2009-07-24

My Vampire and I Vol 2: Duet in Blood by J.P. Bowie

J.P. Bowie returns to his Vampire universe with another story where your simple next door man meets handsome and wealthy vampire.

Micah works in a West Hollywood bookstore and lives in a one bedroom apartment. He is an everyday guy with and everyday life. He was dumped from his boyfriend to be too bored and after some months of mourning he is ready to go out and try again. Like in all the worthy romance, the very first night he meets Joseph, an handsome stranger in Los Angeles for "some" business affairs. Joseph drags him in his posh suite and makes love to him till the morning after. Joseph seems insatiable and Micah as well.

They start a one week affair that is the dream of every gay man: Joseph is gentle and caring, he vows Micah and introduces him to his "friends"; but Micah feels that something is not right, and it's not their chemistry. Then Joseph leaves for a business trip and he is not come back when expected and Micah is swept aways in an unbelievable worlds of vampires and wizards, and sex and blood!

Two things are different in this new installment of the series: the book is much longer of the previous two (260 pages) and the story is a little less funny. What was a novelty in My Vampire and I and My Vampire Lover was that the usual angst image of the vampire, dark and brooding, was turned by the glittering light of West Hollywood. The chosen mate then, was an ordinary man who was more interested in the sexual braveness of his new lover than the "little" fact that he is a vampire...

Maybe since this book is longer, the vampire theme is more developed, and also the fight of good against evil. The book is a big reunion for all the characters of the previous two, and they all fight against the evil ones, not one, but two, three and more times. You have just finished to read about a fight than soon after another danger is lurking. So the sex, that as usual follows the rule of good and often, is a bit diluted.

What instead is a constant in all the books, is that the vampire character is not the high and almighty hero of the usual vampire romance, but he is more or less a man in love, with all the insecurities that follow, and the object of his love is a rather simple guy, with all the joys and pains of the ordinary man: ex cheating lover, an ordinary work, a small apartment, good friends and a family somewhere...

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=fdwqoh516229&strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=339

Amazon: My Vampire and I Vol 2: Duet in Blood
Amazon Kindle: Duet in Blood (My Vampire and I)
Paperback: 314 pages
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (July 24, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1907010890
ISBN-13: 978-1907010897

Series:
1) My Vampire and I: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/291660.html
2) My Vampire and I Vol 2

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle

My Vampire and I Vol 2: Duet in Blood by J.P. Bowie

Gay Commercial: Orbitz

Orbitz is an online travel agency devoted to gay travellers. Of the two commercial, my favorite is the first; also the second is not bad, but it's a bit... bad? Basically the two men are lying :-) Well, at least it's original, since it doesn't force the concept that since you are a gay couple, you are happier, a thing that often transpire in these commercials; a gay couple is exactly the same as a her couple, it could be perfect and happy, or it could be only a one night stand.

On a game show, a colorful door turns, revealing a man in a lavender shirt. The announcer says, "HE'S a travel editor from Miami!" The man femininely grabs his chest in mock surprise.

As door number two swings around, revealing a tall, handsome fellow with another clinging to his shoulder, the announcer says, "HE'S got a new boyfriend!" "And this is Take On Orbitz," he continues, "the game that pits other travel services against Orbitz.com." The host, game show favorite Wink Martindale (from "Tic-Tac-Dough"), walks on stage. "Today's contestants need a hotel in San Francisco with a mini-bar and gym," he says as the display behinds him lists the amenities in typical game-show fashion. The unseen audience gasps at the challenge. The couple and travel editor face off, each with a computer trying to make their vacation plans the fastest through online booking. The new boyfriend is still hanging off his beau, playfully distracting him from typing by toying with his ear and rubbing his shoulders. (The set-up is that a travel editor should be a wiz at booking, while the distracted couple should not be, but they use Orbitz.com.) The couple wins, despite the "handicap" of new love. The couple high-fives and hugs, while the travel editor is peeved at being shown up. "Orbitz makes it fast and easy to find the right gay-friendly hotel," explains the host. The new boyfriend runs over to Martindale and hugs him, to which Martindale remarks: "I like that!"

