The Rainbow Awards: The Jury
Sooo, many of you were waiting to know, weren't you? Who is in the Jury of the Rainbow Awards? Who will have the hard task to decide who is the all together Winner of the first Rainbow Awards? Remember the Jury will have to read all the finalists (first book in each category from the popularity contest) AND to nominate and read the books that the jury itself deemed worthy to be included in Phase 4. The Jury can choose books among the books people are still voting, but also bring on some lost pearls, books who hadn't the chance to reach a wider audience. The Jury has to confirm or correct the aim of the popularity contest.
To do so the Jury is various, women, men, of various experiences and interests. They are from all over the world, young and mature, writers, readers and/or reviewers. There are skilled jurors from previous literary contest, or new readers who want to help in choosing the best LGBT book of 2009. There is who told me, "At 70 I find I am less and less interested in erotica, unless it is part of a strong storyline" (guess who was?), and other who told me " I love poetry and classical music", or "I love shapeshifter and alpha males". As you can see they are an interesting bunch of people, and they are way more diligent of the jury above (and also prettier ;-) ). I love them all, so, please, come meet "my" Jury (in alphabetical order):
Alan Chin: "Zumaya Publications published my first novel, Island Song, in September of 2008, and will publish my second novel, The Lonely War, in the October of 2009. I write a weekly column for Examiner.com which focuses on GLBTQ literature. There I post book reviews, author interviews, and random information concerning GLBTQ writers and their work. I recently was awarded the Qbliss magazine 2009 Pride in Literature Award for excellence in my contributions to glbt literature. I have been writing for fifteen years, during which time I earned a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco. Ten years ago I retired from business and turned serious about my craft. All my work attempts to explore the challenges of gay characters relating to a predominately straight, supercilious society."
Amie Love: "I am an avid, lifelong reader of many genres. As a child I was teased because I read the back of the cereal box and cookbooks if nothing else was available. I was born in the Appalachian Mountains and lived in a small, one stoplight college/farm town in the Midwest; I think it was the closest thing the real word has to a gay utopia. We moved to Hollywood, California, where I experienced intense culture shock. I live in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States."
Amos Lassen: Amos Lassen was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After getting his M.A., he moved to and lived in Israel for many years as a member of a kibbutz . He served as supervisor of secondary English education for the State of Israel and taught at several universities there. He returned to the United States and New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit and was evacuted by the National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas, which he calls home until he returns to Israel. He is on the faculty of the University of Central Arkansas where he teaches English and Biblical Hebrew. Amos is the founder of Literary Pride-a gay reading group, and Cinema Pride-a gay movie group. He is extremely proud of two accomplishments-getting the Arkansas Literary Festival to recognize gay literature and for organizing the first GLBT film festival in the state. He reviews GLBT books and movies for several websites and he is listed as one of the top reviewers on Amazon.com where he is ranked 113 which is interesting since he concentrates only on items of interest to out community. His reviews are first posted on Amazon.com and eurekapride.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3Q1GB17EH17UD/ref=cm_aya_pdp_home
http://www.eurekapride.com/talk/forumdisplay.php?f=82
Anna Birmingham: "I'm Anna from the UK. I'm in my 30s and married with a young daughter. I discovered m/m fiction about two years ago. I've read more m/m books that I care to admit to and there are still many many more to go. I'm not officially a writer, although I have had a little dabble in fanfic. I'm nowhere near talented or disciplined enough to get published - I'll leave that to the experts!"
Antonella: "I'm Italian, but I've lived in a German-speaking country for the last 20 years. I'm a professional translator. I love my job because it's interesting (translations vary from love letters to divorce sentences), no one tells me what to do and I work whenever I want. I do believe we should leave behind us a better world. That's why I'm engaged in political and environmental battles and since 1994 I work as a volunteer in a Centre Against Racism. I started to be involved with LGTB books especially after ''Brokeback Mountain'', which had a deep impact on me. I've been reading a lot since then and I'm honoured to be in the same jury with some of the authors I love."
Arch: "I´m Arch, from a small town an hour from Venice, Italy. Divided between my scientific studies and work - in a completely different field, of course *sigh* -, a lot of my free time is spent reading, there are so much books in the world... One day I will have a huge room turned into a library, for now I simply have piles and piles of books around and thanks God for ebooks! My passion for the GLBT genre goes back many years ago. However in Italy, the field is limited, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, improve my English with pleasant readings. Well, from then on I am like a kid in a candy store."
