Leta

Yay! River Leith Listed In Booyah #eBooks For May : Mary Calmes Book Blog

May 29, 2014 by Leta

“I absolutely love how Leith’s discovery of his feelings for Zach is handled. His brain “itching” at certain smells, looks, feelings. His gradual realization that the relationship is much more, at least for him, than friendship. And, the scene in the hospital garden…THE scene – when you read the book, you’ll know the one I mean – could not have been more perfect. Their connection and chemistry are amazing, and I’ll tell you what… Leta Blake writes some beautifully steamy sex scenes.Honestly, the writing style overall just really spoke to me. I could say so much more about how much I loved this book, but I’ll let you all, discover it for yourselves. I will say, though, that I’ve been looking for a long time for a book to recommend as a first time M/M read to one of my best friends, and I think I might have finally found it. I highly recommend this book, folks. And, I plan to rush out and get Leta’s other stories!!” — Jules, The Novel Approach

via Mary Calmes Book Blog: Our Booyah Books For The Month Of May.

Memory is everything. After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain. For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach's choices may come back to haunt him. Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer. — Memory is everything.
After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain.
For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach’s choices may come back to haunt him.
Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.

Ten Takes On Tori Amos, Through The Years And On Her New Album, ‘Unrepentant Geraldines’ : The Record : NPR

May 28, 2014 by Leta

Tori Amos’s catalog, for me, has always been about how safe I feel listening to it. Her albums function equally well as works of art and as practical field guides, sending GPS data every few years from new coordinates in the thicket of self-actualization that she and her listeners have been navigating together for two decades. Tori is our flame-haired, first-name-basis, mezzo-soprano GUIDANCE counselor. “When you gonna love you as much as I do?” she asked as a 28-year-old, ten minutes into her first album. She arrived beckoning toward self-discovery and love. Little Earthquakes was a debut, but there is nothing half-baked or under-developed about it. She sailed to shore on a seashell, fully-formed, and offered a vision of identity that demanded acceptance. Her music was strange, her voice was strange, and her message was clear: “There is room for what I’m doing in the world, even if I’m the only one doing it.” We heard that, we pupils, and took it to mean that there’s room for what we’re all doing in the world. Her unflinching career has paved the way for innumerous other unflinching, glorious marchers to their own beat. —Katie Presley

via Ten Takes On Tori Amos, Through The Years And On Her New Album, ‘Unrepentant Geraldines’ : The Record : NPR.

It has been a dream of mine forever to share my love of Tori with a daughter, and I am lucky enough to say that my little girl loves Tori. We spend time listening to her albums together, talking over lyrics, and just being unusually quiet together appreciating the sounds.

This August my daughter is going to her first Tori Amos concert with me, so we’ve been listening to back catalog stuff so that she’ll be familiar with what might be peformed and not just the newer stuff. The other day in the car we were listening to “Crucify” after a discussion of what it is about (how hard we are on ourselves–something my daughter can relate too all too well, unfortunately) and I looked into the rearview and saw that she was crying. I asked, “Why are you crying, honey?” She said, “I don’t know. The music. The song.”

That’s why Tori Amos connects. My life is enriched by her always and ever.

For the record, my daughter’s favorite song on the new album so far is “Selkie” because it is a retelling of one of my daughter’s all-time favorite fairy tales–The Selkie Bride.

More quotes from the NPR piece:

Tori Amos still loves you. She isn’t fucking around. —T. Cole Rachel

More than 20 years after Little Earthquakes, Amos’s guidance has been disseminated and focused. It’s still Tori singing strength to Tori, and Tori singing strength to the women whose stories she’s telling, and to the wider listening public, but there is another, more specific life she is now shepherding: Her daughter’s. Strange Little Girls was for Natashya, about re-imagining the rock canon so that a girl might grow up and feel a part of it. Night of Hunters featured Tash as the supporting character Annabelle in several songs. And Unrepentant Geraldinesshowcases her as a musical peer; as fully half of the conversation, from her own point of view. Good guidance, particularly of the MATERNAL variety, is subtle enough that it’s not immediately apparent when one has graduated to guiding oneself, and Natashya’s development from inspiration to concept to self-fulfilling musician is the precedent and promise of Tori’s earlier albums made manifest. Every Tori Amos record is about breaking free of the stories we’re told and telling our own, but Unrepentant Geraldines is the first with physical proof of the journey. —Katie Presley

Mmm, The Scent, The Feel of PAPER! The River Leith Now In Paperback! #mmromance #gay

May 27, 2014 by Leta

Yep, that’s right! The paperback version of The River Leith is now available on CreateSpace and Amazon!

