Johnny Murdoc

As I mentioned in my first post about Amazon’s Kindle Select program, my enrollment in the service expires on March 10th. In use-it-or-lose-it mode, my ebook Hard Lessons is free through the 11th, and then it won’t be free again! On the plus side, it will be available for sale through more outlets and formats, including my own Queer Young Cowboys store!

If you want to read it for free, grab it today!

It’s Valentine’s Day, one of the few holidays I enjoy celebrating. I’ve always said that D. and I are happy to celebrate holidays that are about us: birthdays, anniversary, Valentine’s.

Unfortunately I’m at work and D. is at home, so any sort of celebration is going to have to wait until I can traverse half of Missouri and get back to him this afternoon.

In the meantime, I have a sort-of Valentine’s Day Gift for you:

My ebook, Hard Lessons, is currently free on Amazon.com:

I do hope you’ll enjoy it.

Natty Soltesz has a new book out today:

Daddies. Big and butch, suave and sexy, handsome and hot. Here are ten stories of steamy encounters between older and younger men by veteran erotica writer Natty Soltesz. Hung bosses, sexy teachers, horny executives – they’re all here.

“The king of intergenerational erotica.” – Kevin Killian

(Soltesz hired me to design the book cover.)

Unfortunately, Daddy/Boy is presented in a slightly censored format, as Amazon initially rejected the anthology when it contained four incest-themed stories. You can read about that over on Natty’s blog. Incest doesn’t really turn my crank, but I certainly support Natty’s right to publish the stories that he would like to, and readers’ rights to choose what they want to read. Soon, Natty will have the un-censored version available through other webstores.

My family is celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, so the boyfriend and I have a whole day of sitting around the house and relaxing (although, rest assured, we will be venturing out tonight to see The Muppets, because, fuck yeah: Muppets!).

My buddy Marlen Boro has been running a new photo set of Joey, including the above photo, which Marlen dedicated to me on his blog. It may be apparent at this point that I’m a little smitten with Joey; the guy has his own tag on my blog, now.

It’s a little crazy to me that I’ve only posted once since Halloween; that’s lax, even by my standards. It’s difficult, trying to balance time between writing, working and living, and the writing time can get split up by so many things. I’ve got more than a few projects that I’m juggling right now, so the blog tends to take a back seat. Hopefully, the work that I put out will make up for it.

I’ve also been reading a lot lately. Since acquiring an ebook reader, I’ve been making my way through some gay romance/erotica books. I’ve ruminated a bit in the past here about romance vs. erotica and I still think about it a lot, but I won’t bore you. I will say that I’ve enjoyed the books that I’ve read, and that they’re just as filthy as anything I’ve ever written.

The first two that I read (recommended by Sarah of the Rain on the Roof blogs) were by JL Langley. Both books were about gay cowboys in Texas. The first, Tin Star, tells the story of a young man, Jamie, who gets kicked off of the family ranch when he comes out of the closet. To his rescue comes Ethan, Jamie’s older brother’s best friend, who owns another local ranch and hires Jaimie on as a ranch hand. Ethan’s gay, too, but has always kept his sexuality a secret for fear of what his friends and neighbors would think. Things quickly heat up as Ethan and Jamie confront the lust they’ve always had for one another. The plot itself feels melodramatic at times, occasionally downright soap-operatic. The people of the small Texas town where this all takes place don’t take kindly to an openly gay cowboy and Jamie receives threats and more-than-threats of violence. Still, through all of the melodrama, a giddy, horny story of lust and love races through the book, with nearly every chapter punctuated by an explicit sex scene. I popped a boner more than once, but I also found myself completely enamored with Ethan and Jamie. I’d be lying if I didn’t say my heart swelled more than my dick did.

The Tin Star worked so well for me that I immediately downloaded the follow-up, The Broken H. The Broken H isn’t a sequel, per se, although Jamie and Ethan make appearances throughout the book. This time we follow Shane Cortez, the mid-40′s foreman of the titular ranch. Cortez has considered himself part of the family who owns the ranch ever since they took him in decades earlier, when his own family kicked him out. When Cortez’s paternal boss suffers a heart attack, Cortez finds himself face to face with Sheriff Grayson Hunter, the ranch’s prodigal son. Shane and Gray have a lot of emotional baggage to deal with, but they find themselves in bed together quickly. The Broken H. The Broken H has fewer soap opera elements than the previous book, although there are death threats and accusations of impregnation, but I also found myself less emotionally invested in Shane and Gray than I did Ethan and Jamie. Still, I enjoyed the book and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Tin Star.