Benjamin: "Art graduate. One time art teacher and freelance graphic designer, now I devote my time to painting. An avid reader, I usually have about three books on the go at any one time. A keen gardener. Music is very important to me: classical and occasionally jazz."
Bethann Korsmit: "I'm a writer and an avid reader. My novel Darkness Descending was awarded first place in the gay fiction category of the Reader Views Literary Awards 2007. I'm currently writing a sequel to Darkness Descending."
http://wryterreviews.blogspot.com/
Bobby D. Whitney: Reader, writer, motorcyclist, mom, and spouse, Bobby D Whitney wears a lot of labels. Just don't expect to find "good cook" or "neat housekeeper" among those. Bobby lives and works in Seattle, Washington, and has never minded that the winters there are dark and rainy...that gives her more time to read. Oh, and she can't keep her opinions to herself and insists on sharing them with others. After having reviewed books for a popular review site, Bobby and a friend started BookWenches reviews in early 2009. She derives a lot of joy from writing reviews, interviewing fascinating writers, and coaxing these talented writers into sharing a blog or two. Nice to meet you!
Bobby Michaels: Bobby Michaels lives in Fort Lauderdale with hundreds - Nay! Thousands - of gorgeous, muscular men (most of them Marines) running around in his mind. Some are memories of sexual encounters, some are the characters from his many Nifty stories and Loose Id novels and some are characters from novels waiting to be written. So, though he lives alone, he is never lonely. Bobby has been many things in his life. An actor, director, nightclub singer, professional female impersonator, a monk and, for 29 years, a social worker and grant administrator for local government. His government career ended in 2007 when a stroke caused the loss of the use of his left arm so that now all his writing is done by dictation through a voice recognition program called Dragonspeak. But, through it all Bobby has been first and foremost a writer beginning his career writing stories for trashy romance magazines in the 1960s along with stories and poetry through the rest of his life. From the time he was five years old, Bobby has always dreamed of actually holding in his hands a book with his name on it as the author. An avid reader, Bobby´s Kindle has hundreds of books in it. Most of them are male/male romances because he loves reading them almost more than he likes writing them. Bobby´s greatest love in the world is meeting and hearing from his many readers. A new website for Bobby and his writings is coming soon! In the mean time you can join his Yahoo group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bobby_michaels_novels
Bruce Sterling: Bruce Sterling is a retired teacher who calls North Carolina home. Under his academic pseudonym, he has published numerous scholarly books, articles, reviews, and translations, the majority on gay topics.
Carey Parrish: Carey Parrish is a native of Northern Georgia. He began writing professionally in his late thirties when he founded the popular e-zine Web Digest Weekly. He´s also the author of the books "Into The Light: Experimentations In Poetry & Prose," "The Moving Finger Writes," and the upcoming novel "Marengo." He attributes his success to "taking all the things that were wrong in my life and replacing them with things that are right."
http://www.webdigestweekly.com
http://www.careyparrish.com
Christopher Olson: "My name is Christopher Olson and I live and work in Seattle, Washington. I work in the construction branch of the information technology department at Starbucks Coffee Company. I am also a board member of a small performance theater in Seattle called Theater Off Jackson. Additionally, I have a small side business doing small construction projects by referral. In what may seem like an impossibility, when I find free time I enjoy hiking, sailing, fly fishing, reading, hockey and soccer."
Craig Burke: "I have a degree in Journalism and have been an editor-in-chief of several publications"
Erotic Horizon: "I read extensively and like to keep an open mind about any book I read. I love romance and tend to go through various phases in a year of how I read the books I read. I am a big lover of paranormal and M/M romances, but am known to rush out and buy the latest Mills & Boon or sci-fi annuals as soon as they hit the shelf. I like my crime fiction just as much as the most avid reader and tend to stick to the bread and butter authors - you know the ones you swear it's the last time you're going to buy their book, but end up a faithfull servant to their artistry with the pen. I appreciate books that gives you pause to think and look at the other side of the coin, but I also love the books that are heavy on the erotic and big on alpha males and feisty heroine. My days are currently filled with plots to find the perfect spot to hide from my overachieving kids and my nights are overrun with men in loin clothes chasing the hero or heroine of their choice. There are time I wish all my days were nights. Come visit me - Erotic Horizon is my little spice of the pie."
