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!
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