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TRIPTYCH Nominated for TWO Lambda Literary Awards

I think it is safe to say that I am both stunned, pleased, and freaking out JUST a little bit!

Triptych has been nominated for TWO Lammies, in the Bisexual Category and the LBGT SF/F Category! Wow! THANK YOU SO MUCH to the Lambda Award Comittee for this nomination and recognizing my work.

Thank you to Dragon Moon Press, and my editor Gabrielle Harbowy, who challenged me to send her the book when I called Triptych “the unpublishable manuscript” at a room party at Ad Astra 2009.

A BIG Congrats to my fellow nominees – I am in INCREDIBLE company on these ballots!

And now, the official press release:

Finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards were announced today by the Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) in Los Angeles.  Books from major mainstream publishers and from academic presses, from both long-established and new LGBT publishers, as well as from emerging publish-on-demand technologies, make up the 119 finalists for the “Lammys.”  The finalists were selected from a record number of nominations.

The awards, now in their twenty-fourth year, celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing for books published in 2011. Winners will be announced at a Monday evening, June 4th ceremony in New York at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Avenue) with an after-party at Slate (54 West 21st Street).

Lambda set a record in 2010 for both the number of LGBT books nominated (520) and the number of publishers participating (about 230). That record has been surpassed this year, with more than 600 titles represented from about 250 publishers.

“For three consecutive years we have broken the records for both book nominees and publishers, which is extremely heartening in a time of uncertainty for the publishing industry as a whole, and LGBT publishing, in particular,” said LLF Board of Trustees Co-Chair, David McConnell.

More than 90 booksellers, book reviewers, librarians, authors, previous Lammy winners and finalists, and other book professionals volunteered many hours of reading time, critical thinking, and invigorating shared discussion to select the finalists in 24 categories.

“The Lambda Literary Awards would not be possible without the time, energy, and intelligence of our volunteer judges who put countless hours of reading into selecting our finalists,” said Lambda Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. “Because of their hard work, this day is a celebration of our finalists, whose outstanding books extend the fabric of our literature and enrich our community. Congratulations to these talented authors on their tremendous achievement.”

Pioneer Award honorees, the master of ceremonies, and presenters will be announced the second week of April.

Tickets for the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony and after-party go on sale today.  For more information click here.

 

24th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists

 Lesbian Debut Fiction

The Girls Club, by Sally Bellerose, Bywater Books

Megume and the Trees, by Sarah Toshiko Hasu, Megami Press

My Sister Chaos, by Lara Fergus, Spinifex Press

Nickels: A Tale of Dissociation, by Christine Stark, Modern History Press

Zipper Mouth, by Laurie Weeks, The Feminist Press at CUNY

 

Lesbian General Fiction

The Dirt Chronicles, by Kristyn Dunnion, Arsenal Pulp Press

The Necessity of Certain Behaviors, by Shannon Cain, University of Pittsburgh Press

Six Metres of Pavement, by Farzana Doctor, Dundurn Press

When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan, Algonquin Books

Wingshooters, by Nina Revoyr, Akashic Books

 

Lesbian Memoir/Biography

How to Get a Girl Pregnant, by Karleen Pendleton Jimenez, Tightrope Books

Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet, by Catherine Friend, Da Capo Press/Lifelong Books

Small Fires: Essays, by Julie Marie Wade, Sarabande

Taking My Life, by Jane Rule, Talonbooks

When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution, by Jeanne Córdova, Spinsters Ink

 

Lesbian Mystery

Dying to Live, by Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou, Bold Strokes

Hostage Moon, by AJ Quinn, Bold Strokes

Rainey Nights: A Rainey Bell Thriller, by R.E. Bradshaw, R.E. Bradshaw Books

Retirement Plan, by Martha Miller, Bold Strokes

Trick of the Dark, by Val McDermid, Bywater Books

 

Lesbian Poetry

15 Ways to Stay Alive, by Daphne Gottlieb, Manic D Press

Discipline, by Dawn Lundy Martin, Nightboat Books

Love Cake, by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, TSAR Publications

Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry, edited by Julie R. Enszer, A Midsummer Night’s Press

The Stranger Dissolves, by Christina Hutchins, Sixteen Rivers Press

 

Lesbian Romance

For Me and My Gal, by Robbi McCoy, Bella Books

Ghosts of Winter, by Rebecca S. Buck, Bold Strokes

Rescue Me, by Julie Cannon, Bold Strokes

Storms, by Gerri Hill, Bella Books

Taken by Surprise, by Kenna White, Bella Books

 

Lesbian Erotica  

The Collectors, by Lesley Gowan, Bold Strokes

Lesbian Cops: Erotic Investigations, edited by Sacchi Green, Cleis Press

A Ride to Remember & Other Erotic Tales, by Sacchi Green, Lethe Press

Story of L, by Debra Hyde, Ravenous Romance

 

