As I posted earlier this month, actor Matt Bomer of "White Collar" fame and "Fifty Shades of Grey" is he gonna get the part of Christian fame, guest starred last night on TV's "The New Normal." And it was not only a great show, it added another layer of what I think is an important reality when it comes to gay relationships in a general sense. And I don't like to generalize anything.
I know I've been back and forth about TNN. But I keep watching it and I haven't formed a complete opinion yet, and I'm not sure I will. I ultimately decided to stop taking things so seriously, just watch a nice TV show with gay people, and take it for what it's worth: entertainment. And sometimes that's all it should be about.
On the other hand, I witness a lot of fresh boiling hells, so to speak, in publishing when it comes to gay men and gay relationships. I see some new authors who are so eager to promote and push absolute drek I've reached to point of total dismissal. In other words, if it looks like the author is full of shit, I don't bother anymore. Thankfully, it all balances out and I see a lot of great authors who don't do this with their LGBT books. Unfortunately, those great authors don't get nearly as much publicity or attention for their great books as the fakers because they don't know how to work the crowd as well with a great line of bullshit. It's hard to watch sometimes on social media.
But I didn't get that last night with TNN. The character Bomer plays is fairly typical of more than a few gay men I know. And I don't mean stereotypical either. There's a difference. He's the ex-boyfriend of Monty, and he returns to Monty's life after two years as a changed man. He's tired of the way he's been living and he wants to settle down and have kids. You can read more here.
I'd also like to add the use of parody was done well in the episode I saw last night. I would imagine a lot of straight people watching wouldn't get the parody. I think you have to be gay, or very close to gay people, to understand it. From the jokes about adoption to the character of the doctor who is the saddest sack of gay flesh to hit a TV screen in years, it worked. Or course, as I said, the key word is parody, but I actually know someone just like the doctor...the perpetual middle aged gay man seeking love and never finding it. And the fact that they want to fix Bomer up with him isn't all that unusual. One of the worst stereotypes I see in gay fiction these days has more to do with two ultra hot gay men falling in love than gay men with a few fundamental flaws. But that's another post.
The sub-plot in last night's show worked, too. I'm getting a little tired of the bully trope...gay or straight. I've seen it done so many times I don't really pay that much attention to it anymore. I know bullying is wrong. I hate bullies and bullying. I don't like bullies anymore than the next guy. But when it reaches the point of saturation, and those who start writing about it are only writing about it because it's so popular, maybe it's time to find another trope du jour. In any event, it was handled in a realistic way last night on TNN. I've been in the same position with nieces and nephews myself and I've given them all the wrong advice...in spite of my good intentions.
Someone told me that TNN has been canceled. I didn't see that myself, so I'm not sure if it's true. But after last night's show, I hope they give it at least another season. I'd like to see where a new storyline with Bomer might go.
Release Day: The Wall Street Shark
Update: Purchase link at allromanceebooks.com
Publisher web site
This is the next book in the bad boy billionaire series I've been writing for Ravenous Romance. It was an eight book deal for me, and I've been loving every minute of writing about bad boys...rakes...that are as wicked as they are irresistible. This one is titled, "The Wall Street Shark," and the one after that is, "The Vegas Shark." What's been happening with each book as I write it is that I'm finding different ways to balance out the good guy and the bad guy. It's been a strange process for me, and it's something that's never happened before. As I move on to each new book in the series, I find the next character...who is totally different from the characters in previous books...moving forward and gaining a new insight about his circumstances and why he's attracted to bad boys. I hope one day they release these books in a package just for this reason alone. I didn't start out to do this intentionally, but that's what's been happening and I find it fascinating. Maybe it's just my own self-actualization with regard to bad boys. I've always had a weakness for them and I've been able to relate to every character I've written so far who has been screwed over by a bad boy. And even while I'm writing it I'm loving the bad boy more than the nice guy.
In any event, I'm going to update with links to where "The Wall Street Shark" can be purchased. I've been told there's technical difficulty with the web site and I don't want to post any links now until I'm certain. But it will be released today, and I'll post more in the future.
Free Unpublished, Raw Excerpt Before Edits:
“Did you see that girl?” Kenny asked Evan.
“No, who are you talking about? What girl?” Evan hadn’t been paying attention to anything except getting through the afternoon without going into a bar for a drink. It was Saturday afternoon, they’d gone out shopping because Kenny needed a new coat, and Evan hadn’t heard from Jeffery in two days. This wasn’t unusual, not completely. It happened sometimes when Jeffery was busy working on something important. Evan knew he was concentrating on the social media venture because the stock hadn’t been doing well since it had gone public.
Kenny grabbed his dad’s arm and pulled him closer so he could whisper. “There are a couple of people over there near the corner and one of the girls gave me a look. She’s like really hot, dad.”
