Larry Benjamin. Wordsmith. Writer. Author.

I read about a year ago that the marriage equality movement had reached critical mass which meant it was essentially unstoppable; it could be resisted, it could be delayed but change was gonna come. And come it did, last week when SCOTUS, in a 5-4 decision, made marriage equality the law of the land. Like most successfully married couples, Stanley and I know each other better than anyone else knows us: he knows I miss seeing my father, that I hate the idea of being buried, knows I wish to be cremated; I know Stanley is loving, and generous and so is an organ donor.   To those wishing to deny me my fundamental rights based on their “religious beliefs,” I have this to say: I do not want to get married in your church before your God for I believe in neither. I don’t believe in your religion, a sanctified lean-to built on a foundation of fables, hearsay and superstition. And I don’t believe that a God, who would allow His son to be nailed to a cross, who would allow gene...

I admire Ken Larsen's writing and his posts are always excellent. This is one of my favorites from him. (Use the link below to read his post.) Kenneth Larsen writes...: Love Wins! : " It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respe...

There’s a woman in Germany named Mel on Goodreads who writes wonderful reviews—insightful, and entertaining without giving away too much away. She caught my attention because she has been going through my books and reviewing each one. She started reading Damaged Angels and posting reviews of each story. Her review of my short story “Spam” caught my attention. Of it, she wrote: Oh my... this one’s a riddle. At least to me. It’s kinda impossible to say what’s real and what not. And while I’m confused, I still appreciate this. In the end it doesn’t really matter what exactly went down here. Her review (read the full review here ) led me to decide I would dedicate this blog post to explaining that story. Spam,” is, in a way,   a story about identity. Identity has been much talked about. First it was gay identity, then transgendered and gender non-conforming identity (though I think gender non-conforming identity has always existed and been talked about). Then, there was the r...

I must admit that when I first read about Rachel Dolezal ― who leads the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, teaches African studies to college students and sits on a police oversight commission, and who claims to be black when she may not be by birth ― I was surprised and amused. You see, my short story, “Howdy Billy, Cabbage Ma’am,” (Damaged Angels,2012) deals with the same issue—a privileged white woman masquerades as black for decades and is eventually found out. But the more I read, the madder I got. It seems the entire controversy surrounds how Rachel Dolezal identifies racially. Say what? Why are we so outraged by Rachel Dolezal’s racial identification in an age when we are told gender exists on a spectrum and can be “fluid,” in an age when it is argued that marriage is the right of any two people in love? Why are we outraged by this when we accept the fluidity of gender roles and embrace the reality of stay-at-home dads, and women on the battlefield? Just the other day I saw...

This week I’m chatting with the remarkable Mark William Lindberg, a queer author, artist, performer, and educator, whose new novella, Queer on a Bench just came out. Let’s just dive write in, shall we?   As a writer, I am always interested in other writers' writing process and what inspires them, so can you talk a little about what inspires your stories and what your writing process is like? I'm really interested in form, so a lot of the time—certainly with my two books so far—I'll start with a what-if question. 81 Nightmares came from asking myself, "What if all you had was one character's dreams? What if that was the whole story? What could you learn about that person? What would you think you knew about them? Is it possible to tell a complete story that lives only in a character's dream life?" My new book, Queer on a Bench , began with the question, "What if the whole story has to happen between the time a character sits down on a bench an...

Today is the day. We've released the cover and first excerpt for my novella, Vampire Rising. There’s also a giveaway of all three books from my backlist. You can check it out at the blogs listed below. Vampire Rising will officially release on July 19, 2015 but if you pre-order now, you can get it for just 1.97 USD (eBook only). The paperback is 7.91 USD. Combined buy links | Amazon Beaten Track Publishing (eBook) Beaten Track Publishing (paperback) Visit these blog stops for details and to see the cover.   Parker Williams Multitasking Mommas Divine Magazine Bayou Book Junkie Andrew Q. Gordon Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words Inked Rainbow Reads TTC Books and More Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents Rainbow Gold Reviews MM Good Book Reviews Molly Lolly Happily Ever Chapter My Fiction Nook BFD Book Blog Mikky's World of Books Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance Havan Fellows Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My Hear...