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Hello! I'm BG Thomas and I thank you for checking out my journal. I am really excited about the wonderful turn my life has taken recently and I am here to tell you that it is never, ever too late to make your dreams come true! Why in just my first year and a half of submitting M/M romances, I sold almost a dozen stories. And that is a completely unknown author. If I can do it, you can too.
You can find a listing of my stories by clicking HERE.
You can also find my website HERE.
My first sale of the century was "Soul of the Mummy," to Dreamspinner Press, and they are wonderful, I tell you! If you want to read some good stories, head their way now!
This journal is a celebration of men loving men, it all its various forms. You will find romance, torrid affairs, fantasy, adventure, science fiction, myths, horror, romantic comedy and more. Please let me know what you like and I will do my best to oblige!
Give me patience to get this whole thing going, you will hopefully hear a lot here, including some fairly personal stuff.
It is good to meet you!
Namasté,
BG Thomas
( ...art and photo credits... )
Dear Readers,Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and I am glad to be a part of it. What is the International Day Against Homophobia – or IDAHO – all about?
IDAHO is an international event in which over 250 M/M authors, publishers, reviewers and more are standing together to help bring awareness of this issue of homophobia. This day was chosen because May 17th, 1990, was when homosexuality was finally removed from the register of diseases.
You know, I’ve let a rather charmed life in the last decade or some when it comes to this issue, but it hasn’t always been that way. I was sure – I just knew – when I came out to my parents that they would disown me. I was wrong. They accepted me and my partner at the time. Thank God.
Or did they? Last November I sent an email to my mother to let her know I was celebrating eleven years with my partner Raymond. Her response? It was to tell me how much she loved him but that she was a mother and she was always going to have hope that we would settle down and find a nice woman. I was so stunned I almost responded in a snarky manner. Almost said, “What? The same woman?”
I came out to my mother almost twenty-five years ago and she still thinks my being gay is a phase?
When she didn’t vote for Obama last election she gave two reasons. One, that he supported freedom of choice, and two, gay marriage. Once more I was stunned. “Don’t you think Raymond and I should be able to get married?” I asked. Her answer? No. A marriage should be about one man and one woman. The Bible says so.
I didn’t even begin to correct her.
Despite this, I have a job where I am completely out, live in a neighborhood where I gay people are accepted, and I can sit on the porch holding hands with my man, and a city where – in most places – I could walk hand in hand with him as well.
A lot of GLBT people cannot do that. There are a lot of men and women who were kicked out of their parent’s house and lives when they came out. Why just this week I saw a little article about four men who were killed – hung from lampposts in the Middle East. I can’t imagine that happening to me.
A couple years ago I got another surprise. It was time for Gay Pride here in Kansas City and I was excited about it and one of my most longtime friends made a disparaging remark. “Gay Pride. Why do you need Gay Pride? Do we have Straight Pride? Boy if we did can you imagine the outrage? Why do you need Gay Pride. Is that the only day you’re proud to be gay?”
I was in shock. I remember it felt like a wave had crashed over my head – ever had that happen? Where suddenly your senses are battered or muted or both. You can’t quite see and you can’t quite hear and you can’t even quite feel!
How could my friend ask me that? Could I point out that basically EVERY day was “Straight Pride?” Did I point out that he had never had to be afraid – big tall white protestant middle class straight man that he was – to be himself? Never had to hide his identity and his life? Never had to lie on a job application, or worse, check off single when he’d been married to his amazing wife for nearly two decades?
My dear friend was homophobic! It hurt. It still does. And yet even with my author’s imagination, I still can’t realize what many people go through every day.
Today is a day to stand against homophobia. Say something. Do something. If you hear someone say, “Oh, that is SO gay,” point out to them what they are saying. That gay = stupid or wrong. They’ll probably deny it. But boy have I gotten people to think about it.
Take a stand! Tell a GLBT friend that you appreciate them and support them. Vote on gay issues when the time comes.
