Nico Jaye's Blog, page 9
November 9, 2012
Three Things for Thursday...I mean, Friday
*peeks out from behind hands covering her eyes* Hey there, folks! I um...am apparently really really bad at updating this blog, so I was going to try to do a "Three Things for Thursday" post every week. But um...it's kind of Friday already. Oops.
Better late than never?
So here are three things that are on my mind...
1) Election 2012! Without trying to start anything controversial, I'll just say that I was pleased with the election results this week. Not only did we reelect President Obama, but the gay rights movement also went four-for-four in the four states in which the question of gay marriage was on the ballot. Well done, Maine, Maryland, Washington, and Minnesota! (Note: Just to clarify, in Minnesota, the vote was whether to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and that ballot measure was defeated.)
2) Superstorm Sandy hit NYC (and the eastern seaboard) last week, and the city is still recovering from it. As a result of the storm, some relatives who were visiting NYC came to stay with me for a couple of nights when their flights were cancelled. There were six people, plus one feline, in my studio apartment.
While I was lucky enough not to live in , there are many others whose lives were affected in much more dramatic and drastic ways. This storm was a terrible blow to the city, but I am impressed and amazed by the generally positive responses I've seen to the hardships. From grassroots organization of relief efforts to the MTA's Herculean task of bringing the NYC subway system back online after it sustained historic levels of flooding , I really feel like, all things considered, NYC has risen to the challenge. Next week I'll be one of those rising to that challenge when I volunteer with relief efforts in the outer boroughs.
3) Funemployment has been surprisingly HECTIC-with-an-all-caps-emphasis. Wow, it's been over a month, and I feel like I haven't done anything and, alternatively, like I've also been insanely busy.
Between getting shite done on the red tape side (admittedly boring stuff like making sure my 401Ks were rolled over, health insurance, etc.) and my family houseguests for over a week, I haven't written anything on my WIP. *sad panda* (Note: I wrote a really scandalous real-person-slashy-fanfic, but um...that doesn't count because it's not all official and stuff.)
When oh wheeeeeeen will I find the motivation to put thoughts to paper/screen? Soon, I hope! The characters are doing stuff in my head (what kind of stuff? well well well...I'm not one to have them kiss and tell... :P), but I just haven't sat down and pulled the words out yet. I know a bunch of people who are doing National Novel Writing Month/NaNoWriMo, which is super awesome. Seeing their word counts in my Twitterverse will hopefully inspire me to get crackin'. :)
That's it for this week's "Three Things for Thursday Friday." Seriously, I'm going into my GooCal (Google Calendar) right now to remind myself to do this next week. I swear! :)
See you guys next week! (Or sooner if I have something more specific to chat about on my mind...) *wiggles eyebrows*
With happy and motivated thoughts for all,
NJ
Better late than never?
So here are three things that are on my mind...
1) Election 2012! Without trying to start anything controversial, I'll just say that I was pleased with the election results this week. Not only did we reelect President Obama, but the gay rights movement also went four-for-four in the four states in which the question of gay marriage was on the ballot. Well done, Maine, Maryland, Washington, and Minnesota! (Note: Just to clarify, in Minnesota, the vote was whether to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and that ballot measure was defeated.)
2) Superstorm Sandy hit NYC (and the eastern seaboard) last week, and the city is still recovering from it. As a result of the storm, some relatives who were visiting NYC came to stay with me for a couple of nights when their flights were cancelled. There were six people, plus one feline, in my studio apartment.
While I was lucky enough not to live in , there are many others whose lives were affected in much more dramatic and drastic ways. This storm was a terrible blow to the city, but I am impressed and amazed by the generally positive responses I've seen to the hardships. From grassroots organization of relief efforts to the MTA's Herculean task of bringing the NYC subway system back online after it sustained historic levels of flooding , I really feel like, all things considered, NYC has risen to the challenge. Next week I'll be one of those rising to that challenge when I volunteer with relief efforts in the outer boroughs.
3) Funemployment has been surprisingly HECTIC-with-an-all-caps-emphasis. Wow, it's been over a month, and I feel like I haven't done anything and, alternatively, like I've also been insanely busy.
