Watch “The Outs”

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to “The Outs.” It’s a six-episode web series produced and located in Brooklyn, NY. The tag line for the series is “Just because it’s over, doesn’t mean you’re over it.” Based on the first two episodes, which are only about 12 minutes long, the series focuses on relationships and their complexities. And even though we might not live on the East Coast, I’m sure we have all been where these characters are at one point in our lives, whether gay or straight.

The story lines are solid and the acting is well done. I’ve included the first two episodes here. The third episode is hopefully coming soon.

Rock of Ages TRAILER

When I was a teen in the land of the 80’s, hair bands were at the height of popularity. As most other teenagers, I spent hours watching MTV’s video countdown and waiting for my favorite Def Leppard, Heart, Whitesnake, or Bon Jovi video to hit the screen. Sadly, hair bands are no more, which is probably for the best, but the new movie-musical Rock of Ages hits theaters this weekend. If you loved 80’s hair bands like me, then you might be just as excited as I am to see this movie.

Music from Def Leppard, Journey, Foreigner, Poison, and Twisted Sister are featured and are used to tell the story about a small town girl and city boy who are trying to fulfill their dreams in rock.

Here’s the trailer.

What Happened to Jacob Flores and His Blog From Gay to Z?

As you may know, I haven’t posted on my blog since March, and some of you might be wondering why. Well, here’s the skinny.

I’ve been working on getting my novel published that I began working on last year. Thankfully Dreamspinner Press has agreed to publish my book, which is slated for release in September. Obviously, I’m very excited about the opportunity. Right now, the book is in the editing/galley stage. Basically, that means an editor is currently scouring through the manuscript, looking for areas that I will need to address/fix, and a Dreamspinner artist is working on the cover. I can’t wait to see what the artist comes up with. When I get the final rendering of the cover, I will definitely be sharing.

If you’re wondering about the book, it’s tentatively titled 3, and is a m/m/m romance. Just what the hay is a m/m/m romance, you ask? It’s about a relationship between three men, hence the m/m/m, and if you think a relationship between two people (whether gay or straight) is complicated, adding another person to the mix quadruples the complication factor.

Here’s a tentative blurb for the book:

Justin loves Spencer, his partner of ten years, and would do anything to keep him, even burying intense feelings for another man. He never planned on falling in love with someone else, but last year, during a time of romantic upheaval and separation, he did. Now, the “other” man he fell in love with has been in a car accident. The news rouses his suppressed emotions as well as shatters his current relationship.

While Justin works to rebuild his life with the once carefree Spencer, he also feels responsible for Dutch’s injuries, inflicted by the car accident and their terminated affair. What Justin doesn’t know, however, is that Spencer and Dutch also have a secret, a past relationship that started as a friendship but quickly grew into something much more.

Can Justin make amends with the men in his life and forgive their sins? Will Spencer and Dutch absolve Justin or themselves? Or will their lies and betrayals prove that three is most definitely a crowd?

Told from all three men’s points of view, readers travel not only on a journey of discovery but also on a voyage through memory. These men find in their past and their present the events in their lives that ultimately led them to friendship and love, passion and betrayal, but more importantly to each other.

I’ve had some people ask: why switch to romance when your last book was dystopian gay fiction?

Well, the answer is quite simple. When I was making the rounds trying to get Moral Authority published, I was told by several publishers that the idea was great, but that my reading niche wanted books of happier fare and with more sex. Books without them didn’t sell well from new authors with no previous publishing success. Apparently, the combination of romance and sex pulls in the readership and brings in the sales, which is obviously extremely important to both publisher and author.

Well, I can do romance and sex–quite well, in my most humble opinion. But I had to find an angle, something that made my book different from others. I didn’t want to write the standard boy meets boy, boy falls in love with boy, boy screws up relationship with boy, boy and boy separate, and then boy and boy reunite.

