Detour by Talia Carmichael

In her author bio, you can read: “Talia Carmichael is a romantic who believes that family, no matter if it is by blood or those you choose as family, is integral to who you are”. I think that from these words you can understand, and appreciate, most of this debut novel, Detour. It’s basically a very positive intake on what the life of a gay man could be, when you don’t loose the support of your own family, a support that gives you the strength, and hope, to believe you will find a loving relationship as the one your parents have.

Both Robert, a nerdy like science professor in a small college, and Miguel, an hunky patrol cop, come from loving and supporting family; this allows them to be comfortable with being gay, and happy, and ready to fall in love and talk of long-term commitment almost as soon as they meet. True, at first it was a little disconcerting to read about Miguel, a cop, that was not only out with his family, but also at work, and no one, absolutely no one, had something against it. Not only that, at least 2 of his brothers are gays too, plus some of his colleagues and most of his poker night friends. I was like, well, I’m reading again one of that modern fantasy tale, is not possible this situation, and place, exist somewhere in this world. But then I thought, why not? Why everytime I read about “happy” gay men, I have always to be pessimistic? Why I couldn’t believe there is this chance for them? And so I decided to let it go the pessimistic attitude and read the story.

It’s a funny and light story, with a lot of supporting characters I think the author is introducing for following stories. True there are also some sad events, it’s almost a necessary step when talking about cops and the dangers of being one, but that doesn’t unbalance the general light tone of the novel. Robert and Miguel respect all the cliché of the top and bottom couple, where Miguel, the cop, is of course the top and Robert, the professor, the bottom. Robert is all blushes and babbling, Miguel is all teasing and hot. Robert is so clueless he doesn’t realize Miguel is gay until Miguel practically doesn’t undress in front of him with an obvious hard on. From that moment one, Miguel and Robert are like octopuses to each other, not letting one moment they are together go without a kiss, a stroke or a love word. It’s sugary, it’s pink glasses perspective, but it’s also so tender and sweet. Is it realistic? Sincerely, I don’t care, I like romance, that is all.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2277

Amazon Kindle: Detour
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 12, 2011)

Reading List:



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


Cover Art by Paul Richmond

Detour by Talia Carmichael

In her author bio, you can read: “Talia Carmichael is a romantic who believes that family, no matter if it is by blood or those you choose as family, is integral to who you are”. I think that from these words you can understand, and appreciate, most of this debut novel, Detour. It’s basically a very positive intake on what the life of a gay man could be, when you don’t loose the support of your own family, a support that gives you the strength, and hope, to believe you will find a loving relationship as the one your parents have.

Both Robert, a nerdy like science professor in a small college, and Miguel, an hunky patrol cop, come from loving and supporting family; this allows them to be comfortable with being gay, and happy, and ready to fall in love and talk of long-term commitment almost as soon as they meet. True, at first it was a little disconcerting to read about Miguel, a cop, that was not only out with his family, but also at work, and no one, absolutely no one, had something against it. Not only that, at least 2 of his brothers are gays too, plus some of his colleagues and most of his poker night friends. I was like, well, I’m reading again one of that modern fantasy tale, is not possible this situation, and place, exist somewhere in this world. But then I thought, why not? Why everytime I read about “happy” gay men, I have always to be pessimistic? Why I couldn’t believe there is this chance for them? And so I decided to let it go the pessimistic attitude and read the story.

It’s a funny and light story, with a lot of supporting characters I think the author is introducing for following stories. True there are also some sad events, it’s almost a necessary step when talking about cops and the dangers of being one, but that doesn’t unbalance the general light tone of the novel. Robert and Miguel respect all the cliché of the top and bottom couple, where Miguel, the cop, is of course the top and Robert, the professor, the bottom. Robert is all blushes and babbling, Miguel is all teasing and hot. Robert is so clueless he doesn’t realize Miguel is gay until Miguel practically doesn’t undress in front of him with an obvious hard on. From that moment one, Miguel and Robert are like octopuses to each other, not letting one moment they are together go without a kiss, a stroke or a love word. It’s sugary, it’s pink glasses perspective, but it’s also so tender and sweet. Is it realistic? Sincerely, I don’t care, I like romance, that is all.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2277

Amazon Kindle: Detour
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 12, 2011)

Reading List:



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


Cover Art by Paul Richmond

Le Jazz Hot by Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid

I have to admit that I was fascinated both by the cover and the plot, a cross-dressing story about a pretty wanna-be Broadway artist falling in love with an hunky firefighter. The not so subtle inspiration is the Victor/Victoria play, where a struggling singer finds her fortune dressed as a man impersonating a woman. Here instead Julian decides to “wear” the dress of Julia to be the woman Trent felt in love with.

