• The Case of the Missing Drag Queen

    Broke, saddled with a mountain of debt, and dependent on his Aunt Callie’s support, aspiring writer Luke Tanner has returned to Kentucky to put his life back together after a failed five-year relationship. On his twenty-fifth birthday, Luke meets diminutive Pixie Wilder, a long-time performer at the Gilded Lily. After headliner Ruby Dubonnet doesn’t show up, Pixie takes her place as the star of the show—a motive that makes her a suspect in Ruby’s disappearance. Luke reluctantly agrees to help his new-found friend clear her name. He and Pixie set out to find the missing drag queen, and in the process, put themselves in danger.

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  • Aucune Bonne Action

    La veille de Noël, en 1966, Philip Potter, un conservateur du Smithsonian au grand cœur, termine ses achats de dernière minute. Au même instant, James, son compagnon depuis plusieurs années, s’ôte la vie chez eux. Inconscient de ce qui l’attend, Philip dépose des cadeaux à un refuge pour sans-abris, un acte généreux qui fera plus tard de lui un suspect dans le meurtre d’un prostitué. Après la mort choquante de James, deux hommes entrent dans la vie de Philip… et tous deux conduisent une Continental jaune. L’un d’eux, toutefois, est un tueur avec le sang de six prostitués sur les mains. Et tous deux cachent quelque chose. Comme Philip est sur le point de le découvrir, aucune bonne action ne …

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  • Equality: What Do You Think about When You Think of Equality?

    In the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Stride Toward Freedom and Malala Yousafzai’s, I Am Malala, Equality: What Do You Think About When You Think of Equality? presents thought-provoking and compelling personal essays that probe a concept professed to be the very foundation of our democracy—a concept that may even be more vital today than in the past. From international bestselling author, Anne Perry who asserts we must look within ourselves to our emotions, experiences, and beliefs before we attempt an honest and truthful answer, to Dennis Palumbo, psychotherapist and author, who claims diagnostic labels used in treating mental illness often stigmatize and dehumanize the patient causing clinicians to view their patients in terms of their diagnosis rather than …

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  • No Good Deed

    On Christmas Eve in 1966, Philip Potter, a kind-hearted Smithsonian curator,  wraps up his last-minute shopping. Meanwhile, his lover of several years takes his own life back in their home. Unaware of what awaits him, Philip drops off gifts at a homeless shelter, an act of generosity that will later make him a suspect in the murder of a male prostitute. Following James’s shocking death, two men enter Philip’s life—and both drive yellow Continentals. One of them, though, is a killer, with the blood of at least six hustlers on his hands. And both are hiding something. As Philip is about to discover, no good deed goes unpunished. (Originally released by MLR Press in 2013 as After Christmas Eve)

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  • Whippersnapper

    Tellumo Magnamater is a fresh-out-of-college, first-year English teacher at Salt Lick County High School in Kentucky. He rides the bus to and from work, and every day he walks to the gym behind his small efficiency apartment to exercise. Perhaps because of being raised by two lesbians, Tellumo is attracted to older men. He sets his sights on fifty-something available bachelor Oliver Crumbly. But Tellumo isn’t the only resident interested in Oliver. Peggy Tucker, a widow approaching her sixtieth birthday, is determined to marry again, and she thinks Oliver is her perfect match. Despite Tellumo and Peggy striking up a friendship at the gym, neither realizes they are interested in the same man. But the joke might be on both of …

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  • Happy Independence Day

    Terrence Bottom wants to change the world. Little does he know the world is already changing, and his part in it won’t be what he expects. A prelaw student at Columbia University, Terrence’s interests range from opposing the draft and the war in Vietnam, to civil rights for gays, to anything to do with Cameron McKenzie, the rugged blond hanging around the Stonewall Inn. Too bad Cameron bolts whenever Terrence looks his way. College dropout Cameron McKenzie left tiny Paris, Kentucky with dreams of a career on Broadway. Although he claims to be straight, he prostitutes himself to survive. Now the Mafia is using him to entrap men for extortion schemes. He’s in over his head with no way out—at …

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  • The Bear King of Snowbird Mountain

    Recently single Jeremy Jenkins is an average guy working hard as a landscape designer in the mountains of Tennessee. At a conference in DC, he meets gorgeous Donald Matthews, who says the strangest things—like how he thinks Jeremy is hot and wants them to spend the rest of their lives together. This story is part of A Taste of Honey, a Dreamspinner Press Anthology. Other stories in the collection: The Bear Fetish, by John Amory The Bear Next Door, by Jack Byrne The Bear at the Bar, by J. Scott Coatsworth Barefoot, by Lillian Francis Just Breath, by John Genest Bear Chasing, by Renae Kaye Golden Bear, by G. P. Keith Hunting Bear: A Fairy Tale with a Very Hairy …

