Freighter Flights by Drew Zachary

Freighter Flights by Drew Zachary

Will is the pilot of Arillia and she is his baby, and she needs a good doctor, someone who is willing to join them. He finds Tab, a big man with great skills in his hands both for a mechanical engine than a human body. And now the only body he wants to play with his Will's.

Will and Tab have strong will and no one of them wants to leave the command, but, this time Tab will understand that say the "no" word could win him the way to Will's body and trough that to his heart.

Will has a past of no good experiences with sex, he sees it only like a way to relief stress. Tab instead sees sex like an enjoyable exercise, to do when he is free and wants to play. Together they will learn that having sex with someone you care could be a wonderful experience.

I really like Tab's characters, he is, at the same time, strong and gentle, he knows when to push and when to pull (pun not intended)

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2554

Amazon: Freighter Flights

Amazon Kindle: Freighter Flights

Flying High (Freighter Flights 2) by Drew Zachary

I have a soft spot for Will since the first enstallment in this series, but really you can't understand his behaviour in that book if you don't read this second.

Will is cute and strong. He is a rock outside with a tender core. But he only shows his core to Tab, the rude engeneering who has conquered his heart (and his body, totally).

Tab is all strong passions, but he is also the man who can speak of his feeling. He can claim to be in love, and he makes great exploit to demonstrate his love, like a knight in shining armour. But Will is not a damsel in distress: he is a man and he can fight his battles... but it is better to fight in two and after the battle, to cuddle together!

So here we have the deeping of love between Will and Tab, and their struggle to accomodate two bossy behaviour and work together like an oiled engine... but Tab is a skilled mec, so he is the man for the task, isn't he?

More funny than the first enstallment, and as I remember more sexy (more sexy for Drew, means a lot of hot sex), Flying High is the book for the perv geek inside you!

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2555

Amazon: Freighter Flights 2: Flying High

Reading List:

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

Tall, Dark, & Twisted Tales by Lee Avalone

Light My Fire by Lee Avalone

Light My Fire by Lee Avalone is a sexy porn romance. Yes since there is a lot of sex in there, and so it's definitely a porn, but there is also enough feelings to make it a romance.

Craig is a cowboy demon hunters. In an hypothetical future where demons prowling the cities in search of human souls, Craig, a former rodeo cowboy, is now a very skilled demon hunter: how he became so, we know little, probably after a very closed encounter with a demon himself. Usually when he is called to a crime scene, the victim is always dead, deprived of their soul; this time instead Steven, a young male whore, is still alive and he seems to own a very strong power, something the demons wish to acquire.

Obviously Steven is immediately drawn by this handsome cowboy, but he has always suffered from an inferiority complex, something that pushed him along the sad path he is going along. But from the first moment there is an invisible bond between Steven and Craig, a bond that seems emphasized by sexual energy. And so Craig understands that, to reach the demons, he can use Steven. And using Steven means not only have him as a bait, but also as sexual partner; yes, since Craig sees no problems to follow the animal instincts so strong between them.

The story is pretty original, the demons are really well plotted, creatures almost from an horror novel rather than a romance. And also the erotic scenes are good, but maybe in a short novel like this, less than 55 pages, they steal the scene to all the other: the pace of the book is pretty fast, and it would be good, if not that it ends pretty abruptly, in a point when I would like to read more about the developing relationship between Steven and Craig. Steven is making a growing journey, and I would like to see how he becomes self conscious, how he acquires the strenght he needs.

All in all a good beginning for a new author in the M/M romance overview.

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

Amazon Kindle: Light My Fire

Sex Scene: Take One by Lee Avalone

I actually don't know what is my thinking on this book. It's a strange vampire flick, with a lot of sex and crazy characters. The story is a blur of mixed thoughts of the characters and the reader is thrown in the mid of the action without preparation. It's very strange, but in its strangeness it's also alluring.

Hank is a movie star with a lot of female fans. He is whispered to have a relationship with his costar Vanessa, but instead he is gay and he craves a man touch, even if it's years that he denies himself. And now he is on the same set with Wayne, a fellow actor he admired from afar; Hank accepted to play in the movie of a crazy genius director, and he is thrown in the mid of a scene without knowing the script. When Wayne starts to screw another man in front of the camera, Hank could only think that he wants to be in the place of the man bent on the table.

Drake is a century old vampire who now is in the movie industry business. He organized all the scene to have a chance with Hank, but he is taken by surprise by the sudden attachment he feels for the man.

At the same time Vanessa, the fake girlfriend of Hank, develops a strong need for Recim and Raena, fellow vampires of Drake.

The room where the scene takes place is a bit crowded and it's not clear of who is screwing whom... all the story turns around sex, there is little space for love in this 50 pages long book. As I said it's pretty strange, maybe I'd like some pages more to better understand the characters and their reasons other than a very strong sexual urge.

