Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I am getting the impression that at least several of us write.  I thought it would be fun to see how successful we are getting out thoughts published.

Genre matters not!

Chaunte

Hello Chaunte,

I have to agree.  Some of the topics, replies and advice that are posted here at Susan's definitely demonstrates the talent of her writers, and I would be surprised if they didn't have aspirations along those lines, as there are several stories here that would make wonderful reading.

For myself I'm afraid that my writing is limited to my Blog and my journal.  Although I've often thought about writing my own story I wake up and thankfully realize that it was a dream :D

Steph

I only write submissions for court and posts.

As Dorothy Parker said: "I love to have written. I hate to write."

Dennis

Hiya Chaunte!
good poll.... I voted Yes I'm published! but must admit i cheated a little. I write a lot, poetry, short stories, scholarship (medieval st / women's st/ celtic st), a little 'journalism' for socs i'm a member of, and i am a free-lance editor for a few scholarly publications (biology, thru my dad), and keep a journal on and off.
I'm published if the editorial work with my name on it counts, if the fact that my own scholarship is in the process of getting published counts, and if websites like this one count for poetry and such. I send things out on occasion but so far no luck. Thinking of publishing independently... maybe i'll be able to say 'I have my own book for sale" soon :) ... also working  on building a webpage.
cheers
Alex

I said I was published but that isn't on paper.

In the 1970's, a few years before my SRS, I wrote a lengthy response to a radio show on suicide and I told the TS story. The host of the show was so moved by the piece that he took the first part of his next show to read the whole piece verbatum on-air. (I still have it on tape somewhere but find it VERY hard to listen to.) I have never heard a talk-show host come so close to crying on-air - it was powerful! He had a listenership of over 10,000 so a lot of people heard that piece.

I drew a cartoon strip for a local paper for 3 years, so I guess that would count as being "published" to, wouldn't it  ;D

I guess that if you have shared words, and they are out for the public to read (or hear), than I say you are published!

Chaunte

I've written op-eds for a couple of local papers and have had my own bylines. I was also a staff writer for The Vangaurd which is the paper for the University of South Alabama. I have been working on a Scinece fiction novel off and on for a few years, mostly off. It's about 150 hand written pages right now. I need to transpose it but just haven't found the time to work on it for awhile. My wife has a book for sale on our website called Art Gallery Safari: Bagging the Big One. It's a how to for artists on how to get into art galleries. I helped her with some of it. So you could say we co wrote it although the how to is all her. I just helped with some of the verbage.

Cassie

I write poetry sometimes, I used to write more.  All poems I write are written to specific individuals and they are the only ones I want to see each poem. 

My mother got a hold of one and had it published in a magazine, when I found that out, I got very upset and burned all of my work so no one could see them again. 

Edgar Allen Poe is my favorate poet and most of my poems were in his style.

Sarah

Hi Chaunte,

I assume you allow academic scripts to be counted in your poll? Hope so as I'm not creative enough to write poetry and stories like others here. Have tried and once while reading what I wrote I put myself to sleep ::)

Shelley

I write RPGs for another forum on the internet...

Not quite prose or a book, but its in the same family!  :P

I like to write, I have a few stories in which the plot trailed off somewhere, so I got anoyed and they're left alone for a while, except one. ::) I also write some songs... though I only started doing that about 6 months ago, so I'm not exactly great at that yet. I keep a diary every couple of days too.

Though I've never shown any of my writing to anyone... it's for my own entertainment really.

Hi Steven,

Here's a chance to step to the plate in a very safe and non-judgemental arena.

Here you go post one.

Shelley

Ahhh it is now obviuos that you have detected the deviousness behind these forums.

Devious means number 12:  to encourage members to participate >:D

Shelley

I write all the time. I started on several stories, but never finished. I write poetry a lot. ;D

Thro a few up then. It's nice to read the work of others.

Shelley

Shelley,

What kind of writer are you looking for?

Yes, I have published freelance magazine articles, published my own special interest magazine and spent.. umm 14 years in previous lives as a technical writer...

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

It's not a job interview. No need to throw out your resume. The thread was just to find out how many people were writers because a lot of folks are very eloquent on paper here at Susan's. This may intimidate some but they should post just the same  and not worry about it. If you want to show us some of your stuff post in the entertainment section. There are limits to the size but I'm sure you can figure that out.

