Review: A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Today's review is of a very special book which grew on me more and more with each page and ended up becoming one of my favorite books of all time. Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man is an intelligent, well-written novel of a day in the life of George, a gay man who has recently become single again, after the death of his long-time lover.

Like all the best books, it's hard to say what this book is about. It could be argued that it's about George dealing with his loss, but it's about a lot more than that. Isherwood writes about relationships - romantic or friendly - and how sometimes not even this is enough. He writes about forbidden pleasures - as if being gay in the 60's is not enough, George starts developing a risky friendship with one of his students. The gay history of Los Angeles is explained from time to time, but only when it has to do with George's thoughts and actions.

George is a fascinating character, alienated from everyone around him by his very existence. A gay Brit living in Los Angeles and working as a university lit teacher (lit seems to interest no one) makes his identity more than a little blurry. His best friend Charlotte, another fascinating character, is a straight woman without a husband who drinks her nights away and dreams of going back to London (somehow, one doesn't necessarily feel either Charlotte or George would be better off there). And then, with the sudden death of his life partner, George has one last chance to recuperate and move on. And we all know it's not that easy.

If you liked the book, make sure you see the movie adaptation, directed by Tom Ford. It's divine.

RATING: 5/5

This review counts toward the GLBT challenge.

Giveaway Winners: Notepad/Bookmark and Lisabet Sarai E-book

After traveling to Dubrovnik (seriously, one of the most beautiful places I've ever traveled to) and the magical Greek island of Zakynthos, it's time to announce the winners of the two fabulous giveaways I've hosted.

First, here are the winners of Lark's lovely creations. Make sure you visit her store here for many other beautiful and unique hand-made beauties.

***The notepad goes to JUDYLYNN***

***The bookmark goes to ADDICTED BOOK READER***

And now, here is the winner of the Lisabet Sarai giveaway. Make sure you visit this author's website here - her books will surely get your blood flowing faster!

***The e-book goes to SHERRY***

To all the winners - you have been emailed and I ask to please reply ASAP with your postal addresses so the prizes get sent out as soon as possible. Sherry, make sure you tell me which book you'd like to receive.

To the people that didn't make it - in a little while, there will be an impressive giveaway on the blog, so keep reading. Here's a little hint - two authors of gay fiction who share the same name and write their books together. If you know who this might be, leave a comment. The first one to get it right gets 3 extra entries for when the giveaway is ready!

Interview and Miscellaneous Stuff

A week or so ago, another book blogger Brent, of Naughty Book Kitties, asked me to do a blogger interview with him. I did, and today I am featured on his blog. Thanks, Brent!

Check out the interview here.

I am going to Dubrovnik for (almost) a week, then come back home for a day (I'll try and post - after all, I always get quite a lot of reading done on the seaside), and then I'm going to Zakynthos, a fabulous Greek island - that's actually it on the picture above.

Until then, please take part in my giveaways and go check out what I have to say on book blogging.

xoxo

Nikola

Interview & Giveaway: Lisabet Sarai

Please give a warm welcome to Lisabet Sarai, a successful romance author, who is here to talk about writing steamy fiction, what bothers her when it comes to romance fiction and finally, about her latest book, Necessary Madness. Welcome, Lisabet!

Thanks for inviting me to chat on your blog, Nikola!

Let's get straight to the point - how does one get into writing steamy fiction?

I don't think there's a single answer here. I've always loved to write (I penned my first short story at six and my first poem at seven), and I've always been fascinated by sex. I was a shy nerd during high school and college but "blossomed", sexually speaking, when I was in grad school. Making up for

lost time, you might say! My first erotic stories were fantasies written for a lover.

I was inspired to write my first novel, Raw Silk, after reading Portia da Costa's Black Lace classic Gemini Heat. I loved its diversity and intelligence. Then I thought, "With my imagination, I'll bet I could write something like that." So I did! I now realize how incredibly lucky I was to have my first submission accepted by a top publisher.

The romance market is huge right now. What sets your books apart?

Well, for one thing, I don't tend to write real alpha heros. I'm more interested in nuanced characters who might not look like Greek gods but who have brains instead.

