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Notable 2011-2012 Books by African-American LGBT Authors

Notable 2011-2012 Books by African-American LGBT Authors
Toni Newman
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Author of Memoir I Rise-The Transformation of Toni Newman

Author of Memoir I Rise-The Transformation of Toni Newman
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I want to applaud African-American LGBT authors of 2011/2012. I have been traveling all over the U.S.A., and here are some of the most notable books by African-American LGBT authors recommended to me by gays, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender African Americans. I want to encourage the LGBT community and avid book readers to read the following books. I have read all the following books and recommend them strongly, and I want to support African-American LGBT authors.

  • Mogul by Terrance Dean, released June 14, 2011. It has been nominated in the Bisexual Fiction category for the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards. His first book, Hiding in Hip Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry -- From Music to Hollywood, is number six on Flaier.net's list of the top 25 gay books and was an Essence bestseller. Terrance Dean is a speaker, educator, author, and hip-hop head.

  • I Rise: The Transformation of Toni Newman by Toni Newman (me), released April 14, 2011. It has been nominated in two categories, Memoirs and Transgender Nonfiction, for the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards. It is number 24 on Flaier.net list of the top 25 transgender biographies. I am a writer, author, and law school student and graduated from Wake Forest University in 1985 with a B.A. in sociology.

  • The Bad Seed by Lee Hayes, released June 7, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Lee Hayes, the critically acclaimed author of Passion Marks, A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks 2, and The Messiah, returns with a delightfully wicked spin on what constitutes a 'bad seed.'"

  • Transparent by Don Lemon, released by May 11, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "In this unique memoir, Primetime CNN anchor Don Lemon takes readers behind the scenes of journalism, detailing his own struggle to become one of the most prominent African American men in television news -- and inside some of the biggest stories of our times."

  • When Love Takes Over: A Celebration of SGL Couples of Color by Darian Aaron, released June 2, 2011. It profiles 18 African-American "same-gender-loving" couples who are in committed, long-term relationships. According to Amazon.com: "The couples detail how they met, their journey towards self-acceptance, liberation and ultimately how they fell in love and maintain their relationships. All the while defying the myth that two black men are incapable of loving each other for a lifetime."

  • Mind Your Own Life: The Journey Back to Love by Aaron Anson, released May 11, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "A brave and deeply personal memoir of one man's quest to rise above the the political and religious rhetoric that had divided and diminished the human spirit for thousands of years. Aaron Anson engagingly writes about his own experiences of growing up a black gay Christian in a deeply religious South."

  • I Dreamt I Was in Heaven: The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang by Leonce Gaiter, released Aug. 5, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Leonce Gaiter's noir thriller 'Bourbon Street' was published by Carroll & Graf. His non-fiction has appeared in The Huffington Post, LA Times, The Washington Post, Salon, NY Times, NY Times Magazine and in national syndication. He has worked professionally in the creative ends of the film, recording, and marketing industries."

  • The Kid by Sapphire, released July 5, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Fifteen years after the publication of Push, one year after the Academy Award-winning film adaptation, Sapphire gives voice to Precious's son, Abdul."

  • Dangerous Pleasures by Fiona Zedde, released Jan. 25, 2011. According to her website: "Fiona Zedde is a transplanted Jamaican currently living and working in Tampa, Florida. She is the author of six novels -- Bliss, A Taste of Sin, Every Dark Desire, Hungry for It, Kisses after Midnight, and Dangerous Pleasures - as well as three novellas (Pure Pleasure, Going Wild, and Sexual Attraction) published in the collections Satisfy Me, Satisfy Me Again, and Satisfy Me Tonight, respectively."

  • Sir, Yes Sir by Mike Warren, released July 12, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Sir, Yes Sir is the third and final installment detailing the wild and thoroughly entertaining life of Sean Matthews. After A Private Affair, and the sequel, Sweet Swagger, Sean heads to his new duty station in Hawaii with the love of his life by his side. Just as things heat up, Sean meets his father for the first time and is shocked by finding out a deep, dark family secret. Between running for his life, and the threat of being put out of the military, all hell breaks loose, and Sean [is] staring death in the eye."

  • Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual African American Fiction edited by Devon W. Carbado, Dwight McBride, and Don Weise, released Oct. 4, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Showcasing the work of literary giants like Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and writers whom readers may be surprised to learn were 'in the life,' Black Like Us is the most comprehensive collection of fiction by African American lesbian, gay, and bisexual writers ever published. From the Harlem Renaissance to the Great Migration of the Depression era, from the postwar civil rights, feminist, and gay liberation movements, to the unabashedly complex sexual explorations of the present day, Black Like Us accomplishes a sweeping survey of 20th century literature."

  • Black Fire: Gay-African American Erotica by Jamie Freeman, released Feb. 15, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Black Fire celebrates the heat and power of sex between black men: the rude B-boys and gorgeous thugs, the worshippers of heavenly ass, and the devoutly religious in their forays through the subterranean grottoes of the down-low world..."

  • Queer Pollen: White Seduction, Black Male Homosexuality, and the Cinematic by David A. Gerstner, released March 1, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "Queer Pollen discusses three notable black queer twentieth century artists -- painter and writer Richard Bruce Nugent, author James Baldwin, and filmmaker Marlon Riggs -- and the unique ways they turned to various media to work through their experiences living as queer black men. David A. Gerstner elucidates the complexities in expressing queer black desire through traditional art forms such as painting, poetry, and literary prose, or in the industrial medium of cinema. This challenge is made particularly sharp when the terms 'black' and 'homosexuality' come freighted with white ideological conceptualizations."

  • Bi-Curious: Volume 2 by Natalie Weber, released Feb. 12, 2012. According to Amazon.com: "Weber delivers the powerful and provocative tale of a woman whose bi-curious nature gets her into more trouble than she can escape."

  • The Sweeter the Juice, edited by Marcus Anthony, released March 15, 2011. According to Amazon.com: "STARbooks Press is proud to release their first collection from Marcus Anthony, featuring stories of men of color and those who lust after them. Featuring the hottest writers in gay erotica, these stories will have you thinking twice about your 'type' and make you pursue a more diverse array of men."

  • Lickin' License Part 2: More Sex, More Saga by Intelligent Allah, released Feb. 14, 2012. According to Amazon.com: "Lickin License 2: More Sex, More Saga finds Rich struggling to lead a crime-free life and save his three-way relationship with Candy and Vanessa." Another Amazon.com listing writes, "Candy is a 31 year old money getter who owns Candy's Shop the hottest beauty salon in Harlem. She can have any man she wants, but men are not her thing."
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