Category Archives: Quotes

Quotes that I’m loving.

Quote I love: Happy 40th Bert and Ernie

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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 …

Sesame Street recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. I saw this quote and just had to post.

“Happy 40th Anniversary to Bert and Ernie. You can’t get married yet, but your love inspires us all. Congratulations!”

Kate Clinton
Via Twitter

I grew up watching the show, and I have to say Ernie was one of my favs (as well as Oscar and Snuffleupagus). There was just something about Bert and Ernie’s relationship that I really liked as a kid. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized…”hey, they were gay.”

One of my favorite books when I was first learning how to read was The Great Sesame Street ABC Hunt. It was one of those buy-a-book-and-we’ll-insert-your-kid’s-name-and-other-info-in-the-text books.

GreatsesamestreetabcHunt

My best friend’s mom bought it for me and signed his name on the inside cover. I loved it because it was a gift from him and, of course, I was friends with Big Bird in the book! I still have it on my bookshelf. A huge thank you to my friend’s mom and Sesame Street for helping me enjoy reading.

Happy Anniversary Sesame Street!! And Bert and Ernie (my first m/m romance)!!

So who was your favorite Sesame Street character? And did you think Bert and Ernie were gay when you watched? Comment or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Have a great day!
Sloan Parker

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

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

Quote I love: Falling in love

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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 …

heart

(c) istockphotos.com: debreny, 2007

I’m a romantic. I admit it. I believe in love.

Falling in love is one of the most healthy, wonderful things a person can experience…for the soul, the heart, the body, the mind. It’s the falling out of love that often destroys us. Or never letting ourselves love in the first place (just ask Jonathan Moore, the antagonist from my book More.) And the hardest part for some is when he or she still loves someone and that love isn’t returned. But even though I know too many people who have been burned by love, it’s still something I believe in. I live it every day. It does exist.

Here’s a quote I saw this week that speaks to those beliefs.

“I would prove to men how wrong they are to think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing you grow old when you stop falling in love.”

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist

What do you think? Am I a big ol’ sap? Or do you believe in love? Comment on this post or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by,
Sloan Parker

Quote I love: Grey’s Anatomy, when a priest shows up

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I was watching Grey’s Anatomy over the weekend (yeah, I DVR all the TV I watch and I’m usually a week, or two, or three behind) and this line seemed to hit it big at my house. Rosie and I loved it.

“You can’t pray away the gay!”

Callie on Grey’s when her dad brings a priest to counsel her about being a lesbian.

I have been fortunate to have a loving, supportive family. My mom’s not out marching in any PFLAG parades, but she loves me and has told me she wants me to be happy. And most importantly to me, she loves Rosie. My heart goes out to all the real life people like Callie who not only have to live with the knowledge that their parents think there is something wrong with them, but also have to live with these types of attacks aimed at changing who they are — suggesting they’re not good enough.

That’s also a huge theme in my book More. Luke’s father wants his son to be a different man, and he’ll do anything to force Luke to behave the way he wants him to. But Luke doesn’t let his father’s hatred destroy him. He doesn’t deny who he is (not for his dad or anyone), but he does grow and become someone who can fall in love again. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m quite proud of his journey.

Anyone else watch Grey’s? Anyone have a personal story to share? Comment or send me an email.

Thanks for stopping by,
Sloan Parker