http://erotichorizon.blogspot.com/
Eve: "I was raised in bilingual Hong Kong, then I got married and moved to England for about 8 years now. I started reading gay fictions when I was about 19 years old - I found a new GLBT section in the local bookstore. I love to read both "serious" gay fiction and what in the old days called "gay porn", so I'd be reading Edmund White, David Leavitt one day and Alex Kane series by John Preston the next day. These days, however, 80% of my reading are m/m romance and fiction - thanks to the convenience of ebooks. I have pop culture journalism experience, however, I have long resigned to the fact that, despite being an avid reader, I am hopeless when it comes to writing original characters."
Eve Birch: Ms Eve aka Attila the Honey. Librarian, construction worker, and local do-gooder in Martinsburg, WV. Writer of poetry, vignettes, and novellas. Reader and patron of anything with signs of intelligent life...
Jane Ellsworth: Jane Ellsworth is a long-time reader, writer, and reviewer of m/m romances, back to the days of K/S "slash" stories, and has had stories published in science fiction and comic format. In mundane life she is a university professor, so don´t tell anybody.
Jay Hartman: Jay Hartman has been writing about and reviewing the electronic book industry for the last ten years, with an emphasis on bringing together independent authors and publishers with their readers. He was previously the Content Editor for Knowbetter.com, the Internet's oldest ebook-dedicated website, and launched his own site in January of 2009. In addition to Untreed Reads, Jay also runs Untreed Excerpts where readers can discover works from a variety of authors and publishers.
http://www.untreedreads.com
http://www.untreedreads.com/excerpts
Jem: An avid reader as well as book collector, Jem accidentally started reading M/M over twenty years ago with Mercedes Lackey's "Last Herald Mage" trilogy (still one of her all-time favorite fantasies). In the last few years she discovered yaoi, and the growing gay romance genre. She has hundreds of reviews on Amazon, and has written reviews for GottaWriteNetwork.com. Jem has also done beta reading, as well as reviews, directly for authors. She lives on the East Coast of the United States with her husband of eleven years, and three fat lazy cats.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jshillingford
http://jshillingford.livejournal.com/
http://twitter.com/jshillingford
Jenre: "I'm a British woman who writes a review and commentary blog which covers m/m romance. I've been reading m/m for about two years and blogging for a year."
http://jenre-wellread.blogspot.com/
Jessica (Justacat): "I'm American, not a fiction writer (though I love writing blog entries and "thought pieces") but a long-time avid reader with an interest in gay and m/m fantasy dating from my youth. I've also done quite a bit of amateur editing and am an editor and publisher of "slash" fanfiction fanzines. For the past while, my reading focus has been almost exclusively on m/m romance and mystery, and I read voraciously and widely - my trusty Kindle is with me wherever I go. Other info that may be of interest: I volunteer actively for LGBT rights groups, help organize a number of mid-sized fan cons, and am a passionate amateur dressage rider, with three (often lame) horses."
Jessica Goeller: Jessica Goeller is the author of a handful of short stories, as well as the translator of four books by renowned healer and Olympic coach Semjon Bek. She is also the designer of Faraday Bags, a line of data-shielding wallets, purses, and clothing. An outdoors enthusiast, she enjoys hiking, camping, and cycling. She lives on the West Coast of the U.S.
Joan Timberlake: "I live in West Virginia currently, but I’m originally from Maryland. I was a starving professional musician (jazz/funk tenor sax) for about twenty years and during that time never accomplished anything notable or famous-remarkable considering the years I practiced and performed. I was a Technical Writer/Platform Instructor for about eight years and worked at Data Communications; New York University (Gender and Society); Computer Associates, and IBM. I left the corporate world to become a university instructor so that I would have a more flexible schedule to care for my elderly parents. I taught a variety of writing styles in nonfiction: legal, business, technical, remedial/developmental, and grammar and editing, and in fiction writing: novel, short story, essay, mystery, and humorous writing for about 15 years. I taught at the University of Maryland (the College Park and the Baltimore County campuses), and at Johns Hopkins University. I also taught writing, as an independent contractor, at a number of corporate sites. I have a B.A. from Towson University in English (writing concentration), Spanish, and Women’s Studies, and an M.A. in English Literature from Long Island University. After my parents died, I decided I would pursue my lifelong dream to become a lawyer. I didn’t realize how bodacious entering law school at age 50 would be but nevertheless managed to graduate with my J.D, in May of 2008, at 53, exhausted, as the oldest member of the class of West Virginia University, College of Law. I concentrated my studies in Fair Use and Copyright, Agency, Elder, Entertainment, and Healthcare Law in addition to the required courses in Criminal Law and Evidence, etc. My latest project has been to start a literary agency, Timberlake-Oliver Literary Services, LLC. I am the servant of a beautiful Appaloosa, and trail ride as often as I can. I am the step-parent of a golden retriever and live with my life-partner, Rhonda, who is a lovely construction worker and pipe fitter."
