When I sat down to write Jeezus Geeks & Rainbow Freaks, it was called The Boy with the Blue Hair. It was supposed to be Shilo’s story. Then I met the character Matilda. She had other ideas. She was angry, incredibly fun to write to and impossible to ignore. Mat’s entire life consisted of being silent and invisible, or so it first appeared. Once uncorked, she wouldn’t stop talking. That’s when I realized this was their story, and I couldn’t leave out their new friends Liza, Will or Annabelle. 

 Suddenly I had five narrators. It was very exciting and I was scared. I thought, please universe, don’t eff with me. You gave me the idea; please make me the conduit to do their story justice.

I knew I wasn’t writing a “gay story” or a “trans tale”. Rather I was telling a human story about love, connection, friendship and trying to find our place in the world.

And I was afraid.

I consider myself an open person. Live and let live. Be curious, and all that. But to tell this story, I had to be 100 percent emotionally naked for everyone society has previously labeled “other”. I generally don’t give a crap about what anyone else thinks, but this was out there on the vulnerability scale, even for me.

However, this is why I’m here. Why I’m so excited to be alive at this very moment in time, as the world opens and love returns. As previous restraints blow away and we are all free.

Call it God, Allah, Source, Chi, The Force or The Universe—it makes no mistakes. She’s intelligent. He’s genderless, all-knowing, all-powerful. And it is love.

And so I trusted, opened my heart, listened carefully and wrote.

We are all other. And we are all one.