More on Tyler Childers Gay Love Story Video, Ryan Field Books

 More on Tyler Childers Gay Love Story Video

I don't think any marginalized group has faced more shame and been more ignored than we have as gay men. And even now, with all the changes we been through the shame is still there and millions of gay men still can't come out of the closet. 

Well, at least there are people like Tyler Childers making gay content in an industry that rarely does have gay content. And he made it with openly gay actors. 

Here's what motivated him. 

“He said he would like to have it be a gay love story, mainly because his first cousin who’s like a brother to him is gay, and he wanted him to see himself in a country music video,” House tells Rolling Stone.

Here's the rest. 

Sadly, though, it would have been nice if Childers were openly gay. Just because one has a gay relative does not mean one knows what it's like to be gay. I'm not knocking him. 

But as usual we take what we can get.

 

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 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

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Larry Luckinbill Playing Gay in "The Boys in the Band," Movie Review: "Fire Island," Ryan Field Books

 Movie Review: "Fire Island"

This won't be a long review with spoilers and a full plot description. In fact, I'll never understand why some reviewers feel the need to give readers every last detail of the plot. That's not a review. That's someone who doesn't know any better. 

In any event, Tony and I both watched the new gay male film out there titled Fire Island and we loved it. For me, it was actually thrilling to watch an all-gay production without any heteronormative influence. At times, it even reminded me of The Boys in the Band.  With films coming out like Red, White, and Royal Blue which is based on a book with gay content written by a woman author who identifies as "queer," it was a relief to finally see authentic gay content. No shade toward anyone who is a queer woman, but how on earth can a "queer" woman writer create authentic gay male content? There's no connection, other than political or equal rights issues. 

But I digress. The cultural appropriation from these women who are non-gay will continue as long as people are willing to put up with it. It won't go down well in history, but that's another post.

Back to the film. It was shot on Fire Island and it covers some serious points and a few light-hearted points. It's supposed to be a take on the romance, Pride and Prejudice, and I think the romance aspects held up well. It wasn't overdone either. There was nothing trite, frilly, or flowery about it. The romance, for me, happened just as it would happen in real life with real gay men. In short, it was all believable. As a side note, I wrote my own Gay Pride and Prejudice about 10 years ago for a publisher who is no longer in business. But I re-published the book myself, here. 

I could recommend this one to everyone interested in authentic gay content and a good gay romance. You can read more about it here on IMDb. 

I loved it. 

Larry Luckinbill playing gay in "The Boys in the Band."

I'll never forget the first time I watched the all-gay film, The Boys in the Band. Of course, the film had already been out for years by the time I saw it, but it still left a huge impact on me as a young gay teenager. I remember sneaking into my room with a small TV so I could watch the film on PBS without anyone knowing. In the late 80s, it was still hard to come out as gay and I wasn't ready. 

But I was ready to watch a movie about gay men. For me, it was thrilling and educational, and even a bit dangerous. And Larry Luckinbill became sort of a hero of mine. It was the first time I had ever seen gay men depicted this way His character showed me that not all gay men are the typical stereotypes I'd always seen. There's nothing wrong with the stereotypes, but not all of us fit into that mold. 

So I adored Larry Luckinbill, and I still do to this day. Even though he's straight, and nowadays I don't like it when straight actors do gay for pay. It's just another form of cultural appropriation. However, at the time Larry Luckinbill played gay it was actually brave. No one wanted to play a gay character, not even gay male actors. It could ruin a career. And yet Larry Luckinbill had the guts to do it. 

Luckinbill gave an interview to Palm Springs Life in 2018 that I found interesting. He also lives right here in Palm Springs. 

Mart told me he’d gone around New York trying to get people to read the play. Producers did not want to read it. Straight actors wouldn't look at it, and gay actors didn't want to do it because they were in the closet. 

Here's more. It also shows how difficult it was for gay men to get any kind of recognition back then. And frankly, with all the straight people now appropriating gay culture not all that much has changed for gay men. 

This is why it's so important for us to support projects like Fire Island. 

