Guest Post with M.J O'Shea & Piper Vaughn: The Dual Interview

I am so excited to have M.J & Piper on the blog today! Its their first time so give them a warm welcome to Pants Off!

Hi, all! So we’re in the middle of our One Small Thing blog tour and we thought we’d do something a bit different this time around. Instead of having someone interview us jointly, we decided to interview each other. We both came up with a set of questions, emailed them to each other, and the results are what you see below! We hope you enjoy this rather unconventional interview. Be sure to check out the excerpt for One Small Thing at the end of this post. 

 ~*~

MJ’s Questions for Piper

 ~*Writing*~ 

What's your favorite part of OST? What do you think will be a favorite part for readers?

 -I think the haircut scene is really cute and I can see a lot of readers liking it. My favorite part, though, might be their first real kiss and the first time they really touch each other, since touching is such a big thing for Erik. I’m hoping the readers will like that, too. Well, I hope they like the whole thing. :P

What story are you dying to write, but just haven't sat down and plotted? 

-I’m dying to do a couple of twisted fairytale kind of things, actually. The one most prevalent in my mind is “Beauty and the Beast” because it’s my favorite fairytale, but there are a few others I want to redo also.

Erik (in OST) was a different kind of guy. What, if any, parts of him were drawn from your own personality/tastes. 

-Erik’s fondness for Star Wars was drawn from myself. I can also be very introverted and shy like him, and wary/skittish around strangers. There were actually multiple things about him that were drawn from my own personality, but in him they are way more amplified. Also, I’m a bit of a junk food junkie like him. :)

~*Fun*~ 


Favorite boy band member. Tell me why:) 


-Oh, jeez. Embarrass me, why don’t you? LOL. Um…I’d probably say Justin Timberlake. I really liked him and his voice when he was in *NSYNC (and, yes, I have seen them in concert :P), but honestly I liked him even more when he went solo. His FutureSex/LoveSounds album is still one of my faves.


In any order, name your top 5 pairs of socks (just in case you didn't know, Piper has a thing with socks) 


-That’s a tough one. Okay…you can actually see a couple of these on my FB page, if any of you are curious. LOL. 1) My gray and black striped socks with blue at the toes and heel and buttons at the top. 2) My comfiest pair, which are made of brown wool with specks of pink and purple. They’re kind of loose, but nice and warm. 3) My sushi socks. They’re adorable. 4) My rainbow toe socks. They go up to the knee and they’re soft and warm. 5) My Goldilocks and the Three Bears toe socks because they are probably the weirdest pair I own, and yet still comfortable.


Dream vacation. Where would you go and why? 

-Another hard one. I guess my dream vacation would start in Ireland, then on to England, down to Spain, then over to France, Italy, and Greece. From Greece, I’d fly to Japan, and from there Australia and New Zealand. Those are all of the places I want to see most, and all for different reasons. So my fantasy vacation would be some grand tour that encompassed them all. Keep dreaming, right? Hehe. The sheer amount of money needed for something like that would probably send me into a dead faint. But it would be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, for sure.

~*~ 

Piper’s Questions for MJ

~*Writing*~ 

In One Small Thing, you wrote the character of Rue. What would you say is your favorite thing about him? 

-I like his snappy retorts and how he's sarcastic but not mean, witty but not slapstick.

Another question relating to One Small Thing. In the story, Rue is a gay man who slept with a woman as an experiment. Some people might question the believability of this scenario. What would your answer be to the people who wonder why a man who identifies as gay would sleep with a woman?

-Answer: It happens. Trust me. I think I'll plead the fifth on the rest of it :)

Which one of your characters is most like you? 

-Okay, as far as most like me? I'd say a combination of Rue from One Small Thing and Nick Ventura (Lucky Moon series). Rue appeals to my girly sparkling side that likes to dance and wear makeup and decorate. Nick, well, I can have his mouth on occasion, and a bit of his Peter Pan syndrome. I hope I'm not obnoxious like he is though.

~*Fun*~ 

Name your top 5 favorite musicians/bands and your favorite song by each. 

