Lethe's gay titles include an array of
gay-positive novels, poetry,
erotica and literature for gay men & lesbians. In addition, Lethe
has partnered with the White Crane Institute
to bring out new and classic titles in gay spirituality and gay wisdom
under the White Crane Books imprint. And the new imprint, Bear Bones Books, will offer fiction and
non-fiction titles about Gay Men's Bear Identity. Lethe is one of the
world's
leading publishers of gay and lesbian spirituality, poetry, and
independent fiction. Below is a list of Lethe Press's books of gay
interest.
Best
known for editing the edgy gay fiction of the Velvet Mafia website,
Sean Meriwether has quietly been writing short fiction and building up
a body of his own work. The Silent Hustler collects his short fiction
published over the last decade. Meriwether's fiction spans in range
from the literary ("Things I Can't Tell My Father") to the
revolutionary ("Burn the Rich") to the downright raunchy ("Sneaker
Queen"). Slip into bed with The Silent Hustler. You won’t feel guilty
in the morning.
Peter Bauman, a forty-five-year-old divorced gay painter, plunges into
the personal ads just prior to the Internet in his quest for the
perfect partner.
He dates a colorful cast of characters from a Connecticut physician, a
rabid Republican, to a Texas-two-stepping, tattooed punk. Next there's
the heavier-than-advertised geek who arrives with a bag of sex toys,
but Peter is more serious with a handsome, stern Maine woodsman,
followed by a British aristocrat patron who declines further intimacy
because of his AIDS.
As Peter negotiates his new gay identity, his best friend, Barry,
counsels and supports him at every step, especially as Peter deals with
a health crisis. During a decade of sex and shenanigans, Peter,
encouraged by his ex-wife, daughter, and son, examines his life and, at
last, discovers his soul mate.
When Allen Pasztory discovered he was likely to die
before his time, he realized that what he could pass down to the people
he loved was stories. Stories of and for his families – the family he
was born to and the family he stumbled upon and fiercely embraced.
The hearing child of parents raised in the inhumane surroundings
of a state school for the deaf, all along Allen knew he and his family
were different. His sister tried her best to become ordinary, as if it
were possible, but Allen knew better. He would be ready to offer
sanctuary when an ordinary family cast out his nephew Kit.
Allen fell for freelance artist Jeremy’s talent and looks, but it was
Jeremy’s unanticipated bravery that supported them through the years
while they nurtured their new family. Despite hostility from without
and threat from within, they created a secure and loving home for
Jeremy’s precocious son Toby and, later, Allen’s nephew.
But safety can’t be guaranteed. Ill, Allen must tell himself stories to
survive, stories that may explain his life to the boys he’s
raised, for “your life is never only your own story, and what you
don’t know for sure you must invent, using all the clues you can
gather.”
Freedom Glorious Freedom
The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life
For Gays, Lesbians,and Everybody Else
By John J. McNeill
In
Freedom, Glorious Freedom, acclaimed author John J. McNeill shows
how lesbian and gay Christians can achieve full spiritual
maturity and self-acceptance. McNeill discusses freedom of
conscience and discernment of spirits, ancient teachings of the
Christian church that have a special urgency for lesbian and gay people
who need to free themselves from all the homophobic authorities and
deal with God on a direct and personal basis. The liberating
process of coming out of the closet is seen as a spirit-filled effort
to achieve the glory of God by becoming fully alive.
McNeill offers a twelve-step spirituality as a spiritual
process of liberation from all addictions in order to experience the
love of God in its fullness. The epilogue expresses in detail
a philosophical vision, looking both to the past and to the future, of
how gay liberation fits into the Spirit-directed evolution of human
history and its role in the ongoing struggle for human liberation.
For more than thirty-five years, John J. McNeill, an ordained priest
and psychotherapist, has been devoting his life to spreading the good
news of God’s love for lesbian and gay Christians.
Eighteen
tales showing the handsome face of gay writing. Noted editor Steve
Berman has spent the past year reading page after page to bring
booklovers a collection of the finest stories featuring the range of
emotions every gay man feels in his lifetime--
the pain of first love, the mischief spent as a wayward youth, the
desires and fears of maturity, and the comfort of old lovers, a life
told from the perspective of wistful essays, engaging fiction, and
poignant confessions.
Stories by: Steve Berman, Richard Bowes, Jameson Currier, Craig
Laurance Gidney, Rhys Hughes, Raphael Kadushin, Jeff Leavell, Trebor
Healey, David Levithan, Jeff Mann, Sam J. Miller, Christopher Schmidt,
Aaron Shurin, J.M. Snyder, Jeff Solomon, John Stahle, John Morgan
Wilson. Richard Zimler
For more than three decades, clinical psychologist, Don Clark, has
been speaking to the hearts and minds of gay people, their families,
friends, teachers and helpers in the many editions of Loving Someone Gay.
With compassion he has promoted communication across generations
as well as revealing a path of understanding and reconciliation for
parents, siblings, husbands and wives—as well as among religious
leaders, teachers, librarians, legislators, judges, and law enforcement
agencies. Most important he has provided vital insight into the
psychodynamics and sociology of individuals, the gay men and lesbians
who have been and continue to be misunderstood and abused in societies
around the world.
For as long as there’s been such a thing as sex, alternate sexual
identities have been a fact of life. So why have we been so nearly
invisible in recorded history and historical fiction? Now editor Connie
Wilkins, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, has assembled fourteen
stories that span the centuries—from ancient times to the Renaissance
to the modern era—and explore alternate versions of our past. Their
queer protagonists, who bend history in ways dramatic enough to change
the world and subtle enough to touch hearts and minds, rescue our past
from invisibility, and affirm our place and importance throughout all
of history, past, present, and future.
Stories by:
Rita Oakes, Steven Adamson, Sandra Barret, Dale Chase,
Steve Berman, M P Ericson, Barry Lowe, Erin Mackay,
Catherine Lundoff, Simon Sheppard, Lisabet Sarai,
Emily Salter, Connie Wilkins, C.A. Gardner
Tim Snow is sure he's finally found the perfect man, a handsome
guy with a successful greenhouse business by the Russian River.
With his beloved Aunt Ruth now moved to San Francisco, his life should
be worry-free.
But San Francisco Chronicle's best-selling author Mark Abramson
can't stop with telling lively mysteries—Tim starts having troubling
dreams; a drowned body haunts his boyfriend, who may be less than
perfect; and there are men from both their pasts who might be deadly.
"Book
Three of Abramson's Beach Reading series finds protagonist Tim Snow's
beloved Aunt Ruth moved to San Francisco and Tim himself finally in
love with the perfect man. Oh, really? Tim and Nick begin the "If he
really loved me, he'd call first" dance, against the background hum of
murder and intrigue, plus the ongoing lives of the wonderfully quirky
denizens of Abramson's Snow's Castro. Then, Tim finds more anomalies in
Nick's background: a Big Easy cop cousin who turns up as the drowned
body fished out of the Russian River, and lurkers from the past out to
destroy... whom? Abramson can tie more complicated knots and entangling
nets than a 19th-Century sailor, his catch prolific and entertaining.
Don't mind that temperatures are falling (especially back in Tim's
native Minnesota) "Beach" is a state of mind, and Beach Reading can be
done as enjoyably under an electric throw by the fireside as slathered
in SP 40 by the lapping waves."
Charlie Heggensford, the Idaho farm boy turned L.A. fluffer for hire,
is hitting the high seas. Joined by his fluffer friends, as well as hot
porn star Rock Harding, Charlie sets sail for Mexico on a steamy cruise
filled with sex and awash with mystery. As he works his magic on deck
and beneath the sheets, Charlie finds himself in the middle of a
boatload of intrigue and hot sex.
A delightful take on death in the halls of academia.
-- Boston Globe
Lev Raphael delivers literate, witty, suspenseful goods. -- Publishers
Weekly
Curiosity turns to obsession at the State University of Michigan.
Professor Nick Hoffman can't understand how his supercilious new office
mate Perry Cross beat out other candidates for a brand new position in
the department. How did Cross get hired when he's
under-qualified? But Nick's curiosity changes to a jealousy when
he learns that his longtime lover, Stefan, shares a past with
Cross. When Cross is found dead and the verdict is murder, Nick
becomes a prime suspect since he was one of the last people to see
Cross the evening he was killed. Nick has no choice but to investigate
on his own. Only acclaimed author Lev Raphael can spin such a tale
of twisted academia.
In the far future, human culture has developed five distinctive
genders due to the effects of a drug easing sickness
from faster-than-light travel. But on the planet Hara, where
society is increasingly instability, caught
between hard-liner traditions and the realities of life, only male
and female genders are legal, and the
"odd-bodied" population are forced to pass as one or the
other. Warreven Stiller, a lawyer and an intersexed person, is an
advocate for those who have violated Haran taboos. When Hara
regains contact with the Concorde worlds, Warreven finds a larger role
in breaking the long-standing role society has forced on "him,"
but the search for personal identity becomes a battleground of
political intrigue and cultural clash.
Winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Gay/Lesbian Science Fiction, Shadow Man remains one of the more
important modern, speculative novels ever published in the field
of gender- and sexual identity.
In four extended sequences, The
First Risk confronts the murder of Matthew Shepard and the myth
of Venus and Adonis through the eyes of Italian Renaissance painter
Luca Cambiaso; the eccentric women of Pedro Almodóvar’s All
About My Mother and their search for authenticity; the nature of love
and obsession in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and the pain and confusion
of loss; and “The Strange Case of Maribel Dixon,” the compelling
novella-in-verse of a physicist in search of his lost wife, haunted by
a phantom voice that may or may not be hers...
Let Tom Cardamone lead you into his wicked universe of changelings and
mysterious creatures, where a boy transforms into lightning and
illuminates his emerging sexuality. Where a man accidentally receives a
package meant for his neighbor, a situation complicated by the fact
that he lives next door to a Sphinx. A nurse finds herself working in a
retirement home for vampires, while in the future a man questions his
decision to live life as a manatee. Featuring tales of quiet suburban
anomie, to superhero tropes, to intense erotic horror, Pumpkin Teeth spans the range from
Palahniuk insanity to almost Bradburyesque tenderness. Warning,
once you are bitten by Pumpkin Teeth,
it will not let you go.
Wilde
Stories 2009:
The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction
Edited by Steve Berman
The latest edition of Wilde Stories, once more edited by Steve Berman,
promises readers a range of imaginative gay-themed fiction culled from
the prior year. These are tales that range from the horrorific (Lee
Thomas' "I'm Your Violence") to the surreal (Sven Davisson's "Dim Star
Descried") to the fantastical ("Firooz and His Brother" by Alex
Jeffers). Many of the authors included have won awards for their
fiction, and their stories seek to press new boundaries of loneliness,
loss and love between men and monsters (and those men who happen to be
monsters).
Queer
Hauntings:
True Tales of Gay and Lesbian Ghosts
Complied By Ken Summers
Queer Hauntings: True Tales of Gay and Lesbian Ghosts is a
collection of eerie locales worldwide with a queer
bent, combining historical fact and unearthly encounters from
across the United States, as well as around the globe. From
haunted bars in New Orleans to a haunted theater in London, this guide
encompasses the other side of the supernatural. The stories range from
the serious, from brutal murders in rural Georgia, to the
light-hearted, including the male spirit who enjoys unzipping men's
trousers at a British pub. Ghosts of legendary celebrities intermingle
with ordinary individuals.
Along with these queer spirits are many businesses, either gay-owned or
catering to a gay/lesbian clientele, experiencing hauntings. Clubs and
bars hide more than shy young lovers in their darkened corners.
Countless bed and breakfasts have otherworldly guests staying the
night. Behind the shadows and doors of societal homophobia hide
find pink phantoms and lavender apparitions in cities and towns spread
across the globe.
"Utterly, absolutely fascinating reading; a must-have for paranormal
enthusiasts and lovers of ghostly lore, regardless of sexual
orientation," says Erin
Schmidt in a review on Rainbow Reviews
Haunted? Or blessed?
Ghosts? Or guardian angels?
Twelve new stories of gay men and the memories that haunt them.