If you’re curious about just how explicit Langley’s writing is, here’s an excerpt from The Broken H. The Broken H:

Finally, Shane broke their kiss, flipping Gray’s shirt over his head and dropping it to the floor. A finger ran down Gray’s torso, starting between his smooth pecs and ending at his navel. Shane dipped that meandering digit inside the hollow, then followed the trail of hair, starting below his navel, until he hit the top of the low waistband of Gray’s jeans.

Gray watched Shane watch him, those brown eyes practically scorching his body as they followed the line down. Then, before Gray even realized what he was about, Shane bent over and traced the same path with his tongue.

He couldn’t breathe, his breath hitched in his throat and refused to leave. Was this really happening? “Shane …”

“Relax.” Shane rose and kissed him again, this time charting a moist course and nipping along his neck and shoulder, leaving goose bumps in his wake. When he got to Gray’s collarbone, he reached down and unfastened Gray’s jeans.

Oh, God! Gray’s balls pulled tighter, his cock jerking in anticipation. When that tanned, callused hand slipped inside and found his prick, his hips pushed forward, practically begging. Shane squeezed and rubbed through the thin cotton of his boxers. His prick started to leak. Shane moaned and squeezed again as his mouth surrounded Gray’s nipple.

“Fuck!” He pulled Shane closer, cradling his head against his chest with one hand, stroking his back with the other. If he was only going to get to do this once, he was going to seize the opportunity and finally play with that glorious and silken black mane. He snatched the end of Shane’s braid, pulled the band off and unraveled it. How many times had he dreamed of combing his fingers through it? Lifting several strands, he let them fall again.

Shane sighed softly and moved his mouth down Gray’s chest. When he reached Gray’s dick, he hooked his thumbs through the waistband of the jeans and pushed them and Gray’s boxers down in one quick motion.

Gray’s prick bobbed free, standing straight up, feeling unbelievably sensitive in the cool air. He was so fucking hard he ached. He wanted Shane’s mouth, his hands, something … anything on his cock. “Holy shit!”

Shane’s tongue flicked over the tip, then engulfed his dick in the moist heat of his mouth. Gray groaned, fingers tightening in the thick black hair. Shane groaned too, then stood up, making Gray cry out at the loss of those beautiful lips.

“Bedroom, Grayson.” Shane leaned forward and brushed a quick kiss against him. “Now.”

I’m currently reading Damon Suede’s Hot Head. It’s an entirely different beast from Langley’s books. It’s too early for me to give it a review, but I’m enjoying it. The characters are more complex and Suede’s writing is minimal but brutal at times. I’m struggling with the “gay for you” theme of the book, but I find the writing and the story compelling enough to keep reading it.

Interestingly, Hot Head is in the final rounds of the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards; it’s the sole gay (or M/M, as it’s commonly referred to) book in the Best Romance category, and it’s up against titans of romance such as Nora Roberts, Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter, and JR Ward. Regardless of how I’ll ultimately feel about the book, its presence in the final rounds is damned impressive.

And on that note, I’m out. I have the strong urge to curl up in bed with a book. Or play video games. Or write. Yeah, I should be trying that, too.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

“Every pro writer knows a better writer who started out at the same time but you’ve never heard of them. Why? Because they gave up when things got hard. And you know what? Fuck ‘em. They didn’t have the guts to stick it out. If you want to be professional writer, get yourself a truck-full of guts and a shot glass of ego and maybe you’ll make it. You’re not dead until you decide you’re dead.”

– Richard Kadrey

I have enough work to do as a writer right now to fill a full-time job and then some. If only the pay were comparable to the workload. Things are going well for me, so I shouldn’t complain. My mind races a hundred-miles-a-minute, just thinking about all of the possibilities.

One of my next steps is to work as a publisher. Not just a self-publisher. There’s one project that’s been in the works for some time now that will kind of kick this off.

There are so many great writers in the world, but not all of them are publishers or designers. I don’t know if I’m lucky, or if I work harder, or if I just happen to have the right sets of interests that make it possible for me to create books and ebooks, from the writing to the design to the production. I’ve already proven that I can be a one-man book producer. Now I want to help others.

The other day, I learned about Bloody Pulp Books, Steven Niles’ publishing collaboration with graphic designer Alex Lodermeier:

Niles is probably best known for creating 30 Days of Night, the vampire comic, but he’s written an impressive collection of horror comics. One of his creations, Cal McDonald, a supernatural investigator, lives in both comics and prose stories, and one of Bloody Pulp Books missions is to release some of Niles’ prose stories in handsome editions.

I love this idea of creators releasing their own work, and doing the labor involved in making sure that it’s an attractive release, something more than just words on a page. Something worth having. I’ve talked about Amanda Palmer before; she’s another artist who is taking things into her own hands.

