Writings from a crazed mind

BOOK: Sordid Truths
AUTHOR: Aiden Shaw
DATE: Wednesday, November 11
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: A Different Light Bookstore, San Francisco

Buy at A Different Light

Amazon: Sordid Truths: Selling My Innocence for a Taste of Stardom

Adult film superstar Aiden Shaw follows up his bestselling memoir My Undoing: Love in the Thick of Sex, Drugs, Pornography, and Prostitution with a prequel that graphically charts the author's meteoric rise to becoming the highest paid gay adult film star in the world.

Sordid Truths: Selling My Innocence for a Taste of Stardom chronicles the author's ascent from being just another broke and very horny college boy, who dabbled with the idea that he could sell his young body for hard cash, to becoming the internationally renowned adult film superstar.

Within a short time on the scene Aiden Shaw was something of a celebrity within his field, having been introduced to wealthy, weird, and wonderful eccentrics and famous—and famously closeted—Euro trash personalities and the celebrated elite. However, working as a prostitute turned minor league once gay adult film legend Chi Chi La Rue took Polaroids of the naked and aroused Shaw and launched his career. The rest is history, as is documented in more than fifty films that won him numerous honors.

Published works:
Brutal (Millivres Books, 1996)
Amazon: Brutal Uncut
If Language at the Same Time Shapes and Distorts Our Ideas and Emotions, How Do We Communicate Love? (The Bad Press, 1997)
Amazon: If Language at the Same Time Shapes and Distorts Our Ideas and Emotions, How Do We Communicate Love?
Boundaries (Brighton: Millirowler Group, 1999)
Amazon: Boundaries
Wasted (Brighton: Millivres Prowler Group, 2002)
Amazon: Wasted
My Undoing: Love in the Thick of Sex, Drugs, Pornography, and Prostitution (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2006)
Amazon: My Undoing: Love in the Thick of Sex, Drugs, Pornography, and Prostitution
Sordid Truths: Selling My Innocence for a Taste of Stardom (Alyson Books, 2009)
Amazon: Sordid Truths: Selling My Innocence for a Taste of Stardom

I was all for expecting to like this story, I'm not new to Jet Mykles' pretty boys and her work, where western romance blends with yaoi without being overtly influenced. And I was expecting for it to be fun and light. But I wasn't expecting to be surprise to the turn of event and for the reversed role of the main characters. Yes, I'm true, I was expecting the usual "gay for you" book where a strong alpha male, and supposedly straight, falls in love, after having fallen in lust, for a pretty young gay boy, and then happily ever after. So see, nothing complicated and everything good.

But no, the story is not so "straight" (pun intended) as I was expecting. First of all Kevin, the "straight" man, is not an alpha male, far from it. He is more like a lost puppy with melting "puppy" eyes and all. And no, he will not play the role of the sheep fallen in the clutches of the Big Bad Wolf, or of the closeted shy gay boy who was only expecting to be freed by gay superhero. Kevin has all a role, and philosophy of his own. I think Kevin is super-gender, meaning that he likes girls, but has not issue to admit that he can like also boys. Basically Kevin is a man (boy) who doesn't like to take the lead in life, in relationship and in bed. He prefers to be the leaded. So yes, it's entirely possible that Kevin could find a strong girl who will command him in bed, and life, but it's more probable that the role is taken by a man.

And here the second surprise, the above said lead man, Justin. In the conventional scheme of straight Alpha Male meets gay omega boy, Justin has to be your typical flamboyant gay boy, young and pretty. But we have already said that Kevin doesn't fit his conventional role and so doesn't Justin. Justin is older than Kevin, and yes, maybe he is a bit flamboyant, but not so much to outshine poor Kevin. I think Justin was like that when he was 20-25, but not that he is more than 30, he has arrived to a moment in his life when he is looking for Mr Right. And yes, maybe in his mind Mr Right is an older, and wealthier, man, but love has other idea. When Justin meets Kevin by chance, on the street, he is suddenly smitten, and in love.

At first Justin comes out so strongly, that the reader has a bit of trouble to judge Kevin. From the blurb, I wasn't really thinking to like Kevin, I don't know, I had this feeling that Kevin was taking advantage of "poor" Justin. But then, as I said, the reader has the chance to see that basically Kevin is a good boy, that he really doesn't want to hurt Justin in any way, and truth be told, Justin seems a man who is more than capable to look after himself. There is a fine play of balancing, Kevin is the one who needs something by Justin, but Justin is the one who has probably the strongest will, and so I have never felt as Kevin was wronging him.