A circuit boy stays at a haunted hotel. An actor recounts a grisly
murder in the English countryside. A gay parent unravels a mysterious
souvenir. A journalist chases a story through the streets of Amsterdam.
An artist grapples with his muse. A musician is inspired by the spirit
of a sailor.
Jameson Currier modernizes the traditional ghost story with gay lovers,
loners, activists, and addicts, blending history and contemporary
issues of the gay community with the unexpected of the supernatural.
Winner of the Erotic Authors Association Award for Best Collection of
the Year, Hotter than Hell & Other Stories offers readers some of
the most imaginative and sinful stories by San Francisco’s “Erotica
King” Simon Sheppard.
Hard-as-nails hustlers, sweet Midwestern boys, closeted college
students, leathermen, and everyone in between are swept away by need,
obsession, lust, and even love, in ntense encounters that never fail
to excite and satisfy.
The steamy tales span the globe from Morocco to San Francisco, from a
Senator’s office to a roller coaster queue.
“These steamy stories arouse in the traditional sense, but go one step
further, drawing the reader in completely.”
—Unzipped Magazine
Come along for the ride.
Japanese Dreams takes the reader to the islands of fire and smoke -
where shape-shifters, demons and lovers all populate a landscape
blossoming with story. Imaginative contributions by such well-known
writers of fantasy as Steve Berman, Eugie Foster, Jay Lake, Yoon Ha
Lee, Robert Jordan Levy, Lisa Mantchev, Richard Parks, Ekaterina Sedia,
Erzebet YellowBoy, and more, all offer us a glimpse of a silken sleeve
or the red fur of the fox as she slips between the rushes, daring us to
follow.
Gunned down in the street, author Helmut Brandt’s life ebbs away and
puts a chain of events in motion placing P.I. Marco Fontana on a
collision course with the Church and local community.
Brandt’s research into the decades old death of Pope John Paul the
First made him serious enemies within the Catholic Church. As Fontana
digs into the case, he finds Brandt also had rivals in his work and in
his love life. Rivals with motives for murder.
Dueling with the Catholic hierarchy and combing through seedy gay
hangouts, Fontana encounters dangerous characters and powerful forces
intent on stopping him. When Fontana himself is attacked, he knows he
must find answers before any more lives are lost. The web of intrigue
and deceit is intricate, tangled, and deadly.
Fontana deftly balances his work as a P.I. with his position as owner
of StripGuyz, a troupe of male strippers; he must also negotiate the
intricacies of love and relationships which he has been avoiding all
too long.
Will the solution uncover a decades old plot to kill a pope or will
Fontana find that jealous rage or academic rivalry caused Brandt’s
death? The only thing Fontana can be certain of is that Brandt's
enemies have killed once and won't hesitate to murder a private eye who
gets too close to the truth.
"This is a terrific read, and a bit of a departure
from your typical gay mystery novel, in that while the story is set in
the present, at its heart is another, decades old, mystery – did dark
elements within the church assassinate Pope John Paul the first? So,
then, consider this the kind of book Dan Brown might write, if Mr.
Brown were just a little more gifted as a writer – and of course,
supposing Mr. Brown wrote gay mysteries." from Review by Victor J Banis
"Though this was a bit lengthy, it is a
well-written, suspenseful story that will satisfy even the most picky
mystery fan. A bubbling Philly cheese steak, and five stars out of
five!" from Review on OurBookShelf Yahoo Group by Bob BigBearPhx
Review by Ruth Sims: "Murder on Camac is a fast, entertaining
read. I expect we will be seeing more of Marco Fontana in the future,
with or without the G-string. I give it five Sherlocks and a Watson.
Fairy tales have long intrigued readers. They’re the first stories we
remember, and they resonate within us as adults.
In Sleeping Beauty, Indeed, editor JoSelle Vanderhooft
offers us a new take on an ancient theme: fairy tales from a lesbian
perspective. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, from original myths by
talented authors to classics retold with a deft hand, these tales are
by turn erotic and sensuous, loving and wicked. Take a bite of the
magic apple and make this anthology your bedtime story tonight.
The legends of Fairyland tell that one should never taste the food or
sip the drink, or else risk being caught there forever. But the
tempting morsels in So Fey are irresistible! Lambda Award-nominated
editor Steve Berman brings together acclaimed fantasy writers with some
of the brightest names in speculative and LGBT fiction to create tales
that are moving and magical. These stories of romance and grief,
adolescence and identity, struggle and hope will enchant readers who
long for a fantastic escape—and a wonderful twist! One sample of this
bewitching treat is sure to trap you in its pages!
From the pains of loss in Holly Black’s “The Coat of Stars” to dealing
with issues of identity in Richard Bowes’s “The Wand’s Boy” to Melissa
Scott’s look at the dangers of love in “Mister Seeley,” So Fey: Queer
Fairy Fiction takes you into worlds that are at once amazing and
familiar. With tales that tear and tug at the heart but never cease to
enchant, this exciting and unique collection will long last in the
minds of readers.
A Report from Winter
is a death-in-the-family story, a love story, and a meditation on the
meaning of “winter”—as a season and as a metaphor for family
relationships.
It’s January 1998, and southern Maine is recovering from one of the
worst ice storms in history. Into this unforgiving environment comes
the author, flying “home” from Kansas City after a ten-year absence.
His mother, Jennie, is dying of cancer. She is receiving excellent care
in a nursing home, but has lost the ability to communicate.
Needing support, Wayne makes an SOS call to Ralph, his longtime
partner. Ralph boards a plane to Portland for his first exposure to a
Maine winter, and to Wayne’s family as well, including a feisty aunt
and an emotionally distant brother. The contrast between a nurturing
gay relationship and dysfunctional family bonds is as sharp as the wind
sweeping in from the sea.
Stubbornly unsentimental, A Report
from Winter weaves childhood memories of winter with the harsh
realities of living in a family where there’s not enough love to go
around. The memoir is a tribute to hard-won relationships built on
mutual trust and understanding, defying an uncaring world.
