Month: May 2010

New Release: STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM AT THE PLAZA

My new stand alone, STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM AT THE PLAZA, was just released today and I wanted to post something quick. This is different from my other books. It’s not as erotic and the heat level is much lower. It is, however, probably the most romantic story I’ve written in a long time. And, another version of it was published in a romance anthology by Alyson Books a few years back. This time I added a few extra perks to the storyline and changed the style in ways I wasn’t allowed to do before because I didn’t have creative control over the final edit. I’m happy with the final project now; I hope readers are, too. Below is a blurb. I’ll post excerpts sometime next week.

Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day Weekend.

Handsome, young Kellan works too hard and doesn’t spend enough time meeting new men. Deep down, he’s an old-fashioned guy who believes in romance and true love. He’s tired of sex for the sake of sex and wonders about whether or not he’ll ever meet the man of his dreams and fall in love. Though he’s willing to put his heart on the line to start a new relationship, the men he’s been seeing aren’t interested. Until he finally comes in contact with a nice young guy he never expected to meet. They exchange a few e-mails, set up a date to meet in Central Park, and wind up spending a wonderful Sunday morning together that ends at The Plaza Hotel where they dine on strawberries and cream. After that, they discover a connection neither one of them could have predicted. And though they are extremely attracted to each other, Kellan is adamant about getting to know the man he’s falling in love with first before they jump into bed together.

Coming Out of the Closet Once Again

I’m coming out again, but this time is has nothing to do with being gay. This time I’m talking about a pen name I’ve used several times over the years.

In the anthology, LASTING LUST, I edited last year I included one of my own short stories and I used a pen name. The title of the story is “Back in the Day,” and the pen name I used is “R. Wilde.” I did this because the story is slightly different than others I’ve written with my real name, and I wanted it to stand alone.

But I’ve been getting e-mails since the book was released about this, so I’ve decided to admit it once and for all (smile). After all, it’s not like I’m admitting all my pen names.

My Huckleberry Friend

Huckleberry Friend:

A very special, good friend that’s been in your life for years, typically since youth. From the Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini song, “Moon River”, which was featured in the classic movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

There are your good friends: people who love you. And then there are your huckleberry friends: people who’ve known you for years and have stuck by you and love you no matter what.

People who follow me, have to know that I have a blogging buddy, Ryan. He blogs here, and I’ve known him now for at least five years (I lost track). I started following his blog when I was doing reviews and personal interviews for bestgayblogs.com. And once I started, I got hooked. Ryan has a blogging style that can’t be copied; he’s truly one of a kind, in that Audrey Heprun sort of way that can’t be duplicated by anyone else.

And since then, Ryan is the one blogger with whom I’ve continued the contact. I’ve seen bloggers come and go; I’ve seen blog followers come and go. For most, blogging is just a whim. They start out with high expectations, and when they realize it’s not as easy as it looks to be a great blogger, they give up and disappear. And this is fine for them. But Ryan’s always been there…and I’ve always been there to follow his latest posts.

Ryan doesn’t know this, but I’ve always thought of him as my huckleberry friend. Though we’ve never met in person, and we come in and out of each others lives so casually, we share a connection that doesn’t happen often.

Book Excerpt: ALL ABOUT YVES

Though ALL ABOUT YVES is loosely based on the old movie, “All About Eve,” the book revolves around the fashion and modeling industry instead of the theater industry, it captures many of the experiences young gay men have when they are trying to break into the modeling industry, and both the male leads in the book are gay men.

On all the e-book web sites, including amazon, there’s an excerpt from the first chapter. But I wanted to add one here on the blog that hasn’t been published anywhere. This is from a scene where Marco finally realizes that Yves is stabbing him in the back, and he’s not taking it well.
“There’s nothing laughable about a male model getting older,” Marco said. He walked up to Frazier and pointed at him. He jabbed Frazier’s chest with his finger a few times. “And while we’re talking about obsessions, I’m sick and tired of the way sweet young Yves follows me around and mimics my every move. When he’s not watching the way I walk, he’s watching how I dress and how I hold a glass. I’ve. Fucking. Had it.”

“He’s just in awe of you,” Frazier said. “How can you be so sadistic to someone so gentle and decent and kind-hearted?”
“I’ve always managed to maintain a balance between my public persona and my private persona,” Marco said. “And I intend to continue doing just that. There are certain things about my life I’m not willing to share with the public or anyone else, including some fucking little cunt named Yves.”
“For example?”
“For example: you,” Marco said. “You’re my partner, my lover, and my husband. And I’m not allowing a sneaky little climber like Yves Marisano to stick his claws into your back so easily.”
Frazier smiled and crossed to where Marco was standing. “I know this is when I’m supposed to reassure you and baby you. But you’re not a teenager, Marco. You’re almost a middle aged man.”
“Watch it Frazier,” Marco said. “I’m not joking.” He hated being called middle aged.
“And frankly I resent the fact you’d even think I’m interested in taking advantage of a nice young man like Yves,” Frazier said. “I know you’ve always had to fight hard, but I’m not going to let you stick your vicious claws into me for no reason, and I’m not going to let you stick them into poor Yves either.”
Marco took a deep breath and turned his back on Frazier. “What about his claws?” He spoke through clenched teeth.
“He doesn’t even have claws yet,” Frazier said. “He’s too young and sincere to even know how to defend himself against someone with your experience. He’s just a star struck kid who worships the ground you walk on. He’s never made an inappropriate comment or advance to me. The only thing he ever talks about is how much he admires you and the fashion empire we’ve created. The fact that we’re even arguing about this is insane.”
Marco banged his fists on the bar. He tried to lower his voice, but he was too furious to do anything but shout. “So I guess I should just ignore everything and start taking those Prozac pills everyone else takes. Let me tell you one thing…”
“Marco,” Yves said, appearing in the doorway. “I checked on the canopies and everything in the kitchen is fine.”