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The Wizard of Pride

The Straight Pride Parade

Don't Be Afraid of Virginia's Woolf




Once Upon a Castle by Ryan Field

A Different Kind of Southern Love Story




What readers are saying about "Uncertainty"

Amazon

"A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he'll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who's husband died last year. I enjoyed this story."



What readers said about "Altered Parts"
"Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina."
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Gay Fascination With Arm Pits, Straight People and Poppers, Ryan Field Books

The Gay Fascination With Arm Pits

Earlier this week someone on social media posted a joke about a good-looking guy with sexy armpits and all the straight women just cringed. Or they didn't "get" it. And these straight women were genuinely confused. Even more confused about this than they are about circuit parties. It was very entertaining. I've seen this reaction before with gay romance novels whenever a real gay man writes about gay sex and mentions armpits. 

Whether you like it or not, and whether you approve of it or not, a lot of gay men find armpits sexy. I'm sure there are some who don't, but everyone I know does. In fact, there's even a scientific term for it. 

Maschalagnia is the term used to define a sexual attraction to armpits. Believe it or not, there are many, many people in the world who like the sniff and even have sex with other people’s armpits.

Here's more. I'd bet money there are also a lot of women out there who find armpits sexy. 

Straight People and Poppers

I remember the first time I ever entered a gay bar I saw gay men on the dance floor, in the dark, sniffing something in small bottles. They would inhale it deeply, hold their breath, and then exhale. After that, they would throw their arms in the air and continue dancing. It wasn't long before I discovered they were inhaling poppers. 

This is an old article but it explains poppers and talks about how straight people know nothing about them. I think a lot of that has changed since the article was written, but not totally. 

Poppers consist of assorted alkyl nitrites, mostly isopropyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite, but in the past, when poppers were first being explored by my homo forefathers, they were mostly amyl nitrite. But no one cares what's in them, what they do is the important part.

Here's the link. In short, poppers enhance sex and I think a lot of straight people do them now, too.  

The Straight Pride Parade

What readers are saying about "Uncertainty"

Amazon

"A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he'll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who's husband died last year. I enjoyed this story."

Don't Be Afraid of Virginia's Woolf

Once Upon a Castle by Ryan Field

A Different Kind of Southern Love Story

The #MeToo Movement Goes Deeper Than Hollywood; Timothée Chalamet Made A Woody Allen Movie;Matt Damon Apologizes for Sexual Misconduct Remarks; Johnny Weir Speaks About Tonya Harding

The #MeToo Movement Goes Deeper Than Hollywood

I saw someone clueless posting on social media about how we only hear about wealthy powerful men sexually assaulting women, as if to suggest that the women encourage this predatory behavior from these wealthy powerful men. But also that these same women would not encourage guys who aren't rich and powerful. Of course that makes no sense, because sexual assault is happening everywhere. It's not exclusive to Hollywood and it's not exclusive to the rich and powerful.    

Their friend, Jozanne Marie, an immigrant from Jamaica, said she dealt with abuse from within her family for a 10-year period. She wore a shirt that read: “The shame does not belong to you.”

“This is a bigger issue, it’s all over the world. I’m glad people are talking about it right now,” she said. “I’m hopeful this movement will help remove shame. … I believe things are going to change and this is going to set us up for the next generation.”

Here's more. 

Timothée Chalamet Made A Woody Allen Movie

This has been trending everywhere. 

Timothee Chalamet is the young actor who plays a 17 year old barely legal gay character in the movie Call Me By Your Name who is having a sexual relationship with a 24 year old character...who is being played by a straight male actor in his 30s.

Woody Allen has been associated with sexual assault allegations.  This dates back to 1992. You can read about that here.  

And now Timothee Chalamet, who plays the barely legal character from Call Me By Your Name, has decided to donate all of the money he made on the Woody Allen movie to charity...

Timothée Chalamet is the latest high-profile actor to donate film earnings to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

In addition to Time’s Up, the “Call Me by Your Name” star said he will also be giving his salary from the upcoming Woody Allen film “A Rainy Day in New York” to the LGBT Center in New York and anti-sexual assault organization RAINN.

