He's My Thug, I'm His Peace by Theresa Reese follows the love story of two lovers from conflicting backgrounds. Young, smart, pretty, and never breaking any rules. Well, almost never. Lucy Hinton is the epitome of a good girl and in her eyes, the only type of man she needed was one from the cloth. Lou, as her family calls her, fell head over heels for Pastor Hassel. She quickly learned that everything that glitters ain't gold. Her life takes a turn for the worst when secrets began to fall straight from the pulpit. Handsome, smart, thuggish, and a street king, Asaad Daniels is only focused on getting and keeping money. The streets had taught him that women always ended up being a man's biggest downfall, so he never took any of them seriously. He had always been a hit it and quit it type dude; however, the first time he laid eyes on Lou, something inside of him shifted a little. He didn't know if she was another man's wife or not. But then again, he didn't care. Men lie. Men cheat. Women lie. Women cheat. Today's world was a fashion show. And nearly everyone wanted to be in a relationship with someone that had money or looked like they had it. Two independent souls from two different worlds cross paths and their lives change forever. Author Theresa Reese takes you on a roller coaster ride in the first installation of her riveting new series, He's My Thug, I'm His Peace, where secrets unravel, loyalty is tested, and some lives may be lost. Can Lou be the peace that this thug needs? Every relationship deserves a second chance if it's really true love. Or maybe…Not.

    

     Nola Bentley is the oldest of the Bentley sisters. She’s capable of giving her sisters relationship advice but can’t seem to apply it to her own. After being in an eight-year relationship with her boyfriend, Rue, without receiving a ring, she begins to second guess whether their love is worth the fight or not. Rue is a selfish man who only thinks of himself and what will benefit him; not even their son can change that. His selfish ways drive Nola right into the arms of his boss, Desmond McEntire, who’s had his eyes on Nola for years. Things get heated in the love triangle, leaving Nola stuck to make a decision that will leave one of them hurt. Izabel Bentley is the middle Bentley sister who has completely given up on love. After being constantly cheated on and manipulated by her ex-boyfriend, Josh, Izabel vows to never love another. She puts all her time, love, and energy into her foster care business and two daughters she shares with Josh. An unexpected, messy situation with one little boy tugs at her heart; leading her to his father, Omari Marks. Not usually the one to bend her own rules, Izabel finds herself battling the thoughts of giving love another try. Omari seems to be the perfect man to give in to, but will Izabel’s stubborn ways cause her to miss out on a love that could be real? Tatum Bentley is the youngest of the Bentley sisters, and has endured the most out of the three. An abusive, controlling relationship with an older man leads her to doing the unthinkable; attempt of suicide. During the relationship, she’s forced to shut out everyone she loves; including her best friend, Dylan Pierce. Dylan saves her from ending her life, then leaves her to fight for herself. Years pass by before they’re reunited, and old and new feelings emerge from both sides. The only thing keeping Dylan from professing his love for Tatum is his fiancée, Monet. Knowing Tatum is who he’s supposed to be with, he goes above and beyond to show her, but will his disappearance make it impossible for Tatum to forgive him?

    The critically-acclaimed team of writer Carly Usdin (Heavy Vinyl) and artist Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer) deliver the next chapter of the series where every shot counts when you take them with your friends. Collects issues #5-8.

    Beginning with the turn-of-the-century writings of Angelina Welde Grimke and Alice Dunbar Nelson, it charts the evolution of black lesbian and gay fiction into the Harlem Renaissance of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen and the later postwar era, in which works by Audre Lorde and James Baldwin signal the emerging sexual liberation movements. The 40 authors featured also include Alice Walker, E. Lynn Harris, Audre Lorde, April Sinclair, Jewelle Gomez, Thomas Glave, and Jacqueline Woodson.

    The book is over 160 pages long, black and white, and contains 15 original stories blending fantasy, drama, humor, and romance.Cover by Ashe Samuels

    But for all the interest in who's out and who's not (yet), there's been surprisingly little understanding of the diversity and richness of lesbian experience. This funny, lively, and perceptive book will change all that. Drawing on more than a hundred interviews with women around the country, and on their own keen wits and eyes, Van Gelder and Brandt have composed an unprecedented portrait of how gay women today—lipsticked and flannel-shirted alike—think, feel, love, and live. Three major "tribal" events—the long-running Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, "Dinah" (the annual Dinah Shore Golf Tournament and party circuit, a mecca for upwardly mobile luppies), and a cross-country trek with the activist Lesbian Avengers en route to the 1994 Stonewall commemoration—provide points of entry into an exploration of lesbian identity, social dynamics, and politics that's as entertaining as it is revealing. The result is a kaleidoscopic portrait that will resonate with lesbians themselves and reveal to their "neighbors" a world of unsuspected vibrancy and depth.