I’ve held it in my own hands and it’s gorgeous! *swoon* See the pic below!

(Click the pic to go to Amazon to purchase!)

Five Free Copies of The River Leith at The Romance Reviews! #mmromance #gay #ebook

May 26, 2014 by Leta

Head on over to The Romance Reviews and participate in the contest for five free copies of The River Leith!

A sample of what some readers are saying about The River Leith:

“The River Leith is a delight: devastating, hopeful, sexy, romantic, and true.” — I’m With Geek Reviews

“I love Leta Blake’s writing. It’s so smooth and flowing. The River Leith is a very real book. Don’t expect any magical solutions or convenient plot turns. This is the story of two people who manage to find their way back to each other despite all odds being stacked against them. I highly recommend this book! ” – Rainbow Gold Reviews

“Elegant story-telling. I couldn’t put this one down. As would be expected with a story about a man with amnesia, there’s a lot of introspection and revisits to the past, yet it never once felt like the story had stagnated. In fact, the pace was so right, measured. Loved every word.” — Lane Swift, Goodreads

CLICK HERE to participate in the contest to win a copy! Five copies to give away!

Last day to enter is June 09, 2014!

Yes, I’m Insane! That’s How I Do It! – My Writing Process Blog Hop by Leta Blake #amwriting

May 25, 2014 by Leta

I was tagged by Rory for this Blog Hop!

1) What am I working on?

Currently I’m working on another contemporary m/m romance titled Smoky Mountain Dreams. I started this one about four years ago and when I needed to take (yet another) break from the four book series I’ve been working on for nearly ten years (omg it will never end! probably because I keep taking breaks from it!), I planned to finish up the prequel to Stalking Dreams, but when I opened that file none of the characters felt like talking to me.

Around that same time, a friend said, “Hey, whatever happened to that book you were writing about the theme park performer and the jeweler with the angsty past? I’ve never read another m/m book like that one and I’ve always wanted you to finish it.” Assuming, as I always do, that the unfinished book was crap, I opened it up to see just why my friend thought it was special, and lo and behold…well, IT DID NOT SUCKETH.

(Confession: I have a problem with thinking everything I’ve left unfinished actually sucks. Luckily, my friends tend to remind me that I should look at those books again just to make sure. Then I realized I might be wrong after all. Training Season and The River Leith were both books with this unfinished-so-must-suck history.)

So! I had the epiphany that if I managed to get Smoky Mountain Dreams done by July and hold it to release in November, then I will have almost a full year before I’d need to put out the first book in the four book series. Then, since I’m (hopefully) 2/3 done with Book 3 of that series, I’d have nearly a year and a half to have Book 4 finished, and hooray! The twice yearly timeline works out for me! Though I plan to put the series out one book every two or three months, so it will be more than twice annually in that year.

Holy crap, no one wanted to know that! This must be the most boring blog post I’ve ever written so far!

To sum up: I’m working on a book about a theme park employee and his jeweler love interest and it’s a lot more complicated than that makes it sound.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Hmm. You know, the only way I can answer this is to say, simply, they are written by me and I don’t think anyone else writes just exactly the same way that I do? There’s no value on this reality, just that I’m pretty sure I have a voice that is my own. I will say that I think I’m unapologetic. I write what the characters want and that’s that. If that makes someone unhappy then I can’t really be sorry about that because characters are who they are and I don’t always approve of their behavior either.

3) Why do I write what I do?

This is a big topic. I write romance because I have always loved the joy of them, the happy endings, the trials on the way to them. They’ve always made my heart beat faster. I write m/m romance for a ton of reasons, one of the biggest being that if I ever write a m/f book, then I want to make sure I’ve broken my mind free enough of the traps society has instilled in my mind about women, heroines, and what that looks like. Quite frankly, writing m/m helps with that. What is that saying? You can’t imagine freedom if you don’t know what it looks like? Well, m/m helps me imagine a m/f reality that doesn’t fall back on the rules and regulations that society has drilled into me.

