I've been meaning to write about Brushstrokes - Atlanta's long-running gay gift, adult, book, and Pride shop - for a while now. It's been serving the city's GLBT community out of the gay-popular Ansley Square shopping center (at 1510 Piedmont Ave. NE) since 1989, and on Thursday, March 22, the store is hosting its first ever author appearance, featuring the engaging memoir writer Totally Tyler, author of acclaimed debut memoir Your Boyfriend and Other Guys I've Kissed: The Tails of Totally Tyler.
The literary event is actually taking place at popular gay bar Mixx, which is in the same shopping complex (just across the parking lot) - Ansley Square is home to a few of Atlanta's top gay bars. This is great news for fans of GLBT literary appearances, as Atlanta's similarly esteemed Outwrite Bookstore closed last month (January 26) after 18 years in business. Brushstrokes actually comprises a pair of stores in Ansley Square (the original Brushstrokes and the saucier Brushstrokes Pleasures, which focuses on all kinds of adult items), and it's among the largest gay-oriented retail shops in the country. Items you'll find in these two shops (and you can also make purchases online) include gifts, cards, music CDs, movies, Pride items, rainbow flags, and games at the original Brushstrokes; and erotica, sex toys, condoms and lube, adult movies (for purchase and for rent), and fetish gear at the adult branch a few doors down.