Marquesate ~ Basic Training
From: MLR Press

Review of: Marquesate ~ Her Majesty’s Men

The Golden Age Of Gay Fiction
From: MLR Press

IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award

The Golden Age Of Gay Fiction won!

Rick R. Reed ~ Tales From The Sexual Underground From: MLR Press Released: March 5th 2010 Hey everybody…I’m just stopping by here today to share my latest release (the book kind…get your mind out of the gutter). Now, get your mind back in the gutter for Tales from the Sexual Underground, which is subtitled “Fact, Fiction, and Stranger than Fiction.” Get between the covers with me and discover some of my raunchiest and most provocative fiction and essays.

I wanted to write about people who were not just out, but out there, people who lived their sexual lives in ways most of us could only imagine…and for whom the flavor vanilla had absolutely no appeal. I interviewed porn stars, prostitutes, self-proclaimed sex pigs, and delved into bizarre sexual practices. It was eye-opening, arousing, and a lot of fun (but never, never good clean fun). I also include here my favorite dirty stories. They all explore a side of life that exists not in the twilight zone, but in my favorite destination…the sexual underground. Rick R. Reed

I start off with the following piece because I have found, to paraphrase Dorothy in the The Wizard of Oz, that when it comes to sexual gratification, there’s often no place like home.

My Perfect Date

He knows me, so he knows the best time is a quiet one. We stay in. Dinner, drinks, and of course, the last part, the best part.

He starts off casually, wearing a pair of faded Levis, a white T-shirt worn soft, bare feet, hair still damp from the shower. There’s a CD playing, soft, maybe Oscar Peterson conjuring up Gershwin from his piano. He’s got a few candles lit, but nothing scented. The air in his apartment is clean, with a trace of the soap from his shower lingering.

We sit on the couch and he makes me a drink. He already knows what I like, a dirty martini made with vodka, heavy on the dirt. We laugh about how I like things dirty, but not too much. We keep our minds out of the gutter, at least for now.

After the drinks, the music, the light fading to purple outside, we move to the dining room. Old oak pedestal table, mismatched chairs and cream pillar candles…used before. He makes a light meal, because he knows that later, we won’t want anything too heavy weighing on us. A simple salad, arugula, red onion, plum tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. There’s a chicken breast, poached in broth, lemon juice and walnuts, some rice. Strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar for dessert. A glass or two of white wine, an Alsatian Riesling.

We linger over the dinner, slow; the candles burn down. The sky outside fades from purple to navy blue, a glow to the south…city lights. We move to the bedroom, undress slowly.

He knows how to touch me. Knows where to make the pressure slippery and where to make it rough. Knows when to move slowly and when to increase the tempo and when to slow it down again…he doesn’t want things to end too quickly. He knows that my nipples are sensitive and toys with them just hard enough, so I will feel the ghost of his caress in the morning. And all the while: music, orchestrated to ebb and flow, a soundtrack to our passion. We start off with Bach, Mendelssohn, end up with Crystal Method and Prodigy. Romance to filth. And he tells me, the whole time, about past lovers, knowing it excites me as much as his touch. Like the music, he starts off slow and romantic, telling me about his first love, Ron, how they were playful, in love, existing only for each other…so young. He tells me about a particular New Year’s Eve, in a darkened bedroom in Florida, high on pot and champagne and bringing each other the most incredible gifts. But as our passion rises, so does the depravity. He moves on to orgies, nights with strangers fueled by Ecstasy, a frantic, furtive coupling with a Northwestern student in an alley by the el tracks one night in August, fucking each other sweatily while the train crackled and roared above, its human cargo oblivious. He tells me about backroom sex, the smell of poppers, leather, cum and spit in the air, groping, being groped, connecting with shadows. He tells me everything, moving faster and faster, until even his tales and touch blur and I offer up my seed; it covers my belly in viscous arcs.

And I roll over and look at him…in the mirror. He is me. He is me.

For you Canadians out there OUTtv is having a contest and one of the prizes is an MLR Press package.

Anthology ~ Esprit De Corps
From: MLR Press

Victor J. Banis
Josh Lanyon
Samantha Kane
George Seaton

Why does this sound like that pig is involved?
I can’t really review this anthology because I was sorta “involved”… but I do want to thank Laura Baumbach at MLR Press for letting me pitch this idea and contribute to helping make this book happen. I can honestly say this anthology represents some of my favorite Gay Romance Authors making magic about gay men serving in the military and I was so jazzed this actually came together and Anne Cain of course rocks the cover here. What a dream come true and simply top shelf all the way!

