A Proper Young Lady

US and UK codes #audiobook #newadult #intersex #sweetromance

I have free audiobook codes for my second novel. The Scottish narrator did an outstanding job. If you’d like a free code, all I ask is that you leave an honest review.

A woman with the complete form of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome might never discover that she has testes in her abdomen rather than ovaries and uterus.

Danièle knows, and she grieves that she can never have her own children. She has a partial form of AIS that left her with ambiguous genitals, a steady stream of doctors and psychologists, and parents determined to see her happy as a girl.

After Melanie agrees to have a baby for her, Danièle learns that the clinic can extract sperm from her own gonadal biopsies, and she becomes the biological father herself.

Ethan adores the graceful young woman named Danièle, while Melanie imagines a life with the father of her children.

Danièle? She’s happy with her intersex body—somewhere between princess and little boy. But in a black and white world, she must choose—once and for all—who she will be. And whom she will love.

If you’re interested, contact me at liannesimon AT yahoo DOT com.

Watercolor Memories

My third novel, Watercolor Memories, is being released this week. Although not quite the same genre as Outsider, it’s set in the same alternate-history Scotland.

Toward the end of World War II, a biological weapon meant for London veered off course and struck Eilean nan Sìthean. Within forty-eight hours, the ensuing plague killed all of the men and most of the women on the island. Six months later, the survivors gave birth to children of the plague–the Fair Folk reborn.

Anya’s a fifteen-year-old foster girl, living in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. In the past year, she’s gone from petite blonde to tall and muscular redhead. She doesn’t understand what’s happening to her body or her gender, but she knows she doesn’t want the doctors fixing her.

Watercolor Memories looks at gender and sexuality. It explores the boundary between friend and lover. What happens to you if your memories flow like the paint running down your artwork? If the world shifts, and everything changes, will your best friend still be there or will you die alone?

Silver Dagger Book Tours is conducting a blog tour for both Watercolor Memories and Outsider. Hop on over to their site for a schedule and some giveaways.

Fae Fantasy, Sweet Romance, Intersex OwnVoice

Intersex in Christ: A Review

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The Author:

Jennifer Anne Cox, PhD. teaches systematic theology as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Tabor College in Perth, Western Australia. Her newest book, Intersex in Christ: Ambiguous Biology and the Gospel was published recently by Cascade Books. I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer:

As a Christian with an intersex condition, I’m too close to this subject to give an entirely unbiased review. Please keep that in mind.

Introduction:

The author’s stated goal was to write an evangelical response to intersex, and to do so from a particular world view. Her words are directed at Christians.

“Yet an evangelical Christian response, which considers intersex through the lens of Christ, his person and work, is needed.” —page 2

Reaching Christians regarding intersex:

To the evangelical Christian, her message then is—the Gospel is as much for someone with an intersex condition as it is for you. Stop abusing these people.

Jennifer Cox addresses intersex from an evangelical point of view without reducing the complexity of human biology to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome. She doesn’t lecture intersex people about embracing the binary. Our bodies are fine the way they are.

A number of Christian scholars claim an intersex person’s ‘true’ sex can be determined from some indicator of God’s creational intent. So I was a bit surprised this author didn’t follow that well-trodden path.

Indeed, after discussing 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, she says:

“It is quite acceptable to live with the gender assigned at birth, and even possibly scribed into the flesh by surgery. God would not see this as a sin. The situation in which the intersex person finds himself or herself when coming to know Jesus as Lord is a situation in which that person may validly remain. However, it is not a sin to transition to the other gender. There is abundant grace in Christ. A decision about gender for the intersex person should be made according to grace and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The fact that this is difficult and may take some time to work through is not an insurmountable problem. Christians should recognize the grace of God in this matter and support the intersex person in the decision-making process.” —page 151

For that statement alone, I will be giving copies of this book to evangelical leaders and Christian friends willing to read it. I dearly wish those who signed the Nashville Statement would take the above quote to heart.

In her chapter on Sex, Gender, and Intersex, the author compares complementarian and egalitarian positions. For reference, most of the signatories to the Nashville Statement would claim to be complementarian. Jennifer Cox, is an egalitarian. As she says:

“I will advocate for a more egalitarian position, particularly in church. The egalitarian position would provide no hindrance to intersex persons taking up any role in church or society.” —page 78

She makes a strong case for her views and rightly associates the more extreme form of Complementarianism with Arianism, a heresy.

Although I have some areas of disagreement with her theology, I think she presents her case well.