And when you think it isn’t all that serious, think about what just happened in North Carolina. Not only can GLBT people not get married there, but any and all unions not “sanctified” by marriage are no longer recognized. Not even straight people! Think of those people who need their un-married partner’s insurance benefits. Now straight people are even getting discriminated through the unmasked hatred against GLBT people.
Take a stand!
And I’ll tell you what. Make a comment here and I’ll pick a name on Sunday once the “Hop” is over and send one person a free copy of my story “How Can Love Be Wrong?”
Pass the word! Pass the love. And stand up against homophobia!
Namaste,
B.B. Thomas
Click Here for a complete list of all the participants of the Hop against Homophobia. It really is amazing!
Also. PLEASE check out the Offical Website for IDAHO by clicking here. You’ll get a lot of important and interesting information if you do.
What do you think? And not just emotionally.
I think the writer makes some really fascinating points.
Why Same-Sex Marriage Makes Sense EconomicallyBy Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers
The national discussion about same- sex marriage is heating up. Just last week, North Carolina voted to prohibit the practice, and, for the first time, President Barack Obama clearly came out in favor of it.
The debate, which has focused on our evolving views on sexuality, also mirrors a deeper generational shift in how we view and experience marriage.
For our grandparents’ generation, marriage was about separate roles, separate spheres and specialization. Gary Becker, an economist at the University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize partly for describing the family as an economic institution -- a bit like a small firm that employs people with different skills to produce both income and a well-run household. ( click the link to find out more )
Who would have thunk it>Certainly not me.
Who would have thought that this little part of the anatomy, of the muscular structure, had its very own name?
I have always loved this feature. It is sort of like a different kind of happy trail.
Twin trails to glory, you know?
Yes, this part of the anatomy has its very own name.
Do you know?
CLICK HERE if you know what it is called and tell me before you see the answer, if you can.
If you know what it is called and if you can click and type without seeing the answer.
So I am reading this book called Summer Fever by Catt Ford, a very hot book I might add, and the two main characters are making love and one's special button is his nipples and for the other one, it is this spot I have "circled." And it mentions the name of this part of a man and I had NO clue what Catt was talking about.
Imagine my surprise when I Google it and find out!
I love it when I read something and come across a new word or phrase.
All right. Did anyone get it?
The answer is... ( Read more... )
By the way, check out that link on Ms. Ford's book. I loved it!
Dreamspinner Press has a very exciting month planned for June. Each day a book will be released under the theme, “Time is Eternity.” That is thirty stories plus a bonus story about ... wait for it ... Time Travel!And one of those stories is mine.
Now ready for this?? This is SO cool!
They will be giving away a Kindle Fire!
On Saturday, there will be an online promotional “party” to get word out about these stories. You show up, read a bit, make a few comments, and you could be the lucky winner of a Kindle Fire!
How cool is that?
You just show up this Saturday, May 5, 2012, at the Literary Nymphs Yahoo! Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LiteraryNy
Now my story, as you may or may not know, is called “It Had to Be You.” Here is a description…
It Had to Be You by B.G. Thomas
Robert Daniels is always dating the wrong guys. He doesn’t understand it. Then, one day, on a particularly bad date, he dies...
...only to wake up in the body of a man named Jimmy, who was shot and killed—but in 1927. Along comes Hugh Naylor, the guy Robert has been waiting for all his life. Hugh is perfect—sweet, intelligent, and sexy. The problem? Hugh is in love with Jimmy.
Now Robert’s falling in love with Hugh, but how can he explain he isn’t who he appears? How can he get Hugh to love him, and not the man whose body he inhabits? And who shot Jimmy?
My story and the others have one common theme. Somehow, time travel is involved. The writers have used a huge range of imagination to explore the idea as well. Don’t think it is all some kind of gay version of The Terminator, okay?
