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August 31, 2003
Out of the Past
Right, J. over at Silver Rights has a post about "Bloggers explor[ing] life 'on the Down Low'". [Update: And that last link doesn't seem to work, so use the previous one and scroll down. Except you don't have to at the moment, as I'm talking about the most recent entry.) Haven't had much to say about the topic myself, possibly because of my own slightly weird gender/identity/orientation wiring.
Ah well, did a quick Google News search for something on the subject more recent than the Alternet article J. linked to, and came up with a Sun-Times profile of E. Lynn Harris:
The story of Invisible Life (Anchor Books, $12.95) bears some similarity to Harris' own: It's all about a high-achieving black man who is secretly gay.Ten years later, stories about life on the DL--the down low, or the state of being an ostensibly straight, tough African-American man while also having sex with men--are all over the mainstream media. But in 1993, no one in the publishing world wanted to know anything about it. Harris couldn't find a single taker for his manuscript.
Think the author of the piece, Debra Pickett, is reaching a bit there. Unless being a closeted bi is the same as being. . . is closeted even a word?
And I'm resisting the urge to make a snarky comment about other possible reasons Harris had problems "find[ing] a taker for his manuscript." Never read one of his novels myself, but from what I've heard, I'm not missing much.
I've never read anything by Terry McMillan either, but Harris relates an anecdote about how she thinks. . . oh, hit the link. I can't take any of this seriously.
Got a half-formed notion about Jill Nelson writing a novel while Harris turns to nonfiction/memoir, but meh.
(Parenthtically, RedHeadDread says nice things about [among other people] Nalo Hopkinson and Octavia Butler. since I seemed to be doing a Negro Author Roundup there, and thought I should mention a few whose works I've actually read and enjoyed. Er, except I don't think I ever actually read any Nalo Hopkinson either, come to think of it. Nor did I know she had a blog, which that last link. . . you know, perhaps I've had too much coffee today.)
I'm fairly certain I had a point when I started writing this.
No, really.
np - A Thousand Days, November Project. I blame VASpider.
Posted by Aaron at August 31, 2003 09:43 PM
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Comments
And I blame Tiny, so in the end, it's all his fault, really.
Posted by: VASpider at September 1, 2003 12:25 AM
Read some Nalo. She's good. Promise.
Posted by: hanne at September 1, 2003 01:05 PM
Read the sista already!
Thanks for mention and the heads up on her site. I had no idea it existed. I am most excited to find out about it.
Posted by: RedHeadDread at September 2, 2003 03:17 PM
Thanks for the mention of Nalo's blog. Since I've never read any of her work, it would be nice to get a preview.
I've heard nothing but good things about her. Can't say the same about Harris and McMillan. My personal dealings with both... Nevermind. I need to make my quota of one client per quarter and nasty gossip won't help.
Posted by: ronn at September 2, 2003 10:04 PM
So. . . I should read some Nalo, then?
Figures that the excerpt I read and liked, Slow Cold Chick, is in an anthology I have zero chances of ever finding anywhere.
Ronn, nasty gossip always helps. As long as it doesn't get back to the person it's about.
Posted by: Aaron at September 8, 2003 10:41 AM
Aaron, "Slow Cold Chick" was reprinted in my short story collection, _Skin Folk_ (Warner Books, 2001). That one's easier to find. Push come to shove, a public library probably has it.
Posted by: Nalo at October 3, 2003 01:20 AM
Nalo, thanks. I haven't been to Stars Our Destination in a month of Sundays, and they should have a copy of the collection.
Mind you, you're increasing my insecurities about being the least qualified person posting to this site, but that's probably just because it's true.
Posted by: Aaron at October 3, 2003 08:27 AM