"99 Erics" – an update about my forthcoming novel!

Over the last few years, I have been writing silly, surreal, sex-positive fiction centered on a character named Kat Cataclysm. Back in 2016, I published the chapbook you see here, full of short pieces that were supposedly penned by her. And this fall, my/her debut novel – 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel – will be released!
[Note: it has since been released, read more at the link!]

99 Erics will be published on Switch Hitter Press in October, 2019 early 2020. A description of the book, plus links to excerpts, are below. More info (including cover art) will be made available once it is complete.

If you are a writer or media outlet interested in reviewing 99 Erics, or interviewing me about the book, please contact me, and I'd be happy to get you a review copy as soon as they are available!

In the meantime, here is a brief description...

Kat Cataclysm is an ethically non-monogamous bisexual woman and absurdist short fiction writer. 99 Erics is a humorous account of Kat’s experiences writing a book called 99 Erics, which is about her experiences dating ninety-nine different people named Eric. It is more surreal than slutty. Not that there is anything wrong with slutty.

lyrics to "Cisgender" (my latest trans-themed song)

As some of you may know, in addition to being an author, I also write and perform music – originally with my noise-pop band Bitesize, and currently with my solo music project *soft vowel sounds*. Quite a few of my songs are transgender-themed – back in 2014, I chronicled many of these in a blog post entitled Transgender-themed artists, bands, music, songs & anthems.

Just this last December, I debuted a brand new transgender-themed song. Actually, it's a cover of one of the catchiest classic rock hits from the 1970s, albeit with me "trans"-ing the lyrics (for reasons explained in the following live performance video of the song). I've also included the lyrics below, so feel free to sing along if you wish! 

I will be performing "Cisgender" at my next *soft vowel sounds* show on Saturday, April 6th at El Rio in San Francisco, and will likely do it at future shows as well. To keep posted about my upcoming live shows and recordings (including a new album later this year!), I encourage you to sign up for my music email list. Happy listening...

consider bringing me out to your college campus!

So a new academic year has begun, and as always, I am looking forward to having the opportunity to speak/perform at various colleges & universities this year!

If you are affiliated with a college – especially if you belong to a trans, LGBTQIA+, women's and/or feminist-related organization – please consider bringing me out to your campus. And even if you aren't associated with a college yourself, feel free to forward this onto people that you know who are students or staff elsewhere.

For those interested parties, I have recently updated my "booking" webpage containing pertinent information, including short descriptions of some of my most frequently requested talks...

Thanks for your consideration! -julia

new updates about writings, upcoming shows & talks, etc!

In a previous post, I described my two different email lists: The julia update comes out about 4–6 times a year, and shares all of my latest writings, shows, and creative endeavors. Then I have a music-only update (for my two music projects *soft vowel sounds* & Bitesize) that comes out more frequently, anytime I have a new music show or release. You can sign up for them via those links, if you wish.

I'm telling you this because I just released two new updates: a music one, and a more general julia update — I encourage you to check them out! Here are a few highlights:

• I recently published a new Medium piece: The Superstition that LGBTQ+ People Are “Contagious” — please share and give it lots of "claps"!
• follow up pieces and interviews (plus a meme!) related to last month's Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria essay.
• my first college speaking events of the 2018-19 year are coming up in early October! If you want me to visit your school, please check out my booking webpage.
• two new San Francisco *soft vowel sounds* shows: a free one this Thursday (Sept. 20th) and a Halloween show on October 17th!

Finally, a reminder that I am giving away a free mp3 of one of my songs with each music update – another reason to consider signing up! This month's free song is the Bitesize classic "Yellow Belt" – check out the update if you wanna download it!

sign up for my email lists & get free mp3s!

If you appreciate my writings, music, and performances, I highly encourage you to sign up for my email lists! I have two separate lists that you can join:

julia update - this is the most comprehensive list. Once every 2–3 months, I will send out a thorough update about all my creative endeavors, including info about new book & music releases, links to my recent writings & interviews, plus upcoming speaking events & performances. Basically, the whole shebang!