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

Amazon Kindle: Sex Scene: Take One

Tall, Dark, Tattooed And Twisted by Lee Avalone

Sataire and Volmere are two vampire so twisted that also among their fellow vampires they are considered crazy. So they decide to live in exile in a 18 million dollars mansion in the Hollywood Hills!

The very first day in their new home, while Volmere is giving to Sataire some heavy S/M sex, their very friendly and very gay new neighbors decide to pay a visit; when the two tall, dark and tattooed vampires open the door stark naked, Patrick, Henry and Clay couldn't believe to their lucky... and Sataire couldn't believe to his eyes since in front of him there is Clay Young the handsome star of his favorite soap opera!

All right so we have a vampire tattooed and pierced who can only reach the apex with a good dose of pain, then we have a soap opera star who has just broken with a demon lover, another vampire who can't be left alone with no one since he screws everyone with two legs... At the third book by Lee Avalone I begin to understand what she is doing: she is debunking all the myth on Vampires, Demons and co to create a crazy world where sex is the primal urge and love is the cherry atop. No one is safe from the craziness, and being an immortal being is not an assurance against it.

It was pretty funny to read a story of less than 50 pages where the two main vampire characters, Sataire and Volmere, hardly have a piece of clothes on, even when they are sword fighting with four zombie who happened to pass in their front garden... plus the little fact that Clay slept with a demon is hinted like the most normal event in a soap opera star's life.

Piece by piece, 50 pages long book by 50 pages long book, Lee Avalone is creating a very interesting universe.

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

Amazon Kindle: Tall, Dark, Tattooed And Twisted

Wild, Wicked, And Haunted In Hollywood by Lee Avalone

First introduced in Light My Fire, Paul is a demon hunter; previous lover of Craig, the main character of Light My Fire, we found him again in Tall, Dark, Tattooed and Twisted, in the last scene when the demon hunters arrive to investigate on a zombie attack. Wild, Wicked and Haunted starts exactly where Tall, Dark, Tattooed and Twisted ended, with Paul ringing the bell to Nick's house, just in front of the crime scene.

Nick is an Hollywood young director whose lover was killed one year before in the front garden. It was not a "neat" murder and the ghost, Carter, still haunts the house. Carter is deeply in love with Nick, in his life he was an older man, more than 20 years older than Nick, and he believes that he was not able to protect his lover. So now, as a ghost, he is fiercely protective.

Nick can't see Carter, but Paul can. More, he can feel Carter's emotions, even when he is having sex with Nick. The unwillingly threesome needs to find a way to live peacefully together, or to clean break this situation.

As all the previous book, this one is rather short, less than 50 pages, and there is not much space to develop the characters. All the strenght of the book lies in the use of paranormal events in a funny way, splattering blood and violence in every corner, but never making the book really horrific... the book is like one of those movies which gather all the classical Hollywood scenes to edit a comic movie.

The most interesting thing for me is Volmere: I was already fascinated by this tall white haired vampire with an impressive... attribute, in the previous book, and now I'm even more interested in reading his story.

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

Amazon Kindle: Wild, Wicked, And Haunted In Hollywood

Ring of Fire by Lee Avalone

This is a get together book, meaning that it gathers all the previous characters of this very particular series in one book, and plus it gifts the fans with Volmere’s story, probably the most interesting character of all.

Lee Avalone’s series started almost in a subdued way in Chicago, with Steven and Craig’s story, Craig a cowboy demon hunter and Steven a street hustler with psychic powers… already the story was out of the ordinary, but for people used to the paranormal genre it was almost “normal”. Indeed Steven and Craig were ordinary characters in a extraordinary world. Already in book two things start to go crazy, the next main characters are Hank, an Hollywood movie star, and Drake, a centuries old vampire. Book three introduce Sataire and Volmere, again two vampires, and Sataire’s future partner, Clay, a soap opera actor! And zombies… Book four is the turn of Paul, another demon hunter, Nick, an Hollywood movie director and Carter’s, Nick’s dead lover, and not weed ghost. What was missing to the list: Demons, Cowboys, Actors, Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts… maybe an Angel?

Lee Avalone mixed together all the classical ingredients of contemporary (Cowboys, Show Business, Hustlers) and paranormal (Vampires, Demons, Ghosts) romance, adding even a bit of horror (Zombies and a lot of splattering blood, to not forget some other fluids…), and instead of having a disconnected plot, she comes out with a crazy meatloaf, that has all the greasy and flavour of home-made cuisine. It’s not a small taste, it’s a full main courses, and it edges on a painful indigestion, risk that is avoid being it only a novella… in this case, I don’t think a full novel would be right, this is a story you have to take in small doses.

