Two of the most well known works by Ann McMan, “the Accidental Author”, are Hoosier Daddy and Jericho. I was slow to take up Ms. McMan’s stories, but I am very glad I finally did! The most recent story to which I listened was the December 2015 released Backcast.
One of the things that I admire about Ann McMan as an author is that she writes from a place that allows her to speak frankly and authoritatively regarding religion and LGBTQ issues. She does this respectfully, not pigeon-holing the whole lot of them, but not letting them get away with their ignorance either. It’s a delicate road to walk. Based on her use of scripture across all of her books to which I have listened, I’d say she spent some time with the Bible. She very well may have been raised in one or more of the southern states. Here’s the crux… If you’re gay and a Christian, gays will give you a ration, because you’re a Christian. Christian’s will give you a ration, because you’re gay. It sucks. Maybe, at least the LGBTQ folks could just not be so hard on us for a spiritual belief, regardless of their anger of own spiritual beliefs or lack thereof… Anyway, I respect Ms. McMan for her work and what I perceive she is trying to accomplish with it — accomplish in addition to excellent story telling….
I have heard several books of late that dive into the ugliness that represents our not-just-American-but-particularly-American religious handling of LGBTQ young people. I know it extends to older people, but older people have at least developed some bit of defense against the crap that goes on in our world. Young people don’t have those tools. Anyway, it’s hard to read it. It’s hard to take it in and allow it “to be” in a way that will allow us to actually learn from that crap and figure out how to do something better for kids. We can see how stupid that crap is. We can see how it affects kids. Some of us know exactly how it affected us. Listening to it, hearing it, it’s hard. It engenders anger and frustration. It’s reality, though. I feel like I have to listen to all of the stories like that, because I have to have the most accurate sense of those things and understand them. I haven’t experienced *all* of it. I can only learn from other peoples’ accounts.
You can find Ann McMan’s works through Amazon, Audible, or her web site.