Between getting shite done on the red tape side (admittedly boring stuff like making sure my 401Ks were rolled over, health insurance, etc.) and my family houseguests for over a week, I haven't written anything on my WIP. *sad panda* (Note: I wrote a really scandalous real-person-slashy-fanfic, but um...that doesn't count because it's not all official and stuff.)
When oh wheeeeeeen will I find the motivation to put thoughts to paper/screen? Soon, I hope! The characters are doing stuff in my head (what kind of stuff? well well well...I'm not one to have them kiss and tell... :P), but I just haven't sat down and pulled the words out yet. I know a bunch of people who are doing National Novel Writing Month/NaNoWriMo, which is super awesome. Seeing their word counts in my Twitterverse will hopefully inspire me to get crackin'. :)
That's it for this week's "Three Things for Thursday Friday." Seriously, I'm going into my GooCal (Google Calendar) right now to remind myself to do this next week. I swear! :)
See you guys next week! (Or sooner if I have something more specific to chat about on my mind...) *wiggles eyebrows*
With happy and motivated thoughts for all,
NJ
October 17, 2012
Coming Out as a Gay Athlete, Part Deux
Although I posted about this topic
previously
, there's a lot to say on it, so here's my second round (of...many?) with thoughts on coming out as a gay athlete in today's sports culture.
I guess it should come as no surprise that my current WIP features a jock. What can I say? What with Man-to-Man Coverage (parts one and two) and Into the Deep (in MLR Press 's Going for Gold anthology), athletes just seem to be a thing with me. ;) With that said, the fact that there's no professional athlete who is gay and out is mind boggling. I'm about to go math geek on you all, so please bear with me. *shameless grin*
Let's look at the percentages, shall we?
As far as I can tell, there's no real pinpointed data on how many LGBT people there are in the U.S., but I've seen estimates of anywhere from two percent to upwards of twenty. Setting that aside for a sec, even more telling is to look at the number of professional athletes out there.
NBA (basketball, for those of you not versed in professional sports acronyms): 360-450 players*
NHL (hockey): 690-1500*
MLB (baseball): 750-1200*
NFL (football): 1696
*These numbers depend on whether you consider contracted and eligible-for-the-roster athletes (versus actually on the roster athletes) as professional players or not.
Okay, so even taking the lower end of those numbers, there are at least around 3500 professional male athletes out there. And, again, NONE of them is an "out" gay athlete. How is this possible? If we took the most conservative two percent estimate, that would mean that at least seventy gay athletes are closeted because of...the real or perceived negative reactions they expect to receive were they to come out as a gay athlete.
Normally, I'd point now to the progress that we've seen in professional athletes' thoughts on having a gay teammate and their support of gay rights. In fact, I found a ton of articles with interviews for my previous post on this topic. Since that time, there were even more supportive articles, most notably, in my opinion, NFL player Chris Kluwe's editorials on the subject of gay rights and gay marriage. Just take a gander at his brilliant, funny, insightful, and scathing letter defending a fellow NFL player's support of gay marriage and his later witty, eloquent, and totally on point post for the Minnesota twincities.com blog. Note that Kluwe was also featured in OUT Magazine with a *fans self* scorchingly hot picture accompaniment. With all of the publicity his letters and NFL players received for speaking out positively in favor of LGBT rights, it would seem the tides were turning.
But then a baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays, shortstop Yunel Escobar, very publicly wore an anti-gay slur on his eye black for all the world to see . And the MLB said they were "investigating" this action. And so I thought, Wow, maybe this is the time for professional sports to take a gay-friendly stance!
Nope. Escobar was suspended for three games .
Three games. In a sport where the regular season runs 162 games. To put that into perspective, the NFL season is 16 games, and the equivalent would be to suspend an NFL player for approximately one QUARTER of one game. That doesn't send a gay-friendly message; it sends an "I guess we should do something about this, but it's clearly not too important to us" one.
So after what felt like a positive leap forward with NFL players stepping up to support gay marriage, LGBT rights, and being open to having a gay teammate, professional sports, in my opinion, took two steps back when it (1) failed to chastise Escobar's absolutely ridiculous claim that it was "just a joke" and (2) then proceeded to give him the equivalent of a "haha, boys will be boys" slap on the wrist.
I'm feeling very conflicted about professional sports right now.
