Crunch Time
An update on the emotional, exhausted, and exhilarating home stretch of launching my book.
It’s crunch time. Conversion Therapy Dropout releases in 47 days. I’m excited, terrified, and on the verge of crashing out at any given moment. The pace of life is definitely picking up, so here’s a quick update on all of the latest:
Audiobook complete
I was initially resistant to the idea of recording my audiobook. I don’t love the sound of my voice. It’s probably the lingering trauma of always being asked if I was my mom when I answered our home phone until my voice changed. Either way, I had initially asked a good friend and fellow conversion therapy dropout who does voiceover work if he’d want to narrate my book. Even if I didn’t want to be the one in the recording booth, I thought it would be important to have someone with firsthand experience read it. I knew they’d give it the care and emotion it needed.
One fun fact I learned, though, at least in my publishing agreement, is that audiobook rights are sold to companies that specialize in audiobook production. Depending on who acquires the rights, authors sometimes don’t even have the option to narrate their own books, or they have to audition and be approved. With some encouragement from my publisher and my agent, I swallowed my pride and submitted a sample of me reading from the introduction.
It turns out they all said I had a good voice for narration.
Here’s a clip from the sample I sent to them that I made into a Reel:
So, I spent most of last weekend at a recording studio near Times Square reading all 82,000ish words.
It only took 12.5 hours, 20 bottles of water, an entire bag of Ricola throat lozenges, gallons of tea with honey, and more retakes than I can even begin to count. But, it’s done.
I knew the entire writing process would be emotional, but I never dreamed what reading my own story out loud would be like… and let me tell you, it was something.
In the end, I’m grateful you’ll get to hear my story in my voice. I tried to make it fun and engaging, and even made up some voices for people along the way.
Podcast-palooza
I was walking to work from the subway in November, and my phone buzzed with a message from my agent telling me to check my email. It was from the producers of Jonathan Van Ness’s podcast Getting Better. They had seen my article in TIME Magazine and wanted to know if I’d be interested in coming on the show.
I nearly fainted on the sidewalk. It didn’t seem real. But this week it happened.
JVN was everything you’d imagine and so much more. I adore them, their heart, and the space they make for conversations like the one we had. Admittedly, I blacked out most of the time and don’t remember much of what I said, but my publicist and JVN’s team said it was a great conversation. It will air sometime in May or June, so definitely stay tuned for details.
Then, yesterday, I had the chance to talk with the incredible Anne Helen Petersen for an episode of the Culture Study Podcast. I love Anne and have been a big fan of her pod, so I was fangirling the whole time. We talked a lot about how conversion therapy works, how its tied to the wave of Christian Nationalism we’re seeing, and practical tips for how people can help their loved ones.
I am so incredibly grateful for these opportunities and for all the other amazing podcast hosts I’ve had the chance to speak with, and for all the others coming down the pipeline. I’ll share links as the episodes go live here and on Instragram and Threads.
Another op-ed in TIME
I was on a trip to New York City in 2016 when I first found the book Boy Erased by Garrard Conley at the Strand Bookstore. I had never read another survivor’s story and was so moved by his.
His book was a watershed moment to bring awareness to the harm of conversion therapy. And his book was even made into a film starring Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. Garrard was instrumental in helping with legislation that enacted many of the bans that are currently in place, protecting LGBTQ+ youth from conversion therapy.
I had the chance to meet Garrard in Atlanta on a work trip last fall, and we instantly hit it off. He was gracious enough to read my book and offer an endorsement. And when we were in Atlanta, we hatched the idea of doing a co-authored op-ed. A few months and conversations later, our piece was just published in TIME Magazine.
The Supreme Court could rule as early as tomorrow on the case of Chiles v. Salazar, which could undo conversion therapy bans in Colorado. We wrote about the harm that could cause not only LGBTQ+ people, but everyone.
Read it here
Goodreads giveway and early reviews
I am currently partnering with Goodreads for a giveaway where you can enter to win one of 15 advance copies of the book before it releases on May 5. Enter now through March 27 for your chance to win.
Every author friend of mine has told me to never read reviews, but I’m not good at following rules. But I couldn’t help myself and am so thankful for these kind words from early readers on Goodreads...
“What is most remarkable about Timothy’s story is the view from the top of the mountain he climbed. He stopped looking for answers in church leaders and turned to community, but more importantly a Christ-loving gay community. Through it all, Tim remained so devout, so faithful and reticent in his search for the truth. His story will be inspiration for many other LGBTQIA+ Christians
I’m so proud of this author for sharing his story and I know so many others will be supported by his doing so.”“Even as someone who does not believe in the Christian God, this was a rewarding read of acceptance and love.”
“This is a healing book for anyone standing at the painful intersection of faith and identity. It reminds us that if spirituality matters to you, you do not have to abandon yourself to keep God.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you
I am exhausted but so thankful for everyone’s support and kind words. I feel them supporting me right now. And again, thank everyone who has pre-ordered your copy of my book. Don’t forget to visit my website to claim your freebies if you’ve ordered yours.
If you haven’t pre-ordered yet, or have thought about it but haven’t gotten around to it yet, may I humbly ask you to do so? Pre-orders, especially right now, are VERY important as booksellers are making their spring stocking decisions, and your orders help them see there’s a need for this message and helps make sure it reaches the people who need it most. Pre-order now.
47 days to go!
P.S. - For even more frequent updates, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.
You got this! I remember my terror as well on being published even though it was a lifelong dream. You’ll survive this too.