This Queer Book Saved My Life

Meet A.J. Bermudez and her darkly playful (and Lambda Literary Award nominated!) story collection:  Stories No One Hopes Are About Them . These short stories explore characters who are ni de aquí, ni de allá—neither from here nor there—straddling competing worlds, disrupting paradigms, and transitioning from objects of other people’s stories to active subjects and protagonists of their own. Big th...

To be queer, young, and surfing on the beach. Where's your queer true north? Our guests today are attorney David Rephan and Lambda Literary Award finalist Jay Quinn! David shares with us how Jay's novel Metes and Bounds saved his life and how David continues to return to the novel as a queer true north. This was Jay's first novel and he went on to write four more as well as a memoir...

Meet Joseph Plaster and his new book Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco's Tenderloin . It's 7 Minutes in Book Heaven! Where we meet queer authors and talk with them about the new books they have coming out for us to love and cuddle up with. What's Kids on the Street about? Joseph explores the informal support networks that enabled abandoned and runaway q...

Seriously, though. How DO we thread together all of our queer identities? Our guest is writer, educator, and theater maker Allison Vincent and we talk about the queer book that saved her life: the novella Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. Goodbye to Berlin is a Queer classic. Our hero moves to Berlin where he meets the incomparable Sally Bowles. They become roommates as he explores Berli...

Meet McKenzie Wark and her new book Raving . It's 7 Minutes in Book Heaven! Where we meet queer authors and talk with them about the new books they have coming out for us to love and cuddle up with. What's Raving about? McKenzie takes us into the undisclosed locations of New York's thriving underground queer and trans rave scene. Techno, first and always a Black music, invites fresh...

Going from unseen to seen. This episode is the recording of our live event at Lush Lounge and Theater. And we welcome back William Burleson! You remember him from Season One, when we discussed how his book Bi America was life-giving for our guest Neil Aasve. Now, William talks with me about the book that saved his life: The Bisexual Option by Fritz Klein, MD. He shares with us, "I have to say...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Gerardo Sámano Córdova and his new novel Monstrilio.  What it's about? Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her de...

When you go up that mountain you don't know what you'll find. Welcome to our LGBT podcast! In this episode, we meet Gerard Cabrera (he/him) and I talk with him about The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Gerard tells me that, " The Magic Mountain is about educating yourself and trying to make decisions for how you want to live your own life. Do you want to follow a path of seeking free...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet B.G. Wolfe and and her new novel April Renegade. B.G. aims to write diverse characters and storylines, with emphasis on thos...

Reclaiming our coming out stories. Welcome to our LGBT podcast! In this episode, we meet Jacob Aloi (he/him) and I talk with him about Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli . This YA novel follows 16-year old Simon Spier as he navigates coming out as well as meeting his first love. The book really tackles coming out stories and owning them. It was also adapted into the rom-com Love...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this short podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Michele Kirichanskaya and their new book Ace Notes: Tips and Tricks on Existing in an Allo World. Michele is a  freela...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this short podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Joshua Gonzales and his new book Keep Sweet: My Homemade Recipe for a Fulfilling Gay Life . He is an LGBTQ+ Latino act...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this short podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Loren A. Olson, MD and his new book No More Neckties: A Memoir in Essays . Loren is the award-winning author of Finall...

God cares about the most marginalized bodies. Welcome to our LGBT podcast! In this episode we’re talking with the Reverend Shannon TL Kearns (he/him) about Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson. Rev. Kearns was raised fundamentalist Evangelical, however he went on to become the first openly Transgender man ordained to the Old Catholic Priesthood. Our wide-ranging conversation includ...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Tess Sharpe and her upcoming book 6 Times We Almost Kissed ( And One Time We Did ). What’s this new YA novel about? After ye...

I didn't really understand, until I read this book, what was my meaning? What was I here for? Welcome to our LGBT podcast! In this episode we’re talking with Nicole Olila (she/her) about the Lambda Literary Award winning novel Out of Time by Paula Martinac. Today’s conversation is one of those life imitates art imitates life moments as Nicole’s work as an archivist and owner of a vintage femi...

The first time I saw a potential future for someone like me.  Welcome to our LGBT podcast! In this episode we’re talking with Henry Holden (he/they) about Peter Darling by S.A Chant. This novel is a sequel and really a re-telling of Peter Pan, in which Peter is trans, an adult now, and starts a relationship with Captain James Hook! For Henry, he told us, that reading Peter Darling was,  "the...

Welcome to our LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven – presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this short podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Lindsey A. Freeman and her upcoming book is Running . What’s it about? Lindsey presents the feminist and queer handboo...

Building a language to be able to talk with my parents. Welcome to our LGBT podcast! In this episode we’re talking with community organizer and activist LaSaia Wade (she/they) about Secret Society by Miasha.  This novel starts as a story about two flashy women who hustle men for money, but then dives into the twists and turns of living and loving in the world as trans women of color.  LaSaia tells...

On today’s episode, we have a special crossover episode for you with one of my favorite podcasts The Sewers of Paris . The Sewers of Paris is a podcast about how queer people's lives are shaped by our favorite books, movies, music, and shows. So, how could we not have a crossover? The host is writer, podcaster, and video-maker Matt Baume. He’s been nominated for a GLAAD award for journalism a...

Be who you are. And don't apologize. Welcome to our LGBT podcast and in this episode we’re talking with actor Troy Stanley (he/him) about Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. This novel kicked off a landmark series as well as numerous television adaptations. For Troy, he told us, "I think what Tales of the City said to me was be who you are don't apologize for who you are be who y...

Welcome to the LGBT podcast 7 Minutes in Book Heaven - presented to you by This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this short podcast, we spend 7 minutes in our virtual studio interviewing LGBTQ authors about their new and upcoming books for us to love and cuddle up with. Today, we meet Dr. Nyri Bakkalian. Her new book is Confluence: A Person Shaped Story . What’s it about? It is a novel set in Japan&ap...

Room to breathe and ask my own questions. Welcome to our LGBT podcast and in our new episode we're talking with dr. finn schneider (they/them) about Bless Me, Ultima . It is a coming-of-age novel by Rudolfo Anaya. For finn it saved their life three (!) different times and we’ll talk all about them, especially as the novel created a space to explore their spirituality in a new and meaningful w...

It's election day! Go vote! And then listen to our podcast crossover event with the podcast DEI Is . Host Enrico Manalo and I interview Brian McComak the founder of Hummingbird Humanity. Much of Brian's work focuses on LGBTQ inclusivity at organizations throughout the world, but his work is very expansive as a consultant, speaker, author and facilitator. He has a new book coming out in 2...

Can I give myself permission to be myself? Welcome to our LGBT podcast This Queer Book Saved My Life! In this episode, we talk with lighting designer, radio host, and teacher Rachael Cady (she/her) about the book that saved her life: Whipping Girl by Julia Serano. It's a collection of personal essays that debunk many of the myths and misconceptions that people have about trans women, feminini...