Hoping that "boys will be boys" eventually will be interpreted to mean boys will be tolerant and accepting,
NJ
I guess it should come as no surprise that my current WIP features a jock. What can I say? What with Man-to-Man Coverage (parts one and two) and Into the Deep (in MLR Press 's Going for Gold anthology), athletes just seem to be a thing with me. ;) With that said, the fact that there's no professional athlete who is gay and out is mind boggling. I'm about to go math geek on you all, so please bear with me. *shameless grin*
Let's look at the percentages, shall we?
As far as I can tell, there's no real pinpointed data on how many LGBT people there are in the U.S., but I've seen estimates of anywhere from two percent to upwards of twenty. Setting that aside for a sec, even more telling is to look at the number of professional athletes out there.
NBA (basketball, for those of you not versed in professional sports acronyms): 360-450 players*
NHL (hockey): 690-1500*
MLB (baseball): 750-1200*
NFL (football): 1696
*These numbers depend on whether you consider contracted and eligible-for-the-roster athletes (versus actually on the roster athletes) as professional players or not.
Okay, so even taking the lower end of those numbers, there are at least around 3500 professional male athletes out there. And, again, NONE of them is an "out" gay athlete. How is this possible? If we took the most conservative two percent estimate, that would mean that at least seventy gay athletes are closeted because of...the real or perceived negative reactions they expect to receive were they to come out as a gay athlete.
Normally, I'd point now to the progress that we've seen in professional athletes' thoughts on having a gay teammate and their support of gay rights. In fact, I found a ton of articles with interviews for my previous post on this topic. Since that time, there were even more supportive articles, most notably, in my opinion, NFL player Chris Kluwe's editorials on the subject of gay rights and gay marriage. Just take a gander at his brilliant, funny, insightful, and scathing letter defending a fellow NFL player's support of gay marriage and his later witty, eloquent, and totally on point post for the Minnesota twincities.com blog. Note that Kluwe was also featured in OUT Magazine with a *fans self* scorchingly hot picture accompaniment. With all of the publicity his letters and NFL players received for speaking out positively in favor of LGBT rights, it would seem the tides were turning.
But then a baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays, shortstop Yunel Escobar, very publicly wore an anti-gay slur on his eye black for all the world to see . And the MLB said they were "investigating" this action. And so I thought, Wow, maybe this is the time for professional sports to take a gay-friendly stance!
Nope. Escobar was suspended for three games .
Three games. In a sport where the regular season runs 162 games. To put that into perspective, the NFL season is 16 games, and the equivalent would be to suspend an NFL player for approximately one QUARTER of one game. That doesn't send a gay-friendly message; it sends an "I guess we should do something about this, but it's clearly not too important to us" one.
So after what felt like a positive leap forward with NFL players stepping up to support gay marriage, LGBT rights, and being open to having a gay teammate, professional sports, in my opinion, took two steps back when it (1) failed to chastise Escobar's absolutely ridiculous claim that it was "just a joke" and (2) then proceeded to give him the equivalent of a "haha, boys will be boys" slap on the wrist.
I'm feeling very conflicted about professional sports right now.
Hoping that "boys will be boys" eventually will be interpreted to mean boys will be tolerant and accepting,
NJ
October 12, 2012
The Origin of Ideas
Where do Ideas come from? Yes, the word is worthy of a capital "I." :)
After reading my stuff, some of my [non-writing, real-life] friends asked me where those ideas came from or even, as one of them pointed out, "how do you know there's condensation that drips down the beer bottle?" To which I kind of shrugged, nonplussed, and said, "I don't know - it just looks like that in my head."
In terms of process, I'm definitely a plotter. I visualize the general steps that need to occur for my boys to get from Point A to Point HEA. ;) But beyond that and for details, I guess things just sort of...happen? My ideas come from everyday life mixed with my natural questioning of "what if?" I think of these characters that I like (that I really REALLY REALLY like, hehe) and then I figure out...what if they got together? What if they found each other in this crazy world of six billion people and discovered that they were just kind of...well...perfect for each other?
