they are. And, on an original Kindle, it looks like three images just lined up one on top of the other because it’s in black and white. I had to return to Smashwords just to remind myself that there are elements to this cover I like. The colour choices are especially good. Unfortunately, there’s otherwise too much going on to make this cover as good as it should be.
Princess Najika is a no-nonsense, sassy little madam wrongly accused of murdering her recent husband in cold blood. Rather than killing her, the leaders of the trial (including her father) decide to ship her off to a neighbouring Kingdom to marry the lord (Black Knight) there. A sort of punishment for her and appeasement for him.
A pleasant little read. A good length, I feel, for the story to be told. At times a little slow, at others, chapters would have suffered no ill effects from being stretched to delve deeper into what characters were feeling and to highlight the stakes (and avoid the formulaic issue I described above).
Average across all scores is a good, clean 3 stars.
Writing: A Conversation Without Interruptions 