Of Cabbages and Kings, Hospital Stays, New Novels, Queer Festivals in the Woods…and New (Personal) Love!
Greetings! I’ve missed you!
Life has been crazy as late. Really crazy. But to tell you the truth, it has been crazy good!
I had a nice post for you last month, but (as some of you may know) I was out in the middle of the woods at Midwest Men’s Festival (the inspiration of the festival in my novel Summer Lover) and there is little to no Internet service and the file was too big! I couldn’t send it when I would get occasional spurts of cellphone reception so that I could use the hotspot on my cellphone to try and send it, it just wasn’t enough! So I can give you the highlights….
I also have a new novel coming out that I am very proud of and I want to tell you a bit about that!
But first…! A special announcement! One I’ve talked about on my personal blog and Facebook page, but if you don’t read either you won’t know about.
I have a new love in my life! A new man in my life! Well…. Not new. But one I can finally and truly talk about. His name is Noah Willoughby. He is my co-author on my novella Mele Kalikimaka, my researcher par excellence, a Photoshop-er of astonishing talent, and my dear friend. And somewhere along the way I fell in love with him.
“But wait,” you say! “Don’t you already have a husband, Ben?”
Why, yes. Yes, I do. And guess what? In four years of Internet friendship, I’m not the only one who fell for Noah (and he for me). But my husband did too (and Noah for him). The holdup was that Noah was in a failing relationship that he was trying to repair and fix. We all denied our feelings. In fact, when we finally met face to face last year in March at the huge Dreamspinner Press Author Workshop, we didn’t even kiss. We all respected his relationship with his “Legal Domestic Partner.”
Sadly, very sadly in fact, there was no repairing that relationship. And it didn’t end because Noah fell in love with me. He fell in love with me because of the emptiness and failings of his relationship with “E.” Part of it was that “E” couldn’t even call that relationship a marriage because he thought it was wrong for two men to get married! He could only peacefully (for himself) call what they had a “Legal Domestic Partnership.” Finally “E” realized it and lovingly let Noah go. And Noah moved from Hawaii to Kansas City to live with us.
And now our lives are a real MMM novel brought to life. And let me tell you! It is amazing. We are all three so happy. There are unique “problems” in a triad relationship verses a couple relationship—ones I didn’t quite imagine ahead of time—but oh the rewards are extraordinary! And far too much to talk about today. But it could happen right here at LoveBytes in the future!
So the first thing the three of us did…well…first I need to tell you about something else.
While Noah was flying to Kansas City, my husband “R” was in the hospital! My rock and foundation, who has seen me through a number of hospital stays, was now the one in that hospital bed. I had to be the rock. I think I did a fairly good job. It was really scary for about twenty-four hours, and I won’t go into detail because “R” is a very private person and doesn’t want his business out there, but know he suddenly did a turnabout and was doing well amazingly fast. The doctors were in awe. And I suspect that our love winging it to KC might have had extra-healing powers!
Okay! So now the first thing we did the day after Noah arrived was go to Midwest Men’s Festival. And it was incredible. Have you ever heard of the Radical Faerie movement? It was started by Harry Hay who (quoting Wikipedia) was “a prominent American gay rights activist, communist, labor advocate, and Native American civil rights campaigner. He was a founder of the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States, as well as the Radical Faeries, a loosely affiliated gay spiritual movement.” And the Radical Faerie movement came during the 1970s sexual revolution among gay men and a rejection of hetero–imitation. In other words, the idea that it is okay to be gay as long as gay men act like straight people, ie, enter into monogamous couples, blending in, not camping it up, not wearing drag, being conservative, etc.
So events like the Midwest Men’s Festival sprang up all over the world. A place where gay/queer men went to get away from the “Real World” for a week or weekend and embrace their queerness—that part of homosexual culture that has existed for thousands of years. It is frolicking in the sun, heart circles, community service, cooking meals together, skinny dipping, and so much more (including wearing a skirt darn-it! It gets hot in Kansas at the end of July and that’s about all you want to wear!).
And that is the first thing Noah did in his new life. A man who had never held hands with another man in public, who had never been to a Gay Pride event, a gay bar, anything…plunged into just about the “gayest” thing he could. And guess what? Our shy sweet man came through with flying colors! He flourished! He blossomed! It was a glorious sight.
And through that week and the beginning weeks of our new relationship…guess what? In case you haven’t guessed. New stories for Noah and I to write. New novels! And we’ve already started on one (two?) that will be wonderfully romantic.
But first…or should I say finally, my new novel. Which R and Noah had a lot to do with. I’ll give you the cover blurb and then tell you a little bit more.
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THE NERD AND THE PRINCE
A Small-Town Dreams Story
Prince Charming is the man next door.
Small-town business owner Jason Brewster has big dreams: world travel, adventure, and most of all, a passionate romance worthy of a fairy tale. But he doesn’t believe fantasies can come true….
Until Adam moves in next door.
He’s handsome, cultured, European, and best of all, interested in Jason. It’s like something out of the stories Jason loves.
But Adam—whose real name is Amadeo Montefalcone—has a secret. He’s royalty, prince of the small country of Monterosia. Only he doesn’t want to rule, and especially doesn’t want the loveless marriage waiting for him at home. So he ran away in search of true love. With a man. And with Jason, he finds it.
But Adam can’t run forever. The truth will come out. If Jason can forgive Adam’s deception, they might find their happily ever after.
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First of all the small town that Jason lives in is very much inspired by my husband “R’s” hometown. The soda shop and the tiny house that Adam moves into and so much more are founded and based on real places. Why Adam’s tiny house is the house right behind “R’s” house, just like in the novel. So much of how I wrote life growing up in a small town was due to “R.” I could not have done it without him!
And the country of Monterosia could not have come into being without Noah. He did tons of research besides the ton I did to make my small country as real as possible. The history, a realistic location, the trade, the mythology, and more more more. Plus he used his computer art skills to create royal uniforms, medals, and even a flag!
With all that love from my two men, how could I fail? I mean it was unbelievable. And all that love shows up in my book as well. I hope you will check it out. I am prouder of this novel that almost anything else I’ve written before it. Of course I say that every time, but it’s true nevertheless.
I’ll sign off here. There is much much much more to say but this is already a very long post that you may or may not have gotten all the way through. Needless to say, I hope you did.
Lots of love to you all!
And Lord knows I’ve got love to spare!
BG “Ben” Thomas
PS: You can find The Nerd and the Prince available for pre-order at Dreamspinner Press right here!
DREAMSPINNER PRESS:
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B.G. Thomas lives in Kansas City with his two husbands and their fabulous dogs Sarah Jane and Oliver. He is blessed to have a lovely daughter as well as many extraordinary friends. He has a great passion for life.
B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction, and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories are character driven and entertaining, it doesn’t matter the genre. He has gone to literature conventions his entire adult life where he’s been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was a child; it is where he finds his joy.
In the nineties, he wrote for gay adult magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. “The sex is never as important as the characters,” he says. “Who cares what they are doing if we don’t care about them?” Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. He submitted a novella and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days. Since then the romantic tales have poured out of him. “It’s like I’m somehow making up for a lifetime’s worth of story-telling!”
In 2015 he made and entry every day in his blog “365 Days of Silver,” where he found something every day to be grateful for. You can find it right here:
https://365daysofsilver.wordpress.com/
“Leap, and the net will appear” is his personal philosophy and his message. “It is never too late,” he testifies. “Pursue your dreams. They will come true!”
Website/blog: https://bthomaswriter.wordpress.com/about-2/
Aw. Congrats on this new chapter in your life! I wish you all big happiness!