Colm McKenna has led a guarded life. Gifted with a wintry soul and a
photographer’s eye, he can stop time as easily as he freezes water, or
call down cold north winds. He thinks he is alone and unique in
the world. Then, seemingly by accident, he meets writer Aidan
Gallagher, his opposite, a young man who quickens Colm’s heart as
magically as heats the air.
In this lighthearted, gay romantic fantasy, can two male witches whose
passion reincarnates century after century, find a way to express their
love for each other again? Can this enchanting pair finally
succeed after so many lifetimes?
Wonderful review by Leslie at jessewave: "The Rest of Our Lives
is like a bowl of lime sherbet on a hot summer day: the story is sweet,
but with a bit of a tang, refreshing in your mouth and it melts on your
tongue. What more could anyone ask for?: read
the rest
Ragan Fox offers poetry that demands and provokes readers, as well as
entertains them. Fox bares not only his sexuality but his
childhood fears and foes, his desires met and never satisfied, in these
imaginative poems. These pieces deserve being read by anyone moved by
the plight of today’s gay culture wars.
“Ragan Fox’s searing chronicle of growing up gay is
an anguished autobiography composed of poems unerring in their ferocity
and their truths. These stanzas, which seem to be scraped directly from
the surface of the poet’s skin, are both gut-twisting and impossible to
turn away from. No edges are blurred, nothing is held back. Sharpening
a creative signature that already sported a razor edge, Fox grants us
witness to the crafting of an unapologetic life.”
—Patricia Smith, four-time individual National
Poetry Slam
champion &
National Book Award finalist for Blood Dazzler
Love
Sucks:
New York Stories of Love, Hate and Anonymous Sex By Ken Shakin
A collection of unforgettable vignettes from Sleaze City, New York.
Ken Shakin's reportage walks the thin line between journalism and
fiction. In a free tradition of modern gay writing, Shakin follows John
Rechy, Renaud Camus, John Preston and Boyd McDonald in using the
perspective of anonymous sex to probe the uncomfortable facts of social
relations, and not just gay ones, in the anonymous world of the big
city. From "The Anonymous Dog" to "Confessions of a Smoocher", "Man and
His Toys" to "The Smelliest Man Alive", Shakin's stories offer a guided
tour to Sleaze City, calculated to send a shiver down even the most
desensitised spines. Read this book at your own risk!
Ready to Serve:
Arresting Gay Erotica By James Buchanan
Author James Buchanan offers readers six tales of sultry encounters
between police officers, firemen, border patrol, along with a few
irresistible ne'er-do-wells.
What better life for a randy gay man than as a sailor? Sandy knows that
a ship crammed full of sexy service men offers plenty of
opportunities—and that nights at shore are even more exciting and
risque. The lads can’t wait for you to come below decks. There’s plenty
of adventure so welcome aboard.
Ken Smith is the author of a series of erotic novels with nautical
themes.
How do you react when your lover is kidnapped by terrorists and held
hostage for over a year? How do you react when you are the man chained
to the wall? In Martin Foreman’s moving novel, first published in 1996,
Andy McIllray in the Peruvian Andes and Tom Dayton in rural England
face that reality every day—each reliving his past and each fearful of
the future.
Young Charlie Heggensford is fresh off a farm in Idaho when he stumbles
(literally) into the office of Fluffers, Inc., where his natural
talents are quickly put to use getting male porn stars in the “mood” to
perform. A little too good at his job, Charlie over-stimulates the
actors he is assigned to arouse and finds himself in trouble not only
with his boss but several porn directors as well. Now if only Charlie
can spare a breath for some seriously hilarious and sexy
misadventures...
Real
Men Ride Horses:
Lost Stories of an American Desert By Ken Shakin
Wander the pink desert, where the heat is thick, cowboys come clean,
Indians tell all, and the author as voyeur writes down their stories.
In Ken Shakin’s erotic collection, Western America is revealed,
stripped to the waist, where men and boys get lost in the desert,
looking for a wet dream.
Cold
Serial Murder
Book 2 in the Beach Reading series By Mark Abramson
Tim Snow expected to show his visiting Aunt Ruth the wonders of San
Francisco, but never expected one of the sights of the city would be
the body of his ex-lover. A killer is on the loose in the Castro
district. Meanwhile, Tim’s cadre of quirky friends and neighbors makes
life all the more interesting with their drama of weddings and lost
(and found) loves. Cold Serial Murder continues the story of one of the
Castro’s most adorable characters. Can Tim and his Aunt uncover who the
killer is before it’s too late? (Read
about Book 1: Beach Reading)
Bob Lind in ECHO Magazine
writes:
In this second of his "Beach Reading" series of light thrillers,
Abramson further develops the likeable and relatable characters he
introduced in that enjoyable first book (same name as the series), and
again provides a story that perfectly captures the cohesive spirit of
the Castro community. While mystery purists may prefer a few more "red
herrings" to complicate the solving of the crime, the author obviously
intends for the series to entertain rather than challenge, and it
succeeds wonderfully on that level. A clang from a streetcar, and five
golden stars out of five!
E.B. Boatner - Lavender Magazine, MINNEAPOLIS:
"Grab your towel, some SPF 60 lotion, and these first two of author
Mark Abramson's highly entertaining Beach Reading series. He introduces
protagonist Tim Snow, Minnesota-born, expelled by his family after an
"incident," taken in by his Aunt Ruth, and now comfortably ensconced in
the heart of the Castro, where he has lived for some time. Beach moves
along briskly, incorporating a homophobic preacher, a gay icon,
joint-toking oldsters, a jolt from Tim's past, and a bevy of characters
you'll meet again in Cold Serial Murder, including Aunt Ruth. Cold
Serial is littered with corpses, one of them Tim's ex-lover. Beach
Reading is exactly what it promises. Abramson's witty dialogue; vivid,
sexy characters; and comprehensive knowledge of gay SF, its flora,
fauna, and idiom, captivate the reader. Number three, Russian River
Rat, will be out later this fall. Don't worry - it will be as much fun
to read under an electric throw as on a beach blanket."
