Lexi Ander (born September 17, 1972)

Lexi has always been an avid reader and at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother's romances (the ones she was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions. A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband and her 80 pound puppies named after vacuum cleaners.

Alpha Trine won a 2014 Rainbow Award as Best Bisexual General Fiction and Best Bisexual Book.

Further Readings:

Alpha Trine (The Valespian Pact Book 1) by Lexi Ander
Series: The Valespian Pact
Paperback: 198 pages
Publisher: Less Than Three Press; Second edition (January 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620042444
ISBN-13: 978-1620042441
Amazon: Alpha Trine (The Valespian Pact Book 1)
Amazon Kindle: Alpha Trine (The Valespian Pact Book 1)

The sole survivor on a science vessel adrift in deep space, Zeus was adopted by the Emperor and Empress of the Mar'Sani, though he is both human and blind, and seen by most as unfit to join the royal family. Though they were able to repair his vision, Zeus does not trust his eyes and the nobles of his parents' court refuse to ever trust a frail human. Dargon Kal-Turak, along with his symbiote and lover Alpha, command one of the most dangerous ships in the stars. Narrowly escaping a trap, they dock in a space port to make repairs, but find that the Psionics hunting them are closing in fast. In desperation they kidnap the port Master Mechanic, unaware that the man they've brought on board is more than he seems, and will bring far more upheaval to their ship, their lives, and the stars than any of them could have imagined.

More Rainbow Awards at my website: elisarolle.com, Rainbow Awards/2014

Ava Alice Muriel Astor & Sir Frederick Ashton

Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 – July 19, 1956) was an American heiress, socialite, and member of the Astor family. She was the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing, and sister of Vincent Astor.

Ava was born on July 7, 1902, the only daughter of John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing. Her paternal grandparents were yachtsman William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn, while her maternal grandparents were Edward Shippen Willing and Alice Barton.

Ava Astor married Prince Sergei Platonovich "Serge" Obolensky, son of General Platon Sergeyevich Obolensky and Maria Konstantinovna Naryshkina, on July 24, 1924 in the Savoy Chapel in London. The marriage was considered the event of the season in England that year. Her brother Vincent gave her a Palladian Revival stone residence on his estate near Rhinebeck, New York. The house was north of his own "Ferncliff Casin" ("Astor Courts") and also overlooked the Hudson River. Ava named it "Marienruh" and retained it through her life. They had a son Ivan (born May 15, 1925) and a daughter Sylvia (May 18, 1931 — June 27, 1997)

After divorcing Serge in 1932, she married Raimund von Hofmannsthal (1906 — March 20, 1974), son of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Gertrud "Gerty" Schlesinger. The couple was married on January 21, 1933, in the city court of Newark, New Jersey. The couple had a daughter, Romana von Hofmannsthal (born c. 1935), who married Roderick McEwen. Raimund later married Lady Elizabeth Paget.


Sir Frederick Ashton was a dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Ava Alice Muriel Astor was an American heiress and socialite, the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing. In 1936–37, she had an affair with Ashton, his homosexuality notwithstanding. After the affair ended, her love for him continued, though she had two subsequent marriages, both to gay Englishmen (Philip Harding, a journalist, and David Pleydell-Bouverie)

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ava_Alice_Muriel_Astor

Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE (17 September 1904 – 18 August 1988) was a dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Ava Alice Muriel Astor (July 7, 1902 - July 19, 1956) was an American heiress and socialite, the daughter of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Lowle Willing, and sister of Vincent Astor. In 1936–37, she had an affair with British choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton, his homosexuality notwithstanding. After the affair ended, her love for him continued, though she had two subsequent marriages, both to gay Englishmen (Philip Harding, a journalist, and David Pleydell-Bouverie)

Determined to be a dancer, despite the opposition of his conventional middle-class family, Ashton was accepted as a pupil by Leonide Massine and then by Marie Rambert. In 1926 Rambert encouraged him to try his hand at choreography, and though he continued to dance professionally, with success, it was as a choreographer that he became famous.