So, yes, send a copy of this book to your Southern Baptist or Presbyterian Church in America friends.

About the Resurrection:

Although the author deals with a number of different subjects, I want to comment in more detail on her views of the Resurrection.

My mother once asked me whether I’d be male or female in Heaven. I told her that I didn’t know and wouldn’t care. My Redeemer loves me.

Jennifer Cox insists that our resurrected bodies will be binary—entirely male or female. Like many Christians, she dismisses the verses that speak about a lack of sex—or at least sexual function—in our new bodies. She says:

“Intersex bodies will be healed; intersex people will be restored according to God’s creative intent. This is not to say that identity will be in question, since identity is secured in Christ. However, which intersex person will be male and which female cannot be known in the present.” —page 127

So, rather than pointing to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome to determine ‘true’ sex, she maintains that only God knows, and He’ll make that clear at the Resurrection.

My fallen rational mind isn’t the measure of all things. But some of the statements evangelicals make about sex seem inconsistent to me.

There will be no marriage in Heaven. No sexual activity. No reproduction. The point of our resurrected bodies being sexed, according to Jennifer Cox is:

“Being male and female is a very significant part of being human, because this difference enables people to be ‘fellow humanity.’ Human sexual differentiation is part of our creaturehood. Therefore, we must expect that in the resurrection male and female sexual distinctions will remain.” —page 139

According to some evangelicals, being male or female is essential to our humanity. Yet being intersex is a disorder that can be healed without changing our identity. A binary sex is so central to our being that our resurrected bodies must be sexed. But intersex will be erased.

At a glance, my naked body’s female—wrinkles, sagging skin, and all. My gender wanders at times, but remains well within the bounds expected of a woman. That’s me.

If I rise from the dead with a completely female body, I won’t complain. It would seem odd to me, however, to suddenly have a functional reproductive system in a place where such will never be used.

If I rise from the dead with a completely male body, I won’t complain. But my gender would also need to change. Otherwise, I would become like the transgender people whom the author condemns because:

“their understanding of their own selves, is incongruous with their biological sex.” —page 38

In another chapter, the author says that:

“Identity is not primarily found in a physical attribute or the shape of our genitals.” —page 140

She also says,

“Human beings were created with bodies and we cannot disconnect ourselves from those bodies. In some sense we are our bodies.” —page 129

I agree that our bodies are an important part of our selves. In the Resurrection our bodies will still reflect our selves. If someone who lived most of her life as a woman—though intersex—is resurrected with a functional male reproductive system—how can that still be her self? And we shall surely be recognizable as ourselves in our new bodies.

Job said:

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” —Job 19:25-27

Reaching those with an intersex condition:

What about my intersex friends who aren’t Christians? Will I recommend the book to them?

No. It’s not directed at non-Christians. But I hope enough evangelicals read Intersex in Christ that the attitudes of Christians toward intersex people change. From what I’ve read in this book, I suspect the author shares that same vision.

“We must love people as they are, while also considering what they will become.” —page 5

Some Christians have made a point of telling me that intersex is a result of the Fall. Okay. But if you tell a woman in labor that her pain is due to the fall of mankind into sin, she’ll never let you share the Gospel with her. Love her first. Help her through that pain. Show her you care.

When trying to reach someone who is intersex, you can’t start with a view that we’re physically broken. And be aware that words you consider ‘the truth in love’ can still injure us.

The author says:

“It is false to declare that everything that occurs naturally is intended by the Creator to be that way. Not everything that exists necessarily ought to exist.” —page 58

I took that as, “You should not exist.” Is that fair of me? Perhaps not. But don’t expect an intersex person who reads Intersex in Christ to respond well to such things.

Remember that I said I’m not unbiased. I interpret language through the context in which I live and my particular history as both a Christian and intersex.

I don’t believe the author meant anything untoward by any of her statements. It’s just my cPTSD kicking in. We who are intersex—at least my generation—live in a world altered by trauma. Not caused by our being intersex, but rather by how people react to our differences.

It’s not that unusual for Christians to try to erase intersex. By minimizing our numbers. By reducing sex to a single biological parameter.

By assuming that we’re unhappy with our bodies. That intersex is a medical disorder rather than a part of the diversity of God’s good creation. By telling us we need or want to be healed.

By looking for our ‘true’ sex. By objecting to the gender we choose.

It’s unfair to suggest that this book actually says any of those things. But a number of my intersex friends are understandably sensitive. So, no, I’m not likely to recommend the book to them, except as something to give their Christian friends.

