Wherein I rant about the inherent gender bias and hetero-normative lingo in the romance community

***Rant warning ahoy. I am PISSED OFF***

I have been a GLBTQ romance writer, and was a publisher, for a long time. I wrote my first f/f story in high school (class of '88 what up?) and I was published in my first gay romance anthology in 2002. My first m/m novel came out in 2003. I have fought the good fight, as a mostly lesbian writer (I fall closer to bi on the Kinsey scale than my wife, but I'm definitely queer) writing romance fiction, to find equality and acceptance for all people in the romance community, gay, straight, bi, trans or asexual. Hell, I've written moose romance. No, not shifter. Just moose.

So believe me when I tell you that nothing ***NOTHING*** disappoints me more than getting an email chock full of advice on how to sit down and shut up in the romance world.

That's right. Grit your teeth, wear a nice dress, and do your make-up and no one in the greater romance world will be mean to you. If they are, just don't tell them you write gay! It will be fine.

Now, I am a huge champion of getting LGBTQ romance to stop being listed as a "genre". My genres are paranormal and historical with a few contemporary bdsm type books. I want queer romance to just be romance. But I refuse to stop looking like a lesbian in order to make people comfortable. I refuse to pretend that people have not asked me at every con I attend, including the supposedly gay romance one, "Why do YOU write m/m? You don't even like dick," because I'm married to a woman.

I go into every opportunity to meet readers of romance with a smile on my face. My attitude is great, even if my inner introvert wants to run and hide. But I refuse to cower behind the hetero-normative language and accept the gender bias running rampant right now in my chosen field. So don't send me an email that dismisses men writing romance, along with trans people or bi people, or anyone not comfy in a pretty dress and lipstick. And the closest thing I own to formal wear is the rainbow skirt I wore to my wedding. Cotton jersey, thanks.

Don't tell me to sit the fuck down and shut up. It hasn't worked at any point in my life, and it's so not gonna work now.

XXOO

Julia

re-publishing some old titles and one new- Bloodrose

Hey y'all!

Most of y'all know now that I pulled my whole backlist from my old company. I had to for various reasons, and it's been killing me, but I'm starting to get a plan in place for re-releasing my old titles. The Full Moon Dating stuff will come back out with ARE in April. The Bloodrose stuff I'm redoing myself, and I just put out An Itch to Scratch, The Werewolf Code, Belling the Cat and Emerald Eyes in a collection called Thorns. I'm tickled to death with the new cover by Kris Norris, and while I didn't make a lot of changes, I cleaned up typos etc. (This one hasn't got any new content but Emerald Eyes was only up for about 4 months)

Print book will be up this week in case anyone wants that! Linkee soon.

The ebook is available here:

Amazon

ARE

Also on Nook and soon on Kobo.

Thanks for all the patience and support.

XXOO

Julia

what the hell, universe? aka medical shit you have to see to believe

Most of y'all know I'm married to BA Tortuga, m/m author extraordinaire.

Recently, she got a diagnosis of a super rare autoimmune disorder. It's a form of vasculitis that closes off major arteries sort of randomly. The therapy for this is the chemo drug methotrexate. Yeah. So we've had some fun with the new normal, which includes nausea and extreme tiredness. And then we went to the eye doctor. Okay, so now laser treatments and injections. Then I got my root canal and crown, and now I have to go to the podiatrist for a big old blood blister that won't heal.

Now, I know someone(s) out there who would say our karma is the reason behind this. Because, you know, we're such big mean girls. Well, at the risk of offending anyone I don't actually want to offend, fuck that. So, I ask the universe, what am I meant to be learning here? I'm ready to figure it out ;)

In better news, my sugars are finally coming down, and my girl's kidneys are not on the arteritis chopping block.

Good thoughts are all appreciated.

PS: 81 days. Sean Michael has still not been paid #notchilled

XXOO

Julia

One and Only Bear on Presale!

Check it out here!

It's the second Grizzly List book, and it's so much fun!

XXOO

Julia

Also, my last blog post is here. No, the situation is not resolved. It's about to hit the fan, too.

Setting the record straight regarding my former company

Hey y'all

You may have seen some recent stuff on my FB about the company I used to own.

Here's what I have to say. I am not now and have I ever been involved with Torquere Press LLC. I was co-owner of Torquere Press Inc. and I closed that business in Dec 2014. I made all of my final payments, and I turned over the rights to the TQ name to someone I thought I could trust. I was wrong.

This is not a family squabble. This is not about creating drama or can't we all just get along. This is about non-payment of an author for 70 days beyond the contracted period of 60 days past the end of the quarter. This is not about a check on which payment was stopped. This is about a check marked NSF. You cannot arbitrate criminal actions, and bouncing checks is a federal crime. This is not about "being reasonable". Stealing from an author is wrong, and while no, I am not the injured party, I am well aware of all of the facts of the situation, and I would feel absolutely remiss in not warning my fellow authors and the GLBT romance community I love so much to beware. This situation is reaching the levels of EC smoke blowing, and it kills me to see something I created take this kind of a hit.

While there is, completely by coincidence, a J Talbot still associated with Torquere Press LLC, that is not me. Talbot is the pseudonym I chose 15 years ago, and the current J Talbot at TQ is the victim of circumstance there. I have thought recently about changing my pseudonym for the sake of distance, but I have too much time and effort invested in my long career to make that kind of change now. However, there is no reason my legal name should in any way be associated with Torquere Press LLC.

Anyone who knows us from the old days of TQ knows we never took part in public drama, so to be accused of doing this out of spite is ridiculous. I will not be threatened into being quiet. I can't do it. I just can't. Pay your authors, publishers, and just avoid this problem.

Julia, aka Lorna

Coastal Magic round up

Pics from coastal magic! 

I'll have a written recap when my brain works again..

Damon Suede and Sean Michael 

My girl BA at a panel

BA and Kiernan in cock flops

Me and BA at the book signing 

Rainbow butt plug! 

The amazing lunch bunch!

My table at the signing

On the way home

Lord we look tired. Me and Damon suede on Sunday after many days of conning 

Old English Cheese and Mogen David concord wine

What do those two things have in common with cranberry jelly and celery sticks?

My wife was talking the other day about generational memory. About how her parents were 10-15 years younger than mine had been, even though she and I were the same age.

My dad was born in 1932. He stood in line with ration tickets for WW2 and was drafted at the end of Korea. He wore brown shoes in the army not black and his music was all from the late 1940s and early to mid 50s.

So my memories are colored by that. My wife can remember her mom wearing miniskirts and long hair, and her folks listening to 70s music. By the time the 70s came around, my parents were having their last baby not their first and they'd both stopped listening to pop music.

It's the difference between Mogen David concord wine, which my folks thought was the height of class, and wine in a box, which was BA's mom's wine of choice. Old English cheese spread. My dad loved it on celery. All of our juice glasses are made from the jars. We ate it at New Year's on saltines with pickles. BA's mom and dad both like block cheese cut up with grapes and maybe crackers on the side. My mom thought TV dinners rocked. I've never seen BA's folks eat one.

Every so often someone will tell me I'm old fashioned, even for someone my age. And I smile and nod and say yep. It's a family thing.

XXOO

Julia