I needed something meatier (if you pardon the pun), so when I was coming up for ideas for this new novel, my mind drifted to a trio that I know. (For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a trio is a committed relationship between three people.) I began to speculate how that relationship came about, and my rumination culminated in my novel 3.

It has romance and sex, but there’s more to it than candlelit dinners and between-the-sheets action. The novel explores the concept of a trio, which believe it or not, is becoming more common than you might think, and it delves into the deep psychological and emotional conflict such intense emotions churn to the surface.

I enjoyed writing this novel so much, I have already completed another manuscript. The new one is a m/m romance, but more paranormal than contemporary like 3. It explores Christian mythology and lore while the budding relationship ignites and weathers some dark waters. This new novel is tentatively titled The Gifted One, and is currently being reviewed by my friend and personal editor (and good luck charm) K. K was instrumental in 3 becoming published thanks to her eagle eye and hard-hitting but accurate criticism, so naturally I humbly asked K to look at this new manuscript, which I also plan to submit to Dreamspinner Press.

So as you can see, I’ve been pretty busy behind the scenes that something had to take a backseat. Since my family and full time paying job could never be placed on the back burner, the blog had to, but I’m back for now, and I hope you come back too.

See you in the blogosphere!

 

New “Prometheus” Trailer

“Big things have small beginnings” is the new catch phrase for the upcoming Alien prequel Prometheus.

Based on the new trailer, we learn those small beginnings come in the form of ancient hieroglyphics discovered at an archaelogical dig, which lead to the exploration in space. This naturally lands them on the planet where the crew from The Nostromo headed to intercept the “distress call” that started the entire series.

This new trailer gives me goosebumps. I can’t wait!!!

If you want to read other posts/teasers on the movie, click here, here, and here.

“Game On”: Rick Santorum Video

I found this video courtesy of Towleroad, depicting one family’s music video endorsing Rick Santorum. After watching it, I knew I had to share it. Immediately.

With lyrical gems as “we’ve got a man who understands God gave the Bill of Rights” and “there is hope for our nation again; maybe the first time since Ronald Reagan,” who wouldn’t want to support Santorum as well as drink the cyanide laced punch provided at the video’s after party?

This video totally creeped me out. Anybody else?

Onion News Network: Funny Video

Jim and Tracy from The Onion News Network interview the wife of a fallen firefighter, who just happened to be a hottie. The interview and their dialogue are hilarious. I don’t know how they held it together.

Some of my favorite lines include:

  • “He was 35 years old, with 4% body fat, and a 42 inch chest”
  • “hunkalicious”
  • “his shirtless ghost will always be with me”
  • “rubbing oil on his chest and flexing for the angels”

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did!

Second Class Citizen: “I Want to Know What It’s Like”

The clip above is from Ryan James Yezak, a film maker in California. The clip is titled “I Want to Know What It’s Like” and it addresses the plight of those who are bullied and/or discriminated on because of prejudice. It’s a moving video, narrated by actors speaking in poetic verse. The purpose of the video is to raise funds to shoot his film Second Class Citizen. The film is a documentary and according to Yezak, it will:

…encompass all areas in which we are discriminated against. The general population is not aware that discrimination against the gay community goes beyond marriage & bullying. There is far too much hate directed towards our community and I want to capture that hate on camera. In addition, I want to explore where this hate comes from, why it continues to exist, and what we must do to get rid of it. A better solution is needed because the solution we have right now isn’t working fast enough.

I hope you enjoyed the clip as much as I did, and I can’t wait to see the documentary.

New Alien Prequel “Prometheus” Clip: Peter Weyland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUxdAWrsag8

The above clip is a released scene from the new Alien Prequel “Prometheus.” Click here for previous posts and here for the trailer.

In the clip, Guy Pearce who plays Peter Weyland discusses his vision of the future. The clip obviously sets up Weyland as the bad guy, but if you’re a fan of Alien mythos you already knew that from his last name. Weyland-Yutani was the company Ripley worked for in the original Alien and the one she combated in subsequent movies.

I can’t wait for the movie’s release in June.