Charmed Lives

Table of Contents Search Site Also on this website: Toby Johnson's books: GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe SECRET MATTER: updated, revised & expanded edtion from Lethe Press with Afterword by Mark Jordan Read Toby's review of Samuel Avery's The Dimensional Structure of Consciousness Funny Coincidence: "Aliens Settle in San Francisco" GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE PLAGUE: A NOVEL ABOUT HEALING. TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life With the Navajo (with Walter L. Williams) Books on Gay Spirituality: White Crane Gay Spirituality Series   Articles and Excerpts: The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate Why gay people should NOT Marry Wedding Cake Liberation Gay Marriage in Texas What's ironic Shame on the American People The "highest form of love"  The cause of homosexuality What is homosexuality? What Jesus said about Gay Rights The purpose of homosexuality What the Bible Says about Homosexuality Mesosexual Ideal for Straight Men Varieties of Gay Spirituality Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality as Artistic Medium "It's Always About You" The myth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara Joseph Campbell's description of Avalokiteshvara You're Not A Wave Going into the Light Meditations for a Funeral Meditation Practice Curious Bodies What Toby Johnson Believes The Joseph Campbell Connection Campbell & The Pre/Trans Fallacy The Nature of Religion Being Gay is a Blessing Freedom of Religion The Gay Agenda Gay Saintliness Gay Spiritual Functions The subtle workings of the spirit in gay men's lives.  "The Evolution of Gay Identity" "St. John of the Cross & the Dark Night of the Soul." Avalokiteshvara at the Baths.  Eckhart's Eye Let Me Tell You a Secret Religious Articulations of the Secret The Collective Unconscious Driving as Spiritual Practice Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil Allah Hu: "God is present here"   Adam and Steve Gay retirement and the "freelance monastery" Seeing with Different Eyes What are you looking for in a gay science fiction novel? The mystical experience at the Servites'  Castle in Riverside The Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis The Techniques Of The World Saviors Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby Part 2: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Part 3: Jesus and the Resurrection Part 4: A Course in Miracles The Secret of the Clear Light Understanding the Clear Light Mobius Strip Finding Your Tiger Face How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated About Alien Abduction In honor of Sir Arthur C Clarke The D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance Toby's friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta. About Michael Talbot, gay mystic About Guy Mannheimer The Gay Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the  "Statement of Spirituality"