http://www.timberlakeoliver.com
Josh Lanyon: Multi-award winning author Josh Lanyon is the author of numerous short stories, novellas, and novels as well as the m/m writing guide Man, Oh Man: Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks and Ca$h. Josh is a two-time Lambda finalist.
http://www.joshlanyon.com
Lee Rowan: Lee Rowan has been writing since childhood, but professionally only since spring of 2006, with the publication of her Eppie-winning novel, Ransom. She is a lady of a certain age, old enough to know better but young enough to do it anyway. A confirmed bookaholic with a wife of many years, she is kept in line by a cadre of cats and a dog who gets her away from the computer and out of the house at least once a day.
http://www.lee-rowan.net/
Lia: "I love reading, I don´t leave home without at least one book in my bag, ever. That's all that´s relevant, really. If it isn´t: I am German, married to a Brit, 2 bilingual kids. I´m currently living in Germany, but I lived in England and the USA for several years. Other than reading I love classical music and sing in 2+ choirs."
Lyne: "My name is Lyne and I am an avid reader. Reading was something that came hard for me and in the 9th grade I ended up having to take a remedial reading class. It wasn't until my mother threaten to throw the TV out the window if I did not start reading however before I really picked up a book. That was 30 years ago and I haven't stopped reading since. I picked up M/M books 3 years ago and absolutely love them. I am constantly looking for new ones to read and of course I have several that I love to read over and over again."
Nem: "I've been in love with gay novels for about 4 years and counting (I'm still very young, just give me time), obsessed over shapeshifters and alpha males, a bit too judgmental but trying really hard to get rid of that habit. A random stalker of many authors, and always on the hunt for something amazing to read."
Nicky: "I'm a single mother of one residing in the DC metropolitan area. I enjoy reading, traveling, and writing when time permits."
Rbm00: "I live in California, and am a student at UC Berkeley in the College of Natural Resources. LGBT fiction has been my love since I was a teenager, and I've been reading it almost exclusively for about 5 years. My preferences are historical fiction, coming-of-age, and mysteries, and my non-fiction reads are usually astronomy, ecology, myths/legends, and Native American studies. I'm not too crazy about poetry or paranormal-the vampire/werewolf variety. I love the more original paranormal concepts."
Rose: "I've been reading erotica for about 3 years, starting with M/M, which in turn was a progression from yaoi manga. I now read all types of genres. My favourite manga is FAKE by Sanami Matoh. The first book in my M/M collection was "Bareback" by Chris Owen. I haven't looked back since!"
Rosemary DuBose: "Straight female, semi-silent human rights protester, real name is Rosemary DuBose, everyone calls me Ro. I'm a Reviewer for Literary Nymphs and I also post customer reviews under Venus junkie. I started reading to escape my real life accounting job, my favorite genre is Manlove."
Ryan Field: Ryan Field is a fiction writer who has worked in publishing for over seventeen years. He has worked as an editor for Conde Nast, and as a writer for Freshmen Magazine. His fiction has appeared in books by Alyson Publications, Cleis Press, STARbooks Press, and a few others. His single author titles have been published by ravenousromance.com. This past year his short story, "Down the Basement," was part of the Lambda Award winning book, BEST GAY EROTICA 2009.
http://ryan-field.blogspot.com/
Victor J. Banis: Lecturer, writing teacher and early rabble rouser for gay rights and freedom of the press, Victor J. Banis is the critically acclaimed ("the master's touch in storytelling" Publishers Weekly) author of more than 150 published books and numerous shorter pieces in a career spanning nearly 50 years. A native of Ohio and longtime Californian, he lives and writes now in West Virginia's beautiful Blue Ridge.
http://www.vjbanis.com/
X (she is shy ;-)): An American woman with college degrees in English and Business who reads m/m fiction extensively but who is not a published author.