Chuck Wendig has another ebook of writing advice out. I’ve talked about Wendig before, and I continue to enjoy his writing, his books and advice, and his sense of humor. Aside from his recent post about believing in ghosts, Wendig has a no-nonsense approach to writing (and other things) and his blog and books are always worth a look. 500 Ways to Be a Better Writer is currently only 99 cents, but will go up to 2.99 in a few days.

Damn. Writing that last bit reminded me of a former quote of Wendig’s that just clarified some things for me.

Micro-pub. Yeah.

Stay hard.

This is how my brain works:

I’m driving to work and two Highway Patrol cars are parked on the short gravel path that connects one half of the highway to the other. The two cops are standing next to their car, chatting. One’s a man and a woman. By the time I pass their cars, I’ve already started to weave a story about two male cops who meet at the median each day. Sometimes they stand next to their cars, but when it’s cold they both sit in one car. Maybe it starts out as coworkers, talking shop. Then they become friends, and they’re sharing details about their personal lives. Then, one day, in a fit of lust and heat, they end up swapping handjobs or blowjobs right there with a highway full of traffic zooming by on either side of them.

Fucking hot, right?

That story may get written, or it may reside with the dozens (hundreds!) of stories and fantasies that roll around in my brain.

Marlen Boro has put up more photos of Joey, the cute, spunky model I posted about a few weeks ago.

Boro also posts about our recent (and future) collaborations:

A few months ago I was tooling around the interweb, reading some erotic fiction – and it dawned on me that I wanted to incorporate some literary elements into my blog. I emailed a few authors – no response.

And then Johnny posted a few of my shots on his site – I checked out his work – stayed up until 4am reading his amazing stories – we traded a few emails. Johnny wanted photos to use with his eBooks. I wanted some engaging fiction to turn into a serial installment. It was like one of those “cooperation” skits on the porn version of Sesame Street!

Tomorrow is the first installment of “Do Me A Favor”. You’re going to enjoy it. Johnny’s work is a pleasure to read – literary but not pretentious – it’s fucking hot.

Boro, you may recall, provided the covers my latest ebook collection, Hard Lessons.

Every once in awhile, you hear a word—a label—that rings true to you. Last night, I found that word in a Chuck Wendig essay, “The Trials and Tribulations of The Modern Day Writer:”

Micro-pub.

As a sidenote, I like that term. “Micro-pub.” Better than indie, which carries its own debate. Better than self-published, which is a term that sounds about as dismissive and masturbatory as a term can get. (“I just ‘self-published’ my seed into this Kleenex!”) Ahh, but micro-pub! One man publishing. Like micro-brew.

Yeah. I like it.

I will hereby refer to myself as a “micro-pub.”

At least until I forget I came up with that term, which is in about — *checks watch* — ten minutes.

-Chuck Wendig

I can’t add much to Wendig’s statement—he pretty much sums up exactly why I like the term—but it struck me at the right time, as I was laying in bed having spent hours doing last minute formatting on an ebook that should be coming out today but may be coming out tomorrow because there are just not enough hours in some days. Yesterday was one of those.

Right now, the ebook is complete but I’m waiting for Amazon and Barnes and Noble to populate it on their sites before I launch it. That may be today, but it’s looking more and more like it’s going to be tomorrow. Hopefully this disappoints a few of you, but hopefully it doesn’t disappoint you too much.

This will teach me to announce ebook release dates ahead of time!

I’m about 3/4 of the way through Wendig’s book, Revenge of the Penmonkey. It’s well-worth the $2.99, by the way. I really dig his (oft times filthy and profane) practical approach to discussing writing and publishing. Some people approach writing as too much of an artform, but Wendig is realistic about both what he’s doing and his place in the writing hierarchy. He’s smart, and he avoids a lot of the politicking around the publishing industry and the best path for writers to take.

I’ve long given up the bullshit of “I don’t read books about writing,” because, really, how else are you going to learn? I write well, but I can always write better, and I can always learn from another writer’s perspective and experience.

I started writing a story (the one I excerpted here a few days ago). The story was supposed to be quick and simple. Short, probably 2,000 words. It was a situation story. When I think about situation stories, I think mostly about Stephen King. King doesn’t plot most of his novels. Instead, he thinks about a situation and some characters to go into it and then goes from there. Most of my stories come around like this. “Wouldn’t it be hot if…” Sometimes, I tell myself stories when I masturbate, even when I’m looking at porn. I like a narrative to my fantasies. Sometimes, one of those stories sticks. This one was like that.

Like I said, though, it was supposed to be short. As I was writing it, I thought about how it should end. I’m not going to spoil anything. The ending involves more then the two characters. Actually, it involves another situation. I needed more characters to make the situation happen. So I started thinking about those characters, and how they got into their situation. Now, this story that started with two guys in a car has branched off into this Rashomon-like story about how these characters come together.