Cassie

You're right Cassie, my apologies.

Afraid I was working in DUH mode when I posted. I have sleep apnea pretty bad and was on about my third day of an hour of sleep a night. That's usually followed by a 12-16 hour sleep marathon, and then we start over.

I'll try to make sure I'm making sense beore posting when my brain is moving in slow motion.

But you're very correct that there indeed some wonderful writers on this site. Very intelligent and well thought out posts, talented poets, etc.

Dennis

Quote from: Shelley on November 18, 2005, 03:29:23 PM
Hi Steven,

Here's a chance to step to the plate in a very safe and non-judgemental arena.

Here you go post one.

Shelley

I have been thinking about posting the one I'm working on... but it's not done yet. I may post it in future, but all my stories are way personal to me...

Yeah, I'm published.  It's at a place called "Susan's Place."

Seriously, many decades ago I won a Quill and Scroll Award for having the "Best Editorial in a High School Newspaper in the U.S."  Very big deal.  I got a certificate in the mail and everything.  My editorial was about how our school buses were "Unsafe At Any Speed" (Ralph Nader was, at the time, very much in the news as he tried to fight G.M. over the Corvair's safety record).  The main problem our shool had was there were not enough buses.  The brilliant solution was to have three kids sit in seats designed for two kids.  The third kid had to ride uncomfortably, one butt cheek on the seat, the other hanging in mid-air in the bus aisle.  Girls at the school never had to sit that way, of course.  They boarded the bus first and then could save seats for the popular guys.  This lead to Gump-like situations where we non-masculine guys and nerds would end up hanging precariously in the aisle, praying the bus didn't go around corners too quickly.  Luckily, the ride home was only forty minutes.  Looking back, I find it a wonder that all the guys in the school didn't decide right then and there to become female.

These days (stop me if you've heard this one before), I'm working on my great American screenplay.  Also (highly original, I know), I dabble in creating my autobiographical transsexual transition story.  Ooop, wait....knocking at the door.  Probably my literary agent.  Hope it's not Ed McMahon!  What a pest...Aw, Geez!  "Leave me alone, Ed!  No!  I don't want any more of your money!"

Hi Everyone,
I love to read and yes I have been working on something for about a year now. Leah is the only one whom I have shared it with because I'm not sure I can really write something for others to read and them not beable to put it down. That's what I like when I read and I expect that from me. That's the perfectionist in me that want's everything to be perfect. Or I don't usually start if I think it's just medi-oker. That can be a very terrible thing too. I am trying to get over it. That's why chose to write something. It's not something that has to be finished ....like today... like right now.

Smiles,
Peggiann

I used to write music and song lyrics many many years ago.  Got out of it when I saw people that were ten times more talented than I working as cab drivers and waitresses.

If I'm good at writing I think it's because I'm good at reading and have had the example of the world's most talented authors to emulate.  I've thought about writing for publication but I think that the experience would be similar to the one I had with music and songs.  So, I'll leave my miniscule talent for written expression to my posts.

I'm published, if you count my stuff available on FictionPress (http://www.fictionpress.com/~verygnawty).

Most of my stuff is old poetry and excerpts from my dream journal, but I've moved more into prose over the last few years.  I'm taking a small break from writing for a few days to give me more time to learn Tai'Chi, but my next story is slated to be a completely dialogue-less story based on a dream I had long ago.  Whether it works out or not, it should be interesting nonetheless.

I'm published, but just academic papers. Never really tried to write fiction and I do enough writing at work to satisfy any need to write.

Dennis

I write bunches.

I have all kinds of diaries... some in real life, some on the internet.

I've wrote several stories (even some on transsexualism... I once wrote one that I became a girl... hey... I can dream!)... but I've only shown the non private ones, and I've got good scores in class for those I had to do...

but usually I like using music to express myself, better.

Hmm, we'll keep that in mind Tori as we often look for writers here.

Shelley

I have a number of books published . . . (the paper kind with isbn numbers and LCC #'s) I've found that being able to create desirable content is more important than sheer writing talent. (Thank God for copy editors! :) )

Gods gift to writers I say.