As for specifics, those ideas just come from life mixed with imagination. I brainstorm while massaging shampoo into my scalp or staring into my bathroom sink with a toothbrush in my mouth. I went out to Hawaii for a wedding-slash-vacation, and I dreamed up...well, you'll have to see what happens in my latest WIP. ;) I see post-game locker room interviews, and...let's just say I speculate, as I'm sure you'll notice in my Man-to-Man Coverage stories. I come up with names while I'm hanging out with my friends. Anecdotal side note: John Damian Sloane, the sweetheart Olympic diver from my story "Into the Deep" in the Going for Gold anthology, received his middle name after I drooled over -- I mean MET *ahem ahem* -- Damian, the stunningly attractive Team Red-and-Gold knight whom our group was rooting for at the Medieval Times during my friend's birthday party. Basically, I live life and am fortunate enough to have ideas and inspiration appear.
That's how it works for me, anyway. I wonder how it works for everyone else...?
Doing her nails and figuring out who's *ahem* doing whom,
NJ
October 5, 2012
New Projects, Insomnia & My Theoretical Profession of the Day
I started writing a new m/m story about two college guys on my flight out to Hawaii. The first part and the general set up for the romance came pretty easily for me. I have the first scene written and a general plotty idea of what happens until the HEA. I swear, it's going to be suuuuuper cute, and I have a couple of very specific scenes in mind for these boys already. Since that flight, though, I haven't had a chance and/or the desire to sit down and write the darn thing. *pouts* I know, writer's block is annoying - ugh. It's not that I don't want to tell their story; it's more like I can't sit still to do it!
The Manoa Falls hike in Hawaii. They filmed the T-Rex opening in "Jurassic Park" here.
While I've been wrestling with that, though, a bunch of other stuff has happened. Like...my FUNemployment has officially begun. Woohoo! In the last few days of not being in the working world, I have made two cat capes for my cat. Yes, I'm sorta riding the crazy cat lady wave in that sense, but I swear...it's for practical trying-to-keep-him-warm-when-his-short-haired-domestic-fur-doesn't-do-the-job purposes! That's kind of what I mean by not sitting still, though - I feel all arts-and-crafty and stuff now, and funemployment has totally been the catalyst for that.
Super Nico is a super cat!
One of the crafty things that came up, actually, is related to this awesome Groupon deal for Vistaprint that I came across (hat tip to my Going for Gold co-contributor Annabeth Albert for the find!). I bought the Groupon, moseyed on over to Vistprint, and now, somehow, it's suddenly 4AM, and that's mainly because I've been so caught up in designing some swag stuff to give away. I am suuuuuuuper excited about what I came up with, and I just need to figure out who would want them and where I'd give them out. If I gave some away on this blog, would anyone care for a piece of swaggy swag? ;) (I guess I should also sit my butt down and write more, too, but let's ignore the writer's block situation for a moment, okay?)
That leads me to my theoretical profession of the day. I loooooved putting together the promo pieces, coming up with the concepts and slogans, and designing them. It felt kinda arts-and-crafty as I chose fonts, colors, layouts and stuff, but also kinda bargain-hunter-y as I scoured the internet for tie-ins on the ideas I had. As such, I've decided that, for the next 24 hours, my "maybe I'll do this" profession is in marketing and/or advertising. Hey, I have a B.A. in Communication Studies, so it's not tooooooo far-fetched, I swear! You never know, right? :)
Heading to bed with visions of swag dancing in her head,
NJ
The Manoa Falls hike in Hawaii. They filmed the T-Rex opening in "Jurassic Park" here.
While I've been wrestling with that, though, a bunch of other stuff has happened. Like...my FUNemployment has officially begun. Woohoo! In the last few days of not being in the working world, I have made two cat capes for my cat. Yes, I'm sorta riding the crazy cat lady wave in that sense, but I swear...it's for practical trying-to-keep-him-warm-when-his-short-haired-domestic-fur-doesn't-do-the-job purposes! That's kind of what I mean by not sitting still, though - I feel all arts-and-crafty and stuff now, and funemployment has totally been the catalyst for that.
Super Nico is a super cat!