The Ice fell upon the world nearly a hundred years ago, and if
civilization didn’t rightly collapse, it surely staggered and fell ill
a while. In the small town of Moline, Virginia, folks struggle to
survive, relying on hybrid seed sent by the faraway Dept. of
Reintroduction and Agriculture and their own faith in God and hard
work. But when a mated pair of dragons starts hunting the countryside,
stealing sheep, and attacking children, the townsfolk quickly learn
that they don’t have the weapons or the skills to fight off such
predators.
David Anderson is a farmer’s son who has explored the world through
books. When he meets the new healer in town, Callan Landers, he doesn’t
quite know what to make of the strange warmth stealing over him. It’s
not until he surprises Callan with another man—and both men are
promptly arrested for sodomy—that David finally realizes the truth
about his own feelings.
When David and Callan stumble over a secret in a nearby abandoned town,
their personal problems fade before government politics and corruption
that threaten lives. It seems the dragons aren’t the worst dangers
facing Moline.
At fourteen, Kit St. Denys brought down his abusive father with a
knife. At twenty-one his theatrical genius brought down the house. At
thirty, his past—and his forbidden love—nearly brought down the curtain
for good.
A compelling Victorian saga of two men whose love for each other
transcends time and distance—and the society that considers it an
abomination. Set in the last twenty years of the 19th century, The
Phoenix is a multi-layered historical novel that illuminates poverty
and child abuse, theatre history in America and England, betrayal, a
crisis of conscience, violence and vengeance, and the treatment of
insanity at a time when such treatment was in its infant stage. Most of
all it is a tale of love on many levels, from carnal to devoted
friendship to sacrifice.
His career as a concert pianist ended by a war injury, Sutton Albright
returns to college, only to be expelled after an affair with a teacher.
Unable to face his family, he heads to New York with no plans and
little money—only a desire to call his life his own.
Jack Bailey lost his parents to influenza and now hopes to save the
family novelty shop by advertising on the radio, a medium barely more
than a novelty, itself. His nights are spent in a careless and
debauched romp through the gayer sections of Manhattan.
When these two men cross paths, despite a world of differences
separating them, their attraction cannot be denied. Sutton finds
himself drawn to the piano, playing for Jack. But can his music heal
them both, or will sudden prosperity jeopardize their chance at
love?
Once more Catherine Lundoff offers readers a collection of the sensual
and the supernatural. The stories in Night’s Kiss are perfect bedtime
reading, as long as you keep the night-light on! Here are stories with
alluring vampires and aliens, strange Elvis impersonators and pirates,
as well as a few vengeful goddesses and curious tourists. So get under
the covers, and remember to lick your finger before daring to turn the
page.
In Still Dancing author Jameson Currier brings together twenty short
stories spanning three decades of the impact of the AIDS epidemic on
the gay community. Along with stories from Currier’s debut collection,
Dancing on the Moon, praised by The Village Voice as “defiant and
elegiac,” are ten newly selected stories written by one of our
preeminent masters of the short narrative form.
Magic and myth mingle in dark and dazzling ways in Craig Laurance
Gidney's debut collection. A tourist meets an African sea god... A 12th
century Japanese monk attracts the attention of a mischievous
shapeshifter... The Earl King lives in a briar patch on an antebellum
plantation... Spirits of the past haunt a young boy on a Southern
coastal island.... Gidney turns the familiar strange and the strange
familiar in this landmark debut.
"...transcendence, brilliance, and mastery, all of
which this collection evinces in abundance." -- from a great review at
thefix-online. Click here to
read the whole review
"The best of the stories in this thoughtful debut collection make full
use of African and African-American characters, such as when young
slave Israel Jones meets a man he's convinced is the guitar-wielding
Devil..." --from a good review
in Publisher's Weekly
Sex as God
Intended
A Reflection on Human Sexuality as Play
By John J. McNeill
with Festschrift essays celebrating the life and work of John J. McNeill
For more than thirty-five years, John J.
McNeill, an ordained priest and psychotherapist, has been devoting his
life to spreading the good news of God's love for lesbian and gay
Christians. McNeill presents a simple and straightforward answer to the
question: What did God invent sex for? The answer, derived from an
incisive investigation of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, is that God
intended sex as a source of pleasure, joy and love.
This book represents a concise summary of the wisdom culled over a
lifetime. McNeill's ideas have enriched the faith of thousands,
including fellow teachers, religious scholars, ministers and lay folk.
This volume includes a Festschrift to John McNeill, celebrating his
life and work in a series of essays by students, friends, and
activists, honoring him for his lasting contribution and spelling out
how he touched their lives and work.
Toby Johnson • Mark Jordan • Robert E. Goss
• Jim Mitulski • Mary Elizabeth Hunt • Sr.
Jeannine Gramick • Vincent Virom Coppola • Virginia Ramey Mollenkott •
Mel White • Daniel Helminiak • John Stasio •
Brendan Fay and Rev. Troy Perry
Crave won a Golden Crown Literary Award
for Lesbian Erotica!
Crave: Tales
of
Lust,
Love &
Longing By Catherine Lundoff
Catherine Lundoff is one of the most imaginative
writers
working
today. Her daydreams have been published in many anthologies. Her
stories combine passion with the weirdness of speculative fiction.
In Crave,
Catherine
has collected fifteen of her most recent
tales.
From the howls of lycanthropic desire offered by the "Leader of the
Pack" to lust and larceny in "Heart's Thief," these stories will
bewitch and entice women.
Here's Catherine at the Goldie Awards with her book and her award for
Lesbian Erotica.
You can’t keep a good boy from going down. And Brad,
one of the
best-selling gay erotica titles of all time, returns in a new edition.
The summer after high school, Brad meets a young man in the woods one
day and embarks on a life filled with sexual antics and adventures.
Join young Brad on a journey of sexual discovery from his early
fumblings in the British countryside until his more experienced days as
a rent boy sailor.
Ken Smith is the author of a series of erotic novels with nautical
themes.
Contemplations of the Heart:
A Book of Male Spirit, Photography, Digital Imaging and Text
By Peter Grahame
Contemplations of the Heart highlights men of many different ages,
shapes, sizes and colors. The non-erotic, non-objectifying male nude
photographic and digital images, and the meditation-style text, are
reflective of positive self-image and self-acceptance, and it suggests
how these may lead to a deeper sense of the spiritual self, most
especially for Gay men. Hard cover, mostly full color, the book
measures 5.75 in. x 8.25 in. All male photo subjects appearing are 18
or older. This book is very reasonably priced, and a great gift.
