This July, the It Gets Better Project is partnering with Humble Bundle and two-time Hugo Award finalist Dr. Chuck Tingle – an erotic author from Billings, Montana known for his stories about unicorns, Bigfeet, and variety of anthropomorphized objects and concepts (huh?).
From July 4 – 18, you can acquire some of Dr. Tingle’s best work – and support the It Gets Better Project at the same time!
“By creating an online community in which his particular outlook – what he calls his ‘unique way’ – is not just accepted but celebrated, Mr. Tingle has delivered a strong rebuke to the intolerant forces that used him as a prop in attacking diverse voices in the sci-fi world.” – The New York Times
“The book’s real, the review’s real and I’ve finally found something to laugh about in this whole terrible mess.” –J.K. Rowling on “Pounded by the Pound”
Visit Humble Bundle to learn more about this amazing opportunity.
Or, if you’d like to learn more about the man behind the #LoveIsReal message, please read on. The It Gets Better Project had a few questions for Chuck, and he did not fail to deliver.
(Nothing has been edited – you’re getting the full story from Dr. Tingle himself!)
IGBP: Tell us about your coming out story.
CT: well i would say that i UNDERSTOOD my way was unique as a very young buckaroo but i also did not have many buds to talk about this with because i was all alone in HOME OF TRUTH utah this is small town we were only ones there and i had to learn about myself on my own. so when i would write stories i would remember there were certain things i COULD write on and certain things that i COULD NOT write on this was my way. and i would hide these stories under the floor. so then when i left and went to billings i thought NOW IS THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND MY BODY AND MY WAY so then i met sweet barbara and she made me feel a way of love but i also understood that there were other ways of love that i felt. so these days i would say i am comfortable understanding my preferred pound is bud on bud but this has been a very long process about trying different ways and LEARNING MYSELF which is so important because i think that there are SO MANY WAYS TO BE. some buckaroos know their preferred pound right away and some learn about it later on, and maybe even some realize ‘wow i dont even like pounding others at all, think ill just pound on my own’. the important thing is to understand YOU ARE SPECIAL AND IMPORTANT EXACTLY AS YOU ARE and i think this lesson has been most important lesson of my life on this timeline.
IGBP: Why is it important for you to write about queer experiences?
CT: as worlds greatest author i write to PROVE LOVE IS REAL and i enjoy this most as a bud on bud pound. but really i would say that proving love is real can be any kind of pound you just need to write about your TRUTH on this timeline. so it is okay if you are an author who likes buckaroo on ladybuck pounds too as long as you are WRITING WITH LOVE and showing the world that love is real i think you will be successful in some way. but for me i would say that i like to tell stories that bring joy into this timeline because that is top way to fight against THE VOID. i understand that my space on this timeline is limited and so i think waking up and saying ‘how am i going to prove love today?’ is best motivation there is and big part of this way is understanding that ALL love is real and this includes bud on bud or even bud on bud on bud or even bud on bud on bud on bud on bud or maybe bud on ladybuck on bud on ladybuck who the heck knows there are so many combinations and all of them prove love.
IGBP: What advice do you have for a queer kid who may feel like they don’t “fit in?”
CT: top thing to remember is that THERE IS ONLY ONE OF YOU ON THIS TIMELINE. everything in the universe had to happen at just the right moment in just the right way to bring you right here right now and even though that can feel like a lot sometimes it is also VERY SPECIAL and means you are VERY IMPORTANT. this timeline is lucky to have you here not just as a saying but in WAY OF REALITY because you are infinitely rare and because of this you have SO MUCH POWER. so now that you are here in this timeline you can make choices that will effect the universe is ways you cant even imagine, every second you exist you are creating billions of parallel timelines based on YOUR CHOICES. NEVER FORGET HOW IMPORTANT AND SPECIAL THIS MAKES YOU.
IGBP: Why have you chosen this medium to express yourself?
CT: i have always liked to TELL STORIES and to dream of ideas maybe just a thought about a handsome rock name of LERNT how sits on a cliff and he is overlooking a city and one day you walk by him on the path and start talking and he points out all of the best parts of the city to you from up above that you never noticed. so he is a helpful rock and he shows you a new perspective and then you think ‘oh well you are very handsome and kind i would like to take you to dinner’ and the rock has always been on top of the mountain he has never gone to dinner so he likes this very much and you learn so much from each other. so that is just one idea that i could dream but there are many others but i think i enjoy creating these worlds for other buckaroos to trot through not just in a physical trot like going to the park but in their mind and their heart and their butt’s heart.
IGBP: Where do you draw your inspiration?
CT: number one place for GETTING INSPIRED is love this is most powerful force in all timelines and it is one consistent force across all ways and all realities so i think this is best place to tap into for a way of an artistic bud. so i think of all the ways that love can travel through reality maybe if i am thinking about how proud i am of my son jon that is one way, or maybe when i think about how i like it when it is very quiet in the afternoon and the neighborhood birds tell me secrets that is another kind of love, and also there is LOVE OF ROMANCE where buds and think DANG this makes me hard as rocks. so really there is all kinds of love flowing all around us you just have to listen to it and you will probably be inspired too.