Finding the ideal nonbinary pronoun for fiction

I’ve been working on the Just Girls sequel and playing with some science fiction, so I’m obsessing about nonbinary pronouns. In the Just Girls sequel, I’m using the pronoun “yo” for Nico. (Or, rather, Nico’s using that pronoun for yoself, but when I say that my characters talk to me, people give me odd looks.)

But I wanted to try some additional pronouns in case I like something better. “They/them” pronouns in the singular is becoming more and more popular in spoken use, but it’s tougher in fiction. For example in this dialogue:

“Their new jacket looks great! Did they make it themself?
“It’s from their parents. They gave it to them for their birthday.”READ MORE

Music for the Just Girls sequel

You get a short blog this week with more videos because I’m hard at work on the Just Girls sequel. This story starts the night that Just Girls ends and follows the stories of Nico and Tucker over the next several months. After much brainstorming, the title is one again Nico & Tucker. It was the working title and I’ve yet to come up with anything better.

Here are a few songs and videos that give you the feeling of the new book plus some musical background to Just Girls. And if you didn’t see the early blurb of what the book’s about, read the post where I signed the contract for Nico & Tucker. Also if you’re wondering who did that great illustration of Nico and Tucker at the top of this post, it was the fabulous Mandie Brasington (more of her art here) and you can click here to view and download the full illustration. READ MORE

Just Girls wins Goldie Award (and that’s not even the best part!)

I had a wonderful time at this year’s Golden Crown Literary Society conference — even before the awards ceremony. Meeting Dorothy Allison and Rita Mae Brown was fantastic! I first read both of them at 16-19 when I was coming out and starting college. They both impacted my writing and seeing them speak reminded me of all the reasons they’re amazing and I should keep aspiring to follow the paths they blazed.READ MORE

Blog Tour Highlights

“Brilliant … this kind of book should be required reading in school. … JUST GIRLS is written in such a way that you are enthralled, sympathetic, empathetic, and wondering why the hell this topic is not covered sooner in your life, especially in this day and age.” http://tiffyfit.blogspot.ca/2014/10/blog-tour-just-girls-by-rachel-gold.html

“I want to marry this book … gorgeous … Gold does a FANTASTIC job weaving the debate between the radical feminists and the transgender community into the narrative. Most importantly, perhaps, the book is fun. Yes, bad things happen, but good things too. It’s life, with all its bumps and twists. And as in real life, friendship and love trump fear.” http://jamescfemmer.com/2014/10/i-want-to-marry-this-book/READ MORE

Follow the blog tour

The Just Girls blog tour has kicked off and will run through Nov. 16 with blog reviews of the books and many changes to enter a raffle to win a $50 Amazon gift card and signed copies of Just Girls.

And here’s a quick peek at what some of the first reviewers are saying:

Melissa Storm’s Blog:

“What does it mean to be a young adult in today’s world? What does it mean to be a feminist? To be a girl? Rachel Gold’s fantastic Just Girls asks all these questions and more, and the answers are bound to surprise you while also resonating deeply with anyone who has ever felt insecurity, fear, or love.”

Pavarti K Tyler’s Blog:

“Ella’s story is sweet, brave and easy to relate to.  Her relationships with Tucker and Shen especially bring to the discussion the difference between sexuality and gender, a distinction not often considered by the mainstream public.  I very much enjoyed the book.”

 

Just Girls: Art Giveaway, part 2!

Remember how I had this great plan to reward people who bought Just Girls in its first six weeks with free, amazing art of the characters? Then I spent some time with art and realized I just want everyone to have it. So forget what I said about emailing me to tell me you bought the book. If you want the art, it’s yours!

Clicking the link below will start downloading the PDF for you (or open it in a browser window so you can save it to your computer). Give it a minute to download. It’s a 93MB file so that you can print it out in high quality if you want.

Just Girls character art

Here’s a smaller file version of the finished art so you can see the whole illustration:

From left to right: (front row) Claire, Emily, Tucker, Nico, Summer and Tesh; (back row) Ella, Johnny, Shen and Cal.

From left to right: (front row) Claire, Emily, Tucker, Nico, Summer and Tesh; (back row) Ella, Johnny, Shen and Cal.

Virtual reading: Just Girls chapter 3

If you wanted to see me read from Just Girls, here it is — a virtual reading for folks who can’t make it to one of the launch parties or who want a trailer for said parties. (If you’re viewing this on my home page, click the title to go to a page with a bigger video player.) Here’s the link to the page with the preview of chapters one and two in case you want to read those first.

 

Here’s a page with links of places where you can buy a copy of Just Girls: https://rachelgold.com/just-girls/
And here’s my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BeingEmily