*soft vowel sounds*/Bitesize update - this is my music-specific list. Updates are shorter and more frequent (but no more than one per month), mostly to alert folks about upcoming *soft vowel sounds* shows, as well as new music & videos when they arise.

You can sign up for either update (or both) by clicking those links.

As a bonus, each update will include a link to a free mp3 of one of my songs! These will be available exclusively (and for a limited time only) through my email updates. So be sure to sign up!

May 2018 update: upcoming events, recent & future writings, & new videos!

my recent Patreon post about anti-trans myths

Yesterday, I sent out my latest email update. Here is a brief summary of what you will find in it:

• my recent Patreon post: Suggest anti-trans myths & propaganda you’d like me to debunk!
• other recent pieces about "autogynephilia" and "identity politics"
• a call for beta readers
• two new music videos!

plus the following upcoming events:

May 16, 2018 -- I will be giving a keynote entitled “Queer Communities and Future Possibilities” at University of Washington, Tacoma Pride, at 1pm at William Phillip Hall. More details can be found here.

May 24, 2018 -- I will be interviewed live at the California Institute of Integral Studies event: “A Conversation with Julia Serano and Zara Zimbardo: On Trans Feminism.” The event will be at CIIS, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA, at 7pm. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door; more event details can be found here and here.

May 28, 2018 -- I will be reading some of my new fiction at Yarn: Comedy Storytelling. Other featured performers include Heather Gold, Gina Gold, and Aundré the Wonderwoman. The show is at Shotgun Players (1901 Ashby Ave, Berkeley, CA), doors at 7pm, show at 7:30pm. Ticket info (including reduced-price advanced tickets!) can be found here.

June 9, 2018 -- my solo music project *soft vowel sounds* will be playing a benefit for LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ Youth. The event will be held at Laughing Monk Brewing (1439 Egbert Ave, Unit A, San Francisco, CA) who will be donating a portion of the evening's sales to the cause. The other acts include Polythene Pam and Mya Byrne. More details here.

You can read the full update here. If you want to receive my email updates directly to your inbox, you can sign up here.

new music videos & a live show this Sunday!

Many of you who follow me here do so because of my writings, but I occasionally write and perform music as well. For many years, I was in a noise-pop band called Bitesize, and my current lo-fi solo indie-pop music project is *soft vowel sounds* - you can listen to and learn more about both projects via those links.

I have a bunch of new news music-wise to share!

First, I will be doing a *soft vowel sounds* live show this Sunday, April 8th in the East Bay at the Ivy Room (860 San Pablo Ave, Albany, CA). The other bands will be Polythene Pam and The Sweet Trade. I will be opening up the show, so get there early if you don't want to miss my set! Doors at 6pm, show starts promptly at 7pm, $6-$10 sliding scale NOTAFLOF, must be 21+, more details here and here.

Second, over the weekend I released two new music videos for songs I plan to do at Sunday's show. Here they are:

Open Letter is a "coming out" song that I wrote way back when I was transitioning (circa 2001-02). My previous band Bitesize used to perform the song, although we never formally recorded it. In 2014, I recorded this version for the *soft vowel sounds* EP Ray versus Macbeth and the Music Box, part one (which you can download for free via the link; just enter "0"). You can find the lyrics for the song on Bandcamp.

upcoming college speaking events and other performances!

So a few bits of new news! 

First, if you haven't seen it, earlier this week I published a new essay: Thoughts about transphobia, TERFs, and TUMFs. It addresses the different underlying motives/sentiments/beliefs that often drive transphobia, and how we might take these into account as trans activists. It's on Medium - the more "applause" it gets (the clapping hands icon at bottom of the article), the more likely it will appear on other people's Medium feeds. If you really like it, you can give it many claps! So clap away!!!

Second, I just updated my events webpage to include some upcoming college speaking appearances. More may arise, but the ones currently listed are in Ohio, Maine, and Philly, so check it out if you live in those necks of the woods! And as always, if you are interested and able to bring me out to your college campus, please check out my booking page.

