Cleiss Press
2246 Sixth Street FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Berkeley, California 94710-2219 Contact: Eva Gantz
Do Ask Do Tell
The military has never been sexier when these hunky heroes serve their country and each other in Active Duty: Gay Military Erotic Romance, an anthology edited by Neil Plakcy. Experience the thrill of romantic trysts in the middle of battle, witness the everlasting bonds that develop between men who have put their lives on the line for one another day after day, and swoon over the charismatic charm and hard bodies that only the most disciplined of soldiers possess. With the abolition of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, being gay in the armed services has never been more accepted, and this collection has fourteen stories celebrating the freedom of our heroes to love and to lust after whomever they desire.
In Shane Allison’s “Weekend Leave”, a man falls in love with a soldier after a night at a bar, an Air Force captain can finally marry his beloved in “Soaring” by Michael Bracken, and when it comes to hierarchies in the military, rank certainly has its privileges for the Sergeants in Bearmuffin’s “Semper Fi Wrestlers.” The stories in Active Duty are as touchingly honest as they are sexy and will give readers a newfound appreciation for these men in uniform.
“The public displays of affection between soldiers and other men, the first same-sex service academy prom dates, and the first same-sex military weddings serve to illustrate something we have known all along—that gay men are strong, brave and resilient, the very characteristics that make a great soldier.”
—Neil Plakcy, from the Introduction
About the Editor
Neil Plakcy is the author of nineteen novels and collections of short stories, as well as the editor of many anthologies for Cleis Press, including Hard Hats, Surfer Boys, Skater Boys, The Handsome Prince, Model Men, Sexy Sailors, and Beach Bums. He began his erotic writing career with a story for Honcho magazine called “The Cop Who Caught Me”, and he’s been writing about cops and sex ever since, most recently with seven novels in the Mahu mystery series. He lives in South Florida. Find him at his website www.mahubooks.com.
Active Duty: Gay Military Erotic Romance
Edited by Neil Plakcy
$15.95, Trade Paper
240 pages, 5 ½” x 8”
ISBN: 978-1-62778-031-5
Publishing on July 4, 2014, for Independence Day
Contact: Eva Gantz, egantz@cleispress.com, 510/845-8000
Active Duty exclusive excerpt
from ‘Comeuppance’ by Rob Rosen
Three years to the day I returned to where I’d started from, Army Boot Camp 2.0, as I liked to call it. I’d been given a second chance to start from friggin’ scratch. Goody for me. And, yes, bitter party, table for one. Still, at least I was finally invited inside the place, table and all.
Camp looked the same, smelled the same and felt the same, in fact. And me, I felt like last time as well, tummy rumbling, head pounding, eyes stinging from the heat and the sweat and the damned ever-present humidity. Yep, exactly the same, pretty much. Only, of course, it wasn’t the same, not this time.
“Good to be back,” I whispered to myself, swiping a hand across my drenched forehead. And, yes, I meant it, all things considered. Go figure.
I found my barracks easily enough, found my cot and my locker after that, and then, sad to say, found him. Goddamn Murphy’s Law. “Sergeant,” I said, standing at rest.
He gave me the onceover, twice, then half grimaced, half sneered. This guy was menace before Dennis had the title, hard as stone and twice as dense. “Thought we got rid of you, Malone,” he grumbled, the sneer notching up a factor or two.
“You did, Sergeant,” I replied, emphasis on the you, seeing as he was the one who turned me in, no asking, no telling. Just packed me up and shipped me out. And for what—a little blow job in my off hours that he found out about? Come on, give a guy a break already. “Guess it didn’t stick too well,” I added, upping his sneer with a wobbly smile that didn’t seem to sit too kindly with him. Then again, it wasn’t meant to.
“We’ll see about that, Malone,” he said between clenched jaws before moving down the aisle and away from yours truly, shaking his shaved head from side to side all the while.
And then I did flip him that bird after all. Felt good, too. Not nearly good enough, of course, but still. I even eyed that stellar ass of his, now that I sort of could do such a thing. At least when he wasn’t looking.