Think of all the great movies you know. Somewhere in Time, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Time Traveler’s Wife, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Source Code (with yummy Jake Gyllenhaal), The Lake House. Even Groundhog Day!
How about GREAT romance books like Jude Devereau’s A Knight in Shining Armor, Diana Gabaldon’s amazing Outlander books including Dragonfly in Amber or Lyn Kurland’s books, like Dance Through Time.
And of course let’s not forget Madeleine L'Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time
But these stories will be about men. Gay men. So you know, think Charlie Bodell Got Married, The Time Traveler’s Husband, etc etc. You can find a description of all the stories by clicking RIGHT HERE You’ll see a button that says “Expand” and by clicking on that, you will see all the wonderful stories.
Show up on Saturday and check this all out. This is gonna be great! It’s going to be fun. And just by showing up – online! – you could win a Kindle Fire!
As I said, one of the stories is mine. There are 30 M/M stories going to be available when this is all released, plus one extra! I haven’t read any of them of course, they aren’t out yet. But I am getting to know these authors, and they are great! Some of these are my favorites, and a few I got to meet when I went to New York recently.
Just get a load of these names!: Dawn Kimberly Johnson, Clare London, Zahra Owens, Amy Lane, Chelle Dugan, Mary Calmes, Jonathan Treadway, Lori Toland, Sam C. Leonhard, Elizabeth Coldwell, Rowan Speedwell, B.G. Thomas, Jaime Samms, Jamie Fessenden, Cardeno C., Tinnean, S.A. Garcia, Stephen Osborne, Anne Barwell, Eon de Beaumont, M. Lee, Dany Sirene, Susan Laine, Kim Fielding, Jackson Cordd, A.J. Marcus, Ari McKay, W.M. Kirkland, E.T. Malinowski, Y.L. Stray and Chris Scully!
All these stories will be for sale individually on June first.
But there’s more! LOL! And this is cool. REALLY COOL!
This can be bought as a package, with over 1,500 pages of fiction selling individually for a total $92.70.
OR!! You can buy the package early and save: Buy the package in May BEFORE May 25th for $49.99!
OR! LOL! Wait until June first and just buy story! *G*
I hope to see you tomorrow. I’ll be laid up after this knee surgery and hope to have a fabulous time. Wish I could win that E-reader.
Remember, you just show up this Saturday, May 5, 2012, at the Literary Nymphs Yahoo! Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LiteraryNy
Be there! Or be square!
Namasté,
B.G. Thomas
So another great review has come in for the anthology "Two Tickets to Paradise." What thrills me to absolute heaven is the review for my story, "New Lease." Check it out. And hey! J.L. Merrow! Great words for you too!Here is the review...
Guest Review: Two Tickets to Paradise Anthology
Guest Review by Melanie
Title: Two Tickets to Paradise Anthology
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: Novel (Anthology)
Rating: 4 stars
Two Tickets to Paradise is a collection of 15 stories of men, alone or with a partner, traveling by car, train, plane, and the occasional time travel in search of new experiences and romance in destinations both home and abroad. What they find runs the gamut from first time love to love rediscovered after considerable time apart. Can you buy a ticket to paradise? Within these stories, the men find the answer to that question and so much more.
After reading this anthology, I found it difficult to come to a rating, as some of the stories floundered, stuck in the mundane and predictable, while others soared into great heights of emotion and romance. The stories that have remained with me are:
J.L. Merrow's All At Sea - A tale of youth and young love on the Isle of Wight. The characters here have hidden depths, delightful dialog, exquisite scenary and an ending I am still smiling over. Her descriptions of the Isle of Wight made me want to book an airplane ticket immediately.
Chelle Dugan's Off The Tracks - A middle-aged man who believes that love has passed him by takes a train trip into the past and gets the chance at love he's always dreamed of. Realistic characters, vivid descriptions of the Grand Canyon, combined with flashbacks to the 80s.