One of the other shows listed on my events page is happening this Monday (Feb. 5th): Yarn comedy storytelling! I will be reading a few humorous excerpts from my forthcoming novel. Other featured performers include Heather Gold, Aundré the Wonderwoman, and Bridget Schwartz. The show is at Homestead (4029 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA), doors at 7pm, show at 7:30pm. Reduced-price advanced tickets are only $12 and can be purchased here. 

Finally, I didn't put this on my events page yet because it's not 100% confirmed, but it's looking like I will be part of a "Quirky Queer Tuesday" music show at the El Rio in San Francisco sometime in March - those details will be listed as soon as I have them, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you're not familiar with my music, you should check out my current solo music project *soft vowel sounds* and my old (now sadly disbanded) noise-pop band Bitesize.

Hope to see you at some of these shows! Otherwise, you can follow me here or on other social media platforms, and as always, please consider supporting my work on Patreon!

recently updated merchandise (books & music) webpage!

I wanted to get the word out about this sooner, but I recently updated my "stuff to buy" webpage for the impending holidays!

If you click that link, you will find:

• links to order all three of my books (Whipping Girl, Excluded, and Outspoken) online, including the (fairly) recently released Whipping Girl audio book! note: I also include links for independent bookstore options, if that's a cause you want to support!
• for my latest book Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism (which was self-published on my own Switch Hitter Press), I include tips on where to best (i.e., least expensively) buy copies.
• as a special offer only on my website, you can buy signed copies out Outspoken, made out to you, or whomever you wish! (btw, I normally ship them by USPS Media Mail, which usually takes about a week to arrive, so you should act fast if your goal is to have it before December 25th).
• if you enjoy my music (my bands Bitesize and *soft vowel sounds*), you'll find links to order digital copies there, plus PayPal buttons to purchase compact discs (if you happen to be old school).

Once again, here's the "buy stuff" link. Happy shopping!

new talk: Debunking Anti-Transgender Myths and Tropes

I regularly give talks at colleges and conferences on the subjects of gender & sexuality, feminism & LGBTQ+ issues, and activism more generally. I have just added a new talk to my booking page that some of you may be interested in:

Debunking Anti-Transgender Myths and Tropes
Attempts to deny or delegitimize transgender identities often invoke “biological sex,” make overly simplistic claims about gender socialization and privilege, and/or raise the specter of cisgender people (particularly children) being “turned transgender.” Drawing on her popular essays Transgender People and “Biological Sex” Myths, Debunking “Trans Women Are Not Women” Arguments, and Detransition, Desistance, and Disinformation: A Guide for Understanding Transgender Children Debates, plus her background as a biologist, Julia debunks these common myths and tropes, and instead forwards a more holistic understanding of sex, gender, and transgender experiences. An alternate version of this presentation, called “Biological Sex” and the Pathologization of Transgender People, specifically addresses how these same myths have shaped medical/psychological discourses and diagnoses.

A few other talks you will find on my booking page include:

• A Social Justice Activist’s Perspective on Call-Out Culture, Identity Politics, and Political Correctness
• Outspoken: Transgender Oral History & Spoken Word Poetry
• Sexuality, Sexualization, and Self-Examining Desire
• Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive
• Putting the Feminine Back Into Feminism
• Understanding Trans-Misogyny and Trans Feminism
• Activism, Language, and Differences of Opinion

So if you are affiliated with a college or conference, and potentially interested in bringing me out to speak, all the info you will need can be found on that booking page!

my music on Bandcamp - special offer!

Tomorrow (Friday, August 3rd), Bandcamp is donating 100% of their profits to the Transgender Law Center (a wonderful organization). So I encourage you to check out my old noise-pop band Bitesize and my current solo music project *soft vowels sounds* on that platform. Via those links, you can listen to all the songs for free, and if you enjoy them, please consider purchasing them tomorrow!

If you are unfamiliar with my music, feel free to check out my blogpost Transgender-themed artists, bands, music, songs & anthems, which shares many of my trans-themed songs (including my "Lola" parody: "Ray"), plus links to lists of many other transgender musical artists that you can also support...

