Diversity Rules Magazine

November 2011

Diversity Rules Magazine - _lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning_

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Diversity Rules Magazine scared little dyke writer. I was like today's new writers who quail when it's their turn to read. Here's what I did. I learned to speak with my higher power: goddess, universe, my own high- est spirit, it doesn't matter. I began to take a few minutes to ask for help in giving the audience what they needed. I breathe slowly and deeply. I envision a personification of that higher pow- er holding my hand. I even take a small dose of a tranquillizer to dissolve the fear chemicals in me. My wife hugs or holds me, whichever I need. We both hang out with the audience, introducing ourselves, exchanging a few words, breaking down artificial walls. So many readers and writers are as shy as I am. Does the stage fright ever go away? Not entire- ly for me, but with exposure, time, practicing the steps that calm me, I usually don't embar- rass myself. Last month at In Other Words in Portland, Oregon, there were seven of us read- ing. I remember assuring one scared little dyke that, for the most part, readers would rather like us than not. When I let myself like them back, instead of fearing them, and remember that I'm there for the readers, not me, reading in public becomes a kind of holy lesbian ritual that enhances us all. Visit Lee's Website at: http://tinyurl.com/2vtuo9k The Writings of Lee Lynch Lee Lynch was first published in "The Lad- der" in the 1960s. Naiad Press issued Tooth- pick House, Old Dyke Tales, and more. Her novel The Swashbuckler was presented in NYC as a play scripted by Sarah Schul- man. New Victoria Publishers brought out Rafferty Street, the last book of Lynch's Morton River Valley Trilogy. Her backlist will be available in electronic format from Bold Strokes Books in the near future. Her newest novel is Beggar of Love from Bold Strokes. She is currently at work on The Raid, a novel about a group of characters caught in a bar raid. Her recent short stories can be found in Romantic Interludes (Bold Strokes Books), Women In Uniform (Regal Crest) and at www.readtheselips.com. Her reviews and feature articles have appeared in such publications as "The San Fran- cisco Chronicle," "The Advocate" and "The Lambda Book Report." Lynch's syndicated column, "The Amazon Trail," runs in venues such as boldstrokesbooks.com, justabout- write.com, "Letters From Camp Rehoboth," and "On Top Magazine." She is a recipient of the Alice B. Reader Award for Lesbian Fiction, the James Duggins Mid-Career Au- thor Award, which honors LGBT mid-career novelists of extraordinary talent and service to the LGBT community, and was inducted into the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame. In 2010 Beggar of Love received the Golden Crown Literary Society Ann Bannon Readers' Choice Award and the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Bronze Award in Gay/Lesbian Fiction. She has twice been nominated for Lambda Literary Awards and her novel Sweet Creek (Bold Strokes Books) was a GCLS award finalist. Her books are available through Bold Strokes Books. Be part of the new Diversity Rules Magazine as a patron or an investor! Contact the editor and ask how!! editor@diversityrulesmagazine.com Thirteen

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