Gay Pride, International

Dann Hazel used Reactions to Homophobia, an essay in Holding Me Together, as one of the resources for his book Witness: Gay and Lesbian Clergy Report from the Front. In Australia, Kris Coonan, UQ Union, University of Queensland, used it as a resource for his article Sexual Prejudice: Understanding Homophobia and Heterosexism, Biphobia and Transphobia. The Queensland Government's Community Benefit Fund and PFLAG Brisbane used it as a resource for the booklet Assisting Those Who Come Into Regular Contact with Lesbian and Gay Youth.

“By killing yourself, intentionally or through unsafe sex, you call yourself worthless and expendable. How can you think of a human being that way? Quit punishing yourself for the bigotry in society. Refuse to help the cause of homophobia. Take care of yourself. Learn to love yourself and protect yourself. See yourself and your partner as worth protecting. Treat safer sex as an act of defiance and gay pride, a statement about your love for yourself, a statement about the value of your life. Treat living each day as a tear in the fabric of bigotry.”

That quote comes from Not Worth Dying Over, another essay in Holding Me Together. Paul Harris quotes that passage in the book From Our Own Lips: The Book of GLBT Quotations. Minnie Van PileUp (the pseudonym of a writer who lives in Boston) quotes the same passage in The Quotable Queer: Fabulous Wit and Wisdom from the Gays, the Straight, and Everybody In-Between.

Mountman, a reviewer for StoneWall Society, has created animated versions of two poems from Holding. Visit MS Agent Pages for the software and links. (Note: the poems are earlier versions, and slightly different from how they appear in Holding’s 2nd Edition.)

Artist Roger Beauchamp created Team Leviticus, artwork based on Reactions to Homophobia.

Watch for news about how the 2007 Pride in the Arts Festival will involve my books.

Duane Simolke's Texas Fiction Book Reviewed

StoneWall Society reviews The Return of Innocence

From Lubbock Online Entertainment Briefs: 3/13/07: Dean, Simolke will autograph new books

Phast Times

The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure

Texas Author Signing Books in Lubbock

The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure

Winner of a 2007 Allbooks Reviewer’s Choice Award

• This Week In Texas: Gay author wins another award for his work
  
• Belmont University: '89 Alum Wins Book Award
  
• Pressbox.Co.UK: Allbooks Review Editor's Choice Award winners announced
  
• FreePressRelease: Allbooks Review announces winners of Editor's Choice and Reviewer's Choice Awards for 2007
  
• 24-7pressrelease: Allbooks Review announces Editor's Choice and Reviewer's Choice Award
  
• American Chronicle: Allbooks announce winners of Editor's and Reviewer's Choice Award
  
• American Chronicle: ALLBOOKS REVIEWS EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD FOR 2007 announces the finalists
  
• The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 12/8/06: Simolke's fantasy novel up for award

The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure received a 2007 Allbooks Reviewer’s Choice Award!

Author and critic Glen Dromgoole wrote about The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure in his Texas authors column, which appears in The Abilene Reporter News, The Bryan-College Station Eagle, The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, and many other newspapers across the lone star state. That installment of Dromgoole’s column also covers works from Elmer Kelton, James A. Mangum, Mike Kearby, Pete Brewton, Carol Jo Parsons, Ronda Thompson, L. C. Hayden, and Judith McNaught.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 12/8/06: Simolke's fantasy novel up for award

Finalists announced for Allbooks Reviews Editor's Choice 2007!

The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure is the
AllBooks Reviews Feature Fantasy Title of the Month for December 2006.

Duane Simolke on Gay Internet Radio

Listen for my interview with the founder of StoneWall Society on the internet radio station Rainbow World Radio. StoneWall Society promotes music, books, artwork, and other media that feature positive images of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

I previously received three two 2002 Pride in the Arts Awards and a 2003 Pride in the Arts Award.

Nominations will begin on November 8 for the StoneWall Society 2006 Pride in the Arts Awards, and voting will begin shortly after the nominations end; nominations and voting details will appear at StoneWall Society.

StoneWall Society is now celebrating its seventh year. Watch here for the time and date of my interview, and for details about the Pride in the Arts nominations.

Mark Kendrick, author of Stealing Some Time and Into This World We’re Thrown, wrote the following review of The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure, at Amazon.Com.

In 'The Return of Innocence', Duane Simolke once again proves his writing mastery. Populated by at least two dozen characters, the story focuses on Sasha, a young female swordswoman, and her quest to destroy the evil Tay-lii. With well-fleshed out characters at her side, Sasha (or Innocence) goes on a classic fantasy adventure through the world of Theln, which exists right along the dimensional edge of another one of Duane's stories called 'Degranon'. So, along with his other offerings in the genre of contemporary fiction and sci-fi, Duane has produced this fantasy story; again proving his ability to write in any genre he needs.

To me, the mark of an excellent writer is the ability to write in a voice not his own - and to stay consistent in that character. Duane achieves that in spades by writing from the point of view of a young female warrior and taking it to its inevitable conclusion in 'The Return of Innocence'. Another mark of an excellent writer is the ability to shift genres when necessary to achieve an aim. I have read stories from three genres that Duane has written in and I've found them superb. This is an author you don't want to miss!

Cancer Fund-Raiser Preface.

Review Site Embraces Swashbuckling Adventure

Gay Pride Event

Walton, West Virginia, June 16-18. The first StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Festival will include spoken word artists reading passages from my books The Acorn Stories and Holding Me Together. This gay pride event will take place at Longfork Campgrounds and Resort. I won’t be able to attend, but I’m honored by the inclusion of my works, and I hope some of my readers can go. The event also includes movies, music, and visual arts. According to StoneWall Society’s founder, “The Pride In The Arts Festival is a direct offspring of the Annual Pride In The Arts Awards presented by StoneWall Society. The goal of the PITA Awards and Festival is to provide support and to help create an awareness of our community artists.”

Read about The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure at the gay Web site This Week In Texas.

Press release.


Lubbock, Texas: Saturday, June 3, 2-4 PM. Duane Simolke will sign copies of The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure, at Barnes & Noble (6707 Slide Road). He will also sign his West Texas fiction collection The Acorn Stories.

The Return of Innocence blends humor and romance with exciting fantasy action. Visit Theln, a planet of magic, dragons, nobility, and heroes. Sasha Varov was born into a noble home in the Thelni kingdom of Jaan, but Sasha’s father dared to oppose the king’s sorcerer, Wuhrlock. Sasha and her family became exiles on a desolate island.

At sixteen, Sasha left her island home to buy seeds in Jaan. She stumbled into a series of misadventures that ended with the death of Wuhrlock and made Sasha a legend, known as “Innocence.” Never mind that the legend barely resembled the truth, or that Sasha caught Wuhrlock in an unguarded moment. When Sasha returned for more seeds, the people of Jaan expected her to defeat a much more ruthless and powerful sorcerer.

Duane Simolke wrote the short story "The Return of Innocence" in 1983. With contributions by Toni Davis, he later developed it into a novel, now available for the first time.

Echo Magazine, a weekly publication for gays in Arizona, reviewed my book Holding Me Together on their Web site and in issue 428. The following page will change, but the review was posted online here: Echo: Between the Covers. Or see Page 55 of the following PDF file: Echo Magazine Issue 428.

“Duane Simolke's Holding Me Together: Essays and Poems 1983-2005 (iUniverse, $17.95, pap.) is an update and revision to his 1999 book, also titled Holding Me Together. It's a curious marriage of genres, and both the poetry and the essays favor political and cultural issues. For more information about this and other books by Simolke, readers can visit http://DuaneSimolke.com.”

HomoMojo Reviewer Praises Degranon