Merry Christmas Everyone!
I hope you like it as much as I do.

I like the idea of the ePublisher doing a general commercial of their offerings.

The Golden Age Of Gay Fiction

From: MLR Press

Wow, that was fast! Laura is quick on the updates.
The Golden Age Of Gay Fiction is now available.

Earl Kemp Magazine has an article The History of a Collection by Drewey Wayne Gunn who is the editor of this book by the way. Great inside info on MLR Press and Laura Baumbach who is one of those “straight women” we have been hearing about and also on her spare time is doing great things for Gay Literature. So yeah.

I say again: YOU SO HAVE TO GET THIS ONE!

I noticed you guys really liked seeing that old cover art so I decided maybe providing a few more classic covers to promote the subject of this wonderful textbook in which essay after essay provides rare glimpses at the real facts around the evolution of Gay Literature. Further promoting the festishizing of Gay Men and demeaning to Gay Men and focusing on Gay Sex and more sex and those Tighty Whitey covers. FOR SHAME YOU GAY FICTION WRITERS! Oh sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, because it’s common sense that sex sells and how better to make a buck than publishing about taboo subjects using relatively cheap printing technology. Welcome to the Internet, would you like a beverage with your porn?

Oh and by the way, Victor J. Banis provides his expert views in The Golden Age of Gay Fiction but there is another great article he wrote on Earl Kemp called Godfather Virgin that you can read while you wait.

Anyway, onto more reality, relevant facts about the genre and oh those classic covers…

Chef Lou Rand Hogan ~ The Gay Cookbook
From: Bell Publishing Company

Lance Lester ~ Cruising Horny Corners
From: Companion Book

Chris Davidson ~ Go Down Aaron
From: Ember Library Book

Lance Lester ~ Waco’s Boy
From: Pleasure Reader

Chris Davidson ~ Caves Of Iron
From: Green Leaf Classics

YOU SO HAVE TO GET THIS ONE!

This is a must have series of essays from some of THE experts of Classic Gay Fiction and all that but I also had to share with you what I found when I opened the book. ORIGINAL COVER PHOTOS! Hot damn! Now you get to see the type of book covers I used to peruse in the library back when I used to have to sneak over to the gay section. These are the books I used to sneak home with me to hide under the bed.

Thank you Laura and MLR Press. You guys so rock!

The saddest part is most of the early Gay Fiction Classics I am showing you here on the blog and the ones you will see in the book are not in eBook form and are in fact sorta hard to track down in paperback. I have linked you to the most logical places to pick up a reasonably priced edition if you are interested.

Gordon Merrick ~ The Lord Won’t Mind
From: Alyson

Patricia Nell Warren ~ The Front Runner
From: Bantam

Neville Jackson (AKA Gerald Glaskin) ~ No End To The Way
From: Corgi

Richard Chopping ~ The Ring
From: Bantam

Josh Lanyon ~ Man, Oh Man! Writing M/M for Kinks & Cash
From: MLR Press

Hey folks!

I am taking a break from my M/M/F review-o-rama today to attempt a review of Josh Lanyon’s infamous Man, Oh Man! Writing M/M for Kinks & Cash. I think most people have read or are at least aware of his Adrien English Mysteries which I love. BUT! I am not a professional writer so most of this book, while looking pretty dang useful to me, is probably better reviewed by someone who would seek to actually follow the advice given.

I myself thought the numerous attributed comments by glamorous members of the M/M Romance gliterati were the most fascinating part of reading this book. So I decided the best way to review this content is to simply interview Josh Lanyon and pull out some the subjects underlined by the comments he used and that I found of interest and talking a bit more about them.

Would you believe Josh actually agreed to do it? Me, that pig? Damn!
Ok, let’s go…

Josh, I wanted to know if you had things to say after having worked with many more people with intentions in writing M/M Romance?

One of the most interesting things about doing a writing book is the number of peers who view you with resentment and distrust. I’ve heard writers whine about my tyrannical views on writing and characterization, and as I say numerous times in the now legendary writing book, I’m just offering my opinion — yes, it’s the opinion of a successful and published writer who is generally viewed to know his craft, but I’ve never pretended that a) my own writing is flawless, or b) that there is only one take on this stuff. Which is why I included so many snippets and opinions from other writers, publishers, editors, and reviewers.

