Greg's discovery of sex change surgery as a young teenager, and knowing immediately he needed the surgery. His outdoor adventures while growing up, and of fighting forest fires, and other adventures. His long battle with alcohol and drugs, and of finally leaving them behind.
Greg's long battle with Lyme disease, and his search for answers, as to who and what he was. It is a story of loneliness, desperation, and an ongoing battle with self denial. Then finally, at age 58, Greg comes out for the first time, as Alana, and starts her transition to become the woman of her dreams."
In 2016, I talked to Alana and this is what she told me about the book: "I was (still am) so tired of people accusing us of “choosing” to be transgender. I just had to tell my story, in hopes that it would maybe help at least a few people, parents of trans kids maybe, to better understand.
I also knew there were still people out there who thought they were the “only ones.” So I decided I had to really open up, and try to describe my experiences as accurately as I could. This was not an easy decision. I was actually terrified to tell my secrets to the world, as I was always a very quiet and private person. But I wanted so badly to make a difference, that I eventually knew that I just had to tell it all.
Also, the bathroom issue was (is) extremely important to me, especially for school children. As a small child in elementary school, I was scared to death of school restrooms. I don't remember wanting to use the girls' room, but I was terrified of the boys' room. Though I didn't understand why I knew those parts down there were not right. I was very embarrassed by them and had many, many, very long school days of holding it until I could get home.
This then led to many urinary infections. It breaks my heart, that fifty years later, little has changed for trans children.
Those three above issues were my main reasons for writing. I also wanted to add a bit about drug and alcohol abuse, as I do not want to see any young people take that dead-end road. I made a lot of wrong turns myself!
I also wanted to attempt to portray my life the way it really was, as there were sometimes long periods of time in between thinking about being a girl. But it always returned!"
Available via Amazon
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