Ashton was chief choreographer to Ninette de Valois, from 1935 until her retirement in 1963, in the company known successively as the Vic-Wells Ballet, the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Royal Ballet. He succeeded de Valois as director of the company, serving until his own retirement in 1970.


Sir Frederick Ashton; Ninette de Valois; Léonide Fedorovich Massine, by Angus McBean, bromide print, 1946, 7 1/2 in. x 9 5/8 in. (190 mm x 243 mm), Purchased, 2001, Primary Collection, NPG P911

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Frederick_Ashton

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben & Pierre-Étienne Du Ponceau

Charles Adams (May 29, 1770 – November 30, 1800) was the second son of President John Adams and his wife, Abigail (Smith) Adams. He died of alcoholism on November 30, 1800.

At the age of nine he traveled with his father and older brother John Quincy to Europe, studied briefly in Passy, Amsterdam, and Leiden. He matriculated in Leiden January 29, 1781.

In December 1781, Adams returned to America unaccompanied by family members. After graduating from Harvard University in 1789, he studied law and established his practice in New York.

John W. Mulligan, Jr., was the son of John “Hercules” Mulligan, Alexander Hamilton’s roommate. Young Mulligan had been living with Adams. The future president and his wife, concerned about the intense nature of the relationship, insisted that Adams and Mulligan split up. The anguished boys wrote to Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben of their devastation at being separated. With compassion for the heartbroken couple, Steuben offered to take both young men into his home. Adams lived with Mulligan and Steuben for a little while, but Mulligan stayed on for many years, serving as Steuben’s secretary until the baron’s death. When Steuben died, to Mulligan he bequeathed his library, maps, and $2,500.

On August 29, 1795, Adams married Sally Smith (1769–1828), the sister of his brother-in-law, William Stephens Smith. They had two daughters, Susanna Boylston (1796–1884) and Abigail Louisa Smith (1798–1836).

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Adams_%281770%E2%80%931800%29

A hero of the American Revolution, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Rudolf Gerhard August von Steuben knew that discipline has its virtues. And that’s just what he instilled in the Continental Army through the bitter winter of 1778 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. (P: ©Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827)/ Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Baron Friedrich William von Steuben, 1780 (©4))

The former aide to FREDERICK the Great fled his native Prussia for the new world amid allegations of improper relations. An anonymous member of the court of Baden wrote:

It has come to me from different sources that M. de Steuben is accused of having taken familiarities with young boys which the laws forbid and punish severely. I have even been informed that that is the reason why M. de Steuben was obliged to leave Hechingen and that the clergy of your country intend to prosecute him by law as soon as he may establish himself (Picture: Pierre-Étienne DU PONCEAU)anywhere.

Steuben made his way to America, where George Washington was desperate for experienced officers. Washington asked Steuben to help bring some order to the tattered Continental troops fighting the British.

On February 23, 1778, the ragtag soldiers at Valley Forge were astonished by the spectacle of the silk and fur-robed baron arriving in a grandiose twenty-four-belled sleigh drawn by black Percheron draft horses, caressing his sleek miniature greyhound Azor. He was followed by a retinue of African servants, a French cook, his aide-de-camp Louis de Pontiere, and his seventeen-year-old private secretary/lover, Pierre-Étienne DU PONCEAU. Steuben quickly took matters into his own hands and began intensive training of one hundred soldiers as a model company. They in turn schooled others in his military tactics.

( Read more... )

Stern, Keith (2009-09-01). Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (Kindle Locations 11309-11319). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.

Peter Stephen Du Ponceau or DuPonceau, born Pierre-Étienne Du Ponceau, (June 3, 1760, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, France – April 1, 1844, Philadelphia) was a French linguist, philosopher, and jurist. After immigrating to the colonies in 1777, he served in the American Revolutionary War. Afterward, he settled in Philadelphia, where he lived the remainder of his years. He contributed significantly to work on indigenous languages of the Americas, as well as advancing understanding of Chinese writing. (

Thomas Sully (1783–1872), American Philosophical Society Museum, Portrait of Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, 1830)

DuPonceau studied at a Benedictine college, where he gained an interest in linguistics. However, he abruptly ended his education after only 18 months over a dissatisfaction with the scholarly philosophy taught at the college. He emigrated to America in 1777, at age 17, with Baron von Steuben, who was 30 years his senior.

