fyi - if you are looking for an interesting poly holiday read, my novel is out!

The link is below -- Thanks!!

 https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Flight-William-Albert-Baldwin/dp/198773159X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=william+albert+baldwin%5C&qid=1606548272&s=books&sr=1-1

“Valentines and Roses and Poly Endeavors” (South Bay Polys #286 - February 2020)

Here we are rushing up on Valentine’s Day—and I’m in a flurry of activity!  This first half of February is not only the lead up to Valentine’s Day—it contains the birthdays of two sweeties as well!

<xoxo!!>  (You know who you are!)  ;^)

In addition Pantheacon, a national convention for Pagans and Wiccans in San Jose, is coming up on Presidents’ Day weekend.  I will be co-hosting a talk on Pagan Fiction, discussing my “intersectional” novel Soul Flight.  Is it a Pagan novel with poly themes?  Or a poly novel with Pagan themes?  Or…..a lot more?  Well—we’ll see how it goes.  My co-presenter and I have ninety minutes to talk.  I’m wondering how many polys will be in the audience.

Yesterday, I was interviewed for fifteen minutes as part of the Annual Meeting of the Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness (UUPA)  I figure at least half of the board of UUPA has read Soul Flight, and they seem to like it—but of course they are polys.  Waiting to hear from my more mainstream relatives.  My Marine Corps cousin likes it—that’s something!

So…the attempt to bring polyamory into the mainstream consciousness continues.

For us, here, in Sunnyvale…  Well, I just want to continue our monthly experiment in creating Poly-Liberated Territory, a place where it is safe for us to be openly poly.

Do join us if you can, for snacks and conversation.  It’s always nice to meet more polyfolks!

Welcome!

"Creating a Pagan Fiction"

(This is the summary of the talk I will be giving with Elizabeth Johnson Lee at this year's Pantheacon in San Jose, on Feb.16th) 

What comes to mind when you think of Pagan books?  Information on tarot, or candles, or rituals?  Do you think of Pagan fiction?  What do you mean by Pagan fiction?  Do you include science fiction and fantasy?  Have you heard of the newer term Visionary Fiction?

Come hear Bill Baldwin, local COG and South Bay Circles elder, describe his odyssey of creating and publishing a Pagan-themed novel (Soul Flight). Elizabeth Johnson Lee (The House at 844 1/2) will also share her thoughts and experiences. 

What considerations go into writing and publishing fiction with a Pagan theme?  Is everything just variations of (for example) Harry Potter, the Wicker Man, or Charmed?  How can you publish what you have written?  How can you promote it?

We will present a few excerpts of Pagan fiction as well.

"Doing My Best" (Sunday Assembly of Silicon Valley, Jan. 12, 2020)

Imagine you’ve always wanted to build a battleship.  You go online and order a do-it-yourself kit.  The next day the vans pull up and fill your (large!) back yard with 50,000 parts, plus tools and instructions.  “Call us when the battleship’s ready,” says the driver as she pulls away.  What do you do now?

Or you’ve always wanted to paint murals.  Now your backyard is filled with 50,000 gallons of paint and a five-year supply of brushes. 

Okay—I made that all up. But remember the image.

Imagine you’re seven years old, and your parents start playing you Broadway soundtracks.  At nine you’re hearing Bible stories and Greek legends, and seeing all the movies based on them.

In junior high you’re stuck on a military base in Japan with nothing to listen to but Armed Forces Radio – which is pretty educational.  You learn about Shakespeare, Greek tragedy, and Eugene O’Neill.

By high school you’re writing song lyrics and dedicating sonnets to the girls in your English classes.  You toss off a Greek-style tragedy.  Then half-way through college you think, “Hot-durn I’m ready; I’m writing that novel.”

Forward twenty years.  Remember the battleships?  Why are parts left over, paint left over?  How do you fit those 50,000 words together?

Then someone mentions an eight-week informal writing circle.  You notice a Mercury News announcement for something called the California Writers Club.

Forward twenty more years.  You’ve now written eight novels.  How do you publish and promote them?  You know they’re kind of “edgy.”  You’re portraying the misfits of society:  People from different backgrounds, religions, spiritualities (or not!), sexual orientations, genders, relationship orientations.  How do you balance these different characters; the personal, the social, the political, the mundane, the visionary?

Will anyone buy these novels?  Maybe the misfits; but who will publish the books for these outcasts? 