4) How does your writing process work?

It’s a process made up of three prongs:

1) Inspiration

First, I need to be inspired. Where that inspiration comes from is always a mystery and it can hit at any time. Music, poetry, taking a walk in the park, getting dinner in a restaurant, a random comment from a friend. Boom! Characters show up in my head and start talking to me and I’m all, “Wait, wait, let me get this down. Hold up!” (Or sometimes I say, “Wait, wait, I can’t with you right now. I’m swamped with another book, you see. Come back later.”) I can never tell what’s going to inspire me, but there’s no doubt that inspiration is required and part of the process.

2) Work

Second, I put in the time. I make the time. I have to make time because there are only so many hours in a day, a week, a year. And writing’s in my blood. It makes me go. I have to do it and I have to work at it. So, I am a writer. What am I not? Let’s make a list:

a) I’m not the perfect mom! Why? Because, oh, sometimes I tell my kid to make her own dinner (PB&J and some applesauce) because Mommy is writing. Or I hire a babysitter so I can write. Or I set her up on her iPad and say, “Play on this and when you’re bored watch tv or read a book, but don’t come talk to me because I’m writing.” Now, am I a good mom? Hell yeah. I’m a damn good mom. I’m at the important things and by writing I teach her that moms have reasons to be on this earth that don’t consist of “being focused on the kid 100% of the time”.

b) I am NOT a good housekeeper. In fact, my house is a disaster. I should take pics. Okay, fine, I actually will! Here is what my sink looks like RIGHT THIS SECOND. This is reality. I work a job, do a ton for my kid, spend time with my husband and write books. Something’s gotta give.

Yep! That’s what being a writing mom looks like! Aren’t you glad you don’t write? Yep, yep.

3) Dogged Determination

My process involves ignoring new inspiration in the interest of finishing an older work that is no longer making my blood pump with joy. My process involves ignoring the very loud chorus of voices in my head saying, “You can’t do this. This books can’t be finished. It’s stupid. Everyone will hate it. You’re going to make an ass of yourself. Who do you think you are writing this book???”

Luckily for me, I’m a bit of a contrarian. If you tell me I can’t do something? God, that just makes me want to do it so much more. Even if it’s me telling myself that. Sure, I’ll whine about it–(sorry friends who have had to endure a lot of this!)–and take to my bed for a day or so and feel like I suck and want to give up. BUT I DON’T. I eventually say, “Can’t do it, huh? SHUT UP. WE’RE DOING THIS.” And I do it.

So, the last part of my process is simply NOT STOPPING.

Are You Even In A Relationship If The Person Can’t Remember Who You Are? #amnesia #morality

May 24, 2014 by Leta

I am finding myself absolutely fascinated by the reaction some readers have to certain things in The River Leith. I decided I’d blog about it, but I wanted to state upfront that I’m not arguing that these readers are wrong or that they shouldn’t feel as they do, I’m just explaining my own thinking and my own surprise.

BEYOND THIS POINT ARE SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS!! Read only if you are okay with being SPOILED!!

A
H

Deleted Scene: The River Leith’s Alternate Ending #spoilers #extras

May 23, 2014 by Leta

So, when I wrote The River Leith, it originally had an epilogue after the last vlog post, but my editor said, “Nope. Nope, nope, nope. It ends nicely with the vlog. No need to clutter the book up with what amounts to two endings!” So, with a heavy heart, I deleted the scene.

But! That gives me an opportunity to share it with you now! Let me say in advance IT HAS MASSIVE, MASSIVE, MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE BOOK!!!! If you have not read the book, then you may want to take a pass on reading beyond the cut.

If you have read the book, then you know what happens, so let’s just cut to the chase! Click on through to see the deleted epilogue to The River Leith. There’s more texting, more Thakur, more Zach, and more Leith! *twirls and throws confetti*

Author Spotlight – Leta Blake | Queer Town Abbey #free #ebook #mmromance

May 22, 2014 by Leta

Today I’m over at Queer Town Abbey helping them celebrate their birthday! In addition to an interview, there’s an opportunity to win The River Leith via Rafflecopter!

A taste of the interview is below:

What does your writing process look like?

