Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Two writing questions for you, John: First, I'd be interested to hear
about how you went about combining the reporting and the memoir. Did
the interleaving come about in a natural way, or were there times when
you weren't sure how to integrate the reporting into your personal
story?

Also, what was the most challenging aspect of writing the book?
  

    

Julie, I knew from the start that I wanted to blend reporting and the
personal narrative, and so the alternation of chapters was in the original
proposal. This was an approach I tried with my previous book, Short, and it
felt good, though the result was a little uneven. I felt even steadier this
time around, and hope that the combination worked.

  The hardest part? Reading the audiobook aloud. Reliving it in the studio
just tore me up, and the happy parts were sometimes harder than the tough
parts. I was a mess at the end of three days.
  

    
Oof. I can imagine.
  

    
<50> Thanks for the pointer to Solomon's book.  I'm on the waiting
list at the library to get that book.  

I agree with the central point that you cite that there is nothing in
homosexuality that directly leads to mental illness, but it is rather
the stress of being a pariah that contributes.  

What is your take on how mental illness will fare with Obamacare?  The
insurance industry has so far resisted funding for effective treatment
of mental illness.  Like the "war on drugs" the policies are pushing
the problems into the corners without addressing the root causes.  The
reason I raise this within the context of homosexuality is the enormous
resistance to it on multiple grounds.  Similar to the abortion debate
and much more similar to to initial reaction to AIDs as a public health
problem.
  

    

  Mental health care always gets the short end of the stick, doesn't it? The
Affordable Healthcare Act does call for expanded coverage of mental illness,
but it's unclear how cooperative the insurance industry will ultimately be.

  If you'd like to read more on the link between mental disorders and the
stress of being a sexual minority, I recommend the work of Ilan Meyer.
Here's one of his papers:

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2072932/>

  Meyer's testimony in the Proposition 8 case was powerful and was quoted
extensively by Judge Walker in his opinion.
  

    
I just began reading, John!  Your description of little boys wanting
to dress up like Wonder Woman brought back to me all of the stories of
my late brother in law.  Tim loved to dress up, especially in his big
sister's shoes.  It was a sad day when his foot (size 12 once he was
full grown) was too big for them.  While his parents were well aware
that Tim was different than his older brothers, I'm sorry to say they
weren't as wonderfully accepting as you and your wife.  

Do you see parental acceptance as more common today? Or are you and
your family the exceptions to the rule?
  

    

  I do think more parents are accepting than before -- with no data to back
me up aside from the greater acceptance of homosexuality overall as shown in
the polling--but there's still plenty of rejection out there, and it's
heartbreaking.

  I am reading "In One Person," the latest novel by John Irving, about a
boy who grows up bisexual. He meets wonderful acceptance from many of the
people around him, but his mother can't forgive him for not being straight.
It's many of Irving's usual themes, beautifully done--
  

    

   a new topic has started, so we seem to be done here--thanks, everybody!
If you have more questions, comments or anything else to say, feel free to
post on the Facebook page for the book: www.facebook.com/OddlyNormalBook, or
email me at jswatz@nytimes.com.
  

    
Thanks, John! Though the next inkwell conversation has started, it's
fine for you to continue here as well. The end dates for these
conversations are soft.
  

    
Thanks John! For the conversation and the book.
  

    

>>> The end dates for these
 conversations are soft.


like my brain.
  

    
John, it took me until now to finish reading your book.  Thank you. 
There are so many families I know who will benefit from your story, as
well as the data weaves throughout. 

Please tell Joe I love his children's book.  I hope to see it in print
soon.