I tend to take genres and twist them into possibly unrecognizable forms. For example, I wrote a shape shifter romance (Serpent's Kiss) but the shifter isn't a were-wolf, were-cat, were-stallion, etc. He's the reincarnation of the Mayan god Quetzlcoatl, who takes the form of a half-bird, half-snake. My paranormal books tend to be minimalist in their allocation of power, rather

than playing off rival races of super-creatures. And I write BDSM that's simultaneously extreme (by romance standards) and intensely emotional.

Compared to many romance authors, I pay a great deal of attention to setting. All my books are set in real places: Bangkok, Boston, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Worcester, Guatemala. With the exception of Guatmala, these are all places I know well. I feel that a rich sense of place helps better define my characters.

Your latest book, Necessary Madness, is your first full-length gay romance. What was it like writing it?

I really enjoyed writing the book. I felt a deep connection with both Kyle and Rob, but particularly with Kyle because of his experiences with the psychiatric establishment. I spent nearly three months in a psychiatric institution when I was in my late teens, and I drew on those memories to bring Kyle's anguish to life.

As far as the sex scenes are concerned, I believe that desire is a universal experience, so I don't have any problem writing about relationships between two men (or two women for that matter). My perspective is more or less pansexual. I'm obviously concerned about whether I've accurately portrayed the dynamics of gay sex. I've read quite a bit of gay erotica, written by men, so I'm hoping that I'm more or less in the ballpark.

What's the hardest thing when it comes to writing a romance?

I think the most difficult aspect is convincingly portraying the powerful emotional connection between the lovers. Real romance isn't about fun and flings. It's about a spiritual bond that goes far beyond the physical, even though it is expressed in the material world. As Joni Mitchell wrote:

I remember that time you told me

Love is touching souls

Surely you've touched mine

'Cause part of you pours out of me

In these lines from time to time.

Touching souls. Conveying that mystical dimension of love is tough to do well --at least for me.

Is there anything that bugs you about romances?

They're too predictable. Because you know that the ending will be happy, it's difficult to create convincing suspense in a romance. I prefer to read, and write, stories with more ambiguous conclusions. My erotic thriller Exposure is a good example. It doesn't have an unhappy ending--you just don't know what the main character will decide to do.

Romance these days also has an unfortunate me-too quality about it. Vampire books are popular, so everyone writes a vampire book and after a while, they all sound the same. Originality does not seem to be highly prized. Now M/M romance is

the latest hot fad. My M/M work sells much better than my heterosexual work, but I really don't want to confine myself to writing one genre. I enjoy variety in both my reading (as you obviously do!) and my writing.

What's the process like when it comes to hot covers?

Usually the publisher will ask you to submit ideas for the cover, with a questionaire that covers things like the appearance of the characters, the setting, the tone, and so on. Very often the author will get to see the initial draft of a cover and have the chance to request changes. That happened with my latest cover, for my upcoming (in August) vampire menage Fire in the Blood. In the first version of the cover, two of the characters were perfect but I thought that the third looked kind of like a zombie! (He isn't.) I requested a change and the final version is far better.

Necessary Madness was an interesting deviation. I had found photos that I used to build my mental images of Kyle and Rob. The artist agreed to use them on the cover, a rather unusual situation. My favorite cover, I think, is Raw Silk. I love Exposure, too. The former was designed by Ann Cain, who is also responsible for the graphic design of my website. The latter was done by Stella Price, who's also a romance author.

What's next in store for Lisabet Sarai?

Well, despite my comments above about not wanting to be typecast as writing only M/M, I'm currently at work on a M/M science fiction tale. It's a dystopic tale of the near future, set after a devastating plague that is blamed on the gay community. It's fairly political, as you might guess. I don't want to say any more, though.

Since you've given me this forum, I'd also like to mention that I'm the series editor for the Coming Together Presents series of single-author charitable erotica. We've already published two volumes, by M.Christian and Remittance Girl. I'm currently working on two more, which I

hope will be out by the end of the year. The first two books support Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, respectively. As an erotic author, I'm proud to work for the benefit of responsible sex education, women's rights, and free speech.

That is so great! Lisabet, thank you so much for this chat and the very best of luck with Necessary Madness!

Lisabet has graciously offered a choice of two e-books to be given away to one lucky person. The winner will get to choose between the contemporary M/F novel Getaway Girl and the M/M Tomorrow's Gifts.

Giveaway rules are as follows:

-ends July 25th

-open INTERNATIONALLY

+1 for tweeting about this contest

+2 for following my blog (old and new followers)

+2 for adding the link to the sidebar

+4 for posting about it

+4 for visiting Lisabet's site and coming back with the title that you found most titillating!

Book Goodies Giveaway #1

Have you ever heard of the website Etsy.com? It's a fantastic online store of many unique hand-crafted items, created by many talented individuals. There are many book-related things to find on there and I am going to try and feature some of the artists (because that's what they are!) on my blog.

Today's spotlight is on the art by Lark, of "larkscountryheart" (click here to visit her store). She has generously offered two prizes for our giveaway today. The 1st prize is the beautiful hand-made notepad/pen set, pictured above. The 2nd prize is the unique chain and charm bookmark, featured on the other picture.

Giveaway rules:

1. Open to US residents only.
2. The giveaway ends on July 16th.
3. There will be two randomly chosen winners.
4. You can obtain bonus entries by doing the following:

+2 for following my blog (old and new followers)

+1 for tweeting about the contest (leave the link!)

+2 for adding the link to the sidebar

+4 for blogging about this

+4 for visiting Lark's store and leaving a link in the comment about what item caught your eye

Those are pretty great odds for winning, right?

Good luck and big thanks to Lark for trusting me with this giveaway!

Review: The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Being a major fan of both the literary and the TV version of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City, reading a book about the protagonist's teen years and background can be more than a little terrifying. What if it's completely different than what I imagined? Worse, what if it plain sucks? Could it affect my love for the character and the story?

Because honestly, Carrie Bradshaw is an icon. Even if you haven't read Sex and the City, the book, you've definitely seen Sex and the City, the TV show (or the inferior movies). Although there are obvious differences between the two Carries in the show and in the book (Bushnell's Carrie is a bona fide bitch, whereas Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie is rather lovable), both are driven by this extraordinary character. A single 30-something New York columnist, who made her way up battling the odds and the many men in her life.

Enter The Carrie Diaries, a basically YA book that is about Carrie's teen years. In it, she falls in love, betrays and gets betrayed, makes her first best gay friend and dreams of moving to New York. And it's great. So many details about Carrie's past are in this book - and since Carrie is a sample of an entire generation of women, it's actually details about many empowered women of the late '70s. Carrie is raised by a single father and this provides Bushnell with an opportunity to use Carrie's strong mother as a symbol of feminism, which works very well in the book. It is also fun to compare Carrie's teen friends with the ones we know she will eventually make.

All in all, Candace Bushnell has revisited Carrie's past and has done it well. I imagine the book will be spoiled by a movie or a TV show soon enough, but fans of Bushnell's universe will cherish this book on its own. Watch out for that infamously magnificent last page, it almost made me cry!

RATING: 4/5

Review: Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan is one of those writers I've always been dying to read, and for a good reason. I've seen two movie adaptations of his novels and loved both - the beautifully shot Atonement and the trippy The Comfort of Strangers. Both movies suggested that this was an author who, in true postmodernist fashion, likes stirring things up, mainly when it comes to mixing the traditional writing sensibilities and the broken 21st century mentality of his characters.

Then came Amsterdam, which I hear is not one of McEwan's best, and it's only like 200 pages long and incredibly easy to read. I loved it to pieces. If I had to retell it, I'd probably say it's about two old friends grieving after the death of their ex lover Molly. Then they are left to cope with the modern world and acknowledge their own moral and spiritual degradation, until the only solution is something that can be performed legally only in Amsterdam.

A totally modern book, Amsterdam still has a classical feel to it. It's British to its very core, yet it undermines everything that has been the staple of the British lifestyle. Still, it's not a satirical novel - more like a very pessimistic vision of the world, where it's still up to the people to fix what needs to be fixed, but the question is whether they will be able to do it.

RATING: 5/5