GayRomLit Chat at Joyfully Reviewed

On Sunday, May 1^st, the first official festivities of the GayRomLit Retreat get under way as many of the participating authors gather together in the Chatting with Joyfully Reviewed Yahoo Group where we’ll be posting excerpts, running contests for free books, and chatting about all the new and upcoming releases from your favorite authors.

Organizers will be on hand to talk about the Retreat, which is being held in New Orleans, October 13-16, 2011. Reader registration will only remain open until June 15^th, so don’t wait! Stop by OUR WEBSITE for more information or to reserve your spot.

The thirty-six authors listed below will be participating in Sunday’s chat and have generously offered up the following e-books as giveaways which you can enter for a chance to win!!

WILLIAM NEALE - HOME ~ CAROL LYNNE - SPRING

RICK R. REED – HOW I MET MY MAN & HOMECOMING

PD SINGER – CROSS THE MOUNTAIN ~ MARIE SEXTON – PROMISES

HEIDI CULLINAN – THE SEVENTH VEIL

KATE MCMURRAY – THE BOY NEXT DOOR

JP BARNABY - ENLIGHTENED ~ KC BURN – SPICE ‘N’ SOLACE

BELINDA MCBRIDE – BLACK WOLF ~ AMBER KELL – KEVIN’S ALPHA

TD MCKINNEY – PAXTON’S WINTER ~ KIERNAN KELLY – CORNFED

ROWAN SPEEDWELL – KINDRED HEARTS

EM LYNLEY – EMERALD ~ ETHAN DAY – CHOICE FROM BACKLIST

EDEN WINTERS – SETTLING THE SCORE

BRYL R TYNE – FORSAKEN & TOUGH GUY

VIOLET SUMMERS – SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT

BRITA ADDAMS – SPLENDID CAPTIVITY & LOVE IMMORTAL

SIMONE ANDERSON – TO LOVE AGAIN ~ AMBER GREEN - TURNCOAT

LYDIA NYX – FROM MOROCCO TO PARIS ~ MISSY WELCH – KLT23

DC JURIS – WHAT THE LADY WANTS & NO PLACE LIKE HOME

DAMON SUEDE – HOT HEAD ~ VJ SUMMERS – UNDER THE INFLUENCE

CLARE LONDON – CHOICE FROM BACKLIST

ANGELIA SPARROW – HOWL AT THE MISTLETOE

JAIME SAMMS – FIX THIS, SIR ~ JAMBREA JO JONES – TELL ME NOW

TREVA HARTE – MAXXED OUT ~ TRINA LANE – IN DREAMS HE CAME

TD MCKINNEY & TERRY WYLIS – PORTRAIT OF A KISS

JP BOWIE – BLOOD LURE & TRIP OF A LIFETIME

LYNN LORENZ – ROUGAROUX SOCIAL CLUB

In addition you’ll be treated to excerpts from some of the latest releases like the ones provided by the following authors!

WILLIAM NEALE – A NEW NORMAL ~ TC BLUE – MANDARIN ORANGE

ANGELIA SPARROW – SWIMMING THROUGH THE NET

CLARE LONDON – THE TOURIST ~ BRYL R TYNE – AT DAY’S END

TRINA LANE – THE PERFECT BALANCE ~ BARRY BRENNESSEL - TINSELTOWN

CAROL LYNNE – CRIMSON MOON ~ PD SINGER – FALL DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

MARIE SEXTON – PARIS A TO Z  ~ BELINDA MCBRIDE – BLAQUE/BLEU

KIERNAN KELLY – A WEAPON OF OPPORTUNITY

AMANDA YOUNG – PRECIOUS ACHE

EM LYNLEY – THIEF OF HEARTS

The day will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST in the Chatting with Joyfully Reviewed Yahoo Group. I hope everyone will stop by to catch up with your favorite authors and join in all the fun!

Can’t wait to see you there!

English Teacher outed as erotic novelist

Excerpt:
"A series of racy romance novels by an author named Judy Mays are a little too racy for some parents in our area, especially now that they have discovered the woman known as Judy Mays is teaching their children.

Many parents might admire a high school English teacher who is also a published author, but some parents in Snyder County said what their children's teacher is writing about in her spare time might be a little too hot to handle."

Original Story:  http://snydercounty.wnep.com/news/news/parents-english-teacher-writes-racy-novels/58743



My response:

This story was slanted completely against a dedicated teacher by small minded people. I was wondering if you planned to even out the story with opinions from people who either don't care what their kid's English teacher does in their spare time, or applaud the woman for keeping her skills practiced and up-to-date.

I write erotic novels. What I write has absolutely nothing to do with my day job just as it has nothing to do with hers. It's not like she sits and writes salacious scenes while her kids are taking an exam. It is ludicrous to assume that one activity encroaches on another, or that her students will be harmed in any way by something that has nothing to do with them.

My civics teacher taught us that news reporting is an unbiased account of events in the search for truth. Apparently, your English teacher has a better grasp on her subject than he did on his.

