triggers | Queer Without Gender

I could write a post where I speak enthusiastically about the digital release of my latest project, but it’s the Victoria University Law Journal.

Actually, it does contain scholarly legal articles about computer-generated works, the treatment of women with intellectual disabilities and something called ‘hot-tubbing’. (No, I still don’t really get why that’s the appropriate term, and I’ve read that article several times by now, but I’m not a legal editor. I’m not paid to understand. I’m paid to put the hyphen in ‘computer-generated works’.) I don’t actually agree with all the articles or their academic position/line of thought, and I wish I’d had the time and pay to go through and do more line editing/proofing, but it’s actually not an uninteresting read, and it’s a free open-source academic journal.

Moving on. Yes, I can sometimes be capable of brevity.

I’ve also spent some time working on the conundrum of ‘How do I make my free books available to people without using a Smashwords-esque service, the nonsensical Google Play, or a host that only hosts PDFs and Word docs (like Google Drive and WordPress and every other hosting service I was already signed up for)?’. I’ve got a few ideas now, but for the moment, I’m putting all my files up on Dropbox, so if you ever wanted an epub or mobi edition of Up Close and Personal or Crooked Words, go forth and download. I’m also using WordPress to host versions of the PDFs for in-browser reading, as it doesn’t disable the interactivity the way Google Drive does. One day I’ll figure out this how-to-be-an-author deal and get everything working smoothly, but I’m not there yet.

On to something title-relevant.

I’m writing a scene in my novella-in-progress where one character (A) listens to a second (B) talk about a third (C), already struggling with depression and PTSD (in addition to queerness and non-binary gender identity and chronic pain), who gets so emotional in triggering situations. B can’t understand why C can’t calmly/quietly/rationally explain what’s going on in her head, or why the things B says to C (some of which are subjective or non-obvious) hurt C so damn much.

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The last few weeks I have been rushed-off-my-face busy. This is likely to continue.

I spent a fortnight learning how to make handmade hard-cover books in Editing 2, and surprised myself, the teachers and the class by inventing a way to improve the process through section sewing rather than webbing the page sections together. Being a hand-crafty sort—before I injured my hands, I sewed dolls clothes, cross stitch, felt animals and other crafty things all the time—this immediately became one of those new hobby-obsessions, in part because I had half the supplies already and, well, who needs an excuse to go out and buy more craft materials, right? (As someone who writes things down and is never without a notebook or my laptop, I also find the idea of writing in a book I’ve made—an object infused with my own energy—rather appealing.) Be warned, everyone: you’re all getting handmade books for Christmas.

As soon as I have time, I mean to take photos and put together a how-to guide. The heavy cardboard covers are covered with fabric, which makes them very durable (no dog-eared corners or bent covers, which is always nice for the anxious types, myself included) for toting around in one’s backpack. I’ve made one with striped coloured fabric for every-day use, and I enjoy writing in it.

My intention, when I’ve finished this semester and have published my novella, is to offer a give-away for a copy of my book and a handmade journal. So if you want free stuff (come on, who doesn’t want free stuff?) come back in November. I may even custom-make the journal for the winner in their preferred colours.

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