When I started writing it, I quickly named the file “Short Cuts.” The story was meant to be short. Anyone who has seen Robert Altman’s Short Cuts knows that this title may be a little more fortuitous.

I’ve been having an interesting conversation with Marlen Boro ever since I posted a handful of his photos last week. It’s nice to find someone as talented as Boro and then begin a winding conversation about pornography and art and the likelihood of collaboration. I wouldn’t have guessed posting his photos would have struck up such a fruitful conversation, but this blog has brought me a great many of talented conversationalists and collaborators.

These photos are from the slide show Joey in the Shower.

Well, here’s a theory about DRM-free that’s widely-held by advocates of DRM-free.

“Don’t treat your customers like criminals.”

That’s true, though it’s not the only reason we do it. Another theory is:

“Make something convenient for folks and they won’t pirate.”

Also true, though also not the only reason we do it.

The deep reason we do it is that we want you to forward the ePub to someone you think will really like it.

It’s not that I trust you not to pirate it—it’s that I trust you to appropriately pirate it!

Because the primary reason folks don’t read a particular book isn’t because it costs money (though for some folks that can be an issue), it’s because it takes time, and brain power, and emotional commitment. And you don’t give those things up lightly. You give them up mostly when a trusted friend advises you to.

Artist Felix D’eon returns from Burning Man and shares an awesome photo:

I’m spending my morning working on a new ebook and a new mailing list. I’m pretty excited about the ebook. Each of the stories in it were originally published in an anthology or magazine. I don’t value my “published” work over my “unpublished” work, because those are largely arbitrary designations considering the state of gay erotica publishing, but I do know that these four stories are really damn strong. It will be nice to have the four of them collected and helping me make more money on them.

The mailing list will be solely for announcing new ebooks, stories and essays, deals on ebooks, etc… You can sign up in the right hand column of this site, or right here:

I promise not to span you or abuse your email addresses for nefarious purposes. If you’d signed up on my previous list, you’ll be included. Also, if you’ve provided your email to me when purchasing books, you’ll be added. Don’t worry. You can always remove yourself later.

Writer Chuck Wendig (whose blog I don’t read but I probably should because people I follow are constantly linking to great posts and essays he writes, like this one on 25 Things You Should Know About Self-Publishing) is releasing a new ebook, and he has a handful of awesome desktop images to help him promote the book, like the following one:

You can access the full-size options at his website by clicking the image above.

I almost feel bad for writing this next bit, as it feels a bit like picking on one of my favorite writers. And don’t get me wrong, Stephen King is one of my favorite writers. However, his new ebook, Mile 81, has some really fucking terrible writing in it. While the story has some genuinely creepy moments in it, and I’m not opposed to the basic concept of King writing about another haunted car (because, honestly, From a Buick 8 is one of my favorite King books, as is Christine), it has a handful of things that just rip you right out of the story. Namely, a scene featuring a state trooper who is playing on his iPad while sitting on the side of the road:

“He was playing a Scrabble-like game called Words with Friends, his Internet connection provided by AT&T.”

Are you fucking kidding me? Product placement in the middle of a story? I was suspicious of King’s inclusion of Bing in a previous novella, but calling out AT&T as an Internet provider has no place in the story. Even if King receives no compensation for dropping these mentions (and I can certainly understand occasional references to branded objects), noting the ISP that the trooper is using is just bad writing.

And now, a video of a young, fit guy stretching in the nude:
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Last Wednesday evening, at SEX+STL‘s Black and White party, I did my first live reading in front of an audience that was comprised of people who weren’t just my friends (although there were a fair number of those in attendance as well). It was an intimidating feat, made no less intimidating by the wonderful bartender who made me a fantastically strong whiskey and coke before I took the microphone. Rather than skewering my inhibitions, the whiskey just made it hard to read the words on the page.

People in the audience tell me the reading went well and I have to take their word for it. I have little actual memory of doing it. The best part was hearing from the bartender that I made her straight male coworker nearly fall over every time I used the word “penis.”

Ryan Scott shared some photos from contributing photographer Joe Mazza over on his blog, San Francisco Public Nudity:

The guy in the second photo is the same guy who appears in one of the photos I used for the cover to my new fiction ebook sampler, Hard On:

I found the photo that I used via Wikimedia Commons. It’s by a photographer who identifies as Crotchsplay and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license (which the cover of my ebook shares in accordance with the license).

The guy in the photo is definitely hot, and I’m happy to see him popping up in more people’s photography!

The new ebook designs appear to be doing well over at Amazon, but not as well at Barnes and Noble. My next experiment may have to be in retailer-specific covers.

This tattoo has been making the internet rounds lately, and I have to say that I quite adore it: