Jonathan Groff to Critics; He Hates Condoms; Vintage Gay Art

Jonathan Groff to Critics

I posted my thoughts in a review of a review about the new LGBTI show, Looking, last week and most of my readers seemed to agree with me. It's all subjective, which is important to take into consideration. But in this case what the critics of Looking who call it boring don't seem to understand is that gay men like me and thousands of others aren't sitting back anymore while only a handful get to voice their opinions.

In other words, the gay community is highly diverse and those select few in the gay community who have represented us in the past often find themselves being challenged now in ways that wouldn't have happened ten or twenty years ago. No one challenged Truman Capote because no one ever admitted to being gay back then. In this case, though small when you think about all the issues we still face, it's with the TV show Looking.

The star of Looking, Jonathan Groff, isn't sitting back either, and he's responded to a few comments about Looking that I think are highly significant with respect to many gay men and situations these gay men often find themselves in these days.

“The way that, potentially, this show is moving in the next direction, [is that] while all of the characters are gay, nobody’s sort of grappling with the fact that they’re gay,” he explained. “This show is about a group of gay men where their sexuality is kind of the least of their worries. Their problems are more their work environment or their love relationships or their friendships. Or they’re moving out of town, or you know, it’s about many other things in addition to being gay. Hopefully, its a reflection of where we’re at, which is where being gay is a huge part of who you are but it’s not the definitive thing about who you are.”

I think Looking, in a way, is a lot like Sex in the City, but with gay characters, and without the bad gay stereotypes Hollywood has been cramming down our throats since the beginning of film.

You can read the full article here, where there are vocal excerpts from the interview.

He Hates Condoms

The condom topic always creates highly charged discussion in any forum, but this article is a little different because the author, Matthew Ebert, discloses his HIV poz status in the first line.

I have always struggled with condoms. They remind me of something I hate, my HIV-positive status. My bad, you say? Nope. I just love barebacking. But I will not have anal sex without condoms. Which means I have not had intercourse in 18 years. But recently I met a younger guy who is HIV-negative, and I don't want to risk transmission, so I decided to start loving the condom and learned to stop dropping those mind bombs that kept me down on the farm.

I can't tell you how much I love this entire article.

You can read more here. It's the first thing I think I've ever read that not only gets into the reality of condom phobia but also the reality that it doesn't have to rule your life.

 Vintage Gay Art

During the ten years I owned my art gallery in New Hope I carried a number of newer artists who focused on gay art, but my favorite pieces...and those that usually sold the best...were always vintage. And this next article gets into not only gay vintage art, but magazine art.

In the 1950s, art admirers were hard-pressed to find images of gay male life adorning the walls of major galleries and museums. Instead, the beautiful work of photographers and illustrators like Bob Mizer and Tom of Finland were often exhibited within the pages of gay magazines. Diverse depictions of private male life -- particularly erotic life -- were thus made available only to the people who knew where to find it.

Knowing where to find it was an important phrase up until recently. For those gay men who were in the closet and had little access to large cities it was almost impossible to find anything even related to gay art.

You can read more here. There are also visual examples.


Photo attribution here.

Court Rules to Unmask Anon Reviewers; Brian Boitano on Coming Out

Court Rules to Unmask Anon Reviewers

When I saw this on social media in several places I figured I'd share because the topic often hits close to home with authors, publishers, and readers. Evidently, seven people gave nasty reviews with fake names on Yelp about a carpet company. The carpet company is challenging the validity of these reviews because they claim the comments made in the reviews were contrived. In order to pursue this legally the carpet company needed real names and Yelp refused to provide them. And now they are all on their way to court, which means this could set a new standard.

That position notwithstanding, the court continued, the right to speak anonymously is not an absolute one: "Defamatory speech is not entitled to constitutional protection."

You can read more here. I'm bookmarking this one to see how it turns out.

I've been predicting things like this would eventually happen because so much of what happens online is so questionable it often takes advantage of freedom of speech as we've always known it and puts innocent people at risk. I've posted before how companies I've had work for me have asked me to leave good reviews for them because their competition left nasty fake reviews with fake names in hopes of hurting their business. And judges are catching on, so I think this is just the beginning of more to come.

I also think authors and publishers will become more litigious. 

Brian Boitano on Coming Out

This is stunning, because it's so emotional to many gay men who have considered coming out. It seems Brian Boitano's coming out statement last month was not planned and he only decided to do it moments before it was announced he would be part of the Olympic delegation, at the White House.

