thegabecole

[thegabecole]

it has been a truly wild 24 hours for THE WICKED BARGAIN these screenshots are from Libro.fm this morning, where TWB is currently the #15 Bestselling audiobook on *all* of Libro.fm, the #1 YA Bestseller, and, wildly, currently just one slot beneath SPARE on their bestseller list??? I am in awe, and humbled, and so happy this book is finding its people. thank you to everyone who has shared their excitement over my trans pirate book and for all the #transrightsreadathon boosts. a week ago I truly would not have imagined this was possible. https://www.instagram.com/p/CqIiwd7L0CG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#15 #1 #transrightsreadathon

[thegabecole]

today is the day! THE WICKED BARGAIN is out in the world today! THE WICKED BARGAIN is about found family and embracing the parts of yourself that scare you the most. there’s magic, and unabashedly queer characters (including a trans protagonist!), and diablos, and demonios. I poured so much of myself into this story. I’m so proud of this book and so excited to finally share it with all of you 😊 #transbooks #yabooks #bookstagram #queerbooks #booknerdigans #bookbirthday https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNYfoUryZ1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#transbooks #yabooks #bookstagram #queerbooks #booknerdigans #bookbirthday

[thegabecole]

Ahhhh look at these pre-orders! 🤩And if you’d like a signed copy, it’s not too late! Signed copies of THE WICKED BARGAIN are still available at @porter_square_books! #transbooks #yabooks #lgbtbooks #bookstagram #booknerdigans #authorsofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CpMLsRRrAdY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#transbooks #yabooks #lgbtbooks #bookstagram #booknerdigans #authorsofinstagram

[thegabecole]

giving a new color a try 🕶️ #newglasses #instagay #transgender #transguy #vitamint https://www.instagram.com/p/CnikM9jrnFI/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#newglasses #instagay #transgender #transguy #vitamint

[thegabecole]

I absolutely hate it when I hear that my name gets brought up at publishing meetings as an example of "authors who made social media work for them." Like fuck you, the lesson you should've learnt from my case was "take a chance on a book an editor is eager to acquire even if it's in a genre that hasn't been selling well" (Iron Widow got shot down at every major American publisher for market reasons even though many editors wanted it), not "LET'S PUSH AUTHORS TO BECOME INFLUENCERS." The skillset someone needs to be popular on social media is completely different than what's used to write books. Why would you force the average author to shake their ass on TikTok instead of DOING THE MARKETING THAT IS YOUR JOB and letting authors write in peace

[thegabecole]

FRIENDS! I have big news!! THE WICKED BARGAIN has its first star! ⭐️ This is the first starred review of my career! And it’s from PW!!! 😭 #booknerdigans #queerya #authorsofinstagram #transbooks #yabooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFWpZIrV90/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#booknerdigans #queerya #authorsofinstagram #transbooks #yabooks

[thegabecole]

today I’ve been on T for 4 years! the changes this year have been slower, more subtle, but in some ways the most affirming yet. this year I stopped having to actively pitch my voice lower on the phone—now it happens naturally and as a result I no longer get misgendered on the phone. I’ve seen some significant facial hair growth this year, and while it’s nowhere near enough to grow out, it’s been incredibly affirming all the same. but perhaps the most subtle and meaningful change of them all is I no longer have to fight to see a guy in the mirror. I look, and he’s there, and it’s me. and that is the biggest relief of them all. #trans #transgender #transmasc #transguy #vitaminT #hrt #transjoy https://www.instagram.com/p/Clh6uLSLxnW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#trans #transgender #transmasc #transguy #vitamint #hrt #transjoy

[thegabecole]

If you're not on Twitter following the fake Twitter Blue accounts drama... I'd say i feel bad for you but I'm providing you with the best screenshots here so you don't have to feel left out

[thegabecole]

let me explain why i’m flooding your dash with posts about the harpercollins strike

As a bookseller, I want you to know that one of the worst things about our industry is the unsettlingly pervasive idea that we should financially suffer for working in it. There is a powerful idea in creative fields (as in many, many fields under late capitalism) that one should be willing to forego necessities of life – namely, an adequate wage – in order to have work that one resonates with emotionally.

In bookworld, I’d say that this is frequently aided and abetted by two factors. First, we often feel a strong sense of community with our coworkers and the book creation/promotion world at large and feel we should sacrifice personally for them; that to do so is right. Second, we have a sense that, due to a confluence of factors  from Amazon monopolization to the rise of the Internet to the pandemic’s financial tolls, we work in a permanently struggling industry – that we should be willing to take the hit, as it were, to help keep our business afloat.

Neither of those feelings is accurate in an independent bookstore. It doesn’t matter how narrow the profit margins are or how close you are with your coworkers. Your labor is labor, and it must be compensated. They are even less true in the context of a multi-billion-dollar publishing corporation, where the people at the top (including the parent company’s owner, who is literally Rupert Murdoch) benefit from growing monopolization while employees are unable to afford basic cost-of-living expenses. May I remind you that of HarperCollins’ thousands of employees, many are required to live in New York City – one of the most expensive metropolitan areas in the world. While working long hours, HarperCollins staff making a starting salary (45,000/year) make $18,600 less than the average annual cost of living in New York City for a single person.

