Well gang, HOMOSEX: Sixty Years of Gay Erotica has won the Lambda Literary Award - the most prestigious award for queer writing - for Best Erotica Book of 2007. Woo-hoo! I'm really proud of the book - it's the first time that I know of that someone has put together a historically-oriented collection of American gay erotica. It's been a blast to put together, and I'm hoping it 's good, sticky fun to read, too. It includes everything from some rarities from the World War II era, to classic tales by Aaron Travis, John Preston, Jack Fritscher, to some great stuff by up-and-coming masters of the genre - and, as they say, much, much more. I'm hoping it will be both of scholarly interest and worthy of getting its pages stuck together on the john. It's fun, significant, and hot - take my word for it. Better than taking my word for it, why not buy a copy and have a look for yourself? Hell, why not buy two? After all, it's an award winner!

And I'm also thrilled to announce that Leathermen is out, and already climbing the queer porn bestseller list at amazon,com. It's a great book (hey, I can say that, since I didn't write most of it), with hot, smart, twisted stories by such terrific authors as Aaron Travis, Jeff Mann, Bill Brent, Shaun Levin, horehound stillpoint, and more. Yeah, it's leatherporn, but I did my best to insure it was thoughtful, ferociously well written, and, yes, masturbation-worthy.

And wow! Same-sex marriage in California, huh? Thanks, Republican-nominated State Supreme Court! And though the Christers are taking it to the ballot, the latest polls show that Californians support queer marriage, 51% to 42. Internationally, Mexico City has recognized same-sex civil unions, sending the Catholic Church into yet another hissy fit. First gay marriage in Spain, and now this! And it looks like same-sex marriage will be legal in South Africa, a country that already has gay rights enshrined in its constitution. Amazingly, too, the Supreme Court of Nepal has decreed that Himalayan homos should have full equality. and now this. The hetero hegemony lobby is lobbing bigotry grenades, and claiming that if queers are allowed to marry, The Human Race Will Cease To Exist. Uh-huh.

Of course, all's not well. It never is. Some no-neck state senator from the great state of Oklahoma declaring that once a society accepts homosexuality, it's Doomed. Doomed doomed doomed. Hell, doesn't she know that the very queer Emperor Hadrian led the Roman Empire to its greatest heights, and that Rome was around for three more centuries, till after Constantine made Christianity the state religion and banned gay sex? Nope, guess she doesn't.

And some Scottish archbishop, his knickers in a twist, has raised the specter of a "huge and well-orchestrated" gay conspiracy to destroy Christianity. What next? Gays poisoning the wells and eating Christian children for Passover?

Back on the brightish side, as of today, we only have to put up with The Worst President In History for another 177 days. No, Obama might not be the messiah, but he's sure to be a whole lot better than the Moron in Chief.

Also on the Happy List, my serialized cliffhanger story The Dirty Boys Club, is still going strong on outpersonals.com. It's the story of three young men hired as - um, erotic entertainers in San Francisco, and the sexy situations, suspenseful scrapes, and related trouble they get into. Go have a look. It's part of the OutPersonals Magazine, and all you need is a free membership to read it.

Aside from that, the lovely Dr. Carol Queen and yours truly are gearing up for yet another edition of my all-time favorite dirty reading/performance series, Perverts Put Out. . This one's the Dore Fair edition on July 26. A sex-drenched time is guaranteed for all.

And then there's Wikipedia. I'm gratified that someone - not me, I swear it - saw fit to write me an entry. Now I feel like a Real Person. On the downside, it appears that I share my name with a particularly odious English racist, homophobe, and anti-Semite. Ah, the things you'd never know if not for search engines. Oh well, perhaps God has, as Depeche Mode suggested, a sick sense of humor. And on the downside, Google has led me to discover some rather harsh criticism of my Gay Sluts article. You can read my bitchy-but-witty response here.

Still in print and plugging along is my how-to book, Sex Parties 101. It is, as far as I know, the very first book of its type, a guide covering everything from what kind of food to serve at an orgy to how to get laid at a dungeon party. I'm hoping it's useful, amusing, and will get at least a few of you laid. And was recently made a selection of the Insight/Out queer book club. So check it out, and get it on.

Hey, maybe you'd like to have a look at my second book of short fiction, In Deep. It contains some of the best of what I've published lately, also includes a lot of brand-new stories, and features a novella about horny miners in the Old West that gives new meaning to the phrase "rough riders." Yes, writing queer porn is an awesome responsibility. The Erotic Authors Association chose Hotter Than Hell as its first-ever Best Single-Author Collection of the Year, and I'm hoping that folks will think In Deep is at least as good. And hey, I hope the book gives you a woodie.

Or how about checking out Kinkorama: Dispatches From the Front Lines of Perversion? Part autobiography, part theory, part confession, part rant...I'm not sure just what the fuck Kinkorama is. I've been thinking of it as a sort of travel book, only featuring spanking and verbal abuse instead of Rome and Vienna. I've discovered that being both honest and amusing for 250 pages is a challenge, but I hope readers will find it entertaining, hot, and true.

I'm still busily writing "Sex Talk." During the couple of years the column was on hold, I've continued to receive e-mail from readers, and it's great to continue the dialogue with queer guys (and whomever). The new columns are now appearing on the Web and elsewhere, including maybe (I hope) the queer paper in your town.

A long while ago the San Francisco Bay Guardian asked me to put together a Field Guide to Pervs for their annual Sex Issue. Dealing with such exotic species as the Red-Rumped Spankee and the Greater Dildo, I hope it provides guidance when you bravely go Stalking the Wild Kink.

One thing about being an author, though, is that, outside of audiences at readings, I have very little idea of who's reading my stuff and what they think about it. I do get feedback regarding my column, but I'd be especially interested in hearing from folks who've read my fiction, so why not drop me some e-mail? Just please be gentle...well, maybe not that gentle...

And, oh yeah, have a look at my Sri Lanka snaps from way back before the tsunami. What good, after all, is having a Website if you can't force complete strangers to see your vacation pictures?

MAy your future be one filled with peace, eco-friendly prosperity, a winding-down of this murderous war, an end to Republican control of the White House...and more and better sex, love, and rock and roll for us all.

Peace and Queer Love,
Simon
7/26/08