-
Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: A Poem and a Plant
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: A Poem and a PlantThe day was typical for the Pacific Northwest. The brightening sky had stopped sputtering its fine dewdrops for the moment, the wind had blown itself out, and the development where I live came to life. People took advantage of the disappearing dreariness to walk their dogs, scurry to our centrally located mailboxes, or meet their step goals.
I dropped off a copy of New York Magazine in the common room. The cover quoted Melissa Shusterman, who’s running for the Pennsylvania state legislature. “My 16-year-old turned to me after the election and he said, ‘America doesn’t want a smart, qualified woman in office.’ By Friday, I was running.”
-
Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Zipline Vegas
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://www.markmcnease.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Wide-lgbtsr-600×164.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url=”http://www.markmcnease.com/lgbtsr/” url_new_window=”on” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]
Photo by Sue Hardesty Guest Column
Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Zipline VegasIn the end, it’s all about ego. I’ll do almost anything, apparently, to protect my ego from being bruised.
She’s going on a zipline in Las Vegas. That’s what my sweetheart announced this morning. It gets worse. She said the zipline goes over city streets and buildings—and here I was envisioning a sweet pastoral zip across raging river rapids and sharp rocks. Now I only have to worry about her colliding with concrete, metal, and glass. Head first. Seems you have options; she plans zip to belly down, like a diving bird, a Peregrine falcon perhaps, which can reach speeds up to 200 mph.
She concocted this scheme with our friend Heather, who lives in Vegas and knows all the cool things to do. I have a feeling this trip will be a lot different than the one I took to the Lambda Literary Conference back in the early 1990s.
-
Guest Column: Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail – Regrets, I Have a Few
Photo by Sue Hardesty Guest Column by Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail
Regrets, I Have a FewLuncheonette. Darn it all, I just found the word I was looking for back in 2007 when I set a scene in a coffee shop in New York. It wasn’t a coffee shop, it was a luncheonette. In that era, you could use the term coffee shop, but a reader might picture a Greenwich Village or a North Beach San Francisco dive that served espresso to long-haired women and men in berets. In my novel Beggar of Love, I wanted to evoke elbows on the counter, ham sandwiches and steaming cups of joe.
Telling my sweetheart about this, she popped out with, “My Beautiful Luncheonette.” We laughed, because of the 1985 gay male film “My Beautiful Laundrette.” I immediately thought I could write a short story about a luncheonette, but I don’t have enough time left to write a story about every word I fall in love with, not to mention I already wrote Dusty’s Queen of Hearts Diner.
-
Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: The Eclipse Is Coming! The Eclipse Is Coming! (Guest Column)
Photo by Sue Hardesty Many thanks to Lee Lynch for allowing me to share her monthly Amazon Trail column. – Mark
By Lee Lynch
In North America, the total eclipse of the sun starts here. It’s Woodstock for everyone. Local and state governments are doing their best to avert chaos. Everyone in law enforcement and emergency services will be either on duty or on standby, many sleeping where they’re stationed because it’s projected that traffic will be at or near a standstill. The national park up the road, which might normally see 400 to 500 visitors at a time, is expecting 2,000 to 5,000 all at once. They’ll be limiting the number of vehicles allowed in to protect the fragile natural treasure and its wildlife.
The National Guard will be deployed.
-
Lee Lynch’s ‘Rainbow Gap’ Wins Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award at Golden Crown Literary Society Conference
Photo by Sue Hardesty It couldn’t happen to a nicer person, or a better author! Lee Lynch’s latest, Rainbow Gap (Bold Strokes Books) was just awarded the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award at the Golden Crown Literary Society conference. You can read Lee’s monthly Amazon Trail as guest columns right here).
Lee Lynch is a trailblazer, multiple award winner, and the namesake of the Golden Crown Literary Society’s annual Lee Lynch Classic Award.
-
Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: A Tenth Anniversary at Sea
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
We had every intention of being homebodies this year. No travel at all, just a year to save our pennies and get grounded. It’s been delicious. After several months of staying in our little coastal home, my mind is sharper, my sleep schedule is approaching normal, and I’ve got a good start on my next book.
Then, something just as wonderful happened. The publishers of Sapphire Books invited us to be part of “Literary Adventures at Sea,” a program they put together with Olivia Cruises, which is being sponsored by Curve Magazine. I admit that I cried when we were asked. Two of our best friends urged us to join them. My sweetheart and I never ever dreamed we could go on a cruise. This one is sailing the inland passage of Alaska. Alaska! Growing up my parents’ apartment in Queens, I never thought I’d travel farther than Manhattan.
-
Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Spring Is Coming Soon—Isn’t It?
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
Okay, I give in, it’s depression. I might as well face it. And I know I’m not alone.
You can guess when it started: November 8, 2016. I tried to overcome it by resisting, ignoring, laughing at the fools on the hill. Like the amazing Elizabeth Warren, I persisted, but so did this depression.