Collecting Book

Intimate Review of LGBTQ Novel by Well-Known Poet

Title: Two Natures
Author: Jendi Reiter
Author website: http://www.jendireiter.com
Genre: Literary fiction
ISBN: 0996907424
Published by: Saddle Road Press
Where to buy it as paperback or e-book.
Special Offer: 99 cents for the e-book from Sept. 1-28, 2016!
Name of reviewer: Kittredge Cherry
Original review publication: Jesus in Love Blog

REVIEWED BY KITTREDGE CHERRY ORIGINALLY FOR JESUS IN LOVE BLOG

A gay fashion photographer who was raised Southern Baptist moves to New York City for a sexual and spiritual  odyssey during the AIDS crisis of the early 1990s in “Two Natures” by Jendi Reiter.

This stylish debut novel from a gifted poet is a rare combination of erotic gay romance and intelligent reflection on Christian faith. Narrator Julian Selkirk seeks glamor and often-fleeting affairs to replace the religion that rejected him. He learns by  experience to look beyond shame, surface attractions and short-term desires.

In the five-year period covered chronologically by the novel, he has relationships with three men who  embody different archetypes: immature personal trainer Phil Shanahan, cosmopolitan editor Richard Molineux, and earnest activist Peter Edelman. The dense and varied literary coming-of-age novel ranges from comic scenes that could easily become a hit movie to the explicitly sexual and the touchingly tragic. Reiter brings alive LGBTQ touchstones of the era: the visit from out-of-town and out-of-it parents to their closeted son, the AIDS death and awkward funeral, and so on.

Jendi Reiter is a first-class poet and essayist, and her Reiter’s Block is one of my all-time favorite blogs. While reading "Two Natures," I sometimes wished for more of her incisive interpretations rather than her narrator’s witty voice leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Female characters and experiences such as abortion are also portrayed well in “Two Natures.” Perhaps  this is not surprising for an author who recently came out as a “genderqueer femme” on her blog.

Raised by two mothers on the Lower East Side of New York City, Reiter is able to portray New York with the casual realism of a native. Now living in western Massachusetts, she is a member of the Episcopal church and experienced first-hand how LGBTQ issues tore apart church groups, including the writing group where she was working on the earliest drafts of “Two Natures.”

Religious references in her novel are subtle… as are the allusions to AIDS in most of the first half of the 374-page novel. Julian finds no easy answers as he wrestles with his faith.The title is based upon the 

two natures of Christ, who is fully human and fully divine in the eyes of believers. Julian observes:If what the preachers said 

about Christ's two natures was true, I didn't know how he could stand his life anyhow, being split down the middle between the part of him that remembered heaven and the human part that would have touched me back.

I did find myself wondering sometimes whether gay men actually thought like her narrator Julian. I dared to explore this same challenging territory myself, writing as a lesbian author from the viewpoint of a queer male Christ in my “Jesus in Love” novels.

I can only say that “Two Natures” got rave reviews from gay male reviewers whom I respect. Toby Johnson  called it “a pleasure to read” and Amos Lassen declared, “We all know someone like Julian and many of us see ourselves in him… You owe it to yourselves to read this wonderful novel.”

As art historian, I especially enjoyed the way that some of Julian’s spiritual reflections were provoked by  art. For instance, Julian’s inner spiritual conflict is portrayed at first through his responses to “Piss Christ,” a controversial photograph by Andres Serrano.

The novel is also significant as an example of how a new generation tries to make sense of an AIDS crisis that  they were too young to experience firsthand. I happened to read “Two Natures” at the same time that I was rereading my own journals for an oral history interview about doing AIDS ministry at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco in the late 1980s. Perhaps no novel can capture the agony, ecstasy and desperate  intensity of those times.

Julian never found the kind of LGBTQ-affirming church home that we provided at MCC-SF. Sadly that may be true  for many young gay men in the early 1990s, and even now. But there’s good news: Reiter is already working on a sequel. 

Julian will have another chance to find long-term love and a gay-positive spiritual community, with readers invited  along for the ride.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jendi Reiter is the author of the newly released novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press)
See the book trailer at http://bit.ly/twonaturestrailer.Midwest Book Review says, "Intense revelations about what it means to be both Christian and gay...a powerful saga" --

Jendi is editor of WinningWriters.com, a Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers"

"Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they otherwise."
Surangama Sutra

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Lori Soard Writes Heat-Tugging Romance

Cupid’s Quest

By Lori Soard

Genre: Fiction Romance/Christian

2016

ISBN: 9781519389064
Purchase at Amazon

A Heart-Tugging Romance

When a radio station in Hoosier country runs a scavenger hunt with a big cash prize, it turns out that money could be put to good use by at least two deserving residents in this Cupid Corners and, amazingly, it isn’t just the intrigue about which of them might win (or not win!), but also the conflict one feels about who to root for and how that conflict could possibly be resolved.

