The Inside Reader: Hal Bodner
Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir MitchellIn this time where I continuosly read around about the lack of originality in Gay Romance, Hal Bodner is a name that is well above the average, and not only since he pushes on the Horror button that not so often works so perfectly with a Romance plot. Hal Bodner is also able to be very explicit in his sex scene, bordering my level of comfort, but never going beyond it. Finally, I'd like you to read carefully the "about Hal Bodner" part of this post, who himself wrote for us, since it's probably one of the most romantic piece I have ever read.
When Elisa asked me to provide a list of my Top Ten LGBT novels, I thought it would be an easy task. Wrong! As a gay man of a “certain age”, there just weren?t very many LGBT novels around when I was younger and, I find, most of the books that influenced my life and my work were those I read way back then. What I came up with is certainly an eclectic list!
Hal Bodner’s Ten Top LBGT Novels:
1) Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault. Though Renault’s The Persian Boy is the one that everyone talks about, Fire From Heaven is, to my mind, her masterpiece. Possibly one of the greatest male/male love stories of all time Alexander’s lifelong relationship with his lover Hephaestion -- is woven through a riveting story of the young Greek’s early years from birth until he assumes the throne of Macedon. The author’s prose is like poetry and I defy any young gay man not to fall hopelessly in love with Renault’s Alexander by the end of the book. Other notable male/male themed novels from Renault are The Last of the Wine (also set in Classical Greece) and the heart-wrenching and brilliantly sub-textual The Charioteer (a relatively unknown work set in England during World War One). Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Vintage (June 11, 2002)
Publisher Link: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375726828
ISBN-10: 0375726829
ISBN-13: 978-0375726828
Amazon: Fire from Heaven
“Written with her usual vigor and imagination...Mary Renault has a great talent.”–The New York Times Book Review. Alexander’s beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son’s loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle’s tutoring provoked his mind and Homer’s Iliad fueled his aspirations. Killing his first man in battle at the age of twelve, he became regent at sixteen and commander of Macedon’s cavalry at eighteen, so that by the time his father was murdered, Alexander’s skills had grown to match his fiery ambition.
( books from 2 to 10 )
About Hal Bodner: Hal Bodner is the author of the best selling gay vampire novel, Bite Club. He tells people he was born in East Philadelphia because so few people know where Cherry Hill, New Jersey is located. The first person he saw in his life was C. Everet Coop, future US Surgeon General, who delivered him. Thus, Hal was ironically destined to become a heavy smoker.
He moved to West Hollywood in the 1980s and will probably never leave. Hal has been an entertainment lawyer, a scheduler for a 976 sex telephone line, a theater reviewer and the personal assistant to a television star. For awhile, he owned Heavy Petting, a pet boutique where all the movie stars shopped for their Pomeranians. Currently, he owns an exotic bird shop.
He has never been a waiter.
He lives in a fabulous century-old Craftsman house with dogs, macaws, a lovebird and with a special nod to his eighty yearold irritable, flesh-eating military macaw named after his icon: Tallulah. He often quips he is a slave to fur and feathers and regrets only that he isn’t referring to mink and marabou. He does not have cats because he tends to sneeze on them.
Rapidly approaching middle-age, he remembers Nixon.
He got married very late in life to an incredible man. Sadly, after five amazing, if turbulent, years he was widowed and can sometimes be found sunbathing at his husband’s grave while trying to avoid cemetery caretakers screaming at him to put his shirt back on.
In Flesh and Stone is Hal’s first crack at paranormal erotic romance and he enjoyed writing it immensely. For Love of the Dead is his second Ravenous Romance title and it may very well be the first guy-on-guy paranormal erotic zombie romance novel ever written! He will be following up with Generations in the spring of 2010 and, like his other romance work, it is a truly unique book.
He is currently seeking incredibly hot guys in their thirties with amazing bodies as volunteers to help him do the...er...research for his next foray into erotic romance
For the Love of the Dead: Gay Zombie Erotica by Hal Bodner Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books (June 1, 2010)
Publisher Link: http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/for-love-of-the-dead.php
ISBN-10: 1593501919
ISBN-13: 978-1593501914
Amazon: For the Love of the Dead: Gay Zombie Erotica
Leave all your preconceptions about zombies on page one! Hal Bodner's For Love of the Dead brings an entirely new twist to the Risen Dead in a sultry, steaming hot novel of paranormal erotic romance that will rock your very soul in a story of lost hope, missed opportunities and sensual ecstasy. Hunky mortician Jake Marshall is seeking true love - and a funeral home is definitely the wrong place to look. Or is it...? Emotionally paralyzed by the untimely death of his first lover, Jake finally meets young Mario - the answer to Jake's prayers and the key to his finding love once again. But a specter of indescribable beauty and horrifying evil rises inexplicably from a mortuary table. Mark Hartner has the face of an angel, the body of a young god... and the soul of a demon from Hell. And Mark would like nothing more than to drag Jake back down to Hell with him. The fiend wastes no time in squandering his chance to redeem himself in an orgy of violence, sex and blood. And the only one who can stop him is Jake. How far will Jake go to thwart Mark's terrifying attacks on innocent young men? What sacrifices is the handsome mortician willing to make? Will Mario, the man with whom Jake can finally find happiness, be one of them? From an island paradise hiding terrible secrets to the hushed and sterile halls of a small mortuary, For Love of the Dead will take you on a darkly erotic journey like you've never known, bringing a shiver to your spine and a tingle to your body. Bodner combines heart-breaking emotional impact with the forbidden allure of dark sex in a truly riveting tale of lust and revenge. Fighting against almost insurmountable obstacles from beyond the grave, his characters struggle against the odds to reach their ultimate reward - a pure and perfect love. Find out how far one man will go, what risks he will take and what dangers he will face... For Love of the Dead.
1) Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault. Though Renault’s The Persian Boy is the one that everyone talks about, Fire From Heaven is, to my mind, her masterpiece. Possibly one of the greatest male/male love stories of all time Alexander’s lifelong relationship with his lover Hephaestion -- is woven through a riveting story of the young Greek’s early years from birth until he assumes the throne of Macedon. The author’s prose is like poetry and I defy any young gay man not to fall hopelessly in love with Renault’s Alexander by the end of the book. Other notable male/male themed novels from Renault are The Last of the Wine (also set in Classical Greece) and the heart-wrenching and brilliantly sub-textual The Charioteer (a relatively unknown work set in England during World War One). 
For the Love of the Dead: Gay Zombie Erotica by Hal Bodner 