San Francisco has never been moire romantic or
adventuresome as portrayed by this debut novelist. A bit of magic and a
lot of local lore makes for an exciting and fun read.
Steve Berman has selected twenty
stories--some moving essays, some splendid works of fiction--from the
prior year that best feature the lives, loves and losses of gay men.
With tales by fresh voices and established writers, Best Gay
Stories offers readers indiscretions, poignant trysts, and
reminiscences that are as evocative as they are imaginative.
Authors:
M. S. Allen Holly Black
Richard Bowes Tom Cardamone
Jameson Currier Peter Dube
Erastes Greg Herren James Klise
David Levithan Raymond Luczak
Joseph Manera Jeff Mann Billy
Merrell
Ethan Mordden Paul Reidinger
Charles Rice-González Paul Russell
Aaron Shurin Robert Warwick
In author Steve Berman's second collection of stories and essays, he
once more leads readers through the dark paths of his imagination:
stories of the scent of loneliness entices children to start eating
away at a caretaker's historic house; a young lover is tempted by a
nursery rhyme; and Victorian-era burglars need to be wiley as well as
quick to survive together. Berman follows each tale with an author note
that dares to question what is fact and what might be fiction, while
laying bare his own life and dreams.
Steve Berman has been a finalist for many awards,
including the Andre
Norton (his yougn adult novel Vintage), the Gaylactic Spectrum, the
Golden Crown Literary, and the Lambda Literary Awards. He resides in
southern New Jersey.
In a small town, a lonely teen walking along a highway one autumn
evening meets the boy of his dreams, a boy who happens to have died
decades ago and haunts the road. Awkward crushes, both bitter and
sweet, lead him to face not only the ghost but youthful dreams and
childish fears. With its cast of offbeat friends, antiques and Ouija
boards, Vintage offers readers a memorable blend of dark humor, chills
and love that is not your typical teen romance.
Wilde Stories is a new
annual anthology that offers readers the best of the prior year's
speculative fiction with gay characters and themes. Editor Steve
Berman, who has been a finalist for both the Lambda Literary and Andre
Norton Award, has collected an engaging selection of the fantastical,
the strange, the scary from such notable authors as Victor J. Banis,
Jameson Currier, Hal Duncan and Lee Thomas.
GREAT
review with interesting comments by Amos Lassen at eurekapride.com
Green
Man Review gave a great review with descriptions of several of the
stories.
Especially the erotic short stories of Vincent Diamond, sparkling with
cut, color, and clarity. Here are sensual encounters between real men
that will leave readers feverish to turn the next page.
Trysts A Triskaidecollection Of
Queer
And Weird Stories By Steve Berman
Steve Berman has assembled his most compelling stories
of
trysts
that range from the eerie to the horrifying to the wondrous. Cut and
paste a voodoo doll made of magazine clippings: watch as a ouija board
spells out your deepest secret...mourn the loss of your boyfriend while
awaiting his ghost... listen to the ancient whisperings of a threadbare
flapper dress...gamble for more than money on a Southern
riverboat...renounce your citizenship to walk through a restricted
area, rife with magic. Experience passion and loss, all within the
pages of
this triskaide collection - thirteen stories where the supernatural is
as likely to doom as to save those that are drawn to its power. Trysts
offers readers dark and quirky tales from a distinctive new voice in
gay fiction.
Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades
offers readers seventeen original lesbian ghost stories that stories
that range from eerie tales of lost love to the darker side of romantic
committments, relationships that linger longer than the grave.
Lethe
Press Paperback,
268 pages
ISBN 978-1-59021-162-5
Can
San Francisco survive a marauding gang of Vespa-riding vampires? Before
it's sucked dry, the city's only hope may be Valentino, who's only a
trainee for the supernatural law enforcement agency, Le Counseil
Carmin. Swept up in the whole blood-sucking business when his mentor
goes missing, Valentino is called upon to deal with the menace of these
"Bloody Marys." But Valentino soon realizes that, in order to dispose
of the gang, he must go into areas he never dreamed of, deal with some
very strange characters and learn the truth about the dark side of
town.
The Very Bloody Marys is a comic horror novel about
vampires, ghouls, faeries, and the undead that move around after dark.
Part chase, part gallows humor, and all shivery excitement, this new
story from the wildly imaginative M. Christian is funny, frightening,
and very entertaining.
Once more acclaimed author M. Christian writes of the
art of seduction. One of the pleasures of the dystopic future are
erotists, professionals who paint their clients' bared skin with
neurochemicals that induce sensuality. Erotists offer landscapes of
ecstasy, pain, joy and delight. Few citizens can afford the skills of
the talented Domino. Fewer still know her identity is but a mask.
Beneath the facade, Claire hides from a
vicious crime lord who would not only kill her but her childhood lover.
But the mask of Domino is beginning to crack...
Painted Doll is futuristic noir tale, a wildly
imaginative erotic adventure, exploring who we are and the sexual
awakenings that occur when we become someone else.
An intriguing look into current-day religious life…
The story of a young Catholic teaching brother realizing the true
meaning of serving others and living life, Seventy Times Seven is
readable and entertaining, with just the right twists and turns to keep
the reader engrossed.
When first they meet, Neil and Zach
discovered a sexual and emotional chemistry that could not be denied.
Then, as mental illness consumes one, each must grow, repair himself,
and work to become stronger and more independent to ultimately conquer
the life-crushing consequences wrought by mental illness and emotional
dependency. Chemistry is the story of attraction between lovers, the
brain chemistry that determines personality and mood, the medications
needed for regaining mental health, and the relationships between
people who care for one another. DeSimone debut is an enthralling novel
of courage, liberation, and self-realization.
Hard Road,
Easy Riding Lesbian
Biker Stories Edited
by Sacchi Green & Rekelle Valencia
Take a ride—on the wild side.