It’s crazy, it’s exaggerated, it’s unbelievable… perfect. Volmere is perfect in his simple desire of being loved and have the chance to love back.

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

Amazon Kindle: Ring Of Fire

Amazon: Tall, Dark, & Twisted Tales (print book)

Reading List:

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

In The Limelight by K.C. Kendricks

Shine a Light by K.C. Kendricks

Sincerely this story surprised me since it’s not at all the light romance I was expecting, it has some deep layers that is a joy to discover.

Van is a former big star of Hollywood, former for two reasons: first he is no more in the prime of his age, over 40 years old is no more a hit for Hollywood blockbuster, and second he was outed by a jealous ex-boyfriend, and big name star and gay in Hollywood seem not to well match. So, as many before, he accepts to play an Off-Off and again Off Broadway play for a Summer festival, so off that it’s not even in New York, but in a quiet little town, St. Charles, two hundred miles west of Manhattan.

But since the first night he goes to visit St. Charles and the Globe theatre, Van understands that he is not embarking in an amateur enterprise, and both director than set designer are really professional, and above all Shane, the set designer is also a very handsome young man, and also very gay. Perspective for a nice summer is on the horizon, but Van soon realizes that he doesn’t want only a summer fling: despite Shane’s young age, and Van’s involvement in a world that is miles away from St. Charles, Van starts to desire for something real and lasting.

Other than a nice romance and some good sex scene, the author fits in the story also some committed matter like the challenging of May / December relationship, the trust in love and in your lover, and the importance of safe sex. When Van was young he had a relationship with an older man, a man who also helped him in his rising career as an actor; it was not a bad relationship, but it’s now clear to Van that it was not love: both men involved obtained what they wanted and in the end nothing left. But despite this experience, Van has not preconceptions against a May / December relationship, and not only since he is now the December side of it: I have never felt like Van gave much importance to the age difference, maybe also helped in it by the fact that Shane is not a man with self-conscious issue and he has no real need of Van to improve in his career.

More attention I think the author gave to the trust between lovers, a notion that works in two different situations. First when it’s time to talk about safe sex and past relationships, and there is a moment that a luck of trust, or better an imprudence of one of them put in danger all their future chance of a long lasting relationship. Second when Van admits his discomfort in being the submissive partner during sex, not really for a preference in sexual position, but more for the lack of trust in his previous partners, trust them to be sensitive enough to care also for their partner pleasure.

So yes, this extended novella was really a nice surprise, once that I recommend more people to give it a try.

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

Amazon: In The Limelight (print book)

Reading List:

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

Freighter Flights by Drew Zachary

Freighter Flights by Drew Zachary

Will is the pilot of Arillia and she is his baby, and she needs a good doctor, someone who is willing to join them. He finds Tab, a big man with great skills in his hands both for a mechanical engine than a human body. And now the only body he wants to play with his Will's.

Will and Tab have strong will and no one of them wants to leave the command, but, this time Tab will understand that say the "no" word could win him the way to Will's body and trough that to his heart.

Will has a past of no good experiences with sex, he sees it only like a way to relief stress. Tab instead sees sex like an enjoyable exercise, to do when he is free and wants to play. Together they will learn that having sex with someone you care could be a wonderful experience.

I really like Tab's characters, he is, at the same time, strong and gentle, he knows when to push and when to pull (pun not intended)

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2554

Amazon: Freighter Flights

Amazon Kindle: Freighter Flights

Flying High (Freighter Flights 2) by Drew Zachary

I have a soft spot for Will since the first enstallment in this series, but really you can't understand his behaviour in that book if you don't read this second.

Will is cute and strong. He is a rock outside with a tender core. But he only shows his core to Tab, the rude engeneering who has conquered his heart (and his body, totally).

Tab is all strong passions, but he is also the man who can speak of his feeling. He can claim to be in love, and he makes great exploit to demonstrate his love, like a knight in shining armour. But Will is not a damsel in distress: he is a man and he can fight his battles... but it is better to fight in two and after the battle, to cuddle together!

So here we have the deeping of love between Will and Tab, and their struggle to accomodate two bossy behaviour and work together like an oiled engine... but Tab is a skilled mec, so he is the man for the task, isn't he?

More funny than the first enstallment, and as I remember more sexy (more sexy for Drew, means a lot of hot sex), Flying High is the book for the perv geek inside you!

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2555

Amazon: Freighter Flights 2: Flying High

Reading List:

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

In The Limelight by K.C. Kendricks

Shine a Light by K.C. Kendricks

Sincerely this story surprised me since it’s not at all the light romance I was expecting, it has some deep layers that is a joy to discover.