So, is it or not a wonderful Jury? sorry if I sound like a mother with her children, but I'm very proud of them. Wish them good work!
To do so the Jury is various, women, men, of various experiences and interests. They are from all over the world, young and mature, writers, readers and/or reviewers. There are skilled jurors from previous literary contest, or new readers who want to help in choosing the best LGBT book of 2009. There is who told me, "At 70 I find I am less and less interested in erotica, unless it is part of a strong storyline" (guess who was?), and other who told me " I love poetry and classical music", or "I love shapeshifter and alpha males". As you can see they are an interesting bunch of people, and they are way more diligent of the jury above (and also prettier ;-) ). I love them all, so, please, come meet "my" Jury (in alphabetical order):
Alan Chin: "Zumaya Publications published my first novel, Island Song, in September of 2008, and will publish my second novel, The Lonely War, in the October of 2009. I write a weekly column for Examiner.com which focuses on GLBTQ literature. There I post book reviews, author interviews, and random information concerning GLBTQ writers and their work. I recently was awarded the Qbliss magazine 2009 Pride in Literature Award for excellence in my contributions to glbt literature. I have been writing for fifteen years, during which time I earned a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco. Ten years ago I retired from business and turned serious about my craft. All my work attempts to explore the challenges of gay characters relating to a predominately straight, supercilious society."
Amie Love: "I am an avid, lifelong reader of many genres. As a child I was teased because I read the back of the cereal box and cookbooks if nothing else was available. I was born in the Appalachian Mountains and lived in a small, one stoplight college/farm town in the Midwest; I think it was the closest thing the real word has to a gay utopia. We moved to Hollywood, California, where I experienced intense culture shock. I live in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States."
Amos Lassen: Amos Lassen was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After getting his M.A., he moved to and lived in Israel for many years as a member of a kibbutz . He served as supervisor of secondary English education for the State of Israel and taught at several universities there. He returned to the United States and New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit and was evacuted by the National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas, which he calls home until he returns to Israel. He is on the faculty of the University of Central Arkansas where he teaches English and Biblical Hebrew. Amos is the founder of Literary Pride-a gay reading group, and Cinema Pride-a gay movie group. He is extremely proud of two accomplishments-getting the Arkansas Literary Festival to recognize gay literature and for organizing the first GLBT film festival in the state. He reviews GLBT books and movies for several websites and he is listed as one of the top reviewers on Amazon.com where he is ranked 113 which is interesting since he concentrates only on items of interest to out community. His reviews are first posted on Amazon.com and eurekapride.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3Q1GB17EH17UD/ref=cm_aya_pdp_home
http://www.eurekapride.com/talk/forumdisplay.php?f=82
Anna Birmingham: "I'm Anna from the UK. I'm in my 30s and married with a young daughter. I discovered m/m fiction about two years ago. I've read more m/m books that I care to admit to and there are still many many more to go. I'm not officially a writer, although I have had a little dabble in fanfic. I'm nowhere near talented or disciplined enough to get published - I'll leave that to the experts!"
Antonella: "I'm Italian, but I've lived in a German-speaking country for the last 20 years. I'm a professional translator. I love my job because it's interesting (translations vary from love letters to divorce sentences), no one tells me what to do and I work whenever I want. I do believe we should leave behind us a better world. That's why I'm engaged in political and environmental battles and since 1994 I work as a volunteer in a Centre Against Racism. I started to be involved with LGTB books especially after ''Brokeback Mountain'', which had a deep impact on me. I've been reading a lot since then and I'm honoured to be in the same jury with some of the authors I love."
Arch: "I´m Arch, from a small town an hour from Venice, Italy. Divided between my scientific studies and work - in a completely different field, of course *sigh* -, a lot of my free time is spent reading, there are so much books in the world... One day I will have a huge room turned into a library, for now I simply have piles and piles of books around and thanks God for ebooks! My passion for the GLBT genre goes back many years ago. However in Italy, the field is limited, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, improve my English with pleasant readings. Well, from then on I am like a kid in a candy store."
Benjamin: "Art graduate. One time art teacher and freelance graphic designer, now I devote my time to painting. An avid reader, I usually have about three books on the go at any one time. A keen gardener. Music is very important to me: classical and occasionally jazz."