Drawing from Intersex Experience:

Many of the quotes the author uses are from intersex people I know, or from doctors I’ve seen or scholars I’ve corresponded with.

Megan DeFranza is one of my closest friends. Susannah Cornwall is one of the most winsome people you’d ever want to meet.

I was a member of ISNA. I’ve been involved with or attended intersex support group meetings for nearly twenty years. I know quite a few of the intersex people the book quotes.

I’ve met Doctors Reiner and Migeon and Berkovitz and Creighton and Minto. I know what it’s like to spread my legs with more than just my own doctor present. I’ve had genital surgeries to repair previous failed ones.

I’m delighted that the author quotes so many intersex people. It shows that she did her homework. That she cares to listen to us. But I hope that she has taken or will take the time and effort to develop intimate friendships with enough intersex people to really understand us. I hope that the AIS-DSD support group will let her visit one of their annual meetings.

Ending on a Good Note:

To be fair, Jennifer Cox says a number of very positive things about intersex people:

“However a person is sexed—female, male, or intersex—the human body is very good.”—page 44

and

“this does not necessarily imply that people who are unambiguously sexed are closer to the image of God than those who are intersex.” —page 55

and

“To intersex believers, I want particularly to emphasize that you are acceptable to God without alteration, because you are created in his image, made because of love, and are valued and dignified as an intersex person.” —page 165

Intersex in Christ—give a copy to your Christian friends.

Eastern Iowa Review — Changeling

Eastern Iowa Review

“Afterward, pain shadows my every move. Whenever I stop, the dull ache in my tailbone grows until it consumes each waking thought and pursues me into my dreams.” —Changeling

The inaugural issue of the Eastern Iowa Review is scheduled for an early May release. I’m delighted that a personal essay I wrote on intersex, will be included.

The literary journal’s founding editor, Chila Woychik, was gracious enough to drop by and chat about her new venture.

Lianne: Welcome! The EIR submission guidelines say, “Show us the good and glorious respites between the hurt; show us those good spaces.” I love that sentiment. Tell us a little more about your vision for the magazine. What drives you?

Chila: Coming from a non-faith childhood to an evangelical young adult and middle life experience, then to a more general faith perspective has led me to believe that there is true beauty and balance in this world, and it’s not that hard to find, especially if we approach life with a nonsectarian mindset. Further, having a child of my own has helped me grasp the importance of appropriateness in reading materials, viewing materials, etc., on impressionable minds, and how often “adult” materials are pretty worthless in the overall scheme even to adults. My goal is to try to bring that kind of truth and beauty to the world.

Lianne: If you would, give our readers a bit of a preview—what are some of the special things in this issue?

Chila: Besides your fantastically open and honest essay, we have creative writing ideas from a Pushcart Award winner, stories and nonfiction from MFA’s, MDs, those with little published writing and those with a CV as long as your arm. Of course, I’m grateful for each and every contribution but am extra pleased with our nonfiction and fiction special contributors: one is an English Language Fellow with the US State Department in Russia, and the other has been published numerous times simply because her writing is top notch literary.

Lianne: When I started sending out queries for Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite, my assumption was that I should seek an agent who represented Christians. But even ‘edgy’ Christian Fiction didn’t include novels with an intersex main character.

It was about that time, I think, that I ran across an article you’d written on the issues with Christian Fiction. (Indeed, my novel has a few of the problems so prevalent in the genre.) Has the situation improved much over the past two or three years?

Picture0338Chila: I just finished judging a group of middle grade / YA samples for a West Coast Christian writing contest, and I was amazed to find about half the entries were quite decent. Yes, there were the usual too-overt religious elements, but overall the good pieces were really quite good. Of course, these were only samples, the first ten pages or so, so who knows how those stories resolved and how they moved toward that resolution. I seldom read Christian fiction anymore; I don’t have time to waste on what has too often been bad writing teamed with an attempt at redemption through in-your-face preachiness. I’m still waiting for the day when serious writers who also believe in God will seek to address universal truths in a way that everyone, of faith or not, will sit up and take notice.

Lianne: A few of the agents that I met face to face—some of whom praised my writing—lost all interest once I explained that I was intersex. The Lord has called me to be more transparent. So I don’t hide what I am any longer. But that makes me more vulnerable.

On a previous occasion, you offered me a contract on a short story. While writing Changeling, I kept reminding myself of that. Yet I worried you might not want to risk publishing what I wrote. My essay seemed well outside what most literary magazines would print. Even given your statements regarding Christian Fiction. Would you share a bit more about your thoughts on determining limits for content?

