Hello there. I’m getting ready to put out another ebook of previously-un-self-published material: Straight(ish) Vol 2! It will be available around the first week of August.

Four tales of straight guys gone curious from master erotic writer Natty Soltesz.

Ski Buddy: Old college buddies meet up for some fun on the slopes, and find a way to warm up in the car, afterward.

My Hero: When your cat gets stuck in a tree, who to call but the sexy, married fireman who lives across the street?

I Sucked Off an Iraqi Sniper: A true story from the author’s spank bank.

Hard Times: Two businessmen in the thick of the Great Recession turn to prostitution to supplement their incomes.

Hi friends. I have two new stories in two new anthologies that recently came out from Bruno Gmunder. My story for Whipping Boys is called “Reunited” and is possibly the first S&M story I’ve done. It’s a classic revenge-at-the-class-reunion story (that’s a common fantasy, isn’t it?), and it’s pretty fun. Until the Sun Rises is gay vampire erotica and it contains my story “Birthday,” which is an excerpt from a novella I wrote this fall. That’s right: I’ve written a vampire novella. I had such a blast writing it, too. It still needs a lot of work, but it’s called Under Ocean City and it’s a take on my favorite vampire movie The Lost Boys, only with a lot more gay sex and with vampires who live underwater. Don’t ask when it’s coming out cause I don’t have a clue. I have so much shit to work on. Currently, My Sister’s Boyfriend Joey (the novel) is being read by friends, and I’m getting excited about doing a final pass on it and getting it out into the world in one way or another. It’s pretty great.

Hey guys! So I produce this newsletter for queer Pittsburgh called QueerBurgher and we just put out our Pride issue. I think it might be the best one we’ve done yet. Check it out.

This weekend was Pride weekend in Pittsburgh and it was fun and crazy. Can I say that I’m glad it’s over? I am, not that I didn’t enjoy myself. But fuck, this spring has been a whirlwind of socializing and partying and being out and about and I’m feeling that desire to hole up and get some work done. I have so much work to do.

You guys, how do I promote myself better? I know that I need to do this if I want to make writing a full-time job, which is my only real, modest goal. I was on a gay yacht yesterday and Sharon Needles was giving me this long pep talk about how I’m the Dan Savage of Pittsburgh and that I have something that nobody else has and that there’s no reason I shouldn’t be famous. And that was really validating and kind of intoxicating, because I really respect that queen and she’s obviously made it well for herself. But a couple things: I’m not in the advice business like Dan Savage, I’m in the erotica business. And also, I feel like I have this core of insecurity that always keeps me in retreat from the spotlight. I don’t have any real interest in fame for fame’s sake, but I do want to find the biggest audience possible for my work. I like attention, and I’m getting more comfortable with putting myself out there in physical spaces where people see a good bit of who I am, but I love to retreat, to stand on the sidelines and observe. I don’t know. It’s this tension between introversion and extroversion and I don’t always know how to reconcile it.

But, just to restate (and yes this blog post is turning into an ersatz therapy session), I want to make writing my full-time job. I AM GOING to make writing my full time job. That’s it. I know that I can do this, but I need to market myself better.

How do I market myself better? Well, a suggestion a friend made was that I find somebody, a fan or an intern or something, who could help me with this. So I ask anybody who is reading this: what do you think of this idea? And would you be willing? Since I’m burying this question in a post I’ll probably restate the question later in a different post, but any feedback you could offer would be excellent.

I also saw Lucinda William this weekend at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. I got up close to the stage and she played a song I never heard before called “Out of Touch.” By the first verse I was captivated, by mid-song I was emotional, and then in the last verse there’s this twist in the lyrics from micro to macro and I fucking lost it right there in the crowd. I was crying and sort of trying to hide it but that song just hit me in the gut. Here it is.

Haaay. So thanks for all who voted on my latest story poll. I love doing those things, love the response that I get, love the way it motivates me to do something. I think a sci-fi story is going to be really fun, and though I haven’t written it yet I’m pretty sure it’s going to be about sex robots. Stay tuned. Currently I’m working on a commissioned story about Justin Bieber who, you know, is pretty doable, especially if he’s incapacitated, which he will be, in this story. I’m working really slowly because it’s spring and life and love is happening, which always takes precedence. Or takes precedence until I freak out about how little work I’m doing, which could happen any day now, but until then I’m enjoying being out in the sun with the people of the world.

Choose what I write for my next story by picking a genre below. Thanks!

Just wanted to post a full rundown of where you can buy my latest ebook of never! before! published! straight(ish) guy stories.

Queer Young Cowboys – You can buy it in any format here: PDF, EPUB, or MOBI, and the profit goes to me and my friends rather than a corporate entity.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Thanks, yo.

Hi! Straight(ish) Vol 1 is available for purchase at the Queer Young Cowboys store in PDF, MOBI and EPUB versions. It features four new(ish) stories about straight guys-gone-curious by yours truly.

It should be up on Amazon, B&N, etc by the end of the day for those of you who prefer to operate within corporate channels.

If you buy it and like it, slap a review for it on Amazon, then let me know you did so I can send you a special gift.

Quickly: 1) Straight(ish) Vol 1 should be available to purchase if not tomorrow, then early next week. I will announce and I will be obnoxious about it, so don’t worry. 2) New York City was great as always. I sold out of Backwoods and kicked myself for not bringing more copies – when I get on a selling tear, watch the fuck out (I’m good at it).

I’m using the month of April to step away from writing as much as possible and work on some collages, which I’ve neglected for a while now. I forgot how much I enjoy it, and how much I love the final product. Above is just a warm-up, the cover of my current journal. Many more to come soon but in the meantime if you want to check out my collage work so far, check out my Flickr account.

I’ll be signing and selling copies of Backwoods this Saturday at the Rainbow Book Fair in NYC. Look for me at the Rebel Satori Press table. It’s a pretty great event if you’ve never been. Hope to see ya!