Bethann Korsmit: "I'm a writer and an avid reader. My novel Darkness Descending was awarded first place in the gay fiction category of the Reader Views Literary Awards 2007. I'm currently writing a sequel to Darkness Descending."
http://wryterreviews.blogspot.com/
Bobby D. Whitney: Reader, writer, motorcyclist, mom, and spouse, Bobby D Whitney wears a lot of labels. Just don't expect to find "good cook" or "neat housekeeper" among those. Bobby lives and works in Seattle, Washington, and has never minded that the winters there are dark and rainy...that gives her more time to read. Oh, and she can't keep her opinions to herself and insists on sharing them with others. After having reviewed books for a popular review site, Bobby and a friend started BookWenches reviews in early 2009. She derives a lot of joy from writing reviews, interviewing fascinating writers, and coaxing these talented writers into sharing a blog or two. Nice to meet you!
Bobby Michaels: Bobby Michaels lives in Fort Lauderdale with hundreds - Nay! Thousands - of gorgeous, muscular men (most of them Marines) running around in his mind. Some are memories of sexual encounters, some are the characters from his many Nifty stories and Loose Id novels and some are characters from novels waiting to be written. So, though he lives alone, he is never lonely. Bobby has been many things in his life. An actor, director, nightclub singer, professional female impersonator, a monk and, for 29 years, a social worker and grant administrator for local government. His government career ended in 2007 when a stroke caused the loss of the use of his left arm so that now all his writing is done by dictation through a voice recognition program called Dragonspeak. But, through it all Bobby has been first and foremost a writer beginning his career writing stories for trashy romance magazines in the 1960s along with stories and poetry through the rest of his life. From the time he was five years old, Bobby has always dreamed of actually holding in his hands a book with his name on it as the author. An avid reader, Bobby´s Kindle has hundreds of books in it. Most of them are male/male romances because he loves reading them almost more than he likes writing them. Bobby´s greatest love in the world is meeting and hearing from his many readers. A new website for Bobby and his writings is coming soon! In the mean time you can join his Yahoo group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bobby_michaels_novels
Bruce Sterling: Bruce Sterling is a retired teacher who calls North Carolina home. Under his academic pseudonym, he has published numerous scholarly books, articles, reviews, and translations, the majority on gay topics.
Carey Parrish: Carey Parrish is a native of Northern Georgia. He began writing professionally in his late thirties when he founded the popular e-zine Web Digest Weekly. He´s also the author of the books "Into The Light: Experimentations In Poetry & Prose," "The Moving Finger Writes," and the upcoming novel "Marengo." He attributes his success to "taking all the things that were wrong in my life and replacing them with things that are right."
http://www.webdigestweekly.com
http://www.careyparrish.com
Christopher Olson: "My name is Christopher Olson and I live and work in Seattle, Washington. I work in the construction branch of the information technology department at Starbucks Coffee Company. I am also a board member of a small performance theater in Seattle called Theater Off Jackson. Additionally, I have a small side business doing small construction projects by referral. In what may seem like an impossibility, when I find free time I enjoy hiking, sailing, fly fishing, reading, hockey and soccer."
Craig Burke: "I have a degree in Journalism and have been an editor-in-chief of several publications"
Erotic Horizon: "I read extensively and like to keep an open mind about any book I read. I love romance and tend to go through various phases in a year of how I read the books I read. I am a big lover of paranormal and M/M romances, but am known to rush out and buy the latest Mills & Boon or sci-fi annuals as soon as they hit the shelf. I like my crime fiction just as much as the most avid reader and tend to stick to the bread and butter authors - you know the ones you swear it's the last time you're going to buy their book, but end up a faithfull servant to their artistry with the pen. I appreciate books that gives you pause to think and look at the other side of the coin, but I also love the books that are heavy on the erotic and big on alpha males and feisty heroine. My days are currently filled with plots to find the perfect spot to hide from my overachieving kids and my nights are overrun with men in loin clothes chasing the hero or heroine of their choice. There are time I wish all my days were nights. Come visit me - Erotic Horizon is my little spice of the pie."
http://erotichorizon.blogspot.com/
Eve: "I was raised in bilingual Hong Kong, then I got married and moved to England for about 8 years now. I started reading gay fictions when I was about 19 years old - I found a new GLBT section in the local bookstore. I love to read both "serious" gay fiction and what in the old days called "gay porn", so I'd be reading Edmund White, David Leavitt one day and Alex Kane series by John Preston the next day. These days, however, 80% of my reading are m/m romance and fiction - thanks to the convenience of ebooks. I have pop culture journalism experience, however, I have long resigned to the fact that, despite being an avid reader, I am hopeless when it comes to writing original characters."
