My travel/spirituality essay in Parabola… and its first reading!

Delighted to see my essay “Out of the Dark Depths” in the Winter 2023 issue of Parabola: The Search for Meaning. The issue theme of this New York-based magazine dedicated to the world’s religious, cultural, and mythological traditions is “Darkness and Light,” and in my essay, I recount an unexpected spiritual awakening that occurred toContinue reading “My travel/spirituality essay in Parabola… and its first reading!”

Book review of The Magician by Colm Tóibín in Lambda Literary

Lambda Literary published and included in its December mailings my review of The Magician, Colm Tóibín’s novelized biography of Thomas Mann, Germany’s greatest 20th century writer – and a married and closeted public figure. “Gay, artistic Thomas is born into a prosperous mercantile family [where] money is as self-evident and essential as water and sunshine.Continue reading “Book review of The Magician by Colm Tóibín in Lambda Literary”

Travel/spirituality essay to come out in Parabola

Super excited: my travel essay “Out of the Depths of a Mayan Burial Cave,” based on a mind-opening spiritual experience in Yucatan, has been bought by Parabola (New York). Can’t wait to see in their Winter 2022/23 issue! Parabola, also known as Parabola: The Search for Meaning, is a Manhattan-based quarterly magazine on the subjectsContinue reading “Travel/spirituality essay to come out in Parabola”

“The iPad Wars” Published by the StoryHouse Writers’ Showcase

My parenting essay “The iPad Wars” has been picked up by the online StoryHouse Writers’ Showcase of The Preservation Foundation, a literary non-profit which has been “preserving the extraordinary stories of ‘ordinary’ people” since 1976.” It originally appeared in print in the 2018 issue of The Citadel, the literary journal published at Los Angeles CityContinue reading ““The iPad Wars” Published by the StoryHouse Writers’ Showcase”

“A Mindful Pilgrimage” in ZCLA’s Water Wheel

We started in a circle, hands in gassho, chanting “mu.” The sound first vibrated throughout my skull, like an inner bell inviting me to turn inwards, and then, when shared by a group of 30, it turned into a spontaneous vibration rising up to the morning sky . . . Continue to the article. InContinue reading ““A Mindful Pilgrimage” in ZCLA’s Water Wheel”

“Caps Off to You!” A Fathers’ Day feature on FamilyEquality.org

Happy Father’s Day to all you parents out there! So glad for the opportunity to share the experience of watching our first child graduate from high school – a new frontier for gay families – with Family Equality supporters. I can’t praise enough the work this organization does to protect and advance the rights ofContinue reading ““Caps Off to You!” A Fathers’ Day feature on FamilyEquality.org”

Lit agent search using Publishers Marketplace

My advice piece for fellow writers on how to find and build a list of prospective literary agents landed on the front page of the California Writers Club quarterly newsletter. Click below to read it. Founded in 1909, California Writers Club is one of the nation’s oldest professional clubs for writers. With 22 branches throughout theContinue reading “Lit agent search using Publishers Marketplace”

At AWP22: Moderating a Panel and Reading

#AWP22 was a swirl of activities as the literary world is emerging from the downtime of the pandemic. What a difference from the last live AWP convention, March 2020 in San Antonio, the so-called #AWPocalypse of 2020 – a conference on the edge of a world shutting down, which I wrote about for the CaliforniaContinue reading “At AWP22: Moderating a Panel and Reading”

Guide for foster/adoptive parents on #1 adoption site

Glad to share my research into foster/adoption policies and history on Adoption.com, the world’s largest adoption website and adoptive parent platform. I hope it will make a useful guide for prospective foster/adoptive parents. Wish I’d known all of this going into the fost/adopt process years ago! When considering adopting kids from foster care, prospective parentsContinue reading “Guide for foster/adoptive parents on #1 adoption site”

“Raising Them to Be Strong” Featured in Bay Windows

Bay Windows, Boston-based LGBTQ newspaper and news site, appoached me asking to reprint “Raising Them to Be Strong: A Gay Dad’s Reflections on Parenting Daughters,” my Father’s Day article published earlier this year by Family Equality, the nationwide gay family advocacy organization. I gladly said yes and am delighted to see it both on theContinue reading ““Raising Them to Be Strong” Featured in Bay Windows”