Outstanding movie with excellent performances by Judi Dench and Steve Koogan. I can see at least two Oscar nominations. It brought tears to my eyes.

Ever since I sat down and decided that I was going to give being a published author a try, I have been very conscientious about the choices that I make and what I put down on paper. I know I am only a self published author using technology to my advantage, but certain questions should be raised.

What is transgender literature saying about the community as a whole?

Are you happy with the message?

How do you feel about terms like Sissy, Tranny, Shemale, Ladyboi, Slut, Bimbo?

Do you think the majority of stories accurately represent your struggles?

Sorry folks, I'm going to watch, Saving Mr Banks, this evening and will probably be back too late to do Bike.

Angharad

On Turner Classic Movies they're going to be showing a completely restored version of Topper on the 30th at 2:30am EST 11:30pm on the 29th!

This book is written by a friend of mine from a local writer's group. It's a fantasy novel, no TG, but it is well-written and presents a very original idea. I helped with the editing. :

I apologise again.

After my travels, I succumbed to a particularly vicious cold/flu bug.

They say that it's better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all.

I used to be a regular subscriber to a British magazine called SFX. Rather annoyingly, the front page was always designed so that the 'F' was slightly obscured, giving everyone the impression that you were buying a magazine called SEX, but that's by the by.

The best feature was always right at the end, where considerable space was given to reviewing recent SF and Fantasy fiction. The reviews were often uncompromising. I remember one comment to the effect that any writer who uses the phrase 'in actual fact' should be hung, drawn and quartered.

First of all, I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all the American members of Big Closet. I hope all of you are having a great day with friends and family. For everyone else in other countries, I hope you're having a great Thursday.

I'm about to have a giant feel sorry for myself moment. So, if you don't want to read that, you've been warned.

***

Another holiday, and another one spent alone. I was supposed to have a house full of friends today. All of them canceled for one reason or another.

on this thanksgiving I am thankful for pretty good health, have a roof over my head, and will have a great dinner later. I also am glad I found big closet. there I found great writers and their stories. keep up the good work guys and gals
robert

At this time of year, we take time out to thank whatever God we may or may not follow, whatever person or thing that makes our lives just a bit better and hopefully easier. Remember who or what you are thankful for and bear in mind. However bad you might think you have it, there are many who have it much worse.

Thank you all for everything you have all offered me in the past and present. God bless you all, every one.

Holiday hugs and love,
Catherine Linda Michel

**Sigh** It is Thanksgiving again tomarrow & yet again I am alone & now can't even leave the state of WI,because I'm on Probation because of the crime of using my Old Male info at an Airport to travel & being arrested for it.I hate this stupid Goverment.So I can't even go to any Friends I have made like I was planing to for Thanksgiving

Well there's a chunk to get through, so I won't dither!

Firstly, the usual updates are posted today.

Just stumbled upon the music video for "Silhouettes", by Avicii. It is, as they say, relevant to our interests. ;-)

Cheers!

Frank Zappa died of prostate cancer on December 4th 1993.

Aunt Els Pumpkin Pickles:

Now a good number of people have heard of pickled watermelon and those that haven’t well yes they pickle watermelon. More specifically the rinds.

Now this is a canning recipe so you will need the usual things for that like Mason Jars big cauldrons…uhm pots of water and the like. Personally I like a pressure cooker and if you’re familiar with canning/bottling your own food then you know what I mean. If not look it up! It’s a seriously cool life skill.

Well, Jaci is gonna laugh at this one. Writing my autobiography has reminded me of a very strange incident. I was still in grade six, and I was on my way home from school when I saw some of my usual tormentors, but this time they had friends. Friends on bikes. Friends with knives, chains, and baseball bats.

I ran for my life, and somehow managed to get to my door ahead of them. I called the police, and decided I would do something rather stupid - I opened my door and told them the police were on their way.

After years of being a lurker, and that was before I registered on the site, I'm finally taking a more active role. I'll be posting the first chapter of a new story later today. (Yes, if I say that here, then I've got a deadline I have to meet.)

That said, I want to get a discussion going on the writing process itself. I've noticed that the appropriate section of the forums is rather dead. Goes back over 2 years on the first page of threads. So, I'm posting here.

Ok so work is running me ragged. More so than they used to. I'm having to fight for every peace of mind I can get in that place and I still end up with the short end of the stick.

Hi everyone,

it finished fr today. Just barely been able to edit Maiden of Bronze. Maybe something before the Christmas episode. Though each day seems to be a little more exhausting. wish could sleep

To my utter amazement, my book, Headlights Girl, is available not only at Lulu, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but also at Tower.com, Abe Books, Loot.co.za, Itunes, Alibris.com, booktopia.co.au, Nook even! Here's where I found all this info:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Catherin...

Well, yesterday was an adventure, all right. First, we were later getting going than I would have liked, then a train kept us waiting for 10 minutes, and then I lost track of mom, so by the time we got there we were both seriously stressed. But the actual event was nice, and one lady complimented me on my pigtails. Other than my relatives using the male name for me, it was a decent night.

Do not rob a jewelry store with a crossdressing partner.

I am still around, I've just been busy. At work we've lost all of the new people (4 in a month, 2 of them in just one week)and one older person. So I am working Sundays stocking the pets department. I have also been getting a ton of overtime, thankfully I can get my bills under control now. I hope that it all evens out after Christmas, but for the next few weeks, my schedule will change weekly.

