Moby Dick, Psuedonyms and More Zombies

Book Fair Part Deux

I don’t know how I could forget these incidents at the West Hollywood Book Fair. Maybe my mind blocked them out. For those fans of Herman Melville and who isin’t? Marie and I witnessed performance piece of Moby Dick by a guy laying across two chairs in an all white suit making whale sounds while someone played music and did narration. Unfortunately, there was no Queequeg. One of my favorite statements from the Book Fair was from a woman who went from a consultation on a book proposal to ranting about Opera. ‘I’m so over LaBohem. 'She should take some panicillin and get over herself.’ I have no idea on how we got on the topic. But the statement of the day belongs to Len Richmond’s mother (she’s the owner of the drunken parrot, Chicky). She’s led quite the interesting life. “You know, I think I’ve handled 10,000 penises in my lifetime,” she informed me. Fortunately, I was didn’t have any liquid in my mouth at the time. And she wasn’t a proctologist, either. We were all impressed.

Speaking of Len Richmond, Naked in Paradise debuted in the top 50 of amazon.com’s list of hot new books in Gay Fiction. We’ve had inquiries from book stores in the US, the UK, France and Austrailia. It’s also carried on TLA.com, Powells.com and libreriauniversitaria.it. We’re expecting reviews from some really great places soon.

In Plain Sight

The refreshing honesty of Mrs. Richmond about her past brings me to a topic that comes up for me and some of my authors fairly often. How much do you let family, friends and co-workers know about the nature of your fiction? I don’t use a pseudonym in my fiction. Though I make no judgement on those who do, I think the days of remaining completely anonymous are over in light of the internet. It’s certainly not possible to schedule readings or signings while using a pseudonym. I have run into family and former co-workers in all kinds of locations and cities where no one knew me. And the six degrees of separation theory is fairly true. Someone you know will inevitably find out what you’re desperately trying to hide. I don’t need the additional hassle or stress. Besides, I’m not embarrassed by what I write or how I came by the information to write what I write. My family has always known that I walked on the wild side. They just don’t ask. With co-workers not in the entertainment industry, it’s a stickier situation. Those pesky rules on sexual harassment mean I can’t really talk about what I write. I mean, even answering the question of why I was in Trekkies is a vilolation of those policies. I rarely send co-workers to my web sites without a very strong warning about the content. I’m still wigged out that my darlin’ Mother-in-Law (hello, Maw-in-Law) has been through my web sites. But I’d rather be open than try to skulk around in the shadows. It’s always fun telling my actors about my kinky background. Most shrug as if to say, ‘Is that all you’re into?’ Some embrace it and even tease me though the naughty boys who keep asking ‘When are you going to spank me?’ Have no clue how much trouble that can bring. All that said, I do not proselytize (though that is tempting with cute actor boys) and I am careful not to rub my family’s collective noses in my entire life. I’ll likely have a separate web page for the memoir I’m writing for folks like my Dad and Grandma to send to the chuch folk. And Jon and I are doing a family page of photos of our lives and travels for the younger folks in our families to look at. However, I’ll never hide who I am and what I write.

Creative Tempatations

Just as I am finishing up A Soldier’s Fate, I am being distracted by another novel and a script. It’s all the fault of Ed Quinn on Eureka. His character, Nathan Stark, on that show looks like someone who would be very much at home in the world of d/s. That inspiration and an annoyance about the inaccurate portrayal of the lifestyle in films and on TV set my mind wandering, and a week later there is a full-blown treatment. I had to let my mind develop it completely before I could get back to my soldier boys. That can be very inconvenient. I don’t know when I’ll actually write it. I’d like to tackle the memoir and the Surrender sequel first. But Dom’s can be really pushy. I may have to write that next.


And Still More TV Rants
Warning: More spoilers for this season and seasons long ago

I totally forgot to rant about Sara Sidle on CSI last week. I had been mightily displeased that she was neither the minature killer or a victim of the miniature killer. I wasdoubly annouyed at the waste of that opportunity when I found out that Jorja Fox who portrays Sara Sidle is leaving the show because whe feels her six figure per episode income is unstatisfactory. Meanwhile, I am plased to have seen a preview of Zombie Speedle on CSI:Miami . I think they are leaning toward zombies, because the tage line read ‘and the dead shall rise.’ Awesome.