-Oh Jeez.

1. Muse. Of course. Favorite song? Damn… I'm going to go with Knights of Cydonia tonight.

2. Death Cab — and I like the new one. You Are A Tourist

3. The Posies — Definite Door

4. Superdeluxe — Years Ago (GORGEOUS song)

5. Phoenix — Sometimes in the Fall

Ask me that question tomorrow, you'd get a totally different answer. Except Muse. That wouldn't change. Probably.

If you could live out one fairytale, which one would you pick and why? 

-Are we talking the Grimm version or the Disney? Cause those original ones are pretty brutal. I'd have to say Aladdin. The flying carpet would be pretty badass, and a cave full of pretty sparkly things? Hell yeah.


What place in the world do you want to visit most? What would you do first when you got there?

-I'd say...wow. I really don't know. Everywhere. Probably Santorini. Then Ireland. Then somewhere like Bali. And I'd do what I always do when I'm somewhere new — walk around and look at everything and take it all in. No photographs, no posing, just looking.

Blurb:
“Daddy” is not a title Rue Murray wanted, but he never thought he’d have sex with a woman either. Now he’s the unwitting father of a newborn named Alice. Between bartending and cosmetology school, Rue doesn’t have time for babies, but he can’t give her up. What Rue needs is a babysitter, and he’s running out of options. He’s on the verge of quitting school to watch Alice himself when he remembers his reclusive new neighbor, Erik.

Erik Van Nuys is a sci-fi novelist with anxiety issues to spare. He doesn’t like people in general, and he likes babies even less. Still, with his royalties dwindling, he could use the extra cash. Reluctantly, he takes on the role of manny—and even more reluctantly, he finds himself falling for Alice and her flamboyant father.

Rue and Erik are as different as two people can be, and Alice is the unlikeliest of babies, but Rue has never been happier than when Alice and Erik are by his side. At least, not until he receives an offer that puts all his dreams within reach and he’s forced to choose: the future he’s always wanted, or the family he thought he never did.

The Excerpt:

(Just as a lead in to this excerpt, Rue, Erik, and a couple of friends are on a weekend getaway at Rehoboth Beach. They’re having fun and enjoying themselves and then Rue has a run in with someone he wasn’t expecting…) 

Rue

I was laughing at something my goofy dork of a boyfriend was saying as we rounded the corner, when I was suddenly ambushed by a hug and a wet, tipsy kiss on the cheek. 

“Rue!” 

“Oh… hey, Nolan.” I didn’t know how to react to him. We’d never been serious. I hadn’t been anyway. I’d never actually asked if he was. Didn’t matter. It only took him a few months to stop calling me after I’d hinted that I was done by never returning his last voice mail. 

“Um, Nolan, you remember Dusty, and this is Paul….” I reached out and took Erik’s hand.

 “And this is my boyfriend, Erik, and this is Alice.” Nolan’s eyes grew wide for a moment, but he recovered. I’m pretty sure the word boyfriend threw him. 

“Cute kid, hon,” he said to Erik. He leaned over to tickle Alice’s stomach and got a good look at her face and her midnight black hair. Then he looked up at me, that wide-eyed, “you’ve gotta be kidding me” stare coming right back.

“She’s mine, Nol,” I confirmed.

“Yeah, I can see that. Wow.” I could see he was trying to decide what the hell was going on. “Rue, babe, we have got to do lunch when we get back to town. I’m personally convinced that there’s some alien invasion situation going on here. Boyfriends, babies? Where is the slutty little club boy Rue we know and love?” 

I flinched at that. Dusty giggled nervously. Erik’s hand tightened. “You’re hilarious, Nolan.” Unfortunately, he was also right. “I’ll give you a call when we get back into town.” I pulled on Erik, trying to get away from the suddenly awkward situation, my past, things I didn’t really want to think about. I wanted to be on the beach, eating dinner and not thinking of the way things used to be. 