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  • Until Thanksgiving

    Josh Freeman knows his best days are behind him. After his partner of seventeen years has an affair with a younger man, Josh buries himself in takeout boxes, half-smoked joints, and self-pity until his best friend gently kicks him in the ass and encourages him to try out a new job in Washington DC—at least until Thanksgiving. Though DC has its share of troubles, specifically in the form of a murderer targeting gay men, Josh soon discovers its charms as well. Unlike his old home, DC is crawling with men who want to date him—apparently he’s not as overweight, out of shape, or over the hill as the man he once loved made him believe. In particular, Josh would love …

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The Crotchety Old Man

Sep 15, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In An Author's Life, Procrastiwriting, Updates
Comments Off on Ready for Some Strange

Ready for Some Strange

Coming up with an idea for my next novel has never been a problem. By the time I finished writing Until Thanksgiving, most of After Christmas Eve had already come together in my head. Once I started writing that story, I knew several of the characters would turn up at the Stonewall Riots for Happy Independence Day. I’ve got ideas for lots more Holiday Tales, but right now, I want to try something different. I love Philip Potter and his friends. But after writing the third novel in the series, I’m ready for some strange. My first thought was a trilogy loosely based on the memoir that prompted me in 2010 to join the Athens Writers Workshop. The memoir, in its current …
Sep 11, 2014
By Kristen Slater
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I’m a writer – how did that happen?

Hello everybody, and thanks to Michael for hosting me here today. I decided I’d take this opportunity to talk about how I ended up writing my story Working It Out, which was published this July. I’m also running a giveaway for a $10 gift token for Dreamspinner Press and details of that are at the bottom. Five years ago I wasn’t a writer. I don’t mean I hadn’t published anything, or that I hadn’t finished anything. I mean I didn’t write (other than reports and stuff for work). I hadn’t ever considered it. Yet now I have a published story—and another coming out in December—and I write regularly. So what changed? It was all down to a post in a …
Sep 08, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In Dieting, Exercise, Habits
8 Comments

Losing My Addictions

My weight has varied by less than three pounds for going on two years now. Not gaining is great, but I really want to shed the oldest fat in my body — fat that settled around my waist decades ago and is now firmly entrenched. The weight is less the issue than a desire to end the jiggling. If losing weight was 100 percent about exercise, my old fat would be gone. Resisting temptation isn’t my strong suit, so eating anywhere but home is a potential problem. Receptions and buffets are particularly dangerous. Throw in a tendency to feel entitled — especially on days I workout AND run — and my progress toward svelte hasn’t been what it could be. My food addictions sabotage …
Sep 04, 2014
By Charley Descoteaux
2 Comments

Charlie Descoteaux: The Nesting Habits of Strange Birds

Charley Descoteaux has always heard voices. She was relieved to learn they were fictional characters, and started writing when they insisted daydreaming just wasn’t good enough. In exchange, they let her sleep once in a while. Home is Portland, Oregon, where the weather is like your favorite hard-case writing buddy who won’t let you get away with taking too many days off, and in some places you can be as weird as you are without fear. As an out and proud bisexual and life-long weird-o, she thinks that last part is pretty cool.

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Sep 01, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In Guest Blogs, Updates
5 Comments

Fabulous Five Blog Hop

My dear friend Charlie Cochet invited me to take part in the Fabulous Five Blog Hop. No big deal. Answer five questions on my blog and I’m done. One of these days, I’ll learn that nothing is ever as easy as I think it will be. After much pondering, knuckle-gnawing, and hair-pulling — a high cost activity at this stage of my life — I finally came up with my answers. Enjoy. What am I working on? At the moment, nothing. I’ve been too busy preparing for last month’s release of Happy Independence Day and A Taste of Honey to write much more than my weekly blog posts. My fourth novel will probably be a departure from the holiday tales, but I …
Aug 28, 2014
By Andrea Speed
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Andrea Speed

Andrea wonders if anyone bothers to read these. She’s not sure she does. But if you are, thank you. She’s sorry she’s not more interesting. She continues to await alien abduction, but so far it just ain’t happening.

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Aug 25, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In Advice, Dieting, Exercise, Habits
3 Comments

Dancing My Ass Off

Best I can remember, weight was never an issue for me growing up. Mom served nutritionally balanced meals and didn’t keep much junk food around. I was active, too. After school, on weekends and during summer breaks, the kids in our neighborhood spent every waking moment outside climbing trees, riding bikes, and playing pickup games of various team sports. Getting a job when I was fourteen changed everything. With my own money and no financial responsibilities, junk food consumed the lion’s share of my meager income. My caloric intake shot through the roof, my activity level plummeted, and I got fat and sassy. Okay. Maybe I’ve always been sassy. <shrugs> The first time I lost a ton of weight was my senior year in high …
Aug 21, 2014
By Charlie Cochrane
8 Comments