Van is a former big star of Hollywood, former for two reasons: first he is no more in the prime of his age, over 40 years old is no more a hit for Hollywood blockbuster, and second he was outed by a jealous ex-boyfriend, and big name star and gay in Hollywood seem not to well match. So, as many before, he accepts to play an Off-Off and again Off Broadway play for a Summer festival, so off that it’s not even in New York, but in a quiet little town, St. Charles, two hundred miles west of Manhattan.

But since the first night he goes to visit St. Charles and the Globe theatre, Van understands that he is not embarking in an amateur enterprise, and both director than set designer are really professional, and above all Shane, the set designer is also a very handsome young man, and also very gay. Perspective for a nice summer is on the horizon, but Van soon realizes that he doesn’t want only a summer fling: despite Shane’s young age, and Van’s involvement in a world that is miles away from St. Charles, Van starts to desire for something real and lasting.

Other than a nice romance and some good sex scene, the author fits in the story also some committed matter like the challenging of May / December relationship, the trust in love and in your lover, and the importance of safe sex. When Van was young he had a relationship with an older man, a man who also helped him in his rising career as an actor; it was not a bad relationship, but it’s now clear to Van that it was not love: both men involved obtained what they wanted and in the end nothing left. But despite this experience, Van has not preconceptions against a May / December relationship, and not only since he is now the December side of it: I have never felt like Van gave much importance to the age difference, maybe also helped in it by the fact that Shane is not a man with self-conscious issue and he has no real need of Van to improve in his career.

More attention I think the author gave to the trust between lovers, a notion that works in two different situations. First when it’s time to talk about safe sex and past relationships, and there is a moment that a luck of trust, or better an imprudence of one of them put in danger all their future chance of a long lasting relationship. Second when Van admits his discomfort in being the submissive partner during sex, not really for a preference in sexual position, but more for the lack of trust in his previous partners, trust them to be sensitive enough to care also for their partner pleasure.

So yes, this extended novella was really a nice surprise, once that I recommend more people to give it a try.

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

Amazon: In The Limelight (print book)

Reading List:

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

Tall, Dark, & Twisted Tales by Lee Avalone

Light My Fire by Lee Avalone

Light My Fire by Lee Avalone is a sexy porn romance. Yes since there is a lot of sex in there, and so it's definitely a porn, but there is also enough feelings to make it a romance.

Craig is a cowboy demon hunters. In an hypothetical future where demons prowling the cities in search of human souls, Craig, a former rodeo cowboy, is now a very skilled demon hunter: how he became so, we know little, probably after a very closed encounter with a demon himself. Usually when he is called to a crime scene, the victim is always dead, deprived of their soul; this time instead Steven, a young male whore, is still alive and he seems to own a very strong power, something the demons wish to acquire.

Obviously Steven is immediately drawn by this handsome cowboy, but he has always suffered from an inferiority complex, something that pushed him along the sad path he is going along. But from the first moment there is an invisible bond between Steven and Craig, a bond that seems emphasized by sexual energy. And so Craig understands that, to reach the demons, he can use Steven. And using Steven means not only have him as a bait, but also as sexual partner; yes, since Craig sees no problems to follow the animal instincts so strong between them.

The story is pretty original, the demons are really well plotted, creatures almost from an horror novel rather than a romance. And also the erotic scenes are good, but maybe in a short novel like this, less than 55 pages, they steal the scene to all the other: the pace of the book is pretty fast, and it would be good, if not that it ends pretty abruptly, in a point when I would like to read more about the developing relationship between Steven and Craig. Steven is making a growing journey, and I would like to see how he becomes self conscious, how he acquires the strenght he needs.

All in all a good beginning for a new author in the M/M romance overview.

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

Amazon Kindle: Light My Fire

Sex Scene: Take One by Lee Avalone

I actually don't know what is my thinking on this book. It's a strange vampire flick, with a lot of sex and crazy characters. The story is a blur of mixed thoughts of the characters and the reader is thrown in the mid of the action without preparation. It's very strange, but in its strangeness it's also alluring.

Hank is a movie star with a lot of female fans. He is whispered to have a relationship with his costar Vanessa, but instead he is gay and he craves a man touch, even if it's years that he denies himself. And now he is on the same set with Wayne, a fellow actor he admired from afar; Hank accepted to play in the movie of a crazy genius director, and he is thrown in the mid of a scene without knowing the script. When Wayne starts to screw another man in front of the camera, Hank could only think that he wants to be in the place of the man bent on the table.

Drake is a century old vampire who now is in the movie industry business. He organized all the scene to have a chance with Hank, but he is taken by surprise by the sudden attachment he feels for the man.

At the same time Vanessa, the fake girlfriend of Hank, develops a strong need for Recim and Raena, fellow vampires of Drake.

