Brandon Shire

Author of Contemporary Gay Romance

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Author Interviews

Obscura Burning – Suzanne van Rooyen

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Welcome friend and fellow author, Suzanne van Rooyen to the blog. I’ve put her to the test and asked which of her own books is her favorite and why. ~B

Suzanne van RooyenReading has always been therapeutic, like going for a brief holiday every night that leaves me feeling rejuvenated and ready to face real life. Writing has proven even more cathartic as I immerse myself in the worlds I create and become my various characters be they cyborgs or androids, androgynous angels, genetically engineered super-soldiers, or troubled bisexual boys.

I’ve written several books, only two of which are published so far, and numerous short stories. I loved writing each and every story, from novel to flash fiction, for different reasons. Being forced to pick a favourite feels horribly unfair since they’re all dear to me, but since a favourite is what this post is all about I’ll have to choose Obscura Burning. [Read more…] about Obscura Burning – Suzanne van Rooyen

UK Writers and Publishers Coming Together for LGBT Youth

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My friend and fellow author Elin Gregory and I share passions, LGBT youth and history. And while I don’t write historical fiction, she does it wonderfully. ~B.

Cupid_as_Link_Boy_by_Joshua_ReynoldsMany thanks, Brandon, for agreeing to host me on your blog.

One of the big problems for an historical novelist is how much information to dump into your text.  Whatever makes it into the final version has no business being there if it doesn’t move the story along, so sometimes hard decisions have to be made. One of the hardest decisions for me, while writing On a Lee Shore, was to cut out a lot of the text involving a very minor character – Will, the link boy. [Read more…] about UK Writers and Publishers Coming Together for LGBT Youth

The First Cut Is the Deepest: My favorite story?

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Welcome to the blog my friend and fellow author, Jack A. Urquhart.  After a little pleading Jack agreed to come by and talk to us about his favorite book, and I’m glad he did. 

Jack A Urquhart June 2013Asking a writer to identify a favorite story from their “literary” portfolio is to my mind akin to asking a parent to name their favorite child—which is why, I expect, so many authors respond by saying: “It’s whatever I’m working on.”  I confess that when Brandon Shire suggested I pen a guest post to answer that query, my initial response was the same.  However, a perusal of personal archives dating back decades pointed toward a different conclusion.  From that enterprise I learned that I had revised one story more often than any other—some twenty-three times, in fact, over the years following its initial 1992 publication.  The story is Irises, Purple Irises. [Read more…] about The First Cut Is the Deepest: My favorite story?

You might not like my writing if – by Sessha Batto

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Like most others, I have a to-be-read list about a mile long, and I can always add to it, but never quite seem to whittle it down any. Sessha Batto is an author I’ve been watching for a while and I invited her to the blog because I haven’t read her but I like her style, her content, and her unabashed quirkiness. She proved that I need to pick up one of her books (right now) with this special guest post.  ~B.

Sessha w tattooBrandon very kindly asked me to be on his blog and I instantly said yes. Then, of course, came the question – what do you want to do, an interview, and excerpt, a guest post? He admitted he hadn’t read any of my work and was interested in a guest post so he could learn more about me. So, in the spirit of revealing all about me . . .

You might not like my writing if . . . [Read more…] about You might not like my writing if – by Sessha Batto

My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Jason Gordon

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Welcome LGBT author Jay Gordon to the blog. We’re talking about his favorite book and things that go bump. 🙂

Light in the Darkness by Jay GordonMy favorite book? Easy answer: The Lord of the Flies. Sometimes. Regularly, The Master and Margarita supplants it. Except of course when I’ve recently read The Human Comedy. Of course, The Divine Comedy is actually my favorite. So long as we’re speaking of literature proper and not my great love, philosophy.

Much harder than this would be to answer the question, “Which of my own works is my favorite?” The answer to this question should be relatively straightforward, as I’ve published only one volume, the first in a series, A Light in the Darkness: Things that Go Bump. But things aren’t quite so simple.

I began my journey as a writer in private, as a method of working through my own ideas and, as you might expect if you pick up Light and have a read, demons. For a philosopher obsessed with the idea of evil, my writing became a laboratory for playing out the abstractions that teased me, concepts that slipped away when I wasn’t looking. My fiction also presented me with a laboratory for my inner psychologist: just as chemists put substances together with a catalyst to see what happened, I began to do this with characters under various forms of pressure. Pieces of myself became distinct individuals, and my inner struggles became interpersonal conflicts! [Read more…] about My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Jason Gordon

My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Rick R. Reed

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Welcome Rick R. Reed to the blog. He’s here to talk to us about which of his books is his favorite, and why.  

Rick R. Reed, AuthorWhen you begin to lose track of how many books you’ve had published, it’s really hard to say which one is your favorite. It’s like asking Mrs. O’Farrell, a staunch Irish Catholic who lived next door to us when I was growing up which of her nine children was her favorite.

“They’re all my favorites,” I imagine her replying, “Each for a different reason.”

And the same holds true for me and my books. But today I am thinking about Chaser probably because its sequel Raining Men comes out on May 31. For its humor, its insight about body image (and the gay ideal or lack thereof), and its theme of attractiveness being a highly personal and relative thing, Chaser truly is, of my own stuff, one of my favorites.

Since its publication back in August of 2012, I’ve gotten many letters from readers thanking me for introducing a romantic hero who is not the ideal. See, the object of desire/affection in my story is Kevin and Kevin’s a little overweight. The “chaser” in the title refers to the gay lingo term for men who prefer their men on the meatier side: chubby chasers. [Read more…] about My Favorite Book – LGBT Author Rick R. Reed