 Boitano said his decision to say "being gay is just one part of who I am" in a statement on Dec. 19 "literally came to fruition" moments before the White House announced the makeup of the delegation. 

"I don't feel that I can represent the country without revealing this incredible side of myself," Boitano said. "This is an important moment, and to represent my country in Russia, it's a platform that is so important for me."

You can read more here.

Review: My Hero by Max Vos

Review: My Hero by Max Vos

I would normally leave this kind of short review on Amazon and Goodreads, but I'm not sure anymore about their guidelines with respect to authors reviewing other authors in their genres. Even though none of my reviews have ever been removed from Amazon, I figured I would post it here on the blog instead of taking that chance. Authors are readers, too. Authors also read other authors within the same genre all time as well. We shop for books and sometimes we like to review them. There's nothing wrong with that.

I heard about My Hero by Max Vos last week on social media, and I've read a few things by this author in the past and I've always enjoyed his work. So in full disclosure I did come to this book with a few set expectations. But I was pleasantly surprised in a different way this time.  This book seemed to have even more intimacy than past fiction I've read from the author. I love stories were fate seems to play a hidden role, and the clever way the two main characters came to know each other reminded me of past experiences I've had. I also like stories with football players who are typical jocks, and yet just a little bit different from the stereotypical jock.

The main characters, Johnny and Rich, meet up again after not seeing each other for a while.  (I also liked the fact that I could pronounce their names, remember their names, and that they had normal names.) Johnny is straight. Rich is gay. And the initial conflict begins when the two men find themselves in a situation that could be detrimental to Johnny's reputation. Johnny, however, doesn't seem as intimidated as he should be and comes off looking more interested than he probably should. This is also a quality of the story that I found highly realistic (and erotic) in the sense that these situations happen all the time and no one really knows about it. I've been listening to a similar story in real life recently, only with two middle aged men. My point is, without giving out spoilers, that it's handled well and I could relate to it as a gay man, which I like to do when I'm reading gay fiction.

The book is sexy, and the sex does what it's supposed to do: move the story forward, and help the characters grow. For me, that's as plain and simple as good erotica gets. It's emotional in some parts, and I found myself relating to the characters all over again. It's a fast read, the character development continues throughout the book, and I found a few amusing/entertaining family situations, too. And it wasn't as predictable as I thought it would be. I found myself surprised a few times when I least expected it. I would recommend this story without thinking twice, and I'll most likely go back and read this one again down the line because the characters are already so memorable.

I purchased this book at Amazon. Here's the link to the Amazon page. I still might leave the review there as a verified purchase eventually. If I do I'll give it five stars.

New Review "Feedback" Feature on Amazon I Love

I honestly don't know how to describe this completely, and I only found out about it by accident while reading reviews for scented oils I buy on Amazon for my Lampe Berger last night.

It looks as if Amazon has added another feedback feature to their review system that allows customers to comment on reviews if they don't agree with them.

In other words, I read this review for a one scented oil that I've already purchased. I didn't agree with it, and I clicked "No," that it wasn't helpful. And when I clicked "No" a box popped up with comments that read:

Please tell us why this review is not helpful (optional)

• Offensive content
• Not about the product
• Doesn't seem genuine
• Not enough information
• Other

I tried to find out more about this new feedback feature with a simple search, and couldn't come up with anything. If anyone knows more about it, or you can provide me with a link, feel free to comment or e-mail me in private. I'm curious about this as a consumer. I've purchased a lot on Amazon over the years. Most recently, besides oils for my lampe berger, I purchased fake potted shrubbery and it's the most realistic fake shrubbery I've ever owned. I live on a large expanse of property, most of which is a combination of pachysandra and Ivy and Lawn. I have a lot to do around here to maintain things, plus a full work load, and I do it all alone right now. So anything like fake shrubbery that looks real is a blessing to me. I usually put them in urns. And when I read a negative comment about these fake shrubs I wanted to balance it out with my own comments about how wonderful they are so other consumers are not mislead by one bad review that may or may not be authentic...or may have been written by a lunatic.

Are Gay Male Authors Afraid to Comment/Review Books by Women Writing Gay Fiction?

I saw a comment on social media this past week that suggested gay male authors are afraid to comment on or review gay fiction that is written by female authors. So I thought about it for a while and decided to post something about it.

