Because I frequently receive so many questions, I'd figured I'd just make a FAQ page, and just add to this over time.
But first, some links.
Learn all about me and this blog.
Buy my books and Find my other writing, all of my other writing, here.
Find any other page on my site map, the easiest place to get around this website.
What's with cookies? Why are cookies in every aspect of your work?
Because I love cookies, all kinds of cookies, even what other countries call cookies. Send me all the cookies in the world.
What's with the face holding? Is that a blindness thing or a gay thing? Why is face holding such a thing in your fiction and nonfiction?
Because I like it. It's my unique brand of safety. I love it when someone holds my face, and I want to feel safe and I want my characters to feel safe.
It's not a blindness thing or a gay thing. It's a, me, thing. Call it the Kingett Trope!
Why does your older work reference you looking at things?
Because I was legally blind with some usable vision until my late twenties. I'm totally blind now, due to acute Narrow Angle Glaucoma.
I've never been sighted. I don't know what it's like to live in a sighted world. I've always lived in the Blind world and I was brought up in Blind culture.
Is your books or blog for younger readers?
Typically, no. I don't write for kids. I don't write for young readers generally, so do not tell a kid about my blog writing or any of my books without reading both of them first.
I write explicit sex scenes. I cuss. I write about triggering subjects. I never shy away from the hard experience life can sometimes toss at us and me.
While I do think older kids and teenagers, young and old teenagers, should be exposed to a lot of adult reading material, including explicit material with parental conversations, it's far better to vet my work and then read and discuss my adult work with your offspring.
I will never tell teens and older kids to not read my stuff because I was a teenager that read far beyond my grade and reading level. I was reading adult works as a teenager, very explicit works too. I know there are other older kids and teenagers out there like me that outgrow younger reading material and so I will never tell someone to not read my works.
Why don't you take a lot of pictures or do a lot of video press appearances?
I don't want to do internet based video-based press appearances except for TV appearances or recorded events because video will always be a medium where I'm subjected to the sighted gaze, and frankly, I don't want to make you more comfortable just so you can gaze at me like a sighted person. Video isn't safe for me. It's not safe because it's an immediately hostile environment where I have to surrender to the sighted gaze and I just don't want to do that as of late.
This means I will turn my camera off during zoom meetings, I will not enable video when I'm on your YouTube channel, and I certainly won't pretend to be sighted to make sighted people feel comfortable. Video does nothing for me.
I have no problem doing TV interviews or live literary events where video will be recorded, however. If I'm doing an event that will be recorded, I have no problem at all doing that.
As for pictures, I'm just not a fan of them as of late, especially putting them online. That's why I have a cat image as my picture. The cat image will always be some sort of public domain picture, but rarely will online people ever see a picture of me unless I know you very well.
Pictures are a format I can't control, fully, and I'd like anything to do with my author brand to be as minimal as possible. It's also an indirect way to say fuck you to ageism, although, I know that won't stop people commenting on how old or young someone looks.
If I do post an image of myself somewhere, consider it a rare treat.
For those that have never seen you, what do you look like?
You can see me on video here but a text description is below.
I'm a creamy guy with Ivory skin. Some say I have one blue eye and one green eye. Others say I have blue eyes. As of right now, I have dark brown hair, but I do have a receding hairline. I'm thin, and many in the gay community say I'm cute. I smile easily, and due to the blindness, my eyes are either blankly staring or they wiggle, so I guess you could say I have a little bit of a Nystagmus. I don't know where the Nystagmus comes from because I'm not a doctor, nor do I have any medical knowledge.
Why don't you like talking on the phone?
Because I have a stutter/stammer that causes Prolongations. The two are very different, but I've got a kind of block that prevents me from saying words. It's not the typical stutter where people repeat words, it's the kind of verbal block where I can't say words as fast as other people because there's a blockage in airflow. It's never went away fully but in safe spaces, it's drastically diminished.
This safe space is in very few company and very few situations. For example, I have more speech fluency when I am comfortable and relaxed in quiet spaces.