DuPonceau served as a secretary for Steuben in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. After the war, he settled in Philadelphia, where he would spend the rest of his life. He was a good friend of Lafayette.

DuPonceau joined the American Philosophical Society in 1791. He served as president of it from 1827 until his death. He became noted in the field of linguistics for his analysis of Indigenous languages of the Americas; as a member of Society's Historical and Literary Committee, he helped build a collection of texts that described and recorded the native languages of the Americas. His book concerning their grammatical systems (Mémoire sur le systeme grammatical des langues de quelques nations Indiennes de l'Amérique du Nord) won the Volney Prize of the French Institute in 1835.

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Etienne_Du_Ponceau

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Konstantin Somov & Mikhail Kuzmin

Konstantin Andreyevich Somov (Russian: Константин Андреевич Сомов, November 30, 1869 – May 6, 1939) was a Russian artist associated with the Mir iskusstva. Born into a family of a major art historian and Hermitage Museum curator Andrey Ivanovich Somov, he became interested in the 18th-century art and music at an early age. (P: Konstantin Somov (1869–1939)/Tretiakov. Portrait de Sergueï Vassilievitch Rachmaninov, 1925)

Somov studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts under Ilya Repin from 1888 to 1897. While at the Academy, he befriended Alexandre Benois, who would introduce him to Sergei Diaghilev and Léon Bakst. When the three founded the World of Art, Somov liberally contributed to its periodicals. Somov was homosexual, like many of the World of Art members.

Inspired by Watteau and Fragonard, he preferred to work with watercolours and gouache. For three years he worked upon his masterpiece, Lady in Blue, painted in the manner of 18th-century portraitists.

During the 1910s, Somov executed a number of rococo harlequin scenes and illustrations to the poems by Alexander Blok. Many of his works were exhibited abroad, especially in Germany, where the first monograph on him was published in 1909.


©Konstantin Somov (1869-1939). A Reclining Man (sold for US$790,378) (©4)
Konstantin Somov was a Russian artist associated with the Mir iskusstva. Somov was homosexual, like many of the World of Art members. On September 15, 1906, Mikhail Kuzmin depicts in his diary what was apparently his first sexual experience with more than one partner. The two happened to be a young man, Pavlik Maslov, Kuzmin’s lover at that time, and Konstantin Somov, Kuzmin’s close friend. On June 14, 2007, Somov's landscape The Rainbow (1927) was sold at Christie's for US$7.33 million, a record for a work of Russian art. 

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Somov

The Russian writer and translator Mikhail Kuzmin (October 18, 1872 - March 1, 1936) wrote poems and novels that present sympathetic, often idealistic, portrayals of gay love and desire. (P: Konstantin Somov (1869–1939). Portrait of Mikhail Kuzmin, from the Tretyakov Gallery (1909))

Kuzmin was initially attracted to theater and music. He developed his interest in theater early in life, attending operettas in Saratov, near Yaroslavl, where he was born. Kuzmin became a member of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's music composition class at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1891, completing three years of the seven-year program, while also learning German and Italian.

During his life, Kuzmin translated writing not only from German and Italian, but also from English, French, Greek, and Latin, including works by Apuleius, Aubrey Beardsley, Lord Byron, and Johann Goethe, as well as 110 of William Shakespeare's sonnets and 9 of his plays.

In 1904, the homosexual Georgy Vasilevich Chicherin (1872-1936) introduced Kuzmin to Mir iskoustva (The World of Art), an artistic circle centered primarily on Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), best known for making the Ballets Russes a major influence in the European art world, and for his relationship with the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.

The group attracted Kuzmin because of its theatrical concerns, its Art Nouveau aesthetic, and its relation to Symbolism. Mir iskoustva also appealed to Kuzmin because of its large homosexual membership and its penchant for dandyism.


