Another Submission ACCEPTED STARbooks

Kissed again, I suppose... *wink*

I was informed that another submission of mine was accepted by STARbooks. I haven't celebrated here in a while, have I? *laughs*

This time, it's Rawiya who now feels she can do it just as good as Michael. Writing gay, that is.

Her story, "That Thing" mirrors "My Lieutenant" by BlMorticia but this one is a little more serious. It does have its funny moments but in Rawiya's there is a mention of wife and kids. Ohhh...



Well anyway, the story has more to be written. The anthology short will be under 3k, but Rawiya is looking at a novella size for her interracial gay romance.

Want a taste? Here you go...

*****

Hard to believe that I would have so much to do this morning, but it’s a Monday after all. Of course, because of last night’s events with my latest lover, I didn’t want to get out of bed at all.

“Fuck…” I mouthed to myself. My feet touched the cold floor while I ran my fingers through my long hair. The new man in my life thinks it’s cute. So instead of my prior idea to cut it, I’ve decided to keep it so he would be able to run his fingers through the curls.

And oh, did he.

I really should’ve asked him to stay over…

Then again, he couldn’t. He does have a wife and kids to go home to. Nevertheless, he let me know that this thing, as he calls it, was so good. The man couldn’t bring himself around to saying that he might be gay but it’s alright, I’m sure he’ll eventually come around.

But when? How long will it take?

Will the urge to leave his spouse be something quick or will it take longer like say, a few months or years till I turned thirty? God, I hoped not.

When would he say goodbye to straight life and hello to that big rainbow colored door?

I know it’ll be hard for him, discarding the so called normal existence for the one that’s damned to hell. Where everyone criticizes and hates you for being different. The one, where besides the color of your skin, you’re just as likely to be shunned by your peers, discriminated against, not treated with high value but I think I’m worth it, aren’t I?

Aren’t I, Sergeant Lawrence Bernard?

* * * * *

Going into a club where most of the patrons were straight you don’t expect too much action. However, since my best gal pal Dania insisted on taking me out that night, I refused to be around a bunch of queens anyhow. It had only been a week since I’d broken it off with my last jerk, Antonio. I’d caught him screwing around with some woman in my bed, after coming home from another writer’s gathering. Not something I wanted to see, especially since they were fucking on my three hundred count sheets.

“C’mon, Jamison…let’s dance.” She pulled me out to the dance floor and like a lost puppy, I followed. We held hands, trying to keep the rhythm, when I spotted a hot man sitting at the bar staring in our direction.

I tapped Dania on the shoulder, putting my mouth close to her ear. “Hey babes, go talk with the nice one, gawking at you. I’ll be over here, drinking my sorrows away.”

She looked around, as did I. Just as I was about to depart, she pulled my hand. “He isn’t looking at me, dumbass. He’s checkin’ you out.”

I rolled my eyes, sighing, “No way. That man is as straight as they come.” We kept moving out the way of the other people.

“I just found out while he was glancing this way. He shook his head no. He pointed in your direction. Go talk to him.”

“Uh uh, noo…” I waved my hands frantically. We we’re yelling at each other over the blaring music. Not paying attention, we didn’t bother to check the bar again for our voyeur. Before we knew it, I felt a hand on my back.

I whipped around, looking at our mystery man, in the eye. “Hi,” I said loudly. I felt Dania touch me before she left.

“Hey, how about a dance?” He held out his hand. “Lawrence Bernard.”

I raised an eyebrow, putting my palm inside his. “Jamison Sterling.”

Once we started moving, nothing more was said until five songs later when he took me back to his spot at the bar, buying me a drink. We sat right next to each other, trying to hold a conversation even with all the noise. We did pretty good, until another song I liked came on. I led him to the floor, dancing closely to him, not even wondering about his situation. The bottom line was, he was hot and I wanted someone to pay attention to me other than Dania.

There was no substitute for male companionship, especially for a gay man, even when you are on the mend.

***

There you go. Expected to be released in the fall of this year. Tall, Dark, and Delicious collection, edited by Marcus Anthony. Of course, we'll post the link when it goes on sale.