Voting this Tuesday: Arlen Specter/Joe Sestak

This Tuesday, for Pennsylvania residents, is voting day. And though I’m not going to get into anything political here with regards to issues, I will speak in general terms about one of my votes.

There been a vicious race for the democratic senator here, between Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak. Arlen Specter has been a republican senator for years in PA, and this past year he switched parties so he could run as a democrat instead of a republican. Now, I’m not against anyone switching parties. It’s a fee country and everyone has the right to follow whichever political party they desire. But typically, people switch parties at younger ages for personal reasons they feel deeply about. I can’t imagine switching parties myself, but to each his own.

However, in the case of Arlen Specter, I find it interesting that a life long republican would switch parties when he’s in his eighties, and without giving a viable reason (he gave general reasons, but nothing you could sink your teeth into). It leads to many questions I’m not going to go into on this blog, but these questions have influenced my vote. There’s something suspcious about it that doesn’t sit right with me and I find it impossible to even contemplate voting for Specter. Especially when there’s such a great candidate, Joe Sestak, running against Arlen Specter.

And I don’t care how many times President Obama comes out in support of Arlen Specter. If God himself came out and said he was supporting Specter and the old boys club, I’d still cast my vote for Joe Sestak. And let’s face it, Arlen Spector has been a senator for a long, long time. Voting for him, as I see it, crushes all the hope and change President Obama spoke about in his campaign (I didn’t forget that campaign slogan, oh no). And here in PA we need a little hope, and a whole lot of change. Because so far, we haven’t seen any.

A New Web Site: All Male Romance and Thanks to Tristan Davis

There’s a great new web site up and running, created by Tristan Davis. It focuses on all your favorite m/m authors, and all your favorite m/m books.

Check out the link below and see for yourself. It’s simple to navigate and it’s easy to find any author you’ve read. And, a huge thanks to Tristan Davis who came up with the idea, designed the whole site, and put so much time and effort into getting it up and running.

Review: ALL ABOUT YVES

Usually, I don’t get reviews in this soon for a book that has just been released. And this review, to me, is worth a great deal for two reasons: one, I didn’t solicite the review, and two, I’m a fan of this reviewer, Amos Lassen. When I’m shopping for something to read, I usually check out his reviews first to see what he has to say about the book I’m going to purchase. And I couldn’t be more thrilled about him reviewing ALL ABOUT YVES.

Clever Title, Clever Book, May 7, 2010
By
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) – See all my reviews
This review is from: All About Yves (Kindle Edition) Field, Ryan. “All About Yves”, Ravenous Romance, 2010. Clever Title, Clever Book Amos Lassen The title of Ryan Field’s new book, “All About Yves”, isn’t the only thing that is clever about it. Field is a good writer and he again builds characters that are well created and totally believable. He also writes excellent erotica. Marco Denny is the hero. He is a male model with an international reputation and has everything a person might want. He has money and he has been in a relationship for fifteen years. What bothers him is that time moves on and he does so with it. At 35, he is still popular and requested but he feels that as he moves into what he calls “middle age” that he may lose his popularity in a culture that is so youth oriented. One night, young Yves Marsiano, 20, appears outside of his dressing room and the time comes for Marco to face what he is so afraid of. Yves worships Marco and he is willing to do whatever it takes to please him. He gives Marco a sad story about the difficulties he has had during growing up and Marco decides to hire him as his personal assistant. Now we see that there is more to this than suspected and Yves turns out to be quite an ambitious young man. He watches Marco and notes every move and this seems to flatter Marco. When some unusual things begin to happen, Marco becomes suspicious and suddenly Marco’s world is turned inside out. His darkest fears come true and his career is about to come tumbling down. This is not a difficult story and it is something that many of us face when we realize that time marches on. Ryan Field makes this into a good read with lots of erotica. It is not a book you have to think about, just sit back and enjoy the read.

LASTING LUST: A Mostly lgbt Collection of Short Stories about Long Term Relationships and Love

Every now and then I like to revisit older books I’ve done. And LASTING LUST is probably one of my favorites. The original title for this book was “Lasting Love,” and we changed it at the last minute thinking “lust” worked better than “love.” But it’s just as much about love as it is lust, and the best part is it’s based on long term relationships, which aren’t written about very often.