One of the crafty things that came up, actually, is related to this awesome Groupon deal for Vistaprint that I came across (hat tip to my Going for Gold co-contributor Annabeth Albert for the find!). I bought the Groupon, moseyed on over to Vistprint, and now, somehow, it's suddenly 4AM, and that's mainly because I've been so caught up in designing some swag stuff to give away. I am suuuuuuuper excited about what I came up with, and I just need to figure out who would want them and where I'd give them out. If I gave some away on this blog, would anyone care for a piece of swaggy swag? ;) (I guess I should also sit my butt down and write more, too, but let's ignore the writer's block situation for a moment, okay?)
That leads me to my theoretical profession of the day. I loooooved putting together the promo pieces, coming up with the concepts and slogans, and designing them. It felt kinda arts-and-crafty as I chose fonts, colors, layouts and stuff, but also kinda bargain-hunter-y as I scoured the internet for tie-ins on the ideas I had. As such, I've decided that, for the next 24 hours, my "maybe I'll do this" profession is in marketing and/or advertising. Hey, I have a B.A. in Communication Studies, so it's not tooooooo far-fetched, I swear! You never know, right? :)
Heading to bed with visions of swag dancing in her head,
NJ
September 21, 2012
Aloha! Plus, a Q&A w/yours truly...
Aloha from Hawaii!
I'm in Hawaii this weekend (plus a few bonus days) for my friend's wedding and a sort of unofficial celebration of (think George Michael when you say this:) freedom...Freedom...FREEdom...FREEDOM! (See previous post for more info.)
This morning I did a waterfall hike, and it was beautiful just to walk the trail and be out in nature. I'm kind of suffering from a contact high due to the immense amount of sunscreen and bug spray to which I subjected myself during that time, though, which unfortunately has yielded the result of running out of things to blog about during this celebration-slash-attendance at friend's destination wedding.
Well, THAT'S OKAY because, thankfully, there's somewhere else you can find more stuff to read!
I did an interview recently for EM Lynley, the editor of the Going for Gold anthology. Check out what I have to say about my karaoke addiction, my complete inability to do anything even remotely athletic, and how I came to write about a yummy diver named John. Just click here for the full Q&A scoop!
And if you want to read about men who have the completely opposite affliction - that is, men who have a completely awesome ability to do athletic stuff! - then take a gander at the Olympics-themed stories in Going for Gold, available now on MLR Press, Amazon, and All Romance eBooks.
Slathering on the SPF and lacing up her hiking shoes,
NJ
I'm in Hawaii this weekend (plus a few bonus days) for my friend's wedding and a sort of unofficial celebration of (think George Michael when you say this:) freedom...Freedom...FREEdom...FREEDOM! (See previous post for more info.)
This morning I did a waterfall hike, and it was beautiful just to walk the trail and be out in nature. I'm kind of suffering from a contact high due to the immense amount of sunscreen and bug spray to which I subjected myself during that time, though, which unfortunately has yielded the result of running out of things to blog about during this celebration-slash-attendance at friend's destination wedding.
Well, THAT'S OKAY because, thankfully, there's somewhere else you can find more stuff to read!
I did an interview recently for EM Lynley, the editor of the Going for Gold anthology. Check out what I have to say about my karaoke addiction, my complete inability to do anything even remotely athletic, and how I came to write about a yummy diver named John. Just click here for the full Q&A scoop!
And if you want to read about men who have the completely opposite affliction - that is, men who have a completely awesome ability to do athletic stuff! - then take a gander at the Olympics-themed stories in Going for Gold, available now on MLR Press, Amazon, and All Romance eBooks.
Slathering on the SPF and lacing up her hiking shoes,
NJ
September 17, 2012
So, I outed myself at work...
...as the writer of scandalous fiction, that is.
Yeah, I know. Not quite what you were expecting, but still...being a writer of gay romance is itself kind of a big thing to reveal in a place like my super-conservative area of employment. The reactions have been...interesting.
Let me back up a second. Up till now, I've been employed as a Wall Street lawyer working for a gigantic multinational corporation. And before that, I was employed as a law firm lawyer working for a gigantic multinational law firm. So yeah...basically, I've been working for The Man in all his pinstriped and super-corporate glory for a while.
Well, no more.
I recently gave notice at my job without having another job lined up.
Yup. That's right.