Interesting.

Chalamet is not able to answer any questions about this for legal reasons, however, he's donating this money because he doesn't want to profit from his work on the Woody Allen movie. 

You can read the full story here. 

Matt Damon Apologizes for Sexual Misconduct Remarks

Evidently, Matt Damon doesn't know or understand the definition of sexual misconduct. And now he's apologizing for things he said.

In an interview on ABC News' Popcorn With Peter Travers, the Downsizing actor said that while he finds it “wonderful” that women are speaking out against their alleged perpetrators, there is a “continuum” with respect to questionable behavior.

“There’s a difference between...patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?... We’re so energized to kind of get retribution, I think," Damon said.

You can read more about it, here.   I think he sounds sincere. And I like people who admit when they're wrong and are willing to own up to that. I think it makes a huge difference. 

Johnny Weir Speaks About Tonya Harding

We haven't seen or heard from Johnny Weir in the news lately. This is what he tweeted about Harding. 

I am so over the glamorization of a villain simply because she was born on the “wrong side of the tracks.” While her upbringing may have been tragic, athletes come from all walks of life and succeed based on merit, not assault. I won’t applaud her and I stand for Nancy.

You can read the rest, here.  It's interesting to note that I've seen more than a few who do feel sorry for Harding because of her upbringing. I'm not one of them, though.

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

Amazon

Smashwords 

Altered Parts: Limited Edition 

And here's the Amazon link. 

 Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

You Could Lose These Internet Rights; Brian Singer Fired From Queen Biopic; Two Men Tortured For Having Gay Sex; Gay Teenager Strangled

You Could Lose These Internet Rights

I've been working on the Internet since the late 90s and I've seen a lot happen. But nothing that's ever been this scary.

Net neutrality–or the idea that the internet should be free and open–is circling the drain. The FCC is planning to repeal the 2015 law that banned blocking, throttling, or fast-laning web content. But what, exactly, are the implications of doing so? 

Here's one thing that could change.

Essentially, internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T want the government to deregulate the internet so they can make more advantageous business decisions. 

I highly urge you to pay attention to this.  Frankly, though, I'm not even sure this can be avoided.


Brian Singer Fired From Queen Biopic

In pop culture news, this is turning into a huge mess. And the project itself sounds so promising.

“Bryan Singer is no longer the director of Bohemian Rhapsody," the studio said Monday in a statement.

The decision reflected an escalating clash between Singer and actor Rami Malek and was caused by the helmer being missing from the set, necessitating the Dec. 

Here's more.

Two Men Tortured For Having Gay Sex

Whenever straight people ask me why I don't care about certain issues, this is the kind of example I give them. For most LGBT people out there in other parts of the world, nothing is safe.

According to various reports, two men in Uzbekistan were arrested and tortured for having gay sex in their own home.

Police claim that the men, each in their 20s, will face three years in prison for “engaging in illegal sexual relations”.

Here's the rest. What truly worries me are the things we DON'T hear about.

Gay Teenager Strangled

Here's another example of what gay people still face. This is about a 19 year old who fell victim to anti-gay bullies in London. And I always think of London as safe. So this could happen anywhere.

A police spokesperson said: “They demanded the victim apologize for being gay which eventually the victim did as he was struggling to breathe.

There's more here.

Altered Parts

You can check this out here at Smashwords.

And here's the Amazon link. 

 Said With Care

Smashwords

Amazon

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

FREE Gay Excerpt: Stepbrothers In the Attic; Hallmark's Love On a Limb with Trevor Donovan; "The Women Who Love To Love Gay Romance" Author Oleander Plume Wins Flogger Award;

FREE Gay Excerpt: Stepbrothers In the Attic

I finally submitted Stepbrothers In the Attic to the publisher, with the cover copy. You can read more posts about this here and I'll post more when I get a release date.

Here's the cover copy, and the excerpt is below at the end of this post. This excerpt shows a little more of the intense homophobia (and shame) the characters face. 

