Seeking CP — Adult / Gay-LGBTQ Literary Memoir / Creative Non-fiction

[Philip Alexander]

I am Philip Alexander. Unpublished.  Not agented.

I'm looking for a critique partner for my completed LGBTQ (gay) literary memoir.

The last book I read that I loved was John Adams, by David McCullough.

The book that most defines me as a reader is Christopher and His Kind, by Christopher Isherwood

 

Title: A Life Searching for Patroclus: A Memoir

Length: ~ 110,000 words

Genre: Literary Memoir –LGBTQ / LGBTQ Non-fiction / LGBTQ Creative Non-fiction

Status: Complete draft; multiple revision passes done

 

The book: a gay man's lifelong search for his Patroclus — the Achilles-and-Patroclus myth — the other half of you, the one who completes you, the second body in which, together with yours, one soul would dwell.

The memoir spans formative childhood episodes and first active gay male years in 1970s Washington DC and San Francisco through four loves, each my Patroclus but ultimately lost to me, and one love  who was close enough that I built a life with him that ended when he died of AIDS. It is not a hobbyist memoir. It is written with literary intent: the structure matters and the language is deliberate.

 

Content advisory: The memoir includes some male/male sexually explicit passages. These are not gratuitous erotica — they document episodes that were significant to my development as an active gay man.. If some  MM content is not for you, you’ll not  be interested.

 

What I'm looking for: An LGBTQ critique partner writing in memoir, literary nonfiction, creative nonfiction, or LGBTQ narrative nonfiction. Gay male Baby Boomer  would give us obvious common ground, but feedback from the younger LGBTQ generations is most important to me. What matters is a careful, literate reader in this genre willing to devote the time to give honest, substantive feedback.

 

What I offer in return: I am a retired litigator with a lifelong serious relationship with prose. I will read your work with the same care and give you the same honest feedback I am asking for. I suggest we start with a chapter swap to test the fit.

 

If this sounds like a conversation worth having, please contact me.