Sex should be intense, joyful, and
liberating—exactly as
written in these edgy and uninhibited stories. While there are many
anthologies of lesbian erotica available, none so far have focused on
the interaction between the lifestyles and sexual adventures of lesbian
bikers. What’s sexier than a hot woman, clad in form-fitting leather,
fiercely in control of the Iron Horse between her legs?
Lethe
Press Paperback,
216 pages
ISBN 978-1-59021-068-0
Getting Life in Perspective A Fastastical
Romance By Toby Johnson
Sweet, sexy, wise and thoroughly entertaining, this mytho-historical
novel, featuring two lovable apparitions from the late 1800s America,
interweaves a heart-warming storey of youthful romance and adventure
with an ageless life-affirming and gay-positive spiritual message
...along with just a touch of the Twilight Zone.
A collection of essays by the English socialist
poet,
anthologist and early homosexual activist. The book is an attempt to
make an objective comparison between the origins and practices of pagan
religions and christianity.
The author of the perennially popular and life-changing
book, Loving
Someone Gay, recounts his own life journey from shame, failure,
guilt
and fear to pride, self-confidence and understanding of true feelings.
Sharing how he made the transformation himself, the first officially
openly gay psychologist in the U.S. and "father of gay-oriented
psychotherapy" points the way for others to claim gay identity and gay
pride and follow him to happiness, meaning, love and success.
This
wonderful first collection of performance poetry is sure to make
readers laugh and smirk. Discover why Books to Watch Out For writes:
ñFox comes out of the world of performance poetry, where
heÍs something
of a star. Could be why the poems -- as punchy as prose -- in this
first
collection sizzle with the heat and ripple with the wit of good stories
-- short on plot, of course, and character development, but packed with
passionate introspection about and investigation of queer life, queer
sex, and queer essence."
The winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's
Science
Fiction
and bestselling novel, Secret Matter
returns to print in a revised
edition for the 21st century. With an afterword by gay theologian,
social commentator Mark Jordan.
BONUS -- with this edition: Adam and Steve, a whimiscal tale with a
profound insight.
Kevin Anderson is moving along through his life,
finishing up
college, and getting ready to leave New York for an internship
rebuilding San Francisco after an immense earthquake. Then the Visitors
arrive; a race of human-like aliens touch down in several cities around
the globe, including SF, and nothing will ever be the same. When
Kevin's company is given a contract to build a facility for the
Visitors, he forms a friendship with ïBel, one of their number.
But is
'Bel so alien after all? They seem so human, but they possess some odd
characteristics and seem to be hiding something. What secrets do they
carry, and where, exactly, are they from?
A wonderful review by Arthur Breur on
rainbow-reviews. Here an excerpt: "...the book resolves in a very
enjoyable and satisfying way, and the author's many-layered revelations
about the Visitors is both intriguing and pleasantly startling. (I
shouted out loud at the most critical revelation, and was very relieved
when the author powerfully backed it up with science and reason.) Recommended!" read the whole review
Catherine Lundoff is one of the most imaginative
writers
working
today. Her daydreams have been published in many anthologies. Her
stories combine passion with the weirdness of speculative fiction.
In Crave,
Catherine
has collected fifteen of her most recent
tales.
From the howls of lycanthropic desire offered by the "Leader of the
Pack" to lust and larceny in "Heart's Thief," these stories will
bewitch and entice women.
"Jay
Michaelson knows too well that our life is a wedding and a funeral, at
the same time, in any given moment. The erotic on these pages comes
hand in hand with the devotional." - Ilya Kaminsky, author of Dancing
in Odessa
" If you are comfortable in your pew, these may not be the poems for
you. But if you want fully embodied poems of outrage and love -- and if
you want to "make a religion of flaw," read Another Word for Sky.
You won't regret it." - Richard Chess, author of Third Temple
Jay Michaelson is the executive director of Nehirim: GLBT Jewish
Culture and Spirituality, and a leading figure in the gay spirituality
movement. Visitors to Easton Mountain, Burning Man, Body Electric, and
many other places have thrilled to his ecstatic, erotic performances of
visionary queer mystical poetry -- and now his first book of poems is
out from Lethe Press. At times reflective, at times outrageous, Another
Word for Sky stakes Michaelson's claim to be the James Broughton,
even the Allen Ginsberg, of his generation.
Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo By Walter L.
Williams
& Toby Johnson
Twenty years after publishing his
ground-breaking The
Spirit and the
Flesh, anthropologist Walter L. Williams breaks his silence and writes
another book on Native Americans. Together with award-winning writer
Toby Johnson, he has produced a work of historical fiction striking in
its evocation of Navajo philosophy and spirituality. Set in the Civil
War era of the 1860s, this novel tells the story of a young Virginian
who finds himself captivated by a Navajo Two-Spirit male. This book
illuminates the truth of what the United States did to the largest
indigenous people of this nation. A novel full of suspense, plot
twists, and endearing romance.
"What can I say about this book. It was
AWESOME. I felt like I was there among the Dine, in the Sweat Lodge, in
Santa Fe watching Joelle sing. I could see the mountains and feel the
hot air and all the glory of the Southwest. I would highly recommend
this book for anyone who loves historical fiction with gay characters
in it. I'd give this book 10 stars if I could, but definitely 5 stars."
Bears on Bears:
Interviews & Discussions (Revised edition) By Ron Suresha
Revealing, challenging, often humorous, Bears on Bears: Interviews
& Discussions examines the homomasculine subculture called Bears.
In 30 wide-ranging interviews, these 62 gay and bisexual men expose
their furrier side. They reveal their experiences as gay, bi, and trans
Bears and Bear-lovers who find their physical image and personal
lifestyle at odds with stereotypically ephebic, effeminate,
fashion-obsessed gay male culture. Finding intimate affirmation within
the increasingly international Bear brotherhood, they discuss
coming-out as Bears and the early history of Bear subculture.
Contributors include comedian Bruce Vilanch, “Survivor” Richard Hatch,
model Jack Radcliffe, and authors David Bergman, Michael Bronski, Jack
Fritscher, Wayne Hoffman, Arnie Kantrowitz, Richard Labonté, Dr.
Lawrence Mass, Eric Rofes, Mark Thompson, and Les K. Wright.
