Best Gay Romance 2013 (29 page)

The paper rattles and I know he's trying to hide that grin of his from me. When I push down the top of the newspaper, he smiles as he says, “Of all the anniversaries we celebrate, you always forget this one.”

“You always remind me,” I point out. I can tell by the laughter dancing in his pale blue eyes and the promise in his smile that today is going to turn out to be a good day after all.

FYN ALEXANDER
grew up in Liverpool, England, with a great love of books and the English language. As an adult Fyn moved to Canada, but returns to England to visit every few years to reconnect with his roots. Fyn is also the author of the
Angel and the Assassin
series.

 

SHANE ALLISON
is the proud editor of
Hot Cops, Backdraft, College Boys
, and
Hard Working Men
. His stories have appeared in
Best Black Gay Erotica
, five editions of
Best Gay Erotica, Bears, Biker Boys, Leathermen, Surfer Boys, Country Boys,
and over a dozen other lusty anthologies. His first book of poems,
Slut Machine
is out from Rebel Satori Press. Shane currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

 

MICHAEL BRACKEN's
short stories have appeared in
Country Boys, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Espionage Magazine, Flesh & Blood: Guilty as Sin, Freshmen, Hot Blood: Strange Bedfellows, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 4, Men,
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Ultimate Gay Erotica 2006,
and many other anthologies and periodicals.

 

KAL COBALT
(
kalcobalt.com
) is a native Oregonian who recently relocated to Portland. Read more of Kal's work in
Country Boys, Hot Gay Erotica, Velvet Mafia, Distant Horizons
, edited by Greg Herren, and
Best Fantastic Erotica
, edited by Cecilia Tan.

 

JAMESON CURRIER
is the author of two novels,
Where the Rainbow Ends
and
The Wolf at the Door
, and four collections of short stories,
Dancing on the Moon; Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex; Still Dancing;
and
The Haunted Heart and Other Tales
. “July 2002” is an excerpt from his new novel,
The Third Buddha
.

 

MARTIN DELACROIX's
(
martindelacroix.com
) stories appear in over twenty erotic anthologies. He has published four novels:
Adrian's Scar, Maui, Love Quest
, and
De Narvaez
. He lives with his partner, Greg, on Florida's Gulf Coast.

 

JAMIE FREEMAN
(
jamiefreeman.net
) lives in a small Florida town. He has published the romantic novella
The Marriage of True Minds
and his stories can be found in
Best Gay Romance 2010, Necking, Sindustry,
and elsewhere. He writes in a variety of genres including erotica, romance, science fiction and horror.

 

SHANNA GERMAIN's
(
shannagermain.com
) work has appeared in places like
Absinthe Literary Review, Best American Erotica 2007, Best Gay Bondage 2008, Best Gay Romance 2008, Best Lesbian Erotica 2008, The Mammoth Book of Best American Erotica Volume 7
, and Salon.

 

DOUG HARRISON's
([email protected]) erotic ruminations have appeared in zines, twenty anthologies, and a spiritual memoir,
In Pursuit of Ecstasy
. He was active in San Francisco's leather scene, is a father and grandfather, and has a firm but gregarious leather partner with whom he experiments in Hawaii.

 

T. HITMAN
is the pen name of a full-time professional writer who lives with his two husbands—the human one and his mysterious, otherworldy muse—in a small cottage somewhere in the wilds of New England. In their home, much romance is made, both on the page and in the bedroom.

 

GEORGINA LI
says that when she's not writing, she likes to paint—bright colors on small canvases, torn pages, odd bits pulled from the recycling bin. Her first published story, “Like They Always Been Free,” appears in the science fiction anthology
Federations
, edited by John Joseph Adams, alongside stories by Anne McCaffrey and Robert Silverberg.

 

EDWARD MORENO
has finally settled down in Melbourne after years of wandering aimlessly in search of pleasure. A native of New Mexico and a one-time San Franciscan, he now calls Australia home. He studies writing and Spanish at the University of Melbourne. His work has been published in
Best Gay Erotica
and at
blithe.com
.

 

MAX PIERCE's
(
maxpierce.com
) debut novel is the gothic mystery
The Master of Seacliff
. His musings on gay culture and Hollywood history have appeared online for
The Advocate
and other national publications. He previously contributed to the vampire anthology
Blood Lust.
He lives in Los Angeles.

