When people ask me what I do, I tell them I’m a writer. They usually want to know what kind. And there’s no real way for me to answer that question without talking about being gay.

“I write YA fiction,” I might say.

“Oh, have I read any? What’s it about?”

So then I either make awkward noises and not answer the question, or I talk about novels that explore the challenges LGBT kids face growing up.

Or maybe I say I’m a freelance journalist and opinion writer. Of course, then, the obvious followup is who do I write for and what are my opinons.

Well, let’s see, I’ve been in LGBTQ Nation, Pink News, and recently Out magazine mentioned one of my blog posts and made it go viral. So that was nice.

Nope, can’t really say any of that without talking about being gay. But you know what? If writing about issues related to being gay didn’t matter, I wouldn’t be doing it, and nobody would be reading.

So, I feel a bit like you, maybe, in that job interview. Better to just be open. It’s freeing, and sometimes great conversations and connections happen.

You never can tell.