Genevieve Rheams
About Genevieve
Genevieve Rheams writes LGTBQ+ romance, comedy, literature, and personal essays. She received her MFA in Fiction from the University of New Orleans, teaches fiction writing workshops, and is an Academic Advisor at Loyola University. You can find her telling stories onstage at her local chapter of The Moth or Greetings, From Queer Mountain. She delights in having conversations with her three adult children and going for absurdly long walks. She lives with her wife in her hometown of New Orleans with their two cats and a dog. As you read this, she is most likely out of coffee and litter.
For more information and stories you can find her at https://www.genevieverheams.com/
Genevieve Rheams writes LGTBQ+ romance, comedy, literature, and personal essays. She received her MFA in Fiction from the University of New Orleans, teaches fiction writing workshops, and is an Academic Advisor at Loyola University. You can find her telling stories onstage at her local chapter of The Moth or Greetings, From Queer Mountain. She delights in having conversations with her three adult children and going for absurdly long walks. She lives with her wife in her hometown of New Orleans with their two cats and a dog. As you read this, she is most likely out of coffee and litter.
For more information and stories you can find her at https://www.genevieverheams.com/
Love Blooms Where Courage is Planted
We Will Plant Birds of Paradise by Genevieve Rheams is a poignant and uplifting journey of love, family, and self-acceptance that spans generations.
The story opens in 1995, with 15-year-old Jess witnessing a moment that will define her future—a grandmother’s regret, a mother’s judgment, and an estranged aunt’s resilience. Fast forward to 2014, Jess is now a single mom working for her beloved Aunt Louanne and Louanne’s wife, Vivienne. As Jess navigates her divorce and newfound love for her neighbor, Pam, she grapples with the legacy of familial rejection and the courage it takes to live authentically.
This beautifully woven tale explores the rippling effects of homophobia, the complexities of parenting, and the transformative power of love. From the delicate beginnings of Jess and Pam’s romance to the vibrant celebration of marriage equality, We Will Plant Birds of Paradise celebrates the strength it takes to heal wounds across generations and create a chosen family.
Set against the backdrop of historic moments, this novel crescendos into a heartwarming conclusion, where love triumphs, acceptance blooms, and Jess finds herself surrounded by a family reshaped by bravery and understanding. Genevieve Rheams delivers a moving portrait of what it means to sow seeds of love and watch them flourish into a paradise of hope and joy.
Praise for Leaving Home at 83
“It’s a ‘zine! It’s a movie! It’s a sit-com! Actually, it’s an intimate glimpse into Sandra Butler’s personal journal as an 83-year-old queer Jewish feminist activist leaving her Bay Area home to live close to her daughters in the Red State of Arizona. The ensemble of characters at Desert Manor are hilarious, jaw-clenching, at times worthy of a Jack Russell Terrier head tilt. ‘Caught between not wanting to be a burden and wanting to be taken care of,’ Butler’s writing is tender, funny and unequivocally relatable.”
—Karen Lee Erlichman, LCSW is a psychotherapist, spiritual director, writer and mentor
“Butler’s irreverent account of pulling up roots and attempting to replant them in unfamiliar soil illuminates some of the inevitable truths of our old and getting older lives. She invites the reader to accompany her as she enters her new life with the unforgettable characters of Desert Manor. What was lost and what is eventually found is at the heart of her remarkable story. Reading her words is like sitting in a café with a witty and wise friend and savoring the openhearted truth-telling that comes from years of intimacy.”
—Naomi Newman, actor, director, playwright, co-founder of A Traveling Jewish Theater
“Sandra Butler is an extraordinary storyteller. Accompanying her as she leaves home to live near her daughters, I was swept into the unexpected complexity of this late-life transition, one she navigates with humor and hard-won self-awareness.”
—Terry Greenblatt, women’s peace and justice activist, Senior Advisor, Plowshares
“Sandra Butler addresses the unspoken realities of women’s lives with curiosity, intelligence, and an insistence on honoring these still concealed truths. Now, she has written Leaving Home at 83, chronicling a precipitous change in her life. With her keen intellect, her honesty and humor, she chronicles the losses, challenges, and freedoms of leaving home. Butler is a trustworthy guide, and I am grateful for her well-earned wisdom.”
—Jan Holmgren, president emerita, Mills College
$18.95