It's also a pretty sexy story, not so much and so soon as I was, again, expecting. At first it's more kissing and cuddling, more sweet than sexy, but when the sexy part arrives, it's good and fun. Even if Kevin is shy in life, he is not shy in bed, not at all; I have the feeling that Kevin has arrived first to understand his sexual desires than his life-choice ones.

http://www.loose-id.com/Just-for-You.aspx

The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/850354.html


Cover Art by P.L. Nunn

The big news in the romance blogosphere yesterday was that Harlequin/Mills&Boon are opening a digital-only press, Carina Press, which will cover a much broader range of genres than the print divisions do. They'll be publishing more than romance, and in romance they'll be publishing material that wouldn't fit into the print lines. While it doesn't explicitly say so on the website, apparently that will include LGBT, multiracial, and other "non traditional" romances that have already proven popular at the established digital publishers. It will also include things which you might think at first glance would be perfectly traditional Mills & Boon fare, but which don't actually fit into their existing lines -- e.g., if you've got a cross-genre, it won't be necessary to ramp up the romance to make it fit. The other print-related restriction that's gone is story length -- they'll consider a much wider range of manuscript lengths.

Part of the big news is that they've recruited Angela James, former editor-in-chief at Samhain. This is a smart move. Angela has several years of experience at one of the biggest players in the current digital publishing market. This matters, because while Harlequin have been doing well at digitising their print lines, what this represents is a direct move into a different style of digital publishing. Carina Press is digital-only, DRM-free, and following the model of no advance but high royalty rate -- the same model that has become a flourishing niche market over the last decade by being able to cater to genres with a readership too small for mass market but large enough to support excellent small press sales.

Will it succeed? Maybe not. But this is Harlequin we're talking about. They've survived in business for a century by giving the market what it wants, and they've already got good experience in what it takes on the technical side to put together an ebook and sell it. I want to see their royalty rate and contract[*] before signing on the dotted line, and I want to see them in business long enough to look viable before I risk a full-length manuscript with them, but yes, I'm interested.

[* Harlequin is an actual example of "big publishers screw over their authors too". They've improved over the years, under pressure from the RWA and others, but their contracts have at times been examples of Publishing Evil.]

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Hello,

I apologize if this is not allowed here.

I have published a couple of books and my current one is going to be potentially called "Coming Out" or "Knocking the Closet Door Down". It is going to be made up of various people's coming out stories. Whether gay, lesbian, trans, poly, kinky or even funny ones like Republican (kidding!)

So I need stories. If you are interested in being in the book please email me your story to shampoo150@gmail.com and out "coming out story"

also let me know here if you're interested so I can look for you email.

thanks!X

so yeah i know i am just starting the process but heels make me feel pretty.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Is anyone here or does anyone know of anywhere Trans friendly in the Crew/Holmes Chapel area of England that is hiring. Lilly's partner (Trinity) is desperately looking for a full time job and has been having no luck. Trinity is great amazing with computers and has done IT work, that would be preferred but anything help will be most appreciated.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this. We are running out of ideas.

Love,
~Lilly

Managed to get pretty sick in one friggin' day. Started with random, insane sneezing last night at work. Uprgraded in minutes to my nose feeling like it collapsed on the inside and nothing was getting in or out -- including air. Got home, passed out and woke up feeling like I swallowed sandpaper.

This is a very progressive sick. In the last ten minutes, I've gone from being unable to swallow without pain to pain while talking. Talking. I work at a friggin' motel, people! How am I not supposed to talk? Crickey! So damaged.

Onto writing. My brain is tapped for inspiration so I'm relying on sub calls.kathleenbradeanpointed me out to D.L. King's Spank antho at Logical Lust so I'm working on something. As always, it looks like my brain has gone sideways and is doing something else but I might make it still. If nothing else, I can always dump it on Cobblestone. Or do what I really want to do and publisher jump again.

I'm thinkin' Noble. They're looking pretty good for an up and coming pub. But we'll see. Heard back from some review sites in regards to the requests I sent and Asher is off to be scrutinized. Cool beans.

Now, I wait for pizza and buffalo wings. Then writing. Then SPN. Then nap....then work. *stretch* Night audit again - seems like that's gonna be my permanent on Sundays and Mondays. Pretty righteous cause its the beginning of the week and I have all day to slack before heading in. So really, I'm digging it.

