Holding And Hiding by Pepper Espinoza

Quarterback Sneak by Pepper Espinoza

Pepper Espinoza loves the unlikely lovers who win over everything. And she loves romance. This last book is a very nice novella, about two football quarterback in love; but it's not one of that story where love suddenly strikes and the two lovers can't do nothing if not surrender, it's the story of two childhood best friend grew together with a common passion, football, but this very passion drew them apart, first in different college and then in different teams. Despite the distance and the need to be discreet, Eric and Cache managed to build a steady relationship, lived inside the wall of their home, far from the eyes of everyone else, family, friends, fellow players and fans.

Eric played football to prove to his father that he was worthy, that he was the best; football for him was not his first choice of career, but he did good, and his father was happy. And after his father he played football for Cache, to have something more that bounded him to the man he loves. Eric is loyal and clever, but he has not a deep love for the game, he would be glad to throw all away to be able to claim his love for Cache, but he played accordingly to the unspoken rule that all football players are straight only to please Cache.

Cache played football since he thought it was the only thing he could do well. His father was a football player, and he always supported his son; probably he would supported him even if he came out, but Cache never did. When Eric almost forced him in a relationship, and not his first experience with a man, he was more worried on having a long-term relationship since it was easier to be discovered. Cache loves Eric, but he loves also football, and since no one asked him to choose, he thinks to can have both. But when his career is on stake for a bad injury and his relationship with Eric lands on the first page of newspaper, Cache has to choose what he loves more, football or Eric.

I like the story, it is a parallel tale of both Eric and Cache's life as young man at the beginning of their career and as two well-known professionals. Without the story of them at the beginning of their relationship, maybe the reader would only side with Eric, and blame Cache for being a coward. But with the tiny insight on their life together, and seeing him also through Eric's eyes, we now that Cache is a good man and that he was and he is good for Eric. The story is both tender and sexy, a very good mix of romance and erotica.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/QuarterbackSneak.html

Amazon Kindle: Quarterback Sneak

Making Waves by Pepper Espinoza

The story is not very long, and it's a shame since one of the characters is my favorite type, an actor. The starting point is pretty common, a famous Hollywood actor, Scott, has to remain in the closet to not ruin his career and he even asked to a woman to marry him. But the night before his wedding he has second thoughts and to find the courage to go on with the fake marriage he decides to get drunk. Andy his the bride's brother, and his sister asked him not only to find Scott but also to bring him to the wedding ceremony in San Francisco. Problem is that Scott, as soon as he sees Andy, makes a move on him and Andy is not enough stoic to refuse the man, since he has a crush on him since his sister introduced them.

As I said the plot is not very original, but it's original as the author deals with it. Nor Scott or Andy are the usual perfect hero: it's necessary very little persuasion to Andy to have an affair with his sister's groom the night before the wedding. Even if Scott knows well that he is making a big mistake, he decided to marry a woman to hide the true from the media, that he is gay. Scott is not at all a brooding character, he is not strong and sure of his behavior, to go on with his plan he needs to get drunk. When they are together, other than having sex more than once, Scott and Andy smoke pot, since Scott wants to try everything he has never done, before marrying his lover's sister.

Reading all this, have you had an idea of both Scott and Andy? have you realized that no one of them is a square perfect All American hero? All right, Andy is openly gay, but he is also a grown man without a steady work, he lives in a borrowed house, he realizes that he is betraying his own sister, but still he does so, and not only, he even tells everything to his best friend! (kiss and tell philosophy...). Actually between the two, probably I like best Scott: all right he is lying to the media, but be honest, can he do otherwise without loosin his career? probably he is only wrong when he decides to marry a woman instead of choosing the bachelorhood, but this is another story, and you need to read the book to know what will happen.

