dcbiddle
Hari's in the Back
...looking for what is naked and alive
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Life on the Outskirts of DNA: transcending race
I’m in the middle of writing a novel about 21st century racial identity, among other things. Also pioneering, mixed race farming communities in the 19th century Midwest, and the future Utopia that we are all not going to know we’re living in. I began writing this story in the fall of 2003, partly as an experiment with a new-fangled thing called Weblogs. After being on this planet for 45 years,…
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What I'm Working on in 2024
I already feel like a jerk. The only thing that is going to keep me from being selfish and single-minded here in 2024 is if I need surgery or get diagnosed with cancer or just don’t wake up some morning. A solid, working draft of my third novel for The Story Plant is due in December of 2024. The title we’re operating with right now is Notes on the Golden Country. I spent much of 2023 doing…
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Private Utopias and the Future of Everyone
These days, I wish as hard as I can for good things that are considered impossible to happen, like there actually being a Santa Claus with a whole team of people way up North who spend all year working on ways to gift the world with love and happiness and really cool new technology to boot. I also wonder sometimes whether we’ll be alive when the next truly artistic and creative musically gifted…
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A Few Gentle But Twisted Ideas for 2024
This week I’ve been reading an interview with nobel literature laureate Louis Glück in The Paris Review’s Winter 2023. It’s a great dialog conducted by esteemed poet, memoirist, (and more) Henri Cole. Two poets talking, with one of them a recent nobel winner, is always interesting. For those of you who think this kind of thing snooty, high-falootin’, and/or elitist, sorry, but all the interviews…
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Lining Up for Flight: "Sound Effect Infinity" About to Lift Off
My new novel, Sound Effect Infinity, will be released on January 23, 2024 (fingers crossed, because you never know about this world we all live in now). It’s a science fiction story about a near-future world where the mysteries of music and sound and human connection are front and center, along with mind control experiments of the CIA, and questions about the power of psychedelic drugs and…
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Our national conversation about gender identity is one big miscommunication
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer (8–22–2023)
I had a friend in junior high whose father and uncle decided they’d had enough of his long hair (beautiful, silken, golden wheat-colored, cascading well below his shoulders). They trapped him in the bathroom one Sunday night, held him against a wall, and shaved his head down to the skull. He showed…
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At Play in the Land of Identity
My essay, “Our National Conversation About Gender is One Big Miscommunication,” was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer a few weeks ago. I was fortunate enough to work on it with Devi Lockwood, Commentary and Opinion Editor. I am always grateful when my work goes through the fine-tuning filter of professional editors. I was quite happy with that piece when I submitted it. It says a lot more…
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A Brief Scene from "Old Music for New People:" how to hold a knife
There are a number of scenes in my novel Old Music for New People that make me cry whenever I read them. I began writing that book in or around 2013. It is an understatement to say I re-wrote and revised that story dozens of times. So many scenes are emblazoned in my objective editing brain (such as it is). You’d think by now I would be somewhat immune/bored or at least distant from those scenes.…
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The Summer We Are 15
The Summer We Are 15
Flash growth and learning to survive.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
A version of this essay was originally published at Medium.com and then with The Good Men Project “Modern Identities” imprint
I was 15 in 1973. It was the year my parents began their divorce. It was also the year that I began to seriously grow my hair long and think — quite innocently compared to life here in the…
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(Talking Writing) Highlights of an interview I did with TW’s John Vogel back win November about creativity, peak artistic experience, and other things that drove me to writing fiction.Â
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So this is interesting. Not sure what my thoughts are yet. I see a lot of confusion and frustration from other commenters. This whole open cultural conversation is astounding and profound on numerous levels all at once. Everyone needs to understand how hard it is to figure out the right answers. At least, that's my opinion. One note, I see the hand with the pills and the hand with a vial of some sort in the landing page for Plume. I don't know if I'd recommend that visual. Kind of connotes a drug pusher image. I wouldn't think that's what is required here.
You do not need to experience gender dysphoria in order to be trans! However, living within a gender binary system that denies and actively harms us for claiming our expansive identities can cause levels of psychological distress. It can be a feeling of distaste or disassociation from certain body parts, or it might cause you to dress in a particular way, to camouflage parts of your body you can’t stand or want others to see.
We want you to know that you are loved and valid in all the ways you exist. Not all of us experience the negative aspects of gender, but all of us deserve to know what it’s like to feel “right” in our bodies. You deserve a space to explore and experiment with names, pronouns, expressions, and modifications on your journey to find your own sense of home.
Read more about gender dysphoria & euphoria on our blog (getplume.co/blog)!
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I just want people to know about this, my first nationally published novel. It’s a good read and hopefully raises lots of questions. In my opinion, the discussion needs to be opened up. People need to try compassion and love first. I’m seeing a lot of defensive anger. I get it, but I also know that no one accomplishes anything in their life if the answer to questions leans into anger. You can check it out here and pre-order for the December 7 release:Â
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Music-New-People-Novel/dp/1611883180
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This was the first cover idea I came up with. I think it says a huge amount about this story. Not as much, however, as the one that The Story Plant has put into play. I’ll post that one soon.Â
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Another cover design FAIL! by me. I can see how I would have used this if I had been self-publishing. Thank God I have a publisher with more brains and experience than 99.3%.Â
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Old Music for New People: Coming to You Soon
Old Music for New People: Coming to You Soon
My coming-of-age novel, Old Music for New People, will be published by the independent publishing house The Story Plant on December 7th. Click on the cover widget near the top right here on this screen to go to the book’s landing page. You’ll find all the links you could ever need to pre-order the paperback and digital versions now. Reviewers with NetGalley accounts can now also access the ARC…
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Another misbegotten OLD MUSIC FOR NEW PEOPLE book cover idea. Go here to see the publisher’s page and find out about pre-ordering. https://www.thestoryplant.com/old-music-for-new-people
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