Thursday, September 27, 2012

Body Image and the Romantic Hero: CHASER

And we have a winner! Drumroll please... Through a random selection process involving my Boston Terrier, Lily, the following winner of an ebook edition of CHASER has been chosen. Congratulations, Dannyfiredragon. I'll be in touch, Danny, via e-mail, with your copy.

Welcome to my contribution to The Romance Reviews GLBT Madness Blog Hop, taking place today through September 30. Be sure to click on the blog hop icon at the bottom of this post to read the contributions of dozens of other authors--and to increase your chances of winning dozens of cool prizes. 

Since the publication of my new novel, Chaser, back at the end of August, I've gotten quite a few letters from readers thanking me for introducing a romantic hero who is not the ideal. See, the object of desire/affection in my story is Kevin and Kevin's a little overweight. The "chaser" in the title refers to the gay lingo term for men who prefer their men on the meatier side: chubby chasers.

My other main character, Caden is one of those men. Although Caden is a runner, with a lean and what some might call a perfect body, he prefers his men to have a little something to hold onto. Here's Caden's first glimpse of Kevin in a bar one night:

Caden did have his eye on one guy, down on the lower level at one of the high-topped tables, talking with a couple of friends. He stood out because he was not built like most of the guys here, who were, to a man, either too skinny or too pumped up to register on his attraction meter.

 This guy seemed comfortable in his own skin and Caden liked the way he threw back his head and laughed when one of his buddies said something funny. Unlike most of the other guys in Sidetrack that night, he did not show any signs that he was conscious of his appearance. Caden liked that he wore comfortable clothes, a cotton sweater of faded blue-gray and a simple pair of carpenter pants, most likely Carhartt. He peered over the rail and saw the guy’s feet were encased in work boots. Ah. A blue collar man. A working guy. Just my type. Caden also liked his tousled blond hair, which revealed fetching layers of color that went from almost brown, to wheat, to pale blond, to nearly platinum, yet revealed no indication, Caden thought, of the attentions of a hairdresser. And what put him on the “edge of glory” was the crowning touch: a thick beard, not manicured into tortured geometric lines.

And he was blessedly overweight. Not fat. But a bit of gut protruded, and his thighs, in denim, looked like tree trunks. When he turned around, he revealed an ass of ample proportions, the kind Caden could just imagine as two perfect, creamy white spheres perfect for grasping and pulling apart.

“Is it hot in here?” Caden shouted in Bobby’s ear. He took a gulp of beer and fanned his hand in front of his face.

Most of the time, in gay or straight romance, you don't find men like the one above. But in Chaser, I tried to show that objects of desire and/or love can come in all different shapes and sizes.

The vagaries of sexual attraction are definitely not a one-size-fits-all affair.

But if that was all there was to Chaser, there wouldn't be much of a story, now would there? As an author, I like there to be some drama, some tension, so I asked... "What would happen if...."

...and filled in the blank with "Kevin lost the weight that drew Caden to him in the first place?"

So, when Caden has to leave town suddenly for an extended period, he returns home to a man who is not at all what he was originally drawn to. How does one deal with such a situation? As the tag line on the cover of Chaser wonders: "Is it really what's on the inside that counts?"

Well, is it?

I think open-hearted people everywhere know the answer to that question, even if might be modified somewhat by "within limits". But to find out if Kevin and Caden are still a love match when body images change, you have to read Chaser to discover what happens.

I leave you with a sentence near the end of the book that may give you a clue to how things turn out:

Caden turned back to Kevin. The fight had gone out of him. He appraised him with new eyes.

And what do you think he saw?

Win a free ebook edition of Chaser by leaving a comment below. Please include your e-mail address so I know where to contact you if you win.

Or you can simply grab your own copy of Chaser by clicking on one of the links below:

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  The Romance Reviews GLBT Madness Hop
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Reviews by Jessewave Gives CHASER a Rave

I was thrilled to wake up this morning to a 4.5/5 star review for my latest love story, CHASER at Reviews by Jessewave. The reviewer said, in part:

"It made me think while I was reading and I caught myself still pondering it days after I was finished. That’s the sign of a great book...definitely recommend."

Read the whole review.

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Shut Up and Eat Your Breakfast!

From the brilliant minds behind Blake Ink United, comes this wonderfully-easy to understand graphic. There's a good analogy here.