All in all, the story is good and enjoyable, I like the atmosphere of little escapade and also the relationship between Andy and Scott, with all their faults and imperfections; probably, at long distance, a real relationship will be not simple between them, no one of them is strong enough to be the mainstay, but the book covers only two days.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/MakingWaves.html

Amazon Kindle: Making Waves

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/HoldingHiding.html (print book)

Amazon: Holding And Hiding

Reading List:

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

Taking Chances by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe

Fortunate Son by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe

Fortunate Son has a double meaning. At the beginning of the story I believed that the fortunate son was Ricky; he is the second son of a not so wealthy country family. His older brother died in Vietnam and his parents sold part of the family farm to allow him to go to College and so, avoid to be a conscript. But Ricky is still mourning Randall's loss, and instead of having his mind on the study, he thinks on protest and getting high, since when you are high the world seems better. At college he meets Charlie; Charlie is a lover and an artist, he has all those great ideas in mind and in a way, he directs Ricky's rage in something more useful than sulking. And maybe Charlie is the fortunate son, the one who is against something for principle and not since it touched him like it did with Ricky. Being not so involved, allows Charlie to be a safe harbor for Ricky, allows him to be the steady figure Ricky needs to not drift apart.

Ricky and Charlie are young and sons of their time; being always high, not thinking at tomorrow, but always living the day, they are like a lot of young people in 1967, the year in which the story is setting. But during the March on the Pentagon, Ricky and Charlie start to think that having a tomorrow, and having it together, maybe it would be nice. They can't have a formal recognition of their love, it's so far from their time that the idea doesn't even pass in their mind, but they can have it with words between them; being aware of the world around them, make them more aware of who they are and what they want in life.

This is a really nice short story, 2 sex scenes and a night and a day in the life of two young men; you don't know what it will be of them, but you can have the feeling that they will be together and happy; I like the easy mood of the story, the feeling that, even if they are living in a dangerous period, they are somehow shielded by their love, life seems easy for them and I can see a future behind the corner.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/FortunateSon.html

Amazon Kindle: Fortunate Son

The Mask He Wears by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe

This is a short story that manages to be unexpected and surprising despite being short. Apparently the plot is simple, Ian has a secret crush on his boss, lawyer Stephen; being Ian his secretary and having the firm a strict no fraternization policy, Ian has never made any move on Stephen if not being always available for him and always with an eager to please smile on his face. Then at a office party, Ian eavesdrops another colleague asking Stephen about his wife, and Ian's world crashes around him.

Here is the unexpected element of the story. Usually the office affairs relationships among men are hot and dirty, little or not so little secret affairs almost always based more on sex than love. But Ian is a romantic soul, he believes in love at first sight and forever love. He wants Stephen, but he doesn't want him only for a passing affair, he wants him as his long term relationship partner, he wants him in full daylight.

On the other hand Stephen has always preferred to maintain his private life exactly like that, private. On the outside Stephen appears to be an independent and strong willed man, but in private he is insecure and not so strong. He always related to his friends advice and he was always willing to help them to resolve their romantic trouble but was never ready to resolve his own. Delay was the key, not facing the issue was the best strategy. Stephen's character is the other surprising element of the story, above all how different he is from what he appears; it's a nice surprise since he gives originality to the story.

If Stephen was one another alpha male boss, who is a boss both in office than in bedroom, this one would have been one another office affair story, nice maybe, but nothing more. Instead both Stephen than Ian are different from who you were expecting, they are both very emotional men, men that probably are not imposing and domineering, but that are lucky enough to find each other and to discover that, despite the difference in social status and career level, they have more in common than they thought.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/MaskHeWears.html

Amazon Kindle: The Mask He Wears

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/TakingChances.html

Amazon: Taking Chances (print book)

Reading List:

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

Holding And Hiding by Pepper Espinoza

Quarterback Sneak by Pepper Espinoza

Pepper Espinoza loves the unlikely lovers who win over everything. And she loves romance. This last book is a very nice novella, about two football quarterback in love; but it's not one of that story where love suddenly strikes and the two lovers can't do nothing if not surrender, it's the story of two childhood best friend grew together with a common passion, football, but this very passion drew them apart, first in different college and then in different teams. Despite the distance and the need to be discreet, Eric and Cache managed to build a steady relationship, lived inside the wall of their home, far from the eyes of everyone else, family, friends, fellow players and fans.

Eric played football to prove to his father that he was worthy, that he was the best; football for him was not his first choice of career, but he did good, and his father was happy. And after his father he played football for Cache, to have something more that bounded him to the man he loves. Eric is loyal and clever, but he has not a deep love for the game, he would be glad to throw all away to be able to claim his love for Cache, but he played accordingly to the unspoken rule that all football players are straight only to please Cache.

