Cory Booker’s Woman

I’ve posted about Newark, NJ Mayor, Cory Booker, in the past, mainly because he’s running for the US Senate right now, he’s a confirmed bachelor, he’s in his forties, and there have been insinuations that he might be gay. He’s denied these insinuations. So far, he’s absolutely not gay.

Cory Booker is also the consummate politician, he’s been preparing for much bigger things than mayor of a NJ city for most of this adult life, and I have no doubt whatsoever that he will win the senate seat this fall, and he will continue to move forward because he’s such a consummate politician.

However, it’s interesting to read a few recent incidents involving Booker, and a female stripper from the west coast who considers herself, “Stripper Model Weirdo.” It’s really all very harmless, and nothing like other sex scandals we’ve seen with other politicians. It seems this stripper woman is somewhat infatuated with Booker and Booker has been responding to her in a friendly way.

At a news conference Thursday, Booker said he communicates with people who send “kindness” his way and he doesn’t “study peoples’ profile(s).”

“That’s really what this is, is me responding to people, which I do every single day,” he said. “And frankly, finally, I just have to say, it is all about just that, is about listening to people and engaging with people no matter what their profession.

“I’ve tweeted people back from all different backgrounds,” he added. “It’s not something I pay attention to. But when somebody’s kind to me, I often say thank you.”

You can read more here. And in this article you can read some of the tweets the stripper woman sent to Booker and actually see a few photos of her. It’s as entertaining as it is creepy.

“I want @CoryBooker to plow me through the night . . . ” she wrote in one tweet first reported on the website BuzzFeed.

I guess this is even more proof that Cory Booker isn’t gay, not if he’s tweeting to a female stripper. And frankly I like Booker, and I’m glad he’s not gay. Because if he were gay, and he’s been hiding it all this time, I would lose all respect for him at this point in my life. I’ve never been one of those people who believe everyone should come out of the closet at one time, and I’ve always believed that coming out of the closet is a highly personal matter and not everyone is ready to do it. I even think it’s okay if a man or woman spends his or her entire life in the closet, quietly and without attention. I feel sorry for them, but I have empathy for them and I understand that. In my own personal life, I even support a few closeted gay men all the time.

But when it comes to politicians, and others in the public eye who are setting examples for younger gay people, I have no patience anymore for high profile liars, including politicians or anyone else who wants to promote the shame that’s always been associated with being gay, with denial of the fact. And that includes all politicians, Democrat and Republican, who try to scam us into believing it’s wrong to be gay. The lives of too many decent gay men and women have been ruined with that kind of mind set.

I know the old argument is that “it shouldn’t matter” one way or the other if a politician, or another public figure, is gay or not. And in a perfect world I would agree with that. In a hundred years, I hope this really is the case. However, right now, that’s not how it works. We are fighting too hard for equal rights. It does matter in some cases, especially if you’re in the public eye and we’re depending on honesty. Younger gay people need role models, too, and they aren’t going to get positive signals from those who continue to hide being gay based on the concept of “it shouldn’t matter.”

It matters.

Erotic Romance Book Review

I may or may not have posted about the following book review I received last spring from On Top Down Under Book Reviews for my stand alone short story, Down the Basement.  I know I have posted about Down the Basement a few times over the years, mainly because it’s always surprised me at how well that story was received. When I say I’m surprised, I’m talking more like stunned. When I wrote that story a long time ago and submitted it to a Cleis Press anthology I never thought anyone would even notice it. This is truly one of those deals in publishing where you never know what to expect. It was even part of a Lambda Award Winning book, which I posted about here.

In any event, it constantly surprises me. And this review is truly one of the most entertaining reviews for Down the Basement I’ve read so far. As a side note, I didn’t solicit this review, and I most certainly didn’t pay for it.

It’s Halloween. There’s going to be a frat house costume party and Rush has himself all ready to go – 6 inch black stiletto fuck-me heels, check, black lace-up corset, check, black, tight skirt, check again, black thong-sock, yep. Rush is tanned, terrific and ready to go to the frat house party. He’s not cruising for guys, just wanting to feel sexy all dressed up with somewhere to go.

On the way some guys scope Rush out, ‘pussy-hounds’, commenting they would like to get some of what she’s got. First test passed. Rush looks and feels like the woman she wants to be tonight.

You can read the entire review at the link above. And take the time to check out the rest of the web site while you’re there. It’s a great site, with a strong voice.

As a side note, I post about reviews sometimes, but I don’t always remember to offer this one little hint to other authors who write gay erotica or gay erotic romance. If you’re going to solicit professional online blogs or web sites where book reviews are done for free, please take the time to check out the kinds of books they review. In other words, you don’t want to submit gay erotica or gay erotic romance to this book review site because they don’t focus on gay erotica, and they know nothing about gay erotica or gay erotic romance. They’re great with mainstream romance and some lighter brands of harmless m/m romance, but their concept of what’s gay (gay culture and gay men) comes from hearsay and text books, not actual experience. Make sure you do the homework and find a book review site that fully understands gay erotica and gay erotic romance, or you might be disappointed. Same thing applies for straight erotica and erotic romance. This information is right there. All you have to do is check out what they’ve reviewed well as compared to what they haven’t enjoyed.

I will be posting a long free excerpt from the sequel to Down the Basement later today, so it’s up for the weekend.

Porch Swing Gay Erotic Romance

I’m not even sure there is such a thing as porch swing gay romance. So rather than going into a long explanation of what I consider a “porch swing” romance novel, I think this explains it well.

Though Nora Roberts’s novels are good any time of year (curled up in bed on a cold night, outside on a porch swing in the crisp fall air), summer is when I find myself reaching for her romances most often.

For me, it’s also a feeling of comfort, with a small town feel…without the billionaires, lavish settings, and elaborate backgrounds that include jets and helicopters. Only I rarely see this in any erotic romance, or even gay erotic romance. And I’ve been guilty as charged because I’ve done more than my share of billionaire themed books. We like that, too, and we like the escape billionaire romances bring to us. We can also curl up and read them on a porch swing.

But sometimes there’s nothing more comforting than curling up on a porch swing and reading a romance that’s set in a small town where everything’s quaint and perfect, and where most old homes have old porch swings themselves. And just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you can’t have that. In fact, I would be willing to bet there are more gay people now living in small quaint towns across America than ever before.

So in the next book I’m writing, the first in a western series for Ravenous Romance, I’ll be focusing on the small fictional town of Glendora, Texas. It’s the most perfect little town I’ve ever written about, where the homes are all Victorian or turn of the century craftsman style, and where everyone’s front yard is stippled with pots of flowers and perfectly round boxwoods. They have town celebrations where everyone gathers to sing and dance. They have old cars they treat with pride and love. They even have a sheriff who maintains the kind of perfect structure all small towns would like to have. And most of all, they are all having sex, especially, in some cases gay sex.

My inspiration for this came from many sources. But mainly it’s because I’ve always wanted to read a porch swing romance with erotica, and I’ve never actually found one I liked. I’m about thirty thousand words into this first book in the series, The Sheriff and the Outlaw, and I’ll be posting free excerpts very soon.