To the Folks at Big Closet-Top Shelf

First of all, thank you all for the kind comments about “A Little Help from Her Friends.” The story was my first serious posting, preceded only by a short, semi-autobiographical, test-the-waters fairy tale last month entitled “the No-Brainer.”

I’d thought about writing and posting some stories for a long time, but it was not until I peeked into the Big Closet that I resolved to hang a bit of myself on-line. I saw that you all have got something special going on at this site. Erin is obviously key to the user-friendliness of BC-TS, and there are comments in the postings that show that you all appreciate her hard work and her creative talents. That’s not all, however. I have also been hugely impressed by the standards you set for yourselves and the honest feedback, editing help and encouragement you give each other. The genre’s been lifted collectively to a new level here.

In LHHF, I was intent on inverting some of the stereotypes and sending up some of the tired clichés and conventions of the “John into Joan” or “Summer with Weird Auntie” stream of TG stories. Like Dimelza (of recent “Bagwell” fame), I aimed to write a story that wasn’t exclusively about the protagonist’s gender issues. With part 3, I thought LHHF was over and done, technicolor sunset and all. However, some of you have expressed interest in what happens to Eric and Shelly. Perhaps the story isn’t complete, after all.

It’s maybe also evident that I’m writing to exorcise demons that I’ve been carrying around with me for a good fifty years already. Apropos, I’ve larded Jason/Jayne’s story with what I consider to be sound advice to a gender-conflicted boy, and with plenty of pointers to Jennifer Lynn’s site, www.antijen.com. I hope that will help a few kids as desperate to understand and explain what is going on in their heads and lives as I once was.

I wonder how far this will take me? I’ve got at least one more story to post, written a few years ago and tucked away in a secret place on the hard drive. It isn’t just more of the same. I’ll pull it out, dust it off, and see if it meets BCTS standards.

Hugs to you all, Daphne