Thanks for your patience while I reworked my latest manuscript
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post. Sorry for the delay. Lots of writing, revising, and editing have taken priority in my life. I’ve also been coaching writing clients and teaching qi gong, an ancient Chinese martial art, to senior citizens in our local park. So, as you can see, I’ve been busy.
What’s taken up most of my time has been rewriting and editing my latest full-length sapphic novel, Blended Lives. For the past five years, I’ve done four major rehauls on the manuscript after consulting with an editor and recruiting the help of six sensitivity readers. These amazing people have given me valuable feedback on my characters’ diverse identities, languages, cultures, backgrounds, etc., to ensure that each character, and their unique life situation, comes across as authentic to readers.
For this novel, I have sought out sensitivity readers because I am a cis white lesbian and my fictional story features a cis white lesbian protagonist, along with her Mexican American love interest, and a Black Trans woman, a couple of gay men, neurodivergent individuals, and a young woman with mental health issues. As a writer who deeply cares about diversity, equity, inclusion and the accurate depiction of underrepresented populations in literature, I believe it is our duty—and honor—as authors to portray our characters and situations as realistically as possible.
Like most of the sapphic writers I know, I celebrate multiculturalism and diversity and take particular care not to offend people. While striving to uphold the true image of traditionally underrepresented folks, I feel it’s important for us to recognize that we are all humans, and that we deserve the same rights and opportunities as everyone else, no matter who we are or where we live. Just because we are different than the “norm” (what is normal, anyway?), we have our own values, loves, hurts, and needs. We all deserve respect, dignity, and a fair chance to thrive, and be safe, with our loved ones in this world. Yet this isn’t what’s happening.
As time changes and certain people’s rights are increasingly being taken away, thirst for power (economic and more) is rising, and books like mine are being banned for no reason. It’s high time for us to take a stand and stick up for others. If you’re not into social justice and activism, you can at least start by reading a variety of books. Try sipping some hot chocolate and reading books penned by my LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC author friends, not only in the USA, but globally. Personally, I love reading stories set in other countries!
Hopefully, our stories will offer you new perspectives and a chance to reflect on your own biases and privileges. We all know that many people, just because of their skin color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, language, gender identity, mental and physical health, abilities, etc., are still being unfairly treated. It is time for this injustice and inequity to stop. Literature is a gateway.
Now that my manuscript is finally ready, I am awaiting a call from my new editor, with whom I will be working on the final draft before publication. It’s time for Blended Lives to come into this world. It’s a contemporary love story based in San Francisco between two very different women—opposites, really—both dancers, in their own special way.
Through personal and family challenges, loss, tension, laughs, friendship, love, and all sides of humanity—the best ingredients to weave a great tale—my protagonists light up the page. So, readers, thank you for your patience as I reworked my latest manuscript. Thank you to all my sensitivity readers, and that editor who gave me great insight. And thank you in advance to Bella Books, my new publisher, who has taken a chance on this unique story featuring LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and neurodivergent characters.
I’m pleased to announce that Blended Lives will launch into our sapphic literary world in early 2027.
Mickey