Gay Debut Fiction

98 Wounds, by Justin Chin, Manic D Press

Dirty One, by Michael Graves, Chelsea Station Editions

Have You Seen Me, by Katherine Scott Nelson, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

Mitko, by Garth Greenwell, Miami University Press

Quarantine: Stories, by Rahul Mehta, Harper Perennial

 

Gay General Fiction

The Empty Family, by Colm Tóibín, Scribner

The Great Night, by Chris Adrian, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Leche, by R. Zamora Linmark, Coffee House Press

The Stranger’s Child, by Alan Hollinghurst, Alfred A.Knopf

The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov, by Paul Russell, Cleis Press

 

Gay Memoir/Biography

Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo, by Michael Schiavi, University of Wisconsin Press

For the Ferryman: A Personal History, by Charles Silverstein, Chelsea Station Editions

Halsted Plays Himself, by William E. Jones, Semiotext(e)

If You Knew Then What I Know Now, by Ryan Van Meter, Sarabande Books

The Jack Bank:  A Memoir of a South African Childhood, by Glen Retief, St. Martin’s Press

 

Gay Mystery

The Affair of the Porcelain Dog, by Jess Faraday, Bold Strokes

Blue’s Bayou, by David Lennon, Blue Spike Publishing

Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries, by Marshall Thornton, Torquere Press   

Malabarista, by Garry Ryan, NeWest Press

Red White Black and Blue, by Richard Stevenson, MLR Press

 

Gay Poetry

Dear Prudence: New and Selected Poems, by David Trinidad, Turtle Point Press

Double Shadow: Poems, by Carl Phillips, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos, edited by David Trinidad, Nightboat Books

Kintsugi, by Thomas Meyer, Flood Editions

The Other Poems, by Paul Legault, Fence Books

 

Gay Romance

Every Time I Think of You, by Jim Provenzano, CreateSpace/Myrmidude Press

Settling the Score, by Eden Winters, Torquere Press

Something Like Summer, by Jay Bell, Jay Bell Books

Split, by Mel Bossa, Bold Strokes

Tinseltown, by Barry Brennessel, MLR Press

 

Gay Erotica

All Together, by Dirk Vanden, iloveyoudivine Alerotica

Backwoods, by Natty Soltesz, Rebel Satori Press

Best Gay Erotica 2012, edited by Richard Labonte, Cleis Press

George Platt Lynes: The Male Nudes, edited by Steven Haas, Rizzoli New York

History’s Passions: Stories of Sex Before Stonewall, edited by Richard Labonte, Bold Strokes

 

Transgender Fiction

The Book of Broken Hymns, by Rafe Posey, Flying Rabbit

The Butterfly and the Flame, by  Dana De Young, iUniverse

I am J, by Cris Beam, Little, Brown Books for Children

Static, by L.A. Witt, Amber Allure/Amber Quill Press

Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica, edited by Tristan Taormina, Cleis Press

 

Transgender Nonfiction

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, edited by Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith, AK Press

Letters For My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect, edited by Megan M. Rohrer and Zander Keig, Wilgefortis Press

Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law, by Dean Spade, South End Press

Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past, by Peter Boag, University of California Press

Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels, by Justin Vivian Bond, The Feminist Press at CUNY

 

Bisexual Fiction

Boyfriends With Girlfriends, by Alex Sanchez, Simon & Schuster

The Correspondence Artist, by Barbara Browning, Two Dollar Radio

Have You Seen Me, by Katherine Scott Nelson, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

Triptych, by J.M. Frey, Dragon Moon Press

The Two Krishnas, by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla, Magnus Books

 

Bisexual Nonfiction

Big Sex Little Death: A Memoir, by Susie Bright, Seal Press

Bisexuality and Queer Theory: Intersections, Connections and Challenges, edited by Jonathan Alexander & Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, Routledge

The Horizontal Poet, by Jan Steckel, Zeitgeist Press

Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature, edited by Qwo-Li Driskill, Daniel Heath Justice, Deborah Miranda, and Lisa Tatonetti, University of Arizona Press

Surviving Steven: A True Story, by Ven Rey, Ven Rey

 

LGBT Anthology

Ambientes: New Queer Latino Writing, edited by Lazaro Lima & Felice Picano, University of Wisconsin Press

The Fire in Moonlight: Stories from the Radical Faeries, edited by Mark Thompson, White Crane Books/Lethe Press

Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader, edited by Michael Hames-García and Ernesto Javier Martínez, Duke University Press

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme, edited by Ivan E. Coyote & Zena Sharman, Arsenal Pulp Press

Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature, edited by Qwo-Li Driskill, Daniel Heath Justice, Deborah Miranda, and Lisa Tatonetti, University of Arizona Press

 

LGBT Children’s/Young Adult

Gemini Bites, by Patrick Ryan, Scholastic

Huntress, by Malinda Lo, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I am J, by Cris Beam, Little, Brown Books for Children

PINK, by Lili Wilkinson, HarperCollins

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, by Bil Wright, Simon & Schuster

 

LGBT Drama

Letters to the End of the World, by Anton Dudley, Playscripts, Inc.