This is the third dedicated gay commercial from Orbitz, which also does gay print media advertising. The company was able to uniquely determine exactly how many gay customers they had because of a dedicated Gay Travel section, which it calls a microsite, found on the home page along with other specialized travel interests. The company says it was the first general travel site to feature a gay section. “Orbitz continues to make diversity a priority via our extensive gay travel microsite as well as in our marketing efforts and community outreach,” Mitch Truwit, president and CEO at Orbitz in Chicago, told Commercial Closet. “Gay and lesbian travelers are an important, valued audience for travel and leisure companies,” he says, noting that 10% of Orbitz's customers are gay and lesbian. “Airlines and hotels across the globe ask us how they can be featured on Orbitz's gay travel microsite because they too recognize that gay travelers are some of their best customers.” Explaining the ad concept, Truwit says, “In focus groups, Orbitz users kept telling us how much easier it is to find the right option using Orbitz. So using the classic game show format in our advertising demonstrates in a fun way.”

Commercial Closet Association

Company: Orbitz
Brand: Orbitz
Ad Title: New Boyfriend
Business Category: Travel/Tourism Bureaus
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Thailand
Region: North America
Agency: Y&R
Year: 2005
Target: Mainstream

Commercial Closet Association

Company: Orbitz
Brand: Orbitz
Ad Title: Halo
Business Category: Travel/Tourism Bureaus
Media Outlets: Television
Country: United States
Region: North America
Agency: Mullen
Year: 2007
Target: Gays

Gay Commercial: Orbitz

Gay Commercial: Gaze Film Festival Dublin 2009

elena_62 sent me this nice commercial (Thank you!), and since it's up to date and advertizes an event that will take place next week, I thought to post it today, so if there are some of my friends who are in Dublin and want to go, they know.

Gay Commercial: Gaze Film Festival Dublin 2009

My Website is again online

Sorry for the inconvenience, but the migration of my website is finally over, so all the images are now available again. BTW, I had to move the website since the old Registrar made me pay for traffic volume, and I had too much traffic and so the fee was higher. This new Registrar has no limit for traffic :-)

If you haven't notice, my website, www.elisarolle.com, is a mirror of my journal. I'm slowly, but steadily, putting all the info I post (and the reviews) also in the website, so if in the future the LJ will have trouble (really hope not), I will have finally not to worry, I have a my own backup somewhere.

My Website is again online

Farewell to E. Lynn Harris (1955 - 2009)

I just received this notice from Charles Flowers, Lambda Literary Foundation:

"Dear Friend,

With great sadness, I report that New York Times bestselling author E. Lynn Harris passed away on Thursday, July 23, while on tour for his eleventh novel.

I don't know many details yet, but it's believed it was a heart attack. I've spoken with Lisa Moore of Redbone Press and Don Weise of Alyson, both of whom knew him well, and we're all just stunned.

I worked with Lynn for over ten years as his editor and came to be his personal friend as well, so this loss strikes very close for me. Lynn had a very big heart, which he revealed in his storytelling and in his interaction with his audience. Attending a Lynn Harris reading was a family affair, and there were always flowers, tears, and loads of laughter. His novels often changed his reader's lives, and he truly was grateful for his ability to help people. I will miss him, his laughter and his big heart."

E. Lynn Harris was an openly gay African American author, most known for his depictions of African American men on the down low or in the closet.

Born in Flint, Michigan, he had homes in Houston,Texas, Atlanta, Georgia and Fayetteville, Arkansas. In his writings, Harris maintained a poignant motif, occasionally emotive, that incorporated vernacular and slang from popular culture.

Harris became the first black male cheerleader while attending the University of Arkansas. After graduation, he became a computer salesman with IBM for a time.

Harris was initially unable to land a book deal with a reputable publishing house for his first work, Invisible Life, so he self-published it through a vanity publisher and sold copies from his car trunk. Since then, five of his novels have achieved New York Times bestseller status.

Alongside fiction, Harris had also penned a personal memoir, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? (From Wikipedia)

http://www.elynnharris.com/

Bibliography
Invisible Life (1991 Self Published – 1994 Mass Marketed)
Just As I Am (1995)
And This Too Shall Pass (1997)
If This World Were Mine (1998)
Abide With Me (2000)
Not A Day Goes By (2000)
Money Can't Buy Me Love (2000)
From the Book Got to Be Real - 4 Original Love Stories by Eric Jerome Dickey, Marcus Major, E. Lynn Harris and Colin Channer
Any Way the Wind Blows (2002)
A Love of My Own (2003)
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted: A Memoir (2004)
I Say a Little Prayer: A Novel (2006)
Just Too Good to Be True (2008)