Mikhail Kuzmin, 1919 portrait by his lover Yuri Yurkun
In 1910, Mikhail Kuzmin met his first major love, the poet Vsevolod Knyazev. In the same year, he published The Carillon of Love, a collection of poems written in the style of eighteenth-century pastorals and set to music by Kuzmin himself. Two years later, he published Lakes in Autumn, possibly the work by him that most idealizes homosexuality. Knyazev committed suicide in 1913, and Kuzmin met Yury Yurkun, also a poet, soon after. Kuzmin and Yurkun's relationship lasted until Kuzmin's death.

( Read more... )

Citation Information
Author: Denisoff, Dennis
Entry Title: Kuzmin, Mikhail Alekseyevich
General Editor: Claude J. Summers
Publication Name: glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture
Publication Date: 2002
Date Last Updated October 10, 2007
Web Address www.glbtq.com/literature/kuzmin_ma.html
Publisher glbtq, Inc.
1130 West Adams
Chicago, IL 60607
Today's Date March 1, 2014
Encyclopedia Copyright: © 2002-2006, glbtq, Inc.
Entry Copyright © 1995, 2002 New England Publishing Associates

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Timothy Huber & William J. Mann

William J. Mann (born August 7) alternates his creative energies between fiction and nonfiction. “The two forms require different strategies and techniques,” he says, “but ultimately I’m faced with the same challenge. I need to find the story and I need to tell it well.” Mann’s comfortable house in Provincetown is one of two homes that he and his husband, Dr. Timothy Huber, a psychologist, maintain. Currently Huber is in New York, setting up a new practice. Until recently, the couple, who married in 2004, spent winters in Palm Springs, California. They’ve since sold their California home and bought a house in Connecticut, the state where Mann grew up.

His biography of Katharine Hepburn, titled Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, received extraordinary acclaim when it was published in 2006. The Sunday Times (London) called it “definitive.” Historian David Thomson, writing for the New York Observer, said the book “set new standards in movie biography.” Gore Vidal considered it “not only an intriguing portrait of Katharine Hepburn, but also an accurate picture of her Hollywood and the difficult business of stardom.” The New York Times named Kate one of the 100 Notable Books of 2006 Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn was named one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year by The New York Times.

Mann's novels set in Provincetown enjoy a devoted following Just as his nonfiction brings the past vividly to life, Mann’s novels have been praised for their keen insight on the present, especially the lives of gay American men. His first novel, The Men from the Boys, was the best-selling gay novel of 1997, and its long-awaited sequel, Where The Boys Are, published in 2003, continues to enjoy a devoted following from readers. Other novels have received considerable acclaim as well, particularly the offbeat All American Boy.


William J. Mann alternates energies between fiction and nonfiction. “The two forms require different strategies and techniques” he says “but ultimately I’m faced with the same challenge. I need to find the story and I need to tell it well.” Mann’s comfortable house in Provincetown is one of two homes that he and his husband, Dr. Timothy Huber, a psychologist, maintain. They also bought a house in Connecticut, the state where Mann grew up. On September 17, 2013 they celebrated their 25th anniversary.

( Read more... )

Source: http://www.williamjmann.com/

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

George Passmore & Gilbert Proesch

Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch, (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy) and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom) are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo called Gilbert & George. They are known for their distinctive and highly formal appearance and manner and also for their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks.

Prousch was born in San Martin de Tor in South Tyrol, northern Italy, his mother tongue being Ladin. He studied art at the Sëlva School of Art and Hallein School of Art in Austria and the Akademie der Kunst, Munich, before moving to England.

Passmore was born in Plymouth in the United Kingdom, to a single mother in a poor household. He studied art at the Dartington College of Arts and the Oxford School of Art.

The two first met on 25 September 1967 while studying sculpture at Saint Martin's School of Art. The two claim they came together because George was the only person who could understand Gilbert's rather poorly-spoken English. In a 2002 interview with the Daily Telegraph, they said of their meeting: "it was love at first sight". They have claimed that they married in 2008.