David, Marcus, and their four children are charmed with more love than money. Their happy family is blessed with so many wonders in life they never even think about being different, and never forget to take time to be grateful for everything they have.

And then one quiet evening a regular family celebration turns into a deadly catastrophe. The family is left in a state of confusion. They are forced into making a life change that leads them to a remote mansion in New York’s Hudson River Valley, which then leaves them vulnerable to all of the gay shame, hate, and homophobia they’ve managed to avoid so far. 

When they find themselves at the mercy of a wealthy, abusive old grandmother they never knew they had, and a gay father so desperate for money and approval he’s willing to go through gay reparation therapy, the only thing that keeps them strong is their love. As the nightmare continues and they’re brought to the brink of death, there’s only one thing left to do. 

Will they be able to escape from this surreal nightmare of homophobic abuse and sexual innuendo their twisted grandmother has forced upon them? Or will they succumb to the dismal existence they’ve been forced to endure in an attic that is filled with nothing but shame?  

Hallmark's Love On a Limb with Trevor Donovan

I'm not sure what the people over at the Hallmark Channel think about being mentioned with a book that just won a Flogger Award (below post), but I think there's a cross over with these genres, and in some ways the two genres are related. In other words, the same people who might read a book like the one below...or one of my own erotic romance books for that matter...are the same who might watch a TV movie like Hallmark's Love On a Limb. The only difference between a Hallmark movie and an erotic romance is that people will admit openly to watching Love On a Limb, but they'll read an erotic romance discreetly and never mention it to anyone.

In any event, this new Hallmark movie, Love On a Limb, that's airing on October 1...this weekend...looks interesting, especially to a tree hugger like me. If you've seen any photos I post with my home on social media you'll know just how many trees I have on my own property. And I love each one of them. 

Love On A Limb is an endearing new Hallmark movie that is making its way to television this weekend. With Fall and Autumn setting in, Hallmark fans are looking forward to all of the upcoming holiday movies. Love On A Limb is about a park and recreation’s employee who chains herself to an old oak tree to keep it from being chopped down. Hallmark’s Love On A Limb is directed by Mel Damski and written by Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott. According to the Internet Movie Database, Love On A Limb, which was originally titled Seeds of Love, stars Ashley Williams as Aimie, Trevor Donovan as Kyle, Jefferson Brown as Mayor Tom Parker, and Marilu Henner as Zee.

As you can see, the entire cast looks pretty impressive. And, this film will kick off what Hallmark is promoting as "Fall Harvest." There will be a new original film every Saturday at 9 pm, and after that I believe they'll begin the holiday romances. You can check that out here. 

Here's a link to the Hallmark web site where they have a preview of Love On A Limb.


And here's the link to the excerpt, above.

The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance Author Oleander Plume Wins Flogger Award

It's nice to see that an author I took on for my own anthology, The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance, was actually part of an award winning anthology recently. When I was gathering authors for The Women Who Love to Love Gay Romance, I knew I had a damn good group of writers from the start. And I also knew they'd go on to write for more publications and do wonderful things.

I'm not part of this anthology with Riverdale Ave Books, but I think it's important to support and spread the news about anything small publishers achieve. And in this genre, this is a big award. 

From my inbox: 

 Congratulations to

"Tie Me Up, A Binding Collection of Erotic Tales"

for winning

The Best BDSM Anthology of 2016 Golden Flogger Award!

You can check out the book at the publisher's web site, or here on Amazon. According to the e-mail I received, the book will be on sale through October 31, at 50% off regular price. I think the sale is only at the publisher's web site and you have to use the coupon TMUFlogger. 

Excerpt: Stepbrothers In the Attic (There is a small spoiler alert. It's not that significant, but it's there, so you've been warned.)

           While Eric and Brad went over to Marcus so they could hug him, Jasmine turned toward their grandmother and glared at her. “I hate you, old lady, and I hope you drop dead in your sleep tonight.”

            Marcus jumped up and said, “Jasmine.”

            Eric, Brad, and Kevin stood next to the bed waiting to see what their grandmother would do.