And even though the book isn’t strictly lgbt, a good deal of the stories are. I even have one of my own short stories in this book, which I wrote under a well guarded pen name I rarely talk about. Below is the synopsis, which tells more.

In this empowering, romantic anthology of Lasting Love, there are carefully crafted stories by seasoned writers that offer an unforgettable experience. From the tale about a sexy young wife who conceives a lustful feast on Super Bowl Sunday for her handsome husband and his hunky, horny buddies, to the story of a tenth anniversary celebration that is as sexy as it is tender.But more than that, there are a few surprises, too. A sexually charged, thirty-three year old woman finally decides to act upon the silent love she’s been harbouring for many years for a hot young stud, a soap opera star finds lasting love in the most unconventional, unexpected way imaginable in a Brooklyn Brownstone, and a hot looking gay couple celebrate their twenty year anniversary by travelling back to the sex club where they first met twenty years earlier.This is an anthology of traditional romantic tales, separated by quirky, often outrageous stories of lovers that have lasted and endured the test of time. The women are strong and courageous and the men are hot and willing to please. It’s the perfect balance of escapism and reality, and there’s something to be learned from each character, especially in the last story titled, La petite mort.

Rant: Time Magazine, Neil Patrick Harris, and Images of Gay Men

Well, they did it again. Time Magazine, for all their liberal efforts to save the world, insulted gay men just like they did it the last time I wrote about them, here. Only this time it was with a subtle comment, in a small piece written about Neil Patrick Harris. I used to think Time did these things to spark controversy. But now I just think they’re stupid.

I’m not going after Neil Patrick Harris in this post. I like his work and I think his public image is wonderful. And he has no control over what is written about him. However, this past week he was mentioned in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people issue and the comment made about him, though nice for him, insulted the lgbt community once again. In this issue of Time, where they list 100 influential people, the comments are written by people who either know, or have worked with, the influential people listed. It’s a grand lovefest that often leaves me wondering, and it could be the reason why Time Magazine is growing thinner by the week, losing subscriptions by the day, and pissing people off by the minute.

In any event, the comment made about Neil Patrick Harris suggested that he’s such an influential man (simply because he’s gay, not because of the work he’s actually done), he’s partially responsible for changing the image about the way gay men are perceived in the world. This isn’t a direct quote. But that’s the gist of what it says.

And I’d like to know what’s wrong with the image we already have as gay men? Or, better yet, do we even need an image? Because what this comment about Neil Patrick Harris is suggesting is that there’s a negative image, obviously created by other gay men, and it’s somehow not right according to the image “they” want for us.

But more than that, what truly amazes me is that no one ever picks these little discriminatory remarks up on the mainstream. If someone made a public comment like this about any other minority in America, bombs would go off, heads would roll, and someone would be apologizing all over the talk show circuit.

For me, it’s just another reason why I’m not renewing my subscription to Time Magazine. Though I like him, I don’t need Neil Patrick Harris to set an image for me, nor do I need Time Magazine to suggest this is who I should be. Gay men (and the entire lgbt community) are all different. We’re not an image, we’re not a stereo-type, and to suggest that we should be is as insulting as so many comments we used to hear about other minorities in America.

Happy Release Day: ALL ABOUT YVES

Though this book is loosely based on the film, All About Eve, starring Bette Davis, there are drastic differences. First, the main characters are gay men. Second, it’s set in the present day and revolves around the fashion industry instead of the theater. And third, there are no actual quotes from the movie. While I was writing this I thought about all the famous lines Bette Davis used, and then decided it just wouldn’t be right to use them. So there won’t be any “fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night,” lines in the book.

And, this book is a bit tamer in the erotica department than a few of my other books. Too many sex scenes just wouldn’t have worked. They would have looked contrived and they would have ruined the relationship between all the characters. However, each scene where there is something erotic keeps the story moving forward. Below is a synopsis, and I’ll post excerpts that haven’t been published anywhere soon.

SynopsisMarco Denny has international fame as a male model, good friends, more money than he’ll ever be able to spend, and a loving fifteen year relationship with the man of his dreams. The only problem is time. Though thirty-five year old Marco is still at the top of his game, he’s crossing into middle age and he’s not sure how to handle growing older in a youth-oriented industry. When twenty-year-old Yves Marisano shows up outside his dressing room one night, Marco has no idea that all of his fears about aging are about to come true.

Handsome young Yves is shy, polite, and humble. Marco Denny is his idol and there’s nothing he won’t do to please him. When Yves tells Marco a sob story about his difficult past, Marco feels sorry for him and gives him a job as his personal assistant.

Yves is not only smarter than he looks, but also more ambitious than he’s willing to admit. While Marco is busy with his career and his life, Yves is watching Marco’s every move. Yves studies him closely, from the way he walks to the way he eats his food.

At first Marco is flattered. But after a few unusual events he starts to question Yves’ motives. And when Marco’s good friends and his life partner don’t believe there’s anything wrong with Yves, Marco’s entire world turns upside down. For the first time in his charmed life, he stands to lose everything…