My writing process is made up of three prongs: inspiration, work, and dogged determination. It all starts with inspiration, but work is what gets 90% of the book done, and dogged determination is the last 10% needed to keep from throwing myself down in a heap and giving up.

What is your least favorite part of the publishing / writing process?

The part about 2/3 of the way through when I become convinced that this book is not possible, that it will never be done, that I’ve wasted so much time and effort on something that just can’t even possibly ever be finished. That part sucks.

Now For Something A Little Personal #life #parenthood #me

May 21, 2014 by Leta

In two days my daughter will come to the end of second grade. Had she remained at her public school, she would be moving on to the “big kids” Intermediate School along with her pals. Instead, we switched her mid-year to a private school and so she will only be changing sides of the building.

I’m eager to see this year go. I feel a bit sad saying that, especially when I see the other moms who still have their kids in the public school feeling nostalgic for the loss of their child’s Primary School years. Still, this year has been a tough one. I imagine it probably isn’t the toughest year we’ll face as parents, not by far, but it’s just been a struggle all the way through.

First we had a challenging situation in public school where Kid was bored and losing interest by the day. The teacher was not doing what she could to keep her challenged and there was a sense that we would just have to suck it up. That was less than ideal. However, she had a great social situation with little girl friends who were…well, little girls. They liked to play superheroes on the playground and their friendships were very innocent, pure, fresh things. Even their arguments were childlike and without subtleties.

So, we changed her mid-year, taking advantage of an empty place in the classroom of a local private school.

Suddenly we had school work that was, if not exactly challenging, at least different and given with some depth. Poetry, for example, was explored at length and culminated in a poetry jam where every kid had memorized at least one poem for recitation. In addition, they’d learned about different types of poetry in some depth, written many poems, and read over fifty poems at home for homework. We had Spanish as a class and opportunities like Robotics Club and other specialized learning opportunities.

But the social situation…argh. These little girls were not little girls at all. At least not in the innocent way that her old friends had been. There were conversations like, “Janice said that Marilyn said that Natalie said she didn’t like me.” It was exhausting. Issues of class and income could not be ignored. Cliques were full-on and impossible to figure out. Everything about the social life has been 180 degrees from the social life she enjoyed before the change.

Then there was the entire thing of just getting used to an entirely different school culture. And, whoa, was it different, in both good and bad ways! I just never felt like we really got a grip on things. What was expected? And what was unreasonable? And what was just the way things are?

Add to that book releases, fears, travels, and the longest, coldest winter ever in my memory and UGH.

After everything, I’m looking forward to summer. At least when we go back next fall, she won’t be the new girl anymore and she’ll be starting the third grade with the rest of her class. Hopefully, we won’t have another year of struggling and trying to figure out how to get by every day.

So, yeah, second grade? Adios. We won’t be seeing you again. (Until Kid has a kid, anyway.) And while parts of you were fantastic other parts were just endlessly stressful. I’m happy to see you go. Bring on summer!

Fan Favorite The River Leith is on iTunes Now! #gay #mmromance #amnesia

May 21, 2014 by Leta

Click on the pic to go to iTunes!

Opportunities to get The River Leith for free! #mmromance #gay

May 20, 2014 by Leta

I’ve been sick with a fever and tummy issues, so I’m a little behind! Sorry!

First, there are opportunities to win a copy of The River Leith at the following blogs:

1) Stumbling Over Chaos

2) The Novel Approach

3) Smut Book Club Raffelcopter at end of the lovely review post.

Second, I also did a guest blog at The Novel Approach.

And, lastly, The River Leith became an ARe Bestseller!!

Thanks to Chris, Lisa, and Solange for the wonderful help getting The River Leith out there!

Whoot! Free Copy of The River Leith at Stumbling Over Chaos! #free #ebook #mmromance

May 20, 2014 by Leta

Just click on over using THIS LINK to comment for a free copy of The River Leith!

Editing Woes: Leith & Zach’s Deleted Texts #mmromance #extras

May 18, 2014 by Leta

Whenever I pay to have something edited, the rule I set for myself is to always take the editor’s advice on what to cut, even if it makes me sad. In The River Leith there were a few lines that got cut that I liked a lot, and an entire scene that I’ll post at another date, but there was a specific text interaction that I’d really loved and it was especially hard to cut that one.

