Coming May 10! Excited...UB2

I'm very excited to once again step away from the darkness of horror and suspense into the light of happily-ever-after romantic comedy with my May 10 release, the novella, NEG UB2.

To whet your appetite, here's a little taste of what the new book is about:

The sequel to the bestselling VGL Male Seeks Same!

Poor Ethan Schwartz. He’s just had the most shocking news a gay man can get: he’s been diagnosed HIV positive. Up until today, he thought his life was on a perfect course: he had a job he loved and something else he thought he’d never have: a new man, one whom Ethan thought of as “the one.” The one who would complete him, who would take his life from a lonely existence to a place filled with laughter, hot sex, and romance.

But along with the fateful diagnosis comes another shock: who is this new love? Had Ethan ever really known him? And did he infect him? As Ethan says, his love history had been more of a haiku than an epic and Brian, his new love, seems to the likely culprit is his newfound diagnosis.

The course of true love never runs smoothly, right? And for Ethan and Brian, their new love, once so bright and shining, now appears tinged with darkness and deceit. Can they face this hurdle together with honesty and forgiveness? Or will this revelation tear them apart?

Ethan turns to creating a blog, Off to See the Wizard of Poz to help him deal with his diagnosis and love troubles. And finds there just may be more hope and support in the world than he once believed. And one of his blog readers just might have the key to Ethan’s happily ever after.

And here's what HIV+ writer, activist, and educator Shawn Decker has to say about NEG UB2:

“There’s no protection from Reed’s quick wit and and ability to craft a winning and thoroughly enthralling love story.”

And here's a little sample:

It’s only been a couple of days since my doctor broke the news and told me I was HIV positive. After the initial shock wore off, I wanted to jump up and point an accusing finger at the Doc, shouting, “Hey buddy, you got the wrong guy!”

I couldn’t be HIV positive. Not me. Not a gay man whose sexual history read more like a haiku than an epic.

Not me. Not a gay guy in his forties, pathetically involved in his first real love affair. Not me. This love affair that I talk about had seemed like more than “an affair.” No, this relationship had more the ring of future on it.

I thought I had found my soul mate.

I thought we were in a monogamous relationship.

It’s tough enough getting the news that you’re poz. Tougher still to suddenly realize that this news points a very accusing finger at the man you thought you might wind up spending the rest of your life with.

He doesn’t know what I know. Not yet. And maybe he doesn’t even know he’s infected. I’ve thought through the scenarios and he could still be in that “window period” you’ve heard tell about. That still doesn’t make me feel any better.

Why? Because he either knowingly infected me or unwittingly did so, with the very likely possibility that he was fucking other guys behind my back.

Neither of these possibilities is pretty to contemplate.

I can’t talk to him right now. I can’t trust myself not to A) break down into a snotty-nosed, sobbing mess or B) kill him.

Neither of those would solve much. So, for now, I keep my own counsel. It’s just you and me. Are you listening?

Before I decide what I will do about him, I have to take care of me first. And that means drawing this first blog to a close, and heading out to pay a visit to my friendly neighborhood pharmacist. He’s got a gift bag for me: two expensive drugs called Viramune and Truvada.

Yes, folks, the guy who never smoked, never did drugs, and whose throat is still only on an acquaintance basis with hooch is about to become a habitual drug user.

God save us all.

I hope you'll check out NEG UB2 when it debuts next weekend!