More Will and Jay stories from Alan Barker

Several more two sentence stories from Alan Barker. Enjoy!!

Flashback - Tour de Force

"Will says you've just come back from a tour in Germany Tim, like the stage outfit, wild nights in Berlin, fans screaming front of stage and then you're off again," remarked Jay, " and where next, Japan or somewhere here in America?"

"My last tour was in Germany," added Tim quietly, "and I'm so glad Rae invited me to your barbecue to chill out for an hour or two, but before I go I need one of your very special man hugs mate because to be quite honest, this really brave soldier-boy is feeling very nervous as my next tour is in...Afghanistan."


Missing

"I come home from the studio early and what do I see," said a very surprised Will to his partner Jay, "you on the sofa, with your arms wrapped around an Army guy!"

"Ssshhh, can you remember how anxious Tim was at Rae's barbecue just before he went to Afghanistan," whispered Jay between sobs, "well Ben here, his partner has just heard from the lads over there that Tim volunteered to go on a special patrol this week and has been reported 'Missing'."


Search

"Well, I need a small group of volunteers to go on a dangerous search and recover mission to find Tim's patrol vehicle," requested his commanding officer, " and I'm hoping you find some of the guys alive, but we have lost radio contact, so all we can do is hope."

"There are five of us who will go sir," volunteered Zac, "he's a great guy and would do anything for us, but can we contact his partner Ben, because if Alex my...well you know sir what Alex means to me, if he was missing I'd want to know."

Found

"You're two guys who will understand the situation," said Ben as he hugged Will and his partner Jay, "you're so cool about us and so are my Army mates who have accepted us as a couple."

"Well, they thought so much of Tim that they volunteered to go to find him, even facing snipers ans i.e.d.s," said Ben, showing Will and Jay all the messeges of support, "and they found him, the guys found him...he has been wounded and...faces amputations."


Loss

"I just don't feel like talking now Ben," cried Tim as he turned his face away towards the wall to hide his tears of frustration, "and I think we should part, because...man this is difficult...because...because...I can't..."

"Tim, those guys in our platoon risked their lives to save you and they were so worried about you and the effect of all this on us," Ben said firmly, "and although there are others in this ward who have lost their sight and limbs, we still have each other and a career and nothing is going to change that!"


Reunion

"I'm so sorry I said the things I did," whispered Tim to his partner Ben, "because I didn't feel like the whole guy you met three years ago, especially after the first time I tried to walk and fell back on the bed."

"All the guys in the platoon know how brave you have been and your commanding officer has missed your enegy, leadership and honesty, especially when you explained to them about Zac and Alex," replied Ben, "but please, just for me, remember there's still a life for us to share and those men still fighting out there respect you so much it hurts."


Home

"Thanks for coming to see me so soon," said Tim hugging Will and Jay, "as I lay there wounded in the ditch I thought I would never see my Ben or any of the lads again, but then suddenly in that painful half-light Zac and Alex came scrambling down towards me and being professionals hid their emotions so well."

"It's now really a matter of Ben helping me to put my best foot forward," laughed Tim to a very relieved Will and Jay, "as I had to have my left foot amputated, do I use my real one first or the prosthetic one?"

23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners

Lesbian Fiction

Inferno (A Poet's Novel), by Eileen Myles, OR Books

Gay Fiction

Union Atlantic, by Adam Haslett, Doubleday

Lesbian Debut Fiction

Sub Rosa, by Amber Dawn, Arsenal Pulp Press

Gay Debut Fiction

Bob the Book, by David Pratt, Chelsea Station Editions

Lesbian Memoir/Biography (TIE)

Hammer! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life, by Barbara Hammer, The Feminist Press

Wishbone: A Memoir in Fractures, by Julie Marie Wade, Colgate University Press

GayMemoir/Biography

Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist and Sexual Renegade, by Justin Spring, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Lesbian Mystery

Fever of the Bone, by Val McDermid, HarperCollins

Gay Mystery

Echoes, by David Lennon, Blue Spike Publishing

LGBT Anthology

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein & S. Bear Bergman, Seal Press

LGBT Children's/Young Adult

Wildthorn, by Jane Eagland, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

LGBT Drama

Oedipus at Palm Springs, by The Five Lesbian Brothers: Maureen Angelos, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey, and Lisa Kron, Samuel French, Inc.