If I talk on the phone, people may mistake my pauses for a dropped connection. It's taxing to speak, so unless I know you intimately, we won't be speaking verbally.
My own theory is that the stutter was caused when I was given far too much oxygen as a baby, causing me to have the blindness, cerebral palsy, and the stutter because it's a kind of medical trauma that can't be cured. I don't think the brain can heal in that regard so I will be disabled my whole life.
Do you like to read? What are your favorite books?
I love reading! Here's a page of my reading highlights. I'm an audiobook reader. Audiobooks count as reading and I won't be debating with you on this.
Do you listen to podcasts? What's some of your favorite podcasts?
I love podcasts! I love them so much I am a podcast hound. Give me all your podcasts. My podcast page is here where you can also see the kinds of fiction and nonfiction podcasts I like and why I like them.
Why don't you publish more? Or at least publish faster?
Because I'm disabled. My energy is very precious to me, especially as I get older and my disabilities increase and as I learn of other disabilities I have due to age.
Long ago, I made it a point to never engage in capitalistic productivity again. I wanted to be productive in my early twenties but not anymore. I never want to be productive for the sake of production. Productivity is a toxic mindset that inhibits relationships, and the found family and loved ones in my life are far more important than making stuff for the internet to judge, and consume, rather than appreciate and enjoy.
this is why I write a lot more than I publish. I'll never stop writing. It's my choice what to publish, and when to publish it. Writing is my life, but me choosing to publish something is me giving you the chance to treat something with care. You don't have to like anything I do, just treat it with care, because even if you don't like it, someone else will. Accept my work isn't for you and give it to someone that may/will enjoy it.
For me, writing is an accessibility aid. It allows me to articulate what I can't verbally say, but especially online, people don't appreciate the artist. To publishers and readers, we're just content farms. Readers place unrealistic expectations on us to make stuff faster and this treats us like a product line instead of people.
To reject all of that toxic mindset, I never publish to readers expectations. I never have, and never will. Readers can wait.
How do you use a computer if you're blind?
I use a screen reader. A screen reader is controlled via keyboard commands. I do not talk to my computer because of my speech disability. I also use these accessible tools and services that were designed for the blind in mind.
My mobile phone has a screen reader too. The screen reader allows me to navigate the phone in a different way than you do but it makes the phone accessible to me.
If I'm supporting you financially on an ongoing basis, why do you still give your work away for free?
There's a few reasons I give my work away for free to anybody that asks for it.
It combats censorship. In a hostile world that hates minorities of any kind, and financially disadvantaged people, actively giving my work away for free is the best way I can keep kicking censorship until it stays down. I hate censorship of any kind, no matter who does it and why they justify doing it. This is why I actively read every bigoted book I can get my hands on. It is a way for me to arm myself and challenge myself. I will fight you if you want to take this reading power away from me. If I choose to read problematic or bigoted books, you can share better books rather than telling me not to read these kinds of books.
Providing access is very important to me, which is why I don't or rarely do exclusive stuff. Everyone should have access regardless of financial ability. I give my work away for free because everyone deserves to read.
By supporting me monthly, you're paying it forward. You're making sure others have access to me, even if my work is censored where they are due to bigots or censored because of capitalism.
How can we make sure you don't deny our event requests?
First, become very acquainted with my events page, in full.
Before booking me, make your event and accommodations as disability friendly as possible. Start with these event requirements, and then do other research on how to make virtual events accessible and in person events accessible.
Make sure to have your spaces fully disability friendly if you want to have an author visit, virtual or in person.
Give me months to prepare. For virtual events, ask me a month or more ahead of time, not weeks ahead of time. If it's an in person event, ask three months ahead of time or more.
Why don't you reply to my emails in a timely manner?
Because I'm disabled, and my mental health and my found family and my peace is vastly more important than a quick response to you. I will never be productive in a capitalistic way ever again. If you want to have a quick response, you won't get it. I'm going to take my time writing back to you.
Because I never aspire to capitalistic standards again, I'm going to take my time to compose a thoughtful email over time.