"In God's Silence": First Book Update

First of all thank you to those of you who still come to read this blog.  It is deeply appreciated.  I know posting has been eradicate but life does every now and then comes up and things must be dealt with.

The last few months for me, physically speaking, have been very rough.  The pain in my chest and back, for the last ten years, is again at its worst.  The doctor I'm seeing for this thinks its Neuropathy.  To tell you the truth I'm not sure if that is what it is or not.  I just know I am in horrific pain.  The last two weeks or so I've slept on the couch, which is the only lace I can get comfortable.  I also think this pain, at times, effects my ability to think clearly and rationally which then affects my ability to write.

My new (and first) book is doing extremely well.  I've sold forty copies in the three weeks it has been available on Amazon.com.  I have managed to get my book in the Kent State University at Stark book store--- for sale, and also in their lending libraries and archives.  There are perks to being alumni.  I also have my book on the desk of the manager of the Fairlawn, Ohio Barnes & Noble for consideration.

My first reviews for my book (outside of a class room where this project started) has come out:


"I am halfway through the book and I must say it is very riveting.  This book will go far.  Thank  you Charles Dale for such a memorable story." Mrs. Ginny Greenhill

From author of "Beyond John Dunn" and "The Light of a Bright Sun" Thurman P. Banks Jr.

A heart-wrenching trial of love, loss, and hope

I struggle to find the words that can adequately describe Charlie Dale's debut. A truly gifted wordsmith, Charlie mingles in the world of poetry, prophecy, and prose that often left me rereading for the simple pleasure of basking in the beauty of Mr. Dale's writing style. "In God's Silence", we walk a mile and more in young Christoph's shoes, a diffucult task for even the most fleeting of foot. We find ourselves lost in love, lost in a family that has turned their hearts on (against) us, and lost in ( a) box, imprisoned in Aushcwitz, (and)  imprisoned in our mind. Charlie Dale doesn't just tell us about atrocities, he shows us with a gentle hand and open heart, he guides us through a world we have never seen. For this, for all of this, I am grateful. If the true mark of a great book is the life that lingers on, than you can mark my words that this is a great book, as "In God's Silence", I will forever hear the voices that remain.

I also have my first public presentation this Friday at Kent State University at Stark for the Honor's College Conference in Room 212 in the Fine Arts Building.  I start at 9:00 a.m.  I will:

1.  Be speaking about the background and research that went into this book
2.  what prompted it. 
3. I will be reading a passage from the book. 
4. Showing a short movie of images I found.
5. And finally taking questions about the project and book.

Then on May 16th at 7:00 p.m. I have my first public "Meet and Greet the Author" at Keillor's a Teddy Bear Shoppe at 117 Canal Street, Canal Fulton, OH  where I will be doing the same thing as I did at KSU with the addition of wine, cheese and finger-foods.

If you haven't gotten your signed book yet you need to email me at cdale9966@me.com to put in your request.  The book is $15 plus a $4.00 shipping charge within the USA if it has to be shipped.  Over seas prices vary depending on distention; or you can order a non-signed book through Amazon.com at 

http://www.amazon.com/In-Gods-Silence-Charles-Dale/dp/1495438635/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398092796&sr=8-1&keywords=In+God%27s+Silence+Charles+Dale

"Infants of the Spring" by Wallace Thurman-- A "Queer" book to consider

  I read  this incredible book a few months back for an African American Literature class that I am in and think that this books needs a mention here on this blog.  A great read, a must read in my opinion and what better time of year to read this than the spring.  The following is a response I wrote for class and hopefully it inspires you to read this incredible book.

 

  Set in 1920s Harlem the story revolves around Raymond Taylor, a young black author who is trying to write a weighty novel in a decadent, race-oriented atmosphere. In this spirited satire, which mostly takes aim at Locke’s much-celebrated notion of “the New Negro,” a concept Thurman mocks as too serious and uplifting. But he also turns his sharp wit against the character who--- some would say-- most resembles himself, Raymond Taylor, a pretentious young writer who fancies himself a Nietzchean individualist, above mere racial concerns, and dedicated only to art. Thurman’s self-deprecating humor focuses on Taylor’s easy cynicism, as well as on his daily dissipation at “Niggerati Manor,” his name for the apartment building in Harlem where many of the story’s aspiring artists spend their time swilling gin.

            Raymond Taylor resides in that boardinghouse, nicknamed with a number of young blacks who pretend to be aspiring authors and artists. Thurman makes these pretenders the major fatalities of his satire, suggesting that they have destroyed their creativity by leading such decadent lives. Owned by good-hearted Euphoria Blake, a businesswoman who once harbored artistic aspirations of her own, the apartment house is also home to Paul Arbian, a decadent, bisexual artist dedicated to the spirit of Oscar Wilde; Eustace, a singer who prefers classical music to the spirituals everyone wants him to sing; and Pelham Gaylord, a servile wannabe, whose own pathetic poetry serves as evidence in a rape case that puts him in prison, and also underlines the pretense in the effusions of his role-models, Raymond and Paul.

            Critics contend that Thurman based his characters on well-known figures of the Harlem Renaissance, including Hughes, Locke, Hurston, Cullen, Nugent, and Douglas.

            In “Infants of the Spring” Thurman suggests that all American artists and writers--black and white--are simply overrated. He vigorously attacks black writers patronized by whites, who praise everything black authors produce, regardless of quality, as novel and ingenious.  “Infants of the Spring” received criticism with reviewers objecting to Thurman's examining too many issues and not presenting them clearly, and his not making a universal statement about the lifestyles presented. But “Infants of the Spring” was thought to be overly subjective and Thurman overly argumentative in this narrative.

            After a sober gathering of the literati, Euphoria decides to close the disorderly bawdy house, another victim of well-intentioned ideas. Thurman’s clever portrait gallery reflects many of the competing notions of its time—between the masses and individuality, between art and uplift, between civilization and primitivism, between separatism and assimilation. But what truly animates this smart fiction is the timeless belief that ideas have consequences.

            Yet some would praise him for his frank discussion of black society.  No other writer has so unflinchingly told the truth about color snobbery within the color line, the ins and outs of `passing' and other vagaries of prejudice.... “Infants of the Spring's” quota of truth is just that which Negro writers, under the stress of propaganda and counterpropaganda, have generally and quite understandably omitted from their picture.

             In addition, some would consider “Infants of the Spring” one of the first books written expressly for black audiences and not white critics.  But is this clearly the case in which this book has been cast, merely to a black audience only?  Or is possible with the rise in “gay awareness” that this book once again is being looked at as an early submission into gay literature?  One can imagine that looking at this in regard to an early book to deal frankly and openly about homosexuality that there is still resistance in accepting Wallace Thurman as a “gay black man” even though there is proof supporting that very fact.

            Wallace Thurman, after encountering the same queer black-discrimination from both blacks and whites that Baldwin experiences—ends “Infants of the Spring” and his commitment to the gay Harlem Renaissance on a pessimistic note. The end of the Niggeratti Manor writers’ commune is the end of the Harlem Renaissance for the young gay black queer intelligentsia.  In many ways this also in my opinion is a recognition that Thurman himself would be dead in his early thirties after what many believe was a struggling with alcoholism and his struggle with his discomfort with society, his struggle with self, and finally his struggle with his sexuality.

Book Selections

Reading Rainbow offers a wide selection of gay murder mysteries, one set in Hawaii, one a near triple-murder set in Antarctica, and the other a collection of the early cases of a gay P.I. We entertain the young adult market with Madeleine George’s new novel, and offer something for the ladies with Cleis Press’ new adult butch/femme erotica. There’s something for everyone in this month’s Reading Rainbow!

  

"Zero Break" (Neil S. Plakcy)

In two-time Lambda Award finalist Plakcy’s sixth novel in his acclaimed Mahu series, gay detective Kimo Kanapa’aka and his detective partner Ray Donne investigate the murder of a young lesbian mother in an apparent home invasion. They follow up on all the "mokes and titas", aka the usual suspects, and uncover a tangled web leading to the real motive -- one that involves a secret marriage between the woman’s ex-partner and the husband of their twin daughters, an ex-con boyfriend, and an accounting coverup.

Plakcy writes candidly and without fuss about his character’s sexual orientation, noting in the first page, "Yeah, I’m a friend of Dorothy, and proud of it, though it hasn’t always been easy being the only openly gay detective in the Honolulu Police Department." And of the murder victim’s Asian ex-partner, Kimo wonders, "Among gay men, a haole who likes Asian men is called a rice queen. I wondered if her family history and the jewelry she possessed made Zoë Greenfield the female equivalent of that term."

