First, quickly, the second round of edits on Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Zero Day is almost finished, for really real. I’ve shaved it down to just under 130,000 words, but that may again change in subsequent drafts. I’ll be tackling the final chapter this weekend in one sitting. It’s the big final battle scene and it’s LONG, and I’d rather do the whole thing at once rather than break it down over a few days, to make sure it flows well.

Now, onto something more important…

It is traditional for businesses to hop on the Pride Month bandwagon every June and shill their products in a flagrant (and often hypocritical) attempt to cash in.

I’m not going to do that.

What I am going to do is make something extremely clear: I am pro-LGBTQ. Many, many of my friends are gay, lesbian, bi, trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, asexual — you name it, I know it. These people are more than friends; they’re my found family and I love them all.

If that’s a problem for you, stop following me, here and on social media. Go, and never darken my towels again, as Groucho used to say.

Don’t bother emailing me with your angry, homo/transphobic rants (unless you want me to post them all over social media with your names and email addresses attached, because I will absolutely do that). Just go away and take your bigotry with you. I promise you, I won’t miss you.

Why am I writing this? you may be wondering.

It was prompted by an angry, homophobic email received recently by my friend and fellow indie author Jeremy Flagg, who wrote in one of his newsletters about Pride Month and being a gay man and got some douchemagoo responding with what could be a boilerplate for homophobic anger. See for yourself:

What’s almost — ALMOST — funny about this is that this guy has apparently been on Remy’s email newsletter list for four years, and is somehow only now noticing the good Mr. Flagg is gay.

The dude is very open about himself, and his work is full of gay characters. It’s not exactly subtext here, but somehow, “Pat” needed to be hit over the head with a rainbow flag to finally realize what was going on.

I have to imagine there’s at least one person reading this who has read my work and never really noticed the queer characters. This email is for them.

Pst. Buddy. There are queer people in my books. Sometimes a lot of them. Because I believe in representation and I am pro-LGBTQ. Don’t like it? Tough. I’m not going anywhere and neither are the queer characters. That leaves one option, which is for YOU to leave. There’s the door. Don’t let it hit you on the way out.

If you’re still here, then awesome. Glad to have you. Or should I say, GLAAD to have you?

No, I shouldn’t say that. Too cheesy.

Anyway, that’s the diatribe for this week. Happy Pride to those who celebrate it. Take care of yourselves and stay safe, and remember there are people in the world who will love and protect you.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator.

Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft two is almost done. Scheduled for a mid-to-late 2022 release.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.

APPEARANCES & EVENTS

• None scheduled.

MISC.

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