Allusions: LGBTQ Writing

Alan Warren & John Copenhaver Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first Orchid Isle cozy mystery, set in tropical Hilo, Hawai'i, introduces a fun and feisty LGBTQ+ couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions!Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai'i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.Early one morning, the couple and their friend - tattooed local boy, Isaac - set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg - a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.Valerie's convinced a murder has been committed - but as she's the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who's going to believe her?Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock . . . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a dream assignment. Former Senator Dorothy Gibson, aka that woman, is the most talked-about person in the country right now, though largely for the wrong reasons. As an independent candidate for President of the United States, Dorothy split the vote and is being blamed for the shocking result. After her very public defeat, she’s retreated to her home in rural Maine, inviting her ghostwriter to join her.Her collaborator is impressed by Dorothy’s work ethic and steel-trap mind, not to mention the stunning surroundings (and one particularly gorgeous bodyguard). But when a neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances, Dorothy is determined to find the killer in their midst. And when Dorothy Gibson asks if you want to team up for a top secret, possibly dangerous murder investigation, the only answer is: “Of course!”The best ghostwriters are adept at asking questions and spinning stories . . . two talents, it turns out, that also come in handy for sleuths. Dorothy’s political career, meanwhile, has made her an expert at recognizing lies and double-dealing. Working together, the two women are soon untangling motives and whittling down suspects, to the exasperation of local police. But this investigation—much like the election—may not unfold the way anyone expects . . . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to South Hill, a neighborhood of wealth, secrets, gracious Victorians, and austere manor homes overlooking the port of Fairhaven and the dark waters of Bellingham Bay. Seventeen year-old Trevor Blackmoore has lived here his entire life, shunned and feared, along with the rest of his clan, by the elitist and superstitious families that surround them and who regard the Blackmoores as the devil's concubines.As a young medium-clairvoyant dealing not only with the dark secrets of his family but also with his homosexuality--two things which have made him an outsider--he struggles to find normalcy.Trevor's life is made extremely difficult by his tormentors and former childhood friends: Cheri Hannifin, Greg Sheer, and Christian Vasquez; the school gods of the prestigious Mariner High School.His only saving grace is Braxton Volaverunt; a captivating young man with secrets of his own.A diabolical plan sets in motion a chain of events that will fulfill the doomed prophecy of the Blackmoore family, as a centuries' old curse comes to an end, releasing an ancient and bloodthirsty evil set on wiping out the family on Trevor's eighteenth birthday, Christmas Eve, and Trevor learns that he is at the center of it. Realizing that he is all that stands between this darkness and his family's survival. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In October 1992, Dr. Ellen Haskell begins a new therapy practice in Princeton after a tragic error with a former client. Demoralized by her failure, Ellen strives to restore her emotional and professional confidence. Her parents have departed for Greece, leaving Ellen alone in their secluded country house. As her clients are introduced through their individual sessions, Ellen becomes unnerved when she receives hang-up phone calls and a series of bizarre gifts from an anonymous admirer—first at her office and then at home. As the obsessive lover increasingly invades her life, Ellen's anxiety crescendos and she begins to fear the stalker's behavior will escalate into violence.The Psychologist's Shadow is a simmering literary suspense and a portrait of a compassionate, introspective therapist who finds herself in a dangerous struggle. As tension accumulates, the reader gains insights during sessions and through the stalker's journal entries, which serve as discordant counterpoints. Who is the shadow lover? An acquaintance, a shopkeeper, an old boyfriend, or a client? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Monreith, Massachusetts, was once a small community of whalers and farmers. These days it’s a well-to-do town filled with commuters drawn to its rugged coastline and country roads. A peaceful, predictable place—until popular restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is found brutally murdered in her own home. Suspicion naturally falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix. But there are other rumors too . . .Among the group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, theories abound concerning Laurel’s death. Max Barbosa, police chief, has heard plenty of them, as has his longtime friend, Unitarian minister Georgia Fitzhugh. Local psychiatrist Farley Drake is privy to even more, gleaning snippets of gossip and information from his patients while closely guarding his own past.But maybe everyone in Monreith has something to hide. Because before this late-summer evening has come to a close, one of these six will be dead. And as jealousy, revenge, adultery, and greed converge, the question becomes not who among these friends might be capable of such a thing, but—who isn’t? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do we live with a God, or ourselves, if who we are dooms us to Hell?As a joyful boy who realized I was gay,I fought for my happiness and faith as prejudices of family and religion isolated me from the world. Battered and withdrawn, could I rediscover the God of love I first learned about as a boy? In the process, could being gay be the gift that introduced me to my soul?In the dark night of our soul we find our own light! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two years after finishing his tour of duty in the Occupational Forces in Japan, Damson O'Reilly arrives in Siena, Italy. Sight-unseen at a local auction, he buys an abandoned Tuscan farmhouse in which he aims to write, paint, and start a new life.The house, passed over at auction, becomes an impulse buy when it's put up for a final time. He's prepared for a semi-ruin, happy to turn his hand to renovating the house - however, what he's totally unprepared for are three dead bodies, one of which he stumbles over when he arrives at La Mensola, the name of his isolated farmhouse on the road between Siena and Montepulciano.Against the backdrop of a series of grisly murders, The Road to Montepulciano is the story of a young man, still suffering the scars of war, who, despite betrayal of trust and surrounded by a complex web of lies, finds friendship, love and the warmth of community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bell in the Fog, a dazzling historical mystery by Lev AC Rosen, asks―once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them?San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective―but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lambda Literary Award-winning author introduces readers to the crime-fighting duo of Fin Donner and Devorah Longstreet—Lovers. Investigators. Women ahead of their time.New York City, 1899—a city on the cusp of a new century. A city growing taller, faster, a city of new inventions, new ideas—and old dangers on its shadowy streets where crime, misery, and murder lurk.When Pauline Godfrey, a young woman embodying the coming modern age, is viciously murdered, her throat cut, private inquiry agents Finola “Fin” Donner and Devorah Longstreet must navigate a world of violence and passion, lust and betrayal, where duty is twisted into bitter obedience and love is soiled.Fin, a tough survivor of the dockside slums, and her beloved companion, the elegant, intellectual socialite Devorah, probe deep into the festering secrets of a family, the rot and corruption of the police department, and the sinister world of the city’s thieves, whores, and thugs to find the killer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The third terrifying volume in the award-winning anthology series of original queer horror.Like the final girl in a slasher film, the LGBTQIA community knows first-hand what it’s like to fight for its survival. Beaten and bloodied after an extended chase scene through modern-day politics and the courts, we think we’ve triumphed and conquered our oppressors. We breathe a little easier knowing our rainbow is ascending in the distance. But—like the indestructible slasher villain—our enemies rise up again and again, as if on a looping third-act jump scare. It’s a seemingly never-ending return to battle as the pendulum of progress swings back.In this third volume of the award-winning anthology series, the darkest minds from both the LGBT+ and horror literary communities join forces to bring readers an all-new collection of terrifying tales from that line on the horizon where the dark rainbow rises.Stories by Chad Helder, Hailey Piper, Mathew L. Reyes, A.P. Thayer, J. Daniel Stone, Yah Yah Scholfield, Oliver Nash, Holly Lyn Walrath, Paul Tremblay, Carmilla Voiez, James Cato, Lucy A. Snyder, Maxwell I. Gold, Zachary Rosenberg, Matthew Blain-Hartung, Maryse Meijer, Vincent Kovar, CG Inglis, Craig Laurance Gidney, Dan Coxon, Kaitlin Tremblay, Michael Thomas Ford, Craig Brownlie, Amanda M. Blake, Sara Tantlinger, and Eric LaRocca. Edited by Vince A. Liaguno.Praise for Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet: “There is much to praise in Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet, a sharp, new gay-themed anthology. The 24 entries comprise a sophisticated collection of topnotch tales of terror, most of which could appear in any fright anthology without qualification and suggest the maturing of ‘gay horror’ into a viable and solid genre indeed.”