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Observations, Social Anthropology, Mirth, Mayhem, & Much More
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Writing was always my chosen form of expression and the easiest way for me to break through my introversion and communicate. However, it wasn't until college that the writer within was truly awakened. Like most undergraduates I fell in love with the romanticism of it. I vowed to be a starving artist in a garret someplace slaving over the great American novel. Though I have succeeded in being poor I've not yet managed to accomplish writing a bona fide classic...but I have rolled up my sleeves and produced a good amount of work.
For several years I worked full time at a bookstore. Being immersed in that world motivated me to do oodles of poetry readings and indirectly got me into journalism. Some of my writing credits include two as yet unpublished novels -- The Sand Bar and The Killer Within.
In 2005 I completed a book of interviews with 60 gay male XXX stars entitled STARZ for publication with StarBooks and followed that with MORE STARZ.
I've also found success as a nationally syndicated interviewer and for over a decade regularly published pieces in a series of gay and lesbian papers nationwide ---(Chicago, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Anchorage, Albuquerque, San Francisco, San Diego, Key West, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Milwaukee). I loved talking with these authors. They taught me so much. When the dust settled I had conducted over 200 interviews with various gay and lesbian authors, celebrities, and people of interest. Some of the names include --- Harry Hay, Eartha Kitt, Paul Monette, Dick Sargent, Dana Plato, Edmund White, Dorothy Allison, Camille Paglia, Samuel Steward, E. Lynn Harris, David Feinberg, David Wojanarowicz, Scott Heim, David Leavitt, Alison Bechdel, Jerry Herman, Tommy Tune, Rudy Galindo, Dan Savage, Augusten Burroughs, Ellen Hart, Katherine V. Forrest, John Preston, Alan Gurganis, Holly Woodlawn, Dennis Cooper, Quentin Crisp, Scott McPherson, Janis Ian, Charles Busch, Bob Paris, Michaelangelo Signorile, Michael Cunningham, Zelda Rubenstein, Eve Plumb, Patricia Nell Warren, Kate Bornstein, RuPaul, Felice Picano, Mark Doty, Andrew Holleran, Sapphire, Poppy Z. Brite, Gloria Gaynor, Jack Nichols, Charles Karel Bouley, Marc Acito, Judd Winick, Ethan Mordden, etc.
An interview with my friend, the late Scott 'Marvin's Room' McPherson was published in book format the anthology Reclaiming the Heartland as well as in the online periodical www.gaytoday.com and some were also featured on www.glbtq.com - An encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture.
In addition I did interviews for such gay magazines as Mandate, Playguy, Honcho, Torso, and Inches. I donated a number of interview tapes (including Harry Hay, John Preston, etc.) to the Gay and Lesbian archives of Brown University in Provincetown RI along with some of the artwork of political cartoonist and activist Daniel Sotomayor.
My highest paying writing gig to date was when I worked for two years as a monthly columnist for 'Penthouse Forum' Magazine writing 'Tell Me The Good Parts'. My column documented the best heterosexual sex scenes in mainstream fiction. Talk about imposter syndrome!
I had 15 mostly humorous short stories published in the classic gay magazine 'Christopher Street'. I was a monthly books and literature columnist for the glossy magazine 'Men's Style' and had my short story 'The Hand Model' adapted for The Queer Stories stage program in Chicago. I also had the monologue 'Chorus' performed in the 'He Wore Guns' Chicago theater production.
In 2004 & 2005 I was honored to be co-editor (as well as a contributor) along with Kathie Bergquist of the 'Windy City Times’ Pride Issue Literary Supplement.
My short stories have been collected in several anthologies such as 'Ex-Lover Weird Shit', 'Flesh and the Word 3', 'The First Time', 'Happily Ever After', 'Looking for Mr. Preston', 'Butchboys', and 'Best Gay Erotica 1996'. I've also written a number of gay porn stories for such periodicals as Honcho, Mandate, Playguy, and Handjobs.
I was a regular columnist for the classic queer zine 'Thing'. My poetry and fiction has appeared in a number of other periodicals and zines such as Holy Titclamps, Hot Lip, riverrun, The Rockford Review, Planet Roc, Strong Coffee, Hammers, Greetings from Sodom, Tin Ear, The Queer Planet Review, Riot Gear, Q Rhyme, Ecce Queer, The Real Life Review, The Northwest Gay and Lesbian Reader, The National Gay and Lesbian Reader, Static Magazine, Stonewall News of New York, Spew, The Gay Window, Tortured Borders, Backspace, Hyphen, Iris, The Evergreen Chronicles, The Last Stand, modern words, The Whispering Campaign, Everard Review, www.gaytoday.com, Spoonfed, and Lighting Up (an online magazine).
I've had reviews published in ‘The Lambda Book Report’ (where I was a regular reviewer) 'The New York Native, 'The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review', 'The Windy City Times', and 'The Adam Gay Video Guide',
I am also a featured writer and inspiration for the online smut site www.savagelust.com - contributing stories as well as soliciting stories from others and editing/revising material. I am currently editing an anthology of hot erotic SAVAGE LUST fiction for publication sometime in 2007.
My monthly 'Bound Pleasures' column began appearing in 'The Windy City Times' in Chicago 7/03-04 and was syndicated in 'Out in Pittsburgh' soon after.
I contributed writing to local Evanston IL. Cable TV show 'Teenage House Party'. I have read from my work at various audience venues throughout the years.
Currently I am working on two screenplays and learning the process as move forward. It's an adventure and a fun new kind of writing. Both are horror features to be produced in 2006 -'She Lives' (Drunkenflesh Films) and 'Jacker 3' (Falcon).
And as an added treat I have had the following books dedicated to me: More Tales From the Dark Lord, and My Life as a Pornographer.
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Even as an infant I was drawn
to the seedier side of life.
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The June 1994 cover of 'Penthouse Forum' from my two year stint as a columnist for the magazine. Notice the cover blurb about Besteller Sex Scenes - that was a teaser for my monthly column 'Tell Me The Good Parts' about hot heterosexual sex scenes in mainstream novels. A surreal gig to say the least...
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