Shelley

Hey! I just remembered I have actually written a book - its a handbook on rowing, is posted on the internet its still floating about, & I just looked it up :)
Only problem is that its a triumph of plagarism over creatitivity - so does that still count?
Am a sort of claytons writer I guess (thou I did write two short stories, about a Saxon Crusader, another about a Nazi Stormtrooper - never published, a muse just bit me & I sat down & wrote them. 
Wish I had the discipline & talent to be a writer - or better yet, a poet :(

Sounds like you have some ability. I agree poetry is something that is difficult. To get your meaning accross in so few words really takes some skill.

Shelley

I have two finished novels in my basement, one a 600+ page Stephan King style horror mystery. Two of my many attempts to avoid my gender issues  :eusa_wall:

Of course both are written from a female POV and the women in them strong and self-sufficient.  Unfortunately, I don't think either one of them is any good and have no plans to publish.

Dawn

Well done, are you sure often our harshest critic is ourselves.

Shelley

Dawn,

It might interest you to know that when Stephen King wrote Carrie he was flat broke and he and his wife were living in a trailer. He threw the manuscript in the trash thinking it was terrible. His wife fished it out and submitted it to some publishers. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Don't sell yourself short. Give it a shot. These days people go through lterary agents but the process is basically the same as it always was. You have to paper your walls with rejection slips. After a time you can submit a rejected manuscript to some of the same people. Chances are they didn't read it the first time, were in a bad mood had a fight with their spouse, etc. A second time around might find them in a more receptive mood.

Just a thought,

Cassie

One place to get self-published is through lulu.com.  It's simple.  Inexpensive.  And super-cool to see yourself listed on Amazon.com!  This is where my first book is sitting right now.  It's availabe at lulu under my female name and other places under my male name.

Chaunte

Both novels have flaws and need work.  The horror mystery had been submitted to several publishers back in the late 80s and rejected repeatedly, so I did try.  It's possible when my transition is further along that I may revisit those novels.  I now have an outline for a new novel that deals with a gender transition in a fictional way and--I think--has some promise because it won't be autobiographical in any way and has a decent dramatic premise (which shall remain nameless for now!).  I'm going to let the outline age for awhile and then look at it again.  All of you writers know the dictum:  Write what you know!  You also know how time-consuming and obsessive the process is--I have to ponder that commitment a bit more first.  Right now, it's not even an option.

Dawn

re: lulu.com

I don't intend to rain on anyone's parade or bum out future writers, but lulu.com appears to be a vanity press -- to publish a couple of books for family and friends is one thing, but to embark on a writing career via a vanity press is a no-no. Your reputation among distributors/wholesalers/retailers/librarians will be wrecked from the start. Without the usual publishing conventions in the book like isbn numbers and lcc numbers nobody will distribute the book. Your name will be catorized in the vanity press file and you'll never be taken seriously. Vanity presses have been career wreckers for decades and online presses are a new variation of them.

Most books are sold wholesale price to distributors -- also, most books are ordered via purchase order -- with a vanity press you'll be unable to mark down the book to give them a profit. The only orders you can fill are individual full price orders -- a minor part of the typical book distribution spectrum.

If you really want to be a self-publisher, check out reputable self-publishing books and organizations . . . they'll help steer you right (and you'll make more money too!)

here a good resource:

http://www.parapublishing.com/getpage.cfm?file=/homepage.html&user=#user#

good luck! :)

You don't need to have an ISBN number if you are planning on giving copies of your book away to frineds and family.  Also, you can buy books at lulu.com that both do and do not have an ISBN.  So, in that respect, lulu can be considered a vanity press.

On the other hand, you can buy an ISBN through Lulu, which is what I have done.  As a result, my book in now in "Books in Print"  It is also available online at numerous book stores such as Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Amazon, etc.

Agreed, it's not the same as having a book published by "Pocket Books," but it is a start.

Chaunte

I haven't had time to look at the web site you posted for publication, but I will.  THanks for posting it! - C

I have written a few screenplays, one of them is actually a finished first draft, no worries, you won't see it. lol.
It is a transposition of Salome (u know from the Bible, John The Baptist loses his head) to fin de siecle (1990's) Hollywood, the daughter of a mogul, and a stand-up junkie comic, latter-day Lenny Bruce type-thing; tres depressing (though brutally funny) and so '90's, woulda been perfect about the time Cobain offed hisseff. That's so OVER!
Now I just write music no one cares about.