The pizza was good, though not quite as good as it would’ve been without the weird aftertaste of the past on my tongue. I clung to Erik a little, perhaps to remind myself of how different things were in my life. Family and stability, things I’d never thought to really even dream of, were suddenly imperative. Still a bit weirded out, I held Erik tightly all night and didn’t fall asleep for a long time. I was reassured by the sound of Alice breathing in her little makeshift crib and by the steady rise and fall of Erik’s chest under my cheek. His hand had slipped beneath my sleep shorts to pull me closer and cup my butt possessively. That helped too. It was a gesture that would’ve annoyed the hell out of me with anyone else, but from him it was natural. It felt like the way it should be.

I was relieved (and surprised) in the morning when Erik went out before I was even awake and came back with donuts and coffee for everyone. We spent the early part of the day wandering around town and checking out all the tiny seaside shops. At one point, Dusty pointed and started skipping ahead excitedly, and we spent the next half an hour in his “favorite shop in the world,” which was owned by a sweet fur ball of a man named Caleb and his gorgeous partner Wendell. Together, they sold every kind of chocolate that you’d ever want or need, and some you’ve probably never even heard of. I have to admit, the samples he kept plying us with were delicious, and I ended up buying a few bags of treats for later, even if I might regret them once we were home. Our afternoon was spent on the beach, which was thankfully a bit quieter than it had been on Saturday. 

Erik and I were half-asleep, lolling on the sand with our fingers loosely entwined while Dusty and Paul built little hills of sand for a giggling Alice to roll over. The breeze was pleasant, and my daughter’s delighted squeals rang in the wind and made me smile. We were leaving for home in the morning. I didn’t want the weekend to end, but that feeling, that deep contentment that had settled on me—I didn’t think it would go away just because we’d packed up our bathing suits and headed back to everyday life. I traced a heart shape on Erik’s palm with my index finger. He reached across and trailed his other hand up the inside of my arm. It was so peaceful…. 

Until a wriggling, sweaty body was on top of me making odd humping motions and cackling. “Hey, sexy beast. I didn’t know you were coming out here this weekend.” 

Jeremiah. Shit. One of the Tom Tom Club’s go-go dancers and a notorious bottom boy who I’d fucked a few times on the back deck of the club on one of my nights off. That seemed like a million years ago. It was a million years ago, experience wise. He was one of my favorite club boys and a great tipper, but Erik, and even Dusty, weren’t part of that life. Jeremiah really didn’t fit into my happy little family picture. I needed him gone. Immediately. 

“Uh, hey, Jeremiah. I’m kind of here with my family. I’ll see you at the club, okay?”

He gave me a confused look, which became even more confused when he saw the sudden death grip Erik had on my hand. I had to get rid of him before he said anything else. I knew Erik didn’t think I was a virgin, but the very real reality of my past wasn’t something we were ready for. He wasn’t like other guys, who’d assume I’d been around the block a few times like most people and just shrug it off. I could see it in his eyes, how it hurt him every time a guy smiled at me too familiarly. I hated that look. And it was back. 

Fan-freaking-tastic. 

All of a sudden my perfect weekend at the beach wasn’t so perfect any longer.

~*~ 

Want more? Look for One Small Thing tomorrow, May 4th, from Dreamspinner Press, available in both ebook and paperback formats.

~*~ 

Piper Vaughn and M.J. O’Shea have been writing jointly since January 2011. Their first joint title, Moonlight Becomes You (released August 2011), was Piper’s publishing debut, while M.J. already had several published titles under her belt. Both authors have solo titles available in addition to their co-written projects. You can visit them at their joint blog, Babes in Boyland (http://mjandpiper.blogspot.com), or their websites, http://pipervaughn.com and http://www.mjoshearomance.com.

