Hello again! Upcoming audiobook release! Plus more & thoughts on Alan Moore
Dear Reader,
Did you read that opening salvo in the voice of Lady Whistledown? Because I sure heard it while I was writing it.
It’s been some time since you have heard from me in an official newsletter capacity (for some of you it’s the first time! Hello!)
I have even started an official button-down platform (fancy! Like a button down shirt!) (My old newsletter was just a generic g-shirt).
(Note: If you want to continue hearing from me in this way on a monthly basis, you don’t need to take any action. However, if you’d prefer to opt out, no worries! Just click “unsubscribe” below.)
My publication and process updates:
Much like my adored unicorns (check out my book Phoenix Song for more on why I love them so), prancing like a mythical beast into the light of day this summer is…
…the audio book for We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health!
Drops August 6 on all audiobook platforms, narrated by Dara Brown.
For a sample from the audiobook, a 4 minute excerpt of my title essay “We’ve Been Too Patient”—go here.
The paperback and ebook version of this book was first published by North Atlantic Books and distributed by Penguin Random House in 2019.
I co-edited this anthology with Kelechi Ubozoh and had several essays and poems included, and I also contributed an introduction and afterword.
I am super proud of this one.
Kelechi and I love that our book elevates marginalized voices, honors intersectionality, centers those who endured psychiatric mistreatment and promotes radical healing.
We’ve Been Too Patient is on syllabi at places like Boston University, New York University, the California Institute of Integral Studies, Cal State East Bay, and others, and has changed state and local mental health policy.
The launch in a New York City bookstore was televised on C-SPAN—a thrilling peak life event! Five years ago this month! It was standing room only, and the two San Francisco Bay Area launches were also standing room only. I have been asked to speak on KPFA three times, and many other venues because of this book.
As for upcoming work?
Like a witty Whitman: I am large, and I contain multitudes:
Journey to the Enchanted Inkwell is a Young Adult graphic novel romantasy— a rom-com, fantasy allegory about queer and trans inclusion.
Here is the logline:
While on the quest for an enchanted ink that rewrites history, a queer nun with the Sight in medieval Europe falls in love with a genderfluid, swashbuckling nun. Together they must battle an ancient prophecy that threatens not just their relationship, but their dignity and identity, and the entire world.
My collaborating artist Jamie Kiemle and I are going on submission to publishers with our agent Jen Newens this fall. I’ll keep you posted and tell you more about this project and my process with it in upcoming newsletters!
Just so you know what else is up ahead in these monthly missives:
In addition to my own publication and process updates…
…I will offer musings on anything and everything that interests me: from science fiction and fantasy graphic novels, books, film and television, to politics and social justice, to mutual aid for personal growth, to radical (and useful!) therapy and other healing modalities, to tarot, to astrology, to 80s and 90s pop culture, to community college teaching and my work on diversity, equity and inclusion at my college, and in my writing, to queer and trans culture and non-binary identity, to neurodivergent brains, to medieval European mysticism, to reality television, to cats. And dragons.
I will also have a roundup review of graphic novels that I love and inspire me! (Both adult and Young Adult).
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And to close us out with the first of my brief graphic novel/comics reviews:
In sum:
Promethea by Alan Moore…a wild ride that also teaches you about tarot and mysticism!
Say what you will about Alan Moore the man, maybe he’s a little eccentric, maybe a little creepy…maybe his work reinforces sexist tropes. Okay, say what I will about him and his work…I still adore Watchmen (though the HBO Limited Series may have done the rare thing of exceeding its source material).
Watchmen (1985 comic) is ridiculously influential, and just bloody brilliant.
(Emphasis on the bloody, sure, but nonetheless.)
His other work is also not too shabby, of course. V for Vendetta is, if nothing else, iconic.
But I also really love one of Alan Moore’s lesser known, more recent works, Promethea—a gorgeous meditation on creativity and spirituality that deconstructs the meaning of apocalypse, and in a way that is far from predictable or trite.
As a caveat, there’s definitely some Cis Dude Wizard Sex Magick stuff that’s interesting but maybe a little questionable, but overall it’s definitely a trippy, wild, stimulating read and the art is rich and delightful, and it’s a symphony of occult symbolism with an engaging narrative.
My favorite part of the whole 5 volume comic series is when he moves us through the spiritual story of the Major Arcana of the tarot deck with this dizzying intertextual and visual layering that Moore is Just. So. Good. At. I learn more about tarot, and it propels the book’s story, and my mind gets blown in different directions each time I take it in.
**
Before I go…
If you are interested in We’ve Been Too Patient, the audiobook version, I’d love it if you pre-ordered it. (It’s released soon! August 6).
Or if you’d prefer a hard copy or ebook, and don’t have it yet, that’s available already at bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or at your local bookstore. (You can also pre-order the audiobook at any of those sites.)
If you signed up for this newsletter recently, look out for the “Five Writing Prompts for Resilience and Joy” in your inbox soon.
If you didn’t sign up recently, but would like those, let me know and I’ll be happy to get them to you!
Take care out there!
Until next time,
LD
(they/them)
Where to find me:
IG/Threads: @leoninetales