Acclaimed by Andrew Sullivan on Salon.com as “the invaluable book” on
Bears, the revised edition of Bears on Bears features fresh interviews
with filmmakers Kevin Bowe and Dan Hunt, radio personality Larry Flick,
author Jonathan Cohen, and Metropolitan Community Church founder Rev.
Troy Perry.
Bears on Bears confronts conventional images of male beauty and
contemporary concepts of masculinity in a moving and colorful portrait
of a men’s community that makes for fas cinating reading on many levels.
For more
Bare Bones Books, click on the
logo
Bear
Bones Book
328 pages
ISBN 1-59021-244-4
978-1-59021-244-8
Edge:
Travels of an Appalachian Leather Bear
By Jeff Mann
The autobiographical essays in Edge offer insight into the passions of
acclaimed author Jeff Mann. These memories, insightful as they are
endearing, range from his boyhood obsession with the gothic allure of
Dark Shadows, to the doubt and pain of being a Southerner and so at the
edge of the gay community, and the appeal of leather bars and bear
culture.
Mann also visits many gay meccas in several of these
essays—the resorts
of Key West, Provincetown, and Rehoboth Beach, along with several
European destinations such as Germany, Ireland, Belgium, and Scotland,
have important cameos. But he is never an idle traveler—he is
challenged by his experiences, and his observations reveal the thoughts
of many gay men. Along the way Mann ruminates
on a variety of subjects,
from lost lovers to kilts, theophany, Sylvia
Plath, adult videos,
and
bathhouses.
Gay Perspective:
Things our [homo]sexuality tells us about the nature
of God and the
Universe
By Toby Johnson
Back in print, expanded and updated, with a new Preface by the author,
Johnson's Lammy-nominated bold statement of the spiritual side of gay
consciousness.
A
Prophet In His Own Land A Malcolm Boyd Reader
Edited by Bo Young and Dan Vera
Richard Labonte included this book in his
Ten Best Non-fiction for 2008.
For over sixty years,
Malcolm Boyd has written truthfully about his own
journey to fullness. From theologian to civil rights pioneer to
coffee house troubadour to gay rights icon, Boyd has courageously and
whole-heartedly shown the way to a deeper, more honest examination of
all our lives, leading by example. Bo Young and Dan Vera interview
Malcolm and his partner Mark Thompson about their years together. Many
of Boyd's previously unavailable articles are reprinted here.
For more White Crane Books, click on the logo
White Crane Books Hardcover,
328 pages
ISBN 1590210115
White Crane Books is proud to re-release Boyd's classic spiritual
biography and coming out story, Take
Off the Masks, for a new
generation of readers hungry for its insight, honesty and soulful
perception. With a new introduction by BoydÍs life
partner, Mark
Thompson, and a newly added postscript by Rev. Canon Boyd himself.
For more White Crane Books, click on the logo
White
Crane Books Paperback,
160 pages
ISBN 1590210654
ALL: A James
Broughton
Reader Edited by Jack Foley
In a life that stretched from 1913 to 1999 James
Broughton
witnessed
and commented on the twentieth century from the point of view of an
outsider. In a time aghast at its own horrors, Broughton championed
laughter. He was a poet, not of the ivory tower but of the innovative
street, a playful, urban voice with the notion that a poet could change
the world. In a rational century, he asserted mystery. All: A James
Broughton Reader collects the range of this acclaimed poet and
filmmaker.
For more White Crane Books, click on the logo
White Crane Books Paperback,
272 pages
ISBN 1590210212
a
white crane wisdom book Lammy Award
Nominee 2007 for
Best Anthology
Charmed
Lives: Gay Spirit in
Storytelling Edited by Toby Johnson
&
Steve Berman
Storytelling
can be a way of spinning straw into gold, of showing ourselves we have
drawn a long straw in this life. Charmed
Lives offers readers a
collection of fiction and personal essays as an alternative to the
stories that society often tells about gay men. Some are whimsical with
a touch of enchantment, some profoundly spiritual, others romantic--all
offer insight into modern gay life that will inspire and shed light on
the grace of being gay with tales of hope against adversity and love
over loneliness.
In this Lambda Literary award-winning
title,
Toby
Johnson explores how
the rise of gay identity has become an important part of contemporary
religious development. This dramatic transformation has resulted due to
the perspective of gay men with their ability to step outside the
assumptions and conventions of culture and see things from a different
point of view. This book will reward readers seeking new insight into
faith as well as culture, myth and traditions.
Johnson's
vision of a life-affirming, sex-positive spirituality of love,
cooperation, mutual respect and acceptance is in sync with modern
scientific knowledge, and does not ask the reader to suspend logic or
critical thinking. Gay Christians who are struggling with their sexual
orientation will especially appreciate Johnson's convincing
refutation
of common "biblical" anti-gay arguments. A powerful book for
personal
change and a great gift to a gay friend who is unhappy with his life or
suffering from low self-esteem.
A classic of gay mythopoesis. Michael Bails (Seattle WA)
writing an
unsolicited review on the amazon.com site says: "I was recommended this
book after having taken a Body Electric workshop a few weeks before.
From the first page I began to re-live the entire bonding rituals that
we had experienced over that weekend. How to connect, how to
communicate, and how to intimately bond on a higher plane! ... A
definite "must have" book for the gay tribe who would like to interact
spiritually and emotionally!"
For more White Crane Books, click on the logo
White Crane Books Paperback,
168 pgs
ISBN 1590210239
Arguably the book that started the Gay Spirituality
Movement.
Publishers Weekly wrote: Cultural editor of the Advocate, Thompson here
collects previously published articles and book excerpts from the
magazine, each an attempt to define the status of gay men. In an
introduction he distinguishes between homosexual (a form of sexuality)
and gay: "A social identity and consciousness actively chosen." The
text discusses the gay's role in politics, religion, culture, identity.
Among the contributors are Judy Grahn, author of
lesbian/feminist
works; Malcolm Boyd, activist Episcopal priest; Harry Hay, a founder of
the Mattachine Society; writer William S. Burroughs; and Geoff Mains's
presenting an approving, detailed description of sadomasochism.
For more White Crane Books, click on the logo
White Crane Books Paperback,
352 pgs,
ISBN 1590210247
