My story is certainly not unique.  There are hundreds, probably thousands, of people who have had thoughts and experiences similar to my own.  And there will be thousands more who have yet to realize their "fate."  It took me a long time to realize that, and I think part of the comfort that others get from reading my book is the reassurance that they're not alone.

Oddly enough, I never intended to write a book.  Although I consider myself competent when expressing myself through my writing, I never imagined myself as an "author".  Instead, the seed for the book was born out of my deeply personal need to review a very difficult time in my life after having let some time and distance pass.  It came from my need to put my transition, and how those experiences fit in my life as a whole, into perspective; with a clearer mind and a more mature attitude than when I had been in the throes of a painful and difficult battle for survival.

Thankfully, I had collected many artifacts from my transition: emails to friends and family, letters, my journal.  After I moved someplace new to start my new life free from the difficulty of being one of them, I somehow needed to find a sense of closure before I could move on.  And as I compiled all of these various remembrances into a single document, the enormity of what had happened slowly dawned on me.

The realization that this experience had value to others took a while to hatch, especially as I struggled to find the boundaries of where I could live my life as Donna, and how I could support our community without totally compromising myself , or even more especially, my son. 

But as I began to speak in public as an educator and an advocate, I began to realize that this saga was not simply a transsexual saga.  It was a universally humanstory, only with a unique plot twist.  The emotions involved are emotions we all feel, whether facing up to our parents, our spouse, or ourselves.  And the process of self-discovery in a land where there are no rules, is something that each of us must do in our life, no matter what or who we are.  As I spoke to university students, I could tell by looking at their faces that they understood that, and that the barriers that separated transsexual from the rest of society came down, if only for a short time.  That connection, and the need to communicate it, became a driving force in my effort to effectively capture the personal, emotional nature of my story in print.

This book would never have seen light of day if not for the efforts and support from a very amazing group of people.  I constantly doubted whether the passion and emotion could translate effectively from feeling to printed word.  I constantly doubted whether others would be able to glean the message from my story.  I constantly doubted whether this was "book material."

Amazingly enough, the people who have entered my life as a result of this effort are as amazing and extraordinary as any I have ever met.  They have helped to bring me down off the ceiling when I started to bounce too high.  They have helped to show me that the beauty of a book is not the message that goes INTO the writing....it's the message that comes OUT of it that counts.  And, they have helped me overcome the anxiety I felt at having my most personal experiences available for public scrutiny; the good and the bad....the pretty and the ugly.  It's all there. 

Additional Resources and Links:

1. •An interview with Texas Monthly magazine as part of the 2003 Texas Book Festival.  It provides some useful background information on the book.
   

2. •Trapped in Blue: The Manuscript Papers. These pages are the original emails, journal entries, and other materials upon which the book is based.  They provide a deeper, less polished, more intense view into events covered by the book.
   

My 2003 memoir, Wrapped In Blue: A Journey of Discovery, remains one of the most open and honest accounts of the upheavals involved in coming to terms with  the mind/body/spirit dissonance at the heart of being “transgender”.  It is a universally human story of self discovery, the power of the human spirit, and the search for personal peace.

1. •Amazon.com
   

2. •Personally signed copies can be requested here
   

3. •I have a limited number of hard-cover editions as part of my own personal “stash” that I’m willing to sign and sell - email me for information

2003: Speaking on a Memoirs panel at the Texas Book Festival