Cache played football since he thought it was the only thing he could do well. His father was a football player, and he always supported his son; probably he would supported him even if he came out, but Cache never did. When Eric almost forced him in a relationship, and not his first experience with a man, he was more worried on having a long-term relationship since it was easier to be discovered. Cache loves Eric, but he loves also football, and since no one asked him to choose, he thinks to can have both. But when his career is on stake for a bad injury and his relationship with Eric lands on the first page of newspaper, Cache has to choose what he loves more, football or Eric.

I like the story, it is a parallel tale of both Eric and Cache's life as young man at the beginning of their career and as two well-known professionals. Without the story of them at the beginning of their relationship, maybe the reader would only side with Eric, and blame Cache for being a coward. But with the tiny insight on their life together, and seeing him also through Eric's eyes, we now that Cache is a good man and that he was and he is good for Eric. The story is both tender and sexy, a very good mix of romance and erotica.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/QuarterbackSneak.html

Amazon Kindle: Quarterback Sneak

Making Waves by Pepper Espinoza

The story is not very long, and it's a shame since one of the characters is my favorite type, an actor. The starting point is pretty common, a famous Hollywood actor, Scott, has to remain in the closet to not ruin his career and he even asked to a woman to marry him. But the night before his wedding he has second thoughts and to find the courage to go on with the fake marriage he decides to get drunk. Andy his the bride's brother, and his sister asked him not only to find Scott but also to bring him to the wedding ceremony in San Francisco. Problem is that Scott, as soon as he sees Andy, makes a move on him and Andy is not enough stoic to refuse the man, since he has a crush on him since his sister introduced them.

As I said the plot is not very original, but it's original as the author deals with it. Nor Scott or Andy are the usual perfect hero: it's necessary very little persuasion to Andy to have an affair with his sister's groom the night before the wedding. Even if Scott knows well that he is making a big mistake, he decided to marry a woman to hide the true from the media, that he is gay. Scott is not at all a brooding character, he is not strong and sure of his behavior, to go on with his plan he needs to get drunk. When they are together, other than having sex more than once, Scott and Andy smoke pot, since Scott wants to try everything he has never done, before marrying his lover's sister.

Reading all this, have you had an idea of both Scott and Andy? have you realized that no one of them is a square perfect All American hero? All right, Andy is openly gay, but he is also a grown man without a steady work, he lives in a borrowed house, he realizes that he is betraying his own sister, but still he does so, and not only, he even tells everything to his best friend! (kiss and tell philosophy...). Actually between the two, probably I like best Scott: all right he is lying to the media, but be honest, can he do otherwise without loosin his career? probably he is only wrong when he decides to marry a woman instead of choosing the bachelorhood, but this is another story, and you need to read the book to know what will happen.

All in all, the story is good and enjoyable, I like the atmosphere of little escapade and also the relationship between Andy and Scott, with all their faults and imperfections; probably, at long distance, a real relationship will be not simple between them, no one of them is strong enough to be the mainstay, but the book covers only two days.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/MakingWaves.html

Amazon Kindle: Making Waves

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/HoldingHiding.html (print book)

Amazon: Holding And Hiding

Reading List:

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

Taking Chances by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe

Fortunate Son by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe

Fortunate Son has a double meaning. At the beginning of the story I believed that the fortunate son was Ricky; he is the second son of a not so wealthy country family. His older brother died in Vietnam and his parents sold part of the family farm to allow him to go to College and so, avoid to be a conscript. But Ricky is still mourning Randall's loss, and instead of having his mind on the study, he thinks on protest and getting high, since when you are high the world seems better. At college he meets Charlie; Charlie is a lover and an artist, he has all those great ideas in mind and in a way, he directs Ricky's rage in something more useful than sulking. And maybe Charlie is the fortunate son, the one who is against something for principle and not since it touched him like it did with Ricky. Being not so involved, allows Charlie to be a safe harbor for Ricky, allows him to be the steady figure Ricky needs to not drift apart.

Ricky and Charlie are young and sons of their time; being always high, not thinking at tomorrow, but always living the day, they are like a lot of young people in 1967, the year in which the story is setting. But during the March on the Pentagon, Ricky and Charlie start to think that having a tomorrow, and having it together, maybe it would be nice. They can't have a formal recognition of their love, it's so far from their time that the idea doesn't even pass in their mind, but they can have it with words between them; being aware of the world around them, make them more aware of who they are and what they want in life.

This is a really nice short story, 2 sex scenes and a night and a day in the life of two young men; you don't know what it will be of them, but you can have the feeling that they will be together and happy; I like the easy mood of the story, the feeling that, even if they are living in a dangerous period, they are somehow shielded by their love, life seems easy for them and I can see a future behind the corner.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/FortunateSon.html

Amazon Kindle: Fortunate Son

The Mask He Wears by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite Labbe

This is a short story that manages to be unexpected and surprising despite being short. Apparently the plot is simple, Ian has a secret crush on his boss, lawyer Stephen; being Ian his secretary and having the firm a strict no fraternization policy, Ian has never made any move on Stephen if not being always available for him and always with an eager to please smile on his face. Then at a office party, Ian eavesdrops another colleague asking Stephen about his wife, and Ian's world crashes around him.

Here is the unexpected element of the story. Usually the office affairs relationships among men are hot and dirty, little or not so little secret affairs almost always based more on sex than love. But Ian is a romantic soul, he believes in love at first sight and forever love. He wants Stephen, but he doesn't want him only for a passing affair, he wants him as his long term relationship partner, he wants him in full daylight.

On the other hand Stephen has always preferred to maintain his private life exactly like that, private. On the outside Stephen appears to be an independent and strong willed man, but in private he is insecure and not so strong. He always related to his friends advice and he was always willing to help them to resolve their romantic trouble but was never ready to resolve his own. Delay was the key, not facing the issue was the best strategy. Stephen's character is the other surprising element of the story, above all how different he is from what he appears; it's a nice surprise since he gives originality to the story.

If Stephen was one another alpha male boss, who is a boss both in office than in bedroom, this one would have been one another office affair story, nice maybe, but nothing more. Instead both Stephen than Ian are different from who you were expecting, they are both very emotional men, men that probably are not imposing and domineering, but that are lucky enough to find each other and to discover that, despite the difference in social status and career level, they have more in common than they thought.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/MaskHeWears.html

Amazon Kindle: The Mask He Wears

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/TakingChances.html

Amazon: Taking Chances (print book)

Reading List:

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

Gay Commercial: Target Market

This ad is simple and effective, and I really like the elegant atmosphere, it has more a little movie feeling than a commercial.

Commercial Closet Association

Company: Cebu Ad Congress
Brand: Target Market
Ad Title: Target Market
Business Category: Miscellaneous
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Philippines
Region: Asia
Agency: TBWA Worldwide
Year: 2001
Target: Mainstream

Gay Commercial: Target Market

This ad is simple and effective, and I really like the elegant atmosphere, it has more a little movie feeling than a commercial.

Commercial Closet Association

Company: Cebu Ad Congress
Brand: Target Market
Ad Title: Target Market
Business Category: Miscellaneous
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Philippines
Region: Asia
Agency: TBWA Worldwide
Year: 2001
Target: Mainstream

Save the Date: "Promising" on Sept. 25th!

The Promising Series on September 25: Features Ama Birch, Richard Villegas, Kim Savo and NPR/BBC Journalist Cash Peters

(Los Angeles) The Promising Series is the only reading series in Los Angeles that exclusively features Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender writers. A goal for the series is to celebrate established authors and introduce the next generation of LGBT writers.

"I think Americans are really interested in what we have to say," said Series Curator Noël Alumit. "From marriage to the military, our lives have become important topics of conversation. We should let people know what we think and feel!"

The next reading will be held on Friday, September 25th 2009 at 7:30pm.

The reading will feature:

Cash Peters is an author and broadcaster based in Los Angeles, California. He can currently be heard on Marketplace on American public radio, and every week live on BBC Radio 5 Live. Cash has written seven books altogether, including his latest, Naked in Dangerous Places. http://cashpeters.com/

Ama Birch has had a wide variety of jobs: barista, prep chef, personal assistant to a mortician, stagehand on rock concerts, carpenter, amanuensis, educator, day camp counselor, and Christmas ornament shop clerk. Ama has written three full-length pieces for the theatre, and she has self published two chapbooks of poetry. Currently, she is living wherever she is working and looking forward to the publishing of her first full-length book of poetry Sonnet BOOM

Richard Villegas graduated from the University of Southern California´s Masters in Professional Writing program in the spring of 2008. He has published an essay and poetry in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Latino Arts Anthology 1998-2000, respectively. He currently teaches small people in LA Unified as he revises and revises and revises his novel, A Genealogy of Cannibals.

Kim Savo serves as a deputy federal public defender in Los Angeles, defending poor people accused of federal crimes. She writes to stay connected to her own humanity and to make visible the humanity of her clients. Before becoming a lawyer, she taught literature and composition at East Los Angeles Community College and the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Echo Park with her partner of 13 years.

Series Curator Noël Alumit wrote the novels Letters to Montgomery Clift and Talking to the Moon. His solo shows are The Rice Room: Scenes from a Bar and Master of the (Miss) Universe. www.thelastnoel.blogspot.com

The Promising Series will take place on Friday, September 25 at 7:30pm. Skylight Bookstore, 1818 North Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90029, (323) 660-1175. The reading is free and open to the public.

Save the Date: "Promising" on Sept. 25th!

The Promising Series on September 25: Features Ama Birch, Richard Villegas, Kim Savo and NPR/BBC Journalist Cash Peters

(Los Angeles) The Promising Series is the only reading series in Los Angeles that exclusively features Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender writers. A goal for the series is to celebrate established authors and introduce the next generation of LGBT writers.

"I think Americans are really interested in what we have to say," said Series Curator Noël Alumit. "From marriage to the military, our lives have become important topics of conversation. We should let people know what we think and feel!"

The next reading will be held on Friday, September 25th 2009 at 7:30pm.

The reading will feature:

Cash Peters is an author and broadcaster based in Los Angeles, California. He can currently be heard on Marketplace on American public radio, and every week live on BBC Radio 5 Live. Cash has written seven books altogether, including his latest, Naked in Dangerous Places. http://cashpeters.com/

Ama Birch has had a wide variety of jobs: barista, prep chef, personal assistant to a mortician, stagehand on rock concerts, carpenter, amanuensis, educator, day camp counselor, and Christmas ornament shop clerk. Ama has written three full-length pieces for the theatre, and she has self published two chapbooks of poetry. Currently, she is living wherever she is working and looking forward to the publishing of her first full-length book of poetry Sonnet BOOM

Richard Villegas graduated from the University of Southern California´s Masters in Professional Writing program in the spring of 2008. He has published an essay and poetry in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Latino Arts Anthology 1998-2000, respectively. He currently teaches small people in LA Unified as he revises and revises and revises his novel, A Genealogy of Cannibals.

Kim Savo serves as a deputy federal public defender in Los Angeles, defending poor people accused of federal crimes. She writes to stay connected to her own humanity and to make visible the humanity of her clients. Before becoming a lawyer, she taught literature and composition at East Los Angeles Community College and the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Echo Park with her partner of 13 years.

Series Curator Noël Alumit wrote the novels Letters to Montgomery Clift and Talking to the Moon. His solo shows are The Rice Room: Scenes from a Bar and Master of the (Miss) Universe. www.thelastnoel.blogspot.com

The Promising Series will take place on Friday, September 25 at 7:30pm. Skylight Bookstore, 1818 North Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90029, (323) 660-1175. The reading is free and open to the public.

Adopt a Movie: Violet Tendencies

Cross posted from Jesse Archer's blog:

http://jesseonthebrink.blogspot.com/2009/09/violet-tendencies.html

"A bunch of the characters from upcoming film "Violet Tendencies" were in the studio last weekend to loop dialogue that either wasn't clear, or needed to be added. The film is now fully funded and we're just finishing up post: sound mixing, musical score, and a few other things before it's ready to be sent out to festivals and premiere hopefully early next year. Stay tuned"

 
Village People Cowboy Randy Jones admires Marcus Patrick with the rest of the cast, in the final scene of the film.

Adopt a Movie: Violet Tendencies

Cross posted from Jesse Archer's blog:

http://jesseonthebrink.blogspot.com/2009/09/violet-tendencies.html

"A bunch of the characters from upcoming film "Violet Tendencies" were in the studio last weekend to loop dialogue that either wasn't clear, or needed to be added. The film is now fully funded and we're just finishing up post: sound mixing, musical score, and a few other things before it's ready to be sent out to festivals and premiere hopefully early next year. Stay tuned"

 
Village People Cowboy Randy Jones admires Marcus Patrick with the rest of the cast, in the final scene of the film.