Category Archives: Show Notes

24Nov/23

Mary Burns

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November 24, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 49 Interview – Mary P. Burns

Mary P. Burns introduces us to her murder mystery Cold Case Heat, and shares that it’s based on real world events in such a way that she had to dip into memoir-writing skills to put this story together.

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Mary Burns is a long-time resident of New York City, sharing the best life ever with her wife of over twenty years. After receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from Columbia University in 1991, she experienced a twenty-year bout of writer’s block. During that time, she carved out a career as an executive assistant. Finally taking a sabbatical to assess things and perhaps try writing a play again, what came out instead was a novel. “Forging a Desire Line” was published by Bold Strokes Books in 2020, followed by “Suspecting Her” in Sept. ’21. “Cold Case Heat,” a murder mystery, arrived this September.
She has also published short stories in Sinclair Sexsmith’s award-winning Best Lesbian Erotica, volumes 4 (Dec. 2019) and the non-award winning volume 5 (Dec. 2020 / both Cleis Press)..

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxtr_b9XRTM[/embedyt]

17Nov/23

Damian Serbu

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November 17, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 48 Interview – Damian Serbu

Damian Serbu returns for a great discussion of his latest release, The Vampire’s War. We talk about author works mirroring author lives and why the freedom of the monster calls to us as readers.

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Damian Serbu is an author of gay horror/speculative fiction. After over twenty years of teaching history at the collegiate level, he now writes full time. He lives in the Chicagoland area with his husband and two dogs.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ytncNKb7Mw[/embedyt]

April 30, 2021

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Damian Serbu as the guest on Season 6, Episode 17 – Loyal, Humorous, and Passionate!

Damian Serbu joins Vance and Baz for a great discussion of his latest release, The Vampire’s Witch. This leads to discussing queer representation in the horror genre and how a queer perspective can provide some unique perspectives.

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Damian Serbu lives in the Chicago area with his husband and two dogs, Akasha and Chewbacca. The dogs control his life, tell him what to write, and threaten to eat him in the middle of the night if he disobeys. His love for gay vampires led to his series, The Realm of the Vampire Council.

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10Nov/23

Judy Kiehart

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November 10, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 47 Interview – Judy Kiehart

Judy Kiehart introduces us to her memoir Calico Lane, and shares her journey through other people’s expectations on her life to where she arrived at the life that’s authentically her own.

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When Judy was little her mom told her, “Stop making things up.” She didn’t listen. In fact, she cannot remember a time when there wasn’t a story rambling around in her head leading her to scribble an idea into a notebook, a diary, or onto loose-leaf paper.

For a long time, the ideas remained scribbles. As the years passed, some of the ideas were crafted into short stories. Some of the short stories were adapted for the stage. Then, the scribbles became memory triggers for her latest journey: her memoir: Calico Lane.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRQx5ey1s1Y[/embedyt]

03Nov/23

Daniel M. Jaffe

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November 3, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 46 Interview – Daniel M. Jaffe

Daniel M. Jaffe introduces us to his book The Grand Sex Tour Murders, and shares the book’s satirical poke at the world as well as the story behind the banning of the first cover.

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Daniel grew up and attended college in New Jersey, then moved to the Boston area for law school. He worked for several years as a corporate/securities attorney before throwing caution to the winds and pursuing a career in creative writing. After his partner (and future husband), Leo Cabranes-Grant, accepted a university teaching position in California, Daniel moved with him to Santa Barbara.

Several of Daniel’s short stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and dozens of his stories, essays, and articles have appeared in anthologies, literary journals and newspapers in many countries and languages. His work has been taught in college and university courses. He holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), Harvard Law School (J.D.), and Vermont College (M.F.A.).

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AA6lyDVL1Q[/embedyt]

27Oct/23

Richard D. Mohr

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October 20, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 45 Interview – Richard D. Mohr

Richard D. Mohr introduces us to his book The Splendid Disarray of Beauty: The Boys, the Tiles, the Joy of Cathedral Oaks ― A Study in Arts and Crafts Community, and shares how he came across information of these historic men and the community they built.