It was short. It was sweet. And it probably only makes sense in the context of the book. But here it is. The first text is from Leith, the second from Zach.

***

Today, my psychiatrist compared my mind to a map of the universe.
The reply from Zach took only a few moments.
My God! It’s full of stars!!!!

***

Yep, that took me about thirty minutes of fretting to finally cut. It was the right choice, though. That’s what we pay editors for, my friends!

Pantsing My Way to the Fun Parts #amwriting

May 18, 2014 by Leta

I’ve reached the part of my next book that is always my favorite. I’ve set it up and spent some time angsting on what to do next, ultimately concluding that I should do what I’ve always done–Pants It!

For those not in the writing community, pantsing isn’t about pulling someone’s pants down and displaying their undies to the world, but about writing by the seat of your pants. Sure, I have a vague idea of where these guys are headed, and several scenes I know I have to hit, but just how they get there is still up for grabs.

Right now I’m at my favorite stage of the game, though. It’s the part where characters, both main and secondary, have started to just take over scenes and shoulder their way through them without any concern for me. They say and do what they want, often surprising me and making me laugh, and even better often showing me very important things about their background and motivations.

It’s my favorite part because the thrill of discovering them can’t be denied, but the terror that maybe I don’t know what I’m doing and the chore of making all the bits fit into a whole hasn’t come up yet. Give me another 40k words and I’ll be biting my nails with stomach churning anxiety and fear that I’ve written something unfinishable and unsalvagable and wasted months of my life.

But for now I’m happy and having fun and hopeful. My favorite part!

Promise Not To Say That You Told Me So #music #toriamos

May 17, 2014 by Leta

[spotify id=”spotify:track:3ZZS2pYJmjkjyw8VDPowcU” width=”300″ height=”380″ /]

This duet between Tori Amos and her daughter Tash Hawley makes my mother’s heart clench and my eyes get all wet. It might be cheesy, but I dunna care. I love it like so much whoa.

Yessss! The River Leith Now Available on Barnes & Noble! #mmromance #gay #amnesia

May 16, 2014 by Leta

Initial reviews for The River Leith are looking pretty good!

“I cannot even begin to express just how much I loved The River Leith. I tore through the book in a few hours because it captured me from the first page and did not let me go.” – Erika, Goodreads

And now it’s available for purchase at Barnes & Noble as well!

Also available at:

Amazon

Smashwords

All Romance Ebooks

and Barnes & Noble!

Early Release Day! The River Leith Available Now! #mmromance #gay #ebook

May 15, 2014 by Leta

The River Leith is now available!

Amazon

Smashwords

All Romance Ebooks

and Barnes & Noble!

What is the reason for this early release? Well, see, I’d originally planned to release the book on the 18th, my husband’s birthday, as a sort of, “Hey, happy birthday, babe! In your honor I released a book!” But, uh, apparently he’d rather I spent his special day actually, you know, paying attention to him and not messing around with getting files loaded, dealing with glitches, messing with blog posts and announcements, and all that jazz. Can you believe that? I mean, so demanding, right? 😉 Seriously, though, obviously that release-day/birthday thing wasn’t the best plan in the world. Luckily, I resolved that and now…*drumroll*…the book is available several days early! Hooray! Go forth and buy! *bounces* *bites nails* Hope you enjoy!

Sex in YA?

May 14, 2014 by Leta

I was late to this panel and obviously missed this part about sex not being okay in YA, but I share three AM’s opinion and think her questions are valid.

“Leta Blake knocks it out of the park with delicious angst and drama.” | Keira Andrews’s review of The River Leith #mmromance

May 14, 2014 by Leta

“Amnesia is one of my very favourite tropes, and Leta Blake knocks it out of the park here with delicious angst and drama. Leith and Zach’s struggle to come to terms with the new reality where Leith can’t remember knowing Zach at all — let alone being madly in love with him — is gripping. My heart broke for both the characters and I rooted hard for their happy ending.

The book is told from Leith’s POV, but Blake uses vlog transcripts as a clever device to give us insight into Zach’s perspective as well. His anger, confusion and hurt comes across vividly. I loved that Zach and Leith are flawed people who make mistakes, and that there are no easy solutions to their predicament. I also loved that the slow burn of UST isn’t rushed. If you’re looking for mindless sex from the get-go, this isn’t the book for you. But when the sex does happen after a long buildup, it’s so much more meaningful — and smokin’ hot!

