NINE HUNDRED & SIXTY-NINE: West Hollywood Stories

About the Book

“Whether you live there, vacation there, or are just passing through, West Hollywood and all its gay glamour spring to life in Nine Hundred & Sixty Nine: a smart new collection of literary fiction by a smart bunch of men who know the city well. Established writers join talented newcomers in celebrating the best friends, boyfriends, break-ups, hook-ups, and both the daytime and nighttime drama that define a town like no other.” –Donald Weise, editor, the Fresh Men series

About the Author

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

JOHN MORGAN WILSON (www.johnmorganwilson.com) is a veteran journalist, TV documentary writer, and fiction writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the Benjamin Justice mystery series, which has won the Edgar Allan Poe Award (“the Edgar”) for best first novel from Mystery Writers of America and three Lambda Literary Awards for best gay men’s mystery from the Lambda Literary Foundation. The eighth novel in the Benjamin Justice series, Spider Season, will be published in 2008 by St. Martin’s Minotaur. His short stories have appeared in the Blithe House Quarterly and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. John lives in West Hollywood.

BENJAMIN SCUGLIA was born, raised and educated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon graduation in 1992 from La Roche College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Professional Writing, he defied the desires of parents and priests alike by moving to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career as a screenwriter, novelist and playwright. He has since achieved moderate renown as a columnist, writer and director in the field of gay adult entertainment. In 2008, his first produced play is scheduled to hit the boards in Los Angeles, and his first book, an oral history of gay adult filmmakers, is set for publication.

RAKESH SATYAL is the author of the novel BLUE BOY. His writing has been featured in a variety of anthologies and magazines, including FRESH MEN 2 (with an introduction by Andrew Holleran), M2M, and the Lambda Award-winning anthology THE MAN I MIGHT BECOME. He is also an accomplished jazz singer whose cabaret acts have been featured widely in the New York media. He is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in New York City.

JOE SYMON began his career as an actor/singer, graduating from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. He performed Off-Broadway, nationally and worldwide. In LA, he hosted premieres, interviewing celebrities on the red carpet, and produced and hosted the first online talk show for The Walt Disney Company. Joe produced and starred in a one man show at the Coronet Theatre. He is now producing a new musical for the stage, for which he wrote the music and lyrics.

KYLE T. WILSON. Kyle T. Wilson’s play, Customary Monsters, was named a semi-finalist for the 2007 Princess Grace Fellowship, and was also selected as a finalist for Playwrights Week 2007 at The Lark Play Development Center. His 10-minute play, The Pissin’ Posse, is currently a finalist for the 2007 Heidman Award at Actor’s Theater Louisville. Other plays include The Whores of West Hollywood, Walking Into Traffic, Toils And Snares, War and Jim, and The Day Clinton Fessed Up. Wilson received an MFA in dramatic writing from Carnegie Mellon University, and he has studied with such dramatists as Sherry Kramer, Milan Stitt, and Edward Albee.

MAX PIERCE was born in Dallas, but knew his future was in Los Angeles. His love of camp began with a childhood subscription to Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and watching late night movies without adult supervision. As a journalist of Hollywood history and gay culture, his work appears in national publications including Classic Images and The Advocate. Max’s fiction explores the world of the vampire in the anthology Blood Lust and teenage time travel in His Underwear. His debut novel, The Master of Seacliff was chosen by InSightOut Books as its February 2007 featured read. Max led a writing group based at the landmark A Different Light Bookstore in West Hollywood. More at: www.MaxPierce.com.

TIMOTHY STATE was recognized in 2004 as one of Georgia’s “Newest and Most Promising Writers” by the O, Georgia! Writers Foundation. His blog, BalancingBoyfriends.com, has been highlighted as a Best Gay Blog. His essays have been published on Swellzine.com, and he is a regular contributor to Chicagoist.com. Most recently, two of his stories were included in the Lambda Literary Award winning anthology Love, Bourbon Street.

ALEX ROBERTS writes Teacher X Tells All, a blog about his experience as an inner-city teacher (http://teacherxtellsall.blogspot.com). His work has appeared online at McSweeneys.net and been published in a McSweeney’s humor collection. His work has also appeared online at TheSimon.com and in Genre, Parents, and Unzipped. He received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern California.

FELICE PICANO is the author of 24 books of poetry, fiction, memoirs, non-fiction and plays. His work has been translated into fifteen languages, including Slovenian. Several of his titles have been national and international bestsellers. His first novel was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Since then he’s been nominated for and/or won dozens of literary awards. His latest collection of stories, Tales: From a Distant Planet came out in 2006. His history/memoir about early gay life, Art &Sex in Greenwich Village (2007) received rave reviews. His third play, The Bombay Trunk, will be revived in Palm Springs, in 2008. He is compiling a new collection, Twelve O’Clock Tales, and writing an autobiographical novel about his three decades as a gay man and writer in and for Hollywood.

SHAUN LEVIN. Shaun Levin’s collection of short stories, A Year of Two Summers, was published in 2005. A novella, Seven Sweet Things, was published in 2003. His stories appear in anthologies as diverse as Between Men: Best New Gay Fiction, Modern South African Stories, Boyfriends from Hell, Best Gay Erotica 2000, 2002, and 2004, Best Gay Romance, and The Slow Mirror: New Fiction by Jewish Writers. He is the editor of Chroma: A Queer Literary Journal. See more at shaunlevin.com and chromajournal.co.uk.

JAMESON CURRIER is the author of a novel, Where the Rainbow Ends, and two collections of short fiction, Dancing on the Moon and Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex. His short fiction has appeared in Blithe House Quarterly, Velvet Mafia, Christopher Street, Harrington Gay Men’s Fiction Quarterly, and the anthologies Men on Men, Best American Gay Fiction, Best Gay Erotica, Best American Erotica, Circa 2000, and Making Literature Matter.

PAUL D. CAIN acknowledged his homosexuality in 1984 and has served his community ever since. While generally employed as a legal secretary, Cain has served his community in several capacities, most notably as Executive Director of Phoenix’s Lesbian and Gay Community Switchboard, and as President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer (in different years!) for the Stonewall Democrats of Northern Nevada (Reno). Scarecrow Press published Cain’s first book, Leading the Parade, in 2002. Cain continues working on Leading the Parade II, a book of additional profiles of historical American LGBT personages. From 2001-2005, he wrote a monthly column for Reno Tahoe Outlands; since 2007, he has written a monthly column for Reno Out.

FRANK BUA is a certified English and History teacher on Long Island, NY. While he has long helped others with their writing, Lost and Found is Frank's first published story. He and his partner Scott make their home in New York City.

STEPHEN SOUCY is a writer and editor. He divides his time between Los Angeles and New York City.