Ryan Field's Blog, page 430

Gay Marriage Last Names; GRL "Featured" Authors; Real Life Billionaire Bad Boy Alki David

I'm being presumptuous here, because until gay marriage is legal on a federal level the last name issue with gay couples is irrelevant. In other words, on a state by state level you still have to go to court and change your last name if you want it to be legal.

But it is something Tony and I have talked about, and we've decided that if and when gay marriage is legal federally we'll most likely hyphenate both last names. For work, my last name will most likely remain the same because that...

Queen Elizabeth Fights Discrimination; Colleen Hoover on Self-Pub Stigma; Bad Boy Billionaires Free Excerpt

Queen Elizabeth will make history today when she signs a charter that fights discrimination and offers equal rights to billions in 54 countries that are part of the British Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Charter states opposition to "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds."

Many believe this is the Queen's silent way of taking a stand on LGBT equal rights. And what's most significant is that in 61 years this is...

Book Review: "I, Rhoda" by Valerie Harper

I didn't hear about the bio I, Rhoda by Valerie Harper through friends or articles or ads anywhere. I actually happened to pass The Jeff Probst talk show one night in January while surfing through channels and saw Jeff interviewing Valerie Harper. It was the first interview I'd seen Harper give in a long time and I was amazed at how young she looked. I was also amazed at how well the interview went and I've become a fan of Jeff Probst's show as a result.

I hadn't planned on rea...

Puerto Rico ATM Receipts Say "We Hate Fags"

Just when you think you've seen it all, there's now an ATM machine in Puerto Rico printing out receipts that say "We Hate Fags," instead of Gracias. The ATM machine in question is located in a bar on San Juan. The bar itself has nothing to do with this, the machine is owned by another company, and they've disconnected the machine and filed complaints.

The ATM company’s president Jorge Torres said “someone from the outside gained access to the system and programming of the machine.” Torres sai...

RIP Grammar Police: Now Optional Common Usage

I sometimes see posts and articles in the writing/reading blogging community written by the grammar police about how fiction standards have gone down and publishers and authors aren't sticking to the old rules as much as they should. And this includes large publishers, not just small. I also notice these pieces are often written by those of the quasi academic community and I've always tended to agree with something I read by Rita Mae Brown who also happens to be a professor. Pa...

Matt Damon's Gay Sex Scenes in "Liberace"; Bill Clinton Calls DOMA Discriminatory

There's a film coming out about the life and times of "Liberace," Matt Damon and Michael Douglas are going to star in it, and there are a few gay sex scenes.

I've posted about how one of the biggest taboos in Hollywood has always been related to anything gay, and recently interviewed a young gay actor, Jeffery Self, about his new novel that talks about closeted gay actors. But they never seem to shy away from putting straight actors like Matt Damon in lead gay roles with gay sex scenes. A...

Beekman 1802 Pasta Sauce; Gay Amish; FREE Bad Boy Excerpt

Yesterday I posted about a new brand of pasta sauce being made by gay couple, Josh and Brent, at Beekman 1802. You can read more about that here, and learn more about Beekman 1802. But the reason I'm posting about it again today is because I happened to see another brand of pasta sauce on a morning news show earlier today and I thought it was interesting.

First, the Beekman 1802 pasta sauce is organic and contains nothing artificial. It comes from heirloom tomatoes, and it's priced at 7.95 fo...

"Mortage Lifter" Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce: Beekman 1802

I'm on the Beekman 1802 mailing list, and when I read this about "Mortgage Lifter" Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce I did it with tongue in cheek. I'm part Italian and Tony is almost completely Italian...his dad was born in Abruzzi and lived there until he was thirteen...and we don't even call it tomato sauce, or pasta sauce. We call it "Gravy."

For those who don't know, Beekman 1802 is a farm in Sharon Springs, NY, upstate, where a gay couple, Josh and Brent, have been building a business and what I...

The New Normal Parody Shirley MacLaine; Elliott Deline Talks Transgender & Self-Publishing; 50 Shades Women Authors

Thanks to an overdose of "Downton Abbey" and DVR, and the fact that I don't watch that much TV, I'm catching up on episodes of "The New Normal." One of the shows I watched last night was too good not to share, and hits too close to home as well.

This particular episode deals with David and Bryan getting a puppy and learning how to raise it as a way to practice for when they have their baby. In one scene, the puppy gets sick and they have to take it to the animal hospital. It reminded of more...

Publisher Won't Ship to Bookstore; American Star App

This is an interesting story, about a publisher who wouldn't ship more than 200 books to a brick and mortar bookstore simply because that was the publisher's rule. And not even if the bookstore had pre-sold more than 200 books.

It's interesting how these things work, and I think we've all experienced this kind of incompetence at one point or another.

I don't know much about the blogger, and he/she didn't give links (which is smart these days) but I think this could have happened with any larg...