Glenn D. Grace

The early years of my life were pretty normal. I grew up in a Northern California urban community a few miles down the road from San Francisco, a globally known tourist stop. If I had to pick one thing that complicated my life early on it would be my sexuality. Growing up black and gay was an extremely challenging part of my early development — especially since I had to learn that what I felt was considered to be an abomination by the Baptist religion I had been introduced to.


Reflecting back, I have always been pretty creative. I used to design clothes for my sisters Barbie Dolls during my preteen years, and by the time I reached high school, I resumed my creative path by dabbling in pencil drawing. After my interest in drawing wore off, I moved onto music. I’d lock myself in my room, listening to various R&B artists of the late 70’s early 80’s. Listening eventually turned into picking up a broom, using it as a microphone, and singing along with my favorite artists at the time.


I briefly started singing outside of my bedroom at weddings and a few other events, but let that dream go because of stage fright. I did, however, pick up songwriting as another creative outlet. That lasted a few years, until I read the book “Just As I Am,” by the late bestselling author, E. Lynn Harris. It opened my eyes up to same gender loving men of color, and he wrote so eloquently.


James Earl Hardy’s “B-Boy Blues,” is another gem that highlighted same gender loving men of color that I gravitated to. Whereas Harris wrote about a lawyer, Hardy wrote about a hip hop loving Adonis with street swag. Both authors inspired me to take a stab at writing my own novel.


The first novel I wrote was “Knights Of Deception.” I self published it on the LULU platform, and four other books followed. Three were in the “Ripped & Ready,” series, and the other is called “Dragged…” All dealt with LGBTQ themes, and I wrote all of them from 2009 – 2010.


I removed the first four novels from circulation on Friday, August 19th, 2022, as they represented the beginnings of my literary journey. There is now only one in circulation, and that is “Ripped & Ready 3.” I kept it available, as it represents my growth as a self-published writer, right down to the size of the book itself.

Through trial and error with self publishing, I managed to do what many only talk of doing, write a book — no, I wrote 5 books, and now February of 2023 has become another landmark in my writing career. My “Ripped & Ready,” story became part of the National Library Of Congress, and I’ve never felt more accomplished. I guess this makes me a certified dream chaser, and I have no plans on stopping until the higher power calls me home.


I am currently working on my 6th book, “Daddy,” and will be using everything I have learned since the time of my earlier releases.

Special Memories: In the 1980’s, a USF professor told me I had an excellent syntax, and I took that and ran with it. Then, during my brief tenure at Stanford University I had the privilege of enrolling in a writing class where I learned about themes, and what they meant in the world of writing. I guess you can say I’m a hodgepodge of knowledge when it comes to self publishing. Does this make me fearless? I suppose it does, when it comes to writing, because I just do it and try to be as transparent with my stories. Whether my ambition makes me rich, or lands me on the Bestseller list remains to be seen, but guess what, I have no intention on stopping.