Ryan Field's Blog, page 520

A Young Widow's Promise

I saw this and really liked it. It the publisher's description of A YOUNG WIDOW'S PROMISE on the publisher's web site home page.

Here's the link, and below is the blurb:

Finally, let's calm it down with a historical erotic romance from Ryan Field in the Sugar and Spice line - A Young Widow's Promise. Felecia takes in three wounded soldiers - enemy soldiers. And when her romance with one of them sparks the disclosure of a secret about the other two, she's forced to make some decisions.

Why I Love Hillary

I love this video. It's classic Hillary Clinton giving a completely natural response to something unplanned.

Most dumb-dumb politicians, Democrat or Republican, would just stand there gaping, wondering how to react in a way that would be good for their image.

But Hillary just laughs like everyone else would.

For Those Just Getting Into Social Media:

Dance like the picture's not being tagged. Love like you've never been unfriended. Tweet like no one's following.

And whatever you do, try to stay away from politics and religion.

Something New in the Works That's Still a Secret

I can't talk about it much right now. But I will soon. The contracts are signed and the works are in progress.

I'm going to be collaborating with another m/m romance author I've never worked with before. You all know him well; you all love his work. We're collaborating on a project for Ravenous Romance that I hope will be released before Christmas. It's a novella collection, with one 25,000 word novella from me, and one the same length from this other author.

I will post more about this soon. I just don't want to jump the gun because I'm so excited about working with this author. I'm sure he will say something, too. We actually haven't discussed that part yet because we've been so busy brainstorming about ideas.

But all I can say is that it's been a wonderful experience. And I can't tell you how much I've been enjoying working with this author.

RIP, Barbara Grier

Barbara Grier founded a publishing house that published books for and about lesbians. She was a pioneer when no one else was taking lesbian literature seriously. I have a fondness for all LGBT things that happened during this time because I was a child with a photographic memory and I remember them well.

Barbara Grier passed away recently. You can read more about it here.

I remember Naiad Press with fondness. When I first started submitting stories and novels to publishers and small presses there weren't many choices for LGBT writers. This was before the Internet, before e-mail took off, long before snarky romance review blogs existed, and when we were still submitting in hard copy.

I once submitted a lesbian story to Naiad and they rejected me. I was very young, probably too young to have the audacity to write a novel let alone submit one to a publisher. The rejection letter I received was from Barbara Grier and she told me she liked the writing but thought I should focus on gay male fiction instead of lesbian fiction. It was probably the nicest rejection letter I ever received. And I took her advice.

Ms. Grier once said this, with regard to the books she published "about lesbians who love lesbians, where the girl is not just going through a phase."

It's been said Ms. Grier felt this way because all the lesbian themed romance novels she read growing up were focused on women who fooled around with other women, but always wound up with a man in the end...this, so publishers thought at the time, was the only way to achieve the happily-ever-after ending.

I love this, when someone has a serious, valid reason for doing what they do. It's why I decided to write gay themed novels based loosely on storylines about straight lovers. I grew tired of reading and watching stories about straight people falling in love and living happily-ever-after, and just as tired of gay literature that was too artsy and ridden with dark, depressing storylines like "Brokeback Mountain."

What Is An Aging Gay Circuit Boy?

In my soon to be released novel, FOUR GAY WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, one of the main characters is referred to, as an aging gay circuit boy. So I decided to explain this for those who don't know what a circuit boy actually is. I honestly believe I've ever heard it mentioned anywhere in the mainstream.

Here's a definition from Urban Dictionary: "A gay man who attends circuit parties on a regular basis. It is usually a very expensive endeavor, since tickets to the parties are generally around $100 per event, and circuit parties usually take place on three to five consecutive nights in the the same city. The term often has a negative connotation."

Here's the definition of Circuit Party from Urban Dictionary: "A large, gay dance party, something like a gay version of a rave, but with a gay-oriented music selection (usually pop, progressive house, and tribal). Events are well-promoted, publicized, advertised and organized, are often attended by thousands, can be big charity fundraisers, and are usually expensive to attend.
Since each circuit party occurs on a specific weekend and in a specific city once a year, and there are many parties on "the circuit", travel and planning are required. Travelling from party to party becomes part of a circuit boy's lifestyle of travel, networking and partying.Some examples of circuit parties: White Party in Palm springs (April), Black Party in New York (March), the Black and Blue Ball in Montreal (October), the Blue Ball in Philadelphia (January).These are often all-night and multi-day events, and party drugs such as ecstasy, GHB, ketamine and crystal are frequently taken by partygoers.It's only August, but circuit boy Dave can't wait! He has already booked his hotel for his favorite circuit party, White Party Palm springs next April."

Circuit boys are often referred to as "Circuit Queens," too. In many cases, from what I've personally experienced, the lives of some gay men at one time revolved around the next circuit party. It's almost a counterculture lifestyle. I went to a few circuit parties myself back in the 1990's, when circuit parties seemed to have reached their peak. And, I personally wasn't impressed. I've never been into drugs; I've never cared about gay peer pressure or competition. And a large part of circuit parties were all about competition. I knew men in New York who were embarrassed to say they'd never been to a circuit party, so they lied to keep up with everyone else.

To be a circuit boy you didn't have to be wealthy. You just had to be smart enough to know how to work the system and max out your credits cards. I did know a few wealthy professional gay men who often frequented circuit parties, but for the most part the circuit boys I knew weren't considered well off. I dated a guy for about six months who planned his entire life around the next circuit party...he never missed one...when he should have been planning how he was going to pay his rent.

