D.H. Jonathan's Blog, page 7

Dr. Slater’s Examples

In Chapter One of my novel The “Volunteer”, Dr. Lorraine Slater gives Danielle several examples of casual nudity in popular culture in her pitch for her sociology project.  While The “Volunteer” is fiction, the things cited by Dr. Slater are real.

Of course, in the novel, it all starts with Andrew Martinez, who has his own Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Martinez

Brown University does host a Nudity Week, usually in late September or early October: http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19624/

ESPN Magazine does publish an annual body issue which has its own website here: http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/body/espn-magazine-body-issue

The Naked and Afraid TV show has been very successful on the Discovery Channel: http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/

Dating Naked is still airing on VH1: http://www.vh1.com/shows/dating-naked

And Buying Naked aired on TLC Network: http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/buying-naked/

Including such real world examples in Dr. Slater’s justification of her sociology experiment firmly sets the novel in today’s world and should make for a more enjoyable reading experience.  The “Volunteer” is available in both paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon and other retailers: https://www.amazon.com/Volunteer-D-Jonathan-ebook/dp/B01HAM329Q/

Naked Protests

The Republican National Convention is underway in Cleveland.  In this year in which it seems that the Republicans and Democrats have both nominated the worst candidates they could have possibly chosen, protests seem inevitable.  This week’s GOP Convention was kicked off with photographer Spencer Tunick’s latest project, 100 naked women posing just across the river from the arena where the convention is being held.  Esquire has a piece on it here, but be aware that the photos with the article are not safe for work:  http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46763/republican-national-convention-nude-women/

I first heard of Spencer Tunick, who has become known for shooting large groups of nude people in very public places, while watching a television show called Real Sex on HBO in the fall of 1993.  In that show, he was merely shooting two or three nude models in various locations in New York City.  I was immediately intrigued.  I had already been modeling nude for art classes for a few years at that point, and I couldn’t help but imagine myself as one of the nude models out on the city streets.  That idea stayed with me long enough to coalesce into the story told in The “Volunteer”.

The striking thing about Spencer Tunick’s photos, not just of the 100 women this week but all of his past work, is how similar we all are under our clothes.  When naked, we are not CEOs, doctors, lawyers, politicians, or fast food workers; we are just human beings.

Amazon Reviews

The “Volunteer” has only been available for just a few days, but it already has a couple of Amazon reviews, including a five star one that was just posted this morning. Reader K.C. Wilder wrote:

While the expectation is that this kind of story would devolve into a male voyeur fantasy of the submissive naked woman, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Dani’s experience focused more on portraying nudity and nudism in a positive light, and it became less about “look at that naked woman” and more about “wouldn’t it be fun to be naked all the time”. I thought it was very enjoyable, and also got my pulse racing.

Thank you K.C.!

Vacation

My family and I have just returned to Texas from what was, for us, an epic vacation to Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, and points in between.  After visiting both Helena and Missoula, I can say that I love western Montana.  Here’s a photo of my son taken on Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

In literary news, The “Volunteer” is now fully available on Kindle, and it is now visible on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30799836-the-volunteer.  Please feel free to post reviews there or on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Volunteer-Novel-D-H-Jonathan/dp/1534635246).

Now Available on Amazon

The paperback edition of The “Volunteer” is now available on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/Volunteer-Novel-D-H-Jonathan/dp/1534635246/

The Kindle edition is available for pre-order at: https://www.amazon.com/Volunteer-D-Jonathan-ebook/dp/B01HAM329Q with a release date of July 5th (which is the day I return home from vacation).