I had scrambled eggs with pico de gallo. What did you have? It's all good!
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Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Postman Rang Once

Look what just came in the mail!

It's always a special moment when you finally hold the result of your labor in your hands (and yes, the similarity to birthin' a baby is intentional).

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Gay List Book Reviews Scopes Out Chaser

And likes it!

They had this to say about my "chubby chaser" love story: "the perfect book to curl up with when the tummy is unsettled and your head aches a bit from too many Cosmos the night before...a sweet little love story."

Read the whole review here: http://gaylistbookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/chaser-by-rick-r-reed/

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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Chaser Gets Its First Review

And it's a rave! Whew.

Amos Lassen, on his review blog, "Reviews by Amos Lassen" (gotta love the man's simplicity), says:

"(Chaser)...has a lot to say about how the gay community regards beauty and Reed often chooses to write about men who do not fit the “norm” of what is expected. Take interesting characters, a good plot that gives us something to think about and add a few really hot erotic sex scenes and we have a book that is hard to put down... Reed embellishes the story with beautiful prose and a touch of emotions....

Read the whole review here.

Buy CHASER
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Monday, September 3, 2012

Win a copy of CHASER @ GoodReads

Yes, folks, there's still time to win a signed paperback of my latest love story, Chaser, the book that reviewer Amos Lassen called, "hard to put down."

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Chaser by Rick R. Reed

Chaser

by Rick R. Reed

Giveaway ends September 24, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Am American Gay Wedding

Jeff and Chris say their "I do's."
So last night, Bruce and I were honored to be among the guests celebrating the nuptials of our dear friends, Chris Lopez and Jeffrey Martel. We have known the couple since they first met and couldn't have been happier to be a part of the joy, love, and happiness that was part of this special day.

The wedding had several unique things going for it. For one, the setting: groom and groom stood said their vows outdoors, within the wolf and elk habitat of Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo as their backdrop. Seeing big-tusked elk meandering about behind Jeff and Chris and the minister was a bit surreal, but somehow fitting: the wildlife setting complemented what was a very natural joining together of two people in love, committed to the other. When the ceremony paused for the classical quartet to play a lovely rendition of "Ave Maria", it seemed the wolf pack to the right of the ceremony actually paused to listen. They had been restless before and, honest to God, they all quieted and became still as the music floated out on the summer night air.

I wanted to list a bunch of other things that made this wedding unique, but you know what? I can't think of another one. And that's a good thing.

Two weeks ago, Bruce and I went to the wedding of his niece in Minnesota to her groom and the thing that struck me about these two weddings--one gay and one straight--was not their differences, but their similarities.

Jeff's nieces were the flower girls
Both were held outdoors in a gorgeous setting (our niece was married to her husband in a botanical garden), settings one might say were blessed with both temperate weather and an abundance of natural beauty. Both had a misty-eyed captive audience, united in witnessing the joining of two lives as they began their journeys together down life's highway. Both, and this one is the most important, displayed a palpable feeling of love and happiness as not only the couple getting married was swept up in the joy of the moment, but also their friends and family.

After the wedding, we headed inside for dinner, where a Grizzly bear, not three feet away in his sanctuary, watched from behind a glass wall (a heavy glass wall). We then all moved to another building for dessert and dancing (cupcakes replaced a wedding cake at this reception, which I thought was a nifty idea, one I filed away to steal later for Bruce and me, when our day comes).

At the reception, the same feeling persisted: the atmosphere of love and commitment, strong enough to be like a scent in the air.

I said to Bruce, "You know, if some of those people who opposed gay marriage could be here tonight and see all these people--friends, family, wedding party--coming together with such happiness and deep love, I think they might see this day as not something to be opposed, or hated, or feared, but exactly what it is: two people who love one another and want to make a lifelong commitment to the other and have that promise witnessed by the people they hold dear."

Cupcakes!
I'd like to believe that the folks who oppose gay marriage do it out of fear or ignorance. I'd like to think they've never had the privilege of witnessing what we saw last night--the spiritual uniting of two people. How, I wonder, could anyone be opposed to something as pure and simple--and profound--as love.

Because marriage--gay, straight--is really just about that: love. And it's not about what's between our legs, but what's between our ears...and in our hearts.

Love is love. Why on earth, or in God's name, would anyone want to deny that to their fellow man or woman? We can only be strengthened, as families, as a society, by encouraging and celebrating love and commitment.
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