We are taking a break from romance and historical fiction to talk about his non-fiction book.
Hi
and thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about our anthology, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly
About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On. From the beginning, this project
has been a labor of love, especially since the charity involved, the It Gets
Better Project, is one near and dear to all our hearts. (A portion of the
proceeds from sales of the anthology goes to It Gets Better.)
Here’s
how the book happened:
In
2010, I met writer, Victoria
Zackheim, editor of The Other Woman, at
a local writer’s conference. I was
immediately fascinated by her book of essays and asked if anyone had considered
editing an anthology on the subject of infidelity from the gay male viewpoint.
To Victoria’s knowledge, no one had written a follow up and she immediately
gave me her blessing to edit the gay companion to her wonderful book.
I
immediately sent out invitations to some of my favorite male writers and asked
them to contribute to the anthology. In the process, I discovered that writers
either had an other man story to tell or they didn’t. It was that simple. Eventually
I had a strong list of contributors and we were off and running. By early 2011,
I had written a detailed book proposal, acquired an agent, the wonderful Jill
Marsal of the Marsal/Lyon Literary Agency, and had a complete list of
contributors attached to the book.
If I said the road to publication
from this point on was an easy one, I’d be lying. It wasn’t. There were bumps
and detours ahead. Jill shopped the proposal to small publishers open to LGBT
work. After a year, we had one interested publisher who kept us hanging until
they decided against the book because one of the editors felt the reading
public, and gay men in general, wouldn’t be interested in the topic of the
other man scenario. Hmm. Crazy, I know, but like I said, the road was pretty
bumpy.
In the interim, J.M. Snyder, of JMS
Books, published my first e book novella, The
View from 16 Podwale Street, a lesbian historical romance, and immediately said
she was interested in publishing The
Other Man, especially with the It Gets Better charity sharing in the
profits. In May 2013, The Other Man
became a reality and was released as an e book and also in print.
The
Other Man went on to win a 2013 Rainbow Award for nonfiction and was
selected by the American Library Association for their Over the Rainbow
Nonfiction List for Adults.
It’s
been a great ride all the way. I’d love to talk more about our book. Please
feel free to comment and ask me whatever you like. I’m looking forward to
hearing from you.
And
here’s the best news yet: The Other Man
is currently being adapted as a one-act play and a reading is set for the end
of July at Chicago Dramatists.
BOOK BLURB:
WHO IS THE OTHER MAN?
THE OTHER MAN is an artistic collaboration by and about gay men
and their relationships. If you’ve ever been the other man, had him invade your
life, or are just plain curious about this beguiling, unpredictable and
dangerous creature, then this anthology of personal essays is for you. Twenty–one
of our most acclaimed authors, many Lambda
Award winners and finalists, such as Rob Byrnes, Jeff Mann, Tom
Mendicino, Erik Orrantia, Felice Picano and David Pratt, write candidly
about either being the other man, suffering the other man or having their relationships
tested by infidelity. What they tell us is we must take heart, it does get
better and one day our luck is bound to change. We’ll survive the bumps and
detours in our relationships and weather the storms, or resolve to move on.
Along the way, we’ll hope to meet someone new and simpatico, maybe even our
long-awaited soul mate. Life will be good again. Or will it?
MINI
REVIEWS:
“Full of bad behavior and ugly
emotions. Contains some fine truths and excellent
storytelling.” -- Christopher Bram, author of Gods
and Monsters and Eminent Outlaws
“By turns sprightly, poignant,
piquant, sexy, scary, keen, naïve, heartbreaking.”
--Richard Stevenson, Lambda
Award-winning author of the Don Strachey private eye
novels
“Impassioned, witty, powerful voices
examine infidelity and its effects on love, trust and truth.”--Dennis Palumbo,
psychotherapist, author of Night Terrors: A Daniel Rinaldi Mystery
You'll find a lot of entertainment in
the many emotions of Paul Alan Fahey's
extraordinary anthology, The Other
Man ...as expected, the pieces run the gamut from
hilarious to heartbreaking.” --Jerry
Wheeler, Out in Print
“I devoured it. An absolutely
addicting book.”--Kilian Melloy, Assistant Arts Editor
EDGE Media Network
“Every essay is fascinating -- and
what a great cause!” --Anne R. Allen, author of The Camilla Randall
Mysteries and host of the award winning Anne R. Allen's Blog
BOOK BUY
BUTTONS
Buy Link
and JMS Books Excerpt for E book
Buy Link
and JMS Books Excerpt for Print
Buy
Links at Amazon and B and N for E Book
Buy
Links at Amazon and B and N for Print
BIO
Paul Alan Fahey writes for JMS Books.
He is the author of Lovers & Liars, a gay wartime romance and an honorable mention in the 2014
Rainbow Awards. Paul is also the editor of the 2013 Rainbow
Award-winning anthology, The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly
About Sex, Love, Infidelity, & Moving On. His first LGBT novella, The
View From 16 Podwale Street, won a 2012 Rainbow Award. Over the years, his
writing has appeared in numerous literary journals such as Byline, Vestal Review, Palo Alto Review, Long
Story Short, African American Review, The MacGuffin, Thema,
Gertrude, Kaleidoscope, The Feathered Flounder, and in a
variety of fiction and nonfiction anthologies from Carry the Light, Cup
of Comfort, My Mom’s My Hero to Writing on Walls, and Somewhere
in Crime. He lives on the California Central Coast with his husband, Robert
Franks, and a gaggle of shelties. For more information, visit paulalanfahey.com.
Giveaway:
Paul is giving away 5 copies of The Other Man as part of our History Week. Comment to win, which qualifies you to enter to win A Place to Call Their Own!
Paul is giving away 5 copies of The Other Man as part of our History Week. Comment to win, which qualifies you to enter to win A Place to Call Their Own!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hi, Dean and readers, thank you for having me here today. Would love to answer questions. I'm here if you want to ask. One thing I'm very excited about is the news that The Other Man is being adapted for the stage in Chicago. I'll keep you posted. Paul
ReplyDeleteIt's my pleasure to have you!
DeleteThanks, Dean. Do appreciate it. Take care and best to you and your readers. Paul
DeleteA play coming, Paul, how exciting! And the reviews are very good. Putting a collection together, I'm thinking, is no easy task. And it's sound like the publishing part wasn't easy. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Madeline, for leaving a comment and saying those nice things about our reviews. Really do appreciate it. All the best and appreciate your stopping by. Paul
DeleteThanks so much for stopping by!
Delete