Oh! Remember I mentioned my drama? Dunno if I got in detail but my mom got suspended because of this incident at work (it honestly wasn't her fault and I don't say that from a daughter's POV. she told me the situation...it wasn't her fault. if anything, she's just guilty of being passive-aggressive). Well, she heard back the other day- she isn't fired! YAY! And today, she heard that she goes back in tomorrow.

We're all very, very excited. She's been off for 17 days without pay, which is ridiculous. There's also a host of other things going on that is the fault of the Company. This entire situation, while indeed bad, wasn't bad enough to warrant a three week suspension with nary a word to the suspended. Also, the other person involved, from what co-workers told my mom, was still working the WHOLE time. Yeah, someone's gonna get their ass REAMED for this idiocy. Why? Cause the effin' president of my mom's union is going in with her and he's pissed!

I laugh. Ha, ha Company. Ha, ha.

And that's what's up with me. Y'all be good now. Gotta lay down...head has decided to hurt. A lot. Oy vey. Hasta luego!

Well that’s all folks! Your Inboxes have been spammed to my limit. There’ll be one more post to announce the lucky winner sometime tomorrow and then you are safe!

But only until December 12th when I’ll be back again seeking your enlightened views on Christmas cards and other contentious matters.

Thanks for playing along!

I am not sure who has the wheel tomorrow but Kiernan Kelly will be here on Wednesday.

I haven't been reading historical stuff, honest, but this has come out like a meeting of two 18th century gentlemen! Consider it set in London and maybe it won't seem quite as odd!

The final collection of words were: droopy, streetlights, Emo, candlelight, walk, snow blower, book, Illuminate, insist, scarf, Karma, King Crab, Silence, Retrograde, Heatwave,
Kitsch, cookies, speckled, Rake, leaves, thermostat, music, couch, Kink, Kiss, water bed


( Read more... )

I did promise more information about the upcoming releases, before I wandered off into the prompt fic. So here it is:

Christmas Single Shot

Journey to Compromise

( Read more... )


Christmas Sips

Christmas Intervention Phase One and Christmas Intervention Phase Two

( Read more... )


*scuttles back to prompt fic which is turning out rather strange for me*

Yesterday I posted about my visit to the Hack Green Secret Bunker museum, where I stood and looked at a pair of decommissioned nuclear missiles. I'm at the older end of Generation X -- I was already a young adult twenty years ago. I grew up in the shadow of the Bomb, with the knowledge that there was the capability and perhaps the will to go to Mutually Assured Destruction, the potential end of civilisation in a war that was not survivable in any meaningful sense.

And then, twenty years ago today, the most blatant symbol of that terrible, deep division between nations -- was repudiated. The East German people decided in large numbers that they had had enough of being divided from their own across the Berlin Wall, and the newly installed leader of East Germany declined to give the order to shoot. An order that had been given many times in the past, but not twenty years ago today.

It was a process that began before the Wall came down, and continued long after. It is a process that is not entirely complete, that has had reversals. There is still suspicion, there are still madmen with access to the tools of mass destruction. But twenty years ago today is a day I can point at and say that that was the day I really believed that the world would not end in fire just yet.

There is at least one confirmed possible case of H1N1 coming out of World Fantasy.  Australian editor, Jonathan Strahan, reports on his blog that he became ill immediately after the World Fantasy Convention and it has been diagnosed as the flu H1N1.

Please do note that there are no other confirmed cases at WFC, but given the incidence of con crud at a normal convention, it seems prudent to mention this.

For more information about H1N1, visit the Center for Disease Control. The CDC reports that the incubation period from exposure is 1-7 days, with 1-4 being most likely.

Edited to add: Jonathan let us know in comments that though his doctor diagnosed it as H1N1, he did not do clinical tests.  Let’s hope that it is not.

Meanwhile, get well soon, Jonathan.

Mirrored from SFWA | Comment at SFWA

Good Afternoon,

I’m very pleased to announce that SFWA has a new Nebula Awards Commissioner (NAC). Madeleine Robins has agreed to take on this role, and see us through the first year under the new rules.

Madeleine Robins is the author of nine novels, including THE STONE WAR, POINT OF HONOUR, and PETTY TREASON: a double-handful of SF and fantasy novels, has worked in both book and comic book publishing, and has been a SFWA member for an unbecoming number of decades.  In addition to her tenure as Czarina of the Service to SFWA Committee in the ’90s, she was Secretary of SFWA in 2001.  She has a hard time resisting volunteer activities. She is a founding member of Book View Cafe, an e-fiction writers’ collaborative, and is hard at work on yet another damned book.