            Their grandmother lowered her gaze to Jasmine and they locked eyes for a second. Without warning, their grandmother lifted her arm, flung it back, and then smacked Jasmine in the mouth so hard she sailed across the room and landed next to the table.

            Before any of them even had a chance to react, Brad ran over to see if Jasmine was hurt and Kevin ran up to their grandmother and kicked her in the shin. Their grandmother screamed and she kicked Kevin back so hard he wound up on the floor beside Jasmine in tears. Then the grandmother raised both arms up in and shouted at all of them. “I will not have this kind of behavior in this house. Do you understand me?”

            “Mother,” Marcus said. “Don’t hurt them. Please.”

            “Shut up, Marcus, you little faggot, you weak excuse for a human being,” she said. “You never were good for much, and you have nothing to say in this matter. You obviously can’t control your children and someone needs to do it.”

            Marcus squared his back and looked her in the eye. “Don’t touch my kids, mother. I won’t have it. I’ll leave if you ever hurt them again.”

            Their grandmother glanced at their father and laughed in his face. It was the first time Eric had seen the old hag laugh about anything. “Then leave,” their grandmother said. She stepped away from the door and gestured toward the exit. “I certainly didn’t ask you come back here to fly that silly rainbow flag over the front door, you homosexual degenerate.”

            This was the first time since their other dad died that Eric saw a sign of strength in Marcus. He grabbed Marcus’s arm and said, “Let’s go, dad. I’ll help you pack. We don’t have to stay here.” He glared at his grandmother. “That bitch is crazy.”

            Marcus stood there and said nothing. His shoulders slumped again and he turned to face the wall.

            Their grandmother laughed again and this time she glared at Eric. “Watch your vulgar mouth, young man. You’re not too old to whip. You’re not going anywhere, because you don’t have anywhere to go. And while you are in my home you will listen to what I have to say.”

            “Do something, dad,” said Brad. He sounded as if might get down on his knees and beg.

            Marcus remained silent.

            Their grandmother pursed her lips and glared at them all.  “Tell them about your therapy, Marcus, and tell them that you’ve just completed your first round and that you’re on your way to living a good, clean, decent life. Tell them you’ve found God and you are now repenting for bedding down with another man and doing unthinkable things to a man in bed. Tell them you are not a dirty little degenerate homosexual whore anymore who will do unthinkable things with men.”

            When Eric saw that Marcus wasn’t going to say anything, he faced his grandmother and sneered. “You’re a sick, evil old woman with a dirty mind. You talk about what’s good and decent and clean and you have the filthiest mind I’ve ever come across. You’re the one who needs to repent, not our father. We had a good clean life until our other father died and you know nothing about us. How dare you pass judgment on us with the excuse of your God.” Then he looked into her eyes and glared. “You might get away with whatever you want with everyone else, but you’ve met your match with me, old lady. I’m not afraid of you.”

            She looked at Eric and shrugged, as if nothing he’d said meant anything to her. She knew she had the proverbial upper hand and she seemed to enjoy it. “I don’t want to know anything about you either. You’re all nothing to me. You’re not even related to me. You’re trash. For all I know you are all nothing more than four little bastards that my son picked up off the street because no one else wanted you. So let me make this clear, young bold man with such a big mouth, so you understand me fully. Homosexuality is a punishable sin, and a sickness. I will give you everything you need to survive, but you’ll never get anything else from me. I didn’t ask for you and I don’t want you here at all. The only reason you are here is because I’m so determined to cure my son from the sin of homosexuality. No one else will ever find out you were here.”

            As his grandmother turned to leave, he saw no point in replying to her. He knew for certain now there was something intrinsically wrong with the woman and there was nothing rational he could do or say to change her. He now knew why his father had left this house a long time ago. He also saw that she’d beaten down their father to the point where he was ready to submit to anything, and he didn’t want to make it worse. Eric would figure out a way to get even with her in time. He silently made a vow that night to get her back in ways she could never dream. For the time being, he would pretend to obey her and let her think she’d won.

            

Uncertainty

New Adult Gay Romance

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