Thursday, October 23, 2008

Thank you, Philly! Thank you, New York!

A very big thanks to everyone who helped to make my trip up north a memorable one—Carleen at Bristen's Eatery in Brooklyn; Ed from Giovanni's Room in Philly; Rachel Kramer Bussel and the amazing writers and readers at "In the Flesh" ; Linda V, Yojani, and all the wonderful folks from The Center. Not to mention Starlita, DJ, Krystle, Phyllis, and Ozzy. I'm looking forward to heading that way again next year.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

October Greetings


It’s been a long, long time. I hope you’ve been doing well in the past few months while keeping your loved ones safe and near and avoiding the lure of very bad temptations. As for me, after many personal changes and several new directions, I am finally able to log back into life again. Change can be a mad and painful thing, as we all know, but there’s no choice but to move on through it.

In the meantime, there’s a lot in line for the next few months, the least of which is a trip “north” to New York in a few short weeks. There, I’ll be reading all over Manhattan and Brooklyn and in between I’ll visit Philadelphia for the first time and get to meet the lovely folks at Giovanni’s Room.

Check out my schedule and stop by. There will be delicious cupcakes at Happy Endings in Manhattan or everyone to nibble on during all that hot oral sex talk.

Thursday, October 16, 2008 @ 8 – 10 PM
In the Flesh Erotica Reading Series
w/ Rachel Kramer Bussel, Donna George Storey, and others.
**The theme of this third anniversary evening is oral sex**
Happy Ending Lounge
302 Broome Street
New York, NY 10002 (look for pink awning)
http://www.rachelkramerbussel.com/

Saturday, October 18, 2008 @ 5:30 PM-7:00 PM
Giovanni’s Room
345 South 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Sunday, October 19, 2008 @ 7 PM
Bristen's Eatery
751 Franklin Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(646) 393-9422

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 @ 6 PM
A night with Linda Villarosa
LGBT Community Center
208 W 13th St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 620-7310

The new book is doing well. It got a nice mention in the AJC (thanks, Sara!) a few weeks ago and has been getting great reviews from readers and publications all over the place. Thank you for making it such a success!

That’s it from me for now, but you’ll be hearing from me again soon. In the meantime, happy reading, happy loving. I hope to see you in New York or Giovanni’s Room in Philly!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Chicagoans, I'm heading to your town!

The last time I was in the city, I had a fabulous time eating dim sum, meeting some remarkable people, and even checking out the clubs. Great music! Now, I'm heading back for work and plan to fit in just a little bit of fun during that weekend amidst all that making the bacon business. I'm having three events Friday thru Sunday, so please come check out at least one -- or all of them if you just can't get enough of me and the new book HUNGRY FOR IT : ).

Friday, August 15, 2008 @ 6:30 PM
Intimate Sessions of Erotica
Affinity Community Services
5650 S Woodlawn Ave (in Hyde Park)
Chicago, IL 60637
773.324.0377

Saturday August 16, 2008 @ 8 PM
Sappho's Salon
Women and Children First
5233 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60640
773.769.9299

Sunday, August 17, 2008 @ 4 PM
Red Kiva
(An event by Femistry)
1108 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60607
Phone: 312.226.5577

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Interview with Treazure Magazine




Check out this great interview I had with Treazure Magazine. B over at the mag treated me really well. Here it is:

Friday, June 6, 2008

June? Already?!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Monday, April 14, 2008

a party in atlanta


if your appetite is for lovely ladies and pulse-pounding music outside your bedroom, stop by plaka next sunday night, april 20, 2008. you won't be disappointed...

Friday, March 21, 2008

Lammy Finalist!

i found out over the past weekend that EVERY DARK DESIRE is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in the category of erotica. three cheers!!! the annoucement of the winners will be made in may at book expo america (held in los angeles this year). i'm crossing my fingers for me, frederick smith, gabrielle goldsby, samuel delany and a host of other fabulous writers.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008


PS - i made a quickie trip to the netherlands over holiday break and had the chance to step into the most fabulous shop. i fell in love with sooo many of their delish outfits. the resolution of the pics on their site isn't that great, but in person the smell and feel of rubber was intoxicating. if you get a chance to go any time in life, you must....



Playing catch up

i've been having unrepentant blog envy lately. there are so many people out there - my friend fred included - who make the time to blog often enough that there isn't a gap of months between notes. ah! if i had the free time and will power....

but i'll parse out my news to make it seem like i have tons to say : ).

DESIRE is alive and well.

Thanks to your wonderful and continued support, EVERY DARK DESIRE has made a sensational splash. The news through the grapevine has been mostly positive although I hear the biggest complaint so far is that the novel has too much sex (sex and more sex) and not enough of the supernatural to suit those die-hard vampire fans. Whatever reaction, keep them coming; I love hearing what you have to say.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Frederick Smith in the house!

