Welcome author Dick O’Connnor to the blog.
Brandon: Poking around your social sites I noted that you’re gritty and raw, just like real life. I like that. Tell us a little something about yourself that we won’t find online.
Dick: I am a former model (I got too old and the binge drinking was hell on my abs) and a wannabe socialite. I’m originally from a desert cow town in Southern California and got into the gay club scene when I was eighteen once my best friend spotted my innocence in a club and took me under his wing, boozed me up, and taught me how to detach emotion from sex. Overall I’m a neo-Libertine.
B: Where did Stiff come from and what motivated you to write it?
D: STIFF: Memoirs of a Dick is my attempt to recount the stories to the best of my blacked-out memories in college; unfortunately, alcohol can make things a little hazy. If it didn’t happen the way I remember then it damn well should have.
I was motivated to publish my story because I want to preserve the memories for when I am senile – kind of like The Notebook but less lame. I’m sure many gay guys have comparable experiences and can identify and share a laugh. I love retelling my adventures to others, and while high-jacking a conversation over drinks at parties or in bars is fun, it gets laborious. So I figured I’d compile all my drunken, whoring stories into one piece while getting paid for it. Hopefully this will cover my bar tabs now and sponsor more stories to come. Circle of life.B: From what you’re telling us, Stiff sounds like a raw, hot tale of debauchery. It’s on my bookshelf, and I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Is that an apt description?
D: Whether raw or lubricated, that description sounds about right. I had mostly hoped to tell the story of my evolution, but the sex pieces kept popping up. So if people view Stiff as soft core porn but with a few more pages of script… then so be it. I pocketed the royalties anyway :).
B: I’ve noticed some readers who lean toward the M/M side of things tend to get a little squeamish about male sex, maybe because they are looking for more of the romantic leanings of a book. Have you encountered that with Stiff?
D: Oh, romance… [tweet_dis]My rule of thumb: if the cuddling is the better part, you’re doing the sex part wrong.[/tweet_dis] Thus, I think readers who have high hopes for romance in a book that alludes to a phallus in its very title are in store for a surprise. Nobody has spoken out against my explicit sex stories yet, but it has labeled me an “erotic author” – which I think can pigeon hole me. Yes, I talk about unabashed gay sex, but there is so much more to my stories past a money shot.
B: What’s coming up next for you?
D: I have a FREE short story out now in e-format entitled Blame It on the Hormones (JMS Books) which is the story of my first date gone comically wrong.
And I have a short story coming out in paperback entitled All Things in Time included in Latin Lovers (STARBooks Press) which is the story of a date gone horribly right. It picks up where Stiff left off with the story of “Melman,” the beautiful “straight” man with the ugly name.
I am also dotting the T’s and crossing the I’s on my sequel to Stiff. So be on the lookout for more Dick!
B: And there you have it. LOL. You can find Dick on his website and on Twitter. And, you can find his books on All Romance eBooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookstrand, JMS Books, Rainbow eBooks, and Smashwords.