Turns out you can publish them yourself, at essentially no expense.  No expense.  There’s a Learning Curve, but it isn’t really that bad.  I have learned to balance all this, and in November and December I published both the paperback and the eBook version of my novel Soul Flight.  And if any of you—or Sunday Assembly of Silicon Valley—want to publish something important to you, I can provide helpful hints. 

I think now I’m doing my best.  Thank you.

"New Year Fears and Hopes" (South Bay Poly #285 - January 2020)

A new year, with new hopes.

I just spent two days in Sacramento, where I shared a meal with some poly friends who used to live here in the Bay Area.  We reminisced about various friends and events we had known here; some sweeties who have left the area, and the wonderful poly dinners we used to attend every month at a Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto.  Then the host’s work situation changed.  Life is always changing, of course—but change is stressful.

I spoke at this month’s Sunday Assemblies meeting in Palo Alto and described the years of prep that went into my recent novel Soul Flight.  I mentioned the general theme of non-standard lifestyles, but not polyamory specifically.  Next month I’ll be interviewed about the book as part of the Annual Meeting of the Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness (UUPA).  I’ll also be talking about the book at this year’s Pantheacon in San Jose.

Curiously, someone saw an excerpt from another poly novel I plan to release in a year or two.  “Don’t name the character ________; there’s a well-known poly by that name in our area.”  (This person lives several thousand miles away).

What I’m beginning to notice is how easily people will assume the so-and-so in a novel or story must be based on some real-life person.  It’s funny in a way.  Whether I use ordinary names like Joe or Jim or Lisa, or whether I use more unusual names like Genuflect or Berskawillin…..  People still see themselves in the story.  It’s a barometer of how much polyamory and several “alternate” characteristics still cause unease and self-consciousness and anxiety.

Hopefully society will gradually move beyond that.  How can we help that happen?

Anyway:  Happy New Year!  Happy 2020!

“Polyamory, Monogamy--And Their Intersection” (South Bay Polys #284 - November 2019)

A few days ago, I submitted a request to join a Facebook group with the focus of poly-mono relationships.  As part of the request, I had to explain why I wanted join the group.

I explained that I facilitate this South Bay Poly group in the greater San Jose area.  And I explained that one of my partners would now consider themselves monogamous, not poly--although this has not always been the case.

My partner is happy with our relationship and accepts the fact that I am poly, even though they do not consider themselves poly.  This highlights several topics.

Is polyamory a choice or an identity?  I have come to believe that in my case it is an identity.  I may choose to be monogamous; but my personality is not monogamous.

Can your poly/mono status change?  It seems to me that my partner’s status *has* changed.  Is it a choice for them, or an identity?  I don’t know.  Could be more a result of medication lowering their libido.

But the point, I think, is that these are not “either/or” questions.  Is poly a choice or an identity?  I think there can be aspects of both.  If you are poly by identity, you may decide to behave as if you were mono.  If you are mono by identity, it’s less likely you will choose to behave in a poly way.

But some people who claim to be monogamous may, when not attached to a “significant other” decide to date around (sleep around?)--all the while claiming to be monogamous and just “waiting for the Right Person.”

I don't know all the answers - I just ask the questions!

Happy Impending Holidays!

“A Tale of Two… (or Three? Or…Four??)” (South Bay Polys #283 - October 2019)

Big, stressful times for me, this past month.  The mundane matters would be….root canals, dental work…

The more significant (for me) stuff:  I’m about to publish my novel Soul Flight, built around a polyamory plot (among other sexual, spiritual, and world themes).  I plan to release it on Halloween.  I’ve been rushing around reviewing proofs, designing flyers, and planning mailings.

As a part of that, I’ve also updated my blog (“Grail and Wand” -- http://grailandwand.blogspot.com) with about two-and-a-half years’ worth of these (“right here!”) poly newsletters.  So if you want to see any of our South Bay Poly stories back to around October 2016, they’re all there -- Enjoy!  If you’re new to South Bay Polys, I hope this encourages some questions and discussions for our meetings!

So I’ve been kind of “busy”…..<chuckle!>

Soul Flight should be available on Amazon beginning some time on Halloween.  Not only that…

I’d like to recommend another poly novel by a friend (well, on Facebook anyway!) – Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe, by Harrie Farrow, published in 2014.  The plot deals with polyamory and bisexuality.  A very enjoyable book, I thought!

I’ll probably be a bit calmer by next month (“Ha!?”) – We’ll see!

Hope to see a bunch of you this Saturday.  I hope you are ready for the holidays.  And I hope your poly-explorations are going well!  Love is…..good!