I can only speak for myself. I am a gay male author writing gay fiction and I don't like being grouped into anything because as an author I work alone. It's the same reason why I don't have beta readers. I make the choices, for better or worse. No one influences me in any way. It will never happen.

First (note: not firstly...this is not up for debate either), my reading tastes are not limited to gay fiction. If you check out the books I've reviewed on goodreads (which isn't even up to date) you'll see that I read a great deal, and it can be anything from Rita Mae Brown to a spiritual books by Shirley MacClaine. I re-read authors like Toni Morrison often. I have read every single book Anne Tyler has written three times at least because of her tight writing style. I may be many things, but amateur isn't one of them.

Second, I try to buy and read books I know I'm going to like. I vet before I purchase. I read reviews, I read author blogs, and I read blurbs. I do judge books by their covers sometimes. I know I'm not going to like a book with a woman in the long flowing red dress on the cover, so I don't buy it. It's that simple for me sometimes.

Third, on the occasion I do read gay fiction (or m/m romance) I review the book according to how I feel about it. Most of the time the gay fiction I've read written by women is good and I can leave a positive review or rating (I don't always have time to leave in-depth reviews).

But I don't review a book differently because a man wrote it or a woman wrote it. I don't care what sex the author is. (I've written more than a few hetero novels with pen names and I'm gay.) You can check out my reviews on goodreads for this as well. I have left both good and bad reviews. The reason why I don't leave more bad reviews is simple. Like I said above, I try to read what I know I'm going to like. And when I do leave a bad review, which I once did for a book written by a woman who writes gay fiction, it was because of the writing, not the sex of the author. In this case the writing was so poor I gave examples about why I left that bad review.

I actually didn't like leaving that bad review. But it was honest and I wasn't AFRAID to do it...with my own name. The key word here is afraid.

So this gay male author isn't afraid to review or comment on books written by women who write gay fiction. I'm not afraid to review or comment about gay fiction written by gay men either. I've had my fair share of both good and bad reviews and I've never complained about them. And when I'm leaving a review as a reader I don't expect anyone else to complain about my reviews. And, I'm never afraid to do it.

"Murder Most Deadly 1: False Evidence" by Jon Michaelsen"

I had a chance to read "Murder Most Deadly 1: False Evidence," by m/m fiction author, Jon Michaelsen, last week. It's a m/m romance novella, with a mystery/suspense theme that revolves around the main character's infatuation with an extremely attractive young man who lives in an adjacent building. The book is set in Atlanta, where some of my favorite books of all time have been set ("Peachtree Road" by Anne Rivers Siddens).

I hate to write reviews like this because I'm always worried I'll give out a spoiler, and with a book like this, almost anything I say could ruin something for the reader. So I'll try to keep it short and ambiguous, and focus more on how I felt while I as reading the book.

When I started reading, I obviously expected a murder mystery. But it's a little tricky at first, because there's an interesting set up that involves a little harmless voyeurism, a hot young guy, and a decent young guy who seems lonely. In fact, the lonely guy almost seems to have self-esteem issues. But only he feels this way. I felt that he underestimated himself in more ways than one. And I immediately started to cheer him on as the book progressed. I like this in any book, where I start to feel emotionally invested in the character. I wanted to see him change.

And he did change. In more ways than I expected. There are some erotic scenes that are handled very well. Nothing that I would consider over-the-top, but in the same respect they were arousing...both emotionally and physically. I've been let down before, but not this time. And this is why I wound up reading the book in one sitting when I should have been doing something else.

Another reason I wound up reading it in full that night was because there was a ring of reality I don't see often enough. I have known characters like this in real life, where they get involved with someone thinking it's all going to be innocent and it winds up becoming something they never expected. I honestly can't say anything more than this because I would ruin the book for other people. But this shit happens to gay guys all the time. In fact, it almost happened to me once. And though I wish I could explain in more detail, it wouldn't be fair.

In the end, just when I started to feel there was no hope left, something interesting happened that made me feel so much better. No details because that would ruin the ending. But I will say that I'm looking forward to the sequel to find out what happens. The main character is someone I won't forget, nor will I forget his complicated situation. And that doesn't happen often to me.


The book was pubbed by Loveyoudivine.com, and here's a purchase link.


I didn't see an amazon link, but I'm sure the book will be there eventually, as well as all other retail web sites where e-books are sold.

