Vanda WriterI was born and raised in Huntington Station, Long Island, but my mother would never let us call it that. She said we came from South Huntington. Saying we were from Huntington Station, according to my mother, made it sound like we came from the otherside of the tracks. And, well, Mom, we did and that fact has greatly influenced my writing. My novel, JULIANA (Books 1 & 2) is the first in a series in which the same characters live out LGBT history in New York City through the decades. My life mission at this time is to honor this history and to let people, gay and straight, know that the LGBT community shares a rich cultural history that is as important and as valid as any other minority group's cultural history. Plus it's fascinating. Juliana was long listed for the Ms. Lexia Novel Award, was a finalist for the Goethe Book Award and the Saints and Sinners Award. Book 3: Olympus Nights on the Square (1945-1955), the second novel in the series, is due out October or November. Juliana currently has 66 Amazon customer reviews with a rating of 4.9 out of 5. As a playwright, I have received a numerous honors, such as an Edward Albee Fellowship. My play, Vile Affections, published by Original Works was a finalist for a National Lambda Award. Another play, Patient HM, which later became The Forgetting Curve, won the Pride Stage and Screen's Women's Playwriting Award and is currently under option to Theatrum Mundi. Why'd Ya Make Me Wear This, Joe, won Celebration Theater's (where Naked Boys Singing originated) Best New LGBT Play. My non-fiction story, "Jack," was published in Prairie Schooner and another non-fiction piece, "Roger: Lost Between Philosophies," which appeared in Pentimento was selected by New Millennium Writings for Honorable Mention from a submission pool of 1,300. Read More Read Less