I am a published writer, with the book coming out this summer. It is on Trans issues and we have a web site as well.  If anyone wants to look....   www.all-pointz.com

the book is titled  All Points In Between : discovery of Sexuality.  I will also being doing a Vol Two on Legal Aspects after this one releases.  It took 9 yrs to do, but finally it is done! Legal aspects will not require the same indepth and time consuming field research,, so it will not take 9 yrs LOL!

Peace

Taylor

Over the years I have done a fair amount of writing. While I haven't seriously tried to get anything published, I did publish a small magazine (i.e. fanzine) by the name of Schema Magazine: An information publication for the mentally deranged and the brilliant, for several years.

I am however, in the middle of a novel, somehow curtailed by obsessive time spent on this very site. It is a farcical tale of consumerism and conspiracy, and innocence lost within the consumer age, set against the backdrop of civil war in California and other outrageous world events. My goal is to have it completed by the end of the year and begin submitting in 2007.

Taylor I have already pre-ordered my copy. I look forward to the insight you have collected and gleaned. You must be very excited.

Jan, I am curious about your screenplay. It reminds me a little bit of a story idea I have been kicking around for a few years where Socrates lived in the twentieth century in the Mtv age, where his thoughts and ideas would be little more than philosophically humorous soundbites between music videos.

I love hearing about other peoples projects.

Madison,

Yes, your order came through. Thanks for letting me know it was you.

I want to say to all of you that are pre ordering, thanks for your support!  However, if you order and your legal name does not match your posting name, (if you want me to know it is you) please send me a private message here or a message through the website. 

Your identity is 100% confidential!! Folks, I do not need to know it is you,, but if you do share this with me, then know it is SAFE!!! 

Thanks Madison!! and all you others!

Peace,

Taylor

Im more of a fantasist that a writer but hey I try

Quote from: Shauna Marie on November 06, 2005, 09:57:24 PM
I guess that if you have shared words, and they are out for the public to read (or hear), than I say you are published!

Chaunte

Well if getting paid for it isn't a requirement then yes, I'm published.

I used to write an opinion column for a local monthly.

when I was in college the first half of this decade I placed several short stories among the prize winners of the campus writing contest. In my senior year I entered a Formal Essay (which was a reworking of the Thesis paper I did for Special Problems in History and won first place which meant it was submitted to the Southern Literary Arts Festival where it placed second in the category (competing with universities and colleges from all over the south including heavyweight SEC schools)

Both the SLAC and the College competition published a Journal if the winners.

I was inspired at the time and I had over 10 chapters of a novel written that I lost to a hard drive crash.

Since then I haven't written much because it's so VERY difficult to publish fiction that I feel like I'm wasting time (so I waste time online instead)

OH! And I also have a baseball blog too under my male "persona" and I'm thinking about starting a general blog from Laura's point of view.

I really REALLY should get the creative juices flowing towards fiction again but it's almost like I don't really have any stories to tell. If i may say so, I am an excellent writer of dialog and characterizations and "scene setting...a narrative account of a "scene from a life" as in some short stories I can do, but that's an even tougher sell.

where I am terribly week is dramatic tension, climax and plot construction. Most books build toward a resolution, a point in the telling of the story. My story ideas almost never do.

That said, I've read "The Road" and seen "No Country for Old Men" and Cormac McCarthy seems to get away with telling stories that just....stop, with no neat resolution. I don't know if a new writer could ever break in doing it that way though.

I have a couple of poems published in a big poetry book I have forgotten the name of, that was ages and ages ago though. I'm not so good with the fiction any more, I seem to have lost my ability to write short stories.

I have an idea for a book I've started to write but I can't seem to get in to the flow :P

Does high school era journalism class count as published?

Quote from: michellesofl on June 16, 2009, 03:10:16 PM
Does high school era journalism class count as published?

emmmm may be why....

I have a book called "Dorothy's Boy" on Amazon and am writing another now. I hope to have it ready for publication in six months or so.

Maggie