Synkroniciti is proud to introduce (and welcome back) the artists of our newest issue, “Intersections,” available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Welcome back writer and playwright Dr. I. Jay Asher. We featured “Jobs in Dubai,” an insightful and harrowing story about Marley, a young gay man on Fiji who is unknowingly hired into the American support forces in Afghanistan, in our “Empowered” issue. We nominated that work for a 2023 Pushcart. In “Intersections” we feature Jay’s play, “First Date,” which introduces Christine, a transgender woman, and Ralph, a blue-collar guy, as they get to know one another over dinner. The conversation is frank and open, and Jay gives both characters real personalities rather than resorting to tropes. There are vulnerable moments of awkwardness, but we don’t laugh at the characters. We perceive their attempts to find new ways of interacting and learn about their struggles to live authentically. If we could learn to be as honest with one another as Ralph and Christine, the landscape of modern society would be completely changed. Ignorance is not, in fact, bliss.
Read Jay’s illuminating play in the “Intersections” Issue of our online magazine. You can also hear Jay read as a Featured Artist at our December Soirée.
Fred Ebb and John Kander got it right when they composed the song, New York, New York. “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” Well, I made it in New York. I was vice-president of design in the fashion industry. After twenty-five years in the Big Apple, I landed in Houston, Texas.
I met six youth who wanted to start a support group for gay and lesbian adolescents. They asked me to be a facilitator. I used my marketing skills to promote the group. We went from six youth to over one hundred in less than six months. I used my people skills to get qualified adults to work with the young people. The youth, in return, gave my life a new direction. At the age of fifty-two, I registered at The University of Houston in the counseling department. I achieved a Master’s and Doctorate in family counseling. I moved to Fort Lauderdale and opened a private practice devoted to couples counseling.
In retirement, I started writing short plays, short stories, and finally novels. It’s been fun.
Follow Dr. I. Jay Asher on his website, where you can read his blog and check out his online course, Healing Sessions, for male survivors of childhood abuse.