    The love of her life is doing big things, and she’s almost done with law school. What is supposed to be the happiest night of Jayda’s life is cut short within a matter of seconds, and her world changes forever. Jayda becomes numb. She’s just walking through life existing, and she doesn’t think she’ll ever be the same again. It’s not until she meets Azaan that she realizes that she’s still capable of feeling something. Determined to use the situation for her own gain and nothing more, Jayda soon discovers that the handsome Haitian hitta from Miami, might not be as easy to get over on as she predicted. 
 Azaan Cezar is big on family, which is why he has no issues leaving Miami and heading to North Carolina to start a business for his younger brother. Beautiful, successful women come a dime a dozen in Miami, and a pretty face was never the thing to get Azaan riled up. Jayda is more than beautiful though. Her entire vibe is hypnotizing, and Azaan discovers that he just might not be ready for the emotionally scarred and obviously bitter Jayda.

    These poems mourn the dead by turning memories over and over like an old coin, by invoking other poets, by appropriating the language of technology, of instruction, of diagram, of electrical engineering, and of elegy itself. Devastating, cheeky, allusive, hallucinatory: this is Queyras at her most powerful.'Like the central conceptual apparatus, Queyras is smart and insightful in her work to expand and challenge the nature of language and poetry . . . Lend Queyras your ears, your minds, your hearts, your Time. She will reward you, repeatedly.' – The Rumpus'A collection of gorgeous and cantankerous poems that ask testy questions of all contemporary poets, and for this, the book is a must-read.' – The Globe and Mail'This year's most devastating and enlightening Canadian poetry collection.' – Telegraph-Journal

    Today's transgenders and other sex/gender radicals are writing a drastically new world into being. In Gender Outlaws, Bornstein, together with writer, raconteur, and theater artist S. Bear Bergman, collects and contextualizes the work of this generation's trans and genderqueer forward thinkers — new voices from the stage, on the streets, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and on the pages and websites of the world's most respected mainstream news sources. Gender Outlaws includes essays, commentary, comic art, and conversations from a diverse group of trans-spectrum people who live and believe in barrier-breaking lives.

    Told in verse in two voices, with a chorus of fellow students, this is a story of two girls, opposites in many ways, who are drawn to each other; Kate appears to be a stereotypical cheerleader with a sleek ponytail and a perfectly polished persona, Tam is tall, athletic and frequently mistaken for a boy, but their deepening friendship inevitably changes and reveals them in ways they did not anticipate.

    What is the difference, he asks, between good and evil, cruelty and instruction, risk and trust? Against the backdrop of the natural world, Phillips pitches the restlessness of what it means to be human, as he at once deepens and extends a meditation on that space where the forces of will and imagination collide with sexual and moral conduct.

    Nobody had ever written so frankly about the kinky potential of woman-to-woman sex (and nobody has ever done it any better). If any book is responsible for the formation of the modern lesbian leather community, this one is it.Despite its graceful language, imaginative scenarios, and abundant humor, the lesbian press trashed Macho Sluts, and it became a focal point for the infamous legal battles between Canada Customs and Little Sister's, the gay and lesbian bookstore. But readers loved it, and to this day Macho Sluts remains a vital and moving classic that still has the power to educate, radicalize, and expand our notions of the body's potential to provide us with pleasure, pain, and love.This new edition, part of Arsenal Pulp Press' Little Sister's Classics series resurrecting classics of LGBT literature, includes a new afterword by the author, and an introduction by Wendy Chapkis, a professor of sociology and women and gender studies at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.Patrick Califia has written many books about radical sex, queer communities, and the repression of desire. Almost ten years ago, Califia transitioned from female to male; he now lives as a bisexual transman in San Francisco.

    When Callie moves into the house across the street, Rebecca is quick to welcome the young writer into the tightly-knit community of Autumn Leaves. She has no idea that Callie will confront her with a truth about herself she might not be ready to face. All Callie wanted was to flee the big city and finish her latest book in peace, but life in the small town comes with unexpected temptation and danger.

    To honor her work and call attention to the significance of her contributions, Firebrand Books is publishing a new, expanded edition of her classic, Movement In Black.With an incisive introduction by Cheryl Clarke, celebrations/ remembrances/tributes from ten outstanding African American women writers, and a dozen previously unpublished pieces, Movement In Black is a must read/ must have on your book shelf.Whether she was presenting her poetry on street corners, performing with other women -- writers, musicians, activists -- in bars and auditoriums, rallying the crowd at political events, preaching to the converted, or converting the ill-informed, Pat Parker was a presence.She wrote about gut issues: the lives of ordinary Black people, violence, loving women, the legacy of her African American heritage, being queer. She was a woman who engaged life fully, both personally and as a political activist, linking the struggles for racial, gender, sexual, and class equality long before it was "PC" to do so. She died as she lived -- fighting forces larger than herself.The publication of Movement In Black is an opportunity, both for those who were around the first time and those who are new to her work, to experience and enjoy Pat Parker's power.