Interview with an Ex

One of the key plot points in Second Helpings is the ability (or inability) of Stuart and Paul to move on from their exes. Although in Paul’s case he isn’t even sure if his ex is ex. For Stuart, it’s about finding a second chance after the death of his much loved partner Mark. In the story, we hear a lot about Stuart’s viewpoint on Mark, but what about vice versa? So here’s a posthumously posted ‘interview’ with Mark about the man himself. How did you meet? It was a blind date, although neither of us knew that at the time. Stuart thought he was meeting up with Guy, one of his work colleagues. I think he’d secretly fancied Guy …
Aug 20, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In Becoming a Writer, Gay Rights, Giveaway, Updates, Writing
4 Comments

Happy Independence Day Release Party & Blog Tour

Dreamspinner Press has officially released my third novel, Happy Independence Day. The story features the relationship between Terrence Bottom and Cameron McKenzie and is set in June 1969, a few years later than the prequel, After Christmas Eve, and about 225 miles farther north. Much of the action occurs in and around the infamous Stonewall Inn on New York City’s Christopher Street. The riots play a big role in the story. Contrary to legend, the Stonewall Uprising wasn’t the first volley in the battle for homosexual rights in the United States or even the first riot involving homosexuals. In August 1966, transgender people rioted at the Compton Cafeteria in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Homophile organizations such as Chicago’s …
Aug 18, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In Updates, Writing
5 Comments

A Beary Good Read

Does a wild bear shift in the woods? To find out, read my first short story, The Bear King of Snowbird Mountain in A Taste of Honey, an anthology now available from Dreamspinner Press. All the stories revolve around bears — the gay subculture rather than the omnivorous, furry, clawed variety that hibernate over the winter. BONUS: The anthology is a great chance to sample works from a group of very talented authors. Lots of writers keep folders full of short stories they’ve written. Getting one published in a magazine or anthology can be the first step toward publishing a novel for a new writer. For established authors, short stories are an opportunity to find new readers. I’m tickled pink to appear on the same table of contents …
Aug 15, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In Changing Times, My Life, Profound Observations
Comments Off on The Nature of Change

The Nature of Change

I’ve kept a personal journal since 1979. Writing in my journal is a hobby of sorts — a place to express myself without worrying my words will offend or hurt someone else. Believe it or not, the entries — while documenting my particular style of crazy — are repetitious, pedestrian, and boring. Writing stuff down helps me figure out what I really think. Talking shit is easy. The uttered word vanishes from view as I move onto the next thing. But opinions, desires, dreams, and ideas expressed on paper are different. The words linger, forcing me to take a closer look — especially when something doesn’t quite ring true. Last weekend I came down with a bug that knocked me for a loop. I don’t get …
Aug 14, 2014
By Lloyd A. Meeker
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Lloyd Meeker – The Companion, and Some Unsolicited Opinions

Thank you, Michael, for hosting me on your blog today! It’s been a wild three weeks since my new novel The Companion was released, and this is my last scheduled blog stop before I draw breath. On one of my earlier blog posts I said something to the effect that what counts in a person’s life is not what happens to them but how they handle what happens to them. In the context of that post I was talking about life in general, in a fairly philosophical mood. But today I want to examine that concept in a more disciplined way, as it relates to how the protagonist of a story reveals his character. Conventional wisdom (I’ve lost count of …
Aug 11, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In An Author's Life, Becoming a Writer, Technology and Me, Updates
15 Comments

My New Brand

A couple of years ago, I naively believed an author’s only job was to write stories. The lucky few who hit the big time could add interviews and appearances to the job description. Turns out, I was wrong. <gasp> There’s more — a lot more. Promotion is a labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive part of the job I’ve frankly neglected. The bang for the promotional buck is directly related to the number of books I have on the market. When Until Thanksgiving came out, the payoff for any promo was one book per reader. With each release, new readers have more books to buy. For the upcoming release of my third novel, I wanted to step up my game. It’s not about the money. My …
Aug 07, 2014
By Brynn Stein
Comments Off on Living Again

Living Again

 Hi all, I’m enjoying my blog tour so far, and have gotten a fair number of responses for my give away. If you haven’t seen any of my other stops on this tour, here’s how the giveaway will work. Comment below, and go to as many sites listed in the blog schedule listed here and comment there as well. Each blog you comment on will earn you one entry for my giveaway. Three prizes will be given. One signed paperback copy, and two electronic copies of Living Again. Now to talk about other things. How do you combat procrastination? I’m working on another story that I hope to submit to Dreamspinner, and I’m almost finished. That seems to be when …
Aug 04, 2014
By Michael Rupured
In An Author's Life, Becoming a Writer, My Life, Updates
Comments Off on He’s Back…

He’s Back…

Six years ago — for no good reason — I started blogging as the Crotchety Old Man. My musings revolved around things that pissed me off, like pet owners leaving dog poop on my lawn, bad drivers, and poor service. Writing to entertain was a lot of fun and a nice change from the kind of writing I did for myself or on the day job. Back then, I’d spend an hour or two cranking out new posts a few times a week. Instead of a regular schedule, I hit “publish” the second I finished, no matter the hour or day. When coming up with ideas for something to write about became difficult, I turned to my past for inspiration. After a series about my wild-assed youth, friends encouraged me to …