It’s Not All About You: Living with a Transsexual Spouse or Partner by Elisabeth L. Morrissey

Publisher: Thursday Night Press, an imprint of DX Varos Publishing (May 23, 2023)
Category: LGBT, Self-Help, Relationships, Non-Fiction
Tour Dates May 23-June 15, 2023
ISBN: 978-1655065-870
Available in Print and ebook, 273 pages

Description It’s Not All About You by Elisabeth L. Morrissey

Your husband tells you he’s transsexual.

Do you drop him like a hot rock? Could it possibly work out? Read this book!

Includes: the transsexual process, talking to others, assessing your relationship, finding therapists, maintaining your marriage, jealousy, helping your children adjust, and more. Also, for the woman who falls in love with a transsexual.

It’s not all about him. It’s about you.

Praise It’s Not All About You by Elisabeth L. Morrissey

“Being a transgender woman, it is easy for me to forget that it isn’t all about me. It helps me to relate better with my partner when I hear from another woman’s perspective. Although there were a few uncomfortable spots I would recommend this book to anyone that is considering or is already transitioning.”- Kristy Burney, Goodreads

Interview with Elisabeth L. Morrissey

TR: Please tell us something about ‘It’s Not All About You’ that is not in the summary.  (About the book, person or scenario you particularly enjoyed writing about, etc.)

ELM: I think “The 40-year-old Teenager” was my favorite chapter. I was trying to help the partners help their spouse/partner without alienating them. They do need help to look as feminine as possible, especially in the early stages. And they can be awfully touchy about their appearance.   
I also enjoyed writing about the stand-off we had with my mother. It demonstrated that even the most disapproving people in one’s life may come around if one just stands their ground and makes clear that they can’t be bullied into submission. I hope some of the spouses and the primaries are encouraged by the story to hold firm against people who would try to demand either of them yield to keep the peace. 

TR: How much time and effort went into your research for the book?

ELM: At least a year. I know many of the people I wrote about. The ongoing research was mainly following the coverage of the marriage cases that went on across the country. I believed they were relevant because states vary in how they classify transfolk regarding their documents. That can affect who can marry whom and when.

TR: Where did you get the inspiration for your cover or did a graphic artist come up with it?  

ELM: It was a graphic artist engaged by the publisher, but I like it.

TR: Is there a case study either in the book or not in the book that you would like to share with us?

ELM: I suppose the cases I know best are myself and my wife. I shared a lot of rather intimate details about our lives (some of which made her a bit uncomfortable).

TR: If ‘It’s Not All About You’ were to become a docu-drama, what actor would you like to play yourself and a couple others, you mentioned in the book?

ELM: This is a hard question. Back when I started working on this, I would have said my wife should be played by Karen Black, because she was so good in Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and because my wife looked a lot like the actress did in the film at the time we met.                                                                                                                   

Currently, Alicia Witt comes to mind for (my) Karen’s character. For myself, maybe Amy Adams. For our friend, C.J, Jennifer Lawrence.

TR: What books are you currently reading?

ELM: I just got Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, two of my favorite authors, and can’t wait to dive into it.

TR: Is there another book to write in your future?

ELM: With all the persecution of transfolk happening in statehouses across the country, a second edition may be necessary just to update readers of the first edition on where all that legislation leaves transpeople.

TR: I am sure there are people struggling with this issue.  Do you have any advice or further reading you can suggest?

ELM: I included a pretty extensive bibliography in the book. There’s a lot of good advice in some of them for couples trying to keep their marriage together.

TR: Are there any questions that you would have liked me or another blogger to ask but didn’t? Please ask and answer.

ELM: Maybe what I think about how “trendy” being trans-something seems recently among young people. I’m not at all certain what’s driving it. I think it’ll be interesting to see, a decade from now, how many have stuck with it compared with how many settle back into the gender they were born as.

About Elisabeth L. Morrissey

Elisabeth Morrissey learned a lot as a volunteer for several years at the Gender Identity Center of Colorado, a transgender support organization, and from her twenty-five-year marriage to a male-to-female transsexual. She is otherwise a homemaker and support system for her spouse, Karen.

Website: https://www.dxvaros.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DXVaros
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elmorrissey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049203941245

Pre-order It’s Not All About You by Elisabeth L. Morrissey

Amazon
DX Varos Publishing
Barnes&Noble

Follow It’s Not All About You by Elisabeth L. Morrissey

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus  May 23 Kickoff & Interview

GudReader Goodreads May 24 Review

Linda Lu  Goodreads May 26 Review

Laura Lee Celticlady’s Reviews May 31 Guest Review & Guest Post

Tammy TTC Books and more June 1 Review & Excerpt

Mike Goodreads June 2 Review

Nora S. Storeybook Reviews June 5 Guest Review

BookGirl Amazon & Goodreads June 8 Review

Suzie My Tangled Book Skeins Reviews June 9 Review & Guest Post

Gracie Goodreads June 12 Review

Bee Book Pleasures June 13 Review & Interview

Lea Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus June 15 Guest Review