Send WNEP an email

Muffled Screaming

Recently, I’d seen a movie recommended as a gay love story on Netflix. The main characters were cute, sweet teenage boys finding themselves and each other, so I dropped it in my queue and it arrived over the weekend. Last night, I watched it and found myself utterly horrified. It wasn’t a bad movie, but the realism and shock at the end made me drop it back into its little red envelope and throw it none too gently into the mailbox for its return journey.

The main body of the movie is about two teenage boys – one a straight senior and the other a gay freshman. For those who need a refresher, that would make them about 17 and 13 respectively. As the story progresses, you begin to notice the fact that the freshman boy, who has developed a crush on his senior study partner, is being sexually abused by his father. This revelation is heart breaking enough as the boy uses twine to create a kind of alarm so that he can escape before the older man climbs in bed with him. While the boy is hanging out with his crush, who incidentally is exploiting the boy’s feelings for sex, another of the older guy’s friends develops an unfriendly interest. He watches the interactions between the boy and his older friend.

At the end of the story, the boy goes camping with his older friend, the unfriendly guy, and a third boy who is also older. While the boy and his friend are in their tent, he pleases his friend orally to which the older boy says “Does it bother you that I don’t do things like that back?” which shows all too clearly how he is taking advantage of his thirteen-year-old friend. The story culminates in the unfriendly boy finding out about his friend’s homosexual acts with the younger boy. Separating himself and the younger boy from the other two, he rapes the boy while taunting him about touching his friend.

I was watching the movie late at night and had the sound on, but was using the captions to supplement the dialog. While this thirteen-year-old boy was face down, his hands clinging to a blanket screaming and crying while the older boy raped him, all that displayed in the captioning was “muffled screaming”. No amount of words could have captured the boy’s fear or anguish at being forced into the receiving end of brutal anal sex. I felt sick as the credits rolled and for the rest of the night, no matter how hard I tried to sleep, all I could see was that boy’s straining hands as he held on to the blanket begging for it to end.

Even though it was only a movie, it happens everywhere – and for what? How does raping an innocent boy prove moral superiority over him because he’s gay?

It’s horrifying and makes me want to just stay in bed with the blankets over my head and never come out again.

Little Boy Lost: Enlightened makes the Dreamspinner Press "Bestsellers" List

I am really excited to share with you that Little Boy Lost: Enlightened has made the Dreamspinner Press Bestsellers list.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me, and supported the series through this transition to Dreamspinner Press. It has been an amazing experience.

New Free Story Download - All the Wrong Reasons

All the Wrong Reasons is the story of Cameron Finch and Josh Pennington. Cameron was sent away for all the wrong reasons – but stayed for one very right one, him. Will he be worth everything Cameron must give up to have him?

Written with my good friend Liz Sentry, this is a sweet and heartbreaking tale of young love and parents behaving badly.

Meeting a Gay Courtesan

A few months ago, I met a guy online whom I found endlessly fascinating. Intelligent as well as educated, his blog and twitter posts captured my interest and I found myself striking up a dialogue with him. As a self-published author, I was flattered when he asked me to guest post for his blog but I have to admit, I was shocked when he asked me to lunch. Had we been standing next to each other in person, I’m sure I’d have looked around to see who he was talking to. A shy geeky software developer, and a girl to boot. Why on earth would Devon Hunter want to have lunch with me?

But…I agreed.

I DM’d him my cell phone number on Twitter, believing that he would “be too busy” or “catch malaria” when the time came, so I didn’t think much else about it. Then, the texts started to come. He had arrived in Chicago on Thursday and decided to go to an art gallery during the morning, from which he sent me beautiful images of some artwork he’d love to have. We sent message back and forth all day long. To be honest, the idea that he would share those things with me made me feel special.

Friday morning came, and we talked about where we would meet. At first, I suggested Lou Malnatti’s because it’s as much a Chicago institution as Wrigley Field or Lake Shore Drive. But alas, his voice wasn’t up to a crowded restaurant after screaming himself hoarse at the Janet Jackson concert a few nights earlier. I thought for sure he would cancel.  Instead, we decided on a quieter restaurant.

Still texting back and forth, we arrived at Kinzie Chop House which is a wonderful place on Kinzie and Wells near the Merchandise Mart. After he’d been so kind, and so welcoming to me, I wanted to take him someplace special.

I had already been seated when he arrived, and felt a little silly sitting with a copy of my book looking out the window like a lost puppy. But then, he was there and he was as beautiful in person as his profile pictures would lead you to believe. Because he is a warm and friendly southern man, the first thing he did was hug me which helped to put my nervousness in the back of my mind. Then, he held out his hand and introduced himself, and I laughed. From that moment until our lunch finished nearly two hours later, he was charming and funny. We talked about everything from blogs to escorting to the Panthers not being able to hit any homeruns in order to get into the World Cup. Rather than feeling awkward because of what some may consider his celebrity status, it was like talking to a guy you’ve known all of your life.

So, if you read a few of his reviews and they mention how incredibly personable Devon is and how he can put you at ease simply with the power of his conversation; believe it because it’s a perfect description.

Devon Hunter's Blog - An Online Diary of a Gay Courtesan

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Devon_Hunter