It’s a memoir. In it, I share how I met, married and fell in love with the man of my dreams, only to find out that he self-identified as and planned on having gender reassignment surgery to become a woman. I also share what happened after I learned the truth.

I wrote it in order to share a different perspective on an oft-told story. Members of the LGBT community often write about their experiences, but we seldom hear how those experiences affected their families and friends. I wanted those people to have a voice and to let them know their stories are important, too.

Wow, what a story. We can’t imagine how tough that must have been.
“Truth Be Told: Adam Becomes Audrey” is my first book and it sums up roughly 20 years of my life. It took more than two years to write, and it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Trust me, that’s saying a lot for someone who devoted more than two decades to a career in community journalism. As a reporter, I covered more than my share of horrific and tragic events – including mutual aid response and local reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11.

You say you want to give people in a similar situation a voice, but that’s probably a small demographic. What about the rest of us?
I think it will appeal to the general public – people whose only exposure to the transgender community and related issues comes through the mainstream media.

I also think it will appeal to students and professionals specializing in gender studies.

Is everyone open-minded enough for this story?
If you like brutal honesty, stories about real people and real life, you will love my book. To date, some readers have been put off by the detailed accounts in this book, but I included those details to show that my ex-husband and I were two ordinary people living “normal” lives before I learned his secret. To me, that makes the story that much more “shocking.”

True, we can see how some readers might find that unsettling.
I’d like them to feel a little unsettled – this isn’t a topic a lot of people in the general public are intimately aware of and I don’t pull any punches. But I’d also like them to feel as if they’ve gained some insight or learned something positive that they can share with their families and friends. I’d like them to look at a headline or watch something on the news and think, “There’s another side to that story.”

Tell us a bit more about yourself. You said something about a career in journalism.
I’m a child of the New York City suburbs who was born to write. I think I first realized that while I was in elementary school and I knew I wanted to be a reporter by age 12. I got my first byline in a daily newspaper when I was 14 and essentially did a four-year apprenticeship with that newspaper while I was in high school.   My career officially began soon after I graduated from college in 1991, and in 21 years in the newspaper business, I won 10 Virginia Press Association awards and one New York Press Association award. I am currently self-employed as a freelance writer. In what little free time I have, I enjoy reading, photography and chilling with friends, family and my cat Eli.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
There are two places.  The link to my official author page is: http://sbpra.com/alexandrabogdanovic/. The link to my author page on goodreads.com is: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6828275.Alexandra_Bogdanovic.

What’s next?
In August I’ll begin the research for my second book, which will be based on my father’s life as a staunch anti-Communist and political refugee.