While the authors play a lot with all the prettiness and sexiness, and naughtiness, of Julian while he is wearing woman clothes, they decided to not transfer it also on his sexual preferences, sure, Julian is gay, but he is an all over top in bed, and that is not exactly something Trent, a completely newby to gay sex can ignore. That is at the same time the point I liked the most but that sometime felt a little too pushed: when Trent finds out Julian is a man, and gay, and in love with him, he is most of all worried that he will not be able to “perform” anal sex. That said, I find Trent a sweet and nice man, a real good guy, and in a way, his worries were natural and right, for someone who has never ever considered to be in a same-sex relationship, to decide to step into one while at the same time accepting that he will be the bottom, is not simple, I think.

I also liked how the authors explained how Trent was willing to accept to be in love with another man even if he has never had previous similar experiences; basically from the first scene we are introduced to Trent, he is already proving some queer tendencies, something that is latent and that he has never once really acknowledge, but in any case it’s there and ready to be unveiled by Julian.

Julian is a mix of naughtiness and fragility; I think he comes from a not easy past, when he was asked to explain and justify his liking all frilly female things while at the same time having the urge to be the dominant in the relationship. Julian achieved a balance, but it’s not a steady one, and he can be easily hurt even by simply words. Falling in love with Trent is not easy for him, since at the beginning it seems like he had to renounce to all his maleness to be the one Trent would love back. And even if it’s difficult for him, Julian is ready to do that for the small chance to be Trent’s boyfriend. But Trent will prove to be the good boy he seems to be, and also the one who is able to understand what it really important in life, more than appearances and other people opinions.

http://www.loose-id.com/Le-Jazz-Hot.aspx
ISBN: 978-1-60737-968-3
Genre: LGBT Contemporary
Length: Novel

Reading List:



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


Cover Art by P.L. Nunn

I don't like mystery, and sincerely I don't care for this type of mystery at all

This past week I was out of town and so I only read about the video Matthew Montgomery and Steve Callahan did for the Trailblazer Campaign only today:

While I was still thinking, wow, what a nice video (I'm on both Matt and Steve's FB and so I followed some of their step towards this wonderful relationship, like when they adopted Dude, or when they got engaged), I also read about this post on the Queerty website:

http://www.queerty.com/can-closet-actors-smell-our-desperation-20110603/

As many others I'm surprise that a website (Queerty) that is supposedly advocating the LGBT community is posting something like that, but what I really cannot agree with is the following sentence:

For our part, we wouldn’t mind seeing more mystery, not less, when it comes to movie stars’ private lives, so perhaps a better campaign would be to encourage more actors to be ambiguous about their sexuality, thereby leveling the playing field.

sorry the term, but WTF?!? if they stopped on "more mystery", I could maybe have justified these words for alluding to a more old fashioned way to approach journalism, mystery like fashion, mystery like stardom, when people could think their hearthrob star was your boyfriend, since you didn't know who the real boyfriend was. But encouraging actors to be "ambiguous"? I for once would hate to think my favorite actor is ambiguous...

In any case I asked to some of my friends in the movie industry field to comment, to prove that I'm not the only one thinking in this way. I will post soon again about this.

In the meanwhile, this is Matthew Montgomery's statement directed to the GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to hopefully have Queerty be pressed to take some accountability and issue an apology, that Matthew kindly allowed me to repost here:

"Dear GLAAD,

My partner (Steve Callahan) and I are openly gay actors in the LGBT independent film industry (Steve's movie received the GLAAD award for East Side Story a couple of years ago) and we recently made a video that was part of James Duke Mason's Trailblazer Campaign on YouTube whose purpose is to encourage other gay actors to come out of the closet and help our community further the movement into greater acceptance by the entertainment industry and to set a standard of being proud of who you are to the gay youth of America and around the world. This campaign was started as an extension of the It Gets Better Campaign and other active campaigns seeking to spread the message of acceptance.