This is unacceptable. As one sign carried on the picket line read– PASSION DOESN’T PAY THE RENT.

Fair wages do.

[thegabecole]

the pandemic has meant not going to a barber literally since early 2020 and I’ve often missed the haircuts I could get when my hair was done professionally. but…not gonna lie I’m actually digging this length 💁🏻‍♂️ #transgender #transguy #transmasc #vitaminT #chronicillnesslife https://www.instagram.com/p/ClIORNJgSKo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#transgender #transguy #transmasc #vitamint #chronicillnesslife

[thegabecole]

thinking about dr james barry and other historical trans men who were outed against their will and like

not all the trans men could have gotten outed, right?

like im willing to bet that there are quite a few men out there who were buried as men

im glad not to know them

#I fully believe this is true #queer history

[thegabecole]

Musk running Twitter be like

[thegabecole]

A tragedy in 2 acts

[thegabecole]

I said this on Twitter and I’ll say it here too: the notion that estrogen is “weak” is ABSOLUTELY false. here’s an anecdotal example:

I’ve been on T for nearly 4 years now. in early summer one of my doctors recommended taking a localized low-dose of estrogen for a medical thing, so I did. this turned out to be a HUGE mistake because I have an autoimmune disease.

fun fact: estrogen is TERRIBLE for many autoimmune diseases (and a lot of doctors think estrogen is part of the reason autoimmune diseases are so much more common in AFAB folks). when I started T my autoimmune disease temporarily went into remission, and then things evened out again but not as badly as before.

fast-forward to this summer when I started taking low-dose E—suddenly I was getting awful flares ALL THE TIME. it took me about a month to put the two together, then I confirmed with my rheumatologist that the estrogen was almost certainly the culprit. even after I stopped taking it, it took my body MONTHS to get back to normal-ish levels.

so, no, estrogen is not inherently “weaker” or, for that matter, less harmful than T. they’re both very powerful hormones that provide essential functions. and they don’t always play nicely with everyone’s bodies.

Okay, see, I understand the reason why people believe "testosterone is so powerful and estrogen, by comparison, is useless and weak", but guys... please stop. It's not helpful, it's inaccurate, and frankly, it's just... transphobic (and misogynistic).

Yes, estrogen and testosterone (in different levels) are different, and do different things. But to say that one is useless - esteogen, more often than not - is so inaccurate. I've seen so many trans women on estrogen express just how much they have changed - some even remarked that their shoe size changed. Estrogen isn't inherently weak. Testosterone isn't inherently powerful. They do different things in different peoples' bodies, which is why transition timelines vary so much even if some of us take the same medications.

Additionally, please recognize how hurtful this can be to those either seeking transition, or not looking to medically transition in this way. How does it look when people are bombarded with the idea that their transition isn't going to be successful, and that there's no point? If I were told again and again that there isn't any point in something I need, I know I'd be miserable on top of the misery I'd feel for being unable to transition how I needed. It's unnecessarily cruel.

You can certainly speak on the affects of different hormones. That is completely okay! But to moralize or even scandalize hormones isn't the way to go, I think.

#transgender #autoimmine disease #rheumatoid arthritis #chronically ill trans guy

[thegabecole]

this is the best thing to happen to twitter

[thegabecole]

My GOD the twitter drama is exploding. As of today, here are a couple updates for anyone interested:

The "insulin is free" tweet from the fake-verified Eli Lilly account tanked the company's stock, along with the stocks for two other major BioTech firms, by up to 4%

The "we're suspending arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United States, et al" tweet from a fake-verified Lockheed Martin account tanked Lockheed's stock today

Since 8:00AM this morning there has been a tweet claiming Elon Musk was starting a program called "Elon's Tots" wherein he would pay off people's student loans

Numerous politicians and pundits have been targeted by trolls leveraging verified accounts to fuck with their public images, and many of them aren't being addressed nearly as fast as the fake-verified Elon Musk accounts

Twitter is allegedly worth 1/4 of what Elon bought it for

Tesla's stock has allegedly fallen by 50%

Elon has said Twitter may have to declare bankrupty

lmao

[thegabecole]

actually fuck you i love queer people who dont perfectly fit into the labels they chose for themselves. queer people with 'contradictory' labels. queer people who proudly use and reclaim historic terms, symbols and slurs. queer people who reclaim slurs that dont align with their identity to build a sense of community. weird queer people. freakish queer people. trans people with 'weird' transition goals. queer people who align more with cultural queer identities as opposed to online western ones. queer people who dress plainly. queer people who dress oddly and over the top. queer people who 'act/look too gay'. queer people who 'dont act/look gay enough'. cringey queer people. 'steven universe gays'. closeted queer people. old queer people. disabled queer people. mentally ill queer people. queer people of color. queer kids who are still experimenting with their identity. queer adults who are still experimenting with their identities. queer people who dont fit the beauty standard. queer people who will never fit in to the internets perfect polished idea of what queer people are supposed to be i love you i love you i love you i love you