Brandon Shire

Author of Contemporary Gay Romance

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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

Taking Risks in Lesbian Fiction

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Welcome friend and fellow author, Deanna DiLorenzo, to the blog with this special guest post about writing lesbian fiction. 

Tell Me When I first wrote my novel, Tell Me, I knew it took some risks. There is a certain formula that’s followed in lesbian fiction and it goes something like this:

  • Girl meets girl
  • Girl struggles briefly with inner turmoil
  • Girl two patiently waits
  • Life-changing sex scene happens by page 40
  • Happily ever after is achieved by page 50

My numbers may be off a little but anyone who has read enough lesbian fiction knows this is the basic formula we’ve come to expect, whether we actively seek it out or not.

But what happens when someone shakes up the formula a little? What happens when characters don’t fall into line and do what’s expected of them? Well, that’s when you end up with a book like Tell Me. [Read more…] about Taking Risks in Lesbian Fiction