Features fourteen tales of intergenerational sex, including one brand-new previously-unpublished story, “Chuck and Skippy,” plus an entertaining preface and quasi-entertaining story annotations. Will be available on Smashwords and Amazon. Cover design by Johnny Murdoc.
I exercised my constitutional right to disable my Facebook profile yesterday. I’m on Twitter so if you want to follow me feel free to do so: @nattysoltesz. Though I almost never post on Twitter because I don’t understand its purpose, beyond attempts to get the attention of people more famous than me. Am I missing something?
I’m feeling focused lately, which is one of the reasons I’m trying to minimize my distractions. Man, I read this great book yesterday – and I mean I really did read the entire thing in one day. Dream School by Blake Nelson. I got it from the library and I was holding off on reading it, because I knew it was going to be good. Finally I picked it up yesterday morning and I read it all day. It was so wonderful. I’d do something, take a break, then come right back into that world because I never wanted to leave.
Anyway it was inspiring because it’s about this college girl discovering that she’s a writer. And the voice is just effortless, and Nelson doesn’t waste any time on events, he just plows right through this girl’s life and goes on to the next thing that happens, then the next thing, then the next thing… It’s rare for me to get inspired by a book I admire, usually I just feel crippled by greatness that I’ll never live up to – bad books are typically more motivating.
I’m inspired to finish this novel I’m working on which – fuck it – is a sequel to 428 College St, and it’s called 691 Suburban Dr. I’m also working on a new ebook called Daddy/Boy, which is going to be a collection of my intergenerational/incest stories, most of which have already been published but I’m going to include at least one new story, plus an introduction, plus a section of annotations and notes on the stories which is painfully self-indulgent but fuck it, it’s my ebook and I can do whatevah I want.
So those are my two main projects at the moment. Daddy/Boy should be out around the beginning of February. ‘Suburban Dr,’ who knows, but I know I’ve found myself drawing out the process of writing it because I’m so happy to be working consistently on something, but I think it’s to the detriment of the book. So I don’t want to say too much about this but I am determined to tell the story a little faster and not worry about length so much and just tell the damn story and get it out. So hopefully that’s good news.
What else? By the way I should be leaving for work right now but I’m putting it off, because it’s my Monday (I work Tues-Sat) and I’m not looking forward to it. Basically, I’m trying to become a full-time writer. I haven’t mentioned it extensively on this blog, but Str8 but Curious has been successful beyond my wildest dreams, and it’s made me believe that I could actually support myself solely through writing, and that is an incredibly exciting prospect to me. So I’m optimistic about the future, and also pretty damn scared because there is so much to consider.
I dreamt last night that President Obama and I were in my backyard and he smoked me up with this incredible weed, and I was so stoked because I’d get to tell my grandchildren that President Obama got me high. Plus he was so cool and chill and we were just hanging out. I was disappointed when I woke up. He’s totally getting my vote this year.
Here’s some things that have happened since I last posted:
1) Backwoods was submitted to the Lambda Literary Awards in the ‘gay erotica’ category, which doesn’t really mean anything as there’s a bunch of books submitted. They’ll announce five or so finalists eventually, so we’ll see.
2) Dennis Cooper, one of my literary heroes, listed Backwoods as one of his favorite LGBTQ books of 2011.
3) Backwoods got its first Amazon review.
4) I’m working on another book, slow and steady, but it’s coming. Not to say too much about (I don’t want to jinx it) but it’s a novel (a real novel, not a novel-in-stories like Backwoods), it’s erotic and it features characters I’ve written about before.
**One that I forgot to add: I did a short piece on Point horror books for my good friend Laurie’s blog, Yinzr Readin.
So you can now order Backwoods, the print version, on Amazon for $9.04. That’s only some cents over the price of the ebook version on Amazon. Why is it so cheap? I have no idea!
Furthermore, I have yet to see a copy of it. I can’t believe it. How is it that I could conceivably order a copy off of fucking Amazon and see it in two or three days, yet I haven’t seen it?
YES I’M FRUSTRATED.
Every day I come home and hope to see it on my doorstep, and every day I’m disappointed. It’s passed the point where I’m even going to be excited about it. I’m just going to be relieved and a little less annoyed.
ARRRGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH
Note: this is the preface to my ebook, Str8 But Curious, which you can purchase as an Amazon Kindle book or as a PDF.
Don’t Be It, Dream It
by Natty Soltesz
I’ve had my share of straight guys. Maybe I’ve had my fill.