Learning From Isaac by Dev Bentham

Learning from Isaac by Dev Bentham
Loose-Id

Novella: 99pgs

Rating: 3.5/5 (almost a 4)

Blurb:
Nathan Kohn has been teaching Aquatic Science at St. Genevieve College for 15 years. It’s not a perfect situation, but he's resigned to being a gay man in a straight culture, a Jew among Catholics and single in a world of couples. Until the stunningly attractive Isaac Wolf appears in his classroom. Isaac is a few years older than his fellow students, brilliant, self-composed and Jewish. Wouldn't Nathan's mother be pleased? Except, of course, relationships between faculty and students are forbidden, especially those not sanctioned by the Church.

Isaac has his own secrets, which Nathan finds out when he visits the racy new club downtown where boys can be bought in the back room. Behind the beaded curtain, the man on his knees turns out to be Isaac. What happens in the club stays there, right? Except Nathan's mind isn't the only thing Isaac blows, and Nathan can't stop thinking about that night. But what kind of future can there be for a college professor and a rent boy? 


Review:
Nathan is a professor of aquatic science, he’s Jewish and gay and so single. Not exactly, the life he wanted but it’s the life he has. The only thing that makes his day a little brighter is one of his students, Isaac. Nathan knows there is no getting dirty with the students but there is no law against looking, and fantasizing. When a class project has him spending some alone time with Isaac on a boat he finds out his attraction isn’t one sided but he’s gotta obey the rules. No loving with his students.

Well rules are meant to be broken, and a run in with Isaac at a club comes as a surprise to Nathan. He never thought his first sexual encounter with Isaac would be at a club, and he never thought he would have to pay for it. Isaac’s late night job keeps the bills paid, and food on his table but will Nathan be able to handle that the man he likes get paid for sex, or is it all just too much trouble. The men come to a decision to keep a relationship from forming until graduation; maybe by then Isaac will have given up his night job?

Things don’t run smoothly for the guys, because Isaac was a pro, men from his backroom dealings keep recognizing him, and it’s putting a strain on the relationship. Isaac fears Nathan won’t be able to handle his life before as a prostitute even though that time is over.

All right, I was really feeling this book, and smiling and loving it. I had no problems with Isaac sleeping with people for money, because sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. Why the book lost some credit is the fact that men kept recognizing Isaac. I could have dealt with one man in bringing some drama and angst to the story, but after the second, I was deeply annoyed. I’m thinking Isaac was exceptionally good at giving head because he is just one unforgettable dude.

Overall, I really enjoy Dev’s writing; it flows well and knows when to be sweet and all kinds of hot. Just didn’t enjoy the extra drama with Isaac’s old tricks, too many of them for me to really enjoy it. I liked Nathan, but he’s somewhat sporadic his behaviour kept surprising the crap out of *not always good surprises*. Isaac, I loved! His acceptance of his situation and the fact that his job didn’t make him jaded or an unconfident character was refreshing. He was smart, and accepted his old life and when it was time to move on, he did. Like a boss. I did like the story, just some things really irked, but it was still an enjoyable cute read.

3 1/2 Pants Off

Dirty Kiss by Rhys Ford

Dirty Kiss (A Cole McGinnis Mystery #1) by Rhys Ford
Dreamspinner Press

Novel: 230pgs

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb:
Cole Kenjiro McGinnis, ex-cop and PI, is trying to get over the shooting death of his lover when a supposedly routine investigation lands in his lap. Investigating the apparent suicide of a prominent Korean businessman’s son proves to be anything but ordinary, especially when it introduces Cole to the dead man’s handsome cousin, Kim Jae-Min.

Jae-Min’s cousin had a dirty little secret, the kind that Cole has been familiar with all his life and that Jae-Min is still hiding from his family. The investigation leads Cole from tasteful mansions to seedy lover’s trysts to Dirty Kiss, the place where the rich and discreet go to indulge in desires their traditional-minded families would rather know nothing about.

It also leads Cole McGinnis into Jae-Min’s arms, and that could be a problem. Jae-Min’s cousin’s death is looking less and less like a suicide, and Jae-Min is looking more and more like a target. Cole has already lost one lover to violence—he’s not about to lose Jae-Min too.

