Stephen Osborne: Nerdvana Author Interview

Stephen Osborne and I have published stories in several anthologies. Even though we live in the same city, we met through an editor for an anthology that accepted stories from both of us. Stephen is a very prolific author, and I am pleased to introduce him to you.

1) What inspired your Nerdvana story?

I have been a card-carrying nerd as long as I can remember, but for some strange reason in high school and college many of my friends were jocks. The party depicted in "The Grand Deception" is based on a real event. The names have been changed to protect the Now-Married-With-Children.

2) How did you get into writing gay erotica?

When I started sending out my stories, I wrote three, two of which were simple love stories. I saw a request for submissions to Jesse Grant's anthology "Hustlers" and thought why not give it a try. I wasn't holding out much hope for that story (Bus Stop) as I really didn't read erotica and thought it would be rejected. It was my first story accepted! Go figure!

3) What other erotica projects do you have coming out soon?

I'm included in Teammates, edited by Eric Summers (Starbooks Press), Skater Boys edited by Neil Plakcy (Cleis Press) and have 2 stories in Rock and Roll Over, edited by Eric Summers. I also have a story in Video Boys, edited by Mickey Ehlach (Starbooks Press) and a few others.

4) What non-erotic projects have you written?

I've written a book of ghosts stories and legends called South Bend Ghosts and Other Northern Indiana Haunts (Schiffer Books) and have stories in Best Gay Love Stories 2010 edited by Brad Nichols (Alyson Books), Queer Wolf, edited by James E.M. Rasmussen (Queered Fiction), and Best Gay Love Stories: Summer Flings, also edited by Brad Nichols.

5) Do you have a website or blog your fans can follow?

I don't have a website right now. Maybe I'll get one if I think people would be interested. I can be followed on Twitter under the name southbendghosts and I have an author page on the Goodreads site (http://www.goodreads.com/).

Nerdvana Releases

Starbooks Press releases Nerdvana edited by Fred Towers. This shows that brainiacs, nerds, geeks, dorks and more are sexy. Nerdly hot gay erotica!

Let me know what you think.

Nerdly, hotly yours,
Fred

5 Top Queer Mystery writers come to Indy Oct 17th!

I am sooo excited to announce this. My writer friend, Greg Herren and an writing acquaintance, along with others, will be coming to Indy this coming weekend. :-D I hope I can hook up with one or more of these writers for dinner or lunch this weekend.

I absolutely love Ellen Hart's Jane Lawless mysteries and Greg Herren's Scotty series (I haven't read a Chanse yet). I'll have to buy one for this event.

See you there,
Fred

Listen to and Meet the top queer mystery authors in the nation! Pick up your free ticket at Out Word Bound!

Event to be held at Theatre On The Square (TOTS), 637 Mass Ave. ~ Limited Cabaret seating

* * Pre-purchase a book and go to the front of the autographing line!

Don't miss...

Anthony Bidulka, author of 'Aloha, Candy Hearts', the latest in the Russell Quant series

Ellen Hart, author of 'Sweet Poison' and 'Mortal Groove', the latest in the Jane Lawless series

Greg Herren, author of 'Murder in the Rue Ursulines', the latest in the Chanse MacLeod series

Neil Plakcy, author of 'Mahu Vice', the latest in the Mahu series

Mark Zubro, author of 'Hook, Line & Homicide,' the latest in the Paul Turner series and 'Schooled in Murder,' the latest Tom and Scott mystery

Pre-order Nerdvana at Amazon

Hey,
One of my authors let me know that Nerdvana is available for pre-order at Amazon.

Go check out the cover. :-D

Fred

Ultimate Gay Erotica 2009

I am so excited. I just received my contributor copies for Ultimate Gay Erotica 2009 today. My story, Revenge Visits Vegas is published by Alyson in Ultimate Gay Erotica 2009 edited by Jesse Grant.

It includes some great writers. My writing friend, Gavin Atlas is also in this collection. Some authors I've met via the internet are also included, such as Shane Allison, Neil Plakcy, R. Kramer Bussel, and Rob Rosen.

I've published in two of the Ultimate Gay Erotica anthologies. The other one is UGE 2008.

I found it at my local GLBT bookstore, Out Word Bound, so check with your local queer bookstore before buying online. I prefer supporting my local bookstore because I remember how lost I was during the lapse when Dreams and Swords closed and Out Word Bound opened.

Let me know what you think of my story. :-D

Smuttily yours,
Fred

Lammy Award Winning Editor: Richard Labonte

By Fred Towers

Recently the winners of the 21st Lambda Literary Awards were announced. I was so glad to see an editor I have respected and tried to sell to for years on the list. So, I sat down with him virtually (via email) to discuss his recent win.