Around the year 2000 I remember hearing less about circuit parties. They still have them now, but I don't think they are as popular as they were in the 1990's. Part of this is because there are a lot of aging circuit queens now. They've migrated to places I won't name specifically because I could get into trouble. But these places are warm all year long, they have palms trees everywhere you look, real estate and the standard of living is cheaper, and there are plenty of younger men around to play with.

A lot are still doing steroids and making daily trips to the gym. You can spot them a mile away. You can't miss the short salt and pepper hair, the Botox, or the tight Spandex shirts. In some cases it's a mad attempt to stop the clock and recapture youth. And when I was creating my character for FOUR GAY WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL I wanted him to have something that a smart, professional younger gay man would frown upon.

I just hope I did it objectively. I didn't want this character to come off as a bad character just because he's an aging gay circuit boy. He's a product of his younger days when he was a circuit boy in the 1990's. And there's also something charming and endearing about him I hope most people will recognize.

Cover Preview for New Adult M/M Christmas Story: THE COMPUTER TUTOR

Here's the cover preview for my new adult m/m Christmas story, THE COMPUTER TUTOR, that will be released through Loveyoudivine.com. Once again, Dawne Dominique nailed it. I didn't even have a clear image, not a clue. I just said: "A white Christmas tree and a box of puppies," and she got it on the first try. That's what I call talent!!

I've already posted about this here. And I'll let you know when the release date is soon.

Penn State: You Get One Childhood in this Life; Just One

You only get one childhood in this life. Just one. And when someone comes along and crushes it, you don't get a chance to do it over again.

Where I live, an hour and a half from New York and an hour from Philadelphia, we don't usually hear much about Penn State. I think it's something like five hours away, which in a state the size of PA is like Iowa to people who live around here. I know more about New Jersey than I do about PA. Hell, I know more about LA than I know about Penn State.

But the Philadelphia news channels have been focusing on what's been going on at Penn State, with regard to alleged child abuse and the alleged cover ups that occurred. And it's been both saddening and shocking to see how students at Penn State have reacted.

One of those people who allegedly covered the child abuse scandal up was Joe Paterno...AKA, "JoePa." Good old "JoePa" allegedly knew about the child abuse and never contacted the proper authorities.

And the faithful students at Penn State didn't like the fact that their storied, flawless "JoePa" was allegedly involved in the cover up, so they went berserk and rioted when they found out good old "JoePa" had been asked to resign by the board.

I think this rioting is what might also be called a young adult temper tantrum, where college age people jump up and down, stomp on the ground, and kick and scream, when things don't go their way. This time, mom and dad weren't around to give them a "time out."

These students obviously had very little concern for the helpless victims of this alleged child abuse on the night they rioted. If they had, they would have waited until all the facts were presented before they formed opinions about good old "JoePa." And I honestly find it difficult to believe that anyone in their right mind would riot until all the facts have been presented, especially when the allegations are so serious and children are involved. There's something seriously wrong going on over there. And it makes me wonder what kind of Kool Aide they are serving in the Student Union.

You only get one childhood in this life. Just one.

Publishing Credits...Putting the Cart Before the Horse

This is one of those posts I'm on the fence about writing. Partly because I understand eagerness and partly because I also get a little frustrated when I see too much enthusiasm and not enough product. And I don't want it to sound like a rant; it's not.

In other words, I've been reading about a gay m/m author for the past three weeks or so who sounded interesting. His creativity with social media impressed me and I thought his work might be interesting.

But when I did a search on amazon to check out his work, there was nothing there. Not even his name came up. Then I checked google, Kobo, smashwords, and goodreads and found nothing in any of these places either.

I started to wonder about this and asked a friend. It turns out this guy isn't a published author, a self-published author, and he hasn't even written enough to viably query an agent. He doesn't have a blog, a newsletter, or a pen pal. It reminded me of an episode of The Golden Girls, where Blanche decides she wants to become a romance writer. But then she realizes how difficult it is to actually write a romance novel and claims she has "writers block." That's when Dorothy replies something to the effect of, "Blanche you can't have writers block. That's impossible. You have to have written something first in order to have writers block. If that were the case, we'd all have writers block."

Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing. I can't wait to read and help promote new authors I love. I do it all the time. It's important for authors to build publishing credits, too. And it doesn't matter where you build them, just as long as you actually write something that people can read.

But I do fall short on patience when I find out someone is so enthusiastic they start promoting themselves before they've written or published anything. People like me, who have worked hard for the last twenty years as writers take this seriously. We know rejection; we know how hard it is to sacrifice long hours of our lives even when we don't know it will pay off in the end. We know what it's like to query agents and suffer more rejection in a year than most people experience in a lifetime.

So before you start talking about being a writer and promoting yourself on social networks, write something. At least start a blog and put a little effort into it. Otherwise no one's going to take you very seriously.

Just A Quick Thank You For A YOUNG WIDOW'S PROMISE

I'd like to thank all those who have been reading A YOUNG WIDOW'S PROMISE.
I've been receiving e-mails about it all week and I can't thank you guys enough.

When I decided to write a hetero historical set during the Civil War, I wasn't sure how readers would respond. Even though I did write a gay subplot, I was worried the novella wouldn't resonate with readers because of what I usually write.

But so far it's been doing better than I thought it would. And that's nice to know.

Thanks!!