1. What do you write and why?
I began writing gay Erotica, beginning to write Romances to try to get published, since all my erotic stories ended in relationships, although not always conventional ones. After a LOT of rejections, I discovered erotic Romances. I have a strong pull towards the paranormal – my recently published story has a subtle hint of precognitive foreknowledge at the beginning that is revealed at the end.
Almost everything I write takes place between 1965 to 1985, making me a “historical romance writer”. Even though I lived through this is a time period, I find myself doing a lot of research. I write in that time period because it was the time of my own struggles coming out, and my own sexual blossoming. I've been in a monogamous relationship for twenty-nine years, so I have a very poor picture of the gay male scene today, while I have clear memories of my younger days.
As the product of a blue-collar family and neighborhood, I tend to focus on the struggles working class gay men had back then accepting their homosexuality; the battle that I went through from 16 to 24.
2. What do you read and why, especially if it's different from what you write?
I'm a voracious reader. I'll read the back of a cereal box if there's nothing else.
I got that way because I broke my leg in fifth grade riding my bike to Harvey Fierstein's house, and I spent a whole summer with a cast from my toe to my hip. All I could do was read.
My dad took us to the library every Saturday, but I'd have read all of my books by Wednesday, so I'd read my kid sister's books, too. I'm the only guy I know who read the entire “Sue Barton, Student Nurse” and “Nancy Drew” series.
Currently, I'm reading erotic Romances of all sorts to understand the genre better. (Contributions in e-pub welcome – I'm retired and on a limited income.)
3. What's your latest release and tell me about it:
It's my FIRST release, the novella “My Valentine Prince” in the anthology “My Sexy Valentine”. It takes place from 1975 to 1977, and is the story of a blue-collar young man with a college education battling his fears of his sexuality until one night, he wanders into a gay bar and meets the man of his wet-dreams, a sailor. After a week of passion, the sailor leaves.
James has to struggle against the “old boy network” to get a job in the field for which he studied, and ends up dating his ex-boss after he gets a promotion. On Valentine's Day 1977, he thinks he's found his Prince Charming until the sailor shows up, declaring his love just before his boyfriend does. Jim must choose: his first love, or the man he spent a year developing a relationship with.
4. What publisher(s) do you write for?
So far I've only published the one novella in the anthology with Sizzler Editions. I have a good working relationship with Sascha Illyvich, their editor for erotic Romances, who edited “My Sexy Valentine”, and I learned a lot of writing-craft from him. I hope to work with him more.
I'm still giving my erotica away for free on the NIFTY Archives. I may self-publish more polished versions of these in the near future.
5. How long have you been writing?
I wrote some professional articles for journals under my real name, as well as some self-help/advice articles for an organization's newsletter, but I began writing erotica a number of years ago out of boredom; my lover works at night.
I shared some of these with online buddies, who encouraged me to post them online. I rewrote them, trying to improve the quality and emphasizing the relationships. I hate badly written erotica.
In June of 2010, I finally started to post these stories on NIFTY, a free erotica stories website. I started getting fan-email from strangers, many writing of the vividness of the characters and the plots as well as the hot action. By July I had so many of these fans that I had to start sending out a Newsletter each time I posted a new story or a chapter to one of my three ongoing series. I got two new fan e-mails today, in fact. I have over 90 men and women on the list, and they encouraged me to write romances.
I'm an “advanced student” writer. My editor had me totally rewrite my 20,000 word story from first person POV to third person. I'd written three short stories in third person before then. HE insists it made it a better story – I almost lost my mind.
6. How do you world build?
It's my world, the one I grew up in and lived in as a younger man. I do write contemporary stories, but it's still my world I'm writing about. However, I DID joke in response to a comment on a Blog recently that I might create an alternate universe where sexually transmitted diseases didn't exist and miniature cell phones like the ones on Dick Tracey were introduced in 1960. “The best of all possible worlds.”
7. It’s the month of love and romance. What was the funniest/ greatest Valentine your Significant Other ever gave you?
Twenty-nine years is a long time together, and we don't make a big deal about Valentine's Day.
When we began dating, he did something very sweet the first night he slept at my place. (Just slept – get your minds out of the gutter!) He neatly wrote out the lyrics to the Carole King song “You've Got A Friend” in the form of a note addressed to me. I woke up to find it on the pillow. I knew then that although he wasn't “that Dream Man” I'd been searching bars for, I'd found Prince Charming. It's framed and hangs over our bed still.
8. How do you build characters and their personalities and looks?
Two ways: people I know or knew in my life, and what I call “gay archetypes”. Some of my characters are, frankly, gay cliches. Big burly hairy men who are massively endowed and smoke cigars, but have gentle souls. Weaker, shorter hairless men who control them with their powerful wills. I love hairy redheads.
I'm writing a series on NIFTY called “Jimbo and JJ” which I realized after I finished the third chapter will end up a novel, minus most of the sex scenes. This is just the prep work; the sex scenes are for fun. These men are the opposite of those cliches: 18 year old college freshman who are under 5'5” and modestly endowed, discovering they're gay and falling in love when they become roommates the fall before the Stonewall Riots. The hero is a man with body image issues. I plan introducing a wheel-chair bound wrestling coach based on a man I met on AOL, a gifted athlete who lost both legs to a hit-and-run driver while jogging. He's so positive and upbeat. I admire him greatly.
9. Tell me about some of your heroes and heroines:
So far, just heroes. James is the hero of “My Valentine Prince”; a tough young man who works harder than anyone to raise swiftly up the corporate ladder, but with a core of insecurity about his ability to find his true love. He's a slightly more macho version of me back then.
10. Are you a pantser or plotter?
I had to Google “pantser”! I'm a combination. I have a basic idea of where I'm going, and often have notes, but usually I let myself go and see where my characters take me. I've had some surprises.
But I'm fairly new to Romance fiction. As I learn more “theory”, I discover things about my stories. When I was doing my massive rewrite of “My Valentine Prince” to third person POV, I realized I had the wrong ending. I'd read a writing Blog that gave me the idea to deconstruct the story, STARTING from the new ending. I knew WHERE I wanted my hero to end up, I even had an idea of the confrontation scene that lead to it. But until I wrote those two scenes, I had no idea of how to get there from the middle. That made me realize that I had to take a nice-guy character and make him... well, one reviewer wondered what the hero saw in him in the first place. I had to make a man I liked into a bad guy, and I had to make it a gradual change.
Otherwise the ultimate decision the hero made would have seemed arbitrary instead of mature, reasoned and right.
11. What genre haven’t you tried, yet, that you would love to explore?
Mysteries with humor. I loved the Simon Kirby-Jones series by Dean Jones, and would love to do something as funny and twisted as those.
12. If you could take one of your characters out on the town, who would it be and what would you do?
It would have to be in the historical context of “My Valentine Prince”, the mid-1970's, when I drank. I only wrote one real scene for Jim's father, but I fell in love with the guy. I'd like to go to a blue-collar bar with him and get stinking drunk, trading stories. My late dad was also a sailor, but never talked to me about his days at sea. I found his diary of his first voyage when I was 16, and was titillated by his description of being taken to his first striptease show while at basic training, and a few other adventures I'd have loved to ask about.
13. Favorite naughty dessert and decadent drink.
Cheesecake. As a Brooklynite, I will commit blasphemy and state that the best cheesecake in New York is NOT from Junior's, but a small French bakery in Bay Ridge, Jean Danet.
I no longer drink alcohol, but I love a good pina-colada smoothy.
14. If we looked on your bookshelf right now, what are some of the titles we would find?
A big collection. I've lived here since 1977, and have the luxury of a spare room. Religion, social work and psychology, mysteries, science fiction, books on writing and in increasing number of Romance novels, although most of those are on my e-reader.
15. Where can we find you on the internet?
(Sample of my story and a deleted scene available there)
Sneak Peek into My Valentine Prince
Found in My Sexy Valentine Anthology
On Valentine's Day, 1977, a blue-collar college educated biker-hunk who has fought his own internalized homophobia and class prejudices to raise up the corporate ladder has to choose which of two men he loves is his Prince Charming: the one he thought he’d never see again, or the one he’d been dating for a year while building a relationship.
EXCERPT:
Twenty-three year old James Harahan wandered into his first gay bar by mistake in the spring of 1975.
Jim had dreamed nightly of sex with older, masculine guys since he was fifteen.
In his nightly dreams, the same hairy, muscular man with straight black hair, streaks of gray at the temples, confidently took Jim in his arms, and drowned him in a passionate kiss that lead to sexual delights beyond his knowledge that always ended with Jim's magnificent orgasm. But he never saw his dream-lover's face or manhood, just his hot, manly body...
He scanned the room with alcohol-addled eyes, he wanted to find his dream-man!
A new man had entered the bar: a Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy in full dress uniform.
The way he took command of the bar impressed Jim.
He began aggressively focusing only on Jim, moving smoothly towards him like a stalking hunting animal about to leap on his prey. Jim couldn't take his eyes from him, transfixed and spellbound.
The other men in the bar vanished.
"Give him two big glasses of water, and a cup of black coffee!" he barked at a bartender in a deep voice, flipping a twenty towards the bar.
Jim found one of the glasses of water miraculously in his hands. That deep commanding voice barked with humor, "Now drink your water. I prefer to have my fun with a man who's conscious."
At that implied sexual invitation, Jim began gulping his water down, to the rich laughter of the seaman. "Take it easy, sailor. No need to drown. Now, drink some coffee."
Jim wasn't about to argue with this man, obviously used to being obeyed. No, Jim would obey his orders, hopefully leading to his secret desires. Jim obediently picked up the mug, almost scalded his mouth on it, downing the atrocious black coffee. He finished the first glass of water to wash his burning mouth.
The uniformed stud held out a big, work-roughened hand, saying, "We should introduce ourselves. Max Murphy."
Jim shook his hand, clutching it after they shook. "Jim Harahan. Thanks for rescuing me, Chief. I didn't realize how bombed I'd gotten."
"You were ready to be shanghaied, Jim. Ready for some more coffee and water, handsome?"
No man had ever made a pass at Jim before. "Max, this is my first time in a gay bar. I didn't know it was one when I came in to forget my problems."
Max firmly held Jim's face. "But you stayed, Jimmy. Are you willing to talk and see what might happen?"
"I do need to sober-up before riding my Harley, so why the hell not? But I want some milk in that next cup. That coffee's shit-water."
Max gave a rich laugh which made Jim's balls ache. "You're on, buddy. Lots of water."
Jim was smashed, but noticed that while Max made sure he drank plenty of water, his interest in getting in Jim's pants caused coffee to disappear from the menu.
