What's the story behind your latest book?
When I was in college, I worked with a transwoman named Didi. She was the first trans person I ever met. She was also in the process of transitioning, and very open about her experience. Didi was married with kids when she admitted to herself that she was trans, and she and her wife stayed together. To 20-year-old me, that said a lot about the nature and power of love.
Fast forward a couple of decades, when Post Secret became popular. One secret in particular caught people's attention (at one point, they were planning a movie about it). It said simply, "Everyone I knew before 9/11 thinks I'm dead." That got me thinking. Then, when Lela Alcorn posted her suicide note online, it struck a chord in me. I thought more about what drives people to make choices, and then something reminded me of Didi. Everything clicked into place, and Finding Tranquility was born.
This isn't a story about transitions or what it's like to be a trans woman. It's a story about the nature and power of love. It's a story written for people who helped me to reexamine my internalized biases, and for that I am grateful. I hope the book speaks to you as well.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I do! I'm not sure "story" is the right term as it was rather autobiographical. When I was five years old, my family got their first computer. I wrote about the youngest girl in a family of 7 who got up on a Saturday morning, typed on the computer, and watched her mom make breakfast.
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