I’d like to thank Madeleine for coming on board, and also especially want to note the extraordinary effort given to SFWA by the outgoing NAC, Brook West. Brook has given outstanding service to SFWA and the Nebula Awards for many years, and is deserving of our deepest thanks.

Cheers,

Russell Davis

President

SFWA, Inc.

Mirrored from SFWA | Comment at SFWA

After six weeks of ADHD style knitting, I have finally completed the first stripe of my Doctor Who scarf. ;-p 8 rows of worsted-weight aubergine purple in Knit Picks Swish DK, 80 stitches long on #5 harmony needles. ^_^

If you love the old savage romance, maybe you don't know the name Robert McGinnis but for sure you know his work, he is the cover artist for the first 13 books by Johanna Lindsey, yes, those famous and notorious covers, loved, hated, that sometime you find with a strategically positioned "sales price" and that are now collectible items for the lovers and fans of the genre.



( more pics )

Robert McGinnis was born in 1926. He grew up in Wyoming and Ohio and studied art at Ohio State University and the Central Academy for Commercial Art in Cincinnati. He has done advertising work, book and magazine illustration, gallery art and movie poster (Breakfast at Tiffany for telling "only" one and many of the James Bond films). The first of his nearly eleven hundred paperback covers appeared in 1958. His home and studio are in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

This is actually the 10th of the "Johanna Lindsey" covers, but I think it deserve to be out of the cut as first since it is the one that often you find with a "special price" stick on the... bum of the man and you can't remove it! Anyway, after this one enjoy also all the other covers, in release order:



( Robert McGinnis' covers for Johanna Lindsey )

Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis released in 2001 by Pond Press is now a collectible item itself.
 
Amazon: Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis.

A beautifully designed and produced book of the best of Robert McGinnis, one of America's foremost illustrators and a member of the American Illustration Hall of Fame. Since 1958, he has painted over 1,000 paperback covers in all genres, including mystery, romance, and western. In addition to a definitive list of his paperback work, the book provides over 200 full color illustrations, not just of the book covers, but of McGinnis' model photos, sketches, roughs and finished art. The book will provide indispensable to collectors of his works, as well as a visual treat for lovers of fine illustration.

As an author, it’s important for you to know how to sell and market your book. Because there is no shortage of books and articles on the subject, I’d like to tackle the subject of marketing your book from a more metaphorical approach. (If you’ve ever heard me speak, you should know I’m pretty big on metaphors to help you better understand topics in a different way.) In your case, I feel that it’s not only important to understand how to sell, but also understand a little bit more about a typical sales cycle.

When I was thinking about a metaphor, I was envisioning how authors are a lot like blacksmiths who tire endlessly, crafting and perfecting beautiful swords. So, in this post, I’d like to ask the question: Do you know how to sell your sword?

Let’s say that outside the town of Fantasie, you are a blacksmith who has just created a magic sword. This sword is the only one of its kind and it is (in a word) gorgeous. You know that once the word gets out, everyone will want to buy your sword. After months of negotiating and contracts with the local magistrate, you now find your magic sword is being sold at Ye Olde Sword Shoppe. Unfortunately, the magistrate tells you that in order for you to continue being a blacksmith, you need to sell a certain amount of swords. Unfortunately, this means you’re going to have to help sell your sword to the local townsfolk.

So, the first thing you do is go to Ye Olde Sword Shoppe to talk about your sword. The store is only open from dawn to dusk, so you schedule your talk right around the dinner hour. You post a few notices and pick a certain item on the sword to talk about. Then, when you get into the store, you realize that there’s a lot of darn swords. How are you ever going to be able to sell yours? “It’s magic!” you nervously tell the few people who’ve shown up to hear you talk. “It’s a one-of-a-kind, unbreakable sword!” One of the readers pipes up from the audience and says, “Right, because we haven’t heard that one before!”

Okay, let’s pause for a second. Obviously, I’m talking about author readings and signings. Walking into a bookstore is very, very intimidating because let’s face it: there are an awful lot of other books for readers to buy. (It’s also pretty intimidating to sit next to a best-selling author, believe me.) In order to sell your book, though, you need to give people a reason to buy it. Usually that means that you have to learn how to describe your book in a way that will appeal to a broad audience, but it can also mean connecting with your audience in a personal way. Some authors use humor; others provide readers with the so-called “elevator pitch” like “This sword is Excalibur meets Kusanagi.” In this one-on-one relationship, the seller has more control over cultivating the sale, because they have total control over the environment the customer is in. Additionally, you can physically hand the book to your readers, which is something you can’t do online.