Gilbert Prousch (born 17 September 1943) and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942) are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo called Gilbert & George. The two first met on 25 September 1967 while studying sculpture at Saint Martin's School of Art. The two claim they came together because George was the only person who could understand Gilbert's rather poorly-spoken English. In a 2002 interview with the Daily Telegraph, they said of their meeting: "it was love at first sight".

( Read more... )

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Proesch

( Further Readings )

More Artists at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

More Real Life Romances at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

James Howe & Mark Davis

James Howe (born August 2, 1946, Oneida, New York) is the American author of over 80 juvenile and young adult books, including the Bunnicula series, about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables. On September 17th, 2011, Howe married Mark Davis, a partner in the New York law firm Engel and Davis, and his partner since 2001, at a home in Dorset, Vermont.

At the age of nine or ten, Howe wrote a play based on the "Blondie" comic strip as well as a variety of short stories and self-published newspapers, his favorite being "the Gory Gazette," made for a self-founded club: Vampire Legion.

Howe would continue to write plays during his theater studies at Boston University, and eventually move to New York City to pursue a career as an actor and model while directing plays and working as a literary agent.

In the mid-1970s, Howe's mother-in-law encouraged him and his wife, Deborah Howe, to create a children's story based on a character the two had created while watching older Dracula movies, which at the time were played late at night on TV in the 1970s. With his wife, he created Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery, about a pet rabbit suspected of being a vampire. The book would go on to win more than ten Children's Choice awards, including the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and the Nene Award, and eventually evolve into a series. Shortly after Bunnicula was published Deborah fell victim to cancer and died, inspiring the creation of The Hospital Book.


(c) leslie j. yerman photography
James Howe (born August 2, 1946) is the American author of over 80 juvenile and young adult books, including the Bunnicula series, about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables. On September 17th, 2011, Howe married Mark Davis, a partner in the New York law firm Engel and Davis, and his partner since 2001, at a home in Dorset, Vermont. After the death of his first wife, Howe remarried and fathered a daughter, Zoey. Howe and his second wife divorced after Howe came out as gay.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Howe

Further Readings:

Totally Joe by James Howe
Age Range: 9 and up
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (April 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0689839588
ISBN-13: 978-0689839580
Amazon: Totally Joe
Amazon Kindle: Totally Joe

"Everybody says you and Colin were kissing."

"What? That's ridiculous!"

"For heaven's sake, Joe, if you and Colin want to kiss, you have every right to."

"We did not kiss," I told her.

Addie shrugged. "Whatever."

What was it with my friends?

From the creator of The Misfits, the book that inspired NATIONAL NO NAME-CALLING WEEK, comes the story of Joe Bunch....

Gr. 6-9. Joe, one of the characters in The Misfits (2001), has his say, in a voice uniquely his own. Twelve-year-old Joe knows he is gay. He played with Barbies as a young child, prefers cooking to sports, and has a crush on a male classmate. Written in the form of an assignment--an "alphabiography"--the story takes readers through the school year, one letter at a time: G is for the Gang of Five, Joe's misfit friends, who are utterly loyal when he falls for Colin. But Colin is less secure about his sexuality than Joe is, and when the rumor goes around that the boys have been seen kissing, he quashes the relationship. Joe survives the crush, and the book has an upbeat ending. Actually, despite a few worries, the whole book is cheerful and optimistic. Joe's family is supportive, and the kids from the nasty (Christian) family that wants to stop the Gay-Straight Alliance are removed to a different school. In other words, there's nothing terribly realistic about the scenario; in many ways, the book is reminiscent of David Levithan's Boy Meets Boy (2003), which was for a slightly older audience. Obviously, the novel will be problematic for some--not only because of the gay theme and Joe's age but also the stereotypic portrayal of the bullying Christian family. Joe himself often comes off as a cross between Niles Crane and Harvey Fierstein. But he also reacts like a kid, and readers in his situation will wish for the love and support he receives from friends and family, as well as the happy life he so clearly envisions. (Ilene Cooper)

"A character that lives and breathes with all the inconsistencies, fears, and longings of your normal, average seventh-grade homosexual." -- Kirkus Reviews

More Spotlights at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

GRL: Zathyn Priest

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).

