I just reread my favorite short Christmas story. You can find it here: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/32457/pink-angel . I never tire of it.

I have said before that some outfits can improve a man's appearance, and last night at work I got a good example of it. One of my supervisors was wearing a western-style dress shirt that flattered him nicely, and once I finished berating myself for noticing, I decided to give myself a break on the subject.

But it did get me thinking about flirting with men, and having a man flirt with me.

An interesting short quiz on grammar usage.

http://www.contentrules.com/blog/test-knowledge-grammar/?gob...

Melanie Dian

There is so much peace in driving out through the desert, but I have never been out there in the winter. Sometimes I see pictures with snow out in the sage brush and wonder how it got there. We used to go out in the desert to camp. I loved looking up at the stars at night. Sometimes I would lay there under the jewel bright heavens and doze. Once in a while I'd wake up and look at the stars and I would notice that the Milky Way had swiveled a little. I remember that sort of like a time lapse movie. The nights when the moon was gone were the best.

I have the brave face on right now. I may look like I'm alright, or sound it. But this time of year is ....hard for me.

I put this in the comment section under my last post but I will do so here as well for those who quit reading the story for one reason or another.

Hello everone! I'm of need of some opinions here. My book Heroes of Justice has lingered in the backroom for ages. There're many reasons why, but mostly because of the lack of a cover. Yes, I do know that many has come forward with solutions, but for me it turned into a mountain of frustrations.

Finally, money problems has forced my hand, so ready or not.

This is a cover I've put together that I think looks half-way decent. My question is what do you my three fans think? What might improve it?
Hugs
Grover

Some time back I was outed by one of my nephews, a particularly nasty and unthinking individual whose actions have unfortunately caused me multiple issues, not to mention the total polarization of my ex-wife's family. My ex-wife was the only person outside of my therapist and my friends here who actually new that I was transitioning - my plan being to address this with my sons in the spring of 2014. My three sons, who at the time my nephew decided to tell the world were aged 17, 22, and 25, unfortunately found out in a less than optimal fashion.

After some initial run around that got taken care of by noon yesterday, I got the estimate to fix my Prius.

I'm beginning to get the impression that I could be doing something right either that or my eyes are playing up, because according to my kudos counter, I have 140,000 of the little darlin's.

I am really worried about Jaci. She seems really down over the rejection of her family, and it seems like its getting worse as the holiday approaches.

I have been in recent correspondence with another writer who wanted to know why I don't allow public comments on my stories. I said that one negative comment had far more affect on me than 20 positive ones, and I felt I didn't have to take criticism if I didn't want it.

Nowadays, I have the courage to publish stories with public comments disabled. (And there's certainly plenty of moral bullying to imply there's something wrong with you if you don't allow public comments.)

This is one that you will definitely not hear in shopping malls. Take note of my warnings.

www.youtube.com.sg/watch?v=tEe55NxFSSU

Otherwise, have a very Merry Christmas,

Joanne

This is my very first giveaway and using Rafflecopter, so I hope it all goes well. In celebration of hitting 10,000 sales on Amazon I am giving away a hardcover autographed copy of God Bless the Child (the book that got this whole ball of fun rolling). Sign up today, let's have some fun. Only one winner this time, but more fun to come in the upcoming months.

I just saw Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962) (in French with English subtitles that are more or less adequate, as these things go) and was struck that the huge problem for the Holy Church of the time was Jeanne's cross-dressing. Evidently, hearing voices and seeing angels was more-or-less fine, but doing it whilst ‘dressed inappropriately’ was anathema. TMTC,tMTStS.

Highly LGBT question heavy survey?

This year I was determined not to hear 'Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time' until the day itself. Sadly it first assaulted my ears on November 15th.

And no, I wasn't alive back then. My grandfather was, though. He made his living as a butcher back in the thirties, moving between Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri as the work was available. I also know, from personal experience, that he was one mean SOB if provoked and a sane person did not want to make him mad at them.

Back when the original Bonnie and Clyde movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway came out he once told me that he'd known Clyde Barrow. Who was a mean SOB (that coming from one) who grandad wouldn't turn his back on.

Well, I had an interesting experience after the church service today.

Instead of placing this in a simple comment, I chose to place it in a blog entry so more can see it. I've just finished re-reading MAU and Whisper. In case you were wondering where the extra kudos came from, it was me.

I'm very impressed with your storytelling skills. Both stories held my attention and enthusiasm all the way through to the satisfying endings. Your characters were very well thought out and fleshed out, til they became more real people to me as opposed to characters in stories.

Enough Computer Talk !

With the stress of being jobless and potentially homeless gone, I can refocus and get Issue Two finished and posted this weekend.