A Menopausal Gentleman: The Solo Performances of Peggy Shaw, by Peggy Shaw, University of Michigan Press

Secrets of the Trade, by Jonathan Tolins, Samuel French, Inc.

The Temperamentals, by Jon Marans, Chelsea Station Editions

The Zero Hour, by Madeleine George, Samuel French, Inc.

 

LGBT Nonfiction

Gay in America: Portraits by Scott Pasfield, by Scott Pasfield, Welcome Books

God vs. Gay?: The Religious Case for Equality, by Jay Michaelson, Beacon Press

The H.D. Book, by Robert Duncan, University of California Press

A Queer History of the United States, by Michael Bronski, Beacon Press

Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories, by Wanda M. Corn and Tirza True Latimer, University of California Press

 

LGBT SF/F/H

The German, by Lee Thomas, Lethe Press

Paradise Tales: and Other Stories, by Geoff Ryman, Small Beer Press

Static, by L.A. Witt, Amber Allure/Amber Quill Press

Steam-powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft, Torquere Press

Triptych, by J.M. Frey, Dragon Moon Press

 

LGBT Studies

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, edited by Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith, AK Press

Freedom with Violence: Race, Sexuality, and the US State, by Chandan Reddy, Duke University Press

Sister Arts: The Erotics of Lesbian Landscapes, by Lisa L. Moore, University of Minnesota Press

Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality, by Margot Weiss, Duke University Press

¡Venceremos?: The Erotics of Black Self-making in Cuba, by Jafari S. Allen, Duke University Press

24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Host Committee

David McConnell – Co-Chair

Don Weise – Co-Chair

S. Chris Shirley – Co-Chair

Charles Rice-Gonzalez – Ceremony Director

Jamie Brickhouse – Publicity Chair

Brad Boles

J.Brooks

Mario Lopez-Cordero

David Gale

James Hannaham

Wayne Hoffman

Michele Karlsberg

Dean Klinger

Jay Moore

Dan Manjovi

Bill Miller

Heather O’Neill

Pauline Park

Lori Perkins

Jay Plum

Melanie La Rosa

Patrick Ryan

Eddie Sarfaty

Liz Scheier

Bob Smith

Linda Villarosa

Warren Wilson

JM FreyTRIPTYCH Nominated for TWO Lambda Literary Awards
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Triptych up for a CBC Bookie

Good morning!

Oh, WOW. I just learned that TRIPTYCH has been nominated for a CBC Bookie award. Thank you!

 

 

 

About the Bookies:

Last year, CBC Books introduced the CBC Bookie Awards, the “people’s choice” of Canadian literary awards. Readers across the country cast their votes for their favourite science fiction, mystery books, graphic novels, literary fiction, short story collections and more. It’s one year later, and the Bookies are back and bigger than ever!

The finalists were chosen by CBC’s book-loving producers at CBC Books, Canada Reads, Writers & Company, The Next Chapter and more, with consideration given to your recommendations online. The finalists represent our favourite Canadian reads (with the exception of the two new International categories) published between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2011.

This is a Reader’s Choice award, so it means a lot of people had to have told the CBC about TRIPTYCH. I cannot express how touched that makes me, and how pleased I am that people considered my novel worth nominating.

I think it’s absolutely brilliant that a small press from Alberta has a book on a major Canada-wide award poll. Please, share this webpage, and vote for your favourite books of 2011, no matter which ones they are. Show the world how much we Canadians support our authors.

You can vote once per day, every day up until March 31st at Midnight.

Cast your votes here.

JM FreyTriptych up for a CBC Bookie
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Words for Writers: A bit of advice for NaNoWriMo

Logo for National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – is almost here! Across the interwebs, writers of every age, genre, creed (pantsers vs. plotters), and experience levels are revving up to participate.

As veteran of NaNo (have been doing it since 2003, won all times but 3, and in my defense, I was writing thesises or MA school applications), I  have been asked a few times if I have any advice for the newbies.

Yes, I do.

Remember, as wonderful and fantastic as NaNoWriMo is – 50K of a first draft is not a novel.

The average commercial novel is between 80-120K. That means that what you have at the end of NaNo is a very, very good start. You have half a novel, and only the first draft thereof. But it is not done. (Have pity on agents and slush-readers! Don’t send it out on December 1st!)

A novel is not a novel until it has been edited, polished, revised, beta’d, red-penned, and re-re-re-rewritten. Your NaNo is brain vomit and it needs to be tidied before it can be a novel.

