Brandon Shire

Author of Contemporary Gay Romance

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Music Monday – Neil Cribbs

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Neil CribbsMusician Neil Cribbs was playing at  the Atlanta Pride Fest a few weeks ago, and I didn’t get a chance to go. So I did the next best thing, I went over to Youtube to see what the man was about. I wasn’t disappointed, and I will make it a point to see him the next time I have a free moment. If you like blues and soul as much as I do, you’ll likely love his sound. Check him out below. You can find more on his website or connect with him on Twitter. I would also like to make note of the fact that Neil does extensive volunteer work at the local children’s hospitals, bringing music and smiles whenever he enters.

Disclaimer: I usually feature LGBT artists on this blog, but I don’t know Neil’s orientation, and frankly I don’t care. I like his music.

 

The Secret is Revealed

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Heart of Timber - Brandon ShireIt appears that my beta readers are bursting with the knowledge of why Lem killed his brother.

Not to fear, the secret will be revealed to the public on Nov 15th.

If you haven’t had a chance to read Cold, you’ll want to do it before the sequel hits the shelves.  Heart of Timber picks up right where we left off in book one – Anderson’s release from prison.

 

 

Talking Southern Gothic Fiction with Michael Russell

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When it comes to the genre of Southern Gothic, readers think of Falkner, O’Connor, and Williams. But Southern Gothic fiction has come a long way since the dawn of Modernism. New List Salon Press wanted to bring the genre and the readers out of the past and into the future. Southern Gothic: New Tales of the South features over a dozen fresh stories by established and up-and-coming authors (gay and straight) who turn the genre on its head. Here’s an interview with one such author, Michael Russell. His frank portrayal of homosexuality and religion in the south will not only remind you of why Southern Gothic fiction is so revered, but also why true love conquers all.

photo credit - S.A.F.K. Photography
photo credit – S.A.F.K. Photography

Michael, your story “Long Finger from the Sky” focuses on “forbidden love.” Can you discuss how that fits into the Southern Gothic genre, and how, as a gay writer, that theme is important, or prevalent to you?

It’s a standard theme in the genre. It probably shows up in every Tennessee Williams play.  Being gay, our love is automatically forbidden, and if you look through literary history, forbidden love is a compelling theme regardless of sexual orientation. My novel First Floor on Fire has a subplot in which one character is in love with his older brother, which is about as taboo as you can get.  Southern Gothic stories are full of the human heart divided against itself. I sometimes think of the genre as being about people messing up their lives in ways we can understand.

You grew up in Arkansas, which is also the setting of your story. How does this reflect your experience of being gay and southern?

Unfortunately, I never made love in a cave during a tornado, but the story does [Read more…] about Talking Southern Gothic Fiction with Michael Russell

Rainbow Awards Finalist

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Rainbow Award FinalistI am very pleased to announce that both Afflicted and Cold have been named as finalists in the 2013 Rainbow Awards for the Erotic Romance and Contemporary Gay Romance categories, respectively.

You can see all the finalists here. (Or, like I do, you can use it as a shopping list.)

Winners in all categories will be announced December 8th, 2013. Congrats to all the authors!

 

Afflicted - best mm romance  Cold by Brandon Shire

Situational crossdressing and the LGBTQ audience

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Welcome author Shira Glassman as she discusses situational crossdressing by cisgender heterosexual characters, as viewed critically by an LGBTQ+ audience. 

 

rivka and sword-isolated
credit: Rachel Matz and Jane Dominguez

I’m bisexual; I lean gay. Whenever there was ever any hint of same-sex romance in the fiction I was exposed to while growing up, I eagerly fixated upon it. Books, movies, live theater–I vividly remember the moment in high school when I was so inspired by the idea that one could think about Holmes and Watson as a couple that I stayed up all night writing songs about them. (And this was way before the internet made slash easily accessible to young people!)

However, sometimes heterosexual fiction likes to play with us, and evoke us to titillate without ever actually giving us representation. Specifically, I’d like to address the trope of situational crossdressing.

By situational crossdressing, I mean the plot device in which a cisgender, heterosexual character is crossdressing not for the sake of their own gender expression or even for fun, but because of something like “if I dress as a man, I will be able to find employment in a traditionally male field” (which is probably the most common.) Examples of this trope are Mulan from Disney (and Chinese legend), Eowyn from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Yentl from Singer’s Yentl the Yeshiva Boy. Cisgender heterosexual women can also crossdress for other non-gender-expressive reasons, as does Leonore in Beethoven’s opera Fidelio. Her disguise gets her a job in the prison where her husband is being unjustly held for political reasons, and she winds up saving his life. [Read more…] about Situational crossdressing and the LGBTQ audience

Because Life – An Update

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To those who have come to expect more frequent postings from me, I apologize for failing to post anything of substance lately. Simply put, it’s been one of those hectic periods in which the demands of life have left little time for blogging, writing, or simply keeping fans updated.

So here we go, an update to keep you updated because I have no time to update regularly.

Book 2 of the Cold series, Heart of Timber is in its final stages.

Heart of Timber - Brandon ShireWithin the next few weeks I’ll be sending it to the beta readers, editor, and cross-checking facts with my consultants. I expect the novel to come out mid-October, but we may hold it until after GRL.

GayRomLit 2013 in Atlanta.

I won’t be there. In fact I won’t be in town at all. I had planned to meet many of the authors I talk with regularly and several fans that asked about having coffee/lunch.  This will not be possible. Pride is also a nonevent for me.

10,000 Books Sold

We are just shy of having sold 10k books. As an indie writer with no time, no Facebook page, and no marketing budget, I think this is phenomenal. Each one of those sales is directly due to the encouragement and persistence of my fans.  They have helped spread the word and have aided us in raising awareness (and $$$) for homeless LGBT kids. Thank you so much.

Works in Progress

Readers have asked me about putting a special page up for WIPs. If you’d be interested in seeing this, let me know.  The main reason I don’t have one now is that I have many WIPs in various stages. I do not know when (or if) they will come to market. Both the muse and the demands of life dictate on what gets worked on and when.

However, next year I plan to have at least one of the LGBT Sci-fi series novels available. I will be backing off on the MM Romance for a while, but the muse really wants me to work on a romance story based in Croatia. (She usually gets what she wants first.)

Fundraising for Homeless LGBT Youth

LGBT Fundraising MM RomanceTo date, fans have helped raise over $3000 for homeless kids through various programs related to my writing/books. We also have a new fundraiser going on through Razoo with a long term goal of $25K. Some have said this is an unrealistic, I don’t believe that. There are too many people who still don’t know about the plight of homeless lgbt and the fundraiser is just as much about educating them as it is about raising money. Currently, we’re just $146 short of our short-term goal of $1000. Donate.

Maybe A New Publisher?

I have discussed submitting future work to an established publisher with J. Time currently spent on other aspects of self-publishing could be better spent actually writing, and working with a publisher would free up a lot more time for me. J and I are still looking into it.

Have Questions?

If you have questions or comments the best place to ask is in our Goodreads group. If I’m not around, my  fans are always happy to engage. [Caution: They’re a feisty bunch. 🙂 ]

 

Beloved Murderer! – LGBT Film

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For the most part I abhor seeing LGBT characters only being portrayed as complete demons, doormat pacifists, or squeaky-clean goody-two-shoes. Those depictions are not what I know, or have lived. The rainbow is too complex for that. I came across this short film while researching and it struck a chord.