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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2011)
JULY 15,2011 -com m unity- July Sale 50% o ff "Classic Black" Gallery Style Frame Moulding numbers 27701 & 26101 only W W W .JU S TO U T.C O M Any custom size up to 32 x 40 up to 11x14 $49 {Normally $98} up to 20 x 24 $69 {Normally $138} up to 20 x 24 $91 { Normally $182} up to 32 x 40 $164 {Normally $328} Includes acid-free mat glass & assembly ASSISTING OUR COMMUNITY WITH PROBATE AND OTHER END-OF-LIFE ISSUES 5 0 3 .2 4 9 .5 6 5 9 M eet tw o m ore com m unity figures w orth getting to know , BRIAN MARKI FINK ART N FRAMI NG 2 2 3 6 N E B ro a d w a y , P o rtla n d O R 9 7 2 3 2 Faces of Pride b ria n m a rk i.c o m Adoptions Surrogacy Divorce, Custody Wills/Estate Planning Probate Employment Business Law 503 . 241.3103 www.bethallenlaw.com llt t h A lle n 1 a w Beth A. Allen, founding partner: winner of the Oregon Gay & Lesbian Law Association (0GALLA) Silver Jubilee Award; OGALLA Award of Merit; and the Basic Rights Oregon Superhero Award. Selected as a 2010 Oregon Super Lawyer. Founding member of the BRO Legal Group; author of Same-Sex Marriage: a Conflicts of Law Analysis for Oregon; frequent local, state and national speaker on marriage equality. Raining Accolades Author W ood w ins aw ard s for portrayal of qu eer boys in love and danger Like her namesake, the warrior princess in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Eowyn Wood doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Her two-part authorial debut, novels Na ked in the Rain and Afterglow, tackles sen sitive and provocative subject matter. “I was concerned [about how readers would respond] because there’s some pretty controversial issues. The main character is young and ends up having sex with older men,” Wood explains. The novels tell the story of two boys who flee their troubled lives to find themselves, and their love for one another, in a world filled with drugs and child prostitution—heavy material for a debut novel. For Wood, the first taste of published life turned out to be the sweetest. Naked in the Rain (2007) won numerous awards—it was named the winner in both the Next Generation Indie Awards (2008) and the National Best Books 2007 Awards from USA Book News in the GI.BT category. It also took home silver in ForeWord Maga zine's 2007 Book of the Year Awards’ GI.BT category. Former Curve editor Diane Anderson- Minshall compared the novel to My Own Private Idaho, saying that it asked “read ers to determine whether it’s a modern subversive fairytale or a gritty post-gay drama.” So where did the 41-year-old bisexual Portlander find inspiration for a set of novels about Brian, an 11 -year-old bisexual piano prodigy, and River, a 14-year-old gay tough guy? “The main character, Brian, I started inventing him because of the band Placebo. I had seen some interviews and videos of them—the singer [Brian Molko] is bisex ual and the lyrics are very open about that,” Wood explains. Beyond providing inspiration for Brian’s character, music plays a key role in prefac ing the novels’ chapters, particularly in N a ke d in the R a in . SUBMITTED PHOTO 14 li__ LZ__________ “ I was concerned [about how readers would respond] because there’s some pretty controver sial issues. The main character is young and ends up having sex with older men.” -EOWYN WOOD “I have always had a great love of music. I just decided, wouldn’t it be fun to start each chapter with lyrics?” Wood explains. Now that Afterglow is out—and racking up awards of its own—Wood is taking a break from the decade-long project. She admits she has other ideas percolating, but plans to focus on her work at Cascade AIDS Project, her side job editing for Crooked Hills Publishing and spending time with her partner and pets. Still, she foreshadows, “I’ve considered continuing this series.” For more inform ation , v is it eowynwood.com. * — E r in R ook