Review:
Cole McGinnis was once a cop but tragedy led him to leave his the force and become a Private Investigator. He’s mostly alone after losing his lover/partner, and gets his fun catching cheating spouses and lesbian grannies. When Cole’s brother approaches him to do some investigating into a suicide, his whole world goes from boring to life threatening when he meets Jae-Min the cousin of the man who committed suicide. Cole’s life is about to go bat shit crazy.

Seems the suicide might have been murder, and everywhere Cole goes people start to die. He’s getting half-truths from Jae-Min and nothing seems to be adding up. The only thing that is fact is that someone wants to keep him from finding the truth, and someone is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way. Thus begins a somewhat volatile and somewhat lukewarm (On Jae’s part) relationship between Jae-Min and Cole.

Alright, I really did enjoy reading this book and it comes as no surprise that I totally loved Cole being half Japanese and Jae-Min Korean. Seriously, a hook-up like this is what my dreams are made of. There was also a solid story filled with enough twist and turns to grab the reader’s attention. The variation of characters is what makes this book so much for fun me, it had a mix of everything like a one of those crime dramas all mashed into one.

I loved Cole’s voice, though at times, his internal rambling was just too insane in the membrane, but he is memorable and adorable. Jae-Min, love how he’s all-pretty but I don’t really know him. He was just ‘there’ for me though totally hot as hell. I find that these two always seem to find the time for loving when they were both injured. Jae-Min gunshot wound to the head, Cole almost being blown up but all that didn’t slow these men down. They are made of serious strong stuff!

Overall, I love it! Lots of cultural and controversial stuff here about being gay in an Asian family. They really are family orientated, and the expectation can be daunting. It must be tough never to truly be yourself, and I think Dirty Kiss offered a good representation of that. I look forward to seeing Cole and Jae-Min again because the situation felt very HFN (happy for now). I feel there is more to be offered up about these men and I look forward to it. Saranghae Dirty Kiss!

4 1/2 Pants Off

Guest Post & Giveaway with Storm Moon Press

I am super excited to have Storm Moon Press on the blog today. They're doing a blog tour of the most importance, by educating us about Transgender/Queergender individuals. They also brought a giveaway of Pearl which I reviewed yesterday. Help me welcome Storm Mooon!


Post title: Good and Bad Questions for Trans* Persons

Remember when your teachers told you there were no such things as stupid questions? Yeah, they were lying. There are a lot of stupid questions, starting with "What's the number for 911?" and progressing steadily downwards from there. But more than that, there are also questions that are not only stupid but offensive to boot. And as we here at Storm Moon Press are celebrating the release of our first trans* offering, I thought it would make sense to examine a few of these questions as they relate to trans* persons.

Bear in mind that I am writing as a cis person to other cis persons, based on my personal interactions with trans* individuals, and nothing I say here is meant to speak for the trans* community or to present myself as some kind of expert. But what I've noticed -- and experienced myself -- is that even when a cis person is genuinely trying to be sensitive to trans* issues, sometimes we simply lack the vocabulary to adequately say what we want without causing offense. And so, what I want to do here is present a few common well-meaning questions that nevertheless can be offensive to trans* persons.

Also, I would like to add the caveat that all of these questions should be preceded by something along the lines of "Would you mind if I asked you some personal questions? Please feel free to say no or not answer." Trans* persons are not obligated to satisfy your curiosity and have likely heard every one of these questions a thousand times before. Understandably, they may be sick of rehashing it over and over again. And if they do say no, that means drop it immediately. Try Google.

BAD: Do you identify as male or female?
BETTER: What gender do you identify as?
EVEN BETTER: What pronouns do you prefer?

The bad versions of this question are especially heinous with in-person interactions, when it can quite often be obvious how a person is presenting. But this is the Internet Age, and there is a lot of interaction that goes on without any face-to-face contact. In such cases, particularly when a person is using a screen name with no gendered markers, the question of how to refer to someone is a legitimate concern. However, distinctions like 'male or female' enforces the gender binary, which not all trans* persons subscribe to. Asking someone what pronouns they prefer shows that you are trying to be considerate to their identity while acknowledging the range of possible gender expressions.  

