Randy Elrod's Blog, page 4

Book Tasting

La Sala de Purificación Cata de Libros La Whiskería 19:30-19:45 (15 min) – Llegada y Bienvenida Los invitados llegan y toman asientoOpcional: Los camareros preparan y sirven “El Primer Umbral” ajenjoMúsica de fondo: Jazz sutil 19:45-19:55 (10 min) – Introducción y Bienvenida del Autor Introducción por el Anfitrión del Local (2 min)Mi Introducción (4 min)...

Sex in the Seventies (And Every Decade Since)

  I first had sex on July 22, 1979—a sweaty, fumbling, hormone-driven encounter that lasted approximately thirty-seven seconds and left me convinced I’d discovered the meaning of life. I was twenty-one years old, full of Appalachian fire and Baptist guilt, with absolutely no idea what I was doing. This morning, forty-six years later, I’m still...

The Two-God Hustle: When Christianity Became a Trump Card

From my vantage point here in Barcelona—where ancient cathedrals stand as monuments to humanity’s complex relationship with the divine rather than political weapons—I’ve been watching America’s latest theological circus with a mixture of fascination and horror. Americans have become increasingly bewitched by what I can only describe as a borrowed god who brings particularly bad...

Protected: Gina’s 70th Birthday Photo Shoot: A Celebration of Embodied Beauty

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

My Barcelona Moveable Feast: An Eleven-Day Sabbatical in the City of Dreams

When Gina departed for Ireland, I found myself staring at eleven empty days—a blank canvas that felt daunting and delicious. My previous sabbaticals were mountain solitudes in Colorado, desperate escapes from the authoritarian evangelical mega-churches where I served as artistic director, always misunderstood, perpetually out of place. Those Rocky Mountain retreats demanded adrenaline—solo summiting 14,000-foot...

Tell Me About the Last Time You Had Great Sex

Phoenix Adams, the morning after (the morning after The Purging Room imagined) The question hits me like espresso on an empty stomach—sudden, bitter, necessary. I’m sitting in The Plaza’s restaurant, still wearing yesterday’s clothes, still carrying the impossible weight of a burgundy book that shouldn’t exist. The waiter assumes I’m another businessman nursing a hangover....

I Kissed A Man (And I Liked It)

My dearest readers, There’s a moment in The Purging Room that I know will light up inboxes—and probably a few pulpits. It’s the scene where Phoenix, our buttoned-up businessman, receives an unexpected kiss from the enigmatic Dion. Not a peck on the cheek. A real kiss. Lips to lips. And here’s the scandalous part: he doesn’t immediately...

The Ultimate Proof There Is No God: Trump

I’m done. Not the dramatic, door-slamming kind of done. The quiet, bone-deep exhaustion that comes when the last thread of hope finally snaps. When 82% of white evangelical Christians pulled the lever for a convicted rapist and felon—again—any whisper of faith I’d been harboring finally died. Here’s what gets me: I spent thirty years in...

Invitation To Zoom Release Party & 50 Second Video of First Time Seeing the Book

I am personally inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: My Book Release Celebration  Time: May 31, 2025 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Thirty Minute Duration (10:00 PM Barcelona) Join Zoom Meeting https://us05web.zoom.us/j/86201936155... Meeting ID: 862 0193 6155 Passcode: YDw2kX I know you are busy and this is fairly late notice, just...

The Door That Changed Everything

I found myself at 4 AM , coffee in hand, staring at the final page of my new novella. Not because I was celebrating—though God knows finishing a book deserves a proper toast—but because I was terrified. The Purging Room had taken me places I didn’t expect to go. Perhaps you’ve heard about that feeling when...