I shall resume Tracy and Hope soon.

Well, tonight I go to my brother's birthday party, and its expected that some of my relatives will be there who have never "met" the real me. So I am a touch nervous ...

ah, well.

Is Ellen Hayes alright?
Her last note, on her site, said that we could expect a new part of Tuck be posted by mid-September.
While that would be nice, she has been having some problems.

I have been thinking about my nightmares the other night, and I think I see the silver lining. See, unlike most of these instances, I was able to do something inside the dream.

I fought back.

I'm feeling better now but I woke up at 330 AM last night with diarrhea and vomiting that lasted till a bit after noon. I kept drinking things like lemonade and Seven-Up and hot tea and water, to keep my fluids up even tho a lot of time they just came back up. At noon when I thought I could keep it down, I took an anti-diarrheal pill.

Just a quick note to say hello. I have read this site for years. I find you all such wonderful and magical writer's/folk.

Well, I wanted to talk about some positives about being trans, but last night I ended up fighting nightmares of rape basically the whole night. Probably triggered by my trying to write my autobiography, stupid me.

I will survive, but this isnt the way I wanted to start my day...

Ah, well.

Or Lauren Mcnamara. She has lots of Youtube videos. I am not actually sure why she would reveal she is Trans. In looking at her videos, I am not sure why she would reveal anything at all about her past. She is bullet proof in my opinion.

She may be talking about Trans issues because her own presentation is so strong. Please take notice of her voice. The pitch is in the female range, and her inflection and resonance make so many of us seem like pitiful pretenders.

So, life has been crazy as of late. Between PTSD diagnosis and treatment, kidney stones and other medical misadventures I have barely been able to focus on writing. I have gotten a bit better. I finished the first draft of the last chapter of Written In The Body so I do have hopes of getting to the last several chapters of 300 Rains. That is my plan at any rate.

I know a lot of readers here eschew the output on FM but I'd like to recommend 'Ms Yates' by Dreamweaver. It's just finished and I think most people here would appreciate it. So override your prejudices and have a read :). It's garnered very few comments and it deserves more.

I'm in a pretty bad place myself right now (nothing to do with sexual identity as much as general depression brought on by partly by short, miserable days and long dark evenings) but this has gone a small way to cheer me up.

Robi

Contributions to the Hatbox continue to be what keeps Piper and I able to keep this website and a dozen others used by the TG community active and running.

Angela Rasch's "Voices Carry Over Water" is now available to contributors to the Hatbox and we will soon have the revised version of "To Alleviate Suffering" there, too. Thanks very much, Angela. :)

I just subscribed to Hat Box and read a fascinating Story by Angela Rasch " Voices Carry Over Water" I am not going to tell what the story is about but it is well written. As a recent post op I can relate to the main character and what he/she or she/he goes through. I've always liked what Angela writes and often will read it when I am sure I have nothing else to do. I actually gave up sleep to read the story in it's entirety. If you the reader do not mind adding a few coins to the Hat Box, then you will have the privilege of reading "Voices Carrying Over Water"

Well, I had my daughter last night, and it got me thinking about being a parent.

Just to let you all know, I am making my way through all of the RetCon stories. It's been a good long while since I read them all and I've been looking for something to occupy my spare time.

Has anyone seen or heard from Melange lately. I know she posted that her work and class schedules has changed but I have seen her here a couple of times but not for very long. I hope that she is alright and just having life getting in the way.

Whilst poor Penny has been prodded, poked, pincushioned and 'photographed' (ok - it starts with a 'p' !!!!), I myself have had some RL projects to deal with, so I have been adding to my air mile accounts.

Julina is not forgotten - it's just a wry happenstance that this one big day of her life has taken longer to post than the descriptions of the few weeks preceding!

I expect to have something for you early next week - as long as this sudden bout of cold/'flu disappears soon.

Not a lot of responses so I'm guessing I already know this idea is dead in the water, but I figured I would give further explanation so people know exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm taking a straw poll. Would anyone be interested in an audio version of my books. The ones I'm thinking of are God Bless the Child (the whole trilogy), Wrestling Against Myself, and Unreachable. I don't want to start the process if there isn't interest.

use code 'CORNUCOPIA' when you order before midnight Friday to save a whopping 20% off your Lulu purchases!

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/scaramouch

I was wondering if anyone has seen Barbara Allan since Halloween or Torey,Beyogi,darkkitten,Elsbeth,Saless,Zoe Taylor,cain129,kayla don,Amethyst,Merlin Silverwind,pamelapamela,twilighte_gal,& TiffanyShar.

Been so busy, hard to remember when I last sat and read stuff as I wanted to. Had some time out of the country helping start a school in Africa. That was fun, but fraught. Now I'm already up to 44,000 words for the national novel Writing Contest... write 50,000 words in 30 days (November)... my aim is 100,000 words. It's called IN THE SHADOWS and is a thriller based on a real event that took place NEW YORK in 1933.

It's an on-going struggle to re-build my life after transition (and divorce). Each time an important person from my past - whether it be a sports coach or classmates or co-workers/bosses that I can no longer consider references or refuse to acknowledge me, it hurts.

This article is frightening:

http://www.care2.com/causes/we-need-to-be-vocal-about-ex-tra...

Donna Lamb