 

NEIL PLAKCY
is the author of
Mahu, Mahu Surfer
, and
Mahu Fire
, mysteries set in Hawaii. He is coeditor of
Paws & Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog
and editor of
Hard Hats
. A journalist, book reviewer, and college professor, he is also a frequent contributor to gay anthologies.

 

J. M. SNYDER
(
jmsnyder.net
) writes gay erotic/romantic fiction. Originally self-published, Snyder now works with the e-publishers Amber Heat Press and Aspen Mountain Press. Snyder's highly erotic short gay fiction has been published online at Ruthie's Club, Tit-Elation, and Amazon Shorts, as well as in anthologies published by Cleis Press, Haworth Press, and Alyson Books.

 

NATTY SOLTESZ
(
bacteriaburger.com
) has had stories published in
Best Gay Erotica 2009, Second Person Queer,
and
Best Gay Romance 2009
, regularly publishes fiction in
Freshmen, Mandate,
and
Handjobs
, is a faithful contributor to the Nifty Erotic Stories Archive, and is writing his first novel,
Backwoods
. He lives in Pittsburgh with his lover.

 

C. C. WILLIAMS
(
ccwilliamsonline.net
), after moving several times about the country and through Europe, is now settled in the Southwestern United States with his partner, JT. When not critiquing cooking or dance show contestants, he is at work on several writing projects.

RICHARD LABONTÉ
([email protected]), when he's not skimming dozens of anthology submissions a month, or reviewing one hundred or so books a year for Q Syndicate, or turning turgid bureaucratic prose into comprehensible English for the Inter-American Development Bank or the Reeves of Renfrew County, Ontario, or coordinating the judging of the Lambda Literary Awards, or crafting the best croutons ever at his weekend work in a Bowen Island recovery center kitchen, likes to startle deer as he walks terrier/schnauzer Zak, accompanied by husband Asa, through the island's temperate rainforest. In season, he fills pails with salmonberries, blackberries and huckleberries. Yum. Since 1997, he has edited almost forty erotic anthologies, though “pornographer” was not an original career goal.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for granting permission to reprint copyrighted material:

 

“Precious Jade” © 2010 by Fyn Alexander, excerpted from the novel
Precious Jade
(Loose-Id, 2010). “Sandwich Artist” © 2008 by Shane Allison appeared in
Best Gay Love Stories 2009
(Alyson Books, 2008). “Total Package” © 2009 by Michael Bracken, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2010
(Cleis Press, 2009). “The Belt” © 2007 by Kal Cobalt, reprinted with permission from Velvet Mafia, Spring 2007. “July 2002” © 2010 by Jameson Currier, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2011
(Cleis Press, 2010). “Cody Barton” © 2012 by Martin Delacroix, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2012
(Cleis Press, 2012). “Charming Princes” © 2012 by Jamie Freeman, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2012
(Cleis Press, 2012). “What We Leave Behind” © 2007 by Shanna Germain, reprinted with the author's permission from
Animal Attraction
(Torquere Press, 2007). “Lonely Boy” © 2009 by Doug Harrison, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2010
(Cleis Press, 2009). “One” © 2008 by T. Hitman, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2009
(Cleis Press, 2008). “Closer to the Sky” © 2009 by Georgina Li, reprinted with the author's permission from
Chroma 8.
“You're a Dog” © 2010 by Edward Moreno, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2011
(Cleis Press, 2010). “Viva Las Vegas” © 2007 by Max Pierce, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2008
(Cleis Press, 2008). “The Baker” © 2008 by Neil Plakcy, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2009
(Cleis Press, 2008). “Henry and Jim” © 2007 by J. M. Snyder, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2008
(Cleis Press, 2008). “The Falls” © 2009 by Natty Soltesz, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2010
(Cleis Press, 2009). “The Prisoner” © 2012 by C. C. Williams, reprinted with the author's permission from
Best Gay Romance 2012
(Cleis Press, 2012).

Copyright © 2013 by Richard Labonté.

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television or online reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.

Published in the United States by Cleis Press Inc., 2246 Sixth Street, Berkeley, California 94710.

eISBN : 978-1-573-44919-9