Eve Birch: Ms Eve aka Attila the Honey. Librarian, construction worker, and local do-gooder in Martinsburg, WV. Writer of poetry, vignettes, and novellas. Reader and patron of anything with signs of intelligent life...
Jane Ellsworth: Jane Ellsworth is a long-time reader, writer, and reviewer of m/m romances, back to the days of K/S "slash" stories, and has had stories published in science fiction and comic format. In mundane life she is a university professor, so don´t tell anybody.
Jay Hartman: Jay Hartman has been writing about and reviewing the electronic book industry for the last ten years, with an emphasis on bringing together independent authors and publishers with their readers. He was previously the Content Editor for Knowbetter.com, the Internet's oldest ebook-dedicated website, and launched his own site in January of 2009. In addition to Untreed Reads, Jay also runs Untreed Excerpts where readers can discover works from a variety of authors and publishers.
http://www.untreedreads.com
http://www.untreedreads.com/excerpts
Jem: An avid reader as well as book collector, Jem accidentally started reading M/M over twenty years ago with Mercedes Lackey's "Last Herald Mage" trilogy (still one of her all-time favorite fantasies). In the last few years she discovered yaoi, and the growing gay romance genre. She has hundreds of reviews on Amazon, and has written reviews for GottaWriteNetwork.com. Jem has also done beta reading, as well as reviews, directly for authors. She lives on the East Coast of the United States with her husband of eleven years, and three fat lazy cats.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jshillingford
http://jshillingford.livejournal.com/
http://twitter.com/jshillingford
Jenre: "I'm a British woman who writes a review and commentary blog which covers m/m romance. I've been reading m/m for about two years and blogging for a year."
http://jenre-wellread.blogspot.com/
Jessica (Justacat): "I'm American, not a fiction writer (though I love writing blog entries and "thought pieces") but a long-time avid reader with an interest in gay and m/m fantasy dating from my youth. I've also done quite a bit of amateur editing and am an editor and publisher of "slash" fanfiction fanzines. For the past while, my reading focus has been almost exclusively on m/m romance and mystery, and I read voraciously and widely - my trusty Kindle is with me wherever I go. Other info that may be of interest: I volunteer actively for LGBT rights groups, help organize a number of mid-sized fan cons, and am a passionate amateur dressage rider, with three (often lame) horses."
Jessica Goeller: Jessica Goeller is the author of a handful of short stories, as well as the translator of four books by renowned healer and Olympic coach Semjon Bek. She is also the designer of Faraday Bags, a line of data-shielding wallets, purses, and clothing. An outdoors enthusiast, she enjoys hiking, camping, and cycling. She lives on the West Coast of the U.S.
Joan Timberlake: "I live in West Virginia currently, but I’m originally from Maryland. I was a starving professional musician (jazz/funk tenor sax) for about twenty years and during that time never accomplished anything notable or famous-remarkable considering the years I practiced and performed. I was a Technical Writer/Platform Instructor for about eight years and worked at Data Communications; New York University (Gender and Society); Computer Associates, and IBM. I left the corporate world to become a university instructor so that I would have a more flexible schedule to care for my elderly parents. I taught a variety of writing styles in nonfiction: legal, business, technical, remedial/developmental, and grammar and editing, and in fiction writing: novel, short story, essay, mystery, and humorous writing for about 15 years. I taught at the University of Maryland (the College Park and the Baltimore County campuses), and at Johns Hopkins University. I also taught writing, as an independent contractor, at a number of corporate sites. I have a B.A. from Towson University in English (writing concentration), Spanish, and Women’s Studies, and an M.A. in English Literature from Long Island University. After my parents died, I decided I would pursue my lifelong dream to become a lawyer. I didn’t realize how bodacious entering law school at age 50 would be but nevertheless managed to graduate with my J.D, in May of 2008, at 53, exhausted, as the oldest member of the class of West Virginia University, College of Law. I concentrated my studies in Fair Use and Copyright, Agency, Elder, Entertainment, and Healthcare Law in addition to the required courses in Criminal Law and Evidence, etc. My latest project has been to start a literary agency, Timberlake-Oliver Literary Services, LLC. I am the servant of a beautiful Appaloosa, and trail ride as often as I can. I am the step-parent of a golden retriever and live with my life-partner, Rhonda, who is a lovely construction worker and pipe fitter."
