Hung in the Middle
Alana Nicole Sholar was born as Alan in 1961 as part of a close-knit, church-going family who lived and worked on several now-famous thoroughbred horse farms in the central region of Kentucky, the Bluegrass state.One of Alan's fondest, yet most disturbing, childhood memories is putting on his mother's clothes (as shown on the cover of Hung in the Middle) and discovering not only that it felt good, but it just seemed right. With no understanding of why it seemed right, this experience sent Alan into years of hiding how he felt from everyone --including self-denial. After all, in that place--rural central Kentucky--and at that time--1960's--this was NOT something to be talked about, let alone admitted, EVER.Alan, like most middle-class Americans, held blue-collar jobs including working on some of Kentucky's most beautiful thoroughbred horse farms, construction, over-the-road truck driver, and in a factory.A legal name change in 2005 was one of the first steps in the journey toward becoming, and accepting, Alana Nicole.Alana still lives in the small town of Versailles in central Kentucky--even after coming out by writing her book, Hung in the Middle: A Journey of Gender Discovery.  She is married, has one son, and a granddaughter.