—Fangoria MagazinePraise for Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire: “If Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadowsof the Closet helped to establish speculative fiction as a mature and important genre for queer fiction when it was published about a decade ago, then Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire takes it to new heights and creates an expectation of excellence. Tightly written and edited, free of tropes and mundane writing, these stories propel the queer horror genre to scare us while making a statement about our world and accomplish it with the best of writing possible.”—Lambda Literary ReviewProudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A relaxing trip to a Palm Springs resort turns deadly for Mason Adler and his friend Walter Wingate when first one of their fellow guests, then another, ends up murdered. Suspects and motives abound among the remaining guests as well as the owner of the Oasis resort, Marvin Gagliardi, an old friend of Walter’s.Mason investigates, hoping to prove Marvin’s innocence, but the more he uncovers, the more he wonders if Marvin actually might be the murderer. Distracting Mason is the handsome and eligible police detective assigned to the case, Brian Branchford. Mason had vowed not to become interested in anyone living a five-hour drive from Phoenix, but Branchford’s green eyes, gray hair, and toothbrush moustache are compelling reasons to give it a try.It’s up to Mason to uncover the truth about the deaths at the Oasis, and to discover if there’s romance as well as murder at the Oasis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"the patient routine is a merciless, anxiety-charged, possible-apocalypse, possible-zombie thriller, long narrative poem about the body in maddening conversation with itself. luna rey hall takes us through the terrifying halls of a hospital in lockdown while deftly exploring an immensely personal journey through the shifting realities of an over-medicalized mind, a body snared in systems that do not understand or serve it. The tension between inner and outer worlds is relentless and the body horror hits all the worst/best buttons while raising philosophical questions of identity and power. What a torturously smart little book."— Joe Koch, author of The Wingspan of Severed Hands and ConvulsiveAshton is convinced they are dying. whether it be from cancer, heart disease, or a fungal infection, they know something bad is always about to happen. after a night of health-related panic attacks, & urged by a voice in their head, Ashton decides to check in to the ER again but when another patient is brought in with an unknown ailment that puts the entire hospital on lockdown, Ashton may be trapped in their worst nightmare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Backed by his band The Close Contacts, Reuben’s unmissable live shows have sold out in Australia, London and Europe, winning the prestigious Off West End (Offie) Award for Best Cabaret in London as well as multiple Australian Green Room Awards for Best Artist & Best Cabaret Production, as well as the Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Cabaret twice, gleefully proving that he is the much needed, swarovski studded revolt against the ever narrowing views of an increasingly conservative world and he’s done it all while looking fabulous! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He went into the woods…and never came out.In 1986, thirteen-year-old Jeb Kleber vanished during his small town’s Fourth of July fireworks. His mysterious disappearance left his first love, Sammy Blake, grieving for years.Flash forward to present day. A now middle-aged Sam Blake has a comfortable and predictable life with his husband Marc in Chicago. All that changes when a stranger arrives at Sam’s door, claiming to be the missing Jeb Kleber. The stranger knows things he couldn’t possibly know—including the hidden love the boys shared during the summer of ’86. He also wears an amethyst pendant Sam gave him shortly before he disappeared.Could this be the real Jeb Kleber, missing for thirty-seven years? If not, who is this mysterious stranger? And what does he want after all this time? His appearance plunges Sam’s life into a nightmare of questionable identity, long-buried secrets, and perhaps even murder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even time cannot stop love.University professor Matthew Richter hates complications. Planning his every day down to the second leaves no opportunity for a social life, which he doesn’t feel the need for anyway.Jian Wei helps run his family’s business. The only thing he enjoys more than tormenting his parents and siblings with endless pranks is plotting his next trick on a certain uptight customer.Though so different, chance inexplicably draws them both to a World War II photography exhibit, and the aging photographer Milton Glass.Milton shares the story of two soldiers brutally cut down on the battlefield—which has haunted him for the better part of his life—and his suspicions that the soldiers shared a bond they never fully realized.Now, in the twilight of his life, Milton can’t help but wonder if Matthew and Jian share a potential bond of their own. Could they possibly be the same men from so long ago, returned for a second chance at being together? Milton can hope. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boy Wonder by Day. Boy Toy by Night.A child TV personality from a prominent Filipino family and the son of an accomplished academic, Jobert Abueva was a high achiever at his all-boys Catholic international school in Tokyo, Japan. Whatever Jobert did, he had to be the best, racking up achievements. He was a favorite among his fellow students, who elected him three times to the Student Council as class president, vice president, and president. Jobert was a triple all-star winner on the brain bowl interschool academic competition, debate, and speech teams, as well as a varsity track hero. He wrote for the school newspaper and yearbook and performed in school plays. A golden boy who could do no wrong. But Jobert had a secret nobody could know. After school, he led a clandestine existence turning tricks with foreign male guests at Tokyo’s world-renowned Imperial Hotel. So it’s not surprising that he had to be the best and was handsomely paid for it. More exciting and better pay than waiting tables. A BMOC (Big Man on Campus), he juggled dual identities of boy wonder and boy toy, sure that if exposed, he would be shunned by his friends and devastate all who groomed him for greatness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Stonewall Award winner Bill Konigsberg, a remarkable, funny, sexy, heartbreaking story of two teen boys finding each other in New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic.The first thing I noticed about C.J. Gorman was his plexiglass bra.So begins Destination Unknown -- it's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is. C.J. isn't just out -- he’s completely out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night.A connection occurs. Is it friendship? Romance? Is C.J. the one with all the answers... or does Micah bring more to the relationship than it first seems? As their lives become more and more entangled in the AIDS epidemic that’s laying waste to their community, and the AIDS activism that will ultimately bring a strong voice to their demands, whatever Micah and C.J. have between them will be tested, strained, pushed, and pulled -- but it will also be a lifeline in a time of death, a bond that will determine the course of their futures.In Destination Unknown, Bill Konigsberg returns to a time he knew well as a teenager to tell a story of identity, connection, community, and survival. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Compassionate. Provocative. Moving.In this new collection, Thomas Westerfield challenges our expectations about the stories that can be told regarding sexuality, race, love, abuse, trauma, art, and intergenerational relationships.We meet, among others, a men’s sexual abuse group in rebellion against their earth mother therapist; a ninety-six-year-old gay cult writer who confronts a young queer interviewer; a burnt-out white professor playing dangerous academic games with his Black lesbian colleague; a teenager in a small Kentucky town in 1971 who experiences gay life for the first time through the movie, The Boys in the Band; a retired man sharing a Las Vegas roulette table with a lonely drunk college student celebrating his twenty-first birthday; a little boy terrified of what his Barbies will do to him in the dark of night; and a sex-trafficked young man, now free, explaining why he will never return to his family.Some find acceptance, even peace, within the many contradictory and often warring elements of their hearts; some do not. But all are embraced with compassionate acceptance as they go on, without the world’s understanding. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prepare to Feast on LIfe!Robert (Raub) Karr and his best friend, Walter, planned a relaxing cruise from Seattle to Mexico. Little did they know that their vacation would be upended when they met the author and creator of Auntie Mame, Patrick Dennis, on board the ship. Dennis was traveling under an assumed name. And much like his character Mame, Patrick Dennis brought a whirlwind of mayhem, fun, and chaos into the lives of those onboard the ship.Raub, Walter, and Patrick became fast friends, with Patrick attracting a collection of eccentrics and oddball characters wherever he went. What was supposed to be a simple cruise turns into a full-blown adventure when Patrick and Walter jump ship and disappear into Mexico. Later, Raub comes to their rescue. Wealthy widows, art connoisseurs, masked midget wrestlers, ladies of the night, and hunting rats are just part of the trio's comical escapades.The story behind At Sea with Patrick Dennis: My Madcap Mexican Adventure with the Author of Auntie Mame is as fascinating as the memoir itself. When Raub Karr passed away in 2017, his memoir languished unpublished and was doomed to be lost forever. Fortunately, theatrical hair designer, Bernie Ardia, rescued the manuscript from obscurity. Ardia instinctively knew this story needed to be shared with the world.So, don your best jewelry, fix yourself a cocktail, and prepare to laugh as you come on a madcap Mexican adventure with Patrick Dennis, Raub, and Walter. To quote Patrick Dennis's most famous character, Mame, "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving."Patrick Dennis, Raub, and Walter pile their plates high and feast from the banquet of life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.