I have been a published author for a while. And sometimes this fact stuns me. I see authors who have been writing for less time, with more books. I only have four. Clearly, I write slow. But writing for me is a release, an expression. I don’t really do it to become rich, though a little money is nice.
This set of photos came up on my Facebook timeline, but I couldn’t share it again there (after a while, I think post “expire” and the whole FB algorithm thing says “no go” when you try to republish things to your timeline).
Anyway, these photos are from an author reading and signing I did April 24, 2010, at Wild Iris, a feminist bookstore in Gainesville, Florida. The store is unfortunately now closed. That day, I read from not only the two books I had written and had been published at the time (Turning Point and Turn for Home), but also the one in my hands that you can see, To Love and To Cherish.
TLTC was an anthology of lesbian love and marriage stories, which I edited, that contained stories by a group of writers who called ourselves “Sapphic Planet.” LoveYouDivine (a publisher who is also gone) helped with publication and distribution. The only remaining physical copies are, I think, the few I have. I did write one story in there, titled “Traditional Values,” but the enjoyment of working with other authors and putting out something that we all took pride in (and which raised money for Marriage Equality USA), is why I cherish it so much.
It’s these times I enjoy most, both then and now – mixing with readers and other writers, and bookstore people. I must have talked with the owner Erica Merrill for three or four hours before and after the reading event.
Quite the walk down memory lane. If I find more photos from “the old days,” I’ll be sure to share.
Lara Zielinsky 