I'm calling my chapters Issues to be more comicbook geeky. :)

And no it's not for that surgery.

Sigh slipped on some ice and broke ankle in two places awaiting some surgery.

I heard this comparison twice in the last two days and by two completely different unattached people talking about two different stories, one not even a member of the transgender community. I've heard this comparison before as well and I wonder if there is credence to it. I figured I would bring it up here and hopefully people will weigh in on the matter.

I have been, on occasion, compared to Charles Dickens.

There, I said it.

Well Nelsen you finally got out your pain you have been suffering these pass few years. The world will be saying goodby to you shortly! Live in pease now without your pains!!

Weather in the Denver area interrupted power and connectivity to the server farm. They worked on the problem for quite a while then it took even longer to get all the servers rebooted. Looks like we are back online. :)

Hugs,
Erin

I have a job interview this afternoon. It's for a job I'm way overqualified for. Can't find anything in my field, and this doesn't even pay decently. Working though, is better than not working.

One thing loosing my job has done, it has moved up my timetable on SRS. This is because SRS is covered on my old insurance, and part of my severance package was insurance for 11 weeks after I was laid off. I am prepared to buy COBRA if I have to if I need the insurance extended.

So, baring glitches, I will be going into an operating room and having what was supposed to be the final stage of my transition done. Like I said, it was moved up. I do not see myself ever being able to afford this on my own, and I qualify now (or will as of Dec. 16).

This concerns revisions and downloads. I just discovered that the copy of Reclamation that was offered in a 5-day free promotion is an older version. I updated all of my books in June of this year; all of the "Look Inside!" previews reflected that--yet the older version was sent out. Amazon is looking into it with me (several emails back and forth), because they're potentially liable if the book downloaded is not the book previewed!

This one's pretty basic really and you can feed a lot of people pretty well with big this one.

You'll need.

I tin foil roaster or standard kitchen one. Either will do.

Found an interesting documentary on gender identity and those who cross or blur the lines between the genders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIoVXMFI5Tw

Given how many of us here from the UK have an issue with the misogynist prating of the likes of Richard Littlejohn you might enjoy taking a test to see how much the Daily Mail hates YOU personally

(And the test doesn't even mention TG)

Persephone

Now that we are in December I can announce that I have three Christmas stories available at Amazon for the Kindle - with a fourth coming feature Andrew Bryant from Unreachable.

I am looking to translate my books into French. Is there anyone willing to re-correct/edit my efforts?

Tanya

A new book of short stories

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/kaleidoscope-ii/1...

only in print for now but will be ready for Kindle and PDF when I get back!

Just a bit of a heads up if you prefer reading stuff on little screens, more of my stuff has made its way to the Kindle platform!

The Daily Fail has scored yet another notch in the "WTF?" category with this article:

'Humans evolved after a female chimpanzee mated with a pig': Extraordinary claim made by American geneticist

The fourth work of fiction set in the Second World War depicts life in Nazi Germany from 1935 on. It was inspired by the life of Solomon Perel, a Jewish-German boy who at age ten escaped Nazi persecution in 1935 with his family by fleeing to Lodz, Poland. When captured by the Germans, he managed to conceal his identity from the Nazis and become a member of the Hitler Youth in the process. It was adeptly depicted in ‘Europa, Europa,’ a movie based on the book ‘I Was Hitler Youth Salomon’ an autobiography Perel wrote in 1991.

What's a number? It's a useful construct...

Like - how many weeks are there in a year? Fifty-two (52).

A Holiday thought, Consider the following, "No one will even notice!"

Ever since I sat down and decided that I was going to give being a published author a try, I have been very conscientious about the choices that I make and what I put down on paper. I know I am only a self published author using technology to my advantage, but certain questions should be raised.

What is transgender literature saying about the community as a whole?

Are you happy with the message?

How do you feel about terms like Sissy, Tranny, Shemale, Ladyboi, Slut, Bimbo?

Do you think the majority of stories accurately represent your struggles?

Sorry folks, I'm going to watch, Saving Mr Banks, this evening and will probably be back too late to do Bike.

Angharad

On Turner Classic Movies they're going to be showing a completely restored version of Topper on the 30th at 2:30am EST 11:30pm on the 29th!

This book is written by a friend of mine from a local writer's group. It's a fantasy novel, no TG, but it is well-written and presents a very original idea. I helped with the editing. :

My book Reclamation is available free this long holiday weekend at Amazon. Perfect for your new Black Friday Kindle!

I have a question about the Christmas contest. I know its supposed to be about 3 wise men, but would 3 wise women be acceptable?