Sean Michael's Something Different - A story of two ex-lovers reunited in Las Vegas after a separation of 10 years. What can I say? It's a Sean Michael's story, so the sex is hot, the characters memorable, and there's hope for a HEA is on the horizon.
Mal Peters' Perpendicularity - The high altitude setting of the French Alps is the perfect location for Kyle, an Olympic snowboarder, to spend Valentine's Day with his girlfriend. But an unplanned breakup, sees Kyle alone in the resort chalet until the smell of baking bread and a succulent pork tenderloin lead him to a young personal chef and a change of heart. Just the descriptions of baking bread and smells emanating from the kitchen won me over, add in the characters of Kyle and Dylan, and you have a story that is a delight to read.
B.G. Thomas' New Lease - This is the penultimate story and reason alone to buy this collection. Wade Porter is alone at an oceanside cottage mourning the loss of his long-time lover, a married man who only saw him for two weeks out of the year at their bungalow near Key West. With the loss and his age wearing him down, Wade sees no reason to continue living until he meets Kent, a man who has just moved in next door. Kent too has lost a partner and gradually shows Wade the path out of depression and into the true meaning of love. I was still crying over this story hours later so be warned! Get those tissues handy.
Zee Kensington's Krung Thep, City of Angels is the final story of the anthology and my final recommendation. Marco has dreamed of traveling and for his first trip abroad or any where actually, chooses to go to Thailand. Marco is the typical innocent abroad who lands in the steamy, packed streets of Krung Thep, also known as Bangkok. Clearly out of his depth, his journey is almost derailed by his inexperience until he meets seasoned journalist, Chris, who writes for travel magazines. Chris takes him under his wing, and introduces Marco to the sights, tastes and people of Krung Thep. The author did such a great job with the vivid descriptions of the food markets, pungent odors of the food stalls, and feel of swampy heat rising from the streets that I felt like I had been there. From the bouncy innocence of Marco, to the weary self isolation of Chris, the characters felt alive right down to the sweat rolling down their backs. I wanted to continue on their journey with them, seeking the paths to paradise.
Authors: J.L. Merrow, Susan Laine, Eric Renner, G.R. Richards, Claire Russett, Cecilia Ryan, B.G. Thomas, Jana Denardo, Chelle Dugan, Zee Kensington, Jamie Lowe, Dar Mavison, Sean Michael, Mal Peters, Anna Martin
Cover: The cover says it all, because how can you show the range of the stories contained within this anthology? </big></b>
Thank you SO much Melanie! You made me cry happy tears of joy.
You can find the review right here: http://www.joyfullyjay.com/2012/04/guest-r
First, in case you didn’t know it, the anthology “Men of Steel” with my story “Meant to Fly” has been released. I am so excited. There was a release party over the weekend...AND!! ... today Elin Gregory posted a gorgeous feature on the release of the book plus an interview with none other than moi!
The interview was so much fun and I would love to hear what you think (and so would she).
Please check them out! (make comments at her site!)
You can find the anthology by clicking right here (ebook and paperback!) and Elin Gregory’s stunningly gorgeous post by clicking right here
“Meant to Fly” is an important story to me and I am very happy about its release. I thought about dedicating it to my first boy-crush (when I too was a boy) but in case it did get back to him somehow, I didn’t want there to be any hurt. He was straight, alas. *heave sigh*
Here is what Dreamspinner Press has to say: Shazam! Who better to safeguard a man’s heart than a hero? Mr. Fantastic may be out there on a wing and a prayer, playing a Longshot, but a handsome He-Man has the power, courage, and derring-do to see his quest for true love through to the happy ending. For romance of superhero proportions, check out these Men of Steel.
In case you missed it, my 1920s time travel story “It Had to Be You” was accepted by DSP as well. This story was a doozy! OMG! I couldn’t write three paragraphs without having to do research. My bibliography is two pages at the back of the story. It was tons of work and I can’t say I would ever rush to do a period piece again, but I love the story so much. It says a lot about culture, how times never really change, and what really matters above all things is love. I had to be all top secret about the story, but now I can tell you more. Here is a brief description...