Predictably, M/M has grown more competitive as the numbers of writers submitting man love stories have exploded, and I’ve heard tell that some houses — Ellora’s Cave, for example — have pretty much all the backlog of m/m manuscripts they need. What does this mean? It means an aspiring writer’s work needs to be one step above the stuff everyone else is turning in. I don’t see how suggesting that writers work hard to get it all right — and offering tips on how to do that — is tyrannical, but maybe I’m missing the point.

Josh, how do you feel about the subject of authenticity? I think this also came up about the book and I feel I contributed perhaps badly to this debate since I know I continually base my reaction to a writers work on how much I can relate to the characters and situations from my own perhaps limited gay experiences. Even though we are talking about fiction here. By the way… you have every right to smack me here for saying I thought Adrien was a total fucking mess from my disagreement to his actions in the last book.

Hey, you’re entitled to your opinion! We all decide whether something is reasonable or believable based on our education and personal experience — so there are built in prejudices for all of us. And to some extent we’re all going to see things a little differently. Sometimes the choices and decisions our friends make infuriate us — even seem unbelievable. An author has to go with his gut on this one.

Authenticity in fiction — veracity in fiction — is about research, imagination, and empathy. It’s not about “being there.” Because fiction is not truth. Good fiction is not non-fiction. It is not biography or memoir or autobiography. It is fiction. And the best fiction is often written by observers rather than the people going through any given thing. The best fiction is written by the best writers. Being a woman or a man or gay or a werewolf does not automatically make you the best storyteller on the female, male, gay or werewolfian experience if only because your particular experience is only unique to you. Other women, guys, gays, and werewolfs may strongly disagree with your notions because their reality, their experience is different. That’s why I don’t pretend my writing book is the ONLY writing book or the only viable opinion. It’s the old Your Mileage May Vary.

Josh you presented two comments underlining a well known issue in M/M Romance I call Chicks With Dicks.

Sasha Knight, Samhain Publishing
I’d love to never see a submission again where one of the
men in the relationship might as well be a woman with a
penis. Men are different from women. I don’t want to read a
book marked as M/M when it seems like the author just took
a het romance and changed one of the names and the
subsequent body parts. That doesn’t work for me, or for
readers.
* * * *
Sandra Hicks, Aspen Mountain Press
I don’t care for a couple where one of the partners is
basically like a female with a penis.

Why do you think writers tend to feminize at least one of the members of a M/M romantic pairing this way?

I think two things are going on there. In one case, I think it’s bad writing, pure and simple. But in the other case, it’s coming from writers who actually do know how to write. It just happens that they like this feminized man thing — and so, it turns out, do a lot of readers. It’s the yaoi confluence. I admit, I was startled to discover that a lot of chicks just like the idea of a guy who is basically the kind of feminine heroine they can’t stand. I guess the idea that this fainting, sobbing damsel in distress has a dick makes all the difference.

And, in the defense of these writers (and readers), romance novels are not generally based on stark realism. I don’t think you can criticize someone’s taste in romantic kink, even if it makes you uncomfortable or impatient (as so much of this CWD stuff does me). It’s…fantasy. Sexual fantasy. And that’s…okay.

But at the same time…is it any wonder that male readers — have some problems with a lot of these stories? (Let alone the male writers competing for shelf space in the indie gay bookstores?)

Is it simply harder to write about a totally gender equal relationship where the participants actually have to agree and negotiate to provide particular roles?

Dick, you’ve hit on something fundamental right there because the fact of the matter is, it’s hard in heterosexual romance to create two equal but different characters. It’s one of the frequent complaints you hear from women who’ve moved from heterosexual romance to m/m romance. Just because a writer gives two characters the same plumbing equipment, doesn’t mean the writer is going to be able to pull off creating two equal partners in the romantic dynamic. For whatever reason, one partner usually suffers in the personality sweepstakes. In het romance, it’s usually the heroine. In m/m romance, it’s going to have to be one of the guys — and it’s usually achieved by turning that particular guy into a classic romance heroine. Only…hairier.

I thought this next comment was interesting for going into several known melodramatic devices used again and again in M/M Romance the Straight to Gay plot device and the Gay For You plot device.

Tara Renee, Two Lips Reviews
Melodrama for the sake of following a tried and true
formula brings the book down.

Now I find my most negative reactions when reading M/M Romance are to these two typically used tropes since they tend to bring up any phobic type stereotypes dead on. At least in my opinion.

