Wilde Oats -- Our New Gay-Shaded Magazine

OK, I've spent a bit of time getting Wilde Oats Magazine up -- or at least, a tester for the curious. This is a replacement for Forbidden Fruit, whose founder was unhappy about the direction we (the new editors) were taking the magazine in, but is just too busy to do it herself. A sad day. Ah well.

And we've had the rellies over from Noz, spending lots of time having agonized discussion about what to do about our parents(or ***-in-law). And it's been unbearably hot and dry, the hottest and driest in 150 years.

So, needless to say, I haven't done much writing. What I have done, in the writing line, is reread and tinker with Footy. I suppose I shouldn't say this, but, you know, it's good. I liked reading it. I liked the characters and they way they interact, I liked the story, simple though it is. And I'm kinda inspired. So I'm working on that as well as The Torc.

For a long time I questioned my ability to write. Why am I turning out this crap? Who will ever read it? But it's not bad. I've wasted good money on much worse.

Anyway.

P.S. The pic is of Brett Stewart who is actually a rugby player not a footy player. Meh.

Which to Publish?

I can't decide which of my novels to submit for publication. I Get No Kick From Champagne is fairly polished and it was the first novel I really felt comfortable with while I was writing it. It's got some explicit sex in it, though -- which I think is necessary to the story, which is about a straight guy finding out he's more than that -- which will limit its placement to the gay shelves of straight bookshops (dear old Borders, for example). Maybe not even there -- lots of gay blokes won't even read books with bisexual characters. Some kind of gay fascismo. The novel I'm working on right now (intermittently, I do confess), which is provisionally called The Torc, also has bi characters, but will have no explicit sex, and will therefore be able to safely go on the fantasy shelves of Borders. Of course, even there, the thin-lipped Christian-Fascists might have a heart attack (if they had hearts), but still, it will be available for a wider readership. Trouble is.... it's not written yet! And it still needs substantial rewriting -- too much 'tell' and not enough 'show'. So....

BTW, the charming dragon picture is from this website. Hope they don't mind me using it (I'll take it down, honest, if you complain). And yes, there are dragons in The Torc. Definitely.