E. Lynn Harris last book is: Basketball Jones (2009): E. Lynn Harris has wowed and seduced more than three million readers with the wicked drama and undeniable heart in his novels. Now he’s back with another winner sure to top the bestseller lists—a rip-roaring tale of sex, secrets, betrayal . . . and blackmail.
Aldridge James “AJ” Richardson is living the good life. He has a gorgeous town house in always-flavorful New Orleans, plenty of frequent-flier miles from jet-setting around the country on a whim, and an MBA—but he’s never had to work a regular job. He owes it all to his longtime lover, Dray Jones. Dray Jones the rich and famous NBA star. They fell in love in college when AJ was hired to tutor Dray, a freshman on the basketball team. But Dray knew if he wanted to make it to the big time, he must juggle his public image and his private desires. Built on a deep, abiding love, their hidden relationship sustains them both, but when Dray’s teammates begin to ask insinuating questions about AJ, Dray puts their doubts to rest by marrying Judi, a beautiful and ambitious woman. Judi knows nothing about Dray’s “other life.” Or does she?
In Basketball Jones, E. Lynn Harris explores the consequences of loving someone who is forced to conform to the rules society demands its public heroes follow. Filled with nonstop twists and turns, it will keep readers riveted from the first page to the last.

Farewell to E. Lynn Harris (1955 - 2009)

Finding the Words by Terry O'Reilly

Finding the Words is a nice book since I found that the characters are real thanks to their many faults.

Ryan is a speech therapist in an University Medical Center. He is recovering from a broken heart: his younger lover (Ryan is 35 years old, Jeff is 25) for the umpteenth time cheated on him, and even if Ryan still loves him, this time he isn't willing to forgive. The strange thing is that the author manages to not give nor to Ryan or to Jeff the fault of the breakup. On his way, Jeff loves Ryan, only that he is really convinced that monogamy is not for men; even if from my point of view he is on the wrong side, it's clear that the author didn't want to make him a negative character, and after all, from what we are able to see of Jeff, he is really a nice guy. Maybe this is the reason why Ryan is not able to forget and forgive, he is really in love with Jeff and for him love means exclusivity. Again, it's strange, I'm all for Ryan's point of view, but the way he shut down Jeff in a way made me more sympathetic for Jeff than for Ryan. And then, even if with a broken heart, Ryan is more than willing to fall in love again so soon, Jeff's side of the bed is still warm! Well, lucky him that he finds so soon a good man.

Andre is a patient of the hospital; a divorced men with two grown son, at 46 years old he is just getting used to live alone again. And then the health issue that leave him with a body and speech handicap. Apparently Andre is a very nice character, he is almost cute when trying to speak again, and even if he is older than Ryan, he has to lean on the man for almost everything, and this makes him even more cute. But there is something more behind Andre, I'm not totally sure that he is a really strong man, even when he was in full body capacity. Andre was married, but he had doubt on his sexuality; maybe he was not exactly in the closet, he has never had homosexual experience, but he was curious. He even planned to met with a man when he was still married... all right, Andre's wife is not exactly the epitome of nice woman, but still, I don't know if I like so much a man that was willing to cheat on his wife. In a way, Andre is not so different from Jeff, and Ryan decided to leave Jeff.

But maybe between Ryan and Jeff there were also other problems and the cheating was only the more evident. I have the feeling that Ryan always doubted on the possibility to have a future with Jeff, deep inside him he knew that Jeff was not the one. And instead I didn't feel the same when Ryan is with Andre. True, Andre maybe is not perfect, but so is Ryan; as I said the story is interesting just for this reason.

Another strange thing is the apparently lack of sex even if the story is pretty erotic. Ryan is a very "physical" man, he has naughty thing, and he has no problem to take care of himself when he is in need. So we have a lot of solo sex scene, but in the end not even one with Ryan. Ryan's relationship with Andre is very intimate and tender, but not sexy; erotic maybe, but not naughty. All in all the story is not too dramatic, but neither light: being Andre inexperienced with men, it would have been easy for the author to put one or two sex scene with a naughty core, and instead he decided to leave the mood of the story to a more chaste level, almost familiar. In a way Ryan and Andre's love is mature and comfortable, like it's probably right for their age (more Andre than Ryan).

http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/romance/male-male-erotica/finding-the-words/prod_223.html

Buy Here

Amazon Kindle: Finding the Words

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Cover Art by Amanda Kelsey

Finding the Words by Terry O'Reilly

Cover Art by Amanda Kelsey