Come visit my author profile on Goodreads! Maybe put Paralian on your virtual “want to read” shelf (only 2 1/2 more months and you’ll be able to put it on the physical one in your living room). Goodreads also has a designated space where you can ask questions (you can always ask me anything, here or there). And you can follow me there as well. I’d be honoured. As always thanks so much for your support. It means a lot!
Ha! Got to post what my publisher just tweeted. First time ever I get to share a meaningful picture quote by……… myself. And in case you’re wondering, I’m chuckling happily while I’m hitting “enter”.
How I loved this job! Coaching performers, keeping them safe during the show, being a stage hand and stage manager underwater in one of the most visionary projects of all time. The best times were when I could prepare performers for their aquatic environment. I loved seeing them work during our training sessions. Their focus, dedication and support for each other were second to none.
My four years of being part of the “The House of Dancing Water” show family in Macau were life lived to the fullest. All in. Nothing held back. Steep learning curves. It was heaven and hell, Jekyll and Hyde, utter happiness and despair. I looked into the abyss and at the same time was mesmerised by the beauty, passion, and creativity all around me. Blood and tears, utter commitment, corporate politics, friendship, integrity, growth, dreams coming true (sometimes shattered), an abundance of hugs and kisses, standing ovations, and the overall emotional intensity of an earthquake magnitude 8 on the Richter Scale.
My dad always highlighted the importance of independence. His version of it was to amass as many savings as possible, thus being financially secure and free to move or buy at a moment’s notice.
Years later, during art school in Zurich, one of my professors pointed out how true independence can only be achieved by owning less instead of more. “Keep your standard of living as low as possible while still enjoying life to the fullest. Keep your possessions few or they will end up owning you. You’ll be tied to one spot.” His sentiment echoes in my heart to this day. It was advice much closer to my own heart.
Over the years, I began living accordingly, only holding on to few memorabilia… favourite books, gifts, small collectors items I picked up around the globe, notes and photographs transporting me back to meaningful moments…. all of these items easily fitting into a couple of boxes.
In 2005, I moved to a Maldivian island where I lived and worked for four years. Assorted wildlife scrambling up and down my bathroom tree. Coconuts falling from up high and slamming into the corrugated iron roof of my humble abode during all hours of the day and night. A comfy mattress, a handful of books, and a few square meters of privacy. I loved the material simplicity of my existence on that tiny pile of sand seemingly floating amidst oceanic hues of turquoise.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the full cover of ‘Paralian: not just transgender’.
We have finished completing the design and I’ve just passed it for press which means after many months of hard work and preparations, Paralian will go to the printer next week.
I must admit I’m quite fond of the whole cover design. The fresh turquoise title and spine invite you to dive into sparkling lagoon water and already hint at the odyssey you will take with me to exotic destinations around the globe. And it’s what happens along the way, that will make all the difference…
The front and back cover place my thoughts into your trusted hands. Thoughts that will hopefully leave you spellbound, intrigued, touched, entertained, and with a twinkle in your eye. Just three more months to launch. Get ready for a very special journey!
Yay! Paralian is now available for pre-order on waterstones.com and amazon.co.uk (the other ‘Amazons’ and WHSmith following soon). How amazing is that! Honestly, it feels quite surreal. I hope I’ll stay this excited and enthusiastic every time one of my books comes out (since I am planning to write many many more).
https://www.waterstones.com/book/paralian/liam-klenk/9781785891205
Only four more months to go until launch (I’m so excited!!)… and here a little taste of what’s to come:
“Marcello felt a delightful wave of heat and energy rushing through his body just as the fifth car reached its final destination – Sandra’s bedroom wall. It impacted in a cacophony of noise and falling debris. Instead of pulling away from her, he instinctively wrapped his arms around his girlfriend in the hope of shielding her from danger.
So. This was it. This was my moment. Marcello’s sperm cells hurried to my mom’s egg cell… and without even knowing it yet, an innocent teenage couple were on their way to becoming my parents.”
Have you ever read “The Hours” or seen the movie? It’s one of my all-time favorites, making me cry — with sadness as much as happiness — every time.
One scene in particular always stays with me:
In a very intimate moment towards the end of the movie, Clarissa says to her daughter, ”I remember one morning getting up at dawn, there was such a sense of possibility. You know, that feeling? And I remember thinking to myself: So, this is the beginning of happiness. This is where it starts. And of course there will always be more. It never occurred to me it wasn’t the beginning. It was happiness. It was the moment. Right then.”
As I look out the window of our little eagle’s nest overlooking the beautiful city of Zurich I breathe in deeply. My wife is working today. We had a cozy, slow breakfast together. She just left a few minutes ago and I already miss her with every fiber of my being.
Pushka, our fluffy Persian, is looking out of the open window, her eyes sparkling, seeing snow for the very first time.
Our other cat, Nacho, is sitting on his cat tree, every so often pawing the window pane, trying to catch a stray flake through the glass.
And on the table behind me, the final typeset of my book is waiting for me. The next three days will be busy… reading through 450 pages once more to check if all final corrections I made a few weeks ago have been implemented. I’m looking forward to finding that last hidden typo…
It keeps snowing. I’ll start soon. Just a few more minutes of gazing out the window…
Clarissa was right. It is the moment. Right now.
A press release from Literally PR concerning my memoirs ‘Paralian’ (launching soon!). This release focussing on the adoption side of things…
![[image]](http://collateral.prmax.co.uk/collateral/92316.jpg "66749-1.jpg")
Press Release:
The Legacy of Adoption
Paralian: Not Just Transgender
London, United Kingdom, Thursday 14thJanuary 2016: Liam Klenk’s innovative memoir, Paralian, will initially strike most as a transgender man’s story despite the title strapline ‘notjusttransgender’. In reality, there are many elements within Liam’s life that are equally as defining as being a transgender man. Just as important to his identity in 2016 was the late revelation, in 1992, that he had been adopted at just five months.
Conventional wisdom suggests that adopted children should be made aware of their biological parents as soon as possible but Liam did not find out he was adopted until the age of 21, and then it was because of legal papers associated with a rather complicated marriage and divorce. He explains in his memoir, due for release by Matador on May 28th 2016:
In Zurich once again…
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One thing I’ve always loved about living and traveling abroad is that you pick up a lot of quirky little customs from each place you’ve been to. Today is “Holy Three Kings” day here in Zurich. On this day, bakeries make a special “Kings” cake, consisting of usually nine individual little sweet breads, joined together to form a shape that looks like a flower on steroids. Everyone goes and buys one of these ‘cakes’ and then people eat them together. One of the breads has a tiny plastic king hidden inside of it (which is why people gently nibble the little round delicacies so as not to lose any molars). The person whose bread shelters the king becomes royalty of the day and gets to wear the golden paper crown all bakeries deliver with each ‘cake’ as well. So guess who almost lost a tooth today in our little family?
Liam Klenk 