He and his fireman partner Mike have a good life together, but worry throughout the novel whether or not it’s the right time for them to start a family. Plakcy also shows off his knowledge of both Hawaiian culture and cop lingo. His character talks about growing up schooled in the Hawaiian ways, where he learned to repair an outrigger canoe, speak some Hawaiian, play the ipu gourd, and "weave a decent lauhala mat to use when my dad dug an imu in the backyard to roast a pig." There’s lots of surfing, following leads, double-crosses, and boat chases before the case is finally cracked. "Zero Break" is a well-written, thrilling read, refreshing for its LGBT characters and tropical backdrop. Think of it as "Hawaii 5-0" goes gay, a perfect read for while sunning yourself in The Pines. (MLR Press)

  

"Crimes on Latimer" (Joseph R.G. DeMarco)

Joseph R.G. DeMarco takes a look into the formative years of his gay detective character, Marco Fontana, in this teasing collection of short murder mysteries. In the first, "The Kronos Elect," Young Marco is a scholarship student at St. T’s Catholic School when school disciplinarian Patrick Bidding is murdered. Marco’s ally on the staff, closeted Mr. Sullivan, is a suspect for the murder, and this young P.I. rushes to his aid to discover that it was the disciplinarian’s son, Damian, and his pact of ne’er-do-well friends, who did the dastardly deed. In another, Marco helps the employee of a friend, who has been accused of stealing a valuable DaVinci sketch. The sketch’s owner, Mr. Haldane, is the father of Marco’s high school crush, Cullen, and the thief ends up being Haldane’s son-in-law to be.

The story reads like Dashiell Hammett paperback noir, with a gay plot twist. In "The G-String Thief," one of the dancers at Marco’s business, StripGuyz, is being targeted. The dancer, Kyle, suspects his rich family has hired the thug who is harassing him, to force him to give up stripping. He’s partially right. Through the stories, readers learn about Marco’s teen years and ’20s, his growing collection of friends and allies, and his healthy attitude regarding his sexual orientation. This collection of mini-mysteries is compelling, even if at times, the pat way young Marco solves the case seems a little hard to believe. Overall, the collection is solid, and serves to spark interest in the escapades of this gay private dick, all grown up. (Lethe Press)

  

"The Survival Methods and Mating Rituals of Men and Marine Animals" (Chris Kenry)

In this engaging novel, children’s book author Davis Garner has hit rock bottom: he’s been diagnosed with HIV, been evicted from his almost-bare apartment, and his reputation as a writer has suffered at the fate of his last two, poorly-written books. When a friend helps him get a job as a technical writer on an Antarctic-bound research vessel, Davis at first suffers the insecurity of not knowing anything at all about the job he is supposed to be doing.

He soon realizes that his shipmates are not all they’re cracked up to be, either, from the stern network administrator Maureen, to the electrical tech Worm, to the handsome scientist Artaud. Davis spends his days aimlessly wandering the ship, inventing a weekly list of his accomplishments, and playing game after game after game of solitaire on his computer. He balances the need to make the money for his HIV medication with his loathing for the job and for how it takes him away from writing his new children’s book. But when he is tapped as the marine tech investigating whether the seismic technology is causing marine animals to beach themselves, he finds himself in the middle of a very polarizing issue.

Meanwhile, Maureen has stolen the superior scientific work of Artaud’s ex-wife for him to pass off as his own, Worm has had a surprisingly successful one-time hookup with the object of his affection, Maureen, and the less said about Artaud’s hairy sidekick Jerry, the better. In the end, Davis, Maureen, and Worm team up to bring to light Artaud’s sinister plans to sell the scientific research to oil companies, barely escaping a triple-murder in the process. Kenry’s fourth novel shows his chops as a consummate weaver of stories, able to hook the reader early and reel him in with one whale of a tale. A perfect read for a leisurely week at a seaside resort. (Kensington Books)

 

Book Review: "Perfect Peace" by Daniel Black

One of the BEST books I have read in a while... A MUST read, if you read anything this year!  Find below a more in depth review of this incredible story!  Some spoliers are revelead, so you might want to skip all of it....

 

 

The heartbreaking portrait of a large, rural southern family’s attempt to grapple with their mother’s desperate decision to make her newborn son into the daughter she will never have.

 When the seventh child of the Peace family, named Perfect, turns eight, her mother Emma Jean tells her bewildered daughter, “You was born a boy. I made you a girl. But that ain’t what you was .....The heartbreaking portrait of a large, rural southern family’s attempt to grapple with their mother’s desperate decision to make her newborn son into the daughter she will never have.

 When the seventh child of the Peace family, named Perfect, turns eight, her mother Emma Jean tells her bewildered daughter, “You was born a boy. I made you a girl. But that ain’t what you was supposed to be. So, from now on, you gon’ be a boy. It’ll be a little strange at first, but you’ll get used to it, and this’ll be over after while.” From this point forward, his life becomes a bizarre kaleidoscope of events. Meanwhile, the Peace family is forced to question everything they thought they knew about gender, sexuality, unconditional love, and fulfillment.