BAD: Are you pre-op or post-op?  
BETTER: Are you considering reassignment surgery?
EVEN BETTER: Do you have plans to transition?

Not all trans* persons are interested in transitioning, and for those who are, there are a number of ways to transition, not all of which include sexual reassignment surgery. One should never assume that SRS is the goal for all trans* persons. Again, this is a question that should only be asked with permission, and should probably not be among the first batch asked. Transitioning (or not) is a highly personal decision that each trans* individual makes for themselves, and it is not something that everyone is comfortable discussing with just anyone.

BAD: When did you decide you were trans*?  
BETTER: When did you realize you were trans*?  
EVEN BETTER: When did you first feel disconnected from your birth gender?

Trans* persons did not "decide" they were trans* any more than one decides to be cis, gay, straight, black, or any other aspect of one's identity. They simply are who they are. However, like being gay, there is often a process of coming to grips with a non-mainstream identity. Some trans* persons were fortunate to have had support through these realizations, and some weren't. Everyone's experience is different, so don't make assumptions, and just be supportive if and when a trans* person chooses to share with you.

BAD: Do you identify as gay or straight?  
BETTER: What sexual orientation do you identify as?  
EVEN BETTER: Want to go out sometime?

Gender identity and sexual orientation are mutually exclusive concepts. One does not inform upon the other. There are trans* persons who identify as straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, and everything in between. Knowing that someone is trans* does not give you any hint as to their orientation, nor does it, frankly, give you any right to question it. There's a reason why the "even better" question is what it is -- the only reason you would need to know a person's orientation is if you wanted to date them and was curious if they would be into you. But even then, not being into you is not an indicator of their orientation, either.  

BAD: What's your real/actual/birth name?  
BETTER: What was your name before your transition?  
EVEN BETTER: [say nothing] Just... leave this one alone.

The name a trans* person gives you is their real name. It is who they are. It is their identity. Many trans* persons feel (and rightly so) that any other name refers to someone that isn't them. Asking for it is like telling them you don't care about who they are. And while it's not necessarily the height of insensitivity to inquire about a trans* person's past previous to their transition, the best thing is to just leave it. If a trans* person wants you to know about their life prior to you knowing them, they'll tell you.

This is just a very brief list. If you're curious, there are plenty of other articles discussing the right and wrong ways to discuss trans* issues. Just Google "how not to talk to a trans person". You'll find a plethora of resources on the subject, most of them sadly pulled from actual things said to trans* persons by people far less interested in polite discourse than the readers of articles like this one.

Pearl by Kelly Rand

Blurb:
Edith sleepwalks through a life so normal as to be boring. She lives with her mother, works a mundane job to support them, and makes no waves among the ladies of her sleepy 1920's Canadian town. Secretly, though, she watches the flappers and so-called "loose women" with envy, dreaming of what glamorous lives they must have. And that's before Clark walks into her life.

Clark embodies the world that Edith wishes she could be a part of. He's slick and dangerous and sexy in a way Edith has never experienced. So when Clark offers her a window into his world, she dives through without thinking. On the other side, though, her black and white world explodes into shades of gray, challenging Edith in ways she never imagined.


Also! For those of you who have gotten this far, we're doing a giveaway! Comment on this post in order to enter to win a copy (in the format of the winner's choice) of Pearl by Kelly Rand, Storm Moon Press' first trans* title! Hopefully, there will be many more, but we think this is an awesome start. Comment, win. :D Contest runs until May 6th 11:59pm


S.L. Armstrong is the Managing Editor of Storm Moon Press and the author of Catalyst and Other Side of Night: Bastian & Riley.You can find her on the web at SLArmstrong.net or on Twitter @_slarmstrong.

Guest Post with Kate McMurray

I am very excited to have Kate McMurray on the blog today. She's talking a bit about Out in the Field and giving you a shot at winning the book. If you haven't heard the buzz about how good this book is, well just check goodreads to see why people are loving this book. So give a warm welcome to Kate McMurray!