What are your feelings about using them?

When I first discovered the m/m industry, I didn’t realize quite how vast and pervasive was the influence and inspiration of fan fiction. I think the vast majority of women working in m/m fiction started out in slash fan fiction. And in slash fiction the writer has the challenge of taking two ostensibly heterosexual male characters and making them fall in love — and trying to find a way to make that believable. So the storytelling is coming from a very different source and mindset. And in slash fiction two of the popular workarounds used to be Gay for You and Straight to Gay. In slash fiction, it was originally kind of clever because…well, how ARE you going to explain a couple of skirt-chasing dogs suddenly cooing sweet nothings to each other?

A lot of these writers bring these tropes with them when they hit original m/m fiction where the idea of suddenly waking up and deciding you’re gay — or being gay only for this one also not-really-gay guy — is not only silly, it’s offensive. (Of course, having said that, some very nice old guy in Peoria is going to write me and tell me that’s exactly the way it worked for him).

Do you think writers might be trying to over compensate for using hyper masculine male characters in an M/M Romance by keeping them attainable to women readers and as such keeping them Straight in a “Gay For You” plot device?

Photo provided by LBea.

Well, it is fantasy. The gay male characters in most of these books are about as real as those Fabio covers on historical romances. But I do think a lot of that kind of writing is just lazy and unimaginative writing. Again, a lot of these women don’t have any kind of background in gay lit. They’re coming straight from fan fiction where the writing is largely by and for women.

(*Teddypig checks his compact mirror for a moment. Well the beard is still there and adjusts his suddenly appearing skirt* Uh huh, go on.)
I’m speaking strictly in general terms, big guy. Most guys — gay or straight — don’t read romance. You check the demos and the audience is by far female. But maybe that’s because of what we’re writing out here — which is why your thoughts, as one of the rare guys openly and unashamedly reading and writing about the genre, are so influential. That and the fact that you really know how to hammer a point home. Anyway, what I was getting at is there’s a learning curve there. Or maybe there isn’t, because a lot of that stuff sells like hotcakes.

Josh you presented another comment covering what I call OK Homo.

Alex Beecroft, writer and reviewer, Author of Captain’s
Surrender and The Witch’s Boy
I personally would also like to see a bit more “realism”—a
bit more awareness that life is sometimes rough, particularly
if you’re GBLT, and that it isn’t all swooning into the arms of
some hard muscled chap who will solve all your ills with his
magic penis. (Or at least, that and the werewolf/vampire bite
which will magically mean you instantly lose a stone in
weight, never age and stay beautiful and soul-bonded
forever.)

For those just tuning in OK Homo is a mono-sexual world view in an M/M Romance where an overwhelming portion of characters interacting with the H/H are accepting of or homosexual themselves. I am surprised at the volume of stories still doing this a lot of them Contemporaries which to me seems the last place you would want to use OK Homo since it is not reality based at all.

Why do you think this is so often used?

I really don’t know why Alex has such a thing against being ageless and soul-bonded forever. That’s the way it works in Chez Lanyon! Seriously, do we give heterosexual romance writers a hard time for those stories about dukes sweeping little shop girls off their Prada-clad feet and paying off their credit card bills? It’s romantic fantasy, and that’s about as deep as a large percentage of readers and writers want to go. That’s part of it. Another part of it is a lot of these writers aren’t particularly imaginative or skilled. (There it is, the Voice of Tyranny) But one piece of it is maybe something very different. Maybe some of these writers feel like it might be…not their place? Presumptuous to try and write realistically about the gay experience when obviously they haven’t experienced it.

Do you think that the writers might be somehow frightened of trying to portray the gay experience with homophobia?

I’m not sure what you mean by “frightened” exactly?

Oh Sorry, just call me the Joe Biden of word choice. So much for my working for Inside The Actors Studio!
Ok “uncomfortable”… is that better?

Hey, I think old Joe just said out loud what a lot of people are thinking! So I think I sort of touched on this above, but yes. I think that might be a part of that feeling that it’s not their place — and also, sometimes, I think they’re taking the view that this is how the world should be, and to show it this way might help…convince others? I don’t know how logical an approach that would be, but then logic doesn’t usually play a huge part in these novels.

I want to personally thank Josh Lanyon these were not what I consider to be easy questions. Several M/M Romance writers have said this is a great resource for them so Grade A.