1) How did you feel when you learned that you won a Lammy for Best Gay Erotica 2009?

Pleased of course, though I wouldn't have minded if any of the other nominees had won, particularly James Lear's novel, The Secret Tunnel - but since he was my judge for BGE2009, he was a winner anyway. That said, I've been involved in the judging process for the Lammies in one way or another since the very first year - now I'm dating myself – and I know how the sausage is made... that is to say, I know that when everything else is equal in terms of quality, which is usually the case when many nominations have been whittled down to a few finalists,
the subjective taste of the judges comes into play - perhaps the judges this year didn't like long-form erotica, as with James's novel (I thought he pulled it off with great style), or prefer books with 20 authors to books with four (the equally readable Hard Working Men, the other finalist from 2009.

2) What other titles have you edited that have won a Lammy?

Best Gay Erotica 2005, with novelist and biographer William J. Mann, won a few years ago, and First Person Queer: Who We Are (So Far), from Arsenal Pulp Press in Canada, which I co edited with Lawrence Schimel, won in 2007. Again, It's a treat to win - but when an anthology wins an award, I'd say as much credit goes to the contributors as to the editors, so I don't really consider these to be *my* Lammies... I'm just the custodian.

3) What do you look for in a Best Gay Romance or Best Gay Erotica story?

Let me start my answer here with a wee excerpt from my foreword to Best Gay Erotica 2010, which will be out from Cleis in November: "I take the “erotica” part of the title seriously: porny is good, and that’s what this annual anthology hews to. But every year I encourage writers of a literary bent to sex up their stories some, and every year I coax polished prose from writers who honed their horndog skills in the glossy gay mags."

So: what I look for in the erotica best are stories where narrative arc, complex characterization, and vivid, inventive writing predominate; in the romance best, I look for stories that are less
overtly sexual but no less smart. Not every story achieves that ideal, I know, but it's what I strive for; and because neither anthology is a "theme" title - stories about Daddies, Bears, surfers, firemen, cops, frat boys, S/M, etc. - I like to mix and match sexual interests and fetishes. Again, the quality of the writing is paramount. I also look for new writers, and if I discern a story in the rough - something unusual or distinctive in terms of plot or character or setting but which needs a lot of editing - I'm willing to work with writers to polish the story. Almost every book I edit - and I've done almost 30 now - has one or two of this kind of discovery.

4) Besides editing, where else can gay readers find your work?

I'm not really a writer. I'm a reader. Plus, I appreciate writers, and collect some great ones. So I don't write fiction at all, and not many essays, either, except for intros to my anthologies. When asked, I've penned short forewords to a few books - Vincent Diamond's collection, Rough Cut, and Jack Fritscher's collection, Stonewall: Stories of Gay Liberation among them. And I was nagged enough to contribute to Sex by the Book, edited by Kevin Bentley, and Out in the Castro, edited by Winston Leyland. But compared to real writers, those constitute just half a can of spilled alphabet soup.

On the other hand, I review four lesbian/gay/queer books, fiction and nonfiction, every two weeks for Book Marks, distributed by Q Syndicate to a number of gay papers; that's 100 books a year. I also review contemporary fiction (nongay), books on nature and the environment, and the occasional gay nonfiction books for Publishers Weekly, about 35 of those a year. Google "Book Marks Labonte" and you'll find the reviews; PW reviews are anonymous...

5) What advice would you give a gay writer during these tremulous times in the publishing world?

Keep writing. Don't balk at being edited. Keep submitting to anthologies. Track down online magazines. Pay attention to the e-world. Have a good sense of what a publisher publishes before
submitting your work. Did I mention, don't balk at being edited? The publishing world is going through a shakeup and a new cycle, but there will always be people who want to write and people who want to read. A good number of queer presses have closed, but relatively new ones come along regularly: MLR, Torquere, Lethe, Dreamspinners, Rebel Satori/Queer Mojo, BigFib, Samhain, PD Publishing, Alpha World, Cheyenne, Palari, Seventh Windows, Zumaya... and I'm sure I've forgotten a few. So: do your homework, and your writing will find a home.

Interview

I'm interviewed in the April issue of Bare Back Magazine. No "bare back" doesn't mean what you think. LOL For them it's an erotica thing, but doesn't mean without a condom like it does in the gay community. Safe Sex still lives, except in our fantasies. At least for some folks.

Please read the interview and let me know what you think. You do have to be 18 years of age or older to read. Sorry! No underage readers please.

Fred