The room where the scene takes place is a bit crowded and it's not clear of who is screwing whom... all the story turns around sex, there is little space for love in this 50 pages long book. As I said it's pretty strange, maybe I'd like some pages more to better understand the characters and their reasons other than a very strong sexual urge.

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

Amazon Kindle: Sex Scene: Take One

Tall, Dark, Tattooed And Twisted by Lee Avalone

Sataire and Volmere are two vampire so twisted that also among their fellow vampires they are considered crazy. So they decide to live in exile in a 18 million dollars mansion in the Hollywood Hills!

The very first day in their new home, while Volmere is giving to Sataire some heavy S/M sex, their very friendly and very gay new neighbors decide to pay a visit; when the two tall, dark and tattooed vampires open the door stark naked, Patrick, Henry and Clay couldn't believe to their lucky... and Sataire couldn't believe to his eyes since in front of him there is Clay Young the handsome star of his favorite soap opera!

All right so we have a vampire tattooed and pierced who can only reach the apex with a good dose of pain, then we have a soap opera star who has just broken with a demon lover, another vampire who can't be left alone with no one since he screws everyone with two legs... At the third book by Lee Avalone I begin to understand what she is doing: she is debunking all the myth on Vampires, Demons and co to create a crazy world where sex is the primal urge and love is the cherry atop. No one is safe from the craziness, and being an immortal being is not an assurance against it.

It was pretty funny to read a story of less than 50 pages where the two main vampire characters, Sataire and Volmere, hardly have a piece of clothes on, even when they are sword fighting with four zombie who happened to pass in their front garden... plus the little fact that Clay slept with a demon is hinted like the most normal event in a soap opera star's life.

Piece by piece, 50 pages long book by 50 pages long book, Lee Avalone is creating a very interesting universe.

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

Amazon Kindle: Tall, Dark, Tattooed And Twisted

Wild, Wicked, And Haunted In Hollywood by Lee Avalone

First introduced in Light My Fire, Paul is a demon hunter; previous lover of Craig, the main character of Light My Fire, we found him again in Tall, Dark, Tattooed and Twisted, in the last scene when the demon hunters arrive to investigate on a zombie attack. Wild, Wicked and Haunted starts exactly where Tall, Dark, Tattooed and Twisted ended, with Paul ringing the bell to Nick's house, just in front of the crime scene.

Nick is an Hollywood young director whose lover was killed one year before in the front garden. It was not a "neat" murder and the ghost, Carter, still haunts the house. Carter is deeply in love with Nick, in his life he was an older man, more than 20 years older than Nick, and he believes that he was not able to protect his lover. So now, as a ghost, he is fiercely protective.

Nick can't see Carter, but Paul can. More, he can feel Carter's emotions, even when he is having sex with Nick. The unwillingly threesome needs to find a way to live peacefully together, or to clean break this situation.

As all the previous book, this one is rather short, less than 50 pages, and there is not much space to develop the characters. All the strenght of the book lies in the use of paranormal events in a funny way, splattering blood and violence in every corner, but never making the book really horrific... the book is like one of those movies which gather all the classical Hollywood scenes to edit a comic movie.

The most interesting thing for me is Volmere: I was already fascinated by this tall white haired vampire with an impressive... attribute, in the previous book, and now I'm even more interested in reading his story.

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

Amazon Kindle: Wild, Wicked, And Haunted In Hollywood

Ring of Fire by Lee Avalone

This is a get together book, meaning that it gathers all the previous characters of this very particular series in one book, and plus it gifts the fans with Volmere’s story, probably the most interesting character of all.

Lee Avalone’s series started almost in a subdued way in Chicago, with Steven and Craig’s story, Craig a cowboy demon hunter and Steven a street hustler with psychic powers… already the story was out of the ordinary, but for people used to the paranormal genre it was almost “normal”. Indeed Steven and Craig were ordinary characters in a extraordinary world. Already in book two things start to go crazy, the next main characters are Hank, an Hollywood movie star, and Drake, a centuries old vampire. Book three introduce Sataire and Volmere, again two vampires, and Sataire’s future partner, Clay, a soap opera actor! And zombies… Book four is the turn of Paul, another demon hunter, Nick, an Hollywood movie director and Carter’s, Nick’s dead lover, and not weed ghost. What was missing to the list: Demons, Cowboys, Actors, Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts… maybe an Angel?

Lee Avalone mixed together all the classical ingredients of contemporary (Cowboys, Show Business, Hustlers) and paranormal (Vampires, Demons, Ghosts) romance, adding even a bit of horror (Zombies and a lot of splattering blood, to not forget some other fluids…), and instead of having a disconnected plot, she comes out with a crazy meatloaf, that has all the greasy and flavour of home-made cuisine. It’s not a small taste, it’s a full main courses, and it edges on a painful indigestion, risk that is avoid being it only a novella… in this case, I don’t think a full novel would be right, this is a story you have to take in small doses.

It’s crazy, it’s exaggerated, it’s unbelievable… perfect. Volmere is perfect in his simple desire of being loved and have the chance to love back.

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

Amazon Kindle: Ring Of Fire

Amazon: Tall, Dark, & Twisted Tales (print book)

Reading List:

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

The Inside Reader: Wayne Courtois

Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir Mitchell

Wayne Courtois is the author of a memoir, A Report from Winter, that it took me months to read, not since it was not good, but since it hit too much close to home for me, the telling of how a son copes with loosing a parent to cancer, when apparently he is an adult, but in reality he is still a son with a lot of unanswered questions, and the parent seems the only one entitled to answer to them. In the end I read it and I'm glad to have done it, as I'm glad to host Wayne Courtois today: again his list is, at the same time, courageous and involving.

Wayne Courtois's Inside Reader List

I am so delighted that Elisa has invited me to be an Inside Reader. However, selecting ten “best” titles from decades of reading is a daunting task! For this list I’ve tried to include different types of books, from some that would be universally recognized as classics to others—usually from independent presses—that could perhaps use a wider audience. As part of the generation that was hardest hit by AIDS, I have included some AIDS-related titles that have meant a lot to me as well.

Looking again at these selections, I see that I’ve included a disproportionate number of books from just the past several years. I think this is because they are so fresh in my mind that I’m eager to share them—and because the growth of electronic publishing has made current books more available than ever. I look forward to seeing many more books from the past becoming available in electronic formats.

1) I have to begin with The Front Runner, the first gay-themed book I ever read. First published in 1974, this story of the love between a track coach and a young runner has had a profound effect on countless readers. I have had the privilege of meeting the wonderful Patricia Nell Warren, who is still writing and publishing great books through her own independent imprint Wildcat Press. For a recent interview with Patricia, see the November 2009 issue of John Morgan Wilson’s Book Buzz column at http://www.lambdaliterary.org/resources/book_buzz.html.

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Wildcat Press; 20 Anv edition (June 1, 1996)
Publisher Link: http://www.wildcatintl.com/press.cfm?view=detail&detail=jacket&bookID=5
ISBN-10: 0964109964
ISBN-13: 978-0964109964
Amazon: The Front Runner

First published in 1974, The Front Runner raced to international acclaim - the first novel about gay love to become popular with mainstream. In 1975, coach Harlan Brown is hiding from his past at an obscure New York college, after he was fired from Penn State University on suspicion of being gay. A tough, lonely ex-Marine of 39, Harlan has never allowed himself to love another man. Then Billy Sive, a brilliant young runner, shows up on his doorstep. He and his two comrades, Vince Matti and Jacques LaFont, were just thrown off a major team for admitting they are gay. Harlan knows that, with proper training, Billy could go to the '76 Olympics in Montreal. He agrees to coach the three boys under strict conditions that thwart Billy's growing attraction for his mature but compelling mentor. The lean, graceful frontrunner with gold-rim glasses sees directly into Harlan's heart. Billy's gentle and open acceptance of his sexuality makes Harlan afraid to confront either the pain of his past, or the challenges which lay in wait if their intimacy is exposed. But when Coach Brown finds himself falling in love with his most gifted athlete, he must combat his true feelings for Billy or risk the outrage of the entire sports world - and their only chance at Olympic gold.

2) It’s so easy to fall into hyperbole when writing about books, but I firmly believe that Mark Doty’s Heaven’s Coast is one of the most beautiful books ever written. A memoir about the AIDS-related death of his partner Wally Roberts in 1993, Doty explores love, loss, and grief with the tender yet thorough tenacity of a poet. As a result of his journey he comes to accept the reality of death, and even find value in it: “Could we ever really know anything that wasn’t transient, not becoming more itself in the strange, unearthly light of dying?” Anyone who is facing grief or has ever known grief could profit from reading this book.

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 31, 1997)
Publisher Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060928056/Heavens_Coast/index.aspx
ISBN-10: 0060928050
ISBN-13: 978-0060928056
Amazon: Heaven’s Coast

In this luminous study of illness and loss, the acclaimed poet (author of My Alexandria and Atlantis) recounts how his lover of eight years, Wally Roberts, learned from a Vermont social worker in May 1989 that he was HIV-positive (while Doty tested negative). In chapters that range impressionistically over the years that followed, Doty presents a kind of AIDS journal, tracing the gradual onset of the disease to which Roberts succumbed in 1993 and the painful healing process that engulfs Doty to this day. During this period, Doty also lost a close male friend to AIDS and a female friend to a car accident. After the diagnosis, the two men adopted two dogs, bought a cabin in the Vermont woods and, when Roberts began his gradual physical deterioration, moved to Provincetown, Mass., where there was a strong gay and lesbian support network. Mourning Roberts's loss, Doty finds powerful sustenance in poetry, letters from friends (excerpted here) and his own meditations on the New England landscape. Doty's love for Wally and the inner strength that sustains him lend this memoir a vitality that is sure to appeal to readers outside the AIDS community.

( books from 3 to 11 )

I notice that a lot of the books on this list deal with tremendous conflicts—emotional, political, and even historical. My memoir A Report from Winter belongs in the “emotional” category. Covering the brief period of time that I spent in Maine with my mother during her last days, the book also reaches back into childhood memories, and to the first days of my relationship with my partner, Ralph—who did more than anyone else to help me through the difficult time of my mother’s passing. Ralph and I have now been together for 21 years.

About Wayne Courtois: Author of the memoir A Report from Winter, published by Lethe Press in 2009, and the erotic novel My Name Is Rand that appeared in 2004. A second novel is forthcoming. His short fiction has appeared in many anthologies, including Best Gay Erotica and Country Boys, and in journals such as The Greensboro Review and Harrington Gay Men’s Literary Quarterly. His latest critical essay appears in the forthcoming The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his longtime partner. Please visit http://reportfromwinter.com and write him at waynewrite@gmail.com.
 
A Report from Winter by Wayne Courtois
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (July 20, 2009)
Publisher Link: http://lethepressbooks.com/gay.htm#courtois-a-report-from-winter
ISBN-10: 1590212355
ISBN-13: 978-1590212356
Amazon: A Report from Winter

A Report from Winter is a death-in-the-family story, a love story, and a meditation on the meaning of ''winter''--as a season and as a metaphor for family relationships.

It's January 1998, and southern Maine is recovering from one of the worst ice storms in history. Into this unforgiving environment comes the author, flying home from Kansas City after a ten-year absence. His mother, Jennie, is dying of cancer. Though receiving excellent care in a nursing home, she has lost the ability to communicate. Needing support, Wayne makes an SOS call to Ralph, his longtime partner. Ralph boards a plane to Portland for his first exposure to a Maine winter, and to Wayne's family as well, including a feisty aunt and an emotionally distant brother. The contrast between a nurturing gay relationship and dysfunctional family bonds is as sharp as the wind sweeping in from the sea.

Stubbornly unsentimental, A Report from Winter weaves childhood memories of winter with the harsh realities of living in a family where there's not enough love to go around. The memoir is a tribute to hard-won relationships defying an uncaring world.

The Inside Reader: Wayne Courtois

Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends - Silas Weir Mitchell

Wayne Courtois is the author of a memoir, A Report from Winter, that it took me months to read, not since it was not good, but since it hit too much close to home for me, the telling of how a son copes with loosing a parent to cancer, when apparently he is an adult, but in reality he is still a son with a lot of unanswered questions, and the parent seems the only one entitled to answer to them. In the end I read it and I'm glad to have done it, as I'm glad to host Wayne Courtois today: again his list is, at the same time, courageous and involving.

Wayne Courtois's Inside Reader List

I am so delighted that Elisa has invited me to be an Inside Reader. However, selecting ten “best” titles from decades of reading is a daunting task! For this list I’ve tried to include different types of books, from some that would be universally recognized as classics to others—usually from independent presses—that could perhaps use a wider audience. As part of the generation that was hardest hit by AIDS, I have included some AIDS-related titles that have meant a lot to me as well.

Looking again at these selections, I see that I’ve included a disproportionate number of books from just the past several years. I think this is because they are so fresh in my mind that I’m eager to share them—and because the growth of electronic publishing has made current books more available than ever. I look forward to seeing many more books from the past becoming available in electronic formats.

1) I have to begin with The Front Runner, the first gay-themed book I ever read. First published in 1974, this story of the love between a track coach and a young runner has had a profound effect on countless readers. I have had the privilege of meeting the wonderful Patricia Nell Warren, who is still writing and publishing great books through her own independent imprint Wildcat Press. For a recent interview with Patricia, see the November 2009 issue of John Morgan Wilson’s Book Buzz column at http://www.lambdaliterary.org/resources/book_buzz.html.