Charmed Lives was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award       in the category Anthology.  Kip Dollar & Toby Johnson attended the Gala Lambda Literary Awards Presentation in NYC, May 31, 2007. Toby's anthology CHARMED LIVES, co-edited by Steve Berman, was nominated for Best Anthology. The award went to the very deserving Love, Bourbon Street, edited by Herren & Willis. Charmed Lives: Gay Spirit In Storytelling      An Anthology from White Crane Books, edited by Toby Johnson & Steve Berman Editor Toby Johnson, author of GAY SPIRITUALTY, has collected an anthology for White Crane Books of  inspirational fiction with upbeat twists and turns as well as autobiographical anecdotes and essays of  positive and life-fulfilling aspects of gay experience. See Table of Contents                 Read Reviews & Articles about Charmed Lives We're presenting stories that demonstrate the proposition that "Gay life is charmed" -- with "charm" having a rich variety of meanings. Spinning Straw into Gold Modern society, including--and maybe especially-- gay culture recreates its own mythological traditions in "the old-fashioned way," by telling stories. Gay storytelling engender myths, allowing the negative elements that traditional society and religion has placed on homosexual identity to be transformed and uplifted. White Crane Books, an imprint of Lethe Press (Steve Berman, editor/publisher), announces an anthology of writings that do what good myths and storytelling are supposed to do: inspire and evoke meaning (especially out of despondency and darkness), to cheer, to place life in larger context, to hint at secret meanings--stories that inspire gay men to think positively about themselves, their lifestyles, their bodies (of any type), and, especially, their own spiritual paths. This button will connect with Paypal to purchase Charmed Lives by credit card Toby Johnson's other titles can be added to this order. Click "Add to Cart" then continue shopping at Toby's Books Postage & handling is included in the retail price of the book ($18). This purchase will be processed by the editor; you're welcome to request an autograph or inscription.       tobyjohnso@aol.com Purchase and download PDF now. Pay through AmazonPayments. Digital edition priced at $7.99 read on your computer or download to iTunes and transfer to iPad, kindle or other ebook reader. There's a popular stereotype that homosexuality is a terrible curse and source of sorrow and suffering. Many of us have actually "suffered" from that stereotype; many of us have also transformed our attitudes about our aberrant sexual orientation and discovered our sexuality can bestow great joy, talent, success, love, and good fortune. Notice the layers of meaning in the word "charmed." There's a suggestion of "magick" and "destiny/good karma" -- but also simple usage as good luck and happiness. There's much to be grateful for in being gay. "Charm" also suggests urbanity and good taste. AND "charm" is a mysterious quality of quarks! Editor Toby Johnson, author of GAY SPIRITUALTY has collected inspirational fiction with upbeat twists and turns along with autobiographical anecdotes and essays of  positive and life-fulfilling aspects of gay experience and faith* . We're especially featuring fiction and literary short stories with a "Twilight Zone" or O. Henry sort of twist-- a little magic, a little sci-fi,  a little romantic synchronicity. Such "twists" move the meaning of the story into the mythical. That is, after all, how the stories of religion have come down to us: by adding mystical, magical, miraculous details to the story the spiritual/moral wisdom is given eternal verity. In the realm of personal anecdote, we're presenting stories that demonstrate how people's lives have been "charmed" because they're gay. Storytelling is one of the traditional ways values and "spirit" are passed from one generation to the next.** Let’s tell each other what a long straw we’ve drawn in this life because we’re gay. *Through our "faith" we have been saved. And we can save others from suffering by telling our positive stories. "Faith" means different things to different people.  There is, of course, "faith" in a high power or deity, but gay men have also learned "faith" in friendship and in their own cultural accomplishments that have mattered to the community. The important attribute of the "faith" referenced in Charmed Lives is that it inspires others. Share what you have "faith" in as a happy and successful homosexual. Tell us how your gayness has enriched your life and allowed you to contribute to the world. Spin us a story of transformation. back ** Mythical / magical stories have a way of placing their lesson in the realm of "eternal verities." Some of the old Twilight Zone stories (like the beautiful woman who thinks she's ugly because she's been transported into another dimension in which the criteria of beauty have been turned upside down) remain in collective memory long after their day. Religious stories are like this. The great myths--which claim veracity because of supernatural happenings (like Moses opening the Red Sea or Jesus healing the lepers)--are always about the deep dynamics of consciousness. Sci-fi and speculative fiction is one of the ways modern day writers declare that the lessons of their stories carry greater truth than just the dramatic plot, that they are about generalizable patterns that give meaning and direction to life. The intervention of fate and karma in human lives reveals a deep, "mystical" experience of those dynamics of consciousness. Gayness is surely a "dynamic of consciousness." The positive, enlightened, enlightening side of gayness can properly be written about in mythic language. This image of the gay boys raising the rainbow flag is only a whimical suggestion for a cover, but it captures the concept for the book: a  twist, a  re-creation of traditional imagery and myth with heroic gay meaning back Read Reviews & Articles about Charmed Lives Here's the Table of Contents to tempt readers Introduction: Straw into Gold     Toby Johnson         Introduction: Straw is Neither Dross nor Gold  Steve Berman       Ella, Kelly and Me…     Mark Abramson         The Story Behind the Story     Perry Brass        An Angel on the Threshold    Eric Andrews-Katz        Shades    Bill Goodman        The Canals of Mars    Victor J. Banis       What Queer Spirit Sees    Jeffery Beam        After Edward    Michael Gouda       What Two Men Do In Bed    Bryn Marlow     Great Uncle Ned    J.R.G. De Marco       Beyond the Blue Bardo     Sterling Houston       The Verse    Jay Michaelson      My Last Visits With Harry     Bill Blackburn       Reversing Vandalism      Jim Van Buskirk      Grandfather’s Photograph     Neil Ellis Orts      Gay Spirituality?     Will Gray     “Charmed, I’m Sure”    Mark Thompson and Malcolm Boyd      Viewing the Statue of David  Jim Toevs      The True and Unknown Story of Albert Gale   Andrew Ramer      Tom or An Improbable Tail   Ruth Sims      Free Speech  Martin K. Smith      This I Know  Dan Stone (Dan has a webblog at The Shower Channel) Musuko Dojoji   Mark Horn      A Path of Mirrors   Don Clark       Lines  John McFarland      Left with Love   Lewis DeSimone      Get Thee Behind Me  Christos Tsirbas      His Paper Doll  Steve Berman Desiring St. Sebastian  Donald L. Boisvert   Manifest Love  David Nimmons Avalokiteshvara at The 21st Street Baths  Toby Johnson       Neighborhood Walk  Steven A. Hoffman      My Pride and Joy  Tyler Tone     The Bell of St. Michael’s  Gary Craig      So What is the Charm?  Bert Herrman      And, finally   Michael Sigmann      The Authors   Contributor Sterling Houston died November 8, 2007, just a few weeks before Charmed Lives was released. Fellow Texas playwright Dennis Paddie wrote a beautiful tribute to Sterling which appeared in The Gay & Lesbian Review. back to top

Toby Johnson, PhD is author of eight books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of his teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality. In addition to the novels featured elsewhere in this web site, Johnson is author of IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD and THE MYTH OF THE GREAT SECRET (Revised edition): AN APPRECIATION OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL.

Johnson's Lammy Award winning book GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness was published in 2000.

His Lammy-nominated book  GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe was published by Alyson in 2003.