BotMC - Introduction

Balls: It Takes Some to Get Some by Chris Edwards

264 pages. Published by Greenleaf Book Group

Changing your gender from female to male takes balls. And if you're going to do it in front of 500 coworkers at one of the top ad agencies in the country, you better have a pretty big set!

At a time when the term "transgender" didn't really exist, and with support from family, friends, and a great therapist, Chris Edwards endured 28 surgeries to become the man he always knew he was meant to be. He used what he learned working in advertising along with his ever-present sense of humor to rebrand himself and orchestrate what was quite possibly the most widely accepted and embraced gender transition of its kind. He's a pioneer who changed the perception of an entire community, and his memoir, BALLS, will touch readers' hearts and open their minds.

Edwards is funny, brazen, and endearing, and BALLS is the hilarious and moving story about family, friends, and the courage to be your true self. It boldly and fearlessly goes where other trans memoirs haven't. If you've ever felt uncomfortable in your own skin, for whatever reason, you will be inspired and empowered by this book.

Real Man Adventures by T Cooper

272 pages. McSweeney's Publishing

T Cooper’s Real Man Adventures is not a memoir. It's an adventure story—and one packed with all the requisite dark alleys, disguises, leading ladies, and plot twists.

Cooper’s bold and bracing exploration of his transition to male unfurls in a series of inspired vignettes, intimate letters never sent, interviews, lists, and good old-fashioned stories that capture the range of the human experience. Real Man Adventures is a “sharp, hilarious, incredibly personal, and ingenuously honest look at what the hell it even means to be a man” (Interview magazine).

You and Your Gender Identity by Dara Hoffman-Fox

280 pages. Published by Skyhorse

Are you wrestling with questions surrounding your gender that just don’t seem to go away? Do you want answers to questions about your gender identity, but aren’t sure how to get started?

In this groundbreaking guide, Dara Hoffman-Fox, LPC—accomplished gender therapist and thought leader whose articles, blogs, and videos have empowered thousands worldwide—helps you navigate your journey of self-discovery in three approachable stages: preparation, reflection, and exploration.

In You and Your Gender Identity, you will learn:

• Why understanding your gender identity is core to embracing your full being
• How to sustain the highs and lows of your journey with resources, connection, and self-care
• How to uncover and move through your feelings of fear, loneliness, and doubt
• Why it’s important to examine your past through the lens of gender exploration
• How to discover and begin living as your authentic self
• What options you have after making your discoveries about your gender identity

This unique, interactive guide can help you answer the questions you’ve been asking yourself.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Trans (but were afraid to ask) by Brynn Tannehill (2019)

431 pages (358 is text, the rest is bibliography and index),
Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishing

This is an extraordinary tour de force as is demonstrated by the length of the bibliography. There are 12 chapters:

1. Trans 101
2. Trans 201
3. Dating and Sex
4. Medicine/Mental Health
5. (Bad) Science
6. Law
7. Politics
8. Religion
9. Military
10. Media and Popular Culture
11. Gender/Feminism
12. Where We Go From Here

I found the Law, Politics and Religion sections to be somewhat unsettling.  Tannehill has pulled a lot of information together to illustrate how various forces are working against the Trans community. Not unlike a duck on the water, the significant stuff is under the waterline. Conservative lawyers, conservative politicians and conservative religious leaders are playing the long game here. They continue to chip away and chip away over time such that shifts are almost imperceptible, but at some point, the accumulation of which may prove to be very difficult for us. This book provides an understanding of what’s going on and hopefully will motivate us, as well as the LGB community. We can’t forget that this is a long range strategy that won’t be satisfied until ALL of us are erased, dead or back deeply in the closet...

TO SURVIVE ON THIS SHORE by Jess T. Dugan and Vanessa Fabbre

163 pages, Published by Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg Germany (2019)

Stylistically, I’m not sure what to call this book. Physically, it is a 1 page portrait of trans men and women beside interview text on the adjacent page. The subtitle is: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults.

For more than 5 years, Dugan (a photographer) and Fabbre (a social worker) travelled across the US looking for subjects, and interviewing them,  for this book. The interviews are not intended to be comprehensive, but do provide some insight as to the lives of the subjects. It is fascinating as the lives of older members of the trans community are rarely brought forth so clearly.

The stories are fascinating in that it illustrates that there are so many roads that lead to self-discovery. Sadly, for all who figure out how things truly sit for them, there are many who do not...

Wonderful Transitions by J. Johns

128 pages. Published on Amazon Kindle

Needless to say, the story is controversial and is about a passable cross-dresser who works alone and occasionally with law enforcement catching muggers, rapists, and sex traffickers. This is not the whole story however. The novel is not only very explicit but at times extremely sensual from the protagonist’s perspective.

The novel spans the protagonist’s life from being a young teenager, to mid-life, to becoming a new senior citizen or “mature” as his feminine orientation refers to aging.

Throughout these phases, his masculinity is conflicted as to what society accepts and what he truly wants. During this span, our hero manages to put the people he cares about
first, especially loved ones. All this is at a cost, perhaps sacrificing his ultimate happiness. Sadly, he is ever vigilant as a result of trauma. As a result, he’s always prepared and fortunately for us sees evil as something that must always be confronted immediately, win or lose.

Please keep an open mind during this dramatic life story and you’ll will not only be intrigued by sharing a new perspective of an alternative lifestyle and gender
dysphoria but learn about life lessons and examples that should be embraced by everyone.

In conclusion, the book transcends ordinary tough guy erotic literature, “Wonderful Transitions,” a novel by J. Johns.

Diary of a Trans Housewife by Zoe Roderick

Unknown pages. Published on Wordpress.com

An excerpt from her Introduction:

My name is Zoe, and it is a pleasure to meet you. As you have taken the time to find your way here, I guess it would probably be a great idea for me to tell you a bit about myself, right?

Well, I live in a small Northamptonshire town in the United Kingdom with my husband, two dogs and a cat. Oh, and I am a housewife. A trans housewife to be exact. I estimate that around ninety percent of you have all gasped at the last statement even though the clue is in the title of the website. For those of you who are still reading along let’s get into it shall we?

If you want to read more, Zoe's ongoing diary is here: https://diaryofatranshousewife.wordpress.com/