But here's the blurb, and an explanation about how the book was revised from the original version.

What begins as a cursory glance at the high-rise apartment opposite soon becomes something much darker and far more dangerous.
For bored accountant, Kevin Mitchell, lusting after gorgeous, muscular, Tony, in the adjacent building, builds into a life changing obsession.
When Tony shows up at Kevin’s apartment, bloody and bruised, Kevin offers him instant refuge…and a place in his bed. However, all is not what it seems and the police draw a different conclusion in their hunt for a violent killer.
Will Kevin’s plea of false evidence save him from the horror of a life behind bars?

** False Evidence has been revised and extended from the original version published as Voyeur, in both eBook and the MEN print anthology by loveyoudivine Alterotica. **

Update: Here's an Amazon link.

A Nice Little Review For One of My Books

I don't post all reviews for my books on this blog. I post some, but never all. And this is because I think it's important to know where to draw the line between promotion and "asshatery" (I wish I could say "asshatery" was my own creation; I swiped it shamelessly from Janet Reid's publishing blog.)

I try to keep this blog more like my own personal journal, and while I do post some reviews I receive, I don't post all. To post all would make me an absolute asshat, and I'd be guilty of "asshatery" in the first degree. And I'd rather not bore people to death with reviews. From the feedback I receive, readers are more interested in blog posts where they can either be entertained or enlightened about something. Or they want product information about books they can't get in other places.

But I did get a nice review today for one of my older books. It was so adorable I wish I could link to it. But I'm not mentioning the review because that would be promotional "asshatery" and I'd rather post about a more current book later this week. The interesting thing is this is the first time a review actually made me smile since 2009. The reviewer kept comparing the book to different movies throughout the review, as if wondering out loud whether or not I'd based the book on these movies. At one point, I really think he wanted the book to be loosely based on a movie, and in a big way, too. He seemed to be working awfully hard at it. But he couldn't seem to nail it exactly. He made more than a few suggestions, but he was wrong every single time. He did mention he stopped thinking it was about a movie at one point. This time he was right.

But when something like this happens it makes me smile. Whether or not the book was based on a movie doesn't really matter. In this case, the book in question wasn't based on any of the movies the reviewer suggested. And I thought it was a nice review. It's just as nice to see that people are guessing about something I wrote. This is a huge compliment. I don't always plan these things, but I like it when it happens.

Young Gay Men, Choices, and Self-Esteem...

As I've already stated on this blog, AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN was sold to Alyson Publications this past month. It's official. And I'm proud, humble, and very honored. As a gay reader, I've been a fan of their books for a long time. It also leaves me to believe that they saw something in the book they liked. And for that I'm thankful.

But this post isn't about the book or the sale. It's about interpretation and social responsibility. I recently read a review of AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN by a book reviewer who refers to herself as "Book Utopia Mom." Here's the link to the review http://bookutopia.blogspot.com/2009/06/officer-and-his-gentleman-by-ryan-field.html. I've passed the review on to a number of my gay friends who've read this book, and they were both shocked and confused. Not because it wasn't a great review, but because she's so far off with respect to certain facts that still exist within the GLBT community.

Here's a quote from the review that makes no sense: "Never really believable for him to be in the situation he is, it’s hard to feel sorry for him when he doesn’t look at options."

First, you have to wonder how much explanation she needs in order to get the point. He doesn't think he has options, and that's pointed out clearly in the book. He's certainly not living this way because he likes it. At least this is what I've heard from all the gay readers who have read the book. Just the idea of "options" leaves me wondering what she's thinking. Some people don't know they have options. He doesn't have support from anyone.

The plot revolves around a good looking young gay man who is tossed out of his home when his family discovers that he's gay. He has little education, no money, and he's all alone in the world. All he has are his looks. So he finds employment and a place to live with an older gay man (who is in the closet and couldn't care less about gay rights) who takes advantage of his vulnerable situation by forcing him to walk around naked after work. There's no sex between them. I could have done that. It happens all the time with older gay men and younger gay men who need some kind of support. I've witnessed it happen, and I've always stepped in to help the younger gay man out of the situation. I actually had a friend who was brought to this country by a wealthy, older attorney. The attorney "kept" him as his lover and he became an emotional hostage. The guy didn't know he had choices. So I helped him get into school and out of his self-destructive situation, and he became a nurse in Atlanta with a thriving career. In the book, I did the same thing with the main character. Someone comes along, offers him a choice, and his life changes.