LGBT Nonfiction

King Kong Theory, by Virginia Despentes, The Feminist Press

LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror

Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories, by Sandra McDonald, Lethe Press

LGBT Studies (TIE)

Another Country: Queer Anti-Urbanism, by Scott Herring, New York University Press

Assuming a Body: Transgender and Rhetorics of Materiality, by Gayle Salaman, Columbia University Press

Bisexual Fiction

The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet, by Myrlin Hermes, Harper Perennial

Bisexual Nonfiction

Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools, by Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Rowman & Littlefield

Transgender Fiction

Holding Still For as Long as Possible,by Zoe Whittall, House of Anansi Press

Transgender Nonfiction

Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, edited by Noach Dzmura, North Atlantic Books

Lesbian Erotica

Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Butch/Femme Erotica, edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press

Gay Erotica

Teleny and Camille, by Jon Macy, Northwest Press

Lesbian Poetry

The Nights Also, by Anna Swanson, Tightrope Books

Gay Poetry

Pleasure, by Brian Teare, Ahsahta Press

Lesbian Romance

River Walker, by Cate Culpepper, Bold Strokes Books

Gay Romance

Normal Miguel, by Erik Orrantia, Cheyenne Press

New Pictures of Herman and me

Herman and I were out with Friends in Palm Springs this week and they snapped some pictures. Thought I would share.

Short Story Review: The Emerald Mountain by Victor J. Banis

Reviewer: Alan Chin
Publisher: MLR Press
Pages: 34

A burned-out reporter for a gay rag in San Francisco is given an unusual assignment, to follow up on rumors that there is a gay messiah miraculously healing people in the Castro. His investigation leads him to Peter Lucas Simon, who was recently released from a mental clinic in Ohio called Earth Light, and who has no memory. Simon is a man caught in the present, with no history and no vision into the future. Simon seems too supernatural to be true.

The two men strike up a relationship, and the reporter travels to Earth Light in search of answers to Simon’s mysterious past. But the reporter’s visit only brings more questions. They become involved, but then a disappearance presents an intriguing question. Is Simon real or is he a hallucination fabricated in the reporter’s unhinged head?

One of the hallmarks of Victor J. Banis stories is the unique characters that lure the reader into an enjoyable journey, and this tale is no exception. These characters shine through this intriguing storyline, and charm the reader while the author plays a shell game with the plot that leaves the reader wondering what was real and what was imagined.

In the end, the reader realized that, real or invented, this is a story about letting fear of the unknown grab hold of us rather than accepting what is. This is a beautifully told story that blends religion and mysticism and homophobia. It is a mystery that keeps the reader engrossed and guessing to the last page. I can highly recommend this story.

Lean more about this author at www.vjbanis.com

May 19th Book Reading/Signing in Phoenix, AZ

Last Thursday I was treated to one of the loveliest experiences of my literary career. Bob Lind, a nationally known book reviewer for Echo Magazine in Phoenix, AZ, invited to me do a book reading/signing for a meeting of the Prime Timers group (a group of retired gay men who love literature), in the heart of the gay district of Phoenix.

I got there about an hour before the event started, and spent a delightful time talking shop with Bob Lind. Soon men began showing up in twos and threes until the room was packed with seventy elderly gay men. It was literally standing room only.

I had never read to a group of more than thirty people before that night, and I felt quite intimidated. Those wonderful men, however, made me feel right at home. I calmed down in record time and began to enjoy myself. They were attentive, considerate, and asked several interesting questions. We had a few laughs, many at my expense, and the evening turned into a fun event for everyone. Well, nearly everyone. I did notice that one gentleman nodded off during my reading. But only one in seventy is a pretty good ratio.

Both before and after my reading, these charming men lined up to buy my books. Several people bought all four. I took three boxes of books to the signing, and they nearly cleaned me out. The next day, I check the numbers on Amazon, and saw that they bought another fifteen or twenty ebooks.

I’ve always been fearful of public speaking. But I must say that if every audience was as charming as these men, I could make a career of it.

Thank you, Bob and all the men of the Phoenix Prime Timers for making me feel so welcome.

Book Review: Shining In The Sun by Alex Beecroft

Reviewer: Alan Chin
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Pages: 170

Alec Goodchilde has everything a middle-aged man could want—wads of money, important job, beautiful fiancé, controlling mother—except the freedom to be himself. He’s a prisoner within his own life. But every summer he drives to an exclusive yacht club on the Cornish coast and sails away for a month-long break from his overly structured life. This year, however, when his car breaks down and leaves him stranded on a beach, something inside him is awakened by the sight of a surfer dancing on the waves. The surfer is summer made flesh, freedom wrapped in a lithe package. He is everything Alex secretly longs for.