I've chosen to leave my six-figure job to become voluntarily unemployed because, after a lot of soul-searching, I realized that lawyering - at this stage in my life, at least - is simply not for me. Honestly, the longer I stay in the profession, the less "right" it ends up feeling. At this point in my life, I don't have commitments - I'm single, have no kids, and don't even have a mortgage - so I figured if I didn't do it now, then when would I really have the chance to do it?
Of course, as a Class A planner, I've been scrimping and saving for ages to get to the point where I can make a run at this huge...leap of faith? Pursuit of happiness? Investment in me? Whatever you want to call it, I decided recently that it's time to take the plunge and see what might be behind Door Number Two.
What's interesting, though, is the reactions I'm getting to my admittedly unorthodox departure. Nearly everyone I've spoken to has been incredibly positive and supportive - and, to be honest, envious of the opportunity to explore what I want to do, not just what I am currently doing.
And that leads me to the title of this post.
With some of my closer work colleagues, I've shared the fact of my writing activities and, in some cases, my writing itself. And the reactions? Overwhelmingly encouraging. It's really amazing to be surrounded by positive vibes for something so close to my heart. Indeed, some people have also opened up about their own personal experiences with the LGBT community, too. I swear, I've had more interesting conversations in the last couple of weeks than I had during my entire tenure there. From discussing gay athletes to coming out in the workplace to general LGBT activism, it's been a fascinating journey to VU (that's "Voluntary Unemployment") Day. Which, incidentally, is almost here. *eager grin of anticipation*
So here it is...my Manifesto, Part Deux: My self-imposed sabbatical will be a time to work on...me. I want to hone my skills, find my focus, and explore avenues of interest - including writing - that are decidedly non-lawyerly. I hope I find what I'm looking for, but even if I don't, I'm sure it'll be a hell of a ride. :)
Lifting her glass in honor of finding your passion and taking leaps of faith,
NJ
Yeah, I know. Not quite what you were expecting, but still...being a writer of gay romance is itself kind of a big thing to reveal in a place like my super-conservative area of employment. The reactions have been...interesting.
Let me back up a second. Up till now, I've been employed as a Wall Street lawyer working for a gigantic multinational corporation. And before that, I was employed as a law firm lawyer working for a gigantic multinational law firm. So yeah...basically, I've been working for The Man in all his pinstriped and super-corporate glory for a while.
Well, no more.
I recently gave notice at my job without having another job lined up.
Yup. That's right.
I've chosen to leave my six-figure job to become voluntarily unemployed because, after a lot of soul-searching, I realized that lawyering - at this stage in my life, at least - is simply not for me. Honestly, the longer I stay in the profession, the less "right" it ends up feeling. At this point in my life, I don't have commitments - I'm single, have no kids, and don't even have a mortgage - so I figured if I didn't do it now, then when would I really have the chance to do it?
Of course, as a Class A planner, I've been scrimping and saving for ages to get to the point where I can make a run at this huge...leap of faith? Pursuit of happiness? Investment in me? Whatever you want to call it, I decided recently that it's time to take the plunge and see what might be behind Door Number Two.
What's interesting, though, is the reactions I'm getting to my admittedly unorthodox departure. Nearly everyone I've spoken to has been incredibly positive and supportive - and, to be honest, envious of the opportunity to explore what I want to do, not just what I am currently doing.
And that leads me to the title of this post.
With some of my closer work colleagues, I've shared the fact of my writing activities and, in some cases, my writing itself. And the reactions? Overwhelmingly encouraging. It's really amazing to be surrounded by positive vibes for something so close to my heart. Indeed, some people have also opened up about their own personal experiences with the LGBT community, too. I swear, I've had more interesting conversations in the last couple of weeks than I had during my entire tenure there. From discussing gay athletes to coming out in the workplace to general LGBT activism, it's been a fascinating journey to VU (that's "Voluntary Unemployment") Day. Which, incidentally, is almost here. *eager grin of anticipation*
So here it is...my Manifesto, Part Deux: My self-imposed sabbatical will be a time to work on...me. I want to hone my skills, find my focus, and explore avenues of interest - including writing - that are decidedly non-lawyerly. I hope I find what I'm looking for, but even if I don't, I'm sure it'll be a hell of a ride. :)
Lifting her glass in honor of finding your passion and taking leaps of faith,
NJ