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Wildcat Press; 20 Anv edition (June 1, 1996)
Publisher Link: http://www.wildcatintl.com/press.cfm?view=detail&detail=jacket&bookID=5
ISBN-10: 0964109964
ISBN-13: 978-0964109964
Amazon: The Front Runner

First published in 1974, The Front Runner raced to international acclaim - the first novel about gay love to become popular with mainstream. In 1975, coach Harlan Brown is hiding from his past at an obscure New York college, after he was fired from Penn State University on suspicion of being gay. A tough, lonely ex-Marine of 39, Harlan has never allowed himself to love another man. Then Billy Sive, a brilliant young runner, shows up on his doorstep. He and his two comrades, Vince Matti and Jacques LaFont, were just thrown off a major team for admitting they are gay. Harlan knows that, with proper training, Billy could go to the '76 Olympics in Montreal. He agrees to coach the three boys under strict conditions that thwart Billy's growing attraction for his mature but compelling mentor. The lean, graceful frontrunner with gold-rim glasses sees directly into Harlan's heart. Billy's gentle and open acceptance of his sexuality makes Harlan afraid to confront either the pain of his past, or the challenges which lay in wait if their intimacy is exposed. But when Coach Brown finds himself falling in love with his most gifted athlete, he must combat his true feelings for Billy or risk the outrage of the entire sports world - and their only chance at Olympic gold.

2) It’s so easy to fall into hyperbole when writing about books, but I firmly believe that Mark Doty’s Heaven’s Coast is one of the most beautiful books ever written. A memoir about the AIDS-related death of his partner Wally Roberts in 1993, Doty explores love, loss, and grief with the tender yet thorough tenacity of a poet. As a result of his journey he comes to accept the reality of death, and even find value in it: “Could we ever really know anything that wasn’t transient, not becoming more itself in the strange, unearthly light of dying?” Anyone who is facing grief or has ever known grief could profit from reading this book.

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 31, 1997)
Publisher Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060928056/Heavens_Coast/index.aspx
ISBN-10: 0060928050
ISBN-13: 978-0060928056
Amazon: Heaven’s Coast

In this luminous study of illness and loss, the acclaimed poet (author of My Alexandria and Atlantis) recounts how his lover of eight years, Wally Roberts, learned from a Vermont social worker in May 1989 that he was HIV-positive (while Doty tested negative). In chapters that range impressionistically over the years that followed, Doty presents a kind of AIDS journal, tracing the gradual onset of the disease to which Roberts succumbed in 1993 and the painful healing process that engulfs Doty to this day. During this period, Doty also lost a close male friend to AIDS and a female friend to a car accident. After the diagnosis, the two men adopted two dogs, bought a cabin in the Vermont woods and, when Roberts began his gradual physical deterioration, moved to Provincetown, Mass., where there was a strong gay and lesbian support network. Mourning Roberts's loss, Doty finds powerful sustenance in poetry, letters from friends (excerpted here) and his own meditations on the New England landscape. Doty's love for Wally and the inner strength that sustains him lend this memoir a vitality that is sure to appeal to readers outside the AIDS community.

( books from 3 to 11 )

I notice that a lot of the books on this list deal with tremendous conflicts—emotional, political, and even historical. My memoir A Report from Winter belongs in the “emotional” category. Covering the brief period of time that I spent in Maine with my mother during her last days, the book also reaches back into childhood memories, and to the first days of my relationship with my partner, Ralph—who did more than anyone else to help me through the difficult time of my mother’s passing. Ralph and I have now been together for 21 years.

About Wayne Courtois: Author of the memoir A Report from Winter, published by Lethe Press in 2009, and the erotic novel My Name Is Rand that appeared in 2004. A second novel is forthcoming. His short fiction has appeared in many anthologies, including Best Gay Erotica and Country Boys, and in journals such as The Greensboro Review and Harrington Gay Men’s Literary Quarterly. His latest critical essay appears in the forthcoming The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his longtime partner. Please visit http://reportfromwinter.com and write him at waynewrite@gmail.com.
 
A Report from Winter by Wayne Courtois
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (July 20, 2009)
Publisher Link: http://lethepressbooks.com/gay.htm#courtois-a-report-from-winter
ISBN-10: 1590212355
ISBN-13: 978-1590212356
Amazon: A Report from Winter

A Report from Winter is a death-in-the-family story, a love story, and a meditation on the meaning of ''winter''--as a season and as a metaphor for family relationships.

It's January 1998, and southern Maine is recovering from one of the worst ice storms in history. Into this unforgiving environment comes the author, flying home from Kansas City after a ten-year absence. His mother, Jennie, is dying of cancer. Though receiving excellent care in a nursing home, she has lost the ability to communicate. Needing support, Wayne makes an SOS call to Ralph, his longtime partner. Ralph boards a plane to Portland for his first exposure to a Maine winter, and to Wayne's family as well, including a feisty aunt and an emotionally distant brother. The contrast between a nurturing gay relationship and dysfunctional family bonds is as sharp as the wind sweeping in from the sea.

Stubbornly unsentimental, A Report from Winter weaves childhood memories of winter with the harsh realities of living in a family where there's not enough love to go around. The memoir is a tribute to hard-won relationships defying an uncaring world.