Happy birthday My Year Zero! Although the book has been shipping for about a week, today is the official publication day and I'm celebrating by live blogging, which means you'll get updates here throughout the day. Morning
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For anyone who can't make the launch parties this weekend, or anyone who wants a preview, here is a virtual reading from the beginning of My Year Zero. Although the book has a March 29 publication date, it is already on sale and shipping from Bella Books and Amazon. You can get an eBook copy from Bella in either a DRM-free epub format or in the .mobi format that works on Kindle. You can also see the interview at Gay YA if you haven't or read the post on why writing about mental health is important to me. And here's a quick outtake from the reading between chapters one and two with a little tidbit about me and my character Lauren: Chapter two isn't up yet because I flubbed the middle of it, but I'll try to get it posted in the next week or so. Encouraging comments are completely welcome!
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If you live in or near the Twin Cities, there are four chances for you to hear me read from My Year Zero in the near future. (If you live far away, I will be posting a video reading!) Important note: there are two official launch events for My Year Zero – an open house and an after party. You are welcome at both! See below for details. The Loft Literary Center Winter 2016 Teaching Artist Reading Wednesday, March 16 at 7 pm 1011 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis Listen to me and other very cool Loft instructors read short selections from our work. More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/188383148204460/ The Quatrefoil Library’s annual Women’s Author Event Saturday, March 26, 1 - 4 pm Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455 I’ll be reading close to 1 pm, so come early if you want to hear me and then stay for a great roster of local women authors. More info at: https://www.qlibrary.org/event/womens-author-event-3/ https://www.facebook.com/events/188383148204460/ My Year Zero Open House at Addendum Books Saturday, March 26, 2-5 pm (reading at 2:30 and 4 pm) 478 S Cleveland Ave, Saint Paul Addendum is bookstore dedicated to young adult and children’s books. Because it’s small, we’re encouraging people to come through when it’s convenient for them and I’m reading twice at 2:30
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My publisher put together a dramatic book trailer so you can get the feel for the main character's plight in My Year Zero. And I've got the first two chapters of the novel below if you want to read a sample and get excited for the launch with me! Want to know more about the book? You can read the first two chapters here. Read the interview about the book on GayYA.org. Read my blog post about why I'm writing about mental health. I'll be live blogging on launch day so feel free to send me questions via the comment section below, or Facebook, Twitter (@rachelgold), Tumblr or email me at beingemily at gmail.
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My third book is about mental health, not trans or gender issues, but if you loved those aspects in my first two books, never fear! This week I signed the contract for a sequel to Just Girls, due out spring of next year. (I even remembered to put the contract in the mail back to my publisher.) The sequel will start right at the end of Just Girls and follow the story of Tucker and Nico. Here’s how I pitched it to Bella: Tucker has been through the worst year of her life and only wants to put it behind her. Recovery time? Therapy? Who needs that? She wants to get back to normal life, but when she tries to be more than friends with Nico, she panics. Having lived genderqueer for years, Nico’s used to getting strong reactions, but isn’t prepared for this to come from Tucker. Plus a medical decision Nico’s been putting off for years can’t be delayed any longer. Nico’s body becomes a battleground for yos family, crushing Nico under conflicting pressures and the desire to have a relationship that could last. You’ll also get a look into Nico and Ella’s relationship when they were in high school together and
Continue ReadingThe header at the top of the site gives a hint of it, but for the whole cover for My Year Zero, head over to GayYA. (There's also an interview with all kinds of info about the new book.) If you want to kept in the loop, sign up for my newsletter (over on the right-hand side of the page) or bookmark the My Year Zero page on this site. I'll be updating that with new info periodically. Also for fans of Just Girls and Being Emily, there is a sequel in the works but this isn't it. In 2017 we'll return to the stories of Tucker and Nico. In the mean time, I think you'll find a lot to like in My Year Zero.
Continue ReadingQuestions for Discussion: Just Girls by Rachel Gold Here's a list of questions for classrooms and book groups. Fair warning: there are more spoilers the further you get into the questions. Ch. 1 How should the admissions department have handled having a trans girl in the dorms? If you were Ella, how would you want them to have handled it? Ch. 2 What did you think of Tucker coming out as trans even though she isn’t? What would you have done? Tucker and Ella come from different socioeconomic classes, how does this impact the options that are available to them and what they see as viable choices? What might it be like if their situations were reversed? Ch. 4 Before the administration will let Tucker move to Ella’s suite, they ask if she’s had “the surgery.” Our culture seems fixated on genitals. Is it ever okay to ask someone about the state of their genitals? Why or why not? Ch. 5 Getting a team for the Cruel 2B Kind game and then playing the game is one of the ways Ella becomes comfortable on campus. In addition to community, what are other positive effects of playing games? Have you ever had an experience where you could express yourself more fully
Continue ReadingThanks to the wonderful people over at RECLAIM for coming up with these questions and providing a training for their book circle facilitators. Please check out RECLAIM's website and don't hesitate to contact them with questions or support if you want to host a book circle in your community. RECLAIM works to increase access to mental health support so that queer and trans youth may reclaim their lives from oppression in all its forms. Being Emily Discussion Questions Chapters 1-2 What was your reaction when Chris(Emily) came out to Claire as transgender? Would you have responded differently than Claire did? Chapters 3-6 In these chapters we see both Claire and Chris(Emily) struggling. How are their difficulties the same, and how are they different? Chapters 7-12 In chapter 8 we meet Natalie. How does she compare to the portrayal of transsexuals we see in mainstream culture? Chapter 13 How do Dr. Webber and Dr. Mary Mendel compare as therapists for Emily? Which one more closely matches what you were expecting a psychologist to be like? In chapter 13 we meet the gender support group that Natalie attends. Did the diversity of the individuals there surprise you? Chapters 14-19 Assuming that you identify as cisgender (identify with the biological sex you were born
Continue ReadingI 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. If you need to get your reading on: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown Trash by Dorothy Allison (or read Bastard out of Carolina, if you prefer novels to short stories) Just Girls by me!
Continue ReadingIn August, I get to play games and talk about brains while teaching* teens at The Loft. (* and by "teaching" I mean tossing out really cool ideas and watching the class make them more awesome.) I'm deeply excited about this for a few reasons: Gaming + writing = super fun writing Gaming with teens = radical creativity at play I haven't taught teens before, but I have taught lawyers and teens have to be immeasurably more fun (with apologies to my lawyer friends) My next YA novel (out spring of 2016) includes radical ideas about mental health (like the fact that sometimes the person with the disorder is the perfect person for you to date) It took me at least 10 years to figure out how to work with my brain to get novels written and I'm excited to share what I've learned and hear what works for other people Below are the class listings. Click through either title to go to The Loft's site where you can register. Also look forward to future posts about mental health, gaming and writing. If you have a topic or question you'd like me to address, comment, tweet, social or email me (contact info is at the bottom of
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