Month: May 2010
Coming Out of the Closet Once Again
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
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
Review: 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.
Happy Release Day: ALL ABOUT YVES