I bagged the majority during my college years, that magical time when sexual identity is as addled and messy as a frat boy after his third keg stand. One straight drunk buddy made out with me at a party then invited me to his bedroom to trade blowjobs. Another got so horny looking at straight porn he whacked me off and let me return the favor.
And I’ve had others since then. Dalliances in secluded park paths and in the backrooms of adult bookstores, those playgrounds of the minivan-and-wedding-band set. Hookups with masc, discreet Internet-personals advertisers who need to be fucked quick before the gf gets home.
All of them “straight,” though in varying degrees of believability. My penchant for straight guys has come through most strongly in my writing, and I’m aware of the inherent irony in an oeuvre of gay porn about straight guys. I’ve joked that my characters think they’re straight but are actually bisexual; these days I use the term “straight-ish” to describe them. It’s something of a cop out but it serves my purposes. I’m certainly interested in the intersection of sexual identity and behavior, but I prefer to leave those conversations to the queer theorists (who need something to talk about).
My fascination lies in the fantasy of the straight guy, that persistent and near-ubiquitous gay male fetish for guys who prefer pussy but will reach for other forms of relief in a pinch. Internet porn teems with these representations, site after site of guys who only do it cause they’re horny, or tricked, or need the money.
One particular video that was making the Internet rounds a few years back had a straight-identified performer doggy-style fucking a guy whilst reading a pussy mag he’d draped over the bottom’s back. This crossed a line for many and seemed to distill the love/hate boner/shame relationship many gay men have with “straight guys.”
I thought it was hot, maybe because I make a strong distinction between representation and reality. Trading blowjobs with that guy in college was fun – having him alienate me as he fell in love with a mutual female friend was not fun. I got such a crush on one of my best straight buddies that I nearly ruined the friendship with my hopeless pining.
It’s true that there’s an element of self defeat and self hatred when it comes to fetishizing straight guys. But most of our sexual fantasies tend toward the unattainable – otherwise it’s unlikely they’d be fantasies. So it’s okay to jack off while imagining blowing your hetero married boss under his desk, but it’s not an aspiration worth losing your job for. To insist upon the fantasy is at best pathetic, at worst a tragedy. It’s not much of a waking life when you’re hung up on a dream.
So yeah, I’ll always turn my head for a little butch swagger. A football jersey, a gold chain, a splash of Drakkar Noir. But when it gets down to getting down I’d rather have the dude who’s got a spring in his step and a twinkle in his eye. He’s more likely to be aware of what he’s doing, and do it better, and do it with me again.
Hey all you non-Kindle users who are interested in checking out my new ebook, Str8 But Curious: now you can purchase a PDF version directly from me. I’m pricing it a dollar cheaper – $3.99.
Just click on the button below to order it. I will send the PDF to the email address that you use for PayPal. If you’d prefer me to send it to a different email, be sure to note this when you donate.
Cover design by Johnny Murdoc
So here’s my little literary swindle: remember the story poll I ran a month or so back? Well, if you want to read the story about getting gang banged by a high school football team (it’s called “Athletic Supporter”) you have to pay for it – it’s included in my just-released ebook, Str8 But Curious.
I know, I’m a dick! But whatever, this is the new reality of things. If you pay the modest (but not too modest, think of it like purchasing a McDonald’s value meal that gives you an orgasm) $4.99 purchase price you will also get a second new story, and this one’s called “My Best Friend’s Boyfriend,” a title that should hopefully speak for itself, but there’s an excerpt below if you’re curious.
Str8 But Curious also includes a nonfiction introduction (which is probably the best thing in the book in my opinion) and a curated collection of my best straight-ish guy stories.
Please note that the book is currently only available on Amazon but in the next day or so I hope to have a pdf version available for those who don’t have one of those newfangled Kindle devices (people like me, in other words). I’ll let you know. In the meantime, read some of “My Best Friend’s Boyfriend” below.
Hello there!
Behold the cover for my new e-book, designed by the peerless writer/book cover maker Johnny Murdoc. Str8 But Curious is a compendium of my best “straight-ish guy” stories. Most importantly it contains two brand new stories featuring fuckable (but not quite lovable) straight bait. Plus a nonfiction introduction by yours truly!
I’m still working on it but intend to have it available by August 15th (give or take a day or two probably). It will be available for Amazon Kindle and also as a pdf.
So yeah! Have a great day,
Natty Soltesz