Of course, retail is also a bit more complicated because some companies make the products they sell and some don’t. In this case, the sellers at Ye Olde Sword Shoppe know a thing or two about how to present the swords to their customers and how to discount them in the store. Unless you’re the store owner, you don’t have that level of control, which is why many people are advocating online marketing to boost awareness and increase sales. Let’s get back to Fantasie and see how this might work.

Remember when I told you that in the town of Fantasie the stores were only open from dawn until dusk? Let’s say a plague hit the town and the town magistrate decided to quarantine the townspeople. Now, instead of walking to town, the townspeople can sit at home and browse whatever stores they want to at any time through a magic window (e.g. the internet). Ye Olde Sword Shoppe notices a change in their business, because now they can “see” (via website analytics) when customers “come” to their store, what they’re looking for and how quickly they leave, etc.

The online sales cycle is a very passive one for retailers, because no matter how much any store owner may try — the seller is not in control. The buyer is. At a convention, for example, organizers will help facilitate traffic and flow based on the physical layout of the hall. For any website, a reader can access that store from any page because of something called natural or organic search; not “just” the home page. Now, sales just got a lot more complex. Online, the buyer can also easily leave any website to compare factors like pricing, shipping, availability and reviews with the touch of a button. That level of research takes a lot more time if a buyer has to drive around town.

Because online and offline sales cycles are so different, the same types of marketing efforts that you might do offline don’t necessarily translate well in an online environment. The only way you are going to understand what works and what doesn’t is through patience and testing. This, to me, is the biggest mistake I see most authors making. The natural tendency is to either overcompensate by banging that “buy me” drum all the time, or undercompensate by hoping a reader will “discover” them just by being online. However, online marketing is not “just” about sales: it’s also about getting people to perform a desired action. Without the right web analytics data, it is also very challenging (nigh impossible) to see a one-to-one correlation between your marketing efforts and your book sales. However, there are things you can do to help facilitate those sales. In my next post here on the SFWA blog, I will provide you with a checklist of things you can do for your web presence to ensure that your readers are getting the information that they need.

Do you have some tips or recommended links to share for your fellow authors? Be sure to post them in the comments below. Until next time, ask yourself how you’re going to sell your beautiful sword!

About the Author

Monica Valentinelli is the content and web analytics manager for the digital sheet music retailer and publisher Musicnotes.com and the project manager for the horror and dark fantasy webzine Flamesrising.com. Monica is an aspiring novelist working on revisions for her first novel; she has several non-fiction, short fiction and game writing credits to her name including her recent guest blog post for Crackle.com about Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Devil’s Night, which is a Free One-Scene SAS for White Wolf Publishing.

To read more about Monica, visit her blog located at www.mlvwrites.com.

Mirrored from SFWA | Comment at SFWA

CLOSED

The competition is simple. The prize isn’t.

Comment on any of my posts today and your name will go in the Guy Fawkes hat of fire, the name formed by the ashes will win something.

What sort of something?

Either: A copy of the Walk The Plank anthology right now
Or: A copy of my Christmas Single Shot ‘Journey to Compromise’ when it is released in December
Or: A copy of each of my two Christmas Sips ‘Christmas Intervention Phase One’ and ‘Christmas Intervention Phase Two’ as they are released

There are more posts in the pipeline telling you about the new releases to help you make your mind up!

CLOSED

I'm probably going to make it to the special interest group on beer and pizza.

:::Quote:::

Pizza at the Mall....

We have reserved space in the atrium. See you there.

BTW Special thanks to Jim for filling in while I was out of town. I left
unexpectedly as my dad was not doing well and forgot all about getting
someone to take care of SIGBAP.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * SIGBAP MEETING NOTICE * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Who: You, and anyone you'd care to bring
What: Special Interest Group on Beer And Pizza (SIGBAP)
When: Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009 7:00pm
Where: Green Mill, Rosedale Mall, Roseville (tel: 651-633-2100)
Why: Cuz' it's fun :-)
How: Rosedale Mall is located on the north side of highway 36
between Fairview and Snelling. Green Mill is located on
the northeast side of the mall.

::: End Quote :::

This is unix-centric meeting and comes from the old unix-users-of-minnesota meetings. I haven't been to one of these in years and if anyone wants to come too, well there you go