Monthly Archives: November 2009

Quote I love: The fight is in each one of us

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Once a week, I post a quote that I’ve read/heard recently. So here’s this week’s Quote I love …

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about marriage. My anniversary was last week. My partner and I celebrate from our first date in high school. We both dated other people after that (when you’re bisexual, it sometimes takes time to figure things out in your own head), but we were in love, even then. One of the things Rosie would love in life is to be married to me. Too bad the US government and far too many citizens of the great state of Ohio don’t want that outcome.

I also wrote a short story for I DO TWO, a charity anthology in support of marriage equality. (Side note: if it isn’t selected for the book, I may post it as free fiction on my site in January). So, it’s been on my mind lately.

I’ve never been a huge supporter of marriage licenses. I don’t think couples need a legal document to be committed and spend a life together. But I have to say, it irks me to no end that I can’t give the love of my life one of the things she desires most, that I’m not legally allowed to marry the person I share a home with, a dining room table with, a bed with, a life with. We’ve lived together for 18 years.

Here’s one of the statements I read after Maine voters repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. It reminded me there are many straight people who care, who have made the cause their cause too.

“I sat in my hotel room and watched the sun rise from my eighth-story window and cried. I wished I had done more.

But a new day was dawning. A different day and a new fight for marriage equality. It will soon be time again for us as Mainers and as a nation to come together. Gay or straight, the fight is in each one of us, and we must take it. We must.”

Dana Hernandez
A straight white married mother of two young children
Reporting Election Night outcomes for Advocate.com

Thank you to Dana and everyone who cares enough to realize this isn’t about your marriage or taking something from you, it’s about giving a basic right to others. A basic right that grants so many other rights to the couple the minute they are married. Rights my partner and I can’t duplicate, no matter how much money we give to our attorney to draft legal documents. Marriage in the US offers over 1,000 Federal rights and benefits. And this does not include the hundreds more offered by every state.

Thanks for stopping by today,
Sloan Parker
twitter.com/SloanParker

Video I love: Old Levi’s Commercial

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Once a week, I post a video I’ve seen recently that I’m loving. So here’s this week’s Video I love …

I was talking with a friend the other day about a subject I’ve mentioned on this blog before: the lack of positive gay imagery in US commercials. When gay men and women are shown, they are often depicted as over-the-top stereotypes to get a laugh. That’s why I like this commercial. It’s a sexy gay version of a het Levi’s commercial. I’m not sure on what channels or when this aired, but it’s still nice to look at, and I can appreciate what they were trying to do. Once in awhile I like to tune in to the cable channel Logo just to see commercials that reflect my own life.

(video embedded below)

What do you think? Are there other commercials you’ve seen recently that do a good job of including gay men or women in a positive way? Comment or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Cheers,
Sloan Parker

Book Collector

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Once a week, I post about something I’m loving (tv, movies, books, art, photos, romances, authors, or anything else) that I’ve seen or read about recently. So here’s this week’s For the love of …

I purchased some new books this week and was reminded again how much I love using Book Collector by Collectorz.com. It’s an “automatic book database software for Windows, Mac OS X & iPhone.”

I’ve had this program for quite a few months now. I use it to keep track of the books I own, those I’ve read from the library, those I’ve purchased but have yet to read, and those I wish to buy. It connects with an on-line book database so you can easily add books to your personal database (including a description, cover, subjects, and more) using the book title, author, or ISBN number. You can also manually enter books. Many of the ebooks I buy are not in the database, but it really doesn’t take much time to add those either.

I love being able to create filters and quickly see which books I have on my TBR list for a specific genre. Let’s say I feel like reading a gay mystery romance. A couple clicks and I have all the books listed that I’ve purchased. I can check out the covers, read the synopsis, click to any reviews I’ve noted, and more. It’s fun to interact with my books this way.

You can also add ratings and purchase information, search and sort, export the data, print a book list, and view your book data on your iPhone.

Here’s a screenshot from Collectorz.com. There are many ways to customize the screens so you can optimize it for how you like to view your books.

(c) Collectorz.com

Watch a demo video: http://www.collectorz.com/book/
View more screenshots: http://www.collectorz.com/book/features.php

Does anyone else use Book Collector? Or any other program to manage your book collection? I’d love to hear what you use and what you like about it. Comment or send me an email.

Thanks for stopping!
Sloan Parker

Quote I love: Seriously? I’m a writer

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Once a week, I post a quote that I’ve read/heard recently. So here’s this week’s Quote I love …

Another quote from my own life.

The other day I was editing my latest manuscript, and I asked my partner how to spell something. I was trying to determine if I needed a hyphen in the context of the sentence. Without even looking away from her iPhone she said,

“What’s the big deal if it’s hyphenated or not.”

Seriously? I’m a writer. It’s a big deal.

Now, don’t get me wrong … my partner is always, always supportive of my writing. She wasn’t trying to be mean. She was trying to be funny … I think. But a part of her really wanted to know if I gave that much thought to every single word.

And it got me thinking. When I submit a manuscript, I want it to be as polished as I can make it. I write an extremely rough first draft. When I go back over it again and again, I’m looking to not only improve the plot, the characterizations, and voice, but I’m also looking to correct the grammar and catch any errors. I want to be able to read through it one last time without catching any typos or misspellings. I want to print it out and not have made one red mark by the time I get to the end. Then I know it’s ready. Now, I’m NOT saying it’s perfect. I certainly miss stuff. A LOT of stuff. And I don’t know all the rules I should be following. I’m still learning about grammar and the craft of writing. But I want it to be as good as it can be — for me, at that moment.

So are there other authors who feel the same? What’s your process for editing? How do you know when you should stop editing? Comment or send me an email. I’d love to hear what you think.

Sloan Parker

Video I love: On Meeting An Agent

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Once a week, I post a video I’ve seen recently that I’m loving. So here’s this week’s Video I love…

This one’s for all my writing friends. Be sure to watch both clips. There’s a link at the end to the second one. Funny stuff. Thanks to my writing pal Connie for passing it along.

<<embedded video below>>

Does anyone have a real life experience that matches the video? Want to share? Comment or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by,
Sloan Parker