It has been a long time since I read a romance; so many of them didn’t stay with me beyond the moment I turned the last page. Cupid’s Questby Lori Soard is not one of those romances. It is a well-written story about dimensional characters that tug at one’s heart. They are living in situations all too familiar these days. It has characters that every generation can identify with. Anyone who loves romances and wants reading that is fun, easy, and heartwarming should make a point of visiting Cupid Corners and following Cupid’s Quest.

Second Book in Luana Ehrlich Series Maintains the Thrills

Title: Two Days in Caracas
Series: A Titus Ray Thriller

Author: Luana Ehrlich

Website: http://www.luanaehrlich.com

Genre: Christian thriller

ISBN: 1511628650

ASIN: B00ZPQYHIK

Amazon Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Two-Days-Caracas-Titus-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00ZPQYHIK

Originally reviewed by Ron English for Amazon

It has been said that a new author often will produce a good book on her first time out, but then struggle to produce a second. That has not been your case Luana Ehrlich. Two Days in
Caracas beautifully dovetails into the wake of your first book, One Night in Tehran. I somewhat expected your new work might have toned down the action of Titus Ray, or at the least just drift into his next adventure. No. That was not the case.

Two Days in Caracas delivers new thrills, more depth into the mind and life of your growing character, Titus Ray, while promising more intrigue from future stories. You delivered such skill in drawing me into Titus Ray’s background of family and old hurts and then wove into his heart a new, growing affection for the police detective, Nikki Saxon. Where one might expect a passionate display of fast moving sex and love you handle this relationship with the kind of drama I recall from the old westerns where the cowboy has grace and reluctance and then rides off into the sunset leaving the reader wanting more. This book has it all. Danger—plenty of that, travel to foreign lands--for sure; characters that are so believable you might sense you know these folks. You surely develop an interest in turning the page to see what will happen next. Since I live in Norman, Oklahoma, I kept hoping that Titus Ray would return and let me glimpse more of his new life in our familiar surroundings. You did not disappoint. I marvel at the way you let Titus Ray grow into his new faith. You have not forced any religion onto these pages, but let this part of his life make a gentle impression on the reader as it does so in his expanding experience. His learning to pray is so new to him it reminds one of a child growing in grace and knowledge. His faith, while strange to him, is such a natural part of who he is and who he is becoming. His love for Nikki is refreshingly tender with just the right amount of desire and fear one might expect from a decent man living a dangerous life and chasing bad guys. And chase them he does. Not a curse word in the book and yet nothing is taken away from this adult story of action, love, assassins, kidnapping and murder. Great book. You have introduced me to a new kind of fiction where I can believe this story is a true life adventure of a man, his work, his love, his dog making me care for them all. Now I must wait for your provoking promise of Titus ray’s next adventure in Washington. Hurry, please.

Letter to the Author from Reviewer Ron English

Title: One Night in Tehran: A Titus Ray Thriller

Author: Luana Ehrlich
Website: http://www.luanaehrlich.com
Genre: Christian thriller
ISBN: 1500157236
ASIN: B00MKK5HEM
Amazon Purchase Link:

Reviewed by Ron English originally for Amazon

Amazon Reviewer: Ranking 330,190

Mrs. Ehrlich, I have just completed reading your novel, "One Night in Tehran". To say I was delighted with the storyline is an absolute understatement. You are a wonderful writer and storyteller. I don't know what I was expecting, but you exceeded by a country mile all of them. You set the stage for the next book. Your skill matches beautifully that of John Grisham and James Patterson. I have often said that authors and TV dramas could be just as interesting without profanity if they majored on the story. You have proven this to be true. The skillful and beautiful way you handled the Christian faith aspect was so well done that no one outside the faith should be concerned or have any hesitation in picking your book up and diving in. Christians on the other hand will marvel at the wonderful treatment you provided your faith and ours. Our Lord, I am sure, is happy with your book and will bless you abundantly as people discover this work. God bless you richly and thank you for this powerful story of intrigue and local setting. With best wishes for your next book and the next appearance of Titus Ray, Your Norman Fan, Ron English