Tag Archives: #nevergiveup

Only 7 More Days

Hellooo, good morning, and a resounding whoop from the geographical center of Europe! Only 7 more days until the official launch of Paralian. Just sayin’ 😀

2013 mohammeds coffee on kuredu

A Captivating, Powerful Story

“This is a fascinating and inspiring memoir from a man who has faced life head on and lived it to the full. Liam Klenk was adopted, had an unconventional childhood and as he became an adult, his differences made him search for answers. Klenk describes himself as being born into a female body, yet this memoir explores many other avenues, as the title says – this novel is ‘Not Just Transgender’. Klenk writes with a raw honesty, he has a matter of fact way of describing the adversity he has lived with, which makes the story even more intensely powerful. Klenk has become a strong, independent, thoughtful man, who is very self aware. ‘Paralian: Not Just Transgender’ gives you the chance to hear a captivating story, I marvelled at Klenk’s mental strength, willed him to overcome the difficulties he faced, and I appreciate very much indeed, that I’ve had the chance to read his story.”

Great review by Liz Robinson of Lovereading.co.uk. Thanks very much! The photograph is courtesy of my good friend Gaby who’s recently been enjoying Paralian at the ocean. The perfect place to read it 🙂

gaby hafner

Countdown and Another Excerpt…

1977 sylt lighthouse with mom

In exactly 14 more days Paralian will be launching!
Nothing earth-shattering will happen when it does…
Our planet won’t stop spinning.
The sun will rise and set just like on any other day.
I won’t get a phone call from Robert Redford or Ang Lee that they’d love to turn my book into a movie.
Stephen Fry won’t want to meet up for a coffee…
Still, it’s an important, uplifting story to be told. A tale about overcoming difficulty and the power of optimism. Moreover, Paralian is the fulfilment of a life-long dream and, no matter what happens or doesn’t happen, that’s more than enough.

“For years, I had puzzled over being the only dark-haired, darker-complexioned person in our family. My emotional make-up and character didn’t quite seem to fit with the rest of my family either. I had kept searching for similarities between my parents and me, as every child does, and had found none. But my mom Hildegard had been very convincing as to our shared blood. She had scared me with stories of how her multitude of hereditary afflictions would manifest themselves in me as I grew older. She had a large goiter on her neck as well as suffering from acute asthma. I had inherited both from her, she insisted, and would suffer as she did eventually. No matter how unpleasant the knowledge, no matter how lost I felt, and whatever life threw at me while growing up, at least I had always been secure in the knowledge of who my family was. It proved to be quite dysfunctional at times, but it was a family. But now, with my dad’s revelation, the truths on which I had based my life shattered into a million pieces.” (Excerpt from Paralian, Chapter 1)

Available for preorder on Amazon, Troubador.co.uk, Apple ibooks store, Waterstones and WHSmith.

Never Just Transgender

Liam Klenk, author of Paralian: Not just transgender, examines the public’s view of transgender people in the wake of the toilet debate in America… (Thanks to Vada Magazine!)

Nothing Held Back

2010 HoDW Life

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.