With yesterday being the American Thanksgiving holiday, many of us have posted lists of what we’re thankful for. Okay, stop groaning and read on, I promise not to bore you with another one of those lists. Promise. So in the spirit of being thankful, I want to use my post today to talk about an extraordinary person I’ve met as an author in the MM Romance Genre and her efforts to help LGBT youth.
I met Lynn Schmitz about a year and a half ago. I went to my first DC Area MM Romance Readers Meet up and we sat next to each other – well she sat next to my eighteen-month old daughter and me. We talked about how she came to the read MM Romance – her youngest son is gay – and about how she had taken in other homeless youth who needed a place to stay. That alone told me I’d just met someone special, but her efforts go beyond that.
Lynn is part of her local PFLAG chapter and it is her work with PFLAG that I want to bring to everyone’s attention. One of Lynn’s passions is helping young people. All young people—gay, straight, bi, transgendered—all of them. As part of her efforts, Lynn has started a lending library at her PFLAG chapter. She’s been collecting Young Adult and Young Adult appropriate books so she can make these available for free to the young people in her area. This month she officially opened the lending library. She even made book cover cookies for the event.
So this is where we all can help. Lynn is a wonderful person, tireless and passionate, but she’s one person. We as a community are much, much bigger. We can help her make her dream even more successful in several ways.
- Authors: if you have a YA or YA appropriate book, consider donating a paperback copy. If you have any questions if your book is YA appropriate, you can ask Lynn;
- Readers: If you have any YA or YA appropriate books you’d like to donate, consider donating them;
- Lynn hopes to be able to expand her library to used (or new) kindle’s so she can put more books in the hands of the young people. If you have an old Kindle consider donating it;
- Donate a gift card. Lynn has encouraged the young people to look on true-colorz.com for books they want to read so she can purchase them.
- Last—and this is a much bigger commitment—consider starting something similar in your own neck of the woods. If you have questions on how to do it, contact Lynn.
Lynn’s email is: lschmitz1@comcast.net
I’m going to go back on my promise just a bit and say that I’m thankful for having met Lynn. Her generosity and passion is an inspiration to me. Each of us may not be able to change the world with the snap of a finger, but as she is proving every day, we can make the world better, even if it’s just for a few people who desperately need someone to care.
Lynn asked that I thank all the authors and readers who donated to the reading library. So here goes:
Thank you Jeff Adams, Ross McCoubrey, Jay Bell, Chase Potter, Andrew Gordon, John Goode, Sherrie Henry, Sophie Bonaste, JP Barnaby, Doug Starr, Madison Parker, RJ Scott, Mia Kerick, TJ Klune, Andrew Grey and Sandy Miller for donating a copy of Cody Kennedy’s book.
And thank you, Lynn, for your efforts and for being an example to us all that we can make a difference if we care enough.
See you next month.
-AQG
Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting to the times, he now writes with a shiny new MacBook that he sets on the same desk as his manual typewriter and vintage adding machine.
Long a fan of super heroes, wizards and sports, Andrew’s works include high fantasy, paranormal spirits, magic as well as contemporary fiction. He is still trying to find the perfect story that will include all his favorites under one cover.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his husband, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and occasionally sleeping.
His works include: (Un)Masked, The Last Grand Master, Purpose, Ashes of Life and A Closed Door.
Check out his website for more information.
Links:
Thank you for letting us know about this Andy. I will be contacting Lynn to see how I can help.