I was a little surprised when Sid Love asked me to contribute each month with a blog post. It really has taken me a year to get used to doing a weekly blog of my own, so I was a bit hesitant to take this on. But what the hell, right? What’s the worst that can happen? Probably just jinxed myself.

For those of you who don’t know me, I just moved from Atlanta, Georgia, a major city in the Southeast of the U.S. to a little town in Florida, and I do mean little. The ‘community’ that I’ve moved to doesn’t even have a traffic light. I love it. After spending many years in a large metropolitan city, full of traffic, pollution, and high crime, I am more than ready for open spaces and peace and quiet. It should be very conducive to my writing.

Before I headed south, I trudged to visit my sister in Tennessee. I nearly froze my balls off, if truth be told, but she has been a bit upset that I’m moving further away. Besides, we are the best of friends and I will miss not being able to just jump in the car and go up for a brief visit.

While there I was able to visit with a few other friends as well. It was during one of these little get-togethers that I was introduced to a woman who asked what I did for a living. I informed her that I was a retired chef turned author. Of course she asked what I wrote, upon which I told her. She admitted quietly that she enjoyed the M/M genre and had only recently discovered it. I promised to send her one of my books, which seemed to please her.

While we were chatting, a friend whom I’ve known most of my life walked up and listened in. The woman asked me if I had to do a lot of research for my books. My friend, Alan, blew scotch right out of his nose as he started laughing. She looked a bit bewildered at his reaction.

“Max here doesn’t need to do much research, Beverly. More than likely he’s done it at least twice.”

Alan does know me all too well. What could I say? He was right. As a firmly planted, middle-aged gay man there isn’t much I haven’t at least tried, most of which a few times. However, I did take pity on the poor woman and admitted that I did do quite a bit of research when it came to things like Olympic diving, which was in my last book. I think she was appreciative of the lifeline I threw her.

So, this is where I need to come clean. Yes, most of what I write I have experienced in one way or another. When I was asked how I made my sex scenes so ‘realistic’, I was at a loss for words for a minute. For anyone who knows me, they would be able to tell you that I’m really a very private person, so it is a bit off-putting to admit I’ve participated in some way in those very same sex scenes.Oh well, the cats out of the bag now.

And there you have it. My dirty little secret is out. When gay men have sex, we tend to like it raw, sweaty and not thinking. Just enjoying the feeling and having fun. Yep, sex is supposed to be fun.

I’ve seen reviews about my writing that said “Ewwww, that is so gross”, or “That just isn’t realistic”, or “Men don’t act like that.” I just snicker. If they only knew, I think to myself. One review in particular made me actually laugh out loud. If this poor woman only knew that I had actually ‘toned it down’, she’d toss her cookies, I’m sure.

I always heard that a writer should write what they know. I guess I took that to heart, because that is just what I do.

Here’s hoping that you’ve enjoyed reading the mad ramblings of a mad gay man. You can always check out my blog for more if you so choose.

http://max-vos.blogspot.com/

Cheers,

Max 😉