Event: Litquake Reading in the Castro

Scott James, whom you should all remember from interviewing me for that story in the NY Times and for coming on to Magnet Book Club to talk about his novel SoMa, has invited me to do a reading as part of Litquake, San Francisco’s weeklong literary festival.

Litquake in the Castro takes place on Saturday, October 6 at 1pm (the day before Castro Street Fair). I will be joined by fellow LGBT writers and poets Meg Day, Daphne Gottlieb, Brontez Purnell and Rob Rosen.

The cool thing about this reading is that it’s going to take place outside in the midst of the Castro, Jane Warner Plaza, where the F train turns and the nudists sunbathe. And since this will probably be the only time I will ever be asked to do an event outdoors, I am contemplating doing a very special reading of Confessions of a Boy Toy. You’ll have to come check it out.

Litquake in the Castro: Saturday, October 6 at 1pm in Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro.

Excerpt: Exactly What He Means

It’s starting to get really hot in the dungy Parisian club, and I can feel my shirt sticking to my sweaty back. The boys and I go over to the bar to order another round. He turns to me and says something in French, something he knows I won’t understand. The sentence is too complex, and the vocabulary is nothing they’d teach me in college. But maybe it’s his body language, how he got closer to me with every syllable uttered, or his facial expressions, how his eyebrows rose with excitement after certain words, or his eyes, how he looked at me and then down at my jeans. I may not understand what he says, but I know exactly what he means.

Excerpt, Confessions of a Boy Toy

Photo: Gerard Estadella

Excerpt: Risky Behavior

“Have you engaged in any risky sexual behaviors lately?” Billy asked.

“Doesn’t all sex come with a risk?” Wilde had a point. He had learned that not every risk involving sex manifested itself physically, diagnosable by a blood test. Some risks compromised things closer to the core.    

Excerpt, Confessions of a Boy Toy

Excerpt: We Shouldn’t Do This

A few seconds later he began rubbing his butt up against my thigh and caressing my lower leg with his feet. And when I rolled over and started spooning him and running my cold hands up and down his torso, he didn’t flinch away. I heard him exhale. Not only had he taken off his shoes before slipping into bed, way before the movie even began, he had also taken off his shirt and jeans. Meanwhile fully clothed I laid, even though you know how much I hate sleeping with my socks on.

Andrew exhaled again, and I started fingering the elastic on his boxer briefs and getting down close to his crotch. But then I stopped. He noticed I stopped. And I turned over and closed my eyes — tired, drunk and stoned. But then he rolled over and got so close to me that I could feel him breathing on my cheek as he poked my hips with his knees. And when I turned my head to look at him, waiting for an explanation, he didn’t look away. So I kissed him, and he kissed me back briefly, softly, before he closed his mouth, recoiled back gently and said, ‘We shouldn’t do this.’ 

Excerpt, Confessions of a Boy Toy

Media: ‘Cross the Bridge Once You Get There’ Anniversary Video

Special anniversary gift: a multimedia reading of the first post ever on Confessions of a Boy Toy, “Cross the Bridge Once You Get There,” originally published on Valentine’s Day 2009.