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Richard D. Mohr is an academically trained author with extensive journalistic experience and literary flair. He publishes books in three widely diverse fields: ancient Greek metaphysics, American ceramics, and gay studies along with queer theory, focusing on ethical, social, political, and legal issues. His book Gay Ideas: Outing and Other Controversies was banned in Canada and won the 1992 Lambda Literary Awards’ Editor’s Choice Award. The chapter on gay marriage in his book A More Perfect Union, in its treatment of privacy law and understanding of what marriage is, lay the conceptual groundwork for the Supreme Court’s 2015 gay marriage ruling. He and his hubby of 45 years live in Urbana, Illinois.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEqUsJICd0o[/embedyt]

20Oct/23

Kelliane Parker

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October 20, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 44 Interview – Kelliane Parker

Kelliane Parker introduces us to her poetry chapbook Down the Foggy Streets of My Mind has an arc that takes the reader through DID, abuse, recovery, and healing.

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Kelliane is a queer, Latinx poet who uses poetry to reclaim the voices and the truth about surviving sexual trauma and violence. On a mission to de-stigmatize and de-pathologize dissociative disorders caused by trauma induced by others, Kelliane’s vision is a world free from victim blaming and shaming.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WfNOrfD4o8[/embedyt]

13Oct/23

JC Calciano

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October 13, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 43 Interview – JC Calciano

JC Calciano shares his Steam Room brand with us – youtube shorts, novels, podcast, and motion picture. He shares how it all began, how it pivoted when we were all at home, and where it’s headed!

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Over his 35-year career, JC has worked in nearly all corners of the entertainment business: from major studio blockbusters, independent features, and reality television to documentaries, music videos, webisodes, and theater.

In 2010, JC founded Cinema175, an entertainment production company under which he produces, writes and directs projects that predominantly focus on comedy and romance genres.

His first feature film as writer/director was the groundbreaking gay romantic comedy Is It Just Me? An official selection of over 50 international film festivals, it won several awards and honors, including audience choice and best picture. This was followed by eCupid—an instant best seller in the LGBTQ genre, screening at over 60 film festivals and winning four best picture and audience choice awards.

JC’s third feature film, The 10 Year Plan, played at over 51 international film festivals, winning 10 awards for writing and filmmaking before being adapted into a male/male romance novel.

He is also the creator, director and producer of the world’s most popular and longest running YouTube LGBTQ web series, Steam Room Stories. The Steam Room Stories brand has inspired several spin-off projects, including an award-winning motion picture, a series of novels, and the Steamy Stories podcast.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A41BaxxWo8[/embedyt]

06Oct/23

SM Rune

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October 6, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 42 Interview – S.M. Rune

S.M. Rune joins us to introduce the world to 8 Eden & Jude, a novel about a homeless queer youth who vividly interacts with an Elsewhere!

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Born 8/8/88, S.M. Rune studied at CCSF and USAO and has lived in 8 US states and 3 countries (so far). Rune grew up on superheroes and fantasy novels. Some of Rune’s greatest inspirations include Philip Pullman, Anne Rice, Anne McCaffery, Kate Elliott, George R.R. Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many more.

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxDMH3fYsgg[/embedyt]

29Sep/23

Rick Herrick

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September 29, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 41 Interview – Rick Herrick

Rick Herrick joins us to talk about his passion for New Testament scholarship and how he took a critical, comedic look at Christ taking on a gay messenger in his novel A Second Chance!

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Rick Herrick, PhD, a former tenured university professor and magazine editor, is the author of six published novels and three works of nonfiction. His musical play, Lighthouse Point, was performed as a fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in 2013. Dr. Herrick is currently retired, living in Bluffton, SC. He is married with three children and seven grandchildren.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StlVhUk5o5A[/embedyt]

22Sep/23

Anthony van Leeuwen

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September 22, 2023

It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 8, Episode 40 Interview – Anthony van Leeuwen

Anthony van Leeuwen joins us to talk about the highs and lows of life, the journey to discover his muse, and how this fueled the passion for his book, Sprookje (fairytale)!

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Anthony van Leeuwen was ten when he began to create through words, imagining someone to be with, to hang out with or do nothing with; someone who could be a best friend to a ten-year-old. He wrote a love song, even before he knew he was gay or before he would eventually write a love letter to his ‘Prince’ through his current writing work. The recognition & encouragement he received from teachers and instructors ignited his creative enjoyment, and five books later he’s still exploring that passion.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1J-TNA4yo8[/embedyt]