Sparkle: The Queerest Book You'll Ever Love

Chapter 3

FOREWORD

Welcome to the 10th Anniversary Edition of Sparkle: The Queerest Book You’ll Ever Love, reworked, reedited, and bigger, badder, bitchier than the original. This is the book that started it all for me, my first attempt at writing, launching me on the path that I’m still travelling gaily along today.

So, as a little background information before you start your journey into my characters’ rather twisted lives, let’s begin at the beginning. See, from the moment I read my first gay book, The Best Little Boy in the World, I’ve had this fondness for the coming out story. Only, back then, most books in this genre were rather on the sad side: bleak, tragic, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s gay-life-depressing. And I wanted my first book to be anything but these things. I wanted it to be in-your-face, un-P.C., upbeat, and quirky. Meaning, it had to take place in San Francisco and definitely deep within The Castro.

All it took was for me to get my first home computer, and then I hit the ground running. Six months later, I had my book: Sparkle. Within a year, it was on the shelves, getting rave reviews, and I was doing readings up and down the California coast. See, I’d always wanted to be a writer, always knew I had it in me to be a writer, and, suddenly, my dreams had come true. Seriously, holding that book in my hands, with my name splashed across the cover, it was like, well, magic.

And it was just the start, too. Because one dream leads to another, and yet another.

Divas Las Vegas followed Sparkle, was nominated for a Lammy, and won the 2010 TLA Gaybie for Best Gay Fiction. Hot Lava followed closely on its heels. In between all this, I’ve written short stories for well over 150 anthologies and wrote erotica for 5+ years for MEN, Freshmen, and [2] Magazines. Twenty of my favorite stories from those magazines can be found in my collection, Good & Hot.

But Sparkle always holds a special place in my heart. Always has, always will. And, so, ten years later, I decided to do a bit of editing and get it back out there for you to enjoy. And now, for the first time, it’s also available for all eReaders. Meaning, fingers crossed, it will find a whole new audience.

All that being said, dear friend, I hope Sparkle will hold a special place in your heart as well!