Today, I was dumbfounded at the following article written on Queerty.com in regards to our Trailblazer video. Particularly this section: "For our part, we wouldn’t mind seeing more mystery, not less, when it comes to movie stars’ private lives, so perhaps a better campaign would be to encourage more actors to be ambiguous about their sexuality, thereby leveling the playing field."

In the article, writer Nick Feather, proposes that we be more ambiguous with our sexual orientation in order to "level the playing field" ... whatever that means. Aside from being astronomically insulted by someone within our own community, I found this message to be incredibly hurtful and backwards in its core at a time when silence clearly does not seem to be providing us with equal rights, let alone acceptance from society in general.

I strongly recommend that an apology is issued by Queerty and that this article is removed immediately in order to prevent any fracturing from within our own community against each other. I mean - what is happening here?? I thought we were on the same side? It's sad when an openly gay man is having his own pride and oppressed voice questioned by someone from the same community who is fighting the same fight toward acceptance.

Shame on them.

Sincerely,

Matthew Montgomery
Proteus Pictures LLC
Los Angeles, CA
www.Matt-Montgomery.com
Artistic Achievement Award Winner 2010 - QFest"

Mission statement of GLAAD: "The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality."

I don't like mystery, and sincerely I don't care for this type of mystery at all

This past week I was out of town and so I only read about the video Matthew Montgomery and Steve Callahan did for the Trailblazer Campaign only today:

While I was still thinking, wow, what a nice video (I'm on both Matt and Steve's FB and so I followed some of their step towards this wonderful relationship, like when they adopted Dude, or when they got engaged), I also read about this post on the Queerty website:

http://www.queerty.com/can-closet-actors-smell-our-desperation-20110603/

As many others I'm surprise that a website (Queerty) that is supposedly advocating the LGBT community is posting something like that, but what I really cannot agree with is the following sentence:

For our part, we wouldn’t mind seeing more mystery, not less, when it comes to movie stars’ private lives, so perhaps a better campaign would be to encourage more actors to be ambiguous about their sexuality, thereby leveling the playing field.

sorry the term, but WTF?!? if they stopped on "more mystery", I could maybe have justified these words for alluding to a more old fashioned way to approach journalism, mystery like fashion, mystery like stardom, when people could think their hearthrob star was your boyfriend, since you didn't know who the real boyfriend was. But encouraging actors to be "ambiguous"? I for once would hate to think my favorite actor is ambiguous...

In any case I asked to some of my friends in the movie industry field to comment, to prove that I'm not the only one thinking in this way. I will post soon again about this.

In the meanwhile, this is Matthew Montgomery's statement directed to the GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to hopefully have Queerty be pressed to take some accountability and issue an apology, that Matthew kindly allowed me to repost here:

"Dear GLAAD,

My partner (Steve Callahan) and I are openly gay actors in the LGBT independent film industry (Steve's movie received the GLAAD award for East Side Story a couple of years ago) and we recently made a video that was part of James Duke Mason's Trailblazer Campaign on YouTube whose purpose is to encourage other gay actors to come out of the closet and help our community further the movement into greater acceptance by the entertainment industry and to set a standard of being proud of who you are to the gay youth of America and around the world. This campaign was started as an extension of the It Gets Better Campaign and other active campaigns seeking to spread the message of acceptance.

Today, I was dumbfounded at the following article written on Queerty.com in regards to our Trailblazer video. Particularly this section: "For our part, we wouldn’t mind seeing more mystery, not less, when it comes to movie stars’ private lives, so perhaps a better campaign would be to encourage more actors to be ambiguous about their sexuality, thereby leveling the playing field."

In the article, writer Nick Feather, proposes that we be more ambiguous with our sexual orientation in order to "level the playing field" ... whatever that means. Aside from being astronomically insulted by someone within our own community, I found this message to be incredibly hurtful and backwards in its core at a time when silence clearly does not seem to be providing us with equal rights, let alone acceptance from society in general.

I strongly recommend that an apology is issued by Queerty and that this article is removed immediately in order to prevent any fracturing from within our own community against each other. I mean - what is happening here?? I thought we were on the same side? It's sad when an openly gay man is having his own pride and oppressed voice questioned by someone from the same community who is fighting the same fight toward acceptance.

Shame on them.

Sincerely,

Matthew Montgomery
Proteus Pictures LLC
Los Angeles, CA
www.Matt-Montgomery.com
Artistic Achievement Award Winner 2010 - QFest"

Mission statement of GLAAD: "The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality."