Andrew Karre, book editor

Exit, Pursued By a Bear by E K Johnston was a really good, powerful book about the aftermath of sexual assault– but it was the author’s note at the end that made me cry the most. 

Even more so, this part about the main character’s relentlessly brave and supportive best friend, Polly: 

 "There is a good chance that somewhere in your life, there is a champion. She will be an older student. A teacher you have never had. The secretary. Someone else’s mother. But that person will have a car, and she will make time for you, and she won’t judge or ask questions. Finding her might be hard; you might never have spoken to her before. If you’re lucky, she’ll find you. Trust her when she does, even if no one else has ever stood up for you. 

R. Eric Thomas - I love so many things about this #NoBillNoBreak…

My favorite: “He is the human personification of the expression ‘You tried it.’”

(via jasmined)

The first gay club I went to was a small, dark bar on the plains of Colorado, the summer after my first year in college. I went with my childhood best friend, because we’d both spent the last year discovering that our sexual orientations weren’t as straight as we’d thought.

I don’t remember the name of the club. I do remember feeling like I was stepping into a new world, one that was both terrifying and exhilarating. I didn’t know anyone there except for my friend. I’m pretty sure I was the only Asian American there. I’m sure that I stuck out like a sore thumb. But that was also the first time I realized there is a place for people like me. However naive and inexperienced I might have been, I also felt welcomed.

I went to other gay clubs. There was ManRay in Cambridge, Massachusetts, another dark box of a club between Harvard and MIT, where I went with my college friends. They had a special queer night every Thanksgiving, and after college in our early twenties, we’d load up on turkey and stuffing, and then dance it off at ManRay, which happened to be literally next door to my friend’s apartment.

There were bigger clubs, too. In San Francisco in the late ’90s and early 2000s, there was Club Q, a gigantic warehouse of a club somewhere in SoMa where queer go-go dancers twisted on platforms above the heaving dance floor. Hundreds of women shimmied beneath the colored lights, and when I pushed through the sweaty crowd I felt totally insignificant and yet completely seen: terrified of being overlooked, hopeful of being looked over.

I’ve been to Girl Bar in Los Angeles, Candy Bar in London, El Rio and the Cat Club in San Francisco. I’ve been to Pride parties in New York City where I felt like a smalltown loser but wouldn’t have missed those parties for the world. I’ve been to Dinah Shore and MichFest and women’s weekends in sleepy Guerneville, California. All these clubs — all these dance parties for queer women — they showed me that there are thousands of us out there, and we are all searching for connection with each other, always seeking love and hoping for acceptance.

When I was a kid and we went on family vacations, no matter what city we went to, my parents always wanted to go to Chinatown. I remember, when I was a frustrated teen, thinking that this was the stupidest thing ever. Every Chinatown was the same: crowded, stinking of strange herbs and fish guts, the sidewalks thronged with cheap imports, the restaurants loud with Chinese speakers all seeming to yell over each other. I didn’t understand, when my parents took me to all these Chinatowns — in San Francisco, in Boston, in New York, in Toronto — that they were seeking a place where they felt at home. In Chinatown, we were like everyone around us. In Chinatown, my parents spoke the language.

As a lesbian adult, that’s what going to queer bars and clubs meant to me. They were spaces where I spoke the language. I was accepted as family. They were places of joy; they were places of freedom. They were crucibles of emotion — pulsing, music-filled rooms where we were encouraged to feel everything. They were spaces full of drama, rooms ripe with possibility. For many people in the gay community, gay clubs are our living rooms and our sanctuaries; they are the places we meet the people we love, and the spaces where we find ourselves.

The terrorist attack at the Pulse club in Orlando today has left me heartbroken for so many reasons. I hurt for the victims and their families. I hurt for my LGBTQ family, which has had one of our most precious places invaded by hatred. The fact that this attack took place during Pride month is not an accident. It is a direct attack on our freedom to be ourselves.

I don’t go to many gay clubs anymore. Like many people, after I got married, I moved on from those electric spaces; I created a more private living room with my wife and our families. But I still remember those clubs for the joy they brought me, and the freedom they taught me. These spaces are crucial for our LGBTQ community. It’s no accident that one of the foundational events in the gay rights movement took place at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar. And I know that despite the horrific nature of today’s attack, it will not stop us from being proud of who we are. My heart goes out to all LGBTQ people today. I am with you. I am you.

1. This is the best tumblr ask I have ever received, and

2. I think Buddy Holly’s dragon slayer was in the US Military. (The idea being that the Beatles/British Invasion were so outside the realm of the government/the establishment that they really wanted someone SUPER official to represent the development of the American draconobardic tradition. So Holly’s dragon slayer would have been career Oil Watch, and Peggy Sue probably never got written.)

Review: Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

I’m going to begin this review by talking about an entirely different story first. A couple days before reading Exit, Pursued by a Bear, I read a short story titled “The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill” by Kelly Robson. It’s a good story and well-written, and violent— and at its core is the physical, mental, and cultural violence surrounding sexual assault. Browsing the author’s blog, I…

i will not be a frozen example, a statued monument to there-but-by-the-grace-of-god. i have danced before and i will dance tomorrow.

Have you ever read a book that made you want to call up each and every one of your best friends and tell them how much you love them? Exit, Pursued by a Bear is a gorgeously written story about the strength we have inside and the strength we get from people who love us. Here’s everything you need to know about the author of this masterpiece, E.K. Johnston!

Name: Emily Kate Johnston

Novel: Exit, Pursued by a Bear 

Available: March 15, 2016 

Who’s your favorite author, living or dead? It is REALLY HARD to give this a single answer, but I’m going to go with Tamora Pierce because she was there when I was little and she’s still there now. She grows and she changes and she gets better and I admire that, both as a reader and as a writer. 

What’s your favorite thing about your book? Hermione and Polly. Every scene with them together was a joy, even the ones that hurt.

If you could spend one year on a deserted island with one character from literature, who would you choose? Galadriel, probably, but only if she understands that I am mortal and will need, you know, shoes. And snacks.

 Where do you write? I write all over the place! At home, at my brother’s (wifi-less) cottage, at Starbucks. I’m about to move apartments, but here is my office right now: 

Who is your favorite hero or heroine of history? Joan of Arc. Her drive, bravery, faith, and ambition are all amazing enough, but she did it all when she was very young, and that is even more impressive. 

Do you tweet? What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever tweeted? Yes! Rather a lot, probably, @ek_johnston. And: 

What is your favorite season? Autumn. I love the leaves changing colour and the cooler nights. Every time I leave Canada and live somewhere else for a while, I miss it. 

If you could teleport anywhere in the known universe right now, where would you go? Dunvegan, Scotland. I mean, the weather’s probably not great, but it’s one of my favourite places and I’d love to see it again. 

Do you have any writing rituals? Coffee, headphones, Bear McCreary’s BSG soundtracks.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? A book I like, a cozy spot, a magical cup of tea that always stays at the right temperature, and quiet. 

What is the best concert you’ve ever been to? The only band I’ve ever seen in concert is The Arrogant Worms, but they were pretty great. 

What are you currently working on? I’m about to start revisions on my 2017 book THAT INEVITABLE VICTORIAN THING, which is both exciting and terrifying.

Thanks, E.K.! We can’t wait to hear more about your next work.

Follow E.K. Johnston on Twitter!

Hermione Winters won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale

Hermione Winters won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale

“But, in a way, this book reads like a version of This Is How Things Should Go When Crimes Are Committed, rather than a picture of how they actually play out in the current day. And you know what? There can actually be a strange comfort in thinking about the way Things Should Be.”

Hermione Winters won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale

Hermione Winters won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale