It seemed extremely unlikely to me that anyone would notice my absence, so I simply just left to quietly sort myself out a bit.

For me, if not all T folk, it has been an excruciatingly difficult go of it here in 'merica with certain elements in our culture spewing even more hatred and disapproval than we usually encounter. We all experience a certain amount of rejection simply because we are trying to be ourselves, and I simply lost the ability to deal with it for a time and have no idea if my tolerance for hateful stupidity will return. I'd have suicided but now understand that I lack the courage.

You'd think that I would be more gracious and thankful because I was one of those fools that actually did the whole transition thing, and am blessed enough to be able to appear in public without being dissed. These days, if asked, I tell people to write happy, romantic stories, but not to give up their day job.

Having said all that, it seems the best approach is to exclude those unsupportive elements from my life. Until 2011, writing stories was the central activity in my life, then that somehow got mostly excluded. Now, writing will hopefully resume the place in life that it once had, and perhaps with more effort and creativity my stories will be better and more appealing to more people.

Again, thanks those who wrote to and about me to inquire about my well being. It was a blessing and completely unexpected.

Khadijah Gwen Ellen bint Brown.