Lies about Transgender People and the Vagina Monologues

This is one in a series of essays exposing falsehoods forwarded by feminists who are suspicious of or antagonistic toward transgender people. This series includes Debunking “Trans Women Are Not Women” Arguments and my forthcoming essay Transgender People and “Biological Sex” Myths. If you appreciate this work, please consider supporting me on Patreon.

These days, almost every anti-transgender hit-piece written from a feminist perspective will mention an incident that occurred in 2015, in which Mount Holyoke College canceled a scheduled performance of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues for not being inclusive of transgender people. By citing this instance out of context, these writers attempt to assert or imply that:

1) all trans people must want to censor The Vagina Monologues.
2) more sinisterly, trans people are trying to stop women from talking about their vaginas.
3) this is yet another example of why feminism and trans activism are inherently incompatible.

However, this framing purposefully ignores two crucial factors.

Outspoken is a Lambda Literary Award finalist!

Earlier this week I learned that my latest book, Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism, is a Lambda Literary Award finalist in the category of Transgender Nonfiction! It is the first time one of my books has become a Lambda finalist, so I am excited by this news, and extend my congrats to all the other finalists!

For those who haven't seen the book yet, Outspoken compiles 48 of my trans-themed pieces from over the last decade-plus, including many of my early slam poems, essays and manifestos written contemporaneously with Whipping Girl and Excluded (including chapters originally intended for those books), articles challenging DSM diagnoses and the psychopathologization of trans people & gender variance, plus some of my recent writings addressing differences within trans communities and approaches to activism.

Outspoken is available (in paperback & e-book) at Amazon & other online outlets (a complete list can be found here), and bookstores & libraries can purchase it through Ingram. If you belong to, or write for, a media outlet (print, webzine, blog, etc.) and you are interested in reviewing or publishing excerpts from the book, please contact me and I can provide you copies.

In the coming months, I plan to publish blogposts covering each section of the book (including sneak-peaks & excerpts). But in the meantime, here are some Outspoken-related pages you can explore:

• my Outspoken webpage includes reviews of the book, an excerpt of the Introduction, and a look at the Table of Contents.
• I created a free online trans-, gender-, sexuality-, activism-themed glossary for Outspoken.
• watch videos of me performing some of the transgender-themed slam poems that are included in Outspoken (more will be uploaded soon!).
• Outspoken includes two chapters originally intended for Whipping Girl, but which were not included in the final book. One of these was made available to my Patreon supporters (which you can read with a $2 pledge).

Finally, if you have read Outspoken and enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review of it on Amazon, Goodreads, and other sites (this really helps with garnering attention for the book).

Thanks for listening! -j.

Julia update: new writings, upcoming events, & Patreon!

So yesterday I sent out my latest email update. In it, I discuss:

1) new articles
2) Patreon
3) upcoming events
4) consider bringing me to your college campus!
5) past & future books
6) new additions to my website

You can read the update in all its glory here.

If you want future Julia updates emailed directly to you, please sign up for my email list.

enjoy! -j.

Introducing Kat Cataclysm (aka, my fiction)

My most recent email update came out a couple weeks ago - you can read it here. (& to get future updates, please sign up for my email list.) In it, I discuss the recent release of some fiction that I have been working on under the name Kat Cataclysm!

Kat Cataclysm serves as a pen name (to create a little bit of separation between my fiction and non-fiction), but she is also a character in her own right: a bisexual absurdist short fiction writer, recovering slam poet, and failed linguist who has a somewhat silly and surreal take on the world.

And the first Kat Cataclysm book (a chapbook, really) is now available! It's called General Surgery & Surgeons General. This modest forty-some page collection offers a potpourri of Kat’s short stories, slam poems, and whimsical musings, which touch upon and/or outright tackle diverse topics such as YA dystopian fiction, photosynthesis, mountain climbing, temporal anomalies, ethical non-monogamy, Santa Claus, Prince’s song lyrics, malapropisms & paraprosdokians, and the trials and travails of the contemporary author. As if that were not enough, the book also premieres several excerpt chapters from the eventual Kat Cataclysm debut novel 99 Erics.