When Evan turned to look, Kenny grabbed his arm and said, “Don’t be so obvious. I don’t want her to know I noticed.”
Evan smiled. “Okay, I won’t look. Let’s get something to eat. You must be starved.” They were standing outside a small restaurant in the West Village. Evan wasn’t hungry at all; he rarely ate lunch. But he knew his growing teenage son could eat two lunches a day and still be hungry.
When they entered the restaurant, the head waiter told them he’d have a table ready in a moment. On Saturday afternoons in the West Village, Evan knew they were lucky to get any table anywhere because there were so many tourists from New Jersey and Connecticut. He’d completely dismissed the girl Kenny had been talking about a minute earlier until Kenny grabbed is arm again and started to whisper.
“Don’t look, but they are coming in here,” Kenny said.
Evan remained still, terrified to move his head in any direction. “Who are you talking about now? Who’s coming in here?”
“The hot girl with the other two people,” Kenny said. “You have to do me a favor.”
Evan’s head went up. “What kind of favor?”
Kenny did not answer him. Before Evan had a chance to ask another question, the three people Kenny had been talking about stepped into the restaurant and stood behind them. Evan took a quick glance and saw a nice-looking young woman with long blond hair, another young woman with brown hair, and a tall young man wearing a brown leather sport jacket. He didn’t think any of them were all that special. And they looked overly prepped, trying hard to be cool, as if they’d just hopped off a bus from New Jersey.
While Kenny stood there sending furtive glances to the young blond woman, the head waiter returned and said, “We have your table.” Then looked over Kenny’s shoulder and spoke to the tall guy in the brown leather sport jacket standing behind Evan. “I’m afraid there won’t be any more tables for at least a half hour. We’re extremely busy today.”
Without missing a beat, Kenny interjected in a move that reminded Evan of Jeffery when he wanted something he thought was important. Kenny said, “How big is our table? Can you seat five there?”
Evan’s jaw fell. He had no idea what his son was doing.
The head waiter said, “I’m sure we can. No problem.”
Kenny turned to the young blond woman and said, “You’re welcome to join us. My brother and I don’t mind.”
Evan grabbed Kenny’s arm and squeezed it hard. He glared at him and said, “Your brother?”
The blond girl asked, “Are you sure there’s room?”
Kenny sent Evan a look and smiled at the blond girl. “Yeah, man. We have plenty of room.”
Evan rolled his eyes. He knew words like man and dude were interchangeable nowadays. It was evident that Kenny wanted Evan to pretend they were brothers so he could get to know the young blond woman. So Evan shrugged and said, “That’s fine. But we can’t stay long. We have that party to go to later tonight.” Although this was not something Evan would ever have thought of doing, he found it amusing to see how eager his son was to get to know this young woman. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to play along for a little while. He would simply sit quietly and observe the younger people.
The head waiter escorted them to the back of the small narrow restaurant. On the way, Evan leaned into Kenny and said, “I’m going to get even with you, you little shit.” He wasn’t really angry. Evan didn’t want to bruise his ego just when he was beginning to explore his own sexuality. They’d already had the dad/son talk about the facts of life and Evan knew Kenny wasn’t shy about anything. Even though Evan had explained there were benefits to abstaining from sex and waiting for the right person to come along, hoping his son wouldn’t start having sex too soon, he knew in reality not many young people paid attention to this advice. In fact, they’d been ignoring this same advice since the beginning of time.
Before they sat down, Kenny said, “I’m Kenny and this is my older brother, Evan.”
The blonde said, “I’m Candy.” She gestured to her two friends. “This is Lorraine and Grayson. We’re students at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and we’re hanging out in the city for the day.”
Kenny flashed a huge smiled and squared his shoulders. “We go to NYU. We live downtown in Alphabet City.”
In a deadpan tone, Evan sighed and said, “I’m older than my brother. I’m in grad school.”
Before they sat down, Grayson stepped up to Evan and pulled out his chair. This set the tone for the duration of the meal and Evan had never been so uncomfortable in his life. He soon learned he wouldn’t be able to sit quietly and observe. While Candy and Kenny talked about school, Lorraine giggled and she tried to flirt with Kenny, too. Both young women seemed so interested in Kenny, and Kenny seemed so interested in them, everyone forgot about Grayson and Evan sitting at the back of the table. No one even heard Grayson lean over and ask, “How long have you been out? I just came out last year, dude.”
Evan gulped and said, “I’ve been out for a while.” On the one hand, he admired the way Grayson seemed to so comfortable talking about being openly gay, but on the other he felt creepy sitting there with a guy in his first year of college. But more than that, he wondered how Grayson had been able to tell he was gay. Most of the time no one knew, at least not at first. These younger kids nowadays seemed to have extra hidden radar or something.
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