Brandon Shire

Author of Contemporary Gay Romance

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Love Me As I Am – Gay Nonfiction

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Love meLove Me As I Am is an anthology of 24 biographies and letters written by gay men as they reflect on the childhood experiences that shaped their lives. These experiences are something which many gay men can relate to. The stories share the common threads of invalidation, being overwhelmed by shame and the painful (but worthwhile) journey to self-acceptance.

All profits gained through sales of the book are donated to Diversity Role Models — a UK charity tackling homophobia through education.

From Amazon. Learn more here.

Love Me As I Am – gay men reflect on their lives from Little Red Shoes on Vimeo.

Interview with Filmmaker Michael Morgenstern

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Shabbat Dinner - Gay FilmWelcome Michael Morgenstern, Writer and Director of Shabbat Dinner, a short film about gay youth. You can see the film online. It is a pay-what-you-want with 10% of the profits going to the Ali Forney Center which combats LGBT youth homelessness. (See the trailer below.)

Brandon: I really liked your film. Tell us what motivated you to create it.

Michael: Well, I’d been working on a TV pilot for years about growing up gay in Los Angeles at age sixteen. In the nineties, it wasn’t what it’s like now. There wasn’t a world for us–everyone who was out was older. As I worked on it, I was continually re-motivated to work on the script by all the articles in 2011 newspapers about gay teen bullying and suicide. Every time I read one I was powerfully affected to do something to reach these kids.

Brandon: How hard was it to make?

Michael: Every part of making a film, even a short one, is a challenge, and we set out diligently to find actors, locations, and a crew. I looked for theater actors, reasoning it would be easier to find an established and talented actor who was successful on stage and looking to get into film than it would to find an already established film actor. I sat down with my friend Matt, who listened to the character descriptions I gave him and came up with ten actors for each character. Then I looked up all their agents and called them. About sixty to 100 calls later…no joke…we had most of our actors. [Read more…] about Interview with Filmmaker Michael Morgenstern

Interview with New LGBT Author Edward Jakab

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Edward Jakab
Welcome first time author, Edward Jakab to the blog. Since it is so close to Valentine’s Day I thought we would talk about young love, and Mr. Jakab’s first book, Fearless, is about just that.
B: Tell us about how you got started and where Fearless came from?

E: I first started writing screenplays; they were always about this guy named Jacob Moore who is based on me.  I wrote the book mainly because the story needed to be told. I just kept going back to those couple of moments in my life when everything was great with my first boyfriend, but then that took me to the time I told him about the other guy and how guilty I felt. But the other guy, he was the one. I know people say that all the time about everyone, but I truly feel he was the one, and he still is in some ways. [Read more…] about Interview with New LGBT Author Edward Jakab

A Message of Hope from Author Ross McCoubrey

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Ross McCoubrey, AuthorToday I want to introduce you to a fellow author after my own heart, Ross McCoubrey. Ross gives part of the proceeds from his debut book One Boy’s Shadow to a nonprofit LGBT Youth organization. Anyone that reads my blog, books, or social feeds knows how important that is to me.

B: One Boy’s Shadow is about coming of age and coming out but only in a small aspect, you told me it’s more of a paranormal ghost story, is that right? [Read more…] about A Message of Hope from Author Ross McCoubrey

Lessons of Love and Pain – Interview with Author Coffey Brown

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Brooklyns Journey by Coffey Brown I’m talking with Coffey Brown today, author of BrookLyn’s Journey, a YA LGBT book dealing with a young lesbian and her escape from an abusive home.

B: First, I love your pen name. It just rolls right off the tongue. How did you come up with it?

CB: I wish I had an extremely creative answer for this but I’d be lying if I gave you one. I’ve liked the name Coffey since seeing the movie Green Mile. I was going to go with Coffey B. but decided on Brown when I was completing the copyright application online. It had a cool vibe to it. Stacey Pierce, not so much. [Read more…] about Lessons of Love and Pain – Interview with Author Coffey Brown