Pride, and an upcoming audio book

What a weekend that was. I still smile now and then, just from the high of it.

The US Supreme Court confirmed the right of equal marriage throughout the nation. A hundred important legal rights come with that, from medical decision-making to financial benefits to family building. And despite foot dragging here and there, it will be implemented everywhere. In our lifetimes.

And in the lifetimes of so many older people whose lifelong fight for recognition of their love is finally achieved. I teared up at the picture of the two Texas gentlemen in their eighties, sharing a kiss as husbands after 54 years together.

We owe so much to all the people who came out in the decades past – the ones who took risks and stood up and taught their families and friends and neighbors that gay was just another adjective for people whom they knew, trusted and cared about.

I went to pride this weekend, and the mood was joyful. There were kids and adults of all ages, all celebrating together. School buses with rainbow garlands. Equal opportunity Daleks, ready to exterminate without prejudice.
Drag queens and major corporations all coming together under the rainbow. How wonderful. And here and there I saw couples in their fifties, sixties, seventies, holding hands with bright eyes, and looking at the rainbow-sparkling kids around them with delight.

The fight for equality is not over, but the Supreme Court’s statement means more than just marriage rights in an extra 13 states. It is a statement of equality that we hope will resonate far beyond the legal issue of marriage. We still need to fight, and vote, to keep the progress going, but this weekend was for celebration.

It felt apt that I am currently in the middle of a project to get my first audio book release. Because I chose Into Deep Waters for that release. And that book is my homage to older men like that couple from Texas, who lived quiet lives of love and hope through all the hard years.

I submitted the audition script – or rather my angel on this project, Jonathan Penn, did – and invited ten of the narrators you guys have mentioned to me as favorites. I hoped a couple might be interested. To my delight, nine of them are submitting auditions. A wealth of riches. I’ll be listening and trying to somehow make a choice soon.

I don’t know how this book will do. The ebook is free, so I’m not sure how many people will choose to pay for the audio. But it’s a project I’ve wanted to try for a long time, and most of my self-pub books, to which I have the audio rights, are freebies. So I decided that I wanted Into Deep Waters out there. Whether I do any others or not, this is the book I wanted to bring to a bigger audience if I can. It’s exciting, and I look forward to the next stages of the process.