The book can be purchased at either:
CreateSpace, which offers the best royalties for the author.
Amazon.com (in both book & ebook formats), where you can “Look Inside” the book (aka, read excerpts) by clicking on the cover.

Also, while on tour with Sister Spit in March, I recorded live performances of four of the pieces in the chapbook - here are links to those recordings:

• Smells Like Teen Dystopia
• The Sex Which Is Not One
• Mr. Prince
• Poetry Slammed

Moving Beyond the Cisgender Actor/Transgender Character Meme

Earlier this week I published a new piece on Medium entitled Expanding Trans Media Representation: Why Transgender Actors Should Be Cast in Cisgender Roles.

In it, I share my thoughts on how we might broaden discussions of trans representation in the media beyond the now commonplace critiques regarding who is cast to play transgender roles (in those rare instances when a movie or TV show even bothers to include a trans character).

If you like the piece, be sure to recommend it (by clicking the "heart" logo at bottom left) - the more recommends it gets, the more likely it will appear in other Medium readers' feeds. Hope you enjoy!

Touring with Sister Spit!

Hey folks, starting tomorrow (aka, Friday) I will be on tour with the legendary spoken word troupe Sister Spit! Other artists include Jezebel Delilah, Juliana Delgado Lopera, Nikki Darling, Cassie J. Sneider, Maisha Z. Johnson, Cassie J. Sneider, and Virgie Tovar, plus occasional special guests!

Here are all the dates - links take you to Facebook invites for the show (please share!), which will have all the details:

March 25 -- at Salt Lick Collective, Oakland, CA, 7pm.

March 26 -- at SF Oasis, San Francisco, CA, 6:30pm.

March 27 -- at Peeves Public House, Fresno, CA, 6pm.

March 28 -- at Last Projects, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA, 7pm.

March 29 -- at UC Riverside, panel 1-3pm, show 7-9pm.

March 30 -- at Art Theatre Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 7pm.

March 31 -- at Weird Sister in Los Angeles, CA, 6pm.

Unless/until they sell out, there will be copies of Whipping Girl 2nd edition for sale at the shows. Plus, I will also be reading from some of my new fiction project at many of the shows. Hope to see you there!

Julia update: Whipping Girl 2nd edition, Sister Spit 2016, future releases, and more!

So yesterday I sent out my latest email update. In it, I discuss:

1) Whipping Girl 2nd edition is here!
2) March 2016 tour dates (including Sister Spit)!
3) new writings and web updates!
4) two brand new books coming later this year!

You can read the update in all its glory here.

If you want future Julia updates emailed directly to you, please sign up for my email list.

enjoy! -j.

Julia Serano on Judith Butler

Note added in 2021: In the years subsequent to this essay being published, Judith Butler has come out as nonbinary and now uses they/them pronouns. 

For starters, my apologies about the eponymous blog-post title—I simply wanted this piece to be readily “findable” for people who do web searches using both our names.

Over the years, I have read and heard numerous reactions to my first two books—Whipping Girl and Excluded—that presume that I have negative or antagonistic views of gender theorist Judith Butler. This is not actually the case. Others have presumed that some of my work is a “misreading” of her theories, when in actuality I have never directly critiqued Butler’s work (only misinterpretations of her work). So to set the record straight, I have penned this blog-post, which will admittedly only be of interest to a small subset of readers.

consider bringing Julia Serano out to your college campus!

So a new academic year has begun, and as always, I am looking forward to having the opportunity to speak/perform at various colleges & universities this year!

If you are affiliated with a college - especially if you belong to a trans, LGBTQIA+, women's and/or feminist-related organization - please consider bringing me out to your campus. And even if you aren't associated with a college yourself, feel free to forward this onto people that you know who are students or staff elsewhere.

For those interested parties, I have a recently updated "booking" webpage (http://www.juliaserano.com/booking.html) containing pertinent information, including short descriptions of some of my most frequently requested talks.

a PDF version of this booking info can be downloaded at this link: http://www.juliaserano.com/av/bookingJulia.pdf

Best wishes, -julia