It Had to Be You by B.G. Thomas
Robert Daniels is always dating the wrong guys. He doesn\'t understand it. He has such nice friends. Then, one day, on a particularly bad date, he gets shot and dies…
…only to wake up in the body of a man named Jimmy, who was also shot and killed—in 1927. Along comes Hugh Naylor, who is in love with Jimmy. Now Robert’s falling in love with Hugh, but how can he explain he isn’t who he appears?
And what about the people who shot “Jimmy” in the first place? Is Rob still endanger for sins he didn’t commit? And will this place Hugh in jeopardy as well?
It will be available in June. BUT, if you order now, you can get all thirty stories for a staggering savings!
Click here to find out more!
Dreamspinner Press is also interested in my novels. Right now I am busy at work on a zooming deadline with my very first novel! They like the idea, a lot, so here is hopeing they will like it when they read it. I am very happy with the direction it is going. A romantic comedy. I haven’t really done that before and I hope people will think it is even half as funny and romantic as I do.
Finally – and this is exciting too! – the anthology “Two Tickets to Paradise” with my story “New Lease” got an excellent review over at Top 2 Bottom Reviews. Every story, including mine, got a good review. Michelel Montgomery, the reviewer, said this about “New Lease”:I really liked this story a lot. I felt sorry for Wade and hoped that he would find someone who really cared about him. Both Wade and Kent are honorable men who are both interesting and easy to like. I enjoyed the promise of a bright future for them and will be looking for more books by this author in the future.
WOW! She will be checking for my stories in the future! This makes me so happy!
Check out the whole review by clicking right here. It is really a nice one. Five stars for an antology!
Well, I am worried I will lose that Internet connection here in
Namasté,
B.G.
Who knows what today will bring?
Last night was so much fun although it was $$$$$. Thank goodness for business expenses! The drag queens were fun and exceptional, funny, the food was amazing – I had the Chicken Parmesan, so good!
It’s the transportation that is the killer!
Send me positive vibes I’ll get to see the Village today!
I need to wake up! Girl! I was in Elizabeth’s (pub of DSP) until about 2AM! Now it is after nine and need to start my day.
Love and Namaste,
BG
Left early yesterday morning and got in before noon. The flyover Manhattan was breathtaking!
Got to the hotel, immediately starting meeting the whole Dreamspinner Press staff and it was all I could do not to cry. Relax. Happy cry, not sad cry. Everyone has been so wonderful! The hugs! Elizabeth, the co-publisher of DSP, hugged so hard and tight! I felt like our hearts touched. And Lynn! OH!! And Julianne! So kind and darling and sweet and beautiful!
We went to a Walgreen’s to get pop and booze and stuff and the walk back just about killed me. Took me hours to feel better. Really. But on the walk back, way at the end of a street, I saw the silhouettes of both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Took my breath away again.
We had the most amazing “Meet and Greet” last night where I met almost everyone who is supposed to be here. We talked, we laughed, we bonded, we got bombed. Free booze!
Today was workshops all day and I am tired, but I don’t dare take a nap! What if I oversleep! We are going in for a dinner at a club called “Lips” where drag queens serve you and perform. About eight of us.
OH! And I found out today I sold my newest story, It Had to Be You! I guess they really liked it and that makes me so happy! I was warned that the edits might be tough with all the historical stuff, but that’s fine.
I have also promised Elizabeth my first novel by July 1st! SO exciting! She wants the novel and is counting on it. She does consider this a promise. I have to do this. It’s my reputation.
There is still quite a few days left. Tomorrow is the huge Rainbow Book Fair. If I can, I am hearing there a shift early since it is in The Village. OMG! The Village! Can you imagine??
Then the RBF and back here. The next day I meet Matt! OMG!
Well, I will post again if I can!
LOVE you all,
BG