Chila: I think your story is an important and poignant one. I also think many literary magazines would gladly publish it given you maintain a general, not-overly-religious, stance. For the Eastern Iowa Review, I sought strong nonfiction that was true and still beautiful with redeeming value for the general reader, the homeschooling mom and her brood to the college professor seeking something a little less traditional, a break from the norm. I guess I don’t consider “intersex” a tough topic as opposed to, say, a graphic story with sex scenes or brash profanity or crude jokes. To me, the truth of an intersex birth is a far cry from themes some would consider “adult.” Also to me, I would have gladly (though carefully) explained to my young son about genetic differences; their reality; it’s where we live. We learn about, learn from, and love people, period. There is no distinction, or should be no distinction. It is not unbiblical to be born intersex, so why should people hide it or discriminate against it?

Lianne: You’ve recently become a literary agent. Port Yonder Press publishes books. Eastern Iowa Review prints poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. You’re an editor and a prolific writer. How do you find the time to remain healthy and happy, let alone sane?

Chila: A few things changed earlier this year, primarily that Port Yonder Press will no longer publish material, though a few of our books will remain on our sales lists for the next year or two. Also, as of now, EIR is only an annual thing, if that. Re: editing – most of my work as an editor was for Port Yonder Press, so that will no longer apply. I had also managed the Zero Bone Poetry Prize, but this is our last year for that as well. I’ve trimmed my life out of a compelling desire to write, so for now I’m focusing on my personal writing journey, this new literary agenting gig, and possibly the journal. This is very doable and will allow me to follow my dreams at last. I also have a small farm full of animals, an awesome Jeep, and a few hobbies that I adore, such as hiking, boot & book shopping, and keeping up with friends and relatives: these things bring perspective and keep me grounded.

Lianne: I’m really excited about the release of Eastern Iowa Review. Where can people purchase a copy? How much of the content will be available online? When will you be open to submissions again?

Chila: Our goal is to have a link here by May 1st. If you purchase off our site, you’ll save over an Amazon purchase, so we’re hoping many folks will avail themselves of that opportunity; it will also net more proceeds for us and for the cause of good literature. Online content will be very limited, perhaps one-sixth of the total number of stories. “Changeling” will be one of the stories available online as will a couple more essays and a piece of fiction or two. We want people to read some of the best we’ve included so they’ll be encouraged to want the rest. All the stories are good, of course, but I feel we’ll have a good cross-section of styles and topics free online.

Lianne: Thanks for stopping by. May our dear Lord richly bless you. And thank you, dear lady, for your friendship.

Chila: The honor is all mine, Lianne, and your friendship has become special to me. Best to you as well!

[edited September 26th, 2015] Changeling is here.

Golden Boy–Abigail Tarttelin

goldenBoy

Not since Herculine Barbin’s autobiography has a book so thoroughly opened up old wounds. After reading the opening scenes, I set Golden Boy aside for several days while I debated how wise it would be to finish it.

The protagonist in Golden Boy is Max, an intersex teen living as a boy. At the beginning of the novel he’s raped by a male friend who treats Max sexually as female. And Max doesn’t go to the authorities.

Long ago, a roommate in the boys’ dorm–yes, boys’ dorm–proved that he could do whatever he wanted to me. No, I wasn’t sexually assaulted. Not exactly, anyway. But it was clear that, to him, I wasn’t a boy. And I didn’t go to the authorities. Why not? Read Golden Boy. Max would understand.

Max has a close family–father, mother, brother–that doesn’t seem to realize just how dysfunctional they are. Father is running for Parliament. Mother’s a hot-shot attorney. Brother has his own issues and is a bit annoyed at Max’s perfection.

But the opening was compelling enough to draw me in. I’m glad I finished the book, but it took several weeks to get over the visceral reaction I got every time I recalled some of the novel’s events. Yes. Entirely too close to home.

Abigail Tarttelin deals well with issues faced by one intersex teen, and how it all changes when someone discovers his secret, and how little control some kids have over their lives.

Very few of us get to the point of not caring who knows we’re intersex. Even fewer, perhaps, can forget that we are. For Max, coming to terms with his condition is traumatic. No. Let me restate that. For Max, the trauma isn’t his condition. It’s how everyone around him treats him. Ms Tarttelin does an excellent job of demonstrating how each person in Max’s life reacts. In the end, even those who are supposed to be closest to him, won’t let him make his own decisions.

Golden Boy should be released in May. Highly recommended whether you’re into YA or #yasaves or not.

You can see a discussion I had with the author on the MuseItUp blog.