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We share our stories and now a few of TLL’s authors are ready to share their advice. My name is Kelly Leszczynski. I’m the managing editor of TLL and one of the five advice columnists on the TLL Advice Panel . Over the years I have received many emails from readers of TLL asking for advice. I love to listen to people, but I’m not always sure on my own brand of advice. This is why I recruited four other TLL authors with different backgrounds and expertise to help me help you out.

Do you have a question you would like to ask a group of five diverse women? I bet you do! So just fill out the form below and click on the send button. It’s that easy. Once we receive your question all five panelists will review your question and give you our advice. We will tackle it all. Life, love, loss, you send it in and we’ll give you our two cents times five! All questions and answers will be posted on TLL’s main page within 5-14 days of submission. Sign up to TLL’s RSS to make sure you don’t miss any questions!

Before you send anything in I’d like you to meet the TLL Authors/Advice columnists.

The Advice Panel

Kelly Leszczynski

TLL Author Name: GoldstarDyke
Personal Blog: Brainclouds
Age: 30
Came out at age: 19

Bio: I’ve been writing about, listening to, and loving women for over two decades. I was the founder of Michigan’s now dismantled largest online lesbian community. I’m one of those out of the womb lesbians. My first crush was in kindergarten and she was in high school. Even back then I had a thing for older women, and I haven’t looked back since!!! I’ve been in a few long term relationships, but I’m currently single. I’m one of those people that likes to bring up deep conversations at the dinner table. I wear my heart on my sleeve, which of course also makes me a hopeless romantic. I feel that as long as someone follows their heart they can’t go wrong, but I’m also aware of the fine line between black and white. My specialty is listening and my advice will be from the heart.

Besides being the managing editor of The Lesbian Lifestyle you can visit Kelly’s personal blog Brainclouds or her GLBT shop at SLINC.

Tina-cious

TLL Author Name: Tina-cious
Personal blog: Tina-cious.com
Age: 35
Came out at age: 19

Bio: I’m one of those “Yeah I’m a lesbian, AND WHAT!?” – kick-down-the-closet-door types. I’m lesbian and I have no shame about it and I’ll school ya if you think you can push me back in that closet. I’m also a teenage mom all “growed up” and they are now two teenagers – one’s in college, the other’s in high school – a girl and a boy respectively. I’m also in a butch/femme marriage (or civil unionization) since January of 2007. My specialty? Lesbian parenthood/step-parenthood, lesbian bed death – I was with my ex for 12 years – and the art of seduction/playing hard to get (psh, why not!?)

Dharma Kelleher

TLL Author Name: Dharma Kelleher
Personal Blog: Dharmashanti
Age: 41
Came out at age: 26

Bio: Dharma Kelleher is the author of several articles on relationships, addiction and the dynamics of happiness. Her first book Fight the Misery Conspiracy: Reclaiming Your Right to be Happy is an entertaining and informative look at the ways we block our experience of joy and inner peace.

Currently, Dharma is working on A Sense of Community, a novel about a young lesbian in recovery from alcoholism, struggling against prejudice and her own personal demons. She lives in Phoenix, AZ with her partner of ten years.

Shanna Katz

Personal Blog: ShannaKatz.com
Age: 20s
Came Out: As bisexual; 17, as queer: 21, as a Femme: 22

Bio:I am a liberal, sex-positive, feminist, queer, agnostic, Jewish fierce Femme (say that three times fast), and am especially interested in comprehensive sexuality education, sex worker rights, expanding the scope and gaze of the sex industry, queer/feminist/trans rights and combating fatphobia.

Living with my two cats, Kinsey and Athena, I spend my time contemplating deep thoughts at local diners at the wee hours of the morning, dancing as much as I can, being a referee for the local roller derby league, and changing people’s views of the gender binary and other confining social constructions. I also have a Master’s in Human Sexuality Education, and have written a sex-positive advice column for a feminist porn site, in addition to doing workshops and presentations for a variety of groups. My hair changes color with my mood, and I’m allergic to anything that is pink. As someone that has gone through an ever developing identity within the queer community, and as someone working in the field of sexuality, I hope to give advice from both a personal and professional perspective, and hopefully encourage all of you to think twice…about everything!

Lori Hahn

TLL Author Name: lorihahn
Age: 47
Personal Blog: Hahn at Home
Came Out: In and Out since 1961

Bio: I’ve tried both sides of the fence. Not out of desire, mind you, but out of a sense of not understanding there were other choices. Where I was from, there weren’t. Once I leaped out, I’ve been dancing the big lesbian cha-cha happily ever since.

Born in Germany to mismatched teenage parents who returned to their native Iowa with me at 2, I yearned to blow that popsicle stand as soon as possible. At 17, I joined the military and haven’t looked back. After living in a bunch of fly over states, both coasts, and Germany for seven years, the dot.com boom brought me to California in 2000. You can guess what happened with that job.

I’m the proud single parent of three beautiful adopted teenagers who test both my patience and my ability to keep them in groceries and text message plans on a daily basis. Even scarier? Try starting a new relationship at my age. And, worse? I’ve grown cranky in my middle-age and find a need to speak up and advocate for a number of causes, ranging from adoption/foster advocacy to civil rights/gay rights because I’m just not going to take it anymore.

So, here I am in Sacramento. Parenting. Canoodling. Blogging. Being cranky. Dispensing my own brand of advice based on all the 10,000 blunders I’ve made in my own life. If I can help just one person when answering that personal ad that starts out, “I’m single and have a roommate–yeah, she’s my ex, but she’s totally cool with me dating,” then this will all be worthwhile.

Send us your question via the form below

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Take a look at all the Q&A’s

Do to an overwhelming response to TLL’s Q&A feature we may take a bit longer to get back with you. Please allow 5-14 days for the advice columnists to respond to your question. You will receive advice from all five TLL advice columnists as long as their schedule permits. However, if one of the columnists feels she does not have the background or experience to answer your question she may opt out.

* Please note that this advice should by no means be used as an actual diagnosis or therapy session. All of the panelists will be giving you their views from their own life experiences. If you have any further inquires please send them here.