But what you DO have is the foundation on which to lay an entire, fantastic novel, a DAMN good start, and brand new set of work habits to add to your tool kit. You have experience, an idea of what your novel can grow into, and enthusiasm. You have a new community of peers to support you, critique you, and help you. You have the glowing knowledge that you did it, that you’ve made it this far… and frankly, getting to 50k on a first draft is the hardest part. It’s all downhill from here. What is another 30-50K on a novel that you’ve already done 50k on? What is, as my agent says to me, “a few more months spent dialing it in?”

And I don’t say any of this to be mean or to put you off NaNo; quite the opposite!

I say this so that you come into NaNoWriMo with a clear understanding of what it is EXACTLY that you are creating and that it will be, in all honestly, a bit crap.

And you know what?

THAT IS FANTASTIC. ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE A BIT CRAP.

The truth of the matter is… first drafts are always a bit crap. In fact, first drafts are meant to be a bit crap. That’s the nature of first drafts.

And the reason you allow your first draft to be a bit crap is because the important part of creating a first draft is not to write a polished, perfect, incredible novel. The point of a first draft is to get the STORY onto the PAGE. All the magic of tone and form and style happens in editing. But all the magic of running and jumping and loving and hating and living and dying and killing and screaming and kissing … that happens in the first draft. And it is supposed to sweep you away and plunge you into your world and make your chest ache and your stomach twist and your eyes swim and your mouth grin.

And you can’t do that if you’re self-censoring every time you pick up the metaphorical (or not) pen.

So allow your first draft to be a bit crap.

Because fearing to write because you’re going to be a bad writer is silly; if you hate everything you put on the page, if your inner editor cringes at each typo, then how will any of it get ONTO the page?

Embrace that your NaNo is going to be a bit crap and use that as permission to keep writing. Think: “Oh, well, this scene is a bit crap. But that’s okay, because I can edit later! LATER! For now I will follow my fingers and my imagination wherever they shall lead and it will be GLORIOUS.”

So there it is. There’s my advice for NaNo.

BE GLORIOUSLY, WONDERFULLY, UNASHAMEDLY A BIT CRAP.

*

For more posts on the business and craft of writing, search my Words for Writers tag.

JM FreyWords for Writers: A bit of advice for NaNoWriMo
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Triptych FANART Contest!

Today I am announcing a Triptych FanArt Contest!

Yes, you read that right! 

The Contest:

Create a piece of art based on my novel “Triptych”. It can be any kind of art – traditional, digital, a crossover, a comic, a cosplay, a puppet, something painted or knit or built, worn or hung or anything else!

You have the month of May to create and upload the art to the Triptych community on DeviantArt, after which I will pick my favourite 10 pieces, and the community will vote on the winner from those 10 pieces. The winners will be sent something from me as a prize. I would tell you what the prize is, but my publisher won’t let me, yet. Trust me, it will be cool, though!

The Rules:

There are TWO categories in the community Gallery – 3-D (Cosplay, Textile, etc.)  and 2-D (digital art, fan art, comics, traditional art, photography, etc.) . Art must be entered into one or the other in the community.

Art must be an original work by the artist uploading it, and influenced in some part by “Triptych” by J.M. Frey.

UPLOAD YOUR ART HERE: http://triptychfanart.deviantart.com/

The Time Line:

Artists have from May 1st 2011 to May 31st 2011 to upload their art to the TriptychFanArt group on DeviantArt, in one of the two categories.

Between June 1st and June 10th, I will look at all the entrants and choose my FIVE favourite pieces from each category and set up a poll on my blog.

From June 10th to June 30th, the community will VOTE for each of the pieces via the poll.

The winner of each category will be sent something REALLY AWESOME. I haven’t got the clearance to tell you want it is, YET, but I can promise it is something to do with my next publication and it’s amazing.

So in summary –

Step 1) Read “Triptych”.
Step 2) Make art based on “Triptych”.
Step 3) Between May 1st and 31st, upload said art to the “TriptychFanArt” group on Deviant art in either the 2D or 3D category.
Step 4) Admire everyone’s art!
Step 5) Between June 1st and 10th, wait in breathless anticipation as I choose my 5 faves from each category.
Step 6) Head over to my blog to vote for the your favourite in each category between June 10th and June 30th.
Step 7) Read the announcement of the winners in July!
Step 8) Winners send me their mailing addresses so I can send the  REALLY COOL PRIZE I AM NOT ALLOWED TO ANNOUNCE YET.

(Please be aware that for legal reasons, I cannot read any fanfiction posted to this contest. This is an ART-only contest and poetry, prose, or fanfiction based on my work will not be considered a qualifying submission, and will be deleted. However, this does not constitute a complete ban on fanfiction based on my work. Go ahead and write it and post it elsewhere – I just can’t read it.)

JM FreyTriptych FANART Contest!
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