For the GRL in San Diego, October 15-18, 2015, today author is Zathyn Priest: Zathyn Priest is an Australian writer with severe vampiric tendencies. Absolutely convinced the sun could turn him to a pile of ash, Zathyn prefers to write under the cover of darkness. This serves two purposes, with the first being the afore mentioned sunlight danger, and the second being the fact that nighttime means no annoying phones ringing or people knocking at the door.

Zathyn has written three published novels using this strange moonlight technique. The Curtis Reincarnation, which is now available in paperback. The Slayer’s Apprentice, soon to be available in paperback. And, Liquid Glass, soon to be available from Torquere Press. He has also written two short fiction works. Left of Center, available from Torquere Press, and One of Those Days, an eBook downloadable from www.zathynpriest.com - because even though Zathyn has vampiric traits, he’s actually quite a nice guy and wrote One of Those Days as a freebie.

When Zathyn isn’t writing, or running for cover before sunlight turns him to cinders, he likes to pretend he’s really good at playing his MIDI keyboard. Thankfully, Zathyn is a conscientious neighbour. Rather than drive the street insane with repeated renditions of Greensleeves, he uses headphones because, let’s face it, no matter how beautiful Greensleeves is, most people don’t want to hear it one hundred times a night.

Zathyn lives with a retired greyhound called Chrissy, who lives the life of luxury sleeping away most of her days on the sofa and generally only waking up when there’s food around or if it’s time for a walk. There’s also a cat called Fran, who doesn’t like Chrissy very much and feels she should reiterate this fact by occasionally smacking her in the face. Just when you thought the household couldn’t get any stranger, there’s a duck - or drake, he’d probably rather be called - named Charlie who originally lived on a farm, but moved in with Zathyn after a fox ate all his girlfriends and was eying Charlie for dessert.

Further Readings:

Amara: The Rebirth by Zathyn Priest
Paperback: 274 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (June 16, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608209350
ISBN-13: 978-1608209354
Amazon: Amara: The Rebirth
Amazon Kindle: Amara: The Rebirth

Legendary vampire, Emrys Amara, changes Matthew's destiny when he's thrown into a world of kidnap victims, werewolves, deceit, and the rebirth of the greatest vampire clan in history. Matthew and his husband Dean are slayers, trying to end a chokehold Amara half-breed vampires put on Nottingham and kill the leader, Amdis. A diary supposedly written by legendary Emrys Amara is sent to them, yet they doubt the orphaned vampire could have survived the demise of his clan.Meeting Emrys proves them wrong. Matthew falls deeply; Dean's jealousy takes a sinister turn. A chain of events involving kidnapped children and werewolves follows as Amdis teams up with another vampire clan.Can Matthew and Emrys save the children while rebuilding the Amaras as the greatest vampire clan in history?

2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: La Vie en Bleu by Jody Klaire

La Vie en Bleu by Jody Klaire
Lesbian Romantic Comedy
Paperback: 274 pages
Publisher: Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company (August 24, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939562988
ISBN-13: 978-1939562982
Amazon: La Vie en Bleu
Amazon Kindle: La Vie en Bleu

Pippa Saunders likes her life as it is. Uncomplicated, boring, and underachieving. She's engaged to a Prince Charming (AKA Doug Fletcher) and she and her best friend, Rebecca, share a flat in London. A series of events threatens to shake her neatly packaged life when Doug buys a holiday home for them in the south of France and hires the mysterious Berne Chamonix to help renovate the stonework. Pippa finds herself face to face with the woman who has an uncanny knack of tying her up in emotional knots. Now she has to work alongside the beautiful, strong, and enchanting former lover she ran away from when she was nineteen. Her once simple life and well built-up façade is poised to crumble . . . la vie en bleu.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html