When I first moved to New York City ten years ago, I lived in a largely Dominican neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. I loved it because it was cheap (for Manhattan) and close to one of my favorite parks in the city (Fort Tryon). I even picked up some Spanish while I lived there; a lot of the signage was in Spanish, and the owner of the bodega on the corner of my block barely spoke English. (I’m semi-fluent in Italian, so it was easy enough to make out the signs, but I knew that some Spanish had osmotically sunk into my brain when I overheard the checkout girls at the grocery store making fun of customers—it took me a moment to realize they were speaking in Spanish and I understood.)

I was really poor in those days, so I was always on the lookout for ways to keep myself entertained without spending a lot of money. I lived across the street from Inwood Hill Park, though, so one of my favorite weekend activities was to walk to the ball fields there, buy a hot dog for a dollar, and watch the Little League games. Baseball was a pretty huge deal; the parents at these games took it very seriously.  had those Dominican kids playing Little League ball in mind when I decided to make Iggy in Out in the Field Dominican—in a way, he’s part of a tradition of boys who played baseball on the streets of Santo Domingo hoping the scouts from the Major League teams would recruit them for baseball camps that have become a big part of baseball today. Iggy’s a kid who grew up wanting to be the next David Ortiz. It’s hard to think about the sport outside of the gazillion-dollar salaries the Major League players are pulling in, but in some ways, the game is a great equalizer. It’s not expensive, it’s easily improvised. When we were kids, my brothers and I lost a lot of balls in the woods behind my dad’s house when we made our own games. My cousin’s daughter is doing well on her high school’s baseball team. Thousands of ordinary kids pick up a bat and glove every day.

In Out in the Field, Iggy and Matt both become huge baseball stars, but both had humble beginnings. Matt grew up in a big Italian family in southern Brooklyn. I imagine his father is a lot like mine, who tells stories of sneaking into Comiskey Park as a kid in Chicago. Iggy is first-generation American; he was born in the States, but his parents were immigrants from the Dominican Republic. To Iggy’s father, baseball represented America in a unique way, and he passed that love of the sport onto his son. In other words, these are ordinary guys in extraordinary circumstances.

Excerpt:

“You’re not going to pull another disappearing act, are you?” Matt asked.

“Where would I go?” Iggy settled into the bed and tugged the quilt over his body.

“Well, let’s review.” Matt sat up. “We made eyes at each other one evening and almost confessed some things, and you bolted. We had sex in the locker room last week, and again, you bolted. That looks like a trend to me.”

Iggy was silent for a long moment. Matt was fairly convinced he wouldn’t answer until he said, “Look, this is all very strange for me.”

“How so?”

Iggy sighed. “It’s crazy enough that I got pulled up to the majors. That’s been my dream since I could hold a baseball bat. Then on top of that, I was traded to the Eagles. It’s like, if I could have designed my life, this is how things would have turned out. And then on top of that, I am currently in bed with Matt Blanco. I had a poster of you on the wall of my dorm room in college.”

Something about that hit Matt the wrong way. He jerked away from Iggy a little but didn’t get out of bed. “Really?” he said.

“Yeah. I mean, come on, the best player on my favorite team. That’s a no brainer. It doesn’t hurt that you’re hot. So you’ll excuse me if I’m a little freaked out that I am now…you know, having relations…with the guy whose picture once looked down on me from the wall as I fell asleep each night.”

That freaked Matt right the fuck out. He did get out of bed. Realizing he was still naked, he grabbed the sheet and pulled it in front of his crotch. “Jesus. So is that why you wanted to have sex with me? To realize some teenage fantasy. Because I’ve got news for you, buddy—”

“No. No, of course not. Matt, get back in bed.”

“No.”

Iggy sat up, letting the quilt fall to expose his naked—and beautiful, Matt couldn’t help but notice—chest. “Look, I have never done anything like this before. It’s not like I go around pursuing my idols. That day in the locker room? When we, I don’t know, had that moment or whatever? I knew we understood each other, first of all, and that kind of blew my mind. I thought it was going to be hard enough to be on a team with you, considering how much I idolized and, yes, fantasized about you when I was in college. And then I saw in your eyes that you were…” He shook his head. “I was going to tell you that afternoon, tell you all of it, but I freaked out. I still can’t believe that you’re gay. And the times we’ve been together, they’ve been like a dream. And that’s why I bailed, if you must know. Because I’m still trying to reconcile this thing I worshipped with you as a real man. And you are a real man. I’m learning that now. You are a complicated, interesting, sexy man, and you’re not the perfect man of my fantasies, but I still think you’re really great, and for whatever reason you’re attracted to me, and… Can you see why I might have some trouble wrapping my head around all this?” He frowned. “And now you’re completely spooked. Great.”

Matt had avoided sleeping with fans—for the most part—because he didn’t want to be worshipped. And it wasn’t even as though he thought that he and Iggy really had something. They still barely knew each other, but he thought it would be different this time. After everything, all he really wanted was someone who saw him as he really was, who loved Matt and not Brooklyn Eagles First Baseman Matt Blanco. Because let’s face it; there won’t be a Brooklyn Eagles First Baseman Matt Blanco much longer.

He let out a breath and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry for freaking out.”

“You have a right to. This is a very strange situation.”

Matt looked back at where Iggy lay, propped up on his elbows, naked chest still exposed. Matt said what was foremost on his mind, which was, “I like you, Iggy. A lot.”

“Thanks. I like you too. And not just in the man-of-my-fantasies way. Turns out you’re not perfect. I like that about you.”

Matt laughed. “So what now?”

Iggy put a hand near Matt’s back, not quite touching but present all the same. Matt leaned back a little to indicate it was okay for Iggy to touch him. “Well,” Iggy said, pressing his palm into Matt’s back. “I don’t see as we have a lot of options.”

Matt figured this was coming. That this little interlude between them couldn’t last long. He just hadn’t expected it to be over quite so soon. That was disappointing. But he said, “Yeah.”

“I mean, clearly we’re going to have a torrid affair, during which time we might get to know each other better. You’re going to dispense with all the myths about you that I’m still holding on to. Really, it’s all a terrible tragedy that we’re going to have to have really great sex for the rest of the season. Can you imagine a worse fate?”

Matt laughed. He turned around and lay back down on the bed next to Iggy. He slid his legs under the quilt. “I bet you were a little terror as a kid.”

Iggy moved closer and snuggled in next to Matt, pressing the whole length of his body against Matt’s side. “It kept me from getting beaten up,” Iggy said. “As did baseball. The kids stopped calling me a faggot when I started leading our team to state championships.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Matt said. Baseball had saved his life too.

Blurb:

Matt Blanco has had a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career as the first baseman for the legendary Brooklyn Eagles, but age and a knee injury are threatening to end it. That's when rookie Ignacio Rodriguez walks into his life. Matt has a policy of not getting involved with anyone for fear that they might share his secret with the world: that he's a gay professional athlete. But this new rookie has him wanting to throw that policy out the window.

Iggy Rodriguez just got everything he ever wanted: a position in the starting lineup of the Brooklyn Eagles, his favorite team since he was a kid. Even better, he's playing alongside his idol Matt Blanco. A locker room encounter one day reveals that he and Matt have even more in common than he would have guessed.

When Matt and Iggy fall for each other, they have a hard road ahead, their path to happiness blocked by injuries, trades, and the New York media hungry for a scandal. Fate has pitched them a game-winning run, but will the choice between love and baseball make them with a no-hitter instead?

Buy Link: http://www.loose-id.com/Out-in-the-Field.aspx

Author Bio: Kate McMurray is a NYC-based writer, editor, and baseball fanatic. She writes m/m romances and reads lots of books. She also likes crafts and plays the violin and lives in Brooklyn in an apartment over an ice cream parlor. Visit her at www.katemcmurray.com

*You can win a copy of Out in the Field by going HERE to Kate's website and leaving a comment. Contest runs until May12th!*