A Free Book to Start June
Welcome to Pride Month! Annually in June, and to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people - and those who love them - recognize the ongoing work to achieve social justice and equity for all humans.
If you don't know about the Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising), they happened at the end of June in 1969 in response to police raids that took place at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village (Manhattan), a traditionally gay bar. Lesbian and gay patrons, their supporters, and folks sympathetic to the movement pushed back against the violence, harassment, and persecution perpetrated by members of the police against gay and lesbian patrons. The uprising was seen as the beginning of a movement to outlaw discrimination against people based on their sexual preference. It's been 52 years. Have things changed? Yes, in some ways, and for the better. However, discrimination and hatred are still with us, in many forms.
The movement continues, as does the fight for equality for all people. Perhaps it's even more important now. The brave men and women who fought for freedom over 50 years ago didn't risk (or in some cases, give up) their lives so that a select few groups could wield power and exert dominance over others.
To that end, I'm making one of my books free for the next five days. Bits of Broken Glass is about a small group of high school classmates who reunite 25 years after their high school graduation. It features diverse characters, all of whom carry baggage from their younger days, and all of whom fear some of the ghosts of the past. Bits of Broken Glass was an Amazon #1 bestseller a few years ago, but if you haven't yet read it, now's your chance. Download a copy for free, or pick up a paperback copy for about $10.00, either through Amazon or from your favorite bookstore. If your bookstore doesn't have a copy in stock, just ask them to order it for you! And that title? Yes, it's a fragment of a lyric from one of my favorite James Taylor songs.