My point in the book, and in this post, is that there are young gay men who don't think they have choices. They allow themselves to be taken advantage of all the time. This is why so many of them wind up on the streets. Part of this is low self-esteem, because they still haven't learned to love themselves as gay men. And part of this is fear of living on the street. Because there's not much opportunity out there nowadays without some kind of support. And in case any of these book reviewers haven't noticed, we're not all equal yet. The GLBT community is still fighting, daily, for the same equal rights everyone else takes for granted.

I've learned to take all reviews quietly and move on. AN OFFICER... has had some great reviews and I'm thankful for them. I'm eternally thankful to my agent and publisher for helping get a book like this out. But when a book reviewer questions a fact (not to mention my experience as a gay man as compared to her experience as a straight woman), and doesn't understand that there are young gay men out there suffering from abuse who don't know they have choices, I have to say something. Because now it's not about reviewing books. It becomes a social issue that goes way beyond that. And as a gay man I simply can't sit back and allow it to happen. I want to be able to sleep at night.

I'm sure this book reviewer didn't mean anything personal (I hope anyway), and I truly do believe she wrote the review because she's not aware of certain situations that still occur in the gay community. But ignorance is not an excuse when you decide to make public statements about what I consider a sensitive topic.

If anyone is interested, especially the gay readers of this blog, you can click onto the reviewer's link above and place a comment on the reviewer's blog if you agree with me. I want all my books to be sexy, romantic love stories with a happy ending, but I also want them to be socially responsible and real. I've been writing GLBT fiction for a long time, I've been published by all the gay presses, and I've worked for free for many publications to help get the message out. I take it very seriously when someone makes light of a serious GLBT issue that's happening all the time.

I like to add that since I wrote this post I've spoken to this reviewer. She was very kind and very gracious in mentioning that her intentions were not meant to offend anyone. I believe her and don't think she meant any harm. And I think we both learned a few things.

Review for PRETTY MAN...

As it happens, I've been working on a personal interview for best gay blogs with the book reviewer, Elisa Rolle. She's been reviewing m/m erotic romances for a long time, and I've always respected her work. And, recently, while I was gathering information for the interview I'm doing with her, I came across this review about the ravenous romance publication, PRETTY MAN. I had no idea she'd written this review when I contacted her for an interview (I NEVER solicite reviews for my own work). But I'm glad I found it. And, best of all, she wrote it on my birthday.

Here's the first part, and the last sentence, of the review, verbatim. I should also add that Elisa Rolle is in beautiful Italy, and her reviews are written in English, but with a slight Italian accent. The rest of the review can be found here.

I had in the past the chance to read something by Ryan Field, and his style is like some of the other gay romance authors out there that I believe are in the field way before it became the last trend. Ryan Field is like Bobby Michaels, Gavin Atlas, Nathan James, Thom Jaymes...

A side note to the setting: with fast and nice details the author recreates the atmosphere of New York in a so good way that I almost felt like I was there with them, walking on the street or perusing the shops.

Another Review I Just Heard About...

Late last night, after American Idol of course, I checked my e-mail. In my inbox, someone had sent me a note telling me they'd run across another review for the novel, AMERICAN STAR. The review is here, and the book is here.

Review for THE MILE HIGH CLUB...

My new blogging buddy, Angel, whom I met through Ryan, just reviewed THE MILE HIGH CLUB. So I decided to post it. Check out his blog for some great music and really nice, honest posts. And, off the subject of reviews and books, I found this great blog too. It's called "Running with Blue Sponge, and I love reading the posts!!

The weird thing about The Mile High Club is that it will also be published in an upcoming anthology, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, published by the well respected Cleis Press in San Francisco. When that book is released, I'll post something.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Welcome to the Mile High Club
Today instead of ranting about my life and its problems I will instead review a short story I just read from Ryan Field called The Mile High Club. Now I have never done a review of a short story before so here I go.
Ryan Fields "Mile High Club" is exactly what the story is about. A couple who is married goes into an airport but as soon as they go into that airport they start to play a game. A game where they are complete strangers. Once they get on the airplane things start to heat up. Even leading to an extraordinary foursome that will leave your body wanting more. So go pick up Ryan Fields Mile High Club. Its free for a limited time at ravenous romance. Who knows, you may just find yourself on all fours wanting more.Later bloggers.

Thanks, Angel....