Writing and trying to get that writing into print, is something I know a bit about.

As mentioned elsewhere, I am a professional writer, and while there is a very good chance you've never read any of my published work, it does exist. And fortunately, I am in enough demand that my name alone gets me jobs. (and no--I don't write under the name "Anni Arbour."

However, that isn't the case for most writers. It is a frustrating reality that many good, some even great, writers will never see the work in print. And that isn't their fault. It is a reality of the publishing world today, which struggles to stay in business in an increasingly virtual, online world.

That is why you see so many aspiring authors self-publish. I can think of many friends who have taken to Kickstarter or Patreon to fund their latest endeavors. Some are relatively successful, most are not. It ends up being a demoralizing dead-end for something they may have spent years writing. A far cry from the times when publishers were desperate to find new writers in order to keep their presses running and their coffers filled.

That is why I find this article from 2023, but still running on the NBC News site, so interesting. It concerns the apparent rise in the publication of queer fiction "...due to a confluence of factors, including younger readers’ openness toward issues of gender and identity, a new generation of writers employing queer themes and, perhaps most importantly, the pandemic-era rise of TikTok’s literary-minded arm."

I honestly have never heard of Tik Tok's book subsection--referred to as "Book Tok"--which has provided the impetus behind this surge in queer literature. I've never used that app and I'm likely never going to. But for its mostly-younger users, it is their introduction to book reading, and that is always a good thing.

I'm also not a reader of most new fiction. Sorry. Without sounding too stuffy and/or condescending, I find much of recent writing contains too much fluff and not enough substance. As with most offerings from Hollywood and television, writing seems dominated by light-weight fare aimed at casual viewers and readers who want to consume something quickly and move on to something else. That's not me.

HOWEVER, I am completely thrilled to see that queer writing is now getting acceptance from the general reading public. That is a huge change from decades past when queer books were considered pornographic and sold clandestinely from behind the counter.

I note that in the NBC article, they cite one trans-oriented book, PONY BOY by Eliot Duncan, for being listed for the National Book Award, a great honor, indeed. But in my opinion, it is a sparse representation of the trans experience.

I have teased a proposed project I have been working on for some time, which concerns telling the stories of individual transgender people. I still can't reveal much about it right now, but hopefully soon, there will be enough progress that I can show you all what direction I intend to take with it.

Since this project is going to be a work comprised entirely of individual stories, I invite anyone reading this who wishes to participate in this undertaking, to contact me via messaging and let me know.

I'd love to have as many personal stories of transition to draw upon as possible. We all have a story to tell and it is my intention to take those stories and present them in a cohesive narrative. I hope you will join me and let's see what we can produce.

--- Anni