 

Perfect Peace certainly can embrace the saying “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” Perfect was born male and his mother Emma Jean out of her desperation and need for a female child convinced her son he was a she. He was dressed in ribbons and dresses and often told how beautiful she was. He was not allowed to play with his/her brothers. When she would ask she was told “girls don’t play with boys, her younger brothers wanted to play with her but they were told shes supposed to do girl stuff.

At the age of eight Emma Jean takes Perfect into the woods and abruptly change Perfect from female to male(Perfect to Paul). She hacks her beautiful hair into a short cut, forces her to believe he’s a boy and must learn to act like one. She also tells Paul that he will be ok. Paul’s dad Gus is having trouble with this new information and in dealing with Paul. His mind is plagued with memories of Perfect his little girl, how does he transition his mind? How can he love a son who was once his little girl? Gus decides to let his son Authorly teach Perfect how to be a man. All six of her brothers try to help each one using their own talent and experience coupled with love of family. But its one brother that teaches Paul a lesson Jesus would be proud of.

As the family tries to heal after learning what Emma Jean has done the deception proves to be pretty strong for this family and no one can understand Emma Jeans reasoning. It’s not until the face of tragedy hits that moves this family towards healing and survival. Perfect Peace forces the reader to re-think what you feel you know about personal desires, identity, gender, and sexual orientation. Mr. Black did an excellent job of appropriating the language of our people during this time. Also if imagined how a child would handle an identity crisis that borders homosexuality amongst people who were not educated enough to have grace or mercy.

It is the opinion of this reviewer that Perfect Peace is a work of literary genius. No matter who you are we are all “perfect” in His eyes and should be allowed to live in “peace”. Next up “The Sacred Place” by the same author my library would be incomplete without The Sacred Place and “They tell me of a Home”.

Chaz Bono--Transtion: The Story of How I Became a Man --REVIEW

Chaz Bono's groundbreaking and candid account of a forty-year struggle to match his gender identity with his physical body and his transformation from female to male
 
At first, America knew the only child of Sonny and Cher as Chastity, the cherubic little girl who appeared on her parents' TV show. In later years, she became famous for coming out on a national stage, working with two major organizations toward LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights and publishing two books. And just within the past eighteen months, Chaz Bono has entered the public consciousness as the most high-profile transgender person ever.
 
All through the hoopla surrounding his change, Chaz has insisted on maintaining his privacy. Now, in Transition, Chaz finally tells his story. Part One traces his decision to transition, beginning in his childhood-when he played on the boys' teams and wore boys' clothing whenever possible-and going through his painful, but ultimately joyful, coming out in his twenties, up to 2008, when, after the death of his father, drug addiction, and five years of sobriety, Chaz was finally ready to begin the process of changing his gender. In Part Two, he offers an unprecedented record in words and photographs of the actual transition, a real-time diary as he navigates uncharted waters. These chapters capture the day-to-day momentum of his life as his body changes.
 
Throughout the book, Chaz touches on themes of identity, gender, and sexuality; parents and children; and how harboring secrets shatters the soul. It is an amazing contribution to our understanding of a much- misunderstood community.

Aiden Shaw bookcovers

Books from 2010 that I read:

"A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style" by Tim Gunn

"Any Kind Of Luck" by William Jack Sibley

"Brutal Uncut" Aiden Shaw

"Educating Esme" Esme Raji Codell (this was for school)

"Fashion Inside Out" Daniel Vosovic

"Fierce Style" Christian Sirano

"Freedom: A Novel" by Jonathon Franzen

"Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons For Making it Work" Tim Gunn

"Honkey" Dalton Connely (This was for school)

"L'Affaire" by Diane Johnson

"Last Summer" by Michael Thomas Ford

"Looking For It" Michael Thomas Ford

"Me Times Three" Alex Witchel

"Precious" Sapphire

"Rules For Saying Goodbye" Katherine Taylor

"Rupaul's Guide to to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Style: Workin' It" Rupaul

"Tangled Sheets: Tales of Erotic" by Michael Thomas Ford

"The Little Black Book Of Style" Nina Garcia

"Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain" Portia De Rossi

"Welcome To The Fallen Paradise" by Dayne Sherman

"What We Remember" Michael Thomas Ford

This list is from 2010 so I can start a new list for 2011 which if you notice I have one so far!