Blast from the Past: Transgender Day of Remembrance

I have a personal blog in which I write about a wide variety of things.  The President’s announcement today upset me greatly, both as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and someone who worked for the Dept. of the Army during the days of “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.”  Good service members are harmed by discrimination like this.  I have said many times that I try hard not to be political on my author blog, but today I cannot sit quietly.  This post, from my personal blog of November 23, 2009, explains part of the reason why.

I have transgender friends.

In addition, there are some 7,000 transgender people currently serving in the US military who are now going to be discriminated against.

It is a hideous irony that the President made his discriminatory announcement on the anniversary of Executive Order 9981, which integrated the US Armed Forces in 1948.

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Last night was the Transgender Remembrance Service at MCC San Jose. The names of all 147 transgendered persons murdered since the last remembrance were read aloud, and a candle lit for each one.

Reverend Mike gave an impassioned talk at the beginning of the service, talking about how many people were unnamed in the list shown here: http://www.transgenderdor.org/?page_id=555. They were unnamed because no one came forward to claim them after they died. Reverend Mike said that the reason we do this event is that we claim every one of these people as part of our family … and I concur with him. Deacon Woody also did a beautiful talk on what it was like to be transgendered, and how grateful he was to be part of our church. Reverend Sky placed the book of names on the communion table, to symbolize welcoming those who have passed to our table.

It horrifies me that such violence exists at all. This is very personal to me now, even though I have had trans friends for some time … but Misha really brought it home in a way that was visceral.

I will be speaking out about against this violence even more than I already have done, you may rest assured of that. One hundred and forty-seven people violently killed because of trying to be who they really were … triple the number from last year’s remembrance. This has to stop.

 

Blast from the Past: “In The Eye of The Beholder” Book Trailer

When In The Eye of The Beholder was first published in the United States, the team behind Treasureline Books made this trailer for the novel.  While the rights have since reverted to me, which means the link at the end of the video is no longer functional, the plot line and particulars remain the same.  The music is “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” performed by Ally Bain.

 

Branding Statements for Authors

Hi, everyone.  Back in 2011, I wrote this article on creating a branding statement.  At the time, I was very much pleased with the statement I developed:

“Books by internationally published author Sharon E. Cathcart provide discerning readers of essays, fiction and non-fiction with a powerful, truthful literary experience.”

I used a formula that amounted to product + audience + claim to develop the statement, and I think that still holds true in terms of figuring out what to say.

Over time, I realized that statement wasn’t what I wanted to use anymore.  Why?  Because your branding statement is also your elevator speech.  I had to do too much explaining after that brand statement to talk about what I wrote.  If you only have 30 seconds to tell someone what you do, that statement is far too long.  So, I looked a little deeper into what I do and, using the same formula, came up with this:

“Sharon E. Cathcart is an award-winning author of fiction featuring atypical characters.”

Crisp, succinct … and gets it all out there in less than 30 seconds.

How about you?  Do you have a brand statement as an author?  What is it?  How did you develop it?  Can you use the formula above to create one today?

Blast from the Past: Improving a Story to Death

Hi, everyone.  A text-only version of this article appeared in my GoodReads blog on June 29, 2009.  The lesson on writing with care remains the same today.

The story I referenced is now entitled “Betrayed by a Kiss,” and may be found in my always-free short fiction collection, Around the World in 80 Pages.  Enjoy!

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I learned a harsh lesson this month.

I entered one of my favorite short-short stories, “The Judas Kiss,” in two different competitions. It was a strong, intelligent story with a twist, and I was very proud of it. One of the decisions I made when I wrote the story was to deliberately never identify the gender of the protagonist. I thought it was a real strength of the story.

Except I wimped out before I sent it to the two contests.

I made the protagonist female, and wrote some additional information about her. In hindsight, this was detrimental to the story’s strength … and “The Judas Kiss” failed to place in either contest.

I think that constructive criticism is invaluable, but as an author I should have just left well enough alone. There is a fine line between art and a mess; a painter needs to know when to lay down the brush. The same things applies to writing, whether short-short, short story, novella or novel. Wield your pen with care.

 

Blast from the Past: Remembering Joseph Carey Merrick

A text-only version of this article appeared on the now-defunct Red Room in 2004 and on Wattpad in 2010.  I’ve updated the date information and provided some new links. Enjoy!

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Sometimes I think my head is so big, because it is full of ideas. — Joseph Merrick, in Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man

Those who have read In The Eye of The Beholder: A Novel of the Phantom of the Opera know this already, but I don’t mind sharing it here: Joseph Merrick is featured in the story.  No spoilers, I promise.

Joseph Carey Merrick, aka “The Elephant Man,” lived during the Victorian era.  He suffered from what we now understand as Proteus syndrome, where parts of the body grow at different rates.

Merrick lived part of his life as a sideshow freak until he was taken in by Dr. Sir Frederick Treves.  Treves arranged a home for Merrick at the hospital where he worked and took care of him until his death at the age of 27.  Merrick was literate, and a devout Christian.  He often told visitors that his favorite book was the Bible.

I won’t go into Merrick’s entire biography here; additional information is available here.

However, there is a reason I write these words today.  April 11, 2017, is the 127th anniversary of Merrick’s death.  On behalf of the Friends of Joseph Carey Merrick, I ask that you take a moment on this day to remember Joseph and pray for those with disabilities both visible and invisible.

(Public domain image of Joseph Carey Merrick’s carte de visite photograph via Wikimedia Commons.)