http://www.timberlakeoliver.com
Josh Lanyon: Multi-award winning author Josh Lanyon is the author of numerous short stories, novellas, and novels as well as the m/m writing guide Man, Oh Man: Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks and Ca$h. Josh is a two-time Lambda finalist.
http://www.joshlanyon.com
Lee Rowan: Lee Rowan has been writing since childhood, but professionally only since spring of 2006, with the publication of her Eppie-winning novel, Ransom. She is a lady of a certain age, old enough to know better but young enough to do it anyway. A confirmed bookaholic with a wife of many years, she is kept in line by a cadre of cats and a dog who gets her away from the computer and out of the house at least once a day.
http://www.lee-rowan.net/
Lia: "I love reading, I don´t leave home without at least one book in my bag, ever. That's all that´s relevant, really. If it isn´t: I am German, married to a Brit, 2 bilingual kids. I´m currently living in Germany, but I lived in England and the USA for several years. Other than reading I love classical music and sing in 2+ choirs."
Lyne: "My name is Lyne and I am an avid reader. Reading was something that came hard for me and in the 9th grade I ended up having to take a remedial reading class. It wasn't until my mother threaten to throw the TV out the window if I did not start reading however before I really picked up a book. That was 30 years ago and I haven't stopped reading since. I picked up M/M books 3 years ago and absolutely love them. I am constantly looking for new ones to read and of course I have several that I love to read over and over again."
Nem: "I've been in love with gay novels for about 4 years and counting (I'm still very young, just give me time), obsessed over shapeshifters and alpha males, a bit too judgmental but trying really hard to get rid of that habit. A random stalker of many authors, and always on the hunt for something amazing to read."
Nicky: "I'm a single mother of one residing in the DC metropolitan area. I enjoy reading, traveling, and writing when time permits."
Rbm00: "I live in California, and am a student at UC Berkeley in the College of Natural Resources. LGBT fiction has been my love since I was a teenager, and I've been reading it almost exclusively for about 5 years. My preferences are historical fiction, coming-of-age, and mysteries, and my non-fiction reads are usually astronomy, ecology, myths/legends, and Native American studies. I'm not too crazy about poetry or paranormal-the vampire/werewolf variety. I love the more original paranormal concepts."
Rose: "I've been reading erotica for about 3 years, starting with M/M, which in turn was a progression from yaoi manga. I now read all types of genres. My favourite manga is FAKE by Sanami Matoh. The first book in my M/M collection was "Bareback" by Chris Owen. I haven't looked back since!"
Rosemary DuBose: "Straight female, semi-silent human rights protester, real name is Rosemary DuBose, everyone calls me Ro. I'm a Reviewer for Literary Nymphs and I also post customer reviews under Venus junkie. I started reading to escape my real life accounting job, my favorite genre is Manlove."
Ryan Field: Ryan Field is a fiction writer who has worked in publishing for over seventeen years. He has worked as an editor for Conde Nast, and as a writer for Freshmen Magazine. His fiction has appeared in books by Alyson Publications, Cleis Press, STARbooks Press, and a few others. His single author titles have been published by ravenousromance.com. This past year his short story, "Down the Basement," was part of the Lambda Award winning book, BEST GAY EROTICA 2009.
http://ryan-field.blogspot.com/
Victor J. Banis: Lecturer, writing teacher and early rabble rouser for gay rights and freedom of the press, Victor J. Banis is the critically acclaimed ("the master's touch in storytelling" Publishers Weekly) author of more than 150 published books and numerous shorter pieces in a career spanning nearly 50 years. A native of Ohio and longtime Californian, he lives and writes now in West Virginia's beautiful Blue Ridge.
http://www.vjbanis.com/
X (she is shy ;-)): An American woman with college degrees in English and Business who reads m/m fiction extensively but who is not a published author.
So, is it or not a wonderful Jury? sorry if I sound like a mother with her children, but I'm very proud of them. Wish them good work!