The supporting characters, especially Arthur and Dr. Thakur, are quirky and well drawn. Also, the author includes a note at the end of the book saying that she downplayed the medical realities of head injuries and amnesia for the sake of having fun with a time-honoured romance trope. I certainly have no problem with that, and was able to settle in for the ride with no concerns about the realism of head injuries (which, let’s face it — don’t make for very good escapism!).

Full disclosure: I worked as the editor on this book. The first time I read it, I’d opened the file to just take a glance. I ended up spending the new few hours gobbling up the story in one gulp! It was completely captivating. Two thumbs up!”

via Goodreads | Keira Andrews (Toronto, ON, Canada)’s review of The River Leith.

Racist Songs of My Childhood #truestory #chicken

May 13, 2014 by Leta

Sure, you can say, “It’s just a stupid ice cream song—quit overreacting.” But that’s exactly the fucking point. It’s the most benign, neutral thing I can think of. And this is part of its history (not even buried particularly deep)

via Your Neighborhood Ice Cream Truck Is Playing a Racist Minstrel Song.

So, this reminds me of a song that I was taught by my grandmother growing up. It was a racist song and I had NO IDEA. In fact, when I’d ask my mother what parts of the song meant, she’d obfuscate to avoid telling me the truth. For example, “Mama, what’s a darkie?” “Oh, honey, that’s just a child who is dirty because they are too poor to have running water.” Or, “Mama, what’s a pickaninny?” “Oh, baby, that’s a child who worked in fields picking cotton.”

Uh-huh. I see.

This all culminated one day in the third grade when our teacher offered us extra credit points to stand up and sing any song we wanted. Oh, yes…oh, yes, I stood up and sang this song. My teacher was HORRIFIED. And when I got to the middle of the chorus and messed up, and asked to start over, she was like, “Uh, no, how about you just sit down now.” I was mortified and thought it was because I can’t sing well (and I can’t). But when I told my mom about it later she just about died of embarrassment. Also, there was a black kid in the front row. LET ME TAKE A BOW NOW.

So, yes, the lesson of this story is, I guess, don’t let your mom teach your kids racist songs because then their teachers are gonna think you’re a racist. Also, for what it’s worth, I’m not teaching this song to my kid, obviously. But I still know every. single. word, and I still wish darkies were just dirty children. But…that’s not what it means and I offer up an apology to everyone offended by my childhood ignorance.

By the way, this is the song I sang, except in the version I learned, we said pickaninny instead of the n-word — apparently my Appalachian family had some limits when it came to racist terminology. POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING! THE N-WORD IS USED!:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/LTrK7hNj66I]

Speaking of the n-word…my daughter and I were talking about the book Huckleberry Finn the other day and she was asking why some people wanted to ban it. The subject of the n-word came up and I was like, “Well, there’s this word in there that is very offensive, but it was used really regularly back then. What’s interesting, though, is that the book was one of the most important piece of literature for illustrating that humanity is the same no matter a person’s color, and the use of that word in the book was to help illustrate that lesson.”

“What word, Mom?”

“Uh, it’s, the, uh, n-word.”

“What’s the n-word?”

I looked at her little face and couldn’t bring myself to say it. “I can’t say it. It’s just really never okay to say it.”

“But how will I know what it is?”

“I’ll write it down.” I then looked at a piece of paper and the pencil and couldn’t even do that. “I can’t write it down either,” I said. I couldn’t hand a piece of paper to my beautiful seven year old with that word on it.

“But, Mom, how will I know what the word is?”

I almost answered, “That word should be forgotten.” But finally I realized that it’s still pervasive in different parts of our society and culture, she might hear it and repeat it after listening to some rap, for example. So I explained it by saying, “It sounds like the word bigger but has an ‘n’ on the front.”

She said, “Oh. Okay. I’ll never say it, Mom.”

And I was like, “Cool, because it’s worse than the f-word and it’s so insulting to people that it really just shouldn’t be said, okay?”

“Okay, Mom.”

So…yeah. I couldn’t look into her beautiful face and say such a hurtful, awful word. It sucks so much that there are kids out there who hear it directed at them or their families. I hope some day that stops forever.