As I mentioned last post, my fabulous writer friend from Los Angeles Frederick Smith has a new book out. You got a preview of the book cover before but now I have Fred (sort of) live and direct to answer some questions about his books and writing life. Check it out:

1. So you just published your second book. Congratulations! Tell us a little about the book, and
what's similar or different from your first...

Thanks. Right Side of the Wrong Bed is a novel about relationships, specifically a romantic relationship between opposites. The main characters, Kenny and Jeremy, are different in many ways -- age, education, experience, ethnicity, outlook on life -- but somehow manage to find each other interesting enough to try and make it work. I think it's a fun, funny, and thoughtful look at contemporary romance. I think anyone who's been in one of those "so good, yet so bad" relationships can relate to Right Side. Lots of fun supporting characters who have their opinions on whether Kenny and Jeremy are good or bad for each other. And I have lots of strong women characters in the new book who were fun to write and create.

Both my books are set in L.A. Right Side focuses on two main characters. Down For Whatever focuses on a foursome of friends who are looking for love in all the wrong places. Both books are stand-alone books, though I'm considering bringing back a few characters in future projects.

2. You must be able to stay awake 24-hours a day, since you've written a couple books, work full time, travel across country, and still maintain good relationships with those around you. Help us understand how you manage to have it all and do it all... what keeps you going?

I feel like I never sleep... for real! I have my alarm set for 4:30 am, and I try to write for a couple hours in the morning before leaving for my day job. Fortunately, I have a really great work team that supports my writing career, and I get to take off time for travel and book work. I can come in on weekends and have a quiet space to write if I want. I can be a pretty fast and productive writer when I'm focused on a project. When I'm not focused, I get sidetracked by things like email, reading blogs, responding to readers' notes, watching television, etc... After work, I go to the gym and then write until bedtime, which is usually 11:30 pm.

3. Can you talk a little about your writing techniques? When you sit down to write, where are you? What are you doing? Anything on in the background or outside your window? Do you set page goals?

I usually write in my bedroom, since I start writing in the wee hours of the morning or late at night. I have no rituals, per se, but I have to turn off the internet if I am to be productive that writing session. For me, I try to complete a scene... or at least get the scene going in the right direction so that when I start writing again, there's some direction. Some days I'm fast and turn out a lot of pages. Some days I'm slow. I would encourage new writers to finish their draft, then go back and edit. I wasted many a good writing session editing stuff I'd already written. So I usually just go forward because I know I'll have time to revise and edit once the novel draft is done.

4. So you're at the forefront of current black gay literature. How does that feel? How do readers feel you've represented the community or their lives? Is that how you want your work to be categorized?

I don't know about forefront, because there are so many great writers doing their thing for black gay literature. And there are great people who paved the way for people like me -- James Baldwin, E. Lynn Harris, James Earl Hardy, etc... I'm fortunate that I was able to be picked up by a mainstream publisher, and I wish more people in my genre were in the traditionally published route. It's coming, I'm sure.

Readers have responded very positively to my novels. With Right Side of the Wrong Bed, I have gotten tremendous love from the guys under 25 in big cities, who say that I've represented their generation very well with the Jeremy character -- the lingo, language, and urban edge. That's a surprise to me, because everyone writes off young people as non-readers. So that's exciting to hear their responses. Overall, people are positive.

Sometimes, I get questions about having characters from various cultural backgrounds interacting with each other. I think that's because people don't realize that in L.A., where my books are set, our reality is seeing so many people from various ethnicities in the same circles at work, in love, or at the club. Once I explain that, then people understand. Overall, I feel like I write work that anyone can relate to.

5. OK. So I'm going to ask you for a few of your favorites. Tell me your first response... so we can get to know you...

Favorite musician: i like Whitney Houston and Diana Ross
Favorite food: soul food, thai food, and seafood
Favorite political cause: access to higher education; cultural awareness and cultural empowerment
Favorite shallow pasttime: america's next top model, music videos, surfing the net
Favorite vacation spot: i enjoy disneyland or disney world... even as an adult
Favorite book: anything by Eric Jerome Dickey, Terry McMillan, Alisa Valdes-Rodrigues, or E. Lynn Harris


6. Any final words or thoughts you want to share?

I love hearing from readers, writers, and supporters. I really enjoy getting out to book clubs and book festivals, so if you're looking for someone cute, fun, smart, and exciting to be on a panel... lol. But seriously, feel free to check out my website or MySpace for updated events and book signings. I'll be doing some events in your area soon, so keep in touch.