Darren Stokes’ only joy is riding the waves. He desperately needs a break from his life of grinding work, appalling relatives and hiding from his abusive ex-boyfriend. He sees that break in the form of a rich meal ticket that shows an interest in him. Darren coaxes Alec into an idyllic night together that turns into a life changing experience for both men, but no relationship is an island. The blinding light reality from each of their lives exposes the impossibility of their budding attraction.

At first blush this seems like a rather simple yet well-told story of opposites attract. Beecroft hooks the reader with vividly drawn characters and then draws the reader into a beautifully crafted world where both rich and poor can find a middle ground to protect each other and even flourish for a time. These characters come alive because of their genuine emotions and concerns.

But as both characters’ lives begin to catch up with them, the plot becomes more complex, with twists and turns that give the reader a nice range of emotional experiences. This is no simple tale of rich man meets poor boy. It is a multifaceted web of situations and emotions. The lovers are pulled apart again and again, but they keep fighting their way back to each other. By the end, the reader realizes that it is a story about finding courage. As Alex’s and Darren’s bond becomes stronger, they awaken in each other the pluck to fight back against all the negative influences in their lives that imprison them.

And do they win their battles? Do they live happily ever after? Well, this is a romance and at times a rather predictable one. I will say that I found the ending to be completely satisfying. Once again, Alex Beecroft has proven she is a topnotch storyteller. This is a read I can highly recommend.

You can read more about this book/author at: http://alexbeecroft.com/

Book Review: Retirement Plan by Martha Miller

Reviewer: Victor J. Banis

Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (May 2011)

boldstrokesbooks.com
ISBN-10: 1602822247

An intriguing and engrossing read. Lois Burnett and Sophie Long, two senior lesbians, decide to supplement their meager retirement income with some contract killings. With this premise, I was actually expecting a screwball comedy, but it turns out this is more of a crime/police procedural. There is humor, to be sure, much of it supplied by Myrtle, a friend of Lois and Sophie’s, who is looking for love and trying on new partners like changing clothes in a fitting room.

The killings, however, are handled in a serious manner. The story essentially follows two different threads, that of the hit women and of detective Morgan Holiday as she tries to solve the killings, the two paths leading inevitably to an eventual intersection.

Lois and Sophie struggle not only with their shootings, but also with an offensive neighbor mistreating his dog, the loss of their grandson, Matt, in Afghanistan, and the return of their adopted Vietnamese daughter, Ruby, who has been in prison on drug and prostitution charges. When Ruby is released from prison, Sophie convinces Lois they must give her another chance, despite some reluctance on Lois’s part.
Homicide detective Morgan Holiday, meanwhile struggles with problems of her own—her fluctuating weight, her own sexuality – despite a lesbian relationship in the past, she has yet to accept herself as lesbian—and a mother with Alzheimer’s who rarely recognizes her and has a penchant for escaping from her nursing home. The humor in these segments is grim.

I had problems with a couple of points, foremost among them it seemed that the two leads choose their retirement career somewhat blithely. I had to suspend disbelief on that score, but no more so than I would have done with, say, a fantasy novel, where I just have to accept the author’s premise that dragons are real. And while the author tries to adhere to the format of the hit TV show, Dexter, where Dexter is a serial killer who more or less redeems himself for viewers via the fact that the people he kills are all certifiable monsters, I thought Lois and Sophie were a little quick on the trigger, so to speak. True, a couple of their hits were undeniable scumbags and there’s little reason for anyone to regret their demise, but some others were not quite so clearly delineated. Deciding to kill someone who is annoying, for instance, even seriously annoying, or corrupting, as in abetting someone to fall off the wagon, falls more into the category of vigilantism than of righteous justice. But certainly plenty of people were ready to cheer Charles Bronson in Death Wish and its sequels, so mine may not be the popular opinion. And it helps here that the Lois and Sophie are well drawn and sympathetic, so that the reader can easily care about them and root for them, even if not always agreeing with their judgments. After all, how often in life do we agree with everything our friends decide?

Despite my quibbles, I found this a well written novel, with believable and likable characters and some not so likable, and plenty of suspense, not of the whodunit style but rather of the will-they-get-away-with-it sort, the answer to which I’m not going to supply here. And while ostensibly a lesbian novel, its appeal is broader than that. The issues with which the characters grapple are, after all, universal ones—the plight of seniors in today’s society, the search for love and acceptance, the